Our Puzzle
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Duration: 5:00
Grade: 3 Commissioned by CENTER GROVE MIDDLE SCHOOL CENTRAL (Greenwood, Indiana) SAMUEL FRITZ AND JOSH TORRES and consortium members 
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PERUSAL SCORE
| perusal_ourpuzzle_score_v2.pdf |
PROGRAM NOTE
A concert band is such a remarkable entity. A group of individuals from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences come together to play music and become "a band,” like a puzzle coming together. All members of that puzzle are equal partners. They know each other, understand each other, and are unified in the process of creation together. Each individual grows, learns, progresses, as they practice and perform together. Thus, the band as a single unit evolves and grows accordingly. Time progresses and a member of the band leaves, graduates, moves on, and so someone new comes to take their place. A period of adjustment follows. Everyone misses the former member of the band and will never forget them or the music they shared together. Yet the new member of the band is different - not any better or worse, just different. The "new" puzzle isn't any better or worse than the "old" puzzle, but certainly changed somehow. Some players miss the old band sound and the old band members. But now everyone discovers they can love the new band entity without taking away from their love of the old.
My good friend and poet, Christine Brandel, captured these thoughts in colorful imagery in a poem she wrote for me. I reprint the following with her permission.
THE CARVINGS
We’d spent all day inside, each carving our own exquisite wood. Mine was cottonwood, so I had been careful. His was harder walnut, hers a deep mahogany, altogether we had every shade and tone a person could dream of. We went outside and set them in the sunshine. With a little turning and fine tuning, they all fit together like a puzzle. A pastiche. A polyphony that played in ways that were perfection. A couple passed us and dropped some money onto the ground, proving we were not the only ones who saw how well we worked. Then, someone else asked to buy our art, but we refused. Each piece had to be there to be complete, and what was complete could only be ours. At the end of the afternoon, we picked up our carvings and took them home. We returned each day to display and admire what we’d made, together.
Until one morning when the rosewood wasn’t there. His was only one small piece, but its lack was too big. We stared at its absence. A man on the other side of the road watched us watching our art as if waiting for it to be whole again. He came over and made us an offer, pulling a beautiful butternut carving from his pocket. One of us took it into his palm and placed it where the rosewood had been. It didn’t fit. The man bent down, swapped a few pieces round, rearranging ours until he revealed room for his. The art was whole again. We all looked at each other, then at the man, and at the art. The next day, he arrived as we were putting down our pieces. This time he pressed his piece next to mine. I hesitated. The others then moved theirs, and when everyone had finished, we had a new puzzle. Something different but complete had come together.
Christine Brandel, clbwrites.com
My good friend and poet, Christine Brandel, captured these thoughts in colorful imagery in a poem she wrote for me. I reprint the following with her permission.
THE CARVINGS
We’d spent all day inside, each carving our own exquisite wood. Mine was cottonwood, so I had been careful. His was harder walnut, hers a deep mahogany, altogether we had every shade and tone a person could dream of. We went outside and set them in the sunshine. With a little turning and fine tuning, they all fit together like a puzzle. A pastiche. A polyphony that played in ways that were perfection. A couple passed us and dropped some money onto the ground, proving we were not the only ones who saw how well we worked. Then, someone else asked to buy our art, but we refused. Each piece had to be there to be complete, and what was complete could only be ours. At the end of the afternoon, we picked up our carvings and took them home. We returned each day to display and admire what we’d made, together.
Until one morning when the rosewood wasn’t there. His was only one small piece, but its lack was too big. We stared at its absence. A man on the other side of the road watched us watching our art as if waiting for it to be whole again. He came over and made us an offer, pulling a beautiful butternut carving from his pocket. One of us took it into his palm and placed it where the rosewood had been. It didn’t fit. The man bent down, swapped a few pieces round, rearranging ours until he revealed room for his. The art was whole again. We all looked at each other, then at the man, and at the art. The next day, he arrived as we were putting down our pieces. This time he pressed his piece next to mine. I hesitated. The others then moved theirs, and when everyone had finished, we had a new puzzle. Something different but complete had come together.
Christine Brandel, clbwrites.com
SPECIAL NOTE FROM CONSORTIUM DIRECTOR
Creating a high achieving performance ensemble is like assembling a complex puzzle. One first must make sure all the pieces are present and visible before assembly can begin. Much like band class, we start with the pieces of what will become a performing ensemble, then develop a plan to mold and shape them for performances. Working to construct the edges of a puzzle, gives shape and direction, mirroring the teaching of fundamentals and skills to band members. As the outer frame of the puzzle is completed, the builder works on a particular section at a time working to complete a partial image while at the same time creating a glimpse of the the future completed project. Sometimes the puzzle is easy to assemble and the picture is clear early in the journey. Sometimes the future potential of the ensemble can be seen early and it is a matter of making music as long as you can. Other times, puzzles depict a picture of something that needs to be pondered and studied to find just the right shade of color to complete. This type of puzzle takes longer to complete, forecasting a less obvious outcome. It can, however, be more rewarding as the finished product represents a labor of love and effort. Once any puzzle is finished, the builder reflects on the temporary nature of its completion, and the journey within the process. In much the same way, I often lament that fact that members will not return the following year. Some, pieces of the band puzzle will move on to other groups like high school or college while others, will simply not be put back in the box properly and lost. The part written for “former band member” was meant for just this purpose and should be placed on an empty stand to be seen clearly by the audience as if a solo played by those no longer in the band. “Our Puzzle” is a lyrical description of the journey to form a band’s performance identity, the nostalgia that comes with memories of the past, and aspirations for the future. I hope you enjoy the journey of “Our Puzzle”. - Sam Fritz
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