PROGRAM NOTES Overture To
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PROGRAM NOTES Overture to “Il Vespri Siciliani” (The Sicilian Vespers) Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Arr. Dan Godfrey The Paris Opera being the most prestigious institution of its kind in Europe during the mid-nineteenth century, all composers with any sort of dreams longed to have their music produced there. Verdi first managed the feat in 1847 with Jerusalem, a French-language revision of his 1843 Italian opera, I Lombardi alla prima crociata (The Lombards at the First Crusade). Les Vêpres siciliennes (Sicilian Vespers), the first of his two operas composed specifically for Paris (it was followed by Don Carlos in 1867) appeared eight years later. The city and its grand opera style had its own particular demands, including five acts (requiring three to four hours of music), spectacular scenic and choral effects, and a ballet. The setting is the city of Palermo on the Italian island, Sicily, in 1282, a time when the territory was occupied by the French. Revolutionary plots are afoot, and lovers become entangled in webs of deceit, all climaxing in a massacre of the French at the hands of the Sicilians. The overture is a dramatic and soulful piece. In the manner of Rossini, Verdi’s predecessor as the master of Italian opera, it makes thrilling use of crescendo, a gradual build- up in volume. Irish Reel (1936) Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Arr. Guy Wolfenden Born appropriately on 22 November, St. Cecilia's Day (the Patron Saint of music), Edward Benjamin Britten was the fourth child of a Lowestoft dentist. Encouraged by a doting mother, he privately studied composition with the Sussex-born composer Frank Bridge. His piano teacher was Harold Samuel. Later, at the Royal College of Music, he studied composition under John Ireland. Britten's music first attracted a wider audience when in 1936 he wrote background music for three GPO Film Unit "shorts": The King's Stamp, Coal Face, and - most notably - Night Mail. Britten lived in the USA from 1939 to 1942 in the company of Peter Pears and WH Auden, where friendships were struck which were to have a profound effect on his future. During these years Britten wrote his Violin Concerto, Sinfonia da Requiem and his first opera Paul Bunyan. Also the first thoughts of what was to be his most popular opera - Peter Grimes - were taking root. Britten wrote Irish Reel in 1936 as the title music for a documentary film entitled “Around the Village Green”. It is a bravura piece, exhibiting all the energy and strong orchestral colours typical of the composer’s output at that time, which makes use of a traditional reel tune with the evocative title “The Bottom of the Punch Bowl”. Guy Woolfenden’s transcription for symphonic wind band skilfully captures all the fun and sparkle of this ebullient score. March “From Maine to Oregon” (1913) John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) Arr. John R. Bourgeois John Philip Sousa is well known throughout the world for his successes with the Sousa Band, and for writing the most popular marches ever written. Some of his marches actually were created from music originally written for an operetta, From Maine to Oregon, based on musical themes from Sousa's operetta, The Glass Blower, which was renamed The American Maid. Highlights from “Oliver” (1963) Lionel Bart Arr. Ted Ricketts Consider Yourself / Food Glorious Food / As Long As He Needs Me / I'd Do Anything / Where Is Love? Oliver! was the first musical adaptation of a famous Charles Dickens work to become a stage hit. There had been two previous Dickens musicals in the 1950s, both of them television adaptations of A Christmas Carol The plot of Dickens' original novel is considerably simplified for the purposes of the musical, with Fagin being represented more as a comic character than as a villain, and large portions of the latter part of the story being completely left out. (It may well be that Bart based his musical on David Lean’s film, rather than Dickens' book.) The show premiered on Broadway on January 6,1963 at New York’s Imperial Theater and closed on November 14, 1964 after 774 performances. There have been numerous Broadway and London revivals, the most recent in 2011, as well as a film in 1968. It was announced this past March that a remake of the film will be made with a premiere set for 2016. Intermezzo Sinfonico (fr. the Opera, “Cavalleria Rusticana” Pietro Madscagni (1863-1945) Arr. Elliot Del Borgo Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play and short story written by Giovanni Verga. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890, at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called “Cav/Pag” double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Intermezzo Sinfonico is from the introduction to the second act of Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni. This piece is one of the most loved orchestral interludes in all of operatic literature. Expressive and sensitive melodic lines are built on simple, yet very warm, romantic harmonies. Del Borgo’s transcription seeks to capture the fullness of tone present in the string section by utilizing the warm colors and sonorities of the symphonic band. Satiric Dances (for a comedy by Aristophanes) Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008) Allegro Pesante / II. Adagio Mesto / III. Allegro Spumante Satiric Dances was commissioned by the Concord Band, Concord, Massachusetts, to commemorate the Bicentennial of April 19, 1775, the day that launched the American War for Independence. At the North Bridge, in what is now Minute Man National Historical Park, the first ordered firing upon British Regulars by Colonial militiamen resulted in ``the shot heard `round the world.'' Dello Joio, then Dean of Boston University's School for the Arts, agreed to do the commission, but stipulated it would be based on a piece he had used as background music for a comedy by Aristophanes. The most famous comic dramatist of ancient Greece, Aristophanes was born an Athenian citizen about 445 BC. His plays commented on the political and social issues of fifth century Athens and frequently employed satire. The first dance movement is annotated as allegro pesante. The brass entry signifies the importance of the work, but the brisk tempo keeps the simplicity of ``peasantry'' from being ponderous. Taking a much slower adagio mesto tempo, the second dance begins with a melancholy tune from the flutes and low brass. The movement has light and delicate features that are quite exposed. Its central theme might evoke thoughts of a dance in a meadow that eventually reverts into a more solemn theme. Without a break in the music, the final movement is introduced by rolls from the snare drum. The tempo is indicated as allegro spumante and is the fastest of the composition. The quick turns and dynamics evoke images of the objects that were the titles of Aristophanes' plays: Clouds, Wasps, and Birds. “Tchaikovsky and Other Russians” Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill As performed by Danny Kaye (1913-1987) Danny Kaye (David Daniel Kaminsky) was born in 1913. He became one of the most beloved and versatile actors, comedians, and performers in show business, having starred on Broadway, movies (“The Court Jester”, “Merry Andrew”, “Walter Mitty”, “On the Double”, “Hans Christian Andersen”, and many other films), and television where he hosted his own weekly variety show in the 1960’s. He was also a well-regarded conductor (although he couldn’t read a note of music) and a spokesman for Unicef. His “big break” was in the 1941 show “Lady in the Dark” where he literally stopped the show at each performance by performing one of the great patter songs of all time: “Tchaikovsky and Other Russians” by none other than Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill. The song is a miniature music appreciation class where in the space of 39 seconds Kaye rattled off the names of 49 composers, from Malichevsky, Rubinstein and Arensky to Gretchnaninoff, Kvoschinsky and Rachmaninoff during its mad dash to an imaginary finish line in a torrent of tongue-twisting verbiage. In a tribute to Mr. Kaye, and with the assistance of associate conductor Allison Rakickas and the BGSB, Howard Green will attempt to match that feat……. The arrangement for symphonic band was written by Adam Stout. Adam is a talented musician with many years professional experience in musical theater and cabaret as a director, conductor, pianist and vocalist. Originally from Indianapolis, he now resides in Houston when he is not traveling the world performing on cruise ships. Adam relied on his remarkable knowledge of musical theater history and performance styles as well as input from Howard Green to score "Tchaikovsky and other Russians" for symphonic band. Tonight the Buffalo Grove Symphonic Band debuts Adam's arrangement. The Banks of Green Willow (1913) George Butterworth (1885-1916) Arr. Martin Tousignant This is a short piece (originally for orchestra), probably the most played of Butterworth’s three works for orchestra. It has certainly been his most recorded orchestral work. Described by its composer as an "Idyll", and written in 1913, it is a belated companion to the Two English Idylls of 1910-1911. All three pieces are founded on folk melodies Butterworth collected in Sussex in 1907, each has a similar "arch" shape, and each lasts between 4½ and 6 minutes. Butterworth based The Banks of Green Willow on two folk song melodies that he noted in 1907 - "The banks of green willow" and "Green bushes". Green Bushes was a common tune, and there are notable uses of it in works by Ralph Vaughan Williams (Folk Song Suite, Movement 2) and Percy Grainger (Passacaglia: Green Bushes and The Lost Lady Found).