John Mackey (b. 1973) Sasparilla (2005) We open this afternoon’s program with the delightful and raucous Sasparilla. This is a very different work than Mackey’s Asphalt Cocktail that we performed last Fall, but no less ambitious, with a large percussion battery plus accordion and contra-bass clarinet as solo instruments. It’s a very tongue-in- cheek look at the Old West as seen through the eyes of … well, we’ll let you figure that out! From the composer: Sasparilla is my first “fully original” work for wind ensemble. With Sasparilla, the primary request from the commissioning consortium was to write something “new for band,” so I approached the piece with the goal of writing something that took advantage of the wonderful sounds than only a concert band can make. “Sasparilla” was a type of liquor served in saloons in the old west. It has since become a non- alcoholic root beer-like beverage. Whether it be from bad liquor or terribly funky soda, Sasparilla tells the tale of an Old West saloon, and the specific tale seems to vary, depending on the listener. Some hear a pony who drinks from a fermented trough and goes on a joyride to Tijuana. Some hear a cowboy who can’t hold his drink. Some suggest the old west as viewed through the eyes of the old Warner Brothers cartoons. Regarding the spelling...although I would never be one to win a spelling bee, I realize that the “correct” spelling is “sarsaparilla,” but there are two other slangified spellings – “sarsparilla” and the one I’ve chosen, “sasparilla.” Although only one would win you a spelling bee, “sasparilla” looked best in print! John Mackey holds a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with John Corigliano and Donald Erb, respectively. Mr. Mackey particularly enjoys writing music for dance and for symphonic winds, and he has focused on those mediums for the past few years. His works have been performed at the Sydney Opera House; the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Carnegie Hall; the Kennedy Center; Weill Recital Hall; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival; Italy's Spoleto Festival; Alice Tully Hall; the Joyce Theater; Dance Theater Workshop; and throughout Italy, Chile, Japan, China, Norway, Spain, Colombia, Austria, Brazil, Germany, England, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. His score Damn was used by the US Olympic Synchronized Swim team at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where they won the Bronze medal. Percy Grainger (1882-1961) Children’s March: “Over the Hills and Far Away” (1919) Percy Aldridge Grainger was born in Melbourne, Australia and was schooled mostly under the auspices of his mother. By the age of 13, he had made his debut as a solo pianist, followed by a move to Frankfurt to study at the Hoch Conservatory. Following his education in Germany, he moved to London with his mother and slowly established himself as an international concert pianist. However talented he was at the piano, he always had a yearning to compose. It was during this period that Grainger toured the English countryside collecting folk songs straight from the source: often working-class, common folk. Grainger’s interest in this collection was not to simply arrange these songs into neat compositions, but to emphasize the way the singer presented the songs, with the resulting rhythms, inflections, and ornaments. To do this, Grainger had singers record on Edison wax cylinders, one of the earliest uses of recording technology to capture the human voice. The Children’s March is one of the earliest works for concert band that features piano. It was written while he was serving with the American Army at Fort Hamilton during World War I. It was premiered by the Goldman Band at Columbia University in 1919 with Grainger conducting and Ralph Leopold on piano. Like Mock Morris, which the Metropolitan Wind Symphony performed last year, the principal melody is folk-like in character, though it is original and not an existing folk melody. A unique feature of this piece is the significant vocalizations by some of the performers. There are piano cues in several of the parts that can allow the piece to be performed with or without a pianist. The dedication is intriguing: “for my playmate beyond the hills”, which is believed to refer to a Scandinavian beauty that Grainger corresponded with for eight years, but did not marry due to concerns from his Mother. The Children’s March is a jaunty romp that will leave you smiling! Kent Kennan (1913-2003) Sonata for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble (1956/1986/1998) Arranged by D. Hunsburger Kent Kennan received his degrees in music from the University of Michigan and the Eastman School of Music in composition and music theory. At the age of 23, he was awarded one of the most coveted prizes in music, the Prix de Rome. This allowed him to study for three years in Europe, primarily at the American Academy in Rome. The majority of Professor Kennan’s teaching career was spent at The University of Texas at Austin. Professor Kennan’s compositions include works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, and solo instrument as well as songs and choral music. One of his best-known works, Night Soliloquy, has been performed by every major orchestra in the country under such distinguished conductors as Toscanini, Ormandy, Stokowski, and Ozawa. Professor Kennan composed his last major work in 1956 at the age of 43 and opted to abandon composition. From then on, he wrote only occasional small pieces and chose to devote himself to teaching and educational writing. The Sonata for Trumpet and Piano was originally written in 1956, with the composer revision in 1986 that added an alternate ending to the first movement. The original piece was a commission by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) and is dedicated to trumpeter K. Frank Elsass. Donald Hunsburger arranged the piano accompaniment for wind ensemble in 1998. Joseph Kaz (b. 1992) Fall of the House of Usher (2013) Joseph Kaz is the co-winner of the 2011 Metropolitan Wind Symphony’s North American Student Composer Competition and we are excited to present the world premiere of the resulting work: Fall of the House of Usher. Fall of the House of Usher is based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name. This programmatic piece seeks to explore and interpret the mysterious and disturbing world Poe creates in his story. In order to create this world, twelve-tone rows (but not serialism itself) have been used. The piece can be divided into three sections: a horse ride to the House of Usher: the revelation of the "death" of Madeline; and the destruction of the House of Usher. There are two motives that are used extensively in this piece, one being for the House itself, and one being for Madeline. Joseph R. Kaz is a young composer, currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition at Ithaca College, studying under Dr. Jorge Grossman, Dr. Sally Lamb, and Dr. Dana Wilson. With performances by ensembles such as the Long Bay Symphony, the University of Tennessee at Martin Marimba Choir, the University of Memphis Marimba Choir, the Ithaca College Wind Dectet, Contemporary Ensemble, Chamber Winds, and the Ithaca College Light Opera, Kaz’s music covers many genres. In addition to the Metropolitan Wind Symphony award, Kaz has won several other prizes including the 2012, and 2013 Jack Downey Composition Prize and the 2010 Texas Orchestra Directors Association Composition Contest. John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) King Cotton March (1895) The King Cotton march was composed by John Philip Sousa to commemorate the Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895. The term “King Cotton” refers to the importance of cotton as a cash crop in the United States south. Though the King Cotton march is not as popular or as well known as The Stars and Stripes Forever, The Liberty Bell, The Thunderer, or Semper Fidelis, the listener will know it immediately even if they can’t put a finger on where they have heard it. If the film The Sting is a favorite, they might remember it as the music for the carousel that Eileen Brennan and Paul Newman ran. They might have heard it in film The Adventures of Milo and Otis or an episode of 30 Rock. John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, D.C. to John Antonio Sousa, who was of Portuguese ancestry, and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus, who was of Bavarian ancestry. During his childhood, Sousa studied voice, violin, piano, flute, cornet, baritone horn, trombone and alto horn. At the age of 13, his father, a trombonist in the US Marine Band, enlisted Sousa in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice to keep him from joining a circus band. He played with the US Marine Band from 1868-1875. He returned to the US Marine Band from 1880-1892 as its conductor, where he led “The President’s Own” band for five presidential administrations. In 1893, Sousa worked with a Philadelphia instrument maker to design a tuba that could project its sound above either seated or marching personnel. The “marching brass bass” or sousaphone is the result. During World War One, Sousa joined the Navy and continued wearing his naval uniform for the rest of his life when performing with his own band. John Philip Sousa was a true American original. Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) Lux Aurumque (2005) Eric Whitacre has achieved global fame, not only for his beautifully crafted music, but more intriguingly for his pioneering use of social media to bring people from over fifty countries together to sing in the project known as the Virtual Choir.