a patriotic homage and how it came to be

In the spring of 2015 I had the honor of meeting John O’Reilly, composer and former chief concert band editor for Alfred Music. John’s granddaughter was an oboe player in my band at Joe E. Newsome High School. John had emailed me earlier in the year about playing some of his music, and I happily obliged. The concert was framed as a guest composer concert, and we played at least one of his pieces with each ensemble.

As I myself was (and still am) an aspiring composer, I took it upon myself to program my Tribute for Band. While at lunch between rehearsals I asked John if he thought it was publishable. His response: “Send it to my friend Bob Sheldon.” Bob is the chief concert band editor for Alfred Music. Opportunity knocked, so I opened the door. I sent a draft to Bob, and to my delight he liked it enough to add it to Alfred’s 2017 catalogue. I was and will forever be grateful to John for connecting me with Bob, and to Bob for fulfilling my lifelong dream of being picked up by a major music publisher. I’ve since worked with multiple publishers, have self-published, and am learning the ins and outs of the business (future blog post).

Tribute for Band isn’t a true “composition” because it’s an arrangement of previously existing music. It uses the famous bugle-call melody Taps which was originally composed by Daniel Butterfield. The simple tune consists of many long sustains over which I incorporated various other patriotic quotes including Simple Gifts, Battle Hymn of the Republic, The Star Spangled Banner, and Amazing Grace. The Taps theme is presented twice with a dramatic modulation in the middle.

Composer tip: Tuneful melodies and creative repetition are paramount when composing approachable music for scholastic ensembles. I always sensed this, but it was Larry Clark, previous Vice President and Editor at Carl Fischer Music and now owner of Excelcia Music that instilled this in me during one of our early conversations (another future blog post).

I originally wrote this arrangement to honor the life of a long time friend and colleague, Bruce McCready. Bruce was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving from 1966 to 1967 in Korea. He retired as the Dean of Students at Marcus Whitmas High School in Rushville, NY, and was a beloved educator and adjudicator in the pageantry arts. Bruce was one of my instructors when I performed with the Syracuse Brigadiers Drum and Bugle Corps from Syracuse, NY. The Brigs were the first to play the piece when it was called Tribute and scored for a choir of G bugles!

TRIBUTE FOR BAND can be acquired directly from Alfred Music or from the music distributer J.W. Pepper. For more about me, my music or to commission a new work please visit my website, Michael J. Miller Music L.L.C.