Suite!

The title of Suite!, winner of Southern Utah University’s first annual Hal Campbell Composition Competition, is a pun on a modern slang expression, but the piece itself is grounded in two time-honored musical traditions. The use of instruments and overall demeanor come from the more than century-old tradition of modern concert band suites. The structural transparency and rhetoric -– the use of themes, phrases, and thematic development -– stem from the Classical era. Moreover, the outer movements are based on classical structures, in a deployment resembling a classical symphony. The first movement is an adaptation of the classical sonata allegro, with a thematic exposition, development, and recapitulation; the last is adapted from the classical rondo, where a recurring theme alternates with contrasting material. The influences of these antecedents, however, are far from solemn: the attitude is decidedly modern and playful, not taking itself too seriously.