Sinfonietta (alternate title “Sinfonía de Vino y Aceite de Magallon”) is a composition for concert band that can be played by any band whether it has 100 players or 30 players. It is at grade 3 level of difficulty and has several “substitute parts” for ensembles that may not have complete instrumentation. Although the scoring includes piccolo, oboes, double bass and full French horn section, these instruments are not needed to command a good performance as shown by the 30-piece the Jacksonville Symphonic Band, conducted by Paul Weikle.
It was commissioned in 2017 by the town of Magallón, Spain in celebration of the town’s industries of wine and olive oil. The mayor of the town of 1,000 inhabitants was specific in his request for a composition at grade 3 level of difficulty. He also suggested the title as “Symphony”. In 2009 the town commissioned me to compose a grade 5 composition for the band to play in the Kerkrade (Holland) World Music Competition -“Magallon Instrumento de Civilizaciones”. In that competition the Magallon Band won First Prize out of the 18 bands from around the world that competed. Then the band for rehearsed more that 100 hours for that special performance.
Sinfonietta adheres to classical forms of symphonies by composers such as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. The first movement is in a standard Sonata Allegro form with an Introduction then Primary, Secondary and Closing themes. The second movement is in A B A form that features a solo trumpet. The third movement is in a Rondo form (A B A C A) with three distinct themes. A Minuet and Trio movement is not included, hence the name Sinfonietta instead of Symphony.
Sinfonietta is published by Musica Nova USA and is available through JWPepper.com and SheetMusicPlus.com
Gregory Fritze is a prize-winning composer and Fulbright Scholar, as well as an active performer and conductor. His compositions have been performed more than one thousand times in twenty-six countries. He has written over ninety compositions for orchestra, band, chamber ensembles and soloists. He has won over sixty composition awards both nationally and internationally, including First Prize in the 1st WASBE (World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) International Composition Contest 2017, First Prize Winner of Reneé Fisher Composition Prize, First Prize Winner in Concurso Bienal de Composición de Musica para Banda, Ciudad de Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain), Menzione d’Onore (highest award given) of the Mario Bernardo Angelo-Comneno International Music Competition by the Accademia Angelica Costantiniana Arti E Scienze (Italy), First Prize in the TUBA International Etude Composition Competition, the IBLA Grand Prize (Italy), 2nd Prize in the 2nd WASBE International Composition Contest 2019, several awards from The American Prize, annual composition awards from Standard Awards Panel of American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and many others. He has been commissioned by The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, The Banda Municipal of Bilbao, The Primativa de Lliria, and others. His compositions include works published by several publishers in the United States, South America and Europe and have been performed extensively throughout the world.
He recently retired from Berklee College of Music where he was Professor and Chair of Composition, serving on the faculty from 1979 to 2016. He has been a frequent traveler to Spain since 1993 and is the only composer who has been commissioned six times by Spanish bands for Certamen competitions, with each band winning first prize.
Also an active performer he was Principal Tubist with the Rhode Island Philharmonic from 1983 to 2016.
He has thirty-three compositions commercially recorded on Albany Records, MSR Classics, Crystal Records, Mark Records and others. He has been a guest lecturer, conductor and performer at many colleges, universities and music festivals in the United States, Canada, Japan, South America and Europe. He was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1954 and has Composition degrees from the Boston Conservatory and Indiana University. He now resides in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida.