DAVID MASLANKA (b.1943): Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble, JAMES A. BECKEL JR. (b.1947): The Glass Bead Game for Horn and Wind Ensemble, SCOTT MCALLISTER (b.1969): Black Dog for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble.

Description: Beckel's work is based on characters and events from Hesse's novel. It conforms to the traditional three-movement structure, with a lively first movement, a tranquil, melodic slow movement and a finale with the most apparent narrative content, beginning with a stately ceremonial which is gradually overtaken by increasingly frenzied protest and an elegiac coda. McAllister's rhapsodic work features the clarinet in a solo role, portraying the singer in a rock band. Apart from the final insistently ostinato-driven section, and the clarinet's evocation of guitar solos, the music sounds very little like rock music - more big band than anything - and like the other pieces here, is a sumptuously orchestrated, tonal work of ready appeal. Maslanka's concerto is a relatively introspective, somber work. The titles of the movements - Requiem, Beloved and Be Content, Be Calm suggest the character of the music. Rippling, repeated gestures form rich accompanimental textures and the songlike solo lines of trombone and cello avoid any form of empty virtuosity altogether, the soloist's prominence mainly established through sustained and eloquent singing lines. The large ensemble is economically employed, though with the composer's familiar heightened sense of orchestral color. Alabama Wind Ensemble; Kenneth Ozzello.