Stephen Melillo, Composer

Stephen Melillo, Composer
by Ben Kraus

A storm is an event in nature that many people take for granted. Many people enjoy the rain, the darkening clouds, and the lightning that a storm brings and yet others are frightened by it all. Storms bring life and energy to nature and supply much of what is needed for growth. The storm is also much more than that. To some, it is a metaphor for their own lives. It represents more than just the rains that fall and the darkened clouds that blow in from the west. It symbolizes the whirlwind of people, cultures, events, and ideas that are all around us that we sometimes ignore, that we simply don't realize are out there and that we often don't think of to look for. That is the basic philosophy and driving force behind the work of a certain man. That man is Stephen Melillo, Composer.

Stephen Leonard Melillo was born on 23 December 1957 to Bruce and Carmel Melillo. He grew up in Port Chester, New York and attended Greenwich High School in Connecticut. When asked what he would have told someone he wanted to be while growing up, he replied, "A priest," (Melillo, Int.). Even in his first year of college at the University of Connecticut, he started working toward a degree as a physics major but says that he kept asking people about how to write music. In his sophomore year of college, he finally realized that music was really what he wanted to pursue and went on to graduate on the Dean's List with Honors from the Boston Conservatory of Music (Fritzinger, bio.html). He then went on to receive his Master's degree from Columbia University.

Stephen Melillo started out his musical career on the trumpet. However, when he started on the road to completing his musical degree he decided that he should learn to play all the instruments. To help accomplish this goal, he bought one of each instrument and spent much of his time taking lessons to learn to play them all. He also pursued other ways to be a better teacher once he got his first job working with students. In the first edition of his newsletter called the STORMWatch, he stated, "I wrote journal after poem after story... and then the words ran out. Only Music could speak the myriad things. I would say, 'If pictures speak a thousand words, then Music must speak a thousand pictures'" (STORMWatch #1). With that as his battle cry, Melillo started on a long journey that would take him across the country and abroad. He had unknowingly found his life's calling.

He began composing a piece that would be within the reach of his students. Only it did not stop there. At the time of this writing, Melillo has gone on to write and arrange over 840 musical works for a variety of ensembles and in many different genres. His creative works are not just limited to the band and orchestral music for which he is best known. He has also written texts and designed educational aids, written children's books, (Fritzinger, bio.html), cable and industrial projects, and done commercial soundtracks (Fritzinger, scores.html).

Over the course of his career as a composer, Melillo has used the storm motif on which to base his philosophy. His theme is: "Give to the World by Storm." This was the result of an unplanned event involving the name under which he now self-publishes. A student made a comment to him about his signature at the bottom of all the parts. A student suggested that he use "Signature Sound" as the name under which his works would be published. Instead of just signing them "Sincerely, Stephen Melillo", he decided to start using the name suggested. However, a problem arose when he tried to register his works under that name. The people at ASCAP called him at the time when he was working on the singular piece known as Stormworks. He discovered that the name "Signature Sound" was already in use. Little did he know that in a quirk of fate, Melillo made the decision to use the name of the piece in front of him. STORMWorks was born as the unifying force by which all of his works would come to be known (STORMWatch #1).

Melillo's first published piece for band, The Triumphant introduced a melodic motive that can be found in almost all of his subsequent works. The "Triumphant motive" can be described, for example, in the key of C major as c' f' g' f' c". Another device he uses frequently in his music is what he terms the "STORMChord." In functional harmony, it is made up of a I chord that moves to a Phrygian V which is the opening chord in Stormworks. The Fibonacci series, as well, is evident in his works in a number of ways. In much of his music, bar 34, for example, is where important features can be found. In addition, Melillo has put his name on an innovative variation of a crescendo. The "Mel Swell" can be said to be a Fibonacci based increase in volume. It is not achieved by growing evenly like a normal crescendo but by growing bigger and bigger as it progresses. Even the STORMWorks logo is proportioned in the Fibonacci series. Melillo also uses some other sort of musical code in many of his pieces. This is especially evident in the piece DNA & the DiNO. He also "strive[s] for a continuous relationship to all other works… as if ONE totally interrelated work were being composed… one STORMWork" (STORMWatch #1). Another style characteristic found in his three movement works is that the metaphor of the storm pervades even his structural techniques.

Most of Melillo's three movement works, specifically Stormworks, can be compared to three stages of an inescapable storm. The three sections might be interpreted as: (1) the leading edge of the storm, (2) the eye of the storm, and (3) the clarity of mind that comes with charging through the storm and seeking the sun through the clouds once again. The first movement, "Timestorm -- A Dance of the Wu Li Master," grabs the attention of the audience. It paints the picture of the encroaching dark clouds by using musical sounds as the palette, on the canvas that is the imagination of the listener. The movement urges the imagination to be engulfed in the storm. The stage is then set for the second movement, "Before the Storm...", which is described as "the 'eye' of the Stormworks trilogy." This movement is marked to be played "Slow, with careful, Intrepid Sensitivity" (Stormworks... Chapter One). The third movement, "Into the Storm!", represents the struggle between the darkness that surrounds and the light that is just out of reach until the very end.

This musical composition was an important transitional piece for Melillo, even though it was not conceived to be the defining term for all of his works before and since. Melillo's musical works have been composed for many different types of ensembles. Most of which is for concert band. He began writing this kind of music because he wanted to give his students "something special, unique, and challenging within reach!" (STORMWatch #1). That goal has certainly been accomplished in the form of Stormworks.

Although his band works make up the greater part of Melillo's contributions to music, he has also given of himself in the form of compositions for a list of other ensembles. Some of his compositions for other ensembles include Way of the Warrior for what he calls "Winds & Percussion in Motion" (marching band); Top Secret! for show choir; and Jurassic Blues for jazz band. Orchestra music is also included in the list of works available as Always the Return. As of this writing, Melillo has completed two symphonies for professional orchestra with the third already commissioned and yet to be fulfilled.

As for other areas in the realm of musical accomplishment, Melillo has done a great deal of work in film and television. In fact, he has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Live Action Short category for his work in 12:01 PM and won an Emmy Nomination for the PBS Teledrama: Actress Works. He has also had music appear on several ABC Television shows or in ads for shows including Home Improvement, General Hospital, 20/20, the American Music Awards and Sunday Night Movie. He has also had excerpts appear on NBC's Night Court and The Fresh Prince (Fritzinger, scores.htm). These were not scored works as such but were selected bits and pieces of works that may have only had the television lifespan of only a few seconds.

In addition to motion pictures and television appearances of his work, Melillo has completed musical projects for such companies as Super Nintendo, Sega, and IBM. These projects included an IBM Think Pad Demo, Super Battle Tank II, Penn and Teller and many others (Melillo, Apr. 14). He has also completed soundtracks for commercial organizations including the New York Nets, Yankees and Giants (Fritzinger, scores.htm).

Another extension of Melillo's obligation to educate comes in the form of four particular educational aids. The first of which are his Function Chorales. These aids (available in text and CD-ROM versions) are designed to "expand the musical foundation of [a] band program [by allowing] students to experience a beautiful world of musical colors through harmonic progressions designed to immediately open ears to tuning, balance, blend, and intonation," (Lisk). Melillo has also written a film-scoring text that was completed during the same time that he was working on 12:01 PM. That book was Music To Picture. He has also authored MIDIMAST which was sponsored by the Ford Foundation and allowed him to teach such complex subjects as science and math by way of musical composition (Fritzinger, bio.html).

One of his other educational endeavors has led him to the composition of STORMQuest. This work is made up of fifteen 3-4 minute pieces for young bands and above. The pieces within the greater work are "designed to be great learning tools while at the same time... being Music" (Fritzinger, SQuest.html). They are set to be released in the fall of this year.

While keeping busy with all of his commissioned works, which average around 12-16 a year, and other projects, Melillo still takes the time to work with high school bands, university band clinics, and even European premieres of his works. This obligation to give to the world by storm has taken him to literally hundreds of cities throughout both the United States and several European nations and allowed him to touch hundreds of thousands of people with his music.

In addition to his musical compositions and educational efforts, Melillo has currently written two books. His creativity is further evidenced in his first book, Only For Now. It is a fictional work for young-adults about a young boy. Although the book itself is written as a fictional work, it can also be considered semi-autobiographical (Creasap). His other book, Nogard & Dragon, is the first in a series of narrated children's books. He says that he writes books, poetry, and music to "be a good teacher" (Melillo, Int.). He believes that, in order to truly give to the world by storm, he can't deny his own creative ideas from becoming real. He is not concerned with whether or not his works are well received as long as he is true to himself and keeps it coming from the heart. This advice was given to him in a conversation with Dr. Joe Scagnoli during a meeting between them when Melillo asked him how he would like to be remembered. He said that he wants to be known as a "giving person." In his honor, Melillo went on to write the piece Giving based on three notes he had Dr. Scagnoli pick out.

Writing from the heart is what makes his music so uniquely Melillo. It is for this reason that he personally publishes and distributes his music. He has taken it upon himself to insure that his music is accessible, both to the students who ultimately perform the work and to those people who he has called STORMDirectors who believe in and support his cause. In his third edition of the STORMWatch, Melillo discusses the problems of distributing his music through an outside publisher. He makes several important points clear. A publisher who is in the business is in the business to make money. Therefore, publishing music that isn't as widely accepted, like Melillo's, is not a profitable strategy. This way of thinking is biased against the true nature of musical exploration and creativity. It causes certain music that may only be performed by a select few ensembles in the world to never have the chance at being published. This is a totally unacceptable concept to him.

Music in the 20th Century is another topic that Melillo is not afraid to voice his strong opinions about. His beliefs have brought him to compose the piece David! where he sees himself as "stand[ing] in UTTER, ABSOLUTE DEFIANCE against the Goliaths in our world... the Political Goliaths, the Publishing Goliaths, the Hollywood Goliaths, the Composition Frauds, the contest judges. I am the small child who says... The EMPEROR is NAKED! I am not afraid to tell the Truth"(Melillo, Apr. 14). It is also part of the reason for the piece Erich! which is an attempt to honor Erich Korngold for his contributions to the world of film music. "There's a prejudice that if it sounds good, there can't be an infrastructure. Einstein said that you can only recognize what you're looking for" (Melillo, Int.). Melillo also believes that a genius will never win a contest because he doesn't write the kind of music that the judges would want to hear. To stay true to the creative flow of ideas, the genius cannot give in to what someone else says is right. Those people who are too blind or too deaf to appreciate the emotions expressed in the music are, "completely and totally ignorant" (Melillo, Int.).

Melillo is never without inspiration. Much like Mozart was depicted in the film Amadeus, music is always going through his head. He is constantly surrounded by and filled with music. His thoughts are instantly translated into musical ideas. He is in many ways like Mozart. When he sits down to compose a piece, it is "straight from my head to the transposed parts on the score" (Melillo, Int.). But given that fact, he doesn't believe that makes him any kind of a genius. When asked in a letter what he would like to change about himself he replied, "I would be talented. . . . it is much better that the Music comes from a sheer force of Will and Love than that it should come from some kind of 'genius'" (Melillo, Apr. 14) His only suggestion to discover who he really is, was to consult the program notes that are issued with each of his works. The only way to truly understand the man himself is to know the music. Other sources must be consulted to determine what exists behind the musical code.

Melillo describes himself as a "12 year old boy in the body of a man" (Melillo, Apr. 14). He also says that he is the David and the Roark (The Fountainhead), unstoppable. He refuses to surrender because his faith has been tested and proved and it will endure. He says that he is stubborn and not afraid to tell the truth. He has been described as "the most intense individual I've ever met" (Creasap). Other words that have been used to describe him include: innocent, naļve, and childlike. Phenomenal is also a good word.

Melillo's music has been described as having a "different color" than anyone else's music because it's in "different keys" (Creasap). People who have watched him conduct describe what they saw as simply powerful. His music conveys numerous emotions. Passion, anger, innocence, and behind it all, the real boy behind the man.

Stormworks has become much more than the single three movement piece for band that it started out to be when it was premiered by the United States Air Force Band of the East on 26 August 1990 (Stormworks... Chapter One). It now lends its name to the great list of works written both before and after. The metaphor of the storm has become a guiding factor in Stephen Melillo's life. From his first piece of creative work whether in the form of a crayon drawing on his parent's refrigerator, a poem, book, or musical composition, to his latest attempt at relating to the rest of the world the ideas that constantly surround him and permeate his heart and mind, Stephen Melillo's life has become a "STORMWork".

Bibliography

Creasap, Dr. Susan D. Personal interview. 11 Apr. 1997.

Fritzinger, Andrew. The STORMPage. Webpage at http://www.iquest.net/~storm/

Lisk, Edward S. "Function Chorales." Melillo STORMWatch #2

Melillo, Stephen L. Letter to the author. 19 Feb. 1997

---. Letter to the author. 14 Apr. 1997

---. Stormworks... Chapter One CD Jacket notes 1997

---. Telephone interview. 12 Apr. 1997.

STORMWatch #1. By Stephen Melillo. Sept. 1994

STORMWatch #2. By Stephen Melillo. Sept. 1995

STORMWatch #3. By Stephen Melillo. Sept. 1996

Outline

  I.  Introduction - Stephen Melillo, Composer
 II.  His Discovery of Purpose
III.  STORMWorks
	A.  Philosophy of the Storm
	B.  Musical Works
		1.  Style characteristics
		2.  Interpretation
		3.  Musical Categories
			a.  Band
			b.  Winds & Percussion in Motion
			c.  Vocal & other ensembles
			d.  Orchestra
			e.  Film & Television Scores
			f.  Cable & Industrial Projects
			g.  Commercial Soundtracks
	C.  Educational Endeavors
		1.  Function Chorales
		2.  Music to Picture
		3.  MIDIMAST
		4.  STORMQuest
		5.  Clinician and Conductor
	D.  Books
		1.  Only For Now
		2.  Nogard & Dragon
 IV.  The Man Behind STORMWorks
  V.  Conclusion