CUTOFF - 2021
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If you have ever been in a concert band, you have been a victim of the gut-wrenching ill timed cutoff. The momentum of the piece you are playing is building to that fantastic payoff that lands on the chord representing home, and then the unthinkable happens. The conductor cuts off right before that resolution, robbing you of that closure.
As someone who has both been on the receiving end of that cutoff and the directing side of giving that cutoff, I was inspired to write a piece where that cutoff is part of the design. At multiple times in this lighthearted piece, you will hear the buildup and anticipation towards a resolution that will never come... EDUCATOR'S NOTE Cutoff was also written with the mindset that it would be beneficial in the middle school band classroom for developing skills. Those developing skills include offbeat entrances, dynamic changes, differentiation of parts rhythmically, and some occasional slurred articulations. Furthermore, ranges have been carefully considered to keep all instruments within an octave, and clarinets are kept below the break. A majority of parts doubled in other parts, and the piece can be played with Flute, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Trumpet, and Trombone. Percussion is recommended, but not necessary. |
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