David Maslanka's Compositional Process Examined Through Correspondence with Conductor and Collaborator Gary Green

Composer David Maslanka first met Gary Green in 1987. While working as Director of Bands at the University of Connecticut, Gary Green programmed David Maslanka’s A Child’s Garden of Dreams, and through a series of connections welcomed the composer to campus for rehearsals and a performance of this groundbreaking piece. A lifelong friendship was initiated, in conjunction with a professional relationship that involved commissioned works and various other collaborations.

For decades, Green and Maslanka communicated via letters, emails, and phone calls, and mailed score sketches, drafts, and personal effects to each other, establishing a personal and professional relationship that was greatly impactful to both men and the music they wrote and conducted. Much of this written communication is still intact, and the memories of their friendship and collaborations live on in Gary Green.

David Maslanka passed away in 2017. While his music was composed relatively recently, his works for wind ensemble are groundbreaking and monumental. His music is creatively crafted, emotionally driven, and intensely powerful, and his works are significant in their depth and artistic merit as well as in their contribution to the wind ensemble repertoire. 

Conductors, as interpreters of musical compositions, strive to facilitate performances that accurately reflect the intentions of composers. Gary Green’s firsthand knowledge of the composer and his music has become a valuable resource in helping Maslanka’s music to live on. More specifically, details regarding Maslanka’s meditative practices and compositional processes are revealed in personal communication between the two men which is examined throughout this document.

While some work on Maslanka’s music has already been documented, mostly in the form of music analysis, there is much left to explore. This study uses primary sources provided by Gary Green in the form of letters, emails, score sketches, concert discussions, recorded rehearsals, and interviews to prove a reliable resource about Maslanka and his music for other conductors and musicians.