Three Hummel Figurines (Three Warm-up chorals) (op. 81f, 1986/87)
I. Dedicated to SOSC Band II. Dedicated to WIBC III. Dedicated to Nell McKee
I. Tier, II. Phoenix, III. Schöne
Flute, oboe, 3 clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet in B flat, 2 bassoons, alto saxophone in E flat, tenor saxophone in B flat, baritone saxophone in E flat, 3 trumpets in B flat, French horn, 2 trombones, 1 bass trombone, tuba, baritone tuba in B flat, percussion
Duration: 9 minutes
Southern Oregon State College Symphonie Band | Max McKee
Southern Oregon State College Symphonie Band | Max McKee
WIBC International Honor Band Seattle | Larry Sutherland
I. Tier: Title: Warm-up chorale, length: 2 pages (particell), date: 1986
Insert: Warm up chorale variant bars 14-22, date: 27.1.87
II. Warm up chorale II: Length: 3 pages (particell), date: 9.4.87
III Schöne, title: WARM-UP-Choral III, Length: 2 pages (particell), Date: 87
Free sheet music download
First editions:
- Tier was published under the title Warmup Chorale in WIBC BULLETIN / Fall 1986 with score and parts
- Phönix was published under the title Warmup Chorale #2 in BANDWORLD - The International Band Magazine / November-December 1987 with score and parts
- Schöne was published under the title Chorale #3 in BANDWORLD - The International Band Magazine / March-April 1988 with score and parts
Under the title Three Hummel Figurines, the individual movements with the titles 1. Tier 2. Phönix 3 Schöne appeared together for the first time in the anthology Warm-ups That Work, Ashland 1998
In 1978 I was in Oregon (USA) on the occasion of the première of my Symphony for large wind orchestra op. 67, which I had written on commission from the conductor Max McKee. On this occasion I made some small gifts to the conductor and his wife in the form of small compositions for wind orchestra. Then came the question: Can we call these pieces "Hummel Figures"? The Hummel figures were so fashionable in America at the time that I was repeatedly asked whether I was related to their "inventor" Berta Hummel. I had to answer in the negative, but agreed to the name for the sake of curiosity. I am told that the pieces are often performed in the USA.
Bertold Hummel (January 1998)
Bertold Hummel's Three Hummel Figurines, which appeared in various issues of Bandworld, were composed between May 1986 and November 1987. The first was written in May 1986 and was dedicated to "Max McKee and my SOSCWATCH friends in Ashland, Oregon". (SOSCWATCH was the name adopted by the then Southern Oregon State College Band Alumni Association as a pun on the word "sasquatch"). The first concert performance took place in November 1986 with the SOU Symphonic Band. The second "chorale" was composed in May 1987 and was dedicated to the Western International Band Clinic (hence the name Phoenix, whose image serves as the logo of the WIBC). Its first performance by this symphonic band was in November of the same year. The last was written in November 1987, shortly before the composer's appearance as guest conductor of the WIBC Directors' Band in Seattle, Washington. It bears a dedication to Nelwyn McKee and was premiered by the WIBC International Honor Band (under Dr Larry Sutherland, California State University, Fresno). The other two "Chorales" were performed in the same concert with the WIBC Directors' Band under the direction of the composer.
Bandworld Magazine, Ashland