"Winds of Nagual" by Michael Colgrass

Synopsis

Carlos Castaneda was a South America-born author who settled in the United States and wrote 12 books chronicling his experiences with a pre-Columbian shaman who helped Castaneda access “non-ordinary reality” and develop his personal creativity, something the shaman called his “nagual.”

Casteneda’s books have sold millions of copies, and one of his readers was the Toronto-based composer Michael Colgrass, whose “Winds of Nagual” was commissioned by the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble and its conductor Frank Battisti, and premiered by them in Boston on today’s date in 1985. Since then, this musical suite inspired by colorful characters and scenes from Castaneda’s writings has become a classic of the concert band repertoire.

“Sometimes when I am composing,” says Colgrass, “I see music as if it is a film, but the listener need not have read Castaneda’s books to enjoy this work, and I do not expect anyone to follow any exact scenario. “

And, speaking of cinematic scenarios, Colgrass says that band directors in the Southwest told him that, in the last years of his life, Castaneda would show up at concerts when “Winds of Nagual” was being performed. “He would wait until just before the downbeat,” says Colgrass, “and then enter the auditorium wearing a white suit and sit in the middle of the audience. Apparently he considered this music to be his ‘Hail to the Chief.’”

Music Played in Today's Program

Michael Colgrass (b. 1932) Winds of Nagual Ohio State University Wind Symphony; Russel C. Mikkelson, cond. Naxos 8.570244

On This Day

Births

• 1602 - Italian opera composer Francesco Cavalli, in Crema;

• 1778 - Baptism of Catalan composer and guitarist Fernando Sor, in Barcelona;

• 1813 - Russian composer Alexander Dargomizhsky, in Troitskoye, Tula district (Julian date: Feb. 2);

• 1882 - Polish composer and pianist Ignaz Friedman, in Podgorze, near Kraków;

Premieres

• 1829 - Bellini: opera "La Straniera" (The Stranger), in Milan;

• 1880 - Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 1 in c, Op. 15, in Paris at a concert of the Société Nationale de la Musqique Français;

• 1915 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 3 (Gregorian date: Feb. 27);

• 1920 - Erik Satie: "Socrate," in Paris;

• 1922 - Zandonai: opera "Giulietta e Romeo" (Romeo and Juliet), in Rome;

• 1932 - Goldschmidt: opera "Der gewaltige Hahnrei" (The Magnificent Cuckold), in Mannheim at the National Theater;

• 1940 - Cage: "Second Construction," for four percussionists, in Portland, Ore.;

• 1953 - Orff: "Trionfo di Afrodite" (Triumph of Aphrodite), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala; Note -- this premiere date is often listed (incorrectly) as Feb. 13, 1953, in many reference works and CD booklet notes;

Others

• 1865 - American premiere of J.S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto No. 7 in G minor, at Boston's Chickering Hall, with Benjamin J. Lang at the piano, accompanied by members of the Mendelssohn Quintet Club; The Feb. 18 edition of Dwight's Journal commented: "A novelty, a quaint one, and as it proved quite captivating . . . Mr. Lang played it with delicacy and nicety, entering into the lightsome, racy humor of it . . . After this experiment, may we not say that the Bach bug-bear is already vanishing?";

• 1911 - Gustav Mahler conducts the New York Philharmonic in a program featuring new music by British (Elgar, Standford) and American (Chadwick, Loeffler, MacDowell and Hadley) composers.