Power Dynamics

winner of the 2020 MSU College of Music Honor’s Composition Competition

ensemble band, 1 on a part (23 players)

Flute 1 (doubles Piccolo) 

Flute 2 (doubles Piccolo) 

Oboe

Clarinet in Bb 1

Clarinet in Bb 2

Bass Clarinet

Bassoon 

Alto Saxophone 1 (doubles Tenor Sax) 

Alto Saxophone 2 (doubles Bari Sax) 

Horn in F 1 

Horn in F 2 

Trumpet in Bb 1*

Trumpet in Bb 2 *

Tenor Trombone*

Bass Trombone *

Euphonium 

Tuba 

Percussion 1 (Vibraphone) 

Percussion 2 (Bass drum, claves or 2 beaters or similar sounding perc) 

Percussion 3 (Slap Stick, Snare Drum, Triangle) 

Piano (Celeste)

Harp

Double Bass

*requires a straight mute or the performer’s choice

duration 7 mins
written 2020
for Master’s Thesis at Michigan State University
premièred tbd by the MSU Wind Symphony

Program Note:

A power dynamic is how different people/organizations interact with each other where one side has more perceived power than the other. It is also the extent to which less powerful members of organizations/institutions accept, expect, and don’t question that power is distributed unequally.  Power dynamics govern most if not all human interaction in this way.  It is in the way which people feel that they can effectively communicate and interact socially and professionally. It is in the way students interact with their teachers, peers with each other, workers with employers, populations and their governments, the list goes on. It even exists in the tradition of classical music. Whoever we perceive to have power in any given situation has it over us, and often this relationship is passively accepted and exploited generations over to keep people/institutions from having any power, and for that matter, the capacity to elicit substantial change. Being aware of and navigating everyday power dynamics is seemingly so second nature, but we should always be skeptical of who/what has the power in any given situation, what that means in terms of larger societal implications, and why it got that way in the first place.  

This piece attempts to question traditional power dynamics of the wind ensemble medium and tradition in a few different ways, mainly through subversion of expectations in orchestration, form, and musical material.  Every choice of orchestration was informed by questioning who would usually get this kind of importance in the ensemble, and then asking why and if a different sound could instead be desired.  As a pocket concerto for wind ensemble, every player has an important and soloistic part at some point; however, I decided to restructure the most traditionally powerful roles away from the wind players completely, and instead have three of the most underused/underrepresented members of the wind ensemble act as the instigators for the musical material––the harp, double bass, and pianist, which are so often included in this medium but so often relegated to background roles.  

The piece begins and ends from this small trio of instruments, and the compositional processes which happen in between lead to a power struggle of sorts between the trio, wind ensemble, percussion, and conductor - all fighting to hold onto power. The way the music progresses from that point asks the audience, what happens when you redistribute the power away from people with it (instruments in this case) to those who don’t have it? In places where you don’t have power, do you recognize it and question why that’s the case? In places where you do hold the power, are you leveraging it to be more open and inclusive?