Music at Butler: Butler University Wind Ensemble
End of the World
Michael Schelle’s The End of the World, for Symphonic Band, was the winner of the 2012 National Band Association William D. Revelli Composition Prize and serves as the title of our final concert of the 2024-2025 academic year.
We open the program with a work by one of our distinguished alumni, Evan VanDoren titled Horizons Untold. A vivid fanfare and concert opener sure to grab the audience from its first notes. We conclude the first half of the program featuring four of our fantastic string faculty in Irwin Schulhoff’s Concerto for String Quartet and Wind Ensemble. We welcome to the stage Dr. Mélanie Clapiès, violin; Dr. Davis Broosk, violin; Dr. Lisa Brooks, viola; Dr. Sophie Benn, violincello as our guest soloists in Schulhoff’s quartet.
The second half of the program features a new work by Lindsay Bronnenkant, Tarot, a welcomed treasure to our repertoire. The composer writes:
I decided to compose a suite that traces Holst’s footsteps but applies his musical experimentation to a new topic: Tarot. Like astrology, Tarot cards have been used for divination, and as each planet in modern astrology represents specific characteristics and personality traits, so too does each Tarot card. Some elements of the Hindustani thāts, Karnātak mēlakarta rāgas, and pitch sets Holst references in his Planets are referenced in Tarot using a similarly Western approach to portray Tarot card analogs.
Finally, we close the concert with bagpipes, a smoke machine, and Dr. Michael Schelle performing The End of the World.