PLEASE SILENCE ALL ELECTRONIC MOBILE DEVICES PROGRAM SHORELINE SYMPHONIC WINDS Greg Flores—conductor Night On Bald Mountain (1867).........................................................................................................................................................................................................................Modest Mussorgsky (1839- 1881) trans. William A. Schaefer Harry’s Wondrous World (2001) .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... John Williams (b. 1932) from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone trans. Paul Lavender Sean Yeutter—guest conductor The Imperial March (1980) ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................John Williams from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back trans. Stephen Bulla Our Costume Contest Winner—guest conductor Symphony Fantastique: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, Op. 14 (1830) ......................................................................................................................Hector Berlioz Movement V: Dream Of A Witches’ Sabbath (Song d’une nuit du Sabbat) (1803- 1869) trans. Merlin Patterson CSULB CONCERT BAND Jermie S. Arnold—conductor Cycle of the Werewolf ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Jeremy S. Martin (b. 1971) Hocus Pocus ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... James Syler (b. 1961) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Andrew Boysen Jr. (b. 1968) Leland Vail—guest narrator The Haunted Carousel ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Erika Svanoe (b. 1976) Daniel Ramos—guest soloist Star Wars: The Force Awakens .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... John Williams (b. 1932) arr. Jay Bocook (b. 1953) PROGRAM NOTES Night On Bald Mountain, one of Mussorgsky’s best-known orchestral works, was composed for the opera Mlada, which became a group effort—compiled from separate contributions by Cesar Cui, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky himself. One of the sections assigned to Mussorgsky was “The Sacrifice of the Black Goat on Bald Mountain,” and for this portion, the composer revised sketches for a previous work, which he called St. John’s Night on the Bald Mountain. Mussorgsky, very proud of this music, said: “This (is a) wicked prank of mine, a really Russian and original achievement, quite free from German profundity and routine. Born on Russian soil and nurtured on Russian 2 corn!” Unfortunately, his musical friends were put off by the work’s wildness, bold orchestration, and audacious harmonies (“I shall be told to take a Conservatory class for these,” Mussorgsky predicted). Balakirev and Rimsky- Korsakov delivered crushing critiques. When the grand project of Mlada fell through, Mussorgsky decided to use his music as an orchestral intermezzo in his own opera Sorotchinsk Fair. Regrettably, Mussorgsky had never heard any of these versions when he died of alcohol poisoning in a Moscow sanitarium at age 42. It remained up to his colleague, Rimsky-Korsakov to put it into its final form and in the end, it became an extraordinary orchestral tone poem. Mussorgsky himself indicated, which Rimsky-Korsakov retained: “Subterranean sounds of supernatural voices. Appearance of the spirits of darkness, followed by that of Chernobog himself. Glorification of Chernobog and celebration of the Black Mass, The Sabbath Revels. At the height of the orgies, the bell of the village church, sounding in the distance, disperses the spirits of darkness. Daybreak.” Mussorgsky stated, “The form and character of my work are Russian and original. Its tone is hot-blooded and disorderly.” Along with its colorful orchestration and powerful harmonies, that “hot-blooded and disorderly” tone renders a hair-raising portrayal of the witches’ revel and remains the source of the score’s appeal. Harry’s Wondrous World “The success of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has been a heartwarming phenomenon to all those who love books. The worldwide reception that these works have received added greatly to the sense of privilege that I felt when I was given the honor of composing the music for the film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The story’s imaginative array of wizards flying on broomsticks and mail-delivering owls, all occupying a wondrous world of magic, offered a unique canvas for music, and the prospect of sharing it with some part of the great army of readers who love these books is a great joy to me.” —John Williams The premiere performance of Harry’s Wondrous World for concert band was conducted by John Williams as part of the 210th anniversary concert of the United States Marine Band, July 20, 2008 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The Imperial March, also called Darth Vader’s Theme, is a recurring musical theme in the Star Wars movies. It was composed by John Williams and first appeared in the filmThe Empire Strikes Back. The theme is based on the well-known funeral march from Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor and on Mars, the Bringer of War by Gustav Holst. One of the best-known symphonic movie themes, it is a classic example of a leitmotiv, a recurrent theme associated with characters or events in a drama. The Imperial March is the theme music that represents the authoritarian Galactic Empire. As Anakin Skywalker is stripped of all individuality, he, in essence, becomes one with the Empire as Darth Vader; hence the reason the march is often associated with him as well. The Imperial March represents all that is the Empire; therefore, it is nearly equivalent to a galactic anthem. To the Galactic Empire, The Imperial March represents strength, order, and control. However, to the Rebel Alliance, it is symbolic of tyranny, oppression, and hate. Interestingly, it has evolved from its original use as an “evil” theme to widespread use as portraying power at public events such as athletic competition. Symphony Fantastique, Op. 14 Symphony Fantastique is programmatic and tells the story of an artist, gifted with a lively imagination, who has poisoned himself with opium while in the depths of despair because of hopeless, unrequited love. Berlioz provided his own program notes for each movement of the work. He prefaces his notes with the following instructions: 3 “The composer’s intention has been to develop various episodes in the life of an artist, in so far as they lend themselves to musical treatment. As the work cannot rely on the assistance of speech, the plan of the instrumental drama needs to be set out in advance. The following program must therefore be considered as the spoken text of an opera, which serves to introduce musical movements and to motivate their character and expression.” Berlioz envisioned himself as “the artist” and the work was inspired by his own unrequited love for the actress, Harriet Smithson: He sees himself at a witches’ Sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the Sabbath... Roar of delight at her arrival... She joins the diabolical orgy... The funeral bell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies Irae, the dance of the witches. The dance of the witches combined with the Dies Irae. The return of the idée fixe (a musical signature representing the artist’s beloved which is used throughout the entire work) as a “vulgar dance tune” is depicted with a prominent E-flat clarinet solo. The climactic finale of the symphony combines the somber Dies Irae melody with the wild fugue of the Ronde du Sabbat (Witches’