New Composition Dedicated to Bruce Moss
The world of wind bands has become a fertile field for new compositions ever since Richard Franko Goldman articulated the importance of a dedicated literature beyond marches and orchestral transcriptions. The first half of the 20th century saw new wind band music emerge and expand. In the latter half, composers of new wind band works were on the rise. In the new millennium, the trend has continued upward.
One of the ways to increase the likelihood of having a new piece of music played was, and still is, to compose that piece for a specific ensemble, or for a particular conductor. Trittico (1965) by Vaclav Nelhybel, was dedicated to Dr. William Revelli and the University of Michigan Symphonic Band. Armenian Dances (Part I, 1972; Part II, premiere 1976) by Alfred Reed was dedicated to Dr. Harry Begian, Director of Bands at the University of Illinois. Mark Camphouse’s Whatsoever Things (1997) was dedicated to the memory of John Paynter, Director of Bands at Northwestern University. Each composition introduces the dedicatee to a new ensemble of performers, as well as to a new concert audience, each time the work is programmed. The idea is to increase the scope of the players who know about the individual and/or the ensemble at the focus of the work. Programmed repeatedly and long enough, the composition carries the name of the dedicatee well into the future, beyond their careers, and possibly beyond their lifetimes.
In the view of the Bowling Green State University Band Alumni Society Board of Directors, there could be no form of acknowledgement more fitting for Bruce Moss than a new wind band work dedicated to him. But there were two problems. First, a dedication to Bruce Moss, on the occasion…of…what? And second, it had already been done.
Regarding the first problem, an ideal occasion would have been the time of Dr. Moss's retirement. But Bruce Moss has been tight-lipped about his retirement plans. After it became obvious that he would not retire in 2022, and perhaps may have found new reason to lengthen his time at BGSU when Jon Waters became the Assistant Teaching Professor of Athletic Bands and Music Education, the appropriate occasion was merely to honor Moss’s years as Director of Bands. The Board was hoping for 30 years. And if retirement happened to coincide, all the better. Problem solved.
The second problem was which composer to approach. Bruce Moss was already the dedicatee of a wind band composition entitled The Maker's Mark (2011) by Ryan Nowlin. The piece was composed in honor of Moss’s 30 years as Conductor and Music Director of the Wheaton Municipal Band (Wheaton, IL). There is no composer of wind band music who knows Bruce Moss better than Nowlin. Finding a composer who could capture the essence of Moss, on the basis of first-hand experience, as well, or better? Unlikely.
The members of the BGSU Band Alumni Society Board set their sights on an up-and-coming composer. One whose compositional style was not entrenched and who had not published so many compositions that the one under consideration may sound like the previous one, which sounds rather similar to the one before, and so on. And also, a composer who had no previous attachments to Bruce Moss, who would need to reach out to a variety of people to supply the needed background and insights into Moss’s character and attributes. In that way, the composition would not be written primarily through the lens of one composer who knew Moss personally, but by putting together many aspects of Moss, contributed through the lenses of several people. One name continued to come up. Tyler Grant.
Composer Tyler S. Grant (2021)
Tyler Grant’s composition Panoramic Fanfare had won the Dallas Wind Symphony’s Call for Fanfares Competition in 2014. Since that time, his work had steadily increased in renown. Grant had been on stage as a guest conductor for all-state bands in Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Dakota as well as at the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Festival. Grant is a graduate of the University of Alabama. If he’s a stylistic protégé it would be to Brian Balmages who Grant acknowledges as a major figure in his development as a composer. He had recently secured a contract with Alfred Music Publishing Company and his work was being programmed at reputable band festivals. The Music For All National Concert Band Festival being one example.
BGSU Band Alumni Society Board Member Kathy McGrady served as the primary point of contact between the BGSU Band Alumni Society—who would commission the piece—and Grant. Contacts were made. Terms were discussed (one of which was that the project had to remain unknown to Moss), a deal was struck, and the work commenced.
Grant reached out to several people with knowledge of Moss. One of those people was Chris Shumick, Ed.S, Director of Bands at Milton High School (GA) and Associate Conductor of the Atlanta Wind Symphony. Shumick is a 2004 graduate of BGSU and played in the top wind band under Moss’s direction. He not only knows Tyler Grant on a personal level, but also knows Grant’s music very well. Each spring, the Atlanta Wind Symphony records Grant’s new works as reference recordings.
Shumick provided his own insights into Dr. Moss and connected Grant to other people who provided information. For example, Dr. Sarah Labovitz recalled Moss’s unusual ability to recall zip codes and refer to towns and cities by them. Ryan Nowlin brought up Moss’s connection to, and love of, the parts of Tennessee where he was raised. Putting them together, Grant musically represented the zip codes of Kingsport, Tennessee and Bowling Green, Ohio, and included those motives in the composition. That’s just one example.
The entire process took over two years to complete. The result, All the Earth and Air. The title comes from the poem “To a Skylark” (1820) by British Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. In it, the author represents the Skylark as a joyous spirit, from Heaven or nearby. The skylark goes flying about as it sings and artistically demonstrates its emotions and feelings in collections of musical sounds. The poem is filled with references to nature sounds and music. At one point, in the portion of the poem from which Grant took the title, is a reference to the intangible, unseen, dimension of the skylark.
Of that silver sphere,
Whose intense lamp narrows
In the white dawn clear
Until we hardly see, we feel that it is there.
All the earth and air
With thy voice is loud,
As, when night is bare,
From one lonely cloud
The moon rains out her beams, and Heaven is overflow'd.
The last two-and-a-half years have been an absolute joy working with Tyler Grant. He definitely put his heart and soul into making this piece very special.
All the Earth and Air will be premiered on April 7 at the 3 p.m. concert in Kobacker Hall.
Special thanks to Chris Shumick for his assistance in preparing this article.