Frenzy

Andrew Boysen, Jr.

General Info

Year: 2010
Duration: c. 8:30
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Neil A. Kjos Music
Cost: Score & Parts - $90.00 | Score Only - $9.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II-III
Oboe I-II-III
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV-V-VI
B-flat Flugelhorn
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

Bass Drum
Bongos
China Cymbal
Crotales (4)
Finger Cymbals
Marimba
Mark Tree
Orchestra Bells
Rachet
Slapstick
Sleigh Bells
Snare Drum
Splash Cymbal
Suspended Cymbals (2: medium and large)
Tam-tam
Tom-toms (4)
Triangle
Vibraphone
Wood Block
Xylophone

Program Notes

Frenzy was commissioned by Dr. Myron Welch and the University of Iowa Symphony Band in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the University of Iowa School of Music. The title refers both to the active and intense nature of the piece, as well as to my own “frenzied” state of mind during its composition. I was both honored and intimidated when Dr. Welch telephoned and offered me the commission for the Symphony Band. It meant a great deal to me to write a piece for the University of Iowa. My sister and I are third generation Hawkeyes, as both of our parents and three of our grandparents attended the institution. I grew up watching Iowa football and basketball and always wanted to march in the Hawkeye Marching Band, like my father. I only applied to one university as a high school senior (that would be unheard of today!). In other words, I am a Hawkeye through and through.

As I considered the commission, I reflected on my experiences in the Symphony Band and my growth as a student while at the university. I also thought about what originally led me to the university and realized that I have two distinct high school memories of the band program at Iowa. Each of them helped solidify my determination to be a student at the school. The first was a high school marching band competition at which the Hawkeye Marching Band performed. The arrangements they played that day featured the mellophones prominently and, as a horn player, I was excited to be a part of that experience. Therefore, Frenzy opens and closes with a big horn glissando in reference to the many horn “rips” that were featured in the Hawkeye Marching Band show.

The second memory is of a performance by the Symphony Band that, I believe, was repeated at a CBDNA convention in Boulder, Colorado in 1986. I loved the entire program, but the work that inspired me at the time was the final movement of David Maslanka’s Symphony No. 2, a fifteen minute tour de force that begins with the trumpet section playing a rather lengthy articulated passage, using a repeated rhythm of one eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes. This opening from Maslanka became my inspiration for Frenzy, using the same rhythmic pattern as the opening of Maslanka’s work, but maintaining this pattern in one voice or another throughout the entire piece. Certainly there is a bit of a homage to David Maslanka in this piece, but it is really intended as a tribute to the musicians of the Symphony Band and their wonderful conductor, Dr. Myron Welch.

Program Notes by composer

Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

California State University Fresno Wind Orchestra (Gary P. Gilroy, conductor) - 7 October 2021
NorthWinds Symphonic Band (Kansas City, Mo.) (John Bell, conductor) - 24 February 2019
United States Marine Band (Washington, D.C.) (Michelle Rakers, conductor) – 10 April 2016
Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville) Wind Symphony (John Bell, conductor) – 11 February 2016
University of North Texas Symphonic Band (Dennis Fisher, conductor) – 17 September 2015
San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra (William V. Johnson, conductor) - 24 March 2012
University of Nevada (Reno) Wind Ensemble (A. G. McGrannahan III, conductor) – 12 March 2010 (CBDNA 2010 Western/Northwestern Division Conference (Reno, Nev.)
Lawrence University (Appleton, Wisc.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Mast, conductor) – 13 March 2008 (CBDNA 2008 North Central Division Conference, Omaha, Neb.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Alchemy (2008/2013)
All the Pretty Little Horses. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Ancient Runes (2017)
Apples (2018)
Branden's Rainbow (1997/2002)
Bright Sunny Days (2013)
By My Side (2018)
Casus Belli (2018)
Celebration In Brass (1995)
Concerto for Percussion (as transcriber) (1994/1997)
Conversations with the Night (1994)
Dance, from All Hail the Power
December Dance (2005)
Diamond Jubilee Suite (2018)
Distorted Images: A Jazzman's Nightmare (1989)
A Fallen Leaf (2004)
Fanfare: In Memoriam (2015)
Fantasy on a Theme by Sousa (2003)
Frenzy (2010)
The Four Horsemen (1989)
A Glimpse through the Trees (2014)
Grant Them Eternal Rest (2003)
Havener Fanfare (2012)
Heirloom (2009)
I Am (1990)
John Henry (1990)
Joyride (2003/2008)
Kinetic Energy (1994)
Kirkpatrick Fanfare (1999)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2006)
Metamorphosis (2013)
Old Ben's Farm (2016/2019)
On the Merrimack (2010)
Ovations (1995)
Phoenix (2020)
Poor Wayfaring Stranger. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Relentless (2000)
Scarborough Fair. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
Scherzo (1995)
Scherzo No 2 (2013)
Shades of Ivory (1996)
Simple Song (1995)
Snowflakes Dancing (2012/2016)
Song for Lyndsay (2005)
Song for My Children (2013)
Song for My Parents (2020)
Song of Loudest Praise, A (2010)
Song of the Sea Maidens (1994)
Stamp, from A Jack Stamp Suite (2017)
Star-Crossed (2013)
Symphony No. 1 for Winds and Percussion (1997)
Symphony No. 3 (1999)
Symphony No. 4 (2006)
Symphony No. 6 (2012)
Symphony No. 8 (2015-2016)
- Winter of the World
Symphony No. 10 (2019)
This Is the Drum (2013)
Thoughts of You (1998)
Three Folk Song Settings for Band
- Poor Wayfaring Stranger (2007/2012)
- All the Pretty Little Horses (as arranger) (2014)
- Scarborough Fair (as arranger) (2013)
Time Streams (After Tricycle) (2011)
To Break Earth's Sleep (2015)
Tricycle (1997)
Twilight of the Gods (2010)
An Uncommon Man (1993)
Unraveling (2006)
Urban Scenes (1993)
The Vikings (2015)

Resources

Andrew Boysen, Jr. website Accessed 24 February 2017
Morehouse, Christopher. "Frenzy." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 9, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 697-706. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2013.