(from our Press Release):
The Quad City Wind Ensemble, conducted by Brian L. Hughes, will be celebrating the final concert of their 2010-2011 season, “A 25th Anniversary Celebration”, on Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. in Allaert Auditorum at the Galvin Fine Arts Center located on the campus of St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St., in Davenport, IA 52803. Special features of this concert include guest and former conductor, Dr. Andrew Mast; a World Premiere composition honoring Col. Davenport by Roy D. Magnuson, and a flute solo by this year’s Young Performer’s Competition winner, Grace Brasel.
The Quad City Wind Ensemble was founded in 1987 by Dr. Charles B. Dcamp, then Director of Bands at St. Ambrose University. Dr. DCamp continues to play clarinet with the group and is serving as the Chairman of the QCWE Board during this 25th season. Currently, Brian Hughes, of Dubuque, IA conducts the ensemble of approximately 50 adult wind and percussion players who audition for membership in September at the beginning of each concert season. Dr. Myron Welch, retired Director of Bands at the University of Iowa, conducted the group last May and proclaimed that, “The QuadCity Wind Ensemble is the finest adult wind ensemble in the entire state of Iowa and among the best in the nation”.
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| Roy Magnuson |
(from my Program notes):
Overture to Candide
Over 20 years after his death, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) remains an American icon. It was his November 14, 1943 appearance as a last-minute fill-in with the New York Philharmonic for an ailing Bruno Walter (in a nationwide broadcast) that would be his catapult to fame. He would eventually become Music Director of that orchestra in 1958 and led more performances than any previous conductor; over half of his 400-plus recordings are with the musicians of New York. As a conductor and teacher (particularly in relation to his famed “Young People’s Concerts” with the NY Philharmonic), Bernstein would have achieved critical acclaim. But he was also a significant composer in his own right; he is probably best known for his landmark 1957 musical, West Side Story, but preceding that work was a collaboration with Richard Wilbur, Lillian Hellman, Stephen Sondheim and others in a setting of Voltaire’s satire, Candide. Despite such a stellar group of writers and composers, the work has never achieved critical success, and the Overture remains the best-known portion of the whole. Possibly one of Bernstein’s most often-performed concert works, this pastiche incorporates songs from the opera into a delightful romp.
To have seen the worst...but expect the best...
Sketches on a Tudor Psalm
Born in 1934, Fisher Tull came to Sam Houston State University at the age of 23, where, according to SHSU faculty member Sheryl K. Murphy-Manley, “he became a beloved professor, mentor, and colleague to many.” He would subsequently serve as department chair (1965-1982) and in 1984 was named both a Piper Professor (a title that carried a prestigious award for excellence in teaching) and promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music. He wrote over 80 works for orchestra, wind band, chorus and various chamber ensembles and received numerous accolades, including awards from ASCAP, the Chicago Symphony, and his alma mater, the University of North Texas.
The Sinfonians
Julliard-trained Clifton Williams (1923-1976) joined the faculty at the University of Texas in 1949, where he taught until his 1966 appointment as Chair of the Department of Theory and Composition at the University of Miami. A giant in the field of wind band composition, his students include two other significant figures: John Barnes Chance and W. Francis McBeth. The 1960 concert march, The Sinfonians, was commissioned by the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. It opens with an extended fanfare introduction before the horns state the familiar Sinfonian theme: "Hail Sinfonia! Come, brothers, hail!". The melody is then completed, embellished, and extended in the style of the composer.
Pageant
O Magnum Mysterium
A long-time faculty member at the University of Southern California, Morton Lauridsen (b. 1943) has a Grammy-nominated recording to his credit and two of his works, including O Magnum Mysterium are the all-time best-selling octavos published by the Theodore Presser since its founding in 1783! About this 1994 setting, Lauridsen writes, “For centuries, composers have been inspired by the beautiful “O Magnum Mysterium” (O great mystery) text with its depiction of the birth of the new-born King amongst the lowly animals and shepherds. This affirmation of God’s grace to the meet and the adoration of the Blessed Virgin are celebrated in my setting through a quiet song of profound inner joy.” H. Robert Reynolds, one of the composer’s USC colleagues, transcribed it for winds in 2003.
Fantasie: Grace Brasel, Flute
Selections from E.T.
I cannot be even remotely unbiased when reviewing this score. To me, it is the best soundtrack of all time; everything about it is excellent. The quiet cues are some of the most beautiful you are ever likely to hear on any soundtrack, coming from someone who likes loud and exciting music, I have to say that I will listen to all of the more subtle cues every time I can. They are as beautiful as Schindler's List (although a little more emotionally direct). Of course, the best comes near the end with the chase and departure sequence. The Chase (i.e. the bicycle chase) has to be my favorite section of film music of all time….Even after listening to it dozens of times, the departure still moves me as it builds to a stunning climax with trumpets ringing out like bells. After all that, there is the End Credits. I don't know how I could have lived without hearing this. A cross between the cues Flying and Over the Moon this is a truly stunning climax to a truly exceptional score.
Should be a ton of fun! Don't miss it!
Over 20 years after his death, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) remains an American icon. It was his November 14, 1943 appearance as a last-minute fill-in with the New York Philharmonic for an ailing Bruno Walter (in a nationwide broadcast) that would be his catapult to fame. He would eventually become Music Director of that orchestra in 1958 and led more performances than any previous conductor; over half of his 400-plus recordings are with the musicians of New York. As a conductor and teacher (particularly in relation to his famed “Young People’s Concerts” with the NY Philharmonic), Bernstein would have achieved critical acclaim. But he was also a significant composer in his own right; he is probably best known for his landmark 1957 musical, West Side Story, but preceding that work was a collaboration with Richard Wilbur, Lillian Hellman, Stephen Sondheim and others in a setting of Voltaire’s satire, Candide. Despite such a stellar group of writers and composers, the work has never achieved critical success, and the Overture remains the best-known portion of the whole. Possibly one of Bernstein’s most often-performed concert works, this pastiche incorporates songs from the opera into a delightful romp.
Suite for Wind Band
“I am the last Hungarian Romantic composer,” Frigyes Hidas (1928-2007) once said of himself. He received his musical training at the famed Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and held significant conducting positions at both the Budapest National Theater and the Operetta Theater but after 1979, he devoted all of his efforts to composition. His wind band music is a fusion of Romanticism, folk music and theater music and the 1981 Suite is highly indicative of his style. The opening movement is a fanfare that will reappear to close the work. The second movement is a laughing scherzo that gives way to an ominous funeral march in the third. The finale, a waltz to beat all waltzes, is reminiscent of old Broadway in character, style and just plain fun.
“I am the last Hungarian Romantic composer,” Frigyes Hidas (1928-2007) once said of himself. He received his musical training at the famed Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and held significant conducting positions at both the Budapest National Theater and the Operetta Theater but after 1979, he devoted all of his efforts to composition. His wind band music is a fusion of Romanticism, folk music and theater music and the 1981 Suite is highly indicative of his style. The opening movement is a fanfare that will reappear to close the work. The second movement is a laughing scherzo that gives way to an ominous funeral march in the third. The finale, a waltz to beat all waltzes, is reminiscent of old Broadway in character, style and just plain fun.
(World premiere performance)
A Quad-City area native, Roy David Magnuson (b. 1983) has composed music for winds, chamber ensembles, vocalists, video games and film. In 2004, Roy was chosen to participate in the National Band Association Young Composer Mentor Project with Mark Camphouse for his piece Harvest Moon: A Celebration for Symphonic Band. With degrees from Illinois State University and Ithaca College, he is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of ASCAP and his music is recorded on Albany Records.
A Quad-City area native, Roy David Magnuson (b. 1983) has composed music for winds, chamber ensembles, vocalists, video games and film. In 2004, Roy was chosen to participate in the National Band Association Young Composer Mentor Project with Mark Camphouse for his piece Harvest Moon: A Celebration for Symphonic Band. With degrees from Illinois State University and Ithaca College, he is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of ASCAP and his music is recorded on Albany Records.
Of his new work, commissioned by the Quad-City Wind Ensemble in honor of its 25th anniversary season, Magnuson writes:
As I remember Davenport, IA from my childhood, I remember a harsh and beautiful place, filled with a people that are intrinsically linked to the land. This music celebrates that simple life, a life filled with hardship, dedication and perseverance. At times it is dark, celebratory in its own way, unwilling to conform to expectations, preferring to instead cut its own path. It is a reflection of the people who call this place home, from Col. Davenport and earlier still, an affirmation that a simple, dedicated life, though sometimes filled with pain and sacrifice, brings with it so much love and joy and peace.
Born in 1934, Fisher Tull came to Sam Houston State University at the age of 23, where, according to SHSU faculty member Sheryl K. Murphy-Manley, “he became a beloved professor, mentor, and colleague to many.” He would subsequently serve as department chair (1965-1982) and in 1984 was named both a Piper Professor (a title that carried a prestigious award for excellence in teaching) and promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music. He wrote over 80 works for orchestra, wind band, chorus and various chamber ensembles and received numerous accolades, including awards from ASCAP, the Chicago Symphony, and his alma mater, the University of North Texas.
Tull aptly describes his own style, “Some of my works are neo-classical, some are quite romantic while others are rather experimental….I have no interest in electronic or computer-generated music because I still enjoy the humanistic aspects of interaction with performers, both as a composer and as a conductor.” Sketches on a Tudor Psalm (1971) is based on a sixteenth century melody written by Thomas Tallis and best known as the source material for Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Tull’s setting of that tune begins with the melody in the solo alto saxophone, continued by the horns and followed by a fully harmonized version in the brass. An extended set of variations follows where the tune is featured in diminution, retrograde, and augmentation. Low woodwinds herald the return of the main theme that culminates in a fully scored setting of the climactic measures as a coda continues the development and the music builds to a triumphal close on a major chord.
Julliard-trained Clifton Williams (1923-1976) joined the faculty at the University of Texas in 1949, where he taught until his 1966 appointment as Chair of the Department of Theory and Composition at the University of Miami. A giant in the field of wind band composition, his students include two other significant figures: John Barnes Chance and W. Francis McBeth. The 1960 concert march, The Sinfonians, was commissioned by the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. It opens with an extended fanfare introduction before the horns state the familiar Sinfonian theme: "Hail Sinfonia! Come, brothers, hail!". The melody is then completed, embellished, and extended in the style of the composer.
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| Vincent Persichetti |
A native of Philadelphia, Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987) was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own work and teaching, and for training many noted composers in composition at the Juillard School. His students there included many of the noted names of the late 20th and early 21st century, including Philip Glass, Richard Danielpour, Peter Schickele (aka P.D. Q. Bach), Lowell Liebermann, and Thelonius Monk. While writing for a variety of musical media, he has received critical acclaim for his works for wind band, including Celebrations, Psalm, Masquerade, and his Sixth Symphony.
Percishetti’s own description of his music as both “graceful and gritty,” would certainly apply to his third work for wind band, Pageant. Roy Stehle writes of the work, “A solo French horn begins with a three note motive that becomes the basis for the entire work. A clarinet choir develops the theme as other instruments are introduced to exploit their tonal colors. The tempo becomes faster for the second section, as the brass and woodwinds take turns with the theme. Pageant is an accessible, warmly exuberant work whose simple directness conceals a formal sophistication that lends the music strength and durability.”
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| Georges Hue |
Born into a noted family of architects, Georges Hue (1858-1948) studied with both Charles Gounod and Cesar Franck. During his lifetime, this little-known composer—largely because his music did not change with the times—was known for a few operas and his choral music. Some pieces for flute are occasionally performed, including Fantaisie for flute and orchestra, written for Paul Taffanel, legendary professor of the Paris Conservatory. It is written in the typical high-octane French style, with a slow opening including almost endless melismas. With its much faster closing section, which features displays of both figure work and articulation, this dream-like work is indicative of works written for the Taffanel and the students of Paris.
Soundtracks Express writes of John Williams’ magnificent score to the film E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial):
Should be a ton of fun! Don't miss it!
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