Sales Statement 2014

The good folks at Alfred Publishing got a jump start on their end-of-year schedule and surprised me this week with my 2014 sales statements! Every year, they send me a list how many pieces of music I sold in different formats (score and parts, score alone, parts alone, digital downloads, MakeMusic files, etc.) And every year I sort through it and see which are my top sellers of the year. So here are my top five folios of scores and parts from April 2013 through March 2014 (domestic):

1. Dragonfly
2. Across the Wind
3. Gauntlet
4. Gargoyles
5. Avatar

Nice! The two newest pieces came out on top, followed by my two all-time classics. Gauntlet and Gargoyles have consistently been in the top five since they were first released nearly 15 years ago. I'm happy to see so much enthusiasm for Dragonfly and Across the Wind as well!  Avatar dropped a little this year, but, shockingly, it remains in the top five - most likely bolstered by people who mistake it for the theme to James Cameron's movie (for the record, my piece was published four years before his movie came out). In my opinion, Cameron can't release Avatar 2 fast enough.

That was sales inside the US - now for the top-selling scores and parts in foreign markets:

1. Dragonfly
2. Gargoyles
3. Beale Street Strut
4. Samba del Sol
5. Across the Wind & Avatar (tie)

Interesting!  I can't remember when there's been this much crossover between the two lists. Usually the top foreign sellers are a completely different set of titles, but there are four names in common this year! I'm most surprised to see Beale Street Strut on this list - it's a jazzy piece and I just figured it would be too American to appeal outside our borders.

Here's the list of top-selling scores:

1. Gauntlet
2. Gargoyles
3. Avatar
4. Las Mariposas Exoticas
5. Agincourt

Teachers buy extra scores for the judges when they take their orchestras to contest and all of these pieces are popular contest pieces. I'm most happy that Agincourt getting on more and more lists.

Finally, something relatively new on the sales report is a list of print licensing and mechanical fees. When a group records a piece of music or makes photocopies for extra parts, they're supposed to notify the publisher. So thank you to all the honest directors out there who did what they're supposed to do.

This list also includes the number of digital downloads, so I'd like to remind everyone that you can listen to and download fantastic professional recordings of my works at alfred-music.com.

 

8-Bit Agincourt

Check out this amazing video - YouTuber StormWind programmed my piece Agincourt into an 8-bit music software program. The result sounds like a lost level in The Legend of Zelda.

I can't seem to embed the video, but click the image below for a link to YouTube. Please to enjoy:

New Recordings Available: 2014

Alfred Publishing recently posted new recordings of this year's new music and, as usual, they're spectacular. The sheet music isn't ready just yet, but you can listen online for free and you can buy each song for just $.99 USD.

This year, all three pieces are written for the beginner end of the spectrum, mostly for intermediate and late beginners.

March of the Wood Elves: The pizzicato pulse and sly melody set up the imagery of rows of tiny soldiers marching across the forest floor. The music builds and breaks into a rustic dance before returning to the regimented, military rhythms and quietly stomping into the distance.
Listen here

Winstride: This is a sunny, optimistic piece that offers beginners some fun counting challenges. The middle section goes into a minor key and includes some call-and-response before returning to the main theme.
Listen here

Zuma Breakers: Named for a popular Southern California surf spot, this piece is a rollicking tribute to the surf rock scene of the 1960's and artists like Dick Dale, The Ventures, and Jan and Dean. Everyone gets a shot at the fun melodies and this piece would make the perfect encore at your next concert!
Listen here

 

A Performance in Qatar

So I was looking around on the Interwebs recently and discovered an article from May 26th, 2013 about a performance of Maharaja. The article was in the Gulf Times and my first thought was that it was from Mississipi, Louisiana, or maybe Texas. But I was way off.

The Gulf Times reports news from the PERSIAN Gulf.

It turns out that Maharaja was performed in Qatar. In the Middle East.  Roughly, here:

Here's what the article said about the group and about Maharaja:

Almost 80 musicians took to the stage of the American School in Doha (ASD) on Saturday evening to perform in front of a delighted audience.  

Musicians range from semi-professionals and professionals, including the occasional ‘loan’ from the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, to amateurs ranging in age from 10 to those nearing retirement - all united in their passion for music.
It seems that at every concert the orchestra achieves new heights, and Saturday’s performance was no exception.  

...and then it was time for ‘something completely different’ with the musicians snapping their fingers as well as playing away for dear life in Doug Spata’s  sizzling and stylish ‘Maharaja’, with the audience invited to join in the finger-snapping by conductor Brita Fray. Combining rhythms and motifs from Southeast Asian music with a powerful beat and exciting melodies, this very recent composition is as much fun to play as it is to listen to, and the DCO did it full justice.

  They were doing a "multi-cultural" program and chose Maharaja to represent India (by way of the U.S.). My mind is blown. I also appreciate the Monty Python reference. Thanks to the DCO orchestras for choosing my music!

Here's a link to the full article.

New Music Selected for 2014

I'm thrilled to announce that Alfred Publishing has picked up three of my pieces for their 2014 String Orchestra catalog! Back in March I sent them nine selections of varying styles and ability levels and they took all of the beginner pieces. Here's what to look forward to:

March of the Wood Elves starts with a minor-key pizzicato pulse and a sly melody, builds in intensity, and then quietly marches off into the distance. I think the influence of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony is pretty apparent in this one.

Winstride is a sunny, vibrant piece with a bit of a rock feel. Easy syncopations and simple, sparkling 8th note accompaniments give way to a contrasting minor key middle section before returning to the main themes and an exciting conclusion.

Zuma Breakers pays tribute to classic surf rock artists of the 1960's like Dick Dale, The Ventures, and Jan & Dean. It's a fast-paced zip down the beach with a focus on the second finger pattern and G-string notes. This one includes an optional drum kit part for extra rock & roll flair.


I'm excited about these three selections and I'll be sure to update their progress here on the blog when they go through the editing, recording, and publication phases.
 

The Avatar Debate

A friend of mine who teaches middle school orchestra recently asked me to settle a debate he'd been having with his class over my piece Avatar. The argument centers on the very last measure, which looks like this:

His 'cellos and basses prefer playing all of beat 2 as a three-note slur, rather than slurring just the 16th notes and playing the upbeat as an upbow, as written. So my friend, the orchestra teacher, turned to me to judge the case. Here's my response:

The reason it's a two-note slur instead of a three-note slur is:

1. That same rhythmic figure appears a two-note slur throughout the entire piece (practically every odd-numbered measure) so playing it that way at 59 keeps things consistent. It's an essential part of the piece's DNA. Changing it on the last rhythm of the final measure would be weird.

2. Playing a two-note slur at m. 59 ensures that the last note is played with a down bow, which naturally has more power than an up bow and results in a natural accent.

3. Playing a two-note slur and ending the piece on a down bow keeps things consistent with the violins and violas, who also end with a down bow. Everyone ends together on a strong down bow, which gives the piece both a sonic and visual sense of finality.

4. I'm the composer and I know what I'm doing.

There's plenty of room for interpretation when it comes to expression, style, and even flexibility in tempo and dynamics (within reason) but notes, rhythms, and bowing are all carefully chosen and shouldn't be messed with. Especially in this piece, which requires precise, articulate playing.

Let me know what you think – which elements of written music are open to interpretation?  And if you have your own debate about something I wrote, I'd love to hear about it and make a ruling.

New Recordings and Sheet Music Available!

I'm thrilled to report that my new music for 2013 - 2014 is now available! I'm really excited about this year's selections and can't wait to share them with the world. I've included links in this post so you can buy the sheet music from J.W. Pepper and listen to and/or buy the recordings on the Alfred Publishing website.

First is Dragonfly, a piece in G minor that buzzes with energy and features darting, zigzag rhythms in changing meters.

Listen to Dragonfly here

Buy sheet music here








The second piece is Across the Wind, a soaring, triumphant overture in F Major with bristling ostinatos and a range of emotions.

Listen to Across the Wind Here

Buy sheet music here










 

Midwest Clinic 2012

I'm excited to announce that three of my compositions will be performed at the 2012 Midwest Clinic, a prestigious international conference for music educators held every December in Chicago! Groups that perform here are considered among the best programs in the country and getting selected to perform is a pretty big deal. I've had one or two performances in years past, but three is almost unheard of. I'm super-excited. 

If you're going to be at the clinic, please check out one (or all) of these performances:

Wednesday, December 19, 10:30am at Ballroom W190
The Edmond North High School Symphony Orchestra of Edmond, OK
performs Harrowland.


Wednesday, December 19, 4:00pm at ballroom W190
The Sinfonia Orchestra of Orange City, FL
performs Maharaja.

Friday, December 21, 9:00am at ballroom W190
The Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Chamber Orchestra of Jacksonville, FL
performs Samba Del Sol.

My pieces are right in the middle of each program, but these shows are always great and you'll enjoy the whole thing. Congratulations to the performers and directors for making it to Midwest and thank you for programming my music!

I Take Requests

Occasionally, I'm lucky enough to get fan mail. My e-mail address is pretty easy to find and I've received messages from teachers, students, parents, and even audience members who have questions or comments about what they've heard or played. It's always wonderful to get feedback right from the source. I got an e-mail recently from a student in Texas and it was a little different:

 I love your compositions, and so does my high school orchestra director! 
We play your pieces all the time and they are our all time favorites. I was wondering if for your next submission to Alfred Music Publishing, could you compose a piece that has these components:

• Written in the style of an overture like, "Gauntlet" (ABA form)
• Set in a minor key 
• Quick tempo
• Dark motifs using sixteenth note and eighth note passages
• A slower more lyrical and expressive middle section (it would be cool if it could alternate between major and minor keys/modes), that then quickens back up into the beginning themes
• And be the grade level of 3-4

Performing a piece like that written by you would be the coolest thing EVER!

Students frequently ask me to write something "like Gauntlet," but I've never been sure what that means. I've written lots of other overtures in minor keys with fast tempos and I'm wary about repeating myself - if it's too much like Gauntlet, then what's the point? But this was the first time that someone actually delineated what that means. And the thing that sticks out is the mention of Gauntlet's middle section (a.k.a "the hard part"). This e-mail made me realize that I'd never done a slow section quite like that in any of my other pieces. I responded:

I've written a few minor key pieces for more advanced orchestra, but I don't think any of the published ones have slow middle sections.  Still, if you haven't heard them already, you many enjoy Storm Trail, Elementals, and Agincourt.  Next time I work on a fast minor key piece for advanced orchestra, I'll be sure to include a slow middle section before the recap.

 I've always kind of assumed that students don't enjoy Gauntlet's nebulous, melody-free middle section. It is, admittedly, a weird 25 measures. In recordings and videos it's the place where counting most frequently breaks down, entrances are missed, and musicianship is lost. I hadn't considered that  the challenge of that passage of music was appealing to students.

So after thinking about this, I set out to start a new piece of music. I didn't want it to be the same ability level as Gauntlet, so it has some advanced technical demands. I'm pleased with the piece and thought I'd share with my fan what came of his suggestions:

I just finished a new piece based on your recommendations and I thought you'd like to hear it - the sound file is attached. It's a fast Grade III piece with 16th note syncopations and optional shifting, it's in C minor with a few key changes, and it uses overture form with a lyrical middle section similar in style to Gauntlet's. I also included snare drum, bass drum, and tam tam parts for this one. I'd love to hear what you think.

He responded:

Wow! It sounds awesome! The middle section sounds really good. I also really like the percussion sound. It gives color and a really cool adventure/quest sound. The intensity builds all the way to the end and that's what I love about all your pieces! Do you have a title for this one yet? 

I wrote back:

Success!  No title for this one yet, though. Writing music is easy - writing titles is difficult.

I'll send this piece off with my submissions next spring and I have high hopes for it!

 

New Music Selected for 2013

I got word recently from my editor that I'll have two new pieces in Alfred Publishing's 2013-2014 String Orchestra catalog!

First is "Across the Wind," an intermediate-level major-key concert overture that features 16th note ostinatos. It features a lyrical middle section that I'm particularly proud of.

The second is "Dragonfly," an minor key piece that not only features furious 16th note rhythms, but also meter changes. It's intended for advanced groups, but I'm sure it will get picked up by ambitious intermediate players.  "Dragonfly" was developed from a piece I wrote many years ago on commission for a local school orchestra. That version was never published, but I was very happy with the themes, so I split it up and recycled it. The first part of that piece became the main theme to my first opera and the second part developed into "Dragonfly." And now it's getting published! So it's been a long interesting road for this particular piece.

New Submissions for 2013

This past weekend I gathered together my portfolio of new music, recorded it to disc, wrote out some brief descriptions, and today I took it all to the post office and shipped it all to my publisher for consideration in their 2013-2014 catalog!

As always, I try to offer a wide variety of music and this year's packet of nine pieces includes three pieces for beginners, three for intermediate-level performers, and three for advanced players. Five are in major keys, four are in minor keys. Some are overtures like Gauntlet or Westward Motion, but I also included a scherzo and some pieces that mimic styles from around the world. None is too much like any other.

When I first decided which selections I'd submit, only three had titles, but I spent the last week coming up with names for the other six. As always, that's the most difficult part of the process and I know I shouldn't leave it until the last minute.  But I'm happy with the titles and with all the submitted music in general. 

Now we wait and see. The selection committee will meet, look over all of this year's submissions (from me and from all the other composers) and put together a catalog of interesting music for all ability levels. I usually hear back in June or July, when my fingernails are nubs. Once I hear back, I'll be sure to post it here. Wish me luck!

North Pole Workshop Tutorials

Dr. Patrick Murphy, orchestra director at Tecumseh Junior High and Jefferson High School in Laffayette, Indiana has set up a wonderful YouTube channel for his students and, having stumbled across it recently, I feel compelled to share.  In his videos, Dr. Murphy demonstrates and guides students through the music part by part, so they can practice along with him at home. It's a brilliant use of the technology and I'm honored that he took time to make videos for my own North Pole Workshop.

First Violin

Second Violin

Viola

'Cello

Bass

Way to go, Doc!  I really hope that your students, their parents, and the school administration appreciate all the hard work and creativity that went into this project!

Proofing

Three of the publishing schedule's landmarks wend by in quick succession recently. About a week ago, I got my copies of this year's new music, a few days ago I got my contract addendum from Alfred Publishing, and yesterday I got the proofs for next year's music.

When I get proofs, they send the score that I submitted, marked up in red pen with all sorts of corrections and editions and then I check that against the engravings of the score and parts to make sure there are no errors. When I say "marked up in red pen" it sounds bad, like they're correcting my homework or re-writing my music, but it's not like that at all. My editors like to be a lot more specific with bowings than I am, adding upbow, downbow, and lift marks. They like to be very precise about placing dynamics and articulations and they don't share my enthusiasm for double bar lines.  But I'm all for being as specific as possible, so their changes are good ones. The only corrections I found were two wrong notes in the Viola part of Beale Street Strut.

Funny story about getting my copies of this year's finished music: I usually have about three pieces published each year and they send me two copies of each in a small box. This year I found a giant, heavy box on my doorstep. I opened it up and discovered someone had mixed up their Douglas E's - I had received the shipment intended for Alfred/Belwin composer Douglas E. Wagner. I checked the shipping label and, sure enough: his name, my address. I contacted Alfred and we sorted it out. No word if Mr. Wagner got my music by accident.

New Music Selected: Samba Del Sol

My third piece selected for the 2012 - 2013 Alfred String Orchestra catalog is Samba Del Sol, an appropriately sunny tune for beginners. It's all in pizzicato and all on the D string, making is super-easy and it features optional percussion parts and back-and-forth melodies, making it super-fun. 

Not much else to say about this one, other than to mention that it's the latest of many Latin-themed pieces I've had published. The others include "Las Mariposas Exoticas," "Violet's Tango," and "Mambo Incognito."  I'd bet a good concert could be put together with just my Latin numbers.

New Music Selected: Harrowland

The second of my pieces that Alfred Publishing selected for their 2012-2013 catalog is Harrowland.  It's a fast, minor-key piece for beginners in the same "sturm und drang" style as Gauntlet, Avatar, Agincourt, and Elementals. And those are some of my best-sellers.

As always, I write string orchestra music as instructive etudes, so directors can reinforce important skills with their concert music.  With wide leaps between notes, Harrowland is designed to give young musicians practice with string crossings.

This one was actually a re-submission. About two weeks after I finished Harrowland, I brought it along with me when I was invited to guest-conduct at the 2007 String Day concert in Philadelphia, where the piece was premiered.  Each year, string students of Bucks County, PA volunteer a Saturday to sightread a few selections in the morning, rehearse them for a few hours, and put on a show that same evening.  I was asked to conduct the advanced group, made of middle school students and a few ringers. We opened with Gauntlet, played a few other pieces, and closed with the world premiere of Harrowland (which, at the time, was called "Voyage of the Queen Anne's Revenge").  It was a great time and an exciting day of music-making! We had a great turnout of participants and it's great to see a school district where students are given opportunities to shine.

New Music Selected: Beale Street Strut

I recently heard from my editor and I'm thrilled to announce that Alfred Publishing will release three of my new pieces in their 2012-2013 String Orchestra catalog!  They're ahead of schedule this year, as I usually hear from them in late July or early August. 

The first new piece to look forward to is Beale Street Strut, a major-key, intermediate-level piece.  For those of you outside the United States (which, I understand to my delight, is a growing number), Beale Street is a stretch of road in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, famous for having a lot of jazz and blues clubs and it is considered the epicenter of Southern jazz. 

As you might expect, the piece has a jazzy style and features some "blue" notes. Specifically, F-F# and C-C# chromatics.  The basses and 'cellos get to play some classic bass lines as well as some broad-shouldered melodies. As usual, there's lots for the violas to do as well.

I think this is one that students will be humming in the hallways of their schools and that audiences will remember after the curtain goes down.

New Submission Time

I'm a little late in posting this, but about two weeks ago I sent off a packet of new music to my editor at Alfred Publishing.  It's always a challenging process, but here's what leads up to my trip to the post office:

1. Write a ton of music. I write about ten pieces of music each year for student string orchestras. On top of that, I've been working on a new opera and some other minor projects, but my main focus is on string orchestra music. The goal is to produce a wide variety of music in different styles and at different ability levels, to give the selection committee as much choice as possible and to hopefully get more music selected.

2. Get organized. In mid-April I took all my newest scores and laid them out on my office floor, organized by grade level and tonality into nine categories. Sort of like this:

Major Key/Beginner          Minor Key/Beginner          Novelty/Beginner

Major Key/Intermediate     Minor Key/Intermediate     Novelty/Intermediate

Major Key/Advanced         Minor Key/Advanced        Novelty/Advanced

Usually, I have more than one piece in each category. This year I had two or sometimes three new pieces ready to fill each specific need.

3. Make some decisions. I selected what I thought was the best piece in each category and removed the others from the piles, leaving nine pieces. Then I looked again.  This left me with two major-key pieces in a similar style and two Latin dances and two pieces that featured the same bowing technique.  So I switched some things out and played around with the lineup. Again, the goal is to balance the portfolio as much as possible, to give the selection committee nine completely different and highly attractive options. 

4. Look to the past. Finally, I decided which were the least-outstanding of the remaining pieces and replaced them with music from my back catalog – pieces that I'd previously submitted that weren't selected, but about which I still feel strongly.  I tried to find two of those, but in order to maintain a good balance, I only entered one re-submission this year.

5. Pack it up. I decided on what order to present the final nine pieces, wrote out descriptions of each in a letter to my editor, burned a CD of Finale recordings, packed it all up, and mailed the letter, CD, and scores. 

Now I wait. The selection committee meets sometime in June and I usually hear from them by late July, around my birthday.  It's always a tense time, knowing that I've done my best and put a lot of work into the submissions, but realizing that there are a lot of factors that go into their final decision.  I'm sure the folks at Alfred go through the same process, but with hundreds of submitted scores from dozens of composers, whereas I started the process with only about 20 pieces.

Until then, I can look forward to the roll-out of last year's selections. They're already available for sale at jwpepper.com and the recordings should be released soon!

New Commission! (Update)

I had a great couple of holidays and used my time to work on that commission for the Charlotte MENC orchestra contest that I mentioned a few weeks ago.

I've now finished first drafts on all four pieces and have sent them in to my contact in Charlotte. I do have a few concerns that some aspects may be too difficult (or perhaps too easy) for each grade level, so I'm looking forward to the feedback.

It's sight reading music, so I can't divulge any specifics about what keys, meters, and styles I used, but they're each around 30 measures and clock in at about one minute (at tempo).  I'm really happy with how they turned out and I think that they'll be even better when I spin them into full-length pieces later.

New Commission!

I'm very proud to announce that I'm working on a new commission!  Every once in a while, someone contacts me and asks me to write something special for them.  In this case, that someone is the Charlotte, North Carolina chapter of the MENC (Music Educators' National Conference). They've asked me to write the sight-reading selections for their Spring Contest!

I get quite a few international visitors, so I'll explain: Here in the States, many school orchestras participate in  "contest" in the Spring, where they perform a short program and get criticism from a panel of judges. The judges then award ratings and it's a source of pride (and stress) for many music programs.  Along with prepared selections, orchestras are also judged on their ability to read a short selection of never-before-seen music.  That's where I come in.

The Charlotte MENC has asked me to write a short piece for each of four ability levels. They even provided a list of what keys, meters, rhythms, bowings, articulations, and techniques that each level of orchestra should be able to sight-read.

Obviously, I can't give any specific details here about how my pieces will look or sound, but I can reveal that they're all around 30 measures.  I'm sure judges get bored hearing the same pieces over and over all day long, so I want to make them all as different as possible.


I really can't sell 30-measure pieces for publication, and because they are all written for different ability levels, they won't hang together as a suite.  So the plan is to take each one later, spin them into full-scale pieces and submit them to my publisher.

This is turning out to be a really fun project!  I've already finished the Grade I and II pieces, I'm about halfway done with the Grade III piece, and I hope to finish Grade IV by the end of the year.  Then I'll submit them to my contact in Charlotte and we'll work together to make adjustments and corrections so they comply with the criteria in each grade level.

North Pole Workshop

My third piece officially has a title!  After submitting it as "Workshop Song," my editor suggested I change it to be more overtly Christmas-related.  I suggested "North Pole Workshop" and they're going with it.  So there it is - next year you can look for these three new pieces:

Maharaja
Shadows of Venice
North Pole Workshop

Also, they liked my suggestion of including alternate parts for "Shadows of Venice."  The set will include Violin III parts (doubling the Viola part) and Cello II parts (doubling the Bass). The reason we're doing that is that each part includes at least one solo, so if an orchestra has no basses or weak violas, they can still perform the piece.