Gunther Schuller

Nature's Way

From the composer: 'Nature's Way for intermediate level band was commissioned by BandQuest, a project initiated by the American Composers Forum. Their mission is for major composers of national reputation to writeworks of high quality that take into consideration the (still comparatively limited) levels of musical development--both technical and conceptual--typical of such ensembles. I eagerly accepted the commission and the challengesimplied thereby--that is, to reign in my creative imagination to some extent and limit the technical/conceptual demands to a more moderate level than is to be found in my previous compositions for band. Nonetheless, since theprocess of rehearsing, studying and performing a work created specifically for the school student market is--and must be, in my view--primarily educational, it was very clear to me that my work would (and should) challenge theplayers at least to their top levels, and even a little beyond that. Thus Nature's Way in no way represents a compromise of my personal style, nor my long held concepts of form, continuity, texture, and instrumentation. Ihave known for a long time that young, inquisitive minds are eager to learn from new experiences, from previously never encountered challenges, that is to say, to be pushed--gently--to rise above their present levels ofachievement. That's what education is all about. '