TITLE: Desi (1991)

COMPOSER: Michael Daugherty (b.1954)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Michael Daugherty composes concert music that is inspired by contemporary American popular culture. His Metropolis Symphony (1988-93) for orchestra and Bizarro (1993) for symphonic winds are a tribute to the Superman comics, recorded by conductor David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Argo. These same performers recorded Daugherty's Desi (1991) for symphonic winds on the Argo CD Dance Mix. Born in 1954 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Daugherty is the son of a dance-band drummer and the oldest of five brothers, all professional musicians. Daugherty grew up playing keyboards in jazz, rock, and funk bands in Iowa. At North Texas State University (1972-76), he continued performing jazz and composed his first orchestral work. In 1976, he moved to New York City, where he studied composition at the Manhattan School of Music and played piano for modern dance companies.

In the following years, Daugherty divided his time between Europe and the United States. He was a Fulbright Fellow in Paris, composing computer music at IRCAM (1979-80). At Yale University (1980-82), he studied with composers Earle Brown, Jacob Druckman, Bernard Rands, and Roger Reynolds; during this time he also collaborated with jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York City. Daugherty moved to Amsterdam and pursued further studies with György Ligeti in Hamburg, Germany (1982-84).

Upon his return to America, Daugherty performed live synthesizer concerts of his own music with classic silent film, and played jazz piano in lounges and night clubs. He received a doctorate degree in music composition from Yale University in 1986, and came to national attention as a composer when Snap!-Blue Like an Orange (1987) won a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. After teaching music composition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1986 to 1991, Daugherty joined the music composition faculty at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 1999, he began a four-year tenure as composer-in-residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

--- Biography created from notes written by Michael Daugherty

MOVEMENTS: One

PERFORMANCE TIME: 6' 00"

INSTRUMENTATION: 26 Instruments

• 3 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 4 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, 1 Tuba, 1 Piano, 4 Percussion which includes a Bongo soloist

EDITIONS: Rental

• Boosey and Hawkes - http://www.booseyandhawkes.com/musicshop/acatalog/

COMPOSITION SKETCH AND MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Desi was premiered at the 1991 College Band Directors National Association Convention in Kansas City. The composition is a tribute to Desi Arnaz, who played the Cuban band leader, Ricky Ricardo,alongside his wife, Lucille Ball, in "I Love Lucy," widely regarded as one of the most innovative television comedy shows of the 1950's. The opening rhythmic motive is derived from the "Conga Dance" made famous by Arnaz, when he sang and played bongos in Hollywood film musicals in the 1940's. In Desi, the bongo soloist and percussion section proved a lively counterpoint to intricately structured canons and four-note cluster chords, creating polyrhythmic layers that intensify and build to a sizzling conclusion. Desi evokes a Latin sound punctuated by big band trumpets, trombone glissandi, and dazzling woodwind runs. Desi has been widely performed by ensembles ranging from the US Marine Band to the St. Louis Symphony, and abroad by ensembles such as the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.

SELECTED RECORDINGS:

RELATED WEBSITES:

Faber Music- http://www.fabermusic.co.uk/daugh.htm

University of Michigan School of Music - http://www.music.umich.edu/