The Medina Community Band Marcus Neiman, conductor John Connors, associate conductor & Matthew Hastings, assistant conductor Ice Cream Social Host – Medina Creative Housing Friday Evening, July 26th, 2019 – Season Final Concert Medina Uptown Park Square Gazebo 8:30 p.m. Anthem, Star Spangled Banner (1889/1917) .......................................................................................... Francis Scott Key John Philip Sousa Suite, English Folk Song Suite (1924) ..................................................................................... Ralph Vaughan Williams Seventeen Come Sunday My Bonnie Boy Folk Songs from Somerset March, Esprit De Corps (1878/2015) ..................................................................................................... John Philip Sousa Flute Solo, La Pastorella delle Alpi (1865/2019) ................................................................................... Gioachino Rossini David Seiberling Kristin Thompson, soloist Ragtime, Wrong Note Rag (from Wonderful Town) (1953/2005) ................................................................... Leonard Bernstein Ted Ricketts John Connors, conducting Dance, After the Cake Walk (1900-2018) ........................................................................................ Robert Nathaniel Dett Lee Orean Smith/ Dana Paul Perna March, Bullets and Bayonets (1919) .................................................................................................... John Philip Sousa Frederick Fennell Vocal Solos, Nessun Dorma (from Turandot) (1926/1994) ....................................................................... Giacomo Puccini D.W. Stauffer Vocal Solos, La Donna E Mobile (from Rigoletto) (1851/1992) ................................................................... Giuseppe Verdi D.W. Stauffer Daniel Doty, tenor soloist March, The Elephant March (1910) .................................................................................................... James Ord Hume Dance, Cha-Cha (from Four Dances from ‘West Side Story’) (1957/1980) ................................................ Leonard Bernstein Ian Polster National March, The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896) ....................................................................... John Philip Sousa Theme Song, Till We Meet Again (1918/1968) ...................................................................................... Richard A. Whiting William Teague Patriotic Sing-A-Long, God Bless America (1917) ......................................................................................... Irving Berlin Erik William Gustav Leidzén Program subject to change MCB Gazebo Concert – Friday, July 26th, 2019 – Program Notes – page 1 Folk Song Suite Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams led a long and illustrious career as a composer. He and his close friend Gustav Holst were considered to be late bloomers in the field of composition, but once they reached maturity, both were active in composition to the end of their lives. Vaughan Williams outlived Holst by some twenty-four years. Having studied at Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music, Vaughan Williams augmented his studies with work in the German Romantic school, studying with Max Bruch in Berlin, beginning in 1897. In 1908 he honed his orchestration skills while studying with the younger but more advanced Maurice Ravel in Paris. Ever aware of his slow pace to a mature level of composition, Vaughan Williams enjoyed a new stimulus when he joined the Folk-Song Society in 1904. As was the case with Holst, folk songs provided the impetus for a number of pieces, though personal interest led to further development of his own melodic and harmonic style. After World War I a new style developed which was influenced by music of the Elizabethan era of the late Renaissance, as mentioned earlier. This, in combination with his own stylistic traits, created such mystical works as the Third Symphony and The Lark Ascending. English Folk Song Suite reveals Vaughan Williams interest in and association with the folk song movement which swept through England toward the close of the 19th century. His wife, Ursula, wrote: “Folk music weaves in and out of his work all through his life, sometimes adapted for some particular occasion, sometimes growing into the fabric of orchestral writings.”1 The suite English Folk Songs, was written for the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall. After the first performance on July 4, 1923, The Musical Times reviewer commented, “The good composer has the ordinary monger of light stuff so hopelessly beaten.”2 Vaughan Williams had been particularly happy to undertake the Suite, according to his wife, as he enjoyed working in a medium new to him. “A military band was a change from an orchestra, and in his not-so-far off army days he had heard enough of the ‘original monger’s light stuff” to feel that a chance to play real tunes would be an agreeable and salutary experience for bandsman.”3 At the head of his condensed score (the only one available until the mid-1950s) the composer gave the following credits, not printed in the full score: “The tune, ‘My Bonny Boy’, is taken from ‘English Country Songs’ by kind permission of Miss. L.E. Broadwood, J.A. Fuller-Maitland Esq., and the Leadenhall Press. The tunes of ‘Folk Song from Somerset’ are introduced by kind permissions of Cecil Sharp Esq.” 1 Ursula Vaughan Williams, R.V.W.: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), pp. 150-153. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. MCB Gazebo Concert – Friday, July 26th, 2019 – Program Notes – page 2 Marches by John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa DOB: November 6th, 1854 (Washington, DC) DOD: March 6th, 1932 (Reading, PA) John Philip Sousa wrote the most famous American military marches of all time, including "Stars and Stripes Forever," earning him the nickname "the March King"; he was also known as a great bandleader, and organized the famed concert and military group, Sousa's Band. Born in Washington, D.C., on November 6, 1854, Sousa followed in the footsteps of his father, a musician in the U.S. Marine Corps, and enlisted by the age of 14. Before this, Sousa had studied violin with John Esputa. While active in the Marines, he composed his first march, "Salutation." Around the age of 16, Sousa began studying harmony with G.F. Benkert, then worked as a pit orchestra conductor at a local theater, followed by jobs as first chair violinist at the Ford Opera House, the Philadelphia Chestnut Street Theater, and later led the U.S. Marine Corps Band (1880-1992). Although most famous for his marches, Sousa composed in other styles as well, including a waltz, "Moonlight on the Potomac"; a gallop, "The Cuckoo" (both in 1869); the oratorio "Messiah of the Nations" (1914); and scores for Broadway musicals The Smugglers (1879), Desiree (1884), The Glass Blowers (1893), El Capitan (1896; which was his first real scoring success), American Maid (1913), and more. Sousa formed his sternly organized marching band in 1892, leading them through numerous U.S. and European tours, a world tour, and an appearance in the 1915 Broadway show Hip-Hip-Hooray. Sousa's Band also recorded many sides for the Victor label up through the early '30s. His most famous marches include "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (1897), "U.S. Field Artillery March," "Semper Fidelis" (written in 1888, it became the Marine Corps anthem), "Washington Post March" (1889), "King Cotton" (1895), "El Capitan" (1896), and many more. In addition to writing music, Sousa also wrote books, including the best-seller Fifth String and his autobiography, Marching Along. Actor Clifton Webb portrayed Sousa in the movie about his life entitled Stars and Stripes Forever. The instrument the sousaphone was named after this famous composer and bandleader. ~ Joslyn Layne, All Music Guide Bullets and Bayonets (March). More than many of Sousa’s other marches, this World War I composition has a distinctly military character. In studying the music, Sousa’ apparent inspiration by visions of battlefield glory is not difficult to imagine. But perhaps its war-like title accounted for the relative lack of popularity. There is no good record of solicitation by a specific regiment, but the march was dedicated “To the officers and men of the U.S. Infantry.” Esprit de Corps (March). Inspiration for this composition would be obvious had Sousa composed it while he was in service, but he was not. The march was not published for band until the year after he resigned from the U. S. Marine Corps. The dedication reads, “To my old friend Wilson J. Vance of Ohio.” In addition to being Sousa’s friend, Vance (1845-1911) was a Medal of Honor recipient who served with the 21st Ohio Infantry during the American Civil War. He was cited for voluntarily rescuing a wounded and helpless comrade while his command was falling back under heavy fire during the Battle of Stones River in Tennessee on December 31, 1862. Vance later became Captain, 14th U. S. Colored Troops, was the author of several books, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The “Esprit de Corps” Sousa references in this march is the camaraderie, the bond of MCB Gazebo Concert – Friday, July 26th, 2019 – Program Notes – page 3 friendship that forms between those who serve together. The dedication’s timing is not coincidental; the two were beginning to work together in 1878 on the operetta The Smugglers, for which Vance was the librettist. Reference: Paul E. Bierley, The Works of John Philip Sousa (Westerville,