The Dallas Wind Symphony

From The Movie Snob

Last night I attended my first concert by the Dallas Wind Symphony, an ensemble composed entirely of wind instruments and percussion (except for one string bass, a pianist, and a harpist). It was an enjoyable evening. The highlight was a piece called Circus Maximus: Symphony No. 3 for Large Wind Ensemble, written by John Corigliano in 2004. As it happens, the Dallas Wind Symphony commissioned the piece, and Mr. Corigliano was in attendance at the concert. Fortunately, the composer took the stage and explaind the piece before we heard it, or else I would have thought it was mostly a horrendous cacophony of noise. It was still pretty cacophonous in parts, but at least I had a sense of what Corigliano was trying to do, and there were some very nice parts as well. Some of it was a little overboard -- for example, he had some players scattered throughout the concert hall, playing from the seats. Hopefully no patrons were seated immediately in front of the rogue trumpeters. At one, a six- or seven-piece marching band came playing down one of the mani aisles on the floor, crossed in front of the stage, and then departed up the other aisle. And the piece ends with a rifle shot. Otherwise, it was very traditional. An interesting taste of the modern music scene.