Wind Ensemble

WIND ENSEMBLE literature has traditionally been dominated by the Sousa mentality, the effect of which has been the subjugation of ten thousand years of intellectual and spiritual development by the mindless necessities of a hundred yards of football sod. One of the most powerful arguments against the infinite perfectability and for the original sin of man is the steady accumulation of astoundingly vulgar pieces of brassy claptrap and woolly woodwind shrieks which feed the voracious football band. In the face of this surging ocean of treacle stand a handful of superb works for wind, three of which--Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat and Octet, and Gustav Holst's Hammer-smith: Prelude and Scherzo--were performed by the newly organized and intensely promising Harvard Wind Ensemble.

Certain composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvorak possess an unerring inner discrimination for the wind timbres and persuasion, while many other composers simply pay obligatory homage to the noisemakers with passages of stark, inhumane cacophony for the brass, or limpid, precious colorings for the woodwind. With such works as Soldat, Octet, Dumbarton Oaks, and Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Stravinsky is definitely a member of the former group. L'Histoire du Soldat (1918), a suite of elegant miniatures for seven players, was given a generally excellent reading under the direction of student conductor David Archibald. Mr. Archibald, although somewhat inhibited technically, maintained metrical control and instrumental balance. In his propriety of gesture he was refreshingly free from both the hysterical and praying mantis perversions, conducting with simple, effective judiciousness resulting from the unself-indulgent understanding of a work. The few instances of imprecision, such as slight rhythmic tediousness in the "Marche du Soldat," unsettled trumpet playing in the difficult "Marche Royale," and a careless-bassoon duet in the "Brook" were hardly noticeable amid excellent solo and ensemble work. This delightful compendium of street band, drawing room, Hades, the gently-watered country-side, and dance hall is unlikely to receive a significantly finer student performance at Harvard.

The first half of the program thrust us into intermission in the wake of a rather dreadful anticlimax, the Suite in B-flat for thirteen winds by Richard Strauss. This childhood product suffers from the uneasy mixture of a strong Brahmsian influence with overly thick scoring in all but the last movement. The work occasionally possesses a deep sable ambience characteristic of Strauss and is permeated with his incomparable horn writing, but the material is for the most part as boring as a bog. Strauss' penchant for opaque writing, as if he feels guilty when someone isn't playing, only redoubles the wearisomeness of the piece. In passing, while the oboe soloist played well, he was irritatingly clamorous.

THE Octet is one of Stravinsky's most austere pieces, but is nevertheless a masterful enquiry into wind dialogue. The work exhibits Stravinsky's polyphonic terseness and lucidity, and particularly his severe economy of expression in which not a single note or beat is gratuitous excess. The Octet is a collection of crystalline inflections reflecting jewel-like through the mists of Strauss' Suite. Stravinsky is the greatest master of the liberating freshness of technical discipline since Bach. His pellucid textures are never subjected to the spoilage of superfluity but rather to an intensely self-conscious merging of the intoxication of original inspiration with master-craftsmanship. The Octet reflects this Master's modality of intellectual fervor and artistic vigilance. In its investigation of sonata form it also reflects his consciousness of the equal need for innovation and universality, by the light of living tradition. The Ensemble under the direction of conductor James Walker played absolutely splendidly, especially in the variation movement.

The final work of consequence was Holst's masterpiece for large wind band, Hammersmith. Holst was a chaste, humble man of quiet, massive integrity and gentleness. His conscience burned aghast at the stupidity of conflict while at the same time luxuriated in stout goodwill. While most comfortable in small forms, Holst also created large works such as the Hymn to Jesus, the opera Savitri, the cinematic Planets, and the sombre tone poem Egdon Heath. The Ensemble was less successful with this work, but the excellence of the brass choir, which played with solar brightness, was the best I have heard all year.

The Wind Ensemble definitely demonstrated that wind music need not be puerile bravado or hideous sentimentality. Their maiden concert allowed the genius of the wind instruments to enjoy full play.