On the Air
General Info
Year: 2012
Duration: c. 6:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Michael Daugherty
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - Rental | Score Only (print) - $35.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II-III-IV
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV-V-VI
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- Bass Drum
- Castanets
- Crash Cymbals
- Glockenspiel
- Gong
- Maracas
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Vibra-slap
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
On the Air for Symphonic Band (by Grammy®-winning composer Michael Daugherty) is a music fantasy on Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in live radio broadcasts at Rockefeller Center in New York City from 1937 to 1954.
Born in Parma, Italy, Toscanini (1867-1954) was internationally recognized as the most gifted conductor of his time, famous for his definitive interpretation of operatic and symphonic repertoire. In 1936, Toscanini was forced into exile at the height of his career for his refusal to become part of Mussolini's Fascist regime. The 70-year-old sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the island of Manhattan, where he cast his magic spell upon all who heard him conduct. Under his baton the NBC Symphony was heard by millions of listeners, and through his live radio broadcasts and recordings, “Maestro Toscanini” became a household name in America. Life magazine reported, “The world knows Toscanini as a great conductor with a fearful temper, an unfailing memory, and the power to lash orchestras into frenzies of fine playing.”
In On the Air, Michael Daugherty has composed exciting music that captures Toscanini's tempestuous temperament, his musical intensity, and the frenzied tempos of his legendary performances.
- Program Note from publisher
On the Air depicts an iconic figure, a common thread in Daugherty's compositions. Similar works by Daugherty using this concept include Metropolis Symphony (198801993), Desi (1991), Bells for Stokowski (2001) and The Gospel According to Sister Aimee (2012). Daugherty states the following regarding his use of American icons for inspiration:
For me icons serve as a way to have an emotional reason to compose a new work. I get ideas for my compositions by browsing through second-hand bookstores, antique shops, and small town that I find driving on the back roads of America. The icon can be an old postcard, magazine, photograph, knick-knack, matchbook, piece of furniture or roadmap. Like Ives and Mahler, I use icons in my music to provide the listener and performer with a layer of reference. However, one does not need the reference of the icon to appreciate my music. It is merely one level among many in the musical, contrapunctal fabric of my compositions.
- Program Note from Teaching Music through Performance in Band
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB) Concert Band (John Cody Birdwell, conductor) - 16 February 2019 (2019 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
- University of Texas, Arlington, Wind Symphony (Douglas Stotter, conductor) – 29 April 2016
- United Township High School (East Moline, Ill.) (David Maccabee, conductor) – 28 April 2016
- University of Central Oklahoma (Edmond) Wind Symphony (Brian Lamb, conductor) – 18 March 2016 (CBDNA 2016 Southwestern Division Conference, Boulder, Colo.
- San Diego (Calif.) State University Wind Symphony (Shannon Kitelinger, conductor) - 19 March 2012 – *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Made for You and Me: Inspired by Woody Guthrie (Adaptable Band) (2020)
All Wind Works
- The Adventures of Jesse Owens (2023)
- American Gothic (tr. Daugherty and Galyen) (2013/2019)
- Asclepius (2007)
- Alligator Alley (2003)
- Bells for Stokowski (2002)
- Bizarro (1993)
- Brooklyn Bridge (2005)
- Dead Elvis (1999)
- Desi (1991)
- Dreamachine (2014/2022)
- Labyrinth of Love (2012)
- Ladder to the Moon (2005)
- Lift Up Thine Ears (2021/2022)
- Lost Vegas (2011)
- Made for You and Me: Inspired by Woody Guthrie (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Motown Metal (1994)
- Niagara Falls (1997)
- Of War and Peace (2017)
- On the Air (2012)
- Passacaglia in Primary Colors (2023)
- Raise the Roof (2007)
- Red Cape Tango (tr. Spede) (1993/1999)
- Reflections on the Mississippi for Tuba and Band (2013)
- Rio Grande (2015)
- Rosa Parks Boulevard (2001)
- Songs from a Silent Land (2019)
- Timbuktuba (1995)
- UFO (2000)
- Vulcan (2014)
- Winter Dreams (2015)
Resources
- Daugherty, M. (2012). On the Air : For Symphonic Band (2012) : Symphonic Fantasy on Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra [score]. Michael Daugherty Music: [United States]
- Kitelinger, Shannon. "On the Air." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 10, Compiled and edited by Richard Miles, 659-666. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2015.
- Michael Daugherty website