Composers Datebook

Carlos Castaneda was a South America-born author who settled in the United States and wrote 12 books chronicling his experiences with a pre-Columbian shaman who helped Castaneda access “non-ordinary reality” and develop his personal creativity, something the shaman called his “nagual.” Casteneda’s books have sold millions of copies, and one of his readers was the Toronto-based composer Michael Colgrass, whose “Winds of Nagual” was commissioned by the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble and its conductor Frank Battisti, and premiered by them in Boston on today’s date in 1985. Since then, this musical suite inspired by colorful characters and scenes from Castaneda’s writings has become a classic of the concert band repertoire. “Sometimes when I am composing,” says Colgrass, “I see music as if it is a film, but the listener need not have read Castaneda’s books to enjoy this work, and I do not expect anyone to follow any exact scenario. “ And, speaking of cinematic scenarios, Colgrass says that band directors in the Southwest told him that, in the last years of his life, Castaneda would show up at concerts when “Winds of Nagual” was being performed. “He would wait until just before the downbeat,” says Colgrass, “and then enter the auditorium wearing a white suit and sit in the middle of the audience. Apparently he considered this music to be his ‘Hail to the Chief.’”