Download

Download Full Text (828 KB)

Publication Date

Winter 12-2-2008

Year of Release

2008

Note(s)

Steven R. Barnett, conductor

Dr. Michael Stroeher, trombone

Matthew Kelly, senior music education major, student composer/conductor

Personnel

Callie Huff, Lauren Manor, Brittany White, April Bennett, Emily Crabtree, Sean Reed, flute

Aaron Sowards, piccolo

Allie Hughes-1st, Robert Heath, Tessa Gore-2nd, Emilea Burgh, Hannah Bird, Ashley Gilbert-3rd, Tim Cline, Kathryn Greer, clarinet

Rebecca Adkins, bass clarinet

Adam Stephenson, bassoon

Beau Cayton, Sara Vorac, Carl Hamlin, alto saxophone

Melanie Baldwin, tenor saxophone

Luke Miller, baritone saxophone

John Daniels, Briana Blankenship, Angela Crum, Isaac Winland, Dylan Elder, Natasha Beverly, Drew Gladwell, trumpet

Nick Amis, Kristen Liegy, Billy Holderby, Mindy Kelle, horn

John Galloway, Austin Seybert, Katie Ferber, Andy O’Neal, trombone

Daniel Ellis, bass trombone

Jason Rose- co-principal, James Lykens- co-principal, euphonium

Cory Hessler, Adam Phillips, tuba

Matt Jarvis, Jenna Palmer, Clark Littlepage, Amy Holliday, James Hairston, Robert Kelley, percussion

Michael Preston, piano

Program Notes

Richard L. Saucedo is currently Director of Bands and Performing Arts Department Chairman at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana. Under his direction Carmel bands have received numerous state and nat1onal honors m the areas of concert, jazz and marching. The Carmel High School Wind Symphony was invited to the Bands of America national Concert Band Festival m 1992 and 1999 and was named the Indiana State Champion concert band in 1999. Mr. Saucedo did his undergraduate work at Indiana University in Bloomington and finished his master's degree at Butler University in Indianapolis. He is constantly in demand as an adjudicator, clinician and guest conductor for concert band, jazz band, marching band, orchestra and show choir.

Whirlwind is a rhythmically based flourish for winds and percussion based in 7/8. The acoustic piano solo in the middle section is extremely important to the overall variety of the piece.

Vincent Persichetti (1915 - 1987) established himself as a leading figure in contemporary music. He was a virtuoso keyboard performer, scholar, author, and energetic teacher. To his credit are more than eighty compositions, including major works in almost every genre. Dr. Persichetti was graduated from Combs College, Philadelphia Conservatory, and Curtis Institute. He was head of the composition department of the Philadelphia Conservatory (1942-62) and joined the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in 1947. The influence of his musical mind is widely felt, thanks to his expert teaching and his book on harmonic practices of this century.

Symphony for Band was commissioned and premiered by the Washington. University Band at the MENC: National Association for Music Education Convention in St. Louis on April 16, 1956. The four movements of this symphony have forms with traditional implications. The opening adagio introduces the principal theme, while the allegro resembles sonata form. The slow second movement is based on "Round Me Falls the Night," an original hymn by the composer.

Jan Sandström is one of the most prolific and frequently performed contemporary Swedish composers, with 600 performances of his Motorbike Concerto alone. He has written orchestral music, choral compositions, music for film, television, and stage. BombiBone BrassBitt was commissioned and premiered by trombone virtuoso Christian Lindberg at the 1996 International Trombone Festival in Birmingham, England.

In BombiBone BrassBitt Sandstrom takes themes from his 1992 opera Bambi Bitt and weaves them into a showpiece for trombone and wind band. The character of Bambi Bitt is a lovable rogue, a free spirit who follows his own rules, perhaps a Swedish version of Till Bulenspiegel or Huckleberry Finn.

BombiBone BrassBitt consists of four sections: the first is derived from the overture to the opera and portrays Bombi's light, cheery character. The second, lyrical section depicts Bambi by the side of a lake, talking with his mother. Tolling church bells in the third section signal ominous signs of danger, but all is well in the end with the return of the cheerful introductory theme.

Frederick Alton Jewell, born in 1875, was a young man when he ran away from home and literally "joined the circus." Baritone horn was his point of entry into the Gentry Bros. Dog and Pony Show. Through hard work and experience, he eventually rose to the position of bandmaster and music Director of the Barnum and Bailey Band. As a result of the intense travel of the circus band Jewell left the circus in 1917 and moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa. He became conductor of the Iowa Brigade Band and started his own publishing company. His most famous marches are E Pluribus Unum, Quality-Plus, the Old Circus Band and, of course, The Screamer. Fred Jewell passed away in 1936 at the age of 61.

The Screamer was written in 1906 while Jewell was actively performing with the circus, and it bears all of the requisite musical traits of a great circus march. From the lightning-fast fanfare that opens the piece to the swirling woodwind passages, this march literally "screams" from one end of the march to the other. It was intended to draw attention to something important about to happen in the main circus ring beneath the Big Top, and . it takes little imagination to imagine the ringmaster in his red coat and top hat introducing the first of the many acts that has made the circus an important part of Americana during the 19th century.

Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Cavaliere Suppe'-Demelli as born in Spalato in 1819. His early education and musical influences were Italian. Showing great musical talent at an early age, he became an excellent flute player. He also composed a mass at the age of 13. His know compositions number more than 200, including 31 operettas, two grand operas, church music, symphonic works, overtures and assorted stage music. Today he is best known for the exciting, melodic overtures to his 31 operettas. Among the best known are Poet and Peasant, The Beautiful Galatea, Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna, Jolly Robbers, Pique Dame and Light Cavalry.

The story of Light Cavalry (1866) takes place in a Hungarian village where a group of cavalrymen are trying to unite a young couple in the face of adversity and intrigue. The overture begins with an introduction, which is based on a trumpet call of the Austro-Hungarian army. A galloping allegro is then introduced and developed before it is interrupted by a plaintive episode of Magyar coloration. The allegro then continues, and the entire ensemble takes up the bugle calls, bringing the work to a rousing and triumphant ending.

Steven Bryant (b. 1972, Little Rock, Arkansas) is an active composer and conductor. His musical interests span a variety of styles, and his catalog includes numerous works for wind ensemble, orchestra, electronic and electroacoustic creations, music for chamber ensembles and music for the Web.

Radiant Joy is his first new work for winds in over three years. This work began life as a strict, 12-tone, serialized creature modeled on Webern. After several sketches that ended in anger and frustration, he realized that he should stop forcing this music into existence with a prescriptive process, and simply listen inwardly to what he actually wanted to hear. The result is the opposite of what he originally tried to create- the vital rhythmic pulse is still prominent, but the harmonic materials veered toward the language of 70's/80's funk/jazz/fusion. Regardless, the piece is intended to evoke simple joy and 'good vibes' for the performers, the audience and the composer.

The Battalion, by Matthew J. Kelly (b. 1985), is a piece that began for piano then later for full orchestra. However, in May of 2008, the whole piece was rewritten for concert band, leaving only the main concept of phrases and melodies. The piece emulates images of certain wars, most particularly the Vietnam War. The descent into battle at the beginning, the marching into the war, the peaceful calm before the storm, and the deadly battle, all climax to the end of the piece when the soldier is able to leave the battle and return home safely. The Battalion is dedicated to Kelly's step-dad, Charles Smoot, who bravely fought and returned home safely in the Vietnam War.

Matthew J. Kelly is a senior music education major at Marshall University. He plays tuba in the Marching Thunder, Marshall University Orchestra, and the tuba-euphonium ensemble Tubonium. Kelly spends his free time· writing new music ·and arranging music for various ensembles. He plans to attend graduate school after graduating to pursue a master's degree in Composition and Conducting. The Battalion is Matthew's second concert band to be premiered and his first to be considered for publication.

Ira Hearshen received his Bachelor of Music degree in applied theory and composition from Wayne State University. In 1972, he moved to Las Angeles to study orchestration at the Grove School of Music under the tutelage of the film composer Albert Harris. Hearshen is currently one of the most sought after orchestrators in Hollywood. His orchestrations include music for the television series Beauty and the Beast, the Broadway show Into The Light and the feature films Guarding Tess, Big Business, The Three Musketeer's, Inspector Gadget, and Toy Story II.

Divertimento for Band applies a musical form that found prominence in the classical period and was often used by Haydn, Mozart, and other Austrian composers. Cast in five movements, Hearshen's divertimento is the quintessential reflection of the multicultural American experience, melding popular and traditional musical styles indigenous to the United States, Europe, and Cuba.

Mambo Loco is based on a dance of the 1940's with Cuban origins. It is characterized by ostinato and riff passages along with timbale outbursts.

Note

Smith Recital Hall

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Fine Arts | Music | Music Performance

Marshall University Music Department Presents Wind Symphony Fall Concert, Steven R. Barnett, Conductor, featuring, Dr. Michael Stroeher, Trombone, Matthew Kelly, Student Composer/Conductor

Share

COinS