"Tarantella" from Symphony No. 1 by John Corigliano: a transcription for band

John Corigliano is considered one of the most critically successful American composers of the past quarter century. He has received prestigious awards for both his orchestral and chamber music which have included the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 2, the 2000 Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Red Violin, and the 1996 Grammy Award for Best New Composition for his String Quartet No. 1. Despite his success in the instrumental genres, Corigliano has composed only one piece for band, Gazebo Dances, which was arranged from his 1970 four-hands piano work of the same name. In 1988, Corigliano revisited the thematic material of the final movement of Gazebo Dances in his Symphony No. 1, written as a tribute to friends that had died of AIDS. In this second movement, “Tarantella,” he thematically transforms this melodic material to musically recreate a friend’s decent into insanity brought on by AIDS. This treatise presents a transcription for band of Corigliano’s “Tarantella” movement and represents the second work of the composer in the wind repertoire. It, therefore, provides a point of comparison with Gazebo Dances by using the shared material as a common link as well as introducing to the wind literature a composition written in the composer’s more recent style. This treatise provides a performance score with parts (available through G. Schirmer, Inc), addresses the orchestrational decisions of this transcription, and discusses the specific conducting and rehearsal challenges of the work. It also includes a short biography of the composer, a formal analysis of the movement, and the transcription of a recorded interview of the author with the composer.