Dedicated to "SSIM" (Studio Sound in Motion) and the much larger Story that one day must be told.
This article appeared in the June 2019 Issue of "The Journal of the Association of Concert Bands".
“Never Forgotten” has been played around the world. In every language, people ask, “What’s the piece about?”
As a high school director during the 80s and 90s, I’d get to school (or band camp) early and challenge myself to write the warm-up for that day. This eventually led to the Function Chorales™, an important topic for another article, and closely connected to this one. “Never Forgotten” was never intended for publication. It was simply one of many warm-ups written for the kids one morning in 1985.
Before 2006, an honor band Musician asked, “What’s this about?”
I said, “I forgot.”
When one writes a piece titled “Never Forgotten,” and then forgets why it was called that, some lesson awaits. Unable to remember the original inspiration, I created a story to illustrate the Music. I tell the kids, “I’m not saying that this is what the piece is about, but it could be. After all, it's Music… a voice for the silent, an eternal Poem.”
If I work with your kids one day, please keep this process and story a secret!
We’ll read the piece. I’ll say, “Okay, that was Take 1. Remember it.”
To set up Take 2, I ask, “What will improve this?” Many of the students discuss understanding the meaning or “story” behind the Music. I nod inconclusively and ask the students to honor a list of concepts, mentioning appoggiatura, "purposefuls", my term for accidentals, modulation, and the nuances of phrasing and rubato.
Take 2. It’s improved. “Good. What do you think will make it better on Take 3?”
Before Take 3, I tell a story. I ask the students to picture a young Mother, perhaps from another country, sitting in green pastures at the foot of a gravestone. "It is the site of her 17-year-old boy. He was killed in some distant war. This Music portrays the Mother’s private, unspeakable thoughts.”
We breathe. We play. Tears form. Silence. Connection. The stuff of Music… or so they think.
The moment is quickly interrupted with a question. “But … I wrote this in 1985. To be honest, I forgot why I wrote it. And! Based on that last, albeit excellent rendering, I would still not remember! Why?”
They gaze at me with furrowed brows. I continue. “But one day, I found myself crying. You see, something made me remember. How? Why? If we have time before the concert (and we always do), I’ll tell you what I experienced. You'll leave here with one of the greatest lessons in Music!”
The Story of Rememberence
In 2006, I was at the Bruckner House in Linz, Austria for the premiere of “Last World Standing", a 33-minute work that brought an 18-minute standing ovation from an otherwise austere audience. Conductor Karl Geroldinger played a warm-up with his ensemble. I was speaking with someone in the hall when I became eerily aware of the Music and my visceral, sympathetic response to it.
At first, I thought, “Wow, this is beautiful. What is this?” Then, I found myself in tears. I trembled. I felt suddenly hollow. Alone.
Unbeknownst to me, Karl had been using “Never Forgotten” as a warm-up all year. Without any expectation, I heard the Music as it was intended. I bowed my head to hide the swell of emotion… because I had suddenly remembered my Grandfather, and the Souls of Heaven for whom I had composed that simple piece on that one otherwise nondescript school day. Even now, my eyes water recalling the moment.
But WHY?
From 1985 until that fateful day in 2006, I had never “heard” the piece, “Never Forgotten". I was always busy working on the piece, using it as a Teaching Tool, consumed by troubleshooting its problems. For those many years, distracted by the mechanics, I no longer heard the Music. Now, with all guards down and rendered by the superb Austrian Musicians, the most important component of music-making was tacit. Because the Tuning and Intonation were Beautiful and Perfect, I heard the Music… not the notes.
I remembered.
I share this story with the kids and then jump to the Function Chorales™.
Across 51 years of international teaching, one truth remains clear: the impact is profound when tuning and intonation are both understood and taught through a clear, systematic methodology. With a shared language and approach, the essential foundation for meaningful Music-making is firmly established.
We discuss what is needed for Take 4 and Take 5, which is usually in front of an audience.
It is only now that I can effectively articulate one of the most profound lessons in Music. I pose the question: Why did the "story" fail to resonate? The answer lies in a fundamental truth—musicians do not use emotion to create music; rather, we use music to create emotion. This distinction reveals a powerful paradox: when we devote ourselves wholly to the structural and expressive integrity of the Music itself, it is then—paradoxically—that others may be moved to tears of joy.
Never Forgotten was eventually joined by two additional Musical Haikus—The Truth About Pirates and The 4th Year. Originally composed in the 1980s as warm-up pieces for SSIM, these works have since been performed internationally. Collectively known as Three Musical Haikus for Band, they are part of the STORMJourneys chapter. Each piece is inspired by, and remains dedicated to, the beautiful individuals who brought them to life.
There’s much more to be shared!
Godspeed! Stephen Melillo