The Wild Rumpus (1998) for wind ensemble

Wild Rumpus is a two movement work for wind ensemble, and was inspired by the children’s book “Where The Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. In the book, the protagonist Max travels to a magical island where he meets a group of wild things, who make him king.  Max, the king, then proclaims to the wild things “let the wild rumpus start!”

The following three pages are tableaux that depict Max and the wild things as they frolic through the forest.  One page depicts them howling. The next page has them swinging through the trees. The third and final page has them marching madly.

The first movement of Wild Rumpus depicts the opening tableau of howling. And the closing movement is the raucous and somewhat uneven marching of this rowdy group.

This piece was the winner of the 1999 G. Schirmer Prize for Young Composers.  It was commissioned by Frank Wickes and the LSU Wind Ensemble for their performance at the 1999 Concert Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) meeting in Austin, TX.