An Exploration of Topical Interaction in Symphony for Wind Band

Symphony for Wind Band is a single-movement tonal piece for wind band. It features four overarching sections with numerous changes in key, meter, tempo, and mood. The juxtapositions and contrasts of mood reflect a narrative conflict between two music topics: the pastoral and the city. Each of these topics possess musical signifiers present in the piece as well as extra-musical associations that add levels of significance to a narrative interpretation.

This paper will outline my reasons for composing for wind band and present a topical analysis of the piece. This analysis will include hermeneutic interpretations based on how the topics are sequenced and interact with each other, the latter phenomenon known as “troping.” While the piece is primarily through-composed with little thematic recurrence, exploring this conflict of topics helps elucidate the compositional logic of the piece and brings forth an interpretation best explained through a topic theory methodology. This exercise in self-analysis presents an opportunity to explore unique aspects of the compositional process.