American Nocturne
American Nocturne
Grade 4
The third and final piece in the Magnolia Star trilogy, American Nocturne depicts a nighttime train ride from New Orleans to Chicago. Inspired by the blues scale and the American railroad, the piece includes jazzy riffs and driving rhythms.
Pricing
Printed Score Only: $50
Printed Score + Printed Parts: $169.99
Printed Score + Digital PDF Parts: $169.99
Details
Grade 4 – Wind Band
Year of Composition: 2021
Commissioned by the Rocky Mountain Commissioning Project for the 14th Annual Colorado State University Pueblo Festival of Winds
Finalist, 2023 American Bandmasters Association Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award
Length: 7:00
Program Note
American Nocturne was commissioned in 2021 by the Rocky Mountain Commissioning Project, led by Alan Mills and Colorado State University Pueblo. The piece depicts a nighttime train ride from the jazz capital of New Orleans north to Chicago, incorporating the blues scale and train-like driving rhythms.
About 10 years before writing this piece, I was reflecting on my experience playing saxophone in my middle school jazz band, where I first learned to play jazz. Our director started each rehearsal with a simple blues scale exercise that taught us not only about the blues scale, but also how to improvise. I decided that I wanted to write a piece of music using the blues scale, and as I began coming up with musical ideas for the piece, I felt like the music sounded like trains. That piece became Magnolia Star, named for a train that traveled between New Orleans and Chicago in the mid 20th century.
A few years later, I decided that perhaps I could write a trilogy of pieces that were inspired by the blues scale and trains, and I set out to create more material from these ideas. After writing Magnolia Star in 2011/2012, I created Green Diamond in 2018/2019. Now with American Nocturne in 2021, I have completed the trilogy of pieces which all reach back to this important experience early in my music education.
As a composer, so much of what I create today is informed by music that I have been exposed to by music teachers and my parents. My parents nurtured my interest in music by encouraging my improvisations at the piano, playing music in our home regularly, and providing me with instruments, private lessons, and more. And my music teachers inspired me, encouraged me, and helped me grow as a musician. I will forever be thankful for them.
“Nocturne” refers to a musical work written about the night, and therefore I thought it would be an appropriate word to use in the title for this piece, written about a nighttime train ride. And I included “American” in the title as a nod to the influence of jazz and blues on this piece. Jazz is a truly American art form, having emerged in New Orleans before spreading to other jazz centers like Chicago.
Commissioned by the Rocky Mountain Commissioning Project for the 14th Annual Colorado State University Pueblo Festival of Winds
Liz Connor Kodadek, Apex Friendship High School, NC
Paula A Crider, Austin, TX
George and Colleen Eastman, Brighton, CO
Neil Guy, Cherokee Trail High School, CO
Dan and Kari Bell, Colorado Springs, CO
Alan W. Mills, Colorado State University Pueblo
Chad Dempsey, Edinburg North High School Band, TX
Ryan Lipscomb, Edwardsville High School, IL
Shaun R. Popp, Henderson State University
Timothy McGarvey, Houghton College
Michael Berning, Kettering City Schools, Kettering, OH
Ted Ferrucci, Los Altos High School Bands, CA
Jackie Townsend, Lubbock Christian University
Jon Conrad, McLennan College, Waco, Texas
David Kish, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Doris Doyon, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
Adrian Holton, National Concert Band of America
Andrew Killgore, North Carolina
Raleigh "Butch" Eversole, Palmer Ridge High School, Monument, CO
David M. Blon, Purdue University
Amanda Kaus, Rochester Century High School, MN
Joseph Higgins, Rowan University
Jonathan Helmick, Slippery Rock University
Robert M. Schwartz, Southeastern Louisiana University
Jim Blankenship and Micah Ewing, Sycamore High School, OH
Carter Biggers, Texas Woman’s University
Timothy Kaiser, Tucson, AZ
Bill Tiberio, University of Rochester
John Oelrich, University of Tennessee at Martin
Justin Davis, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Alex Kaminsky, VanderCook College of Music NBA Collegiate Chapter
Michael Zens, Whitnall High School, WI
Edward F. Protzman, William Mason High School, OH
Patrick K. Carney, Winter Haven, FL
Bradley Faryniarz, Woodhaven High School Bands, MI
Premiere Performance
Colorado State University Pueblo
Hoag Recital Hall
Saturday February 12, 2022
CSU Pueblo Wind Ensemble
Alan W. Mills, Conductor
Grade 4
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