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Publication Date

11-28-2007

Year of Release

2007

Note(s)

Steven R. Barnett, conductor

Jennifer Parsons, graduate assistant conductor

Personnel

Jason Cook, Laura Simpson, Lauren Manor, Becky Wyant, April Bennett, Emily Crabtree, flute

1st Robert Heath, Allie Hughes; 2nd Hannah Bird, Tessa Gore: 3rd Ashley Gilbert,

Emilea Burgh, clarinet

Rebecca Adkins, bass

Laura Johnson, oboe

Adam Stephenson, bassoon

Sara Vorac, Beau Cayton, Jason Mitchell, alto saxophone

Melanie Baldwin, tenor saxophone

Luke Miller, baritone saxophone

Josh Richardson-Co-Prin., Angela Crum-Co-Prin., John Daniels, Natasha Beverly, Isaac Winland, Brandon Layman, trumpet

Nick Amis, Billy Holderby, Mindy Kelle, Kacie O'Neal, horn

Pat Billips, John Galloway, Austin Seybert, Andy O’Neal, Tyler Mullins-bass, trombone

Jason Rose-Co-Prin., James Lykens-Co-Prin., euphonium

Matt Murphy, Scott Lowry, tuba

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

PROGRAM NOTES

Claude T. Smith, (1932-1987), was born in Monroe City, Missouri. He attended Central Methodist College until he was drafted into the Army during the Korean Conflict. Unable to find a position with the service bands as a trumpeter, he auditioned on the French Horn and won a position with the 371st Army Band. Smith finished his undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. He taught instrumental music in Nebraska and Missouri junior and senior high schools, later teaching composition and conducting the orchestra at Southwest Missouri State University. In 1978, Smith gave up teaching to serve as a full-time composer and consultant for Wingert-Jones Music Company and Jenson Publishing Company. During his career, he composed over 120 works for band, chorus, orchestra, and small ensembles. Active as a clinician and guest conductor, he received numerous awards and honors, including election to the presidency of the Missouri Music Educators Association.

Eternal Father, Strong to Save is a piece rich in harmony, dynamics, and thematic interplay. It is based on the missionary hymn of the same name composed in 1860 by William Whiting, which was adopted as the official hymn of the U.S. Navy. This work opens with a brilliant fanfare. The melody of the hymn then appears in a fugue developed by the woodwinds. The brass echo the fugue until the melody once again appears played by the choir of French Homs. The ensemble joins in for a finale reminiscent of the introductory fanfare.

Percy Grainger, (1882-1961), was a picturesque nationalist who tried to retain something of the original flavor of British folk songs and their singers by strict observance of peculiarities of performance such as varying beat lengths and the use of ''primitive" techniques such as parallelism. Born in 1882, the son of an architect in Brighton, Victoria, Australia, Grainger was a precocious pianist. The proceeds from a series of concerts, given at the age of twelve, enabled him to study at Frankfurt for six years, after which he began his European career as a concert pianist, settling in London in 1901. It was during his stay in England that he became passionately involved in collecting and arranging folk songs and country dances.

This arrangement of Australian Up-Country Tune is based on Mr. Grainger's original version for unaccompanied voices with wordless syllables. The choral version was first sung at his own wedding to Ella Viola Strom at the Hollywood Bowl in California on August 9, 1929.

Dmitri Shostakovich, (1906-1975), wrote the Festive Overture in early November 1954. It was first performed in Moscow on November 6, 1954. The Madison Symphony Orchestra has played the work twice previously on subscription programs, in 1979 and 1984. When Josef Stalin died on March 5, 1953-on the same day as Prokofiev, by the way-life for Soviet artists began to change, gradually at first, and then with increasing speed, as the tight controls of the 1930s and 1940s relaxed. Shostakovich had suffered artistically under Stalin. His immediate response to Stalin's death was the tenth symphony, a return to an uncompromising modern style.

The more modest Festive Overture, hardly modernist in any way, seems to be a response of a different sort: light and exuberantly happy. Shostakovich had gradually worked his way back into favor with Soviet authorities, and in 1954, he was named to a post with the Bolshoi Theater. The Bolshoi had been chosen to host an important celebration of the 37th anniversary of the 1917 revolution. Shostakovich was asked to produce a suitably joyful piece to open the festivities. The overture begins--no surprise--with a grand brass fanfare. The tempo abruptly changes to Presto for the main theme, a bubbly clarinet theme that is varied in several ways. The second theme for horn and strings is more flowing and Romantic, though an irrepressible accompaniment figure continues the previous sense of energy. This ends in a witty pizzicato idea from the strings, and return of the first Presto music, eventually combined with the second theme, now played by the brasses. A short transition was inserted, and then a triumphant return of the fanfare, before Shostakovich ends with a rousing coda.

Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), one of England's most prominent composers, was also a professional trombonist and a teacher of composition and organ. His music includes operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber music, and songs. During World War I, he was placed in command of all English Army Bands, organizing music among the troops. His First Suite in E-F/at, Second Suite in F, and Hammersmith are hallmarks in the repertoire for wind ensemble.

Second Suite for Military Band in F Major, composed in 1911, uses English folk songs and folk dance tunes throughout, being written at a time when Holst needed to rest from the strain of original composition. The opening march movement uses three tunes, the first of which is a lively Morris dance. The folk song Swansea Town is next, played broadly and lyrically by the euphonium, followed by the entire band playing the tune in block harmonies – a typically English sound. Claudy Banks is the third tune, brimming with vitality and the vibrant sound of unison clarinets. The first two tunes are repeated to conclude the first movement. The second movement is a setting for the English folk song I'll Love My Love. It 'is a sad story of a young maiden driven into Bedlam by grief over her lover being sent to sea by his parents to prevent their marriage. The Hampshire folk song, The Song of the Blacksmith, is the basis of the third movement, which evokes visions of the sparks from red hot metal being beaten with a lively hammer's rhythm on the blacksmith's anvil. The English country dance and folk song, The Dargason, dating from the sixteenth century, completes the suite in a manner that continues to cycle and seems to have no end. The Elizabethan love tune Green Sleaves is intertwined briefly and withdrawn before the final witty scoring of a piccolo and tuba duet four octaves apart.

J. Eric Schmidt has been one of the busiest freelance composers in Los Angeles for the past fifteen years. He has composed, orchestrated and conducted the music for over 300 episodes of animated series produced by Disney and Warner Brothers. His work has been featured in over 30 motion pictures, dozens of commercials and numerous theme park shows. He is currently teaching conducting and composition at the USC Film Scoring program. Eric's concert repertoire includes six compositions for concert band, a ballet, one symphony for orchestra, two works for choir, 25 solo piano pieces, 16 songs for children's choir and numerous works for chamber ensembles.

Confession, Mvt. II from Symphony of Prayer begins with a dark and menacing opening section serving as a musical mirror of today's contemporary world: one that is full of energy and alluring in power on the surface, but empty and hopeless underneath. New ventures are exciting at first, yet ultimately end in spiritual betrayal. The piece turns from these temptations, however, and discovers a spiritual truth and beauty that is reflected in a haunting and humble musical "confession".

Robert Sheldon is one of the most performed composers of wind band music today. A recipient of numerous awards from the American School Band Director's Association, Phi Beta Mu and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, his compositions embody a level of expression that resonates with ensembles and audiences alike. His music is performed around the world and appears on many international concert and contest lists. Mr. Sheldon regularly accepts commissions for new works, and produces numerous publications for concert band each year.

Metroplex: Three Postcards from Manhattan is Robert Sheldon's second commission by the Normal Community West High School Band. A musical portrait of Manhattan's cityscape, Metroplex opens with a vision of the New York City skyline, evoking looming buildings and concrete canyons. From there, the melody travels to the heart of an urban jazz scene, characteristic of the city's famous night clubs. Finally, the piece takes us on a wild taxi ride through the heavy traffic of a bustling metropolis. The skyline is seen once more as we leave Manhattan, hopefully to return again soon.

Note

Smith Recital Hall

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Fine Arts | Music | Music Performance

Marshall University Music Department Presents a Wind Symphony, Fall Concert, Steven R. Barnett, Conductor, featuring, Jennifer Parsons, Graduate Assistant Conductor

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