Baylor Wind Ensemble CD Set for National Release On Sept. 1

by Richard Veit

A new compact disc recording by the Baylor University Wind Ensemble will receive its official nationwide release on Monday, Sept. 1. A formal release ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. in Jones Concert Hall when Baylor graduate Steven Stucky will present the first disc to Baylor President Robert. B. Sloan Jr. The CD, featuring the music of Stucky, will be available through retail record stores and mail order houses nationally and will appear on the Albany Records label as disc number Troy 257.
Stucky earned a bachelor of music degree from Baylor in 1971.
Also participating in the special ceremony will be the recording artists themselves: the 70-member Wind Ensemble and its conductor, Michael Haithcock, professor of conducting and director of bands.
This new compact disc was recorded live by Albany Records at two separate Wind Ensemble concerts in 1996 (on Sept. 26 and Nov. 19) and includes four compositions by Stucky.
"Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary" was premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in 1992. The work is based on three pieces that Henry Purcell wrote for the funeral of Britain's Queen Mary in 1694. "Fanfares and Arias" dates from 1994 in fulfillment of a commission from the Big Eight Band Directors Association. It was first performed by the University of Colorado Wind Ensemble early the following year.
"Threnos" was written in memory of Stucky's friend Brian Israel (who died of leukemia at the age of 35) and was first played by the Cornell University Wind Ensemble in 1988. "Voyages," at 26 minutes by far the longest work on the disc, is scored for cello and wind orchestra. Written in 1984, its Baylor recording features the talents of Gary Hardie, associate professor of cello and coordinator of strings.