The Work-Concept and the Wind Band.

The wind band world has been pre-occupied for the last century on commissioning, composing, performing, and recording original wind band pieces of artistic significance . These efforts have been driven by a desire to gain recognition as artistic equals to the orchestral, operatic, and choral worlds, but despite a century's worth of efforts, they have largely been unsuccessful outside of perhaps the academic world. How did the wind band world arrive at this point, and why has it been obsessed with this one path despite its limited success? I argue that the band world is trapped in a modernistic fetishization of "musical works", basing the meaning of their musical existence on a particular outlook that is historically specific, and therefore perhaps outdated and counter to their ultimate goals. In the revealing philosophical and musicological book, "The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works", Goehr (2007) makes a strong case that the concept of a "musical work" only became cemented around the 1800s, and has since had a regulative effect on the world of traditional Western art music. As with other regulatory concepts, its hold is so complete that one is unlikely to perceive the nature of its bondage until we step back and acknowledge its presence, development, and subsequent implications. This paper will briefly outline the historical evolution of the musical work-concept, and then shine the work-concept light onto the chronology of the wind band history (from Harmoniemusik, through military bands, American professional bands, and bands of university music programs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]