Hometown by Patrick Burns

Patrick Burns (b. 1969) is an American composer and music educator.  He has written extensively for wind bands at all levels.  He founded the Bloomfield Youth Band in New Jersey when he was 17, and continues to direct that group today.   He teaches at Montclair State University and New Jersey City University.  His compositions, which range from beginning band to professional level,  have been performed on at least 3 continents.  He has received commissions from around the country.  He is much in demand as a guest conductor and clinician.

Burns offers his own program notes on Hometown:

I wrote Hometown for Scott Sharnetzka and the Bel Air (Maryland) Community Band.  This fine ensemble has been incredibly supportive of my music and I wanted to express my gratitude to them by writing a piece for them.  Hometown is a musical depiction of my impressions of beautiful Harford County, Maryland and the people I know there.  The words of Garrison Keillor capture the idea of this piece wonderfully:

That yard, the tree–you climbed it once with me,
And we talked of cities that we’d live in someday.
I left, old friend, and now I’m back again,
Please say you missed me since I went away.

Patrick Burns main website. – includes a full biography and information on all of his music.  You can also leave the website open as it automatically plays a random sampling of Burns’s music.  He’s written a lot of it, and it’s all good!  For our purposes, though, check out especially the “music” page, where you can download a free recording of Hometown in the grade 4 section.

Also check out Patrick Burns’s YouTube channel, which has performances of the great bulk of his music.  Here, for instance, is Hometown performed by the Luther College Wind Ensemble:

Advertisement

Count Not the Hours by Patrick Burns

Patrick Burns (b. 1969) is an American composer and music educator.  He has written extensively for wind bands at all levels.  He founded the Bloomfield Youth Band in New Jersey when he was 17, and continues to direct that group today.   He teaches at Montclair State University and New Jersey City University.  His compositions, which range from beginning band to professional level,  have been performed on at least 3 continents.  He has received commissions from around the country.  He is much in demand as a guest conductor and clinician.

Burns offers his own program notes on Count Not the Hours, which he wrote based on a tune attributed to Francis O’Neill:

Count Not the Hours was commissioned by the Franklin Avenue Middle School Band (James Frankel, Director), Franklin Lake, New Jersey, as a retirement gift for outgoing Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edward J. Sullivan.  The piece takes its title from an Irish jig of the same name.  The melody is here set as a waltz and therefore presents itself much less forthrightly than O’Neill’s original tune.

Patrick Burns main website. – includes a full biography and information on all of his music.  You can also leave the website open and just listen as it automatically plays a random sampling of Burns’s music.  He’s written a lot of it, and it’s all good!  For our purposes, though, check out especially the “music” page, where you can download a free recording of Count Not the Hours in the grade 2 section.

Also check out Patrick Burns’s YouTube channel, which has performances of the great bulk of his music.  Here, for instance, is Count Not the Hours as performed by the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Wind Ensemble.

Have a look at the original tune (pdf).  Or learn to play it on guitar.  It appears to be just a fiddle tune with no lyrics attached.

Seize the Day! (Carpe Diem) by Patrick Burns

Patrick Burns (b. 1969) is an American composer and music educator.  He has written extensively for wind bands at all levels.  He founded the Bloomfield Youth Band in New Jersey when he was 17, and continues to direct that group today.   He teaches at Montclair State University and New Jersey City University.  His compositions, which range from beginning band to professional level,  have been performed on at least 3 continents.  He has received commissions from around the country.  He is much in demand as a guest conductor and clinician.

Burns offers his own program notes on Seize the Day! (Carpe Diem):

Seize the Day! (Carpe Diem) is a short, energetic work which was written in a ten-day period in January 2008.  Commissioned as a concert opener by the Westlake High School (CA) Wind Ensemble for the group’s performance at Carnegie Hall, the piece musically symbolizes the opportunities which lie before us in our lives and the spirit with which we strive to realize our dreams.  Each day presents a new chance for us to make the most of every moment with energy, passion, and optimism.

Patrick Burns main website. – includes a full biography and information on all of his music.  You can also leave the website open as it automatically plays a random sampling of Burns’s music.  He’s written a lot of it, and it’s all good!  For our purposes, though, check out especially the “music” page, where you can download a free recording of Seize the Day! (Carpe Diem) in the grade 4 section.

Also check out Patrick Burns’s YouTube channel, which has performances of the great bulk of his music.  Here, for instance, is Seize the Day! (Carpe Diem) as performed by the Cleveland Symphonic Winds.  Heads up, it’s a TOUCH faster than the composer has asked for.

So where does this famous bit of Latin come from?  Check it out here.

Enchanted Night by Patrick Burns

Patrick Burns (b. 1969) is an American composer and music educator.  He has written extensively for wind bands at all levels.  He founded the Bloomfield Youth Band in New Jersey when he was 17, and continues to direct that group today.  He is much in demand as guest conductor around the country.

Burns wrote Enchanted Night in 2004 for the Hanover Wind Symphony, a community band in New Jersey, to help celebrate their 19th anniversary.  The piece is based on a novella of the same title by Pulitzer Prize-Winning author Steven Millhauser.

Patrick Burns main website. – includes a full biography and information on all of his music.  Check out especially the “music” page, where you can download a free recording of Enchanted Night in the grade 5 section.

Patrick Burns on myspace. Also features a recording of Enchanted Night in addition to several other of his works.

Information on the Millhauser novella that inspired Burns’s music at Amazon.com.

An excerpt of the novella on the New York Times.

A preview of the novella on google books.

Enchanted Night on YouTube, part of Patrick Burns’s YouTube channel:

The composer conducted the CUWE in this piece at the Columbia Festival of Winds on 3/1/2009.

Pride and Purpose by Patrick Burns

Patrick Burns (b. 1969) is an American composer and music educator.  He has written extensively for wind bands at all levels.  He founded the Bloomfield Youth Band in New Jersey when he was 17, and continues to direct that group today.  He is much in demand as guest conductor around the country.

Pride and the Purpose was written as inspiration for Burns’s young students.  Says Burns:

Being involved in a performing ensemble can be one of life’s most rewarding experiences. While participating in band is fun, being a member requires hard work and sustained effort in order to achieve the best possible results. Pride and Purpose is a musical portrait of the effort, dedication, and commitment that young musicians learn to develop on their path toward excellence.

Burns has his own website.  Click “music” then “grade 1” to find more information and a downloadable recording of Pride and Purpose.  Or just listen below: