Spartanburg Overture
Barry E. Kopetz
Spartanburg Overture is the first published composition from the pen of
composer Barry E. Kopetz. Begun in 1985, the piece began as a simple desire
to write something for the high school band in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Kopetz was the director of the Spartanburg band at the time (1984-1986),
and felt that the members of the band would enjoy playing a piece written
specifically for them.
Having had no previous composition experience, the composer began with
what he deemed to be an interesting rhythmic background idea. The clarinet
theme seemed to grow very naturally from the accompaniment, and after pairing
the two together, the piece came to a grinding halt! After “trying
the idea out” one day during band rehearsal, the student musicians
collectively “encouraged” the composer to finish the piece.
This proved to be much harder than can be imagined since the composer had
not being accustomed to thinking about the nature of formal structure from
a compositional standpoint. The piece, which was really only a theme, languished
in limbo for weeks.
Finally, it was during a stay in Chicago at the 1985 Midwest Clinic that
the “chorale theme” came into focus. Not yet used to carrying
manuscript paper at all times, the composer took “Conrad Hilton stationery” and
lined it prior to sketching out the theme. Three weeks later, the piece
was completed.
Spartanburg Overture was conceived with the idea of providing a piece
for a specific band and the composer felt quite fortunate that the piece
ultimately became a published work (minus sixteen measures that the publisher
suggested removing). Its appearance in print provided the impetus for the
composer to continue to try his hand at writing for the wind band medium.
Since then, there have been seventy more published pieces, numerous unpublished
chamber works, transcriptions of solo concerto repertoire, as well as film
and television cues. While all of these later pieces and orchestrations
have affected the style of the composer, Spartanburg Overture was where
it all started.
