Symphonic Band
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Program Notes Chase Scene (1998) (1’) presents the Donald Hill (b. 1953) Symphonic Band Previously, Donald Hill was director of bands at Plantation High School, Plantation, Florida; and Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Florida; where the bands were Monday, April 10, 2017 recognized for their consistently outstanding performances in the areas of concert, jazz and marching. During this period he arranged music for Hal Leonard Publications and Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall many competitive marching bands throughout the country. Don also served as the Brass Caption and Music General Effect Chairman for Drum Corps International from 1993 to Michael Robinson, conductor 1999. Chase Scene (1998) Donald Hill Don currently lives in Ventura, CA., where he is engaged as a composer, arranger, (b. 1953) and clinician. He has received commissions from high school and university bands throughout the United States and has had works performed at the National Band Association meeting, the College Band Directors National Association Southern Division meeting and the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival. Donald has been a Bloom (2004) Steven Bryant member of The American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) since 1994, and (b. 1972) five times has received recognition from the ASCAP Special Awards Panel for his works. He is currently being published by Great Works Publishing, Inc. and Ludwig Music. Jonathan Poquette, guest conductor About the piece, the composer writes, “Chase Scene evokes the relentless intensity of a chase utilizing swiftly changing musical scenes. The piece is built out of the opening four-note motive which appears in different permutations throughout the work. After the introduction, an urban “street feel” is created by low winds and percussion. A mysterious melody emerges in saxes and double reeds which is briefly developed by the Suite of Old American Dances (1949) Robert Russell Bennett brass with the “street feel” being interspersed like quick edits in a movie. The music I. Cakewalk (1894-1981) intensely grows to a feverish excitement as the chase rushes to a dramatic conclusion.” II. Schottische III. Western One Step IV. Wallflower Waltz V. Rag Bloom (2004) (6’) Steven Bryant (b. 1972) -intermission- Jonathan Poquette, guest conductor Steven Bryant is an active composer and conductor with a varied catalog, including works for wind ensemble, orchestra, electronic and electro-acoustic creations, Lauds, Praise High Day (1991) Ron Nelson chamber music, and music for the web. He was also Distinguished Visiting Professor of (b. 1929) Composition at the University of North Carolina Greensboro for the 2014-2015 academic Jonathan Poquette, guest conductor year. Steven studied composition with John Corigliano at The Juilliard School, Cindy McTee at the University of North Texas, and Francis McBeth at Ouachita University, He resides in Durham, NC with his wife, conductor Verena Moesenbichler-Bryant. Bloom (2004) was commissioned by the Northwest North Carolina Bandmasters In Memoriam: Kristina (2002) Bruce Yurko Association for the All-District Middle School Symphonic Band. The composer offers the following about the work: “It is a celebration of springtime. The bright, sunny (b. 1951) days, with nature in bloom all around, give me a powerful sense of well-being, simultaneously tranquil and exuberant. Bloom is my attempt to recreate that feeling.” Galatic Empires (1998) David R. Gillingham I. Battlestar of the Andromeda Nebula (b. 1947) II. Evenstar of the Magellanic Cloud III. Earthstar of the Milky Way Suite of Old American Dances (1949) (15’) Lauds, Praise High Day (1991) (5.5’) I. Cakewalk Ron Nelson (b. 1929) II. Schottische Jonathan Poquette, guest conductor III. Western One Step IV. Wallflower Waltz After earning all three music degrees from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School V. Rag of music by the age of 28, Ron Nelson joined the faculty of Brown University in 1956, where he served as Chairman of the Department of Music from 1963 to 1973, and was Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981) named professor emeritus in 1993. Throughout his compositional career, Nelson has contributed greatly to the wind band repertoire with works such as Rocky Point Holiday Robert Russell Bennett began learning music from his parents until 1926, when he (1969), Resonances I (1990), and Courtly Airs and Dances (1995). began studying composition with Nadia Boulanger. Most of his career was spent as an orchestrator for over 300 Broadway musicals from the 1920s into the 1960s. Examples Lauds (Praise High Day) is an exuberant, colorful work intended to express feelings of of these include Show Boat, Girl Crazy, Of Thee I Sing, Annie Get Your Gun, South praise and glorification. Lauds is one of the seven canonical hours that were selected by Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, and Camelot. Bennett also St. Benedict as the times the monks would observe the daily offices. Three of the daily hosted his own radio show and wrote the book Instrumentally Speaking on scoring for offices (terce, sext, and none) were the times of the changing of the Roman guards and theater groups. His original works include seven symphonies for orchestra, an opera, four offices (matins, lauds, vespers, and compline) were tied to nature. Lauds, subtitled and several works for band. In addition, he also has arranged works such as Porgy and Praise High Day, honors the sunrise; it is filled with the glory and excitement of a new Bess, Oklahoma!, and The Sound of Music for band. day. Suite of Old American Dances was inspired after the composer heard a performance by the Goldman Band in 1948. The original title was Electric Park, an amusement park Bennett attended while growing up in Kansas City. Each movement of the work is based on a dance from the beginning of the 20th Century. The Cakewalk dance originated on the southern plantations, where slaves often imitated their plantation owners. The dance of “strut” was danced to jig-like banjo/fiddle music, In Memoriam: Kristina (2002) (8.5’) usually done by couple who, with a backward sway, strutted in a medium high step or Bruce Yurko (b. 1951) low kicking fashion. Plantation owners would encourage their workers by presenting prizes for the best couples. The prize was often a cake, usually shared with the other Bruce Yurko received his bachelor’s degree in music education from Wilkes College participants. The men would often dress in long coats with high collars and the women and his master’s degree in performance/composition from the Ithaca College School of in frilly gowns, to mimic their owners. Music. As a French horn player, he has studied with Douglas Hill and John Covert and he is a composition student of Karel Husa. From 1974-1981, Yurko was Director of Bands Although the title of this dance suggests that its roots lie in Scotland, the Schottische at Madison High School in Madison, New Jersey. In 1981, Mr. Yurko began serving as is actually a German variant of several Bohemian dances that later developed into the the Director of the Wind Ensemble at Cherry Hill High School East in Cherry Hill, New polka. The schottische features quick shifts from foot to foot and striking of the heel. Jersey, where he conducted the Cherry Hill High School East, Chamber Wind Ensemble, These movements resemble the Scottish reel and may have inspired the name. Because Brass Ensemble and Orchestra, until his retirement. Currently, Yurko is the Director of the polka was at one time called the “Scottish Waltz,” it is also possible that this earlier Music for the Wenonah Presbyterian Church. dance inspired its namesake. Either way, the dance came to the United States by way of England when polka dancing became the rage among continental society in the 1840s. Yurko has guest conducted throughout the United States and his compositions have The music for the early schottische was usually written in 2/4 time, and many describe been premiered by some by some of the most prestigious wind ensembles. Yurko’s the dance as simply a slow polka. compositions are published by C. Alan Publication, Ludwig Music Company, and Southern Music Company. The Western One Step included in the Suite of Old American Dances is a somewhat misleading title. As Frederick Fennell explained, “The composer informed me that In Memoriam: Kristina was written following the death of a young French horn player this is also a dance known as the Texas Tommy, an obviously bright-eyed tune with in 1995 named Kristina Damm who perished following a walk on a beach in Virginia an equally bright-eyed tempo.” Little is known about the Texas Tommy, one of the with her father. A storm had just passed, the sky had cleared and a bolt of lightning obsolete forms of the one-step. This dance, from the early 20th century, is believed came out of the blue and hit them both. Her father was unharmed, but Kristina to have originated in brothels and saloons, where ladies of the evening were known as succumbed to her injuries the following day, two days before she was to return to “tommies.” There is a record of the Texas Tommy appearing in the New York Lafayette her high school for marching band camp. Being her tutor on French horn, Yurko was Theatre production of Darktown Follies in 1913. compelled to write this piece in her memory, and specifically wrote important horn parts for her. Although the beginning of the 20th century represented a new cultural era, replete with new dance steps, the time-honored tradition of the Wallflower Waltz still reigned as king of the ballroom dance scene. It seems fitting that Bennett chose to end his suite with a Rag. Although there is no one specific dance that can be associated with the rag style, Bennett’s choice of music is representative of the era as a whole.