Michael Daugherty Michael Daugherty is one of the most frequently commissioned, programmed, and recorded composers on the American concert music scene today. His music is rich with cultural allusions and bears the stamp of classic modernism, with colliding tonalities and blocks of sound; at the same time, his melodies can be eloquent and stirring. Daugherty has been hailed by The Times (London) as “a master icon maker” with a “maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear.” Daugherty first came to international attention when the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Zinman, performed his Metropolis Symphony at Carnegie Hall in 1994. Since that time, Daugherty’s music has entered the orchestral, band and chamber music repertoire and made him, according to the League of American Orchestras, one of the ten most performed living American composers. Daugherty’s compositions for symphonic band and wind ensemble include Desi (1991), Bizarro (1993), Motown Metal (1994), Niagara Falls (1997), Red Cape Tango (1999), UFO (2000), Rosa Parks Boulevard (2001) and Bells for Stokowski (2002).
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. He studied music composition at the University of North Texas (1972-76), the Manhattan School of Music (1976-78) and computer music at Boulez's IRCAM in Paris (1979-80). Daugherty received his doctorate from Yale University in 1986 where his teachers included Jacob Druckman, Earle Brown, Roger Reynolds, and Bernard Rands. During this time, he also collaborated with jazz arranger Gil Evans in New York, and pursued further studies with composer György Ligeti in Hamburg, Germany (1982-84). After teaching music composition from 1986-1990 at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Daugherty joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance in Ann Arbor, Michigan where, since 1991, he has been a mentor to many of today's most talented young composers.
Daugherty is a frequent guest of professional orchestras, festivals, universities and conservatories around the world where he participates in pre-concert talks, teaches composition master classes and works with student composers and ensembles. Daugherty has been the Composer-in-Residence with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra (2000), Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1999-2003), Colorado Symphony Orchestra (2001-2002), Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (2001-04, 2006-08), Westshore Symphony Orchestra (2005-06), Eugene Symphony (2006), Henry Mancini Summer Institute (2006), Music from Angel Fire Chamber Music Festival (2006) and Pacific Symphony (2010).
Daugherty has received numerous awards, distinctions, and fellowships for his music including a Fulbright Fellowship (1977), Kennedy Center Friedheim Award (1989), Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1991), fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1992) and the Guggenheim Foundation (1996), the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (2000) and the Michigan Governor’s Award (2004). In 2005, Daugherty received the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra Composer's Award, and in 2007, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra selected Daugherty as the winner of the A. I. duPont Award. Also in 2007, Daugherty was named "Outstanding Classical Composer" at the Detroit Music Awards and received the American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Award for his composition Raise the Roof for Timpani and Symphonic Band. Daugherty's music can be heard on the Albany, Argo, Delos, Equilibrium, Naxos, Nonesuch and Sony labels.
The High and the Mighty The High and the Mighty for piccolo and piano was written for a special concert celebrating the life and career of John Krell, an extraordinary solo piccoloist and member of the Philadelphia Orchestra flute section from 1952 until his retirement in 1981. Mr. Krell was also an instructor of flute at The Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia Musical Academy, Temple University and the Settlement Music School. A student and ever-enthusiastic disciple of William Kincaid, Mr. Krell was the author of Kincaidiana, a comprehensive resource on the teachings and musical theories of Mr. Kincaid.
My composition is inspired by the years after World War II in America (1945-1961), when air travel was considered luxurious and glamorous. Passengers dressed in their finest clothes and eagerly boarded spacious airplanes, which transported the entire family to exotic locations halfway across the world. Before the days of overbooking and hijackings, departing passengers checked in their baggage without long lines, security checks and x-ray machines. Also during this time, going to the local airport was a national pastime. On weekends families visited security-free airports to shop, dine, relax, and watch airplanes land and takeoff from observation decks overlooking the runway.
The High and the Mighty is in two movements. The first movement features a soaring, lyrical tune flutter-tongued by the piccoloist. The second movement begins with an angular piccolo cadenza followed by a robust high-altitude bossa nova. —Michael Daugherty
First printed in 2000
Cover design: Mary Christianson
Commissioned by Jan Gippo and Members of the Piccolo Committee of the National Flute Association, Regina H. Helcher, Chairperson. The Piccolo Committee wishes to thank the National Flute Association for providing the venue for its premiere performance. The composition of The High and the Mighty was made possible, in part, by the enthusiastic generosity of the contributors listed below: Burkart-Phelan, Inc. Gemeinhardt Co., Inc. Jan Gippo Regina H. Helcher Kanichi Nagahara Ottavino & Fenice di Legno Ellen Redman* Lois Schaefer Emily Skala* Jan Smith Jeffery Zook
David DiGiacobbe, Bart Feller, Lois Bliss Herbine, Sue Ann Kahn, Laurie Sokoloff, Sandra Miller, Deborah Carter Martino, Heidi Ruby-Kushious, Stephen Tanzer, Vendla Koljonen Weber *Students of John Krell
First performance by Laurie Sokoloff (piccolo) and Ed Bak (piano) at the 28th annual National Flute Association Convention, August 18, 2000, Columbus, Ohio
THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY I.
Michael Daugherty
A A
= 76
(2000)
Piccolo espr.
espr.
Piano
7
13
19
B B
espr.
3
espr.
0064141
© Copyright 2000 by Peermusic III Ltd. Faber Music Ltd., London sole agent for Europe, New Zealand and Australia International Copyright Secured. Printed in the U.S.A. All Rights Reserved.
2 25 3
C C
31 3
cresc.
cresc.
38
45
pitch bend
12
3 51
pitch bend
rit.
12
D D
56
= 66
espr.
62
flutter-tongue
67
fltg.
fltg.
fltg.
fltg.
accel. ord. 3
cresc.
cresc.
II.
8
= 46 rubato cadenza 3
5
Piccolo
6 5
cresc.
Piano
4
5
5
3
3
3
7
cresc.
9
7
3
5
5
7
9
*Simultaneously play and sing pitch in octave most comfortable.
3
9
rit.
11 6
AA
14 Bossa nova
18
22
ord.
10
10
10
= 144 in strict tempo
ord.
*sing/play
sing/play
B B sing/play
*Simultaneously play and sing pitch in octave most comfortable.
ord.
sing/play
10 26
(sing/play)
ord.
30
34
rit. 37
cresc.
11
C C
40 Subito
= 172
ord.
flutter-tongue
espr.
46 3
52
non vib.
3
3
3
ord.
espr.
non vib.
58 3
3
3
3
12 64
ord.
3
3
espr.
3
3
ord.
flutter-tongue
69 3
6
3
74
79 cresc.
cresc.
6
3
13 D D
84
87
90
93
= 144