Tortoiseshell Music Home of composer Nathan Curtis

I've been writing a fair bit of music for concert band/wind ensemble lately, so I thought I'd delve into some more wind ensemble classics, the previous one being Karel Husa's Music for Prague 1968. Today I want to introduce you to Winds of Nagual, by Michael Colgrass.

Michael Colgrass composed Winds of Nagual in 1985 for the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble. The work is based on the writings of anthropologist cum shaman Carlos Castaneda, and has seven programmatic movements:

• "The Desert: Don Juan Emerges from the Mountains"
• "Don Genaro Appears"
• "Carlos Stares at the River and Becomes a Bubble"
• "The Gait of Power"
• "Asking Twilight for Calmness and Power"
• "Don Juan Clowns for Carlos"
• "Last Conversation and Farewell"

The improbable mysticism of its inspiration notwithstanding, Winds of Nagual is a fine work in its own right, and can easily enjoy it (as I do) without being familiar with Castaneda's writings (as I am not). The style of the music ranges from visceral primitivism, à la Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, to lush diatonicism. Here, the introduction, with its high Eb clarinet solo, is paired with the comparably stratospheric (for their respective registers) bassoon solo from the introduction to The Rite of Spring:

Winds of Nagual: Introduction
Rite of Spring: Introduction

Winds of Nagual, being largely programmatic, features a number of recurring motives to designate characters or settings. Further on in the opening movement, we are introduced to Carlos. The hesitant clarinet solo indicates his trepidation at meeting the sorcerer Don Juan, while the misterioso passage for alto flute which follows is labelled in the score as "Don Juan shows Carlos a new side of himself."

Carlos's Theme

Winds of Nagual also contains two of the most sensuous movements in the band literature, the twin meditations of "Carlos Stares at the River and Becomes a Bubble" and "Asking Twilight for Calmness and Power." Here I have included "Asking Twilight" in its entirety, along with the end of "Gait of Power," to give some context to "Asking Twilight" and further illustrate Stravinsky's influence. Also note the further transformations of Carlos's theme: the forceful brass chorale in "Gait of Power" (marked "Carlos exerts his will" in the score) and the saxophone and flugelhorn solos in "Asking Twilight."

Gait of Power/Asking Twilight for Calmness and Power

With "Don Juan Clowns for Carlos," Colgrass injects a bit of levity into this otherwise quite weighty work. Here, a folklike dance is turned on its ear:

Don Juan Clowns for Carlos

In "Last Conversation and Farewell," Colgrass nearly overstays his welcome. The diatonic harmonies cross the line from straightforwardly affective to overtly sentimental, and the music is rescued from schmaltz only by pushing past the breaking point:

Last Conversation and Farewell

While an excellent piece of music, Winds of Nagual is not without its flaws. In some ways, the strengths and weaknesses are two sides of the same coin: Colgrass occasionally goes too far with his diatonic harmonies, passing from lush to cloying. Similarly, I wish that the Stravinskian moments of the piece were less blatant, but I can't deny their effect. As a result, I don't think these issues would greatly affect the general audience reception. Nevertheless, Winds of Nagual, while fairly well established by reputation in the wind ensemble literature, is not that widely performed. One reason is its technical difficulty, which in my partly informed opinion (I have listened to Winds of Nagual with score in hand, but have never performed it) exceeds that of Music for Prague 1968. The other primary reason is its idiosyncratic instrumentation: 

• 3 Flutes (doubling Piccolo and Alto Flute)
• Eb Clarinet
• 6 Bb Clarinets
• Bb Bass Clarinet
• Eb Contra-alto Clarinet
• Bb Contrabass Clarinet
• Contrabassoon
• Soprano Saxophone
• Alto Saxophone
• 6 Trumpets (2 doubling Cornet)
• Flugelhorn
• 6 Horns
• 6 Trombones
• Euphonium (2 players)
• Tuba (2 players)
• String Bass
• Celesta/Piano
• Harp
• Timpani
• 5 Percussion

Compared to standard concert band instrumentation, we have no oboes, no standard bassoons, no low saxophones, more clarinet and brass parts than usual, and the presence of several unusual instruments (alto flute, contra-alto and contrabass clarinet, contrabassoon, flugelhorn, celeste). A wind ensemble must therefore have significant instrumental resources to attempt this piece. Despite these challenges, at least four wind ensembles at the university and conservatory level have recorded Winds of Nagual, so it should not be too difficult to find.

Recordings Cited:
Live from Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, Frank Battisti conducting. Albany Records. (Winds of Nagual)
Favorite Stravinsky Ballets, Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz conducting. Delos. (Rite of Spring)