July 19Th, 2019
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The Medina Community Band Marcus Neiman, conductor John Connors, associate conductor & Matthew Hastings, assistant conductor In Memory of Edwin Howard Robnett Ice Cream Social Host – Medina Lions Club Friday Evening, July 19th, 2019 Medina Uptown Park Square Gazebo 8:30 p.m. Anthem, Star Spangled Banner (1889/1917) .......................................................................................... Francis Scott Key John Philip Sousa Overture, La Belle Hélène (1864/1958) ............................................................................................... Jacques Offenbach Lawrence Odom March, Emblem of Unity (1941) .................................................................................................... Joseph John Richards Trombone Solo, Morceau Symphonique, Op. 88 (1902) ................................................................. Alexandre Guilmant Wesley Shepard George Rosin, soloist Salute, Fly Me to the Moon (1954/2014) ........................................................................................................ Bart Howard Takashi Hoshide Dance, Sabre Dance (from Gayane) (1942-1947) ................................................................................. Aram Khachaturian Erik William Gustav Leidzén March, Billboard (1901) ................................................................................................................................... John Klohr Suite, Carnival of the Animals (1886/2005) ........................................................................................ Camille Saint-Saëns Jay Bocook March, Semper Fidelis (1888) .............................................................................................................. John Philip Sousa National March, The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896) ........................................................................ John Philip Sousa Patriotic Sing-A-Long, God Bless America (1917) .......................................................................................... Irving Berlin Erik William Gustav Leidzén Program subject to change MCB Gazebo Concert – Friday, July 19th, 2019 – Program Notes – page 1 La Belle Hélène Jacques Offenbach / Lawrence Odom Jacques Offenbach 20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr. and Arthur Sullivan. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st. The Tales of Hoffman remains part of the standard opera repertory. Born in Cologne, the son of a synagogue cantor, Offenbach showed early musical talent. At the age of 14, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatoire but found academic study unfulfilling and left after a year. From 1835 to 1855 he earned his living as a cellist, achieving international fame, and as a conductor. His ambition, however, was to compose comic pieces for the musical theatre. Finding the management of Paris' Opéra- Comique company uninterested in staging his works, in 1855 he leased a small theatre in the Champs-Élysées. There he presented a series of his own small-scale pieces, many of which became popular. In 1858, Offenbach produced his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers ("Orpheus in the Underworld"), which was exceptionally well received and has remained one of his most played works. During the 1860s, he produced at least 18 full-length operettas, as well as more one-act pieces. His works from this period included La belle Hélène (1864), La vie parisienne (1866), La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867) and La Périchole (1868). The risqué humour (often about sexual intrigue) and mostly gentle satiric barbs in these pieces, together with Offenbach's facility for melody, made them internationally known, and translated versions were successful in Vienna, London and elsewhere in Europe. Offenbach became associated with the Second French Empire of Napoleon III; the emperor and his court were genially satirized in many of Offenbach's operettas. Napoleon III personally granted him French citizenship and the Légion d'Honneur. With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Offenbach found himself out of favor in Paris because of his imperial connections and his German birth. He remained successful in Vienna and London, however. He re-established himself in Paris during the 1870s, with revivals of some of his earlier favorites and a series of new works, and undertook a popular U.S. tour. In his last years he strove to finish The Tales of Hoffmann, but died before the premiere of the opera, which has entered the standard repertory in versions completed or edited by other musicians.1 La Belle Hélène The Beautiful Helen), is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The operetta parodies the story of Helen's elopement with Paris, which set off the Trojan War. It was first performed at Paris's Théâtre des Variétés on December 17, 1864, starring Hortense Schneider and José Dupuis. While some experts (cf Grove) are of the opinion that the creation of La belle Hélène was a "largely untroubled" affair, others (cf Jacob) paint a different picture: Although Offenbach had managed at great cost to persuade Schneider, known by then as "La Snédèr", to accept the role of Helen, the premiere remained in doubt to the very last minute. During rehearsals, La Snédèr constantly complained that the extravagant Léa Silly (in a male role as Oreste) was trying to upstage her: La Silly extemporized (a privilege reserved for the prima donna); she imitated her; she danced a cancan in her back while she was singing an important aria, etc. etc. La Snédèr not only walked off the set repeatedly, 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Offenbach MCB Gazebo Concert – Friday, July 19th, 2019 – Program Notes – page 2 but kept threatening to leave the world, or at least Paris, altogether! It took all of Offenbach's skills at creating harmony to see the production through. La belle Hélène was an instant success with both the public and the critics and enjoyed an initial run of 700 performances. Premieres in Vienna (1865), Berlin (1865), London (1866), and Chicago (1867) followed shortly. It also had a run in New York City at the Grand Opera House beginning on April 13, 1871. It had its Czech premiere in Prague in 1875, under Adolf Čech.2 Emblem of Unity March Joseph John Richards Joseph John Richards DOB: August 27th, 1878, (Cwmvon, Wales) DOD: March 16th, 1956 (Long Beach, California) Joseph John Richards was born August 27, 1878 in Cwmavon, Wales. His family immigrated to the United States four years later, settling in Peterson, Kansas. He began learning various brass instruments at the age of ten, progressing rapidly, playing in various amateur bands. At the age of nineteen he was appointed leader of the Norton-Jones Circus Band, beginning a long career as bandmaster with numerous ensembles. Richards’ first composition appeared in print in 1899; during this period he began writing marches and other works, and certainly many of his early works were first performed by the bands that he led. His career as a circus bandleader culminated with his directorship of the Ringling Bros. Circus Band from 1911 through 1918. During the circus off-seasons, Richards attended Kansas State Teachers College and the American Conservatory of Music. Beginning in the early 1920’s, he taught school music and directed bands in various Illinois towns through 1944. In 1945, upon the death of Herbert L. Clarke, he was appointed director of the famed Long Beach, California Municipal Band, a post he held until 1950. Subsequently, Richards returned to Illinois in the spring and summer to lead the Mt. Morris Band while wintering in Long Beach. He died on March 16, 1956 in Long Beach. Richards was highly regarded by his peers. He was elected to the American Bandmasters Association in 1939 and served as its president in 1948. He composed well over one hundred works that were published. Undoubtedly his most famous composition - one which enjoys great popularity today - is the marvelous “Emblem of Unity” march. Historical Comments: Emblem of Unity was written in a traditional march form with slight deviations. Of particular interest is Richards’ use of augmented sixth chords in the introduction, as well as solo measures for the snare drum. Possibly the most recognizable feature of the march is the prominent use of the horn section, combined with the baritones on solo measures in the first strain. The horns are featured again in the second strain with exposed octaves accompanied only by chromatic passages in the woodwinds and trumpet parts. 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_belle_H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne MCB Gazebo Concert – Friday, July 19th, 2019 – Program Notes – page 3 The march was written while he was directing both the public school and municipal bands in Sterling, Illinois. Barnhouse published the march in 1941. This brilliant march, Richard’s most popular, was written while he was living in Sterling, Illinois, conducting both the high school and community bands. A classic and exciting composition, this work is played by hundreds of school and professional bands each year. Some of the composition’s unique features include: the