Program Note

The time we actually worked together was limited to a single semester at Juilliard in fall 1986, but Joseph Schwantner’s impact on my work was immense. He was also a kind, generous, nonjudgmental, even-tempered, decent teacher and person.

I was composing my second piano trio at the time. Joe asked me to photocopy the first page of the sketch and honored me greatly at my next lesson by having done a detailed pitch set analysis of the first dozen or so bars. We fell out of touch the way people do, and for no particular reason. But I’ve always treasured those lessons and Joe’s generosity of the spirit.

When 39 years later I heard that Joe would be attending the premiere of a new percussion concerto at the Hartt School in fall 2025, I decided to show up and give him a hug and a thank you, not as a grandiose attempt at grinding some sort of Shakespearean wheel, but as a joyful observance of the interconnectedness of things, a simple act of showing respect.

Wesley Broadnax helmed a consortium of fourteen conductors who agreed that celebrating Joe’s impact on the band repertoire by commissioning and bringing into the world a new work inspired by him was a good idea, and Envoi was born.

According to the Poetry Foundation, an “envoi” is the brief stanza that ends French poetic forms such as the ballade or sestina. It usually serves as a summation or a dedication to a particular person.