Geoffery Munger

Mus 455
12/7/15
John Mackey and Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings
A Brief Analysis
John Mackey (b. 1973) is a contemporary composer most noted for his compositions for
wind ensemble. Since 1999, John Mackey has been a self publishing composer allowing for
more freedom to write and promote his music on his own terms. Many of Mackeys pieces for
wind ensemble have become part of the standard band repertory along with other high esteemed
composers of wind ensemble music like David Maslanka and Frank Ticheli.1 What makes
Mackey stand out among other composers is his musical upbringing, which did not include
traditional instrument or singing lessons, but instead a self-taught method of learning through
computer programs. This style of composition, combined with an interest in pop music, has
given John Mackey a unique sound blending traditional compositional method with modern
techniques. Among his most popular works are Aurora Awakes (2009), Kingfishers Catch Fire
(2007), and Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings (2009).
Mackey is an important figure in modern music because of his contribution to the wind
ensemble literature and his innovation in form and orchestration. Beyond his capabilities as a
composer, Mackey represents a generation of composers whose main method of writing music is
on a computer. By examining his life through interviews, his personal blog, notes on his scores
and by analyzing his Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings, we can
begin to understand what makes John Mackey a large name in todays academic music world.
A Brief Background

1 David Maslanka received the National Endowment of the Arts Award

numerous times. Frank Ticheli received the Arts and Letters Award in
Composition in 2012.

John Mackey was born in Ohio in 1973. He is the son of two amateur musicians and the
grandson to a music store owner (who became Mackeys first music theory teacher).2 Mackey
was a self-taught musician throughout high school and began his first musical education in 1991
at the Cleveland Institute of Art under the direction of Donald Erb. During his years at
Cleveland, Mackey was able to write two commissioned works as well as interact with his soonto-be teacher, John Corigliano.3
In the fall of 1995, Mackey was accepted into the composition program at Julliard where
he began studying with John Corigliano. The composer recalls that one of the most important
parts of his time at Julliard was his experience in Julliards Composer and Choreographers
Workshop, where Mackey learned to write for dancers, plays and the stage. This course spawned
one of Mackeys first well recognized pieces, Damn, for amplified clarinet and four
percussionists.
After he received his Masters in 1997 John Mackey began to work for the general
manager of the New York Philharmonic, which would eventually help in attaining one of his
most well known large-work commissions, Redline Tango. Mackey also got work at an office job
at the Lincoln Center before deciding in 2005 to compose music fulltime. Mackeys first work
for wind ensemble, Sarsaparilla was commissioned through a consortium
consisting of several universities and spearheaded by Scott Weiss of Lamar
University.4
The success of Sarsaparilla started a shift in Mackey to favor writing for
wind ensembles. His first success was followed shortly after by two also
2 Rebecca Leigh Phillips, John Mackey: The Composer, His Compositional Style and A
Conductors Analysis on Redline Tango and Turbine (DMA diss., University of Louisiana,
2007.)
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
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successful pieces, Turbine and Strange Humors. Other successful wind

ensemble compositions that Mackey has composed include: Kingfishers Catch
Fire (2007), Aurora Awakes (2009), and Wine Dark Sea: Symphony for Band (2014). Along with
commissions, John Mackey is an award winning composer, receiving multiple ASCAP Concert
Music Awards as well as the Morton Gould Young Composer award twice.
Mackeys Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings was
commissioned in 2008 through a consortium led by The West Point Military Academy Band. The
piece was written for and dedicated to New York Philharmonics trombone player Joseph Alessi.
The piece premiered in 2010 by the West Point Military Academy Band with Joseph Alessi
performing the solo.
Analysis of Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings
Harvest is divided into three sections and intended to be performed without a break
between the sections. The piece is programmatic in that Mackey used the story of the god
Dionysus as a focal point while composing this piece. In the composers own words:
Harvest: Concerto for Trombone is based on the myths and mystery rituals of the Greek
god Dionysus. As the Olympian god of the vine, Dionysus is famous for inspiring ecstasy
and creativity. But this agricultural, earth-walking god was also subjected each year to a
cycle of agonizing death before glorious rebirth, analogous to the harsh pruning and
long winter the vines endure before blooming again in the spring. The concerto's
movements attempt to represent this dual nature and the cycle of suffering and return.5
The trombone acts as the character of Dionysus throughout the concerto. Although Mackey does
not call his sections movements, his concerto takes a standard concerto form of fast/slow/fast.
5 John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-withoutstrings (Cambridge, MA: Ostimusic.com, 2009): 3A.
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The opening movement of Mackeys concerto begins with a soundscape created by the
woodwinds. Here, the composer already gives us a modern compositional technique by having
the clarinets and a flute play in a quasi-improvisational manner.

Figure 1. John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings, mm. 3,
Flute 1.
Mackey accompanies these improvisatory moments with a low tremolo in the piano, a rather
unique way of performing on the timpani using a large cymbal, placed upside down on the
lowest drum,6 and a rolled djembe, an almost signature percussion instrument in Mackeys
pieces.7
The first time the soloist is heard is in an almost sigh-like gesture that resembles some sort of
chant. Mackey makes great use of the trombones aesthetic by incorporating many glissandi, not
only in the soloist, but in the trombone section as well. As mentioned in the composers blog, the
trombone section of these piece is meant to represent Dionysus worshipers.8 Mackey draws from
the same expanding motive to develop the introduction before we hear the first statement of the
first sections theme. Stated in 7/4 meter, the main theme played by the soloist in mm. 55 is
syncopated and emphasizes the tonal center of F.

6 Ibid., 1.
7 Many of John Mackeys compositions contain the use of a djembe or
multiple djembes. See other works such as; Strange Humors () and
8 John Mackey, Trombone Concerto concept, Ostimusic.com, July 20, 2009,
http://ostimusic.com/blog/trombone-concerto-concept/.
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Figure 2. John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings, mm.
55-57, solo Trombone.
The composer shifts the texture of the ensemble to a tutti exclamation of the opening solo
trombone theme at mm. 65. The ensemble carries the melody until it is passed off once again to
the soloist. Mackey continues to exploit the use of the glissando within the solo trombone part.
This not only adds interest to the piece aurally, but also helps the soloist produce the notes by
glissing into them. Mackey continues to develop the first thematic material through the use of
solist and ensemble before arriving to the next important motive used in the first movement of
Harvest in mm. 129.

Figure 3. John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings, mm.
129, solo Trombone.
The first section of the concerto comes to dramatic halt in mm. 191 where the texture is reduced
to a single vibraphone on a pedal Ab.
The second section of of the first movement begins with quite staggered entrances form
the woodwinds and the piano while the Ab eighth note accompaniment is heard in the
vibraphone. The soloist enters in from nothing sustaining a melody consisting of whole notes,
representing winter and Dionysus approach to death and the second movement of the piece.
Mackey focuses on a flowing melody line for the soloist while intensity is built by the woodwind
section in bursts of trills and unmetered moments.
The first movement of Harvest ends in a recapitulation of the beginning first thematic
material. Here, Mackey varies the return to the A section by adding a triplet figure in the high
woodwinds and piano that was not encountered before this point. This shift adds a stronger

rhythmic pulse and pull to the ending of the first movement. The movement ends with a large
crescendo and glissandi in the trombone section marked nasty, mocking9 before subsiding into
silence, representing Dionysus death in the winter.
The second movement of Harvest is marked with a meter change to 2/2 and dramatic decrease in
tempo. The composer brings back thematic material from the B section of the first movement in
order to craft the second movement. Here the soloist sings a somber song of winter comprised
mostly of long, sustained phrases.

Figure 4. John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings,

Movement II, mm. 330-36.
Mackey keeps this movement simple with the texture staying mostly the same for the entire
movement.
The solo trombone is accompanied by lush chords sustained by solo woodwinds, horns
and trombones while the vibraphone and harp interject with juxtaposed sixteenth notes against
the serene texture. The second movement ends with a slow sigh from the trombone section
glissing to a pianissimo dynamic.
The final movement of John Mackeys Harvest begins with another compositional
technique the composer enjoys to employ, an ostinato. Here Mackey sets up the ostinato using
the piano in 16th notes and the harp and vibraphone in 8th notes creating a think undercurrent of
sound while undulating between meter changes.

9 John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-withoutstrings (Cambridge, MA: Ostimusic.com, 2009): 58.
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Figure 5. John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings,

Movement III, mm. 405-08.
Before the soloist makes its entrance in mm. 427, Mackey creates a secondary texture against the
percussion ostinato using a melodic line created by the high woodwinds and muted horns. The
ostinato-like melody presented here is transformed through an additive compositional process
before the movement reaches its first peak at mm. 427 with the syncopated entrance of the solo
trombone.
The first thematic material Mackey introduces for the soloist is reminiscent of the melody
of the first movement, with the soloist transforming small cells of music either by an additive or
diminutive technique. The second melodic material takes the shape of a long melodic idea mostly
composed of whole notes for the soloist. The first thematic material is quickly returned to before
Mackey increase the orchestration and the dynamic to fortisisimo for a dramatic entrance of the
second thematic section.
Here the composer plays on the same idea as first thematic section, but much more
dramatically with an explosion of both sound and virtuosity from the soloist. Mackey continues
to jump between meters adding a broader mix of meters to the second thematic section.

Figure 6. John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings,

Movement III, mm. 458-59.
The composer uses a similar process as he did with the first thematic material by introducing a
rhythmically complex melody in the solo followed by a slower, more legato section creating an
internal fast/slow/fast form. Mackey returns to the second thematic material, this time combining
elements of the first theme into the second.
As the composer approaches the finale of the piece, he adds a new ascending motive to
the solo line that will return several times in the finale.

Figure 7. John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings,

Movement III, mm. 497-99.
The entrance of this new motive marks the beginning a quasi-recapitulation of the entire
concerto. At this point, Mackey thickens the orchestration a creates clear signs that the concerto
is approaching its ending.
An interesting addition to the final movement of Mackeys trombone concerto is a large
ritardando several bars before the end of the piece. The composer takes one last second to
appreciate what the trombone does best, by scoring a thick, choral-like melody. Marked epic,
Mahlerian the soloist is charged with leading a dramatic crescendo into the final coda of the
piece.10 The final nine bars of the Mackeys Harvest are explosive, combining the rhythmic
material of the third movement with the multiple glissandi found in the first movement. The final

10 John Mackey, Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-withoutstrings (Cambridge, MA: Ostimusic.com, 2009): 105.
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F major chord is attacked by the tutti ensemble, followed by a sharp final gliss downwards from
the soloist, marking the end of the piece.
Conclusion
John Mackeys Harvest: Concerto for Trombone is a wonderful example of what the wind
ensemble repertoire is beginning to evolve into and a great representation of what can be done
with a wind ensemble. John Mackey is able to use the force of the wind ensemble to create
interesting soundscapes and textures. The composers use of extended tonality, exciting poprelated rhythms, and interesting meter changes all play a role in the success of Mackeys music
and popularity as a wind ensemble composer. The composer himself also represents a new
generation of composers who feel more at home composing on a computer than on a piano.

Bibliography
Mackey, John. Harvest: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra-without-strings. Cambridge, MA:
Ostimusic.com, 2009.
Mackey, John. Trombone Concerto concept. Ostimusic.com. July 20, 2009.
http://ostimusic.com/blog/trombone-concerto-concept/.
Phillips, Rebecca Leigh. John Mackey: The Composer, His Compositional Style and A
Conductors Analysis on Redline Tango and Turbine. DMA diss., University of Louisiana,
2007.

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