SPIN
FOR CONCERT BAND

Published in 2020 by C. ALAN PUBLICATIONS

 

ABOUT THE COMPOSITION

Spin, a brief and energetic work for concert band, draws its inspiration and title from the composer’s childhood family biking trips on the scenic Root River State Trail in southeastern Minnesota. It is dedicated to the composer’s primary music teachers: Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin at St. Olaf College, Keith Liuzzi at Minneapolis Southwest High School, and Jeffrey Ruhnke at Carondelet Catholic School.

Spin, composed in 2018 by Carl Schroeder, has an approximate performance duration of 3 1/2 minutes. The difficulty level is grade 4.5, appropriate for college, professional, and advanced high school and community bands.

Spin was published in spring 2020 by C. Alan Publications and is available for purchase through online music stores including C. Alan Publications and J.W. Pepper.


ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Carl Schroeder of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composes music for concert band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and solo piano that often draws inspiration from American history, current events, natural surroundings and memories. His large ensemble music has been performed by more than 40 concert bands, orchestras and choirs, including the Air Force Band of Mid-America, Minnesota Youth Symphonies and Chamber Choir Kyiv. He has written works on commissions from the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Minnesota State Band, Cornell University Symphonic Band, Southwest Wind Ensemble, Calhoun-Isles Community Band, Wells Fargo Chorus and other ensembles and individuals. His music is featured on five CD recordings, his choral work Two December Carols is published by Boosey & Hawkes, and his concert band work Spin is published by C. Alan Publications.

Schroeder is a 2005 graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he studied composition primarily with Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin. In 2001, he was named "Composer with Most Potential" by the Minnesota Music Educators Association, and in 2004 he was one of three under-25 American composers chosen to participate in the National Band Association’s Young Composer Mentor Project, where he took lessons with composers Mark Camphouse, Donald Grantham and Dana Wilson. He composed Spin in 2018.

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MORE ON SPIN

A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER
Spin was inspired by my childhood family biking trips in southeastern Minnesota, and is dedicated to four music teachers who were very influential in the course of my education: Timothy Mahr, Peter Hamlin, Keith Liuzzi and Jeffrey Ruhnke.

While growing up, one of my favorite traditions was my family’s annual bike trips near Lanesboro, Minnesota. I’ve written several pieces inspired by favorite memories, and Spin is the newest one, meant to capture the spirit of a mile-long ride at top speed in high gear. Set in one continuous quick tempo, it uses frequently-shifting metersprimarily 7/8, 3/4 and 4/4, plus a bar of 9/8that call to mind the irregular rhythms of bike pedaling, with a few periodic moments of calm as the music coasts along before the pedal rhythms resume, building to a triumphant finale.

Timothy Mahr conducted the premiere of Spin in May 2019 with the Minnesota Symphonic Winds, and in 2020 C. Alan Publications added Spin to its catalog, making it my first published work for band. My deepest thanks to Tim, the Minnesota Symphonic Winds and C. Alan Publications for bringing this piece into the world.

– Carl Schroeder, March 2020

CONCERT PERFORMANCES
May 5, 2019: Minnesota Symphonic Winds; Timothy Mahr, conductor - Plymouth, MN premiere
VIDEO LINK Watch  on YouTube
Nov. 13, 2021: St. Olaf Festival Band; Timothy Mahr, conductor - Northfield, MN premiere
Nov. 18, 2022: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Symphony Band; Phillip Ostrander, conductor - Eau Claire, WI VIDEO LINK Watch this performance on YouTube

RECORDINGS
Southwest Memories and other music by Carl Schroeder - Minnesota Symphonic Winds; Timothy Mahr, conductor


DETAILS AND PURCHASING INFORMATION

Instrumentation: pic, 2 fl, ob, bsn, 3 cl, b cl, 2 a sax, t sax, b sax, 3 tpt, 2 hn, 3 tbn, euph, tuba, timp, sd, bd, cym, xylo
Difficulty Level: Grade 4.5 (Ideal for college/professional and advanced high school/community bands)

PURCHASE SCORES AND PARTS FROM C. ALAN PUBLICATIONS OR J.W. PEPPER

Listen to Recording | Performed by the Minnesota Symphonic Winds (Timothy Mahr, conductor)