J. Durward Morsch

J. Durward Morsch (né Junior Durward Morsch; born December 18, 1920 in Iowa)^[1] is an American composer, prolific arranger, trombonist, and retired music educator who has worked and recorded professionally in a broad spectrum of genres, beginning with progressive big band jazz in the late 1940s and ending as a high school band director in Colorado. He was also the band director at Saguaro High School, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Noted for his scoring for symphonic band works, Morsch has written over 400 arrangements, including 125 marching band scores, 110 symphonic scores, and 125 scores for film, dating from the 1930s to the present.

His son, Robert Stuart Morsch, DMA (1942–2009), was a music educator at the collegiate level, notably the director of bands at Northern Illinois University.^[2]

Between 1946 and 1949, Morsch recorded on five studio sessions and two live broadcast as trombonist with the Earle Spencer Orchestra. Morsch is an alumnus of the University of Southern California and the University of Northern Colorado (1950s).

Selected arrangements & compositions

Arrangements <div= style="-moz-column-width:30em; column-width:30em; font-size:90%;">

• Songs of a Wayfarer, by Mahler

Arranged for concert band by Morsch (1950)^[3]

• "Twelve clarinet quartets"

Theodore Presser Company (1963)

• "Circus Maximus," by Ottorino Respighi

Arranged for concert band by Morsch

• "The Day the Earth Stood Still," by Bernard Herrmann

Arranged for concert band by Morsch

• Overture to "Silverado," by Bruce Broughton

Arranged for wind symphony by Morsch

• "The Decline and Fall of a Bridge," by John Dankworth

Arranged for wind symphony by Morsch

• "Little Bach Suites No. 1 & 2"

Arranged for 3 instruments (woodwind, strings, recorders, or mixed)

Theodore Presser Company (1964)

• "Contredanse and Minuet" for flute, B♭ clarinet, and bassoon, by Mozart

Theodore Presser Company (1964), Universal edition

• "Section studies for flutes: auxiliary fingering, ear training and intonation, tone quality, blend and balance, technique," by Nilo W. Hovey & Morsch

Belwin-Mills (1968)

• "Little Handel suite"

Arranged for 3 instruments (woodwind, strings, recorders, or mixed)

Theodore Presser Company (1964)

• "Minuet," K.599

Arranged for 3 instruments (woodwind, strings, recorders, or mixed)

Universal Music Group

• "Erie Canal," by Gail Kubik

Arranged for wind symphony by Morsch

• "Concerto for Flute and Strings," by Jerome Moross

Arranged for wind ensemble by Morsch (2000)

• "Overture to the 7th Voyage of Sinbad," by Bernard Herrmann

Transcribed by Morsch

• "Passacaglia," by Christopher Palmer

Arranged for concert band by Morsch

• "Poem," by Griffes

Flute solo arranged by Morsch for wind ensemble

Compositions <div= style="-moz-column-width:30em; column-width:30em; font-size:90%;">

• "A Christmas Suite For Chamber Winds"
• "Fortinbras March"
• "Nuages"
• "Pantomime of the Actors"
• "Sinfonia," for Chamber Woodwind Ensemble
• "Yagi Bushi"

Affiliations

• Kappa Kappa Psi

References

External links

• Short biography on J.D. Morsch at Really Good Music, LLC, Eau Claire, Wisconsin