Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web.
Each December, Maslanka Weekly will feature the best performances of David’s most popular works that were uploaded to the web that calendar year. This December, we will feature the best performances uploaded to the web in 2019, highlighting a different work each week. We continue this week by showcasing five extraordinary performances of Traveler from 2019.
Traveler
From David’s Program Note:
Traveler was commissioned in 2003 by the University of Texas at Arlington Band Alumni Association, the Delta Sigma Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi and the Gamma Nu Chapter of Tau Beta Sigma, in honor of the career contributions of Ray C. Lichtenwalter, retiring Director of Bands at UT Arlington. Ray has been a close friend and champion of my music for many years, and it was a great pleasure for me to writ this piece for his final concert.
The idea for Traveler came from the feeling of a big life movement as I contemplated my friend’s retirement. Traveler begins with an assertive statement of the chorale melody “Nicht so traurig, nicht so sehr” (“Not so sad, not so much”). The chorale was not chosen for its title, although in retrospect it seems quite appropriate. The last part of life need not be sad. It is an accumulation of all that has gone before, and a powerful projection into the future – the potential for a tremendous gift of life and joy. And so the music begins with energy and movement, depicting an engaged life in full stride. At the halfway point, a meditative quiet settles in. Life’s battles are largely done; the soul is preparing for its next big step.
In our hearts, our minds, our souls
We travel from life to life to life
In time and eternity.
Watch below as Marcelo Marques leads the Banda Musical Leverense in a performance from November 24, 2019.
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Watch below as Stephen Meyer leads the Northern Arizona University Wind Symphony in a performance from March 1, 2019.
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Watch below as Banda Sinfónica S.M. La Artística de Buñol gives a performance from February 13, 2019.
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Watch below as The H. L. Bourgeois High School Symphonic Winds gives a performance from April 6, 2019.
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Watch below as The YPAS Wind Ensemble gives a performance from May 17, 2019.
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For more information on Traveler, please visit Traveler @ davidmaslanka.com
We would love to hear from you! If you know of any outstanding performances of David Maslanka’s music on the web, please email us at maslankaweekly@maslanka.org.
