David Maslanka
Encyclopedia
David Maslanka is a U.S.
composer who writes for a variety of genres, including works for choir
, wind ensemble, chamber music
and symphony orchestra.
Best-known for his highly acclaimed wind ensemble compositions, Maslanka has published nearly 100 pieces, including eight symphonies, six of them for concert band
, nine concerti and a full Mass
. Maslanka’s compositional style is rhythmically intense and extremely complex, yet possesses an underlying delicate beauty. He works from a meditative standpoint of spiritual inspiration, and this gentle, warm quality permeates his music. Maslanka’s compositions have been performed throughout the United States
and Europe
, as well as Australia
, Canada
and Japan
(Savoie 2003).
See full list of compositions by David Maslanka.
(1965–71). During his undergraduate work, Maslanka also spent one year studying abroad at the Mozarteum in Salzburg
, Austria
(1963–64). While attending Michigan State University, Maslanka studied composition with H. Owen Reed
(Maslanka 2004). He served over 20 years on the faculty at Kingsborough Community College
of the City University of New York
and has also served on the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College
, New York University
(Maslanka 2005). Dr. Maslanka is a freelance composer and has worked solely on commission since 1990. He currently lives in Missoula, Montana
.
in Peterborough, New Hampshire
(1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, and 1982), as well as generous grants from the University of Connecticut
Research Foundation, the American Music Center
, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, the State University of New York Research Foundation and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
(ASCAP). He has earned the National Endowment for the Arts
Composer Award three times (1974, ‘75 and ‘89) (Carl Fischer 2005). In 1999, he was awarded the National Symphony Orchestra regional composer-in-residence award. Since 1980, Maslanka has served as a guest composer for over 100 universities, music festivals and conferences (Maslanka 2005).
He is a National Patron of Delta Omicron
, an international professional music fraternity.
, flute
, piano
, marimba
, alto saxophone
and (most recently) trombone
. Maslanka’s second and fourth symphonies have become particularly popular wind literature. His works for percussion include “Montana Music: Three Dances for Percussion,” “Variations of ‘Lost Love,’” “My Lady White,” “Arcadia II: Concerto for Marimba
and Percussion Ensemble” and “Crown of Thorns.” Maslanka has also written a complete Mass for full choir, soprano and baritone soli, with accompaniment by full symphonic band. Having spent his childhood in the New England
area, a number of Maslanka’s compositions were influenced by his close relationship with the ocean
(Alexander 1998). “Sea Dreams,” for example, as well as the second movement of his second symphony, reference large bodies of water. Maslanka’s works have been recorded and produced primarily by Albany Records, as well as Cambria, Crest, CRI, Klavier, Mark, Novisse, St. Olaf and Umass labels. Most of his music is published by Carl Fischer. See full list of compositions by David Maslanka.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer who writes for a variety of genres, including works for choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, wind ensemble, chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
and symphony orchestra.
Best-known for his highly acclaimed wind ensemble compositions, Maslanka has published nearly 100 pieces, including eight symphonies, six of them for concert band
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
, nine concerti and a full Mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
. Maslanka’s compositional style is rhythmically intense and extremely complex, yet possesses an underlying delicate beauty. He works from a meditative standpoint of spiritual inspiration, and this gentle, warm quality permeates his music. Maslanka’s compositions have been performed throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, as well as Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(Savoie 2003).
See full list of compositions by David Maslanka.
Life
Maslanka received his Bachelor of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory (1961–1965) and went on to earn a Master of Music and Doctor of Philosophy from Michigan State UniversityMichigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
(1965–71). During his undergraduate work, Maslanka also spent one year studying abroad at the Mozarteum in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(1963–64). While attending Michigan State University, Maslanka studied composition with H. Owen Reed
H. Owen Reed
Herbert Owen Reed is an American composer, conductor, and author.-Education:Reed was raised in rural Odessa, Missouri, where his first exposure to music was his father's playing of the old-time fiddle...
(Maslanka 2004). He served over 20 years on the faculty at Kingsborough Community College
Kingsborough Community College
Kingsborough Community College , part of the City University of New York system, is the only community college in Brooklyn, New York. The campus is located at Manhattan Beach, which is at the eastern end of Coney Island. The 71-acre campus overlooks Sheepshead Bay, Jamaica Bay, and the Atlantic...
of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
and has also served on the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(Maslanka 2005). Dr. Maslanka is a freelance composer and has worked solely on commission since 1990. He currently lives in Missoula, Montana
Missoula, Montana
Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...
.
Awards and honors
Dr. Maslanka has received five residence fellowships at the MacDowell ColonyMacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
in Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,284 at the 2010 census. Home to the MacDowell Art Colony, the town is a popular tourist destination....
(1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, and 1982), as well as generous grants from the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
Research Foundation, the American Music Center
American Music Center
The American Music Center is a non-profit organization which aims to promote the creating, performing, and enjoying new American music. The organization was founded in 1939 by composers Marion Bauer, Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Harrison Kerr, Otto Luening, and Quincy Porter.The organization has a...
, the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, the State University of New York Research Foundation and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them...
(ASCAP). He has earned the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Composer Award three times (1974, ‘75 and ‘89) (Carl Fischer 2005). In 1999, he was awarded the National Symphony Orchestra regional composer-in-residence award. Since 1980, Maslanka has served as a guest composer for over 100 universities, music festivals and conferences (Maslanka 2005).
He is a National Patron of Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron
Delta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
, an international professional music fraternity.
Works
Many of Maslanka’s compositions for winds and percussion have become established pieces in band repertoire. Among these pieces are “A Child’s Garden of Dreams,” “Rollo Takes a Walk,” and numerous concertos featuring a wide variety of solo instruments, including euphoniumEuphonium
The euphonium is a conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument. It derives its name from the Greek word euphonos, meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced"...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and (most recently) trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
. Maslanka’s second and fourth symphonies have become particularly popular wind literature. His works for percussion include “Montana Music: Three Dances for Percussion,” “Variations of ‘Lost Love,’” “My Lady White,” “Arcadia II: Concerto for Marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
and Percussion Ensemble” and “Crown of Thorns.” Maslanka has also written a complete Mass for full choir, soprano and baritone soli, with accompaniment by full symphonic band. Having spent his childhood in the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
area, a number of Maslanka’s compositions were influenced by his close relationship with the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
(Alexander 1998). “Sea Dreams,” for example, as well as the second movement of his second symphony, reference large bodies of water. Maslanka’s works have been recorded and produced primarily by Albany Records, as well as Cambria, Crest, CRI, Klavier, Mark, Novisse, St. Olaf and Umass labels. Most of his music is published by Carl Fischer. See full list of compositions by David Maslanka.
Quotes
In a letter to a young composer, Dr. Maslanka shared some ideas on his compositional style and method:Further reading
- Hippensteel, Scott A. A Study of David Maslanka’s “Unending Stream of Life”. 2011.