I was talking to an old friend and Melillo came up. What happened to his music? As a high school student he seemed like the next Beethoven or Mozart. I played a Stormworks piece at All-State (another state) and my HS commissioned a piece. At least in Texas I don't see his music played much or talked about. I'm curious as to what people think about him/his music. Would you play a Stormworks piece again? What happened in the early 2000s that it's not played anymore? I see from his website he's still active, but isn't treated like a big name in the band world.
Re: Stephen Melillo
Posted by DesertJazz on 2/3/2023, 11:38 pm, in reply to "Stephen Melillo "
None of his pieces are on the UIL list, so that keeps a good contingent of people who might play it for contest out of the pile there. (Especially here in Texas) I remember doing several of his pieces about the same time as you in college when my director was on a Melillo kick. As much as they had fun moments, and were great effect pieces, I can only think of one melody from them in my head without going back and listening. (Erich!) I think that's a big part of whether pieces stand the test of time personally.
We may see like many classics that the music comes back, but it's very much like you don't see a ton of people playing Robert W. Smith's the Divine Comedy anymore. Composers very much come in fads/waves, and it's usually only the real classics that get brought back over and over again. You also have a significant uptick I think in production from composers/publishers in the last ten to fifteen years of other options.
Re: Stephen Melillo
Posted by retireder on 2/3/2023, 12:59 pm, in reply to "Stephen Melillo "
He was one of the first to really crack down on mechanical rights for his music. Don't know if that had anything to do with it.
The contemporary composers also tend to drift in and out. While Whitacre is still popular, how many have played Ghost Train recently?
