Code of Conduct

CODE of CONDUCT
Concerto for alto/soprano saxophone and wind ensemble
Duration: 17′

Commissioned by and dedicated to Mike Fansler, Charlie Chadwell, and WIU Wind Ensemble Additional consortium members listed below.

instrumentation:

solo alto/soprano saxophone (1 player) b
piccolo – 2 flutes – oboe – 2 bassoons – 2 B clarinets – bass clarinet section saxophones: soprano/alto sax, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax. (note: all four join the soloist for concerto grosso solo roles)
2 B trumpets – 2 french horns – 2 trombones – 2 euphoniums – tuba piano – harp
timpani + 5 percussion

percussion instrumentation:

mallets 1: crotales, xylophone, glockenspiel
mallets 2: vibraphone, marimba
percussion 1: wood block (hi), sus. cym., snare drum, bongo (hi), chimes, tambourine percussion 2: triangle, hi-hat, tambourine, snare drum, sus. cym., tam-tam
percussion 3: bass drum, sus. cym., triangle, tenor drum

Program Notes:

Once again I am honored to have my music supported by Mike Fansler, Director of bands at
Western Illinois University. Mike and Charlie Chadwell (WIU saxophone professor) joined me for a discussion to see what sort of new saxophone concerto we might create.
Out of that discussion came the unique plan to include the teacher’s (Charlie’s) students as a part of the concerto, in essence joining their mentor front and center for part of a concerto, and in celebrating the saxophone.
In doing that, I hoped to create a section of this work that is all out fun, groovy, and a chance for
teacher and students to bond and basically “jam” together on the stage.
The rest of the concerto is both lyrical and quasi-pointillistic, giving the saxophonist a chance
to express many different personalities and qualities of the saxophone. Overall, the concerto is completely American; for no other reason than because that is what I am!
One last unique aspect of the concerto is the focus on the number “59128”.
This was Mike’s serial number on his first saxophone, and I had a little fun instilling this “code” into
the concerto in many different ways; hence the code of the conductor, or, “CODE of CONDUCT”
as in the title of the work.

~ Jim Stephenson; December 16, 2022

ComposerJim.com

Additional support provided by the following consortium members:

Auburn University, Rick Good
Commonwealth University of PA-Mansfield, Adam F. Brennan Dordt University, Onsby Rose
Drake University, Robert Meunier
Illinois State University, Anthony Marinello
Indiana State University, Stephen Gage
Iowa State University, Michael Golemo
Kansas State University, Frank Tracz
Purdue University, Jay Gephart
Rutgers University, Todd Nichols
Texas A&M University, Timothy Rhea
Texas Christian University, Bobby R. Francis
University of Wisconsin La Crosse, Justin Davis
West Chester University, Andrew Yozviak