Symphonic Band Program Notes
Glory of the Yankee Navy – Despite Sousa’s distinguished military career, The Glory of the Yankee Navy was not written to celebrate the United States’ ocean-going armed forces. Rather, it ties into Sousa’s long-standing love of musical theatre. In 1909 a singer and actress named Blanche Ring was the toast of Broadway. That year, she was preparing a new musical called The Yankee Girl, set to open in 1910. When her director decided the show needed a march, Sousa agreed to write one, dedicated to Ms. Ring. The Glory of the Yankee Navy is the charming result.
Perthshire Majesty was commissioned in January of 2003 by the Tara Winds of Atlanta, Georgia, David Gregory, conductor, Jay Wucher, Commissioning Committee Chairperson.
If you look up the derivation of the name "David Gregory," you will find that it means "beloved watchman." I cannot imagine a more accurate name for a person who has devoted himself to serve as a guardian and inspirer of people in all stages of life. Although I have only known Dr. David Gregory for roughly one year, he is the type of person whom I feel I have known my whole life. Furthermore, I have witnessed, through David's unique qualities in friendship and musicianship, his unequivocal compassion for those who wish to advance music and the quality of its education.
When David and the Tara Winds' membership commissioned me to compose a piece for their ensemble, I knew that the greatest challenge would be to create music that equaled the genuine warmth exhibited by the musicians I had gotten to know. Consequently, the graciousness of the Tara Winds' members predetermined the lush feel of this composition, but I still had to pinpoint a style in which to write. When I found out that David's ancestry lead back to County Perthshire in Scotland, the style was set. Perthshire Majesty, a Scottish ballad for wind band, was written for my friends in the Tara Winds of Atlanta, Georgia; conducted by my dear friend, Dr. David Gregory, President of the National Band Association.
Catch Me If You Can – Haunting and captivating describes John Williams' score to the hit movie Catch Me If You Can that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. The music features an alto sax soloist and a wide variety of unique percussion and scoring devices. This superb arrangement includes the most striking musical themes from the soundtrack in a marvelous concert setting. The soloist this evening is Dr. Scott Humphries, MU Director of Bands, and conducted by senior Mason Kniola.
Jupiter Hymn from “The Planets” comes from the fourth movement, "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" from the orchestral suite The Planets by the English composer Gustav Holst (l874 - 1934), written between 1914 and 1917. The Planets was premiered in 1918 by Sir Adrian Boult and the Royal Philharmonic Society and remains one of the most colorful examples of our 20th-century orchestral literature. Holst's love of English folk song and dance is readily demonstrated here. The middle section presents a surprising contrast -- a majestic flowing melody in 3/4 meter which Holst later used for a patriotic song. consists of four movements, all based on specific English folk songs.
Second Suite in F for Military Band consists of four movements, all based on specific English folk songs.
Defining “folk music” can be a difficult task, particularly in a time when we are (rightfully) concerned with cultural recognition and appropriation. While it would be easy to simply dismiss many wind band repertoire standards -- like Second Suite in F for Military Band -- it could instead be an opportunity to redefine why certain parts of our musical heritage are important.
Written in 1911 (though not premiered until 1922), Second Suite introduces and develops seven tuneful folk melodies over four movements. The introductory march begins with Glorishears -- a Morris-dance tune realized in the style of a British town brass band. A euphonium soloist sings out the sweeping melody of Swansea Town before clarinets and saxophones dance to Claudy Banks. A recapitulation of Glorishears concludes the opening movement. The second movement, Song Without Words: “I’ll Love My Love,” features a new exploration of the ensemble’s texture, pairing mournful solo voices against a brooding pulse of woodwinds and euphonium. Song of the Blacksmith, movement three, features a much brighter, brassier color. Alongside driving syncopations, it is easy to imagine the blacksmith hard at work, sparks flying. After an unexpected transition, the fullness of the countryside is revealed in the final movement, Fantasia on the Dargason. Propelled by joyful jig-like rhythms and a celebratory tambourine, a sustained setting of Greensleeves triumphantly arrives before the contrast of the opening’s tuba and piccolo close the suite.
Celebrated English composer Gustav Holst wrote and revised his two suites for military band during a time of immense compositional growth. Both suites were composed before the premiere of Holst’s symphonic masterwork The Planets (1918), which in many ways relied on his experience working with folk songs. In Second Suite, much of Holst’s source material comes from the work of Dr. G. B. Gardiner and Cecil Sharp, anthropologists who collected field recordings throughout England. (Interestingly, Sharp later traveled to the United States and collected recordings in the Southern Appalachians that helped spur the folk revival era of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and more. A lineage from these collections can be traced to present day through countless popular recording artists.)
Too often, overemphasizing originality or pure authenticity robs us of one of the great joys of music listening: familiarity. “The pleasures that come from popular music listening,” says scholar Keith Negus, “arise from those moments of sudden recognition or discovery, when we find a connection.” Embracing folk music as gathered, collected, and evolving -- where players and listeners alike are encouraged to infuse their own experiences -- helps us realize a richer musical tradition of connection, one Holst’s Second Suite continues for wind bands even now. Movement IV: Fantasia on the Dargason. This movement is not based on any folk songs, but rather has two tunes from Playford's Dancing Master of 1651. The finale of the suite opens with an alto saxophone solo based on the folk tune Dargason, a 16th century English dance tune included in the first edition of The Dancing Master. The fantasia continues through several variations encompassing the full capabilities of the band. The final folk tune, Greensleeves, is cleverly woven into the fantasia by the use of hemiolas, with Dargason being in 6/8 and Greensleeves being in 3/4. At the climax of the movement, the two competing themes are placed in competing sections. As the movement dies down, a tuba and piccolo duet forms a call back to the beginning of the suite with the competition of low and high registers.