Reprinted with permission from Tempo, the official magazine of the New
Jersey Music Educators Association.
Citation information: Berz, William, "Band Festivals and Repertoire,"
Tempo, 60(3), (March 2006), 46-47.
In the late fall and early winter of each year, I
receive a number of phone calls and emails from high school directors
asking for advice about selecting music for performance at concert band
festivals. I am very flattered that people ask my opinion, and I try to
provide information as best as I can. Choosing music is a very
difficult yet important challenge. This last round of phone calls along
with a recent article from the WASBE
Journal has encouraged me to again consider the concert band
festival especially in regards to selection of repertoire.
I have written several articles for Tempo over the years on the subject
of concert band festivals (see reference list). The article from
October 2003 centered on the practical aspects of choosing music. A
number of key elements were outlined. (See article for full discussion
of each point.)
1. Play music that fits the technical abilities of
the ensemble.
2. Play literature that features the ensemble’s
strengths instead of weaknesses.
3. Observe festival time limits and especially do not
over program.
4. Avoid popular music.
5. Avoid the most oft-performed repertoire (such as
Irish Tune and the Holst Suites).
6. Avoid marches in 6/8 time.
7. Avoid concerti or solo pieces.
8. Consider the unfamiliar gem.
Choice of music is challenging no matter the
performance situation. It is the music that determines much of what is
going to happen in the classroom. It is the curriculum centering all of
the classroom actions.
The same general educational goals must be
considered when choosing music for festivals as for other performance
settings. Since such a considerable amount of time and energy is spent
preparing for festival, the selection of educational music is doubly
important. The kinds of practical elements listed above should be
considered in addition to musical and educational elements.
Teachers obviously want their students to be
successful at festival; this is not contrary to any kind of educational
objective. Certainly, the music chosen should have the best potential
for the students to be successful. However success should not be
defined as “winning” or achieving a high rating that is an empty gain.
Unfortunately, the competitive aspects of the
festival/contest experience seem to out weigh the music education
aspects for many—if not most—directors. And this is certainly
understandable. Who wants to come in second place? Directors need to
keep educational goals central to festival and contest participation.
Directors often select music almost entirely based
on criteria dictated on achieving success at festivals. Does the work
hide intonation problems? Are solos avoided that feature certain
instruments like oboe and bassoon? Is the work so new that judges most
certainly will be unfamiliar with it? However, the larger picture must
be considered. Band festivals should be about music education, not
sportsmanship.
Another Approach?
In 2005, Stephen Budiansky wrote a short opinion article that was
published in the Washington Post.
(That, and a subsequent article, is available (see reference list).
Readers are strongly encouraged to examine them. These articles have
generated considerable debate in the band community. Budiansky’s
central concern was the aesthetically poor quality of music heard at
school band concerts He noted that much of the music was composed by
“educational band composers” written expressly for the purposes of
school bands. Budiansky questioned the educational benefit of studying
this kind of music.
In a more recent article to be published in the
WASBE Journal, Budiansky and co-author Timothy W. Foley (former leader
of the Marine Band) continue this line of thinking and identify a
number of reasons why band directors select “educational music” to
perform.
Far too much emphasis is placed on school band as a
performance activity—and at times even a competitive activity, almost
like an athletic event—rather than a curricular course with solid
educational objectives. No one would take seriously an English course
that aimed to boost test scores by using easy-to-read works written by
educators, at the expense of an introduction to the greatest writers of
the English language, from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Eliot to Faulkner.
No one would take seriously a high school science program whose sole
purpose was to compete in science fairs and win prizes (and to stage
fund raisers to pay for trips to science fairs). No one would judge the
success of a social science program based solely on how many
geography-bee prizes the students won. Yet such is all too often the
uncritically accepted norm in the band programs of our high schools.
It may take nothing short of a revolution to curtail
the current grip that contests, “festivals,” trips, and performances
have on the school band world. But nothing would do more for the
education of students than to eliminate them all in one fell swoop
(Budiansky & Foley, 2005).
Should Band Festivals be
Eliminated?
Should band festivals and contests be eliminated as
Budiansky and Foley suggest? It is abundantly clear that too much
emphasis placed on contests distorts the educational process. Teachers
and students become too centered on the end product rather than on the
process of learning.
As I have written on any number of occasions in Tempo, band festivals do have
potential for educational benefit. The dramatic increase in festival
participation in New Jersey in recent years has certainly elevated the
general performance levels of a considerable number of bands in our
state. However, Budiansky and Foley do make a very good point in that
band festivals and contests can easily distort any number of elements,
especially the selection of repertoire. Directors need to exercise care
in choosing music so that educational goals are addressed while still
considering the special issues associated with festival participation.
Education must remain the central and most important goal.
Competition is a strong motivator in American
society; it is present in almost every facet of life. To ignore the
power of motivation would seem to be shortsighted. But however
difficult it is to resist, directors must fight the temptation to be
overly competitive; it is this factor that creates the difficulties.
This is a significant problem with bands—marching, jazz, and concert
alike. Directors must find ways to make competition a successful
motivator while not permitting the demands to distort or eliminate any
educational benefit. Achieving a balance between these sometimes
conflicting goals is a distinct challenge.
The contest movement continues to be one of the most
important issues facing our profession. Many rationalize contest
participation to motivate students or to justify their programs to
parents and administrators. While no one can argue that music teachers
must constantly justify the place of music education in the schools, it
must be remembered that advocacy is meaningless if educational goals
are sacrificed along the way. If music education programs do not
provide meaningful experiences for students, then why even have them?
Festivals must be used as a means to an end rather than as an end in
itself. Music teaching must be centered on teaching MUSIC.
And that brings us back to the word: repertoire.
References
Berz, W. (2003, October). It’s not too early to think about
concert band festival. Tempo, 58 (1), 20-22. Available at
http://musicweb.rutgers.edu/windband/tempohome1.htm
Berz, W. (2000, May). Concert band festivals in New Jersey: A progress
report, Tempo, 54 (4), 9. Available at
http://musicweb.rutgers.edu/windband/tempohome1.htm
Berz, W. (2000, January) “Ideas on preparing for concert band
festival,” Tempo, 54 (2), 45-46. Available at
http://musicweb.rutgers.edu/windband/tempohome1.htm
Budiansky, S. (2005a). The kids play great. But that music…. Washington
Post (January 30), B3. Available at http://www.budiansky.com/music.html
Budiansky, S. (2005b). The school music controversy.
http://www.budiansky.com/music.html
Budiansky, S. & Foley, T. W. (2005). The quality of repertoire in
school music programs: Literature review, analysis, and discussion.
WASBE Journal, 12, in press.