Symphonic Wind Ensemble

Smallest and most select of the Bienen School’s wind ensembles, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE) presents a diverse repertoire of well-known masterworks and contemporary compositions.

The ensemble was founded as the University Chamber Band in 1954, when director of bands John P. Paynter began experimenting with flexible instrumentation in a single-player-per-part configuration. Renamed the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in 1969, the group began developing a reputation for innovation and artistic performance, honoring and expressing the orchestral training and tradition of Northwestern’s applied faculty.

Under the direction of Mallory Thompson, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble participated in dozens of commissioning consortia and presented numerous world premieres, winning acclaim from composers John Adams, Michael Colgrass, John Corigliano, Karel Husa, Morten Lauridsen, David Maslanka, Jonathan Newman, Carter Pann, Joel Puckett, Joseph Schwantner, and Augusta Read Thomas.

SWE has previously released seven albums (see details below). Alumni of the group are performing in professional ensembles around the world. This ensemble is open to music majors only.

Faculty Conductor

Robert Taylor

Professor

Robert Taylor is Professor of Conducting and Director of Bands at Northwestern University, where he holds the John W. Beattie Chair of Music.

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Recordings

Throughout its history, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble has produced premiere recordings of seminal works for concert winds. These recording project snot only provides valuable experience to student musicians, but also creates invaluable reference recordings for music educators around the globe.

Reflections (2017)

Mallory Thompson, conductor

Festmusik der Stadt Wien (Richard Strauss)
Due of the forces required, this work receives relatively few live performances. Conceptually it is modeled after the antiphonal works of Giovanni Gabrieli, showcasing two instrumental choirs passing musical material back and forth. The result is an impressive mixture of technical brilliance and timbral beauty. Born in Munich in 1864, composer Richard Strauss is is recognized as one of the last great romantic composers.
that secret from the river (Joel Puckett)
Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere… This is Joel Puckett's inspiration for “that secret from the river.” The work as a whole is cast in two large sections: first, an exploration of pure harmonies that are distorted and made hazy through glissandi into sound masses; and second, a series of variants on a familiar harmonic motive.
My Brother’s Brain: A Symphony for Winds (Carter Pann)
I. The Inventions
II. Demonsphere
III. The Hymn of Forgiving
This triptych of sound paintings is composed by Carter Pann, who has received numerous honors, including a Grammy nomination for his piano concerto, first prizes in the Zoltán Kodály and François d’Albert International Composition Competitions, a Charles Ives Scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Letters, and five ASCAP composer awards. In 2016 Pann was named a Pulitzer Prize for Music finalist for his saxophone quartet, The Mechanics: Six from the Shop Floor.

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Contemporaries (2015)

Mallory Thompson, conductor

Short Ride in a Fast Machine (John Adams; trans. Lawrence T. Odom)
Theme and Variations, Op. 43a (Arnold Schoenberg)
O Magnum Mysterium (Morten Lauridsen; trans. H. Robert Reynolds)
Symphony in B-flat (Paul Hindemith)
I. Moderately fast, with vigor
II. Andantino grazioso
III. Fugue
Emblems (Aaron Copland)

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rising (2011)

Mallory Thompson, conductor

An Outdoor Adventure (Aaron Copland)
Ceremonial Fanfare (Aaron Copland)
...and the mountains rising nowhere (Joseph Schwantner)
Sleep (Eric Whitacre)
Symphony No. 4 (David Maslanka)

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Winds of Nagual (2002)

Mallory Thompson, conductor
Ursula Oppens, piano

Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare (Richard Strauss)
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (Johann Sebastian Bach; scored by Donald Hunsberger)
Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (Igor Stravinsky)
I. Largo-Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro
Ursula Oppens, piano
Winds of Nagual (Michael Colgrass)
I. The Desert: Don Juan Emerges from the Mountains
II. Don Genaro Appears
III. Carlos Stares at the River and Becomes a Bubble
IV. The Gait of Power
V. Asking Twilight for Calmness and Power
VI. Don Juan Clowns for Carlos
VII. Last Conversation and Farewell

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Heroes, Dreams, & Icons (2001)

Mallory Thompson, conductor

This album pays tribute to Northwestern's long-tenured Director of Bands, John P. Payner. The third work, A Child's Garden of Dreams, was comissioned by John and Marietta Paynter for the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble in 1981.

Huldigungsmarsch (Richard Wagner; ed. William A. Schafer)
Whatsoever Things... (Mark Camphouse)
A Child's Garden of Dreams (David Maslanka)
I. There is a desert on the moon where the dreamer sinks so deeply into the ground that she reaches hell.
II. A drunken woman falls into the water and comes out renewed and sober.
III. A horde of small animals frightens the dreamer. The animals increase to a tremendous size, and one of them devours the little girl.
IV. A drop of water is seen as it appears when looked at through a microscope. The girl sees that the drop is full of tree branches. This portrays the origin of the world.
V. An ascent into heaven where pagan dances are being celebrated; and a descent into hell where angels are doing good deeds.
Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral (Richard Wagner; trans. Lucien Cailliet)

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Winds of Change (1997)

John P. Paynter, conductor
Fredrick L. Hemke, saxophone

Pageant (Vincent Persichetti)
Expansions (Hale Smith)
Verticals Ascending (Henry Brant)
Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra of Wind Instruments (Ross Lee Finney)
I. Moderato
II. Allegro energico
Frederick L. Hemke, saxophone
Symphonic Songs for Band (Robert Russell Bennett)
I. Serenade
II. Spiritual
III. Celebration

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Through Countless Halls of Air (1994)

John P. Paynter, conductor