Keith Brion and His New Sousa Band Mr
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY in association with Ford Motor Company Fund Keith Brion and his New Sousa Band Mr. Earle Louder, euphonium, Miss Virginia Croskery, soprano Miss Mary Stolper, piccolo, Paul E. Bierley, narrator Dr. William D. Revelli, special guest conductor Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Sousa Band's first concert in Ann Arbor Saturday evening, October 10, 1992, at 8:00 Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan PROGRAM NATIONAL ANTHEM The Star Spangled Banner.........................................arr. Sousa 1. OVERTURE La Forzadel Destine ..................................... VERDI arr. Creatore 2. EUPHONIUM SOLO The Southern Cross........................................... H. L. CLARKE Mr. Louder 3. SELECTIONS The Pirates of Penzance ..........................SULLIVAN arr. Sousa 4. VOCAL SELECTION "Lo sun 1'umile ancella", from Adriana Lecouvreur........... CILEA Miss Croskery 5. SELECTION Finale, 2nd Movement from Dwellers of the Western World Introducing the anthem "Messiah of Nations" ..............SOUSA 6. A1RVARIE The Carnival of Venice ....................................... D.W.REEVES 7. WALTZ The Coeds of Michigan ............................................... SOUSA 8. AIR Ye Banks and Braes O Bonnie Doon....................... GRAINGER 9. MARCH George Washington Bicentennial..................................SOUSA Dr. William D. Revelli, Guest Conductor 10. PICCOLO SOLO Through the Air............................................................DAMM Miss Stolper 11. FINALE Polka and Fugue from Schwanda the Bagpiper .... WEINBERGER Encores are selected from the following compositions of John Philip Sousa: Ancient and Honorable Federal National Game U.S. Field Artillery Artillery Glory of the Yankee Navy New York Hippodrome Washington Post Black Horse Troop Hail to the Spirit of Liberty Pride of the Wolverines The Stars and Stripes Forever Boy Scouts Hands Across the Sea Royal Welch Fusiliers (The greatest march ever Bullets and Bayonets Invincible Eagle Sabre and Spurs written) Daughters of Texas King Cotton Semper Fidelis El Capitan Liberty Bell The Thunderer Sousa's marches are arranged by Keith Brion in the style of "Sousa and his Band" Due to danger resulting from structural vibration in the building, please refrain from foot stomping with the band. Clapping is heartily endorsed. Black powder blanks will be used in this performance. The University Musical Society extends thanks to Mr. Keith Brion, Dr. William D. Revelli, Professor H. Robert Reynolds, Mr. Paul E. Bierley, and Mr. Gary Lewis for this evening's Philips Pre-concert Presentation and to Professor William Malm and the Steam's Collection for the display of period instruments in the first balcony lobby. The box office in the outer lobby is open during intermission for tickets to upcoming Musical Society events. THIRD CONCERT OF THE 114TH SEASON 22ND ANNUAL CHOICE SERIES PROGRAM NOTES A note from the conductor Sousa never spoke at his concerts, preferring nonstop music that spoke for itself. But sixty years since his death, a bit of explanation is in order. During the 1976 bicentennial celebrations, America's musical history came of age. America has become delighted and finally at ease with Scott Joplin, Stephen Foster, Charles Ives and even brass bands. Once we believed that culture from Europe was far superior to our home grown product; now we have reached a maturity that allows us to look realistically at "the way we were." What we find is an exuberant, naive, athletic and uninhibited folk-art music, portraying a nation bursting with strength, humor, vitality, and unabashed sentiment. The music and finest musical organizations of any kind in America. extraordinary history of John Philip Sousa and his During his career, Sousa introduced millions band embody these values. of Americans to the "new" music of Wagner, Verdi, Sousa was a superb musician, organizer, Richard Strauss, Respighi, and Tchaikovsky, as well businessman, showman, and writer. Known for as the works of such relatively older masters as his dry wit, he always had a twinkle in his eye, Rossini. Although he regarded himself as an although he seldom smiled. In fact, his only entertainer, his influence as an educator of popular documented laughter occurred at a band baseball taste should not be underestimated. His career was game when one of the players bent over and split a model and inspiration for Arthur Fiedler, whose his pants. career with the Boston Pops began at the end of the Today we think of Sousa as a legendary Sousa era. composer of military marches, but in his own time Sousa's compositional output was he achieved renown as a composer of dance enormous 15 operettas, 136 marches, 11 suites, music. When the Washington Post March was 77 songs and vocal works, 63 miscellaneous written in 1889, the popularity of the waltz was compositions, 322 known arrangements, 7 books already giving way to a new craze called the two- and 132 articles. Two of his best operettas, H step. Dancing instructors discovered that the Capitan and the Free Lance have enjoyed recent lilting strains of the Washington Post were perfect revivals. for this new dance, and Sousa was catapulted to The music to be performed on this evening's world-wide fame. program is a retrospective of Sousa's 50 years of Sousa's role in promoting classical music is concerts and features elements common to all of also far less known than his work as a composer them: classical works by European composers, and performer of marches. At the time he became virtuoso instrumental solos; selections from his a conductor of the Marine Band in 1880, the only suites, operettas, and novelties; vocal arias sung by symphony orchestra then existing was the Boston a lovely soprano; and of course the splendid Sousa Symphony. To his musicians, a position with the marches. The instrumental solos were often Sousa Band was the pinnacle of their profession. composed by his famous cornetist Herbert L. Sousa often recruited the finest orchestral players Clarke and trombonist Arthur Pryor. from Europe. Judging from early recordings and Sousa's unprecendented success as a popular contemporary accounts, the band was among the musical entertainer was based on three elements: his compositions, his musicianship and his showmanship. Through musical research and widely acknowledged as the best of the genre. dramatic portrayal, these modern Sousa concerts Sousa said a march "should make a man with a seek to reunite the man and his music. The wooden leg step out," and his surely did. Although program provides a glimpse of an age when he standardized the march form as it is known Sousa's concerts exemplified the honest values, today, he was no mere maker of marches, but an robust optimism and rollicking beat of a young exceptionally invented composer of over 200 and vital society. 1 hope you will enjoy it. works, including symphonic poems, suites, operas Keith Brian and operettas. His principles of instrumentation and tonal color influenced many classical John Philip Sousa: A brief biography composers. His robust, patriotic operettas of the 1890s helped introduce a truly native musical John Philip Sousa personified tum- attitude in American theatre. of-the-century America, the comparative First-rate salesmanship was a key to his innocence and brash energy of a still new nation. success. Sousa pleasingly packaged classical His band performed across the globe and brought standards and orchestral treatments of popular music to hundreds of American towns. Born on fare, establishing a standard style for pops concerts November 6, 1854, Sousa reached his exalted of American symphonies. His band played Parsifal position with startling quickness. In 1880, at age excerpts ten years before the work was introduced 26, he became conductor of the U. S. Marine at the Metropolitan Opera, yet combined it with Band. In 12 years the vastly improved ensemble such fare as "Turkey in the Straw," ultimately won high renown, and Sousa's compositions doing more to champion good music than any earned him the title of "The March King." The American orchestra of the era. Sousa astounded formation of his own band in 1892 brought Europe by introducing ragtime on his 1900 tour, world-wide acclaim. touching off a fascination with American music In its first seven years the Sousa Band gave that influenced such composers as Ravel, 3500 concerts in 400 cities. In an era of train and Stravinsky, and Milhaud. ship travel, it logged over a million miles in nearly The principal commodity Sousa sold was four decades. There were European tours in 1900, pride in America and American music. Due to his 1901, 1903 and 1905, and a world tour in 1910- efforts, American music won world acclaim for the 11, the zenith of the band era. Even in the remote first time. A popular tale promoted by Sousa's Fiji Islands, recordings of Sousa's music preceded press agent speculated that Sousa had changed his him, assuring an ecstatic reception. original name of "So" by adding USA, the initials of The unprecedented popularity of the Sousa his beloved country. In fact, Sousa was of Band came at a time when few American Portugese descent and kept his exact name. orchestras existed. From the Civil War to about For decades Sousa's visits were special events 1920, band concerts were among the most for America's cities. Invariably his arrival was met important features of American musical life. No by an assemblage of high school bands, the mayor, finer band than Sousa's was ever heard. Sousa and all manner of dignitaries. Before performing modified the brass band by decreasing the brass he would briefly conduct the city's combined high and percussion instruments, increasing its school bands. Receptions were held in his honor woodwinds, and adding a harp. Sousa's he was asked to speak on the radio, and he was conducting genius attracted the finest musicians, given the key to the city. enabling him to build an ensemble capable of Before radio, improved electronic records, executing programs almost as varied as those of a and finally, the advent of talking pictures, the symphony orchestra.