Robert Jager (b. 1939) is an American composer who was educated at the University of Michigan after serving in the US Navy, where he was a staff arranger for the band. He spent most of his career at Tennessee Tech University, from which he retired in 2001. He has written dozens of works for several media. He is the only composer to have won the Ostwald Prize from the American Bandmasters’ Association three times. Find out more about him at Wikipedia, the Wind Repertory Project, and Kjos. He has also been interviewed by The Band Post.
Jager wrote his Third Suite in 1965 for the Granby High School Band in Norfolk, Virginia and their conductor Leo Imperial. Each movement offers something unusual for the band. He says that the piece “was written as a fun ‘thank you’ to the Granby High School Band in Virginia, because they had performed so much of my early writing attempts.” He describes the fun of each movement in detail in the score:
The Third Suite is a tuneful work for band, yet it has built into it certain elements that provide a challenge for the players and conductor as well as added interest for the listener. In the first movement, for example, the steady feel and rhythm of a march are somewhat distorted by measures of unequal time values. One interesting aspect of this “March” is the percussion solo near the middle of the movement.
In the “Waltz,” the same kind of distortion of time occurs as in the previous movement, but now it is the familiar 3/4 that receives the treatment. Color and contrast are added important features in the movement. Near the end of the waltz, the opening flute theme is repeated and cut short before the movement closes with a spirited coda.
The form of the “Rondo” is ABACABA. The movement opens with a five-chord introduction in the full band. This introduction serves as an important connecting idea throughout the movement. A solo cornet states the A theme, which is repeated by the woodwinds. Then, the mood shifts to minor for the B theme in the full band. After a repeat of A, the piccolo introduces the C theme. This, too, is repeated, and again the five big chords are heard, followed by the third A statement. Suddenly, the tonal level shifts and the last B section is heard. This actually is a developmental section incorporating all three themes of the movement. After a loud timpani crash, the final A is heard presto. This builds to a climactic finale based on the five notes of the introduction.
Listen and follow along in the score:
There’s much more Third Suite at The Wind Repertory Project, Alfred Music, Rundel Music, and HeBu Music.