Ensemble Concert: 2012-12-03 -- University Band and Concert Band Audio Playlist Access to audio and video playlists restricted to current faculty, staff, and students. If you have questions, please contact the Rita Benton Music Library at [email protected]. Scroll to see Program PDF l fmTHE UNIVERSITI OF lOWA COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES s£d'/Mfi,5w presents the University Band Steven Riley, conductor Eric Bush, guest conductor I(evin I(essler,guest conductor and Concert Band I(evin I(astens, conductor Eric Bush, guest conductor Ernest Jennings, guest conductor December 3, 2012 Iowa Memorial Union Ballroom ) 7:30 p.m. University Band Program Symphonic Overture (1963) Charles Carter (1926-1999) Voodoo (1984) Daniel Bukvich (b. 1954) Eric Bush, guest conductor Chico De Chiapas (2007) Lal· )' arr. .l\!Ioore Emi!J Roane, Alex Joh11son, Darron Carr, Jodi Connol!J, i\1.ia lvtelm, Sau!)ler Small Coached by Andrew Veit A Tribute to Grainger (1996) Percy Aldridge Grainger 1. Country Gardens (1882-1961) 2. Mo Nighean Dubh arr. Chalon L. Ragsdale 3. The Gypsy's Wedding Day Kevin Kessler, gttest conductor The Old Grumbly Bear (1907) Julius Fucfk (1872-1916) arr. Andrew Glover Kate Wohlman, t11ba The Fairest of the Fair (1908) Tohn Philip Sousd Tonight's program is No. 5194 in a series 2012-2013 (1854-1 932) The University of Iowa School of Music Concert Band Program Festive Overture, Opus 96 (1954) Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-197 5) trans. Donald Hunsberger Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa (1991) Ira Hearshen II. after "The Thunderer" (b. 1948) Eric B11Sh, guest cond11ctor An Original Suite (1928) Gordon Jacob I. March (1895-1984) II. Intermezzo III. Finale Ernest Jennings, guest cond11ctor The Wind and the Lion (197 5) Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) arr. Michael Davis This program is being presented by Steven Riley, in partial fullfillment of the requirements _) for the Master of ?vlusical Arts in band conducting. l\fr. Riley is a student of Dr. :Mark Heidel. Program Notes Symphonic Overture (1963) Charles Carter Symphonic Overture is a contemporary-sounding overture of medium difficulty so scored that it can be performed with equal success by large and small groups alike. Employing the familiar three­ part form (A-B-A), the opening section has a theme which is robust in character and with considerable rhythmic interest. The second theme, slow and expressive in character, is a free form based on an opening idea introduced by the first flute. At the return of the first section, the first theme is treated as a fugue subject building to great heights as all four entrances are achieved. As the "exposition" concludes, the contrapuntal texture gives way to a homophonic quality which dos(' the piece. The coda, as is characteristic, utilizes material from the fin,_ theme. (Charles Carter) Voodoo (1984) Daniel Bukvich Voodoo was a commission for the Idaho All-State Band in 1984. The piece was written specifically for the setting it would be premiered in- a gymnasium. Mel Shelton, a professor of conducting and com­ position at Boise State University, conducted [the premiere] and was instrumental in [carrying out] the first successful performance of the piece. The educational purpose of the piece was to challenge the per­ formers to listen to each other. "To accomplish this, it occurred to me to turn the lights off." It is as much a theatrical event as a piece of music, calling for the use of flashlights, arm waving, chanting, singing, blowing into brass mutes, surrounding the audience, and playing on parts of wind instruments, such as mouthpieces, trombone slides, and trumpets with tuning slides removed. [The work] is in no way related to the practice of religion. The name of the piece is derived from a conversation Bukvich had with his friend who was a missionary nun living in Guatemala. "She told me that the sounds of the jungle, at night time, reminded her of 'those old Voodo_o movies' they used to watch," he said. Many of these "sounds of tl jungle" are imitated in Voodoo, the band piece. The primary melodic material is loosely based on a favorite Gregorian chant; he simply finds the melody appealing. It is also a smooth, flowing, conjunct melodic line, which works well while singing the word "voodoo." Games P McCrane) Chico De Chiapas (2007) Lalo Chico D e Chiapas was written by NYC based vibist and composer Lalo. The piece was inspired on a trip to Chiapas, Mexico where the composer saw a family marimba band. More specifically a small boy who played with his family was too small to reach the keys, so he stood on a wood box. This piece depicts a playful day in the life of the Chico De Chiapas, and was released on Lalo's CD Urban Myth. (Andrew Veit) A Tribute to Grainger (1996) f halon L. Ragsdale A great deal of Percy Aldridge Grainger's compositional output are settings of English folksongs. The three selections that comprise A Tribute to Grainger are no exception. Country Gardens was music to accompany Morris dance, a traditional English folk dance. Grainger originally set the work for "a few whistlers and a few instruments" in 1908. He wrote a piano arrangement of tl1e piece on the occasion of his mother Rose's birthday in 1918. For years this \Vas his best-selling work. This troubled Grainger deeply, as he felt it obscured his more significant efforts. Grainger discovered Mo Nighean D11bh (My Dark-haired Maid) in a collection entitled Songs of the North, a set of songs and choruses with piano accompaniment. In 1900, Grainger set this tune with his own harmonization, again as a birthday present for his beloved mother. In this nostalgic song, a man reflects with his maiden on their time on Knockgowan's Height, where they fell in love, but can never again stand. Yet, no matter where "fortune's blasts of wintry weather" should take them, as long as they are together, they will have no fear. The Gyp.ry's W'edding Dery was a folksong collected by Grainger himself on one of his trips to Lincolnshire; he would later set it for SATB chorus. , he song tells the story of a handsome man \.vho asks a young gypsy --'girl to tell him his fortune. The girl tells him that "all those pretty lassies you must lay aside, for it is the little gypsy girl that's going to be your bride." Of course, the prophecy comes true, and the girl's wandering days come to an end as she marries the squire. (Kevin Kessler) The Old Grumbly Bear (1907) Julius Fucik Julius Fucik was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on July 18, 1872. He studied music at the Prague Conservatory, for a time under the tutelage of Antonin Dvorak. A violinist and bassoonist, Fucik performed with theater orchestras, symphony orchestras, and military bands. For a time he was bassoonist in the band of the 94th Lower Austrian Infan­ try Regiment, under the baton of Josef Franz Wagner, composer of the famous Under the Double Eagle March. In 1897, Fucik commenced a long and successful career as a military band leader, and during this period he was busiest with composing music. His compositions num­ bered well into the hundreds; in addition to military marches, he was beloved as a composer of light symphonic music, including concert overtures, waltzes, and many marches, the most famous of which i Entry of the Gladiators. The Old Grumbly Bear was originally composed for solo bassoon and symphony orchestra. This charming and humourous music de­ picts the lumbering antics of a slow moving, grumbly old bear - until the ending, when the beat gathers some momentum! (Andrew Glover) The Fairest of the Fair (1908) John Philip Sousa The Boston Food Fair was an annual exposition and music jubilee held by the Boston Retail Grocers' Association ... In fairs before 1908, Sousa had been impressed by the beauty and charm of one particular young lady who was the center of attention of the displays in which she was employed. He made a metal note that he would some day transfer his impressions of her into music. When the invitation came for the Sousa Band to play a twenty-day engagement in 1908, he wrote this march. Remembering the comely girl, he entitled the new march The Fairest of the Fair. (Paul E . Bierley) Festive Overture, Opus 96 (1954) Dmitri Shostakovich Festive Overture was composed in 1954, in the period between Symphony No. 10 and the Violin Concerto. Its American premiere was given by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra on November 16, 1955. In 1956, the New York Philharmonic under Dmitri Mitropoulos presented the overture in Carnegie Hall. A Russian band version of the overture was released in 1958 and utilized the standard instrumentation of the Russian military band, i.e., a complete orchestral wind, brass and percussion s<:'.ction plus a full family of saxhorns, ranging from the Bb soprano down through the Bb contrabass saxhorn. This edition was scored for the instrumentation of the American symphonic band. '., he Festive Overture is an excellent curtain raiser and contains one of / Shostakovich's greatest attributes -- the ability write a long sustained melodic line combined with a pulsating rhythmic drive. In addition to the fl.owing melodic passages, there are also examples of staccato rhythmic sections which set off the flowing line and the variant fanfares. It is truly a "festive overture." (Donald Hunsberger) Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa (1991) Ira Hearshen Stirred and fascinated by the music of John Philip Sousa since childhood, I still get a chill upon hearing the piccolo obbligato in the trio of The Stars and Stripes Forever.