It's May! (and starting to look and sound like it)

Springtime is Iowa, especially after what seemed like an interminable winter, is a gloriously beautiful awakening.  Our annuals here at 201 West 17th have been in bloom for several weeks now, adding color to the quickly receding brown patches of green leftover from the endless Polar Vortices.  Spring also ushers in the blooming of community bands (Iowa is, after all, truly a "band state"), and music festivals.  It is a busy but enjoyable time for freelance conductors such as myself.

Next Saturday (May 10) completes the regular season of the Quad City Wind Ensemble, although we're making an encore appearance at the Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference on the 15th.  I am very pleased and excited about the program (Oh, the Places We've Been!), which includes:

• John Stafford Smith/Jack Stamp:  StarSpangled Banner:  our "new" version of our traditional concert opener.  Subtitled “A Love Song to Our Country,” Stamp (b. 1954) wrote this hymn-like treatment of our national anthem when he was in graduate school.  Some 13 years later, he brought it back in the aftermath of the events of 9/11. This is a hymn-like treatment of the Star Spangled Banner.  There are different harmonies present at times, and it captures an entirely different emotion than the version we are all used to hearing, but it is entirely still appropriate.

• Thomas Knox:  American Pageant:  Knox (1937-2004) joined the cornet-trumpet section of the United States Marine Band in 1961 and was subsequently appointed chief composer-arranger.  American Pageant was written for the second inauguration of President Richard Nixon in 1973 and has been performed at each subsequent inaugural.  The composer noted that all the tunes contained herein are melodies that all of us “grew up with.”

• Morten Lauridsen/Reynolds:  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 meek 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.

• Paul Hindemith/Wilson:  "March" from Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber:  The music of Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) expresses the range of the compositional schools of the 20^th century.  His style of neo-classicism differed from Stravinsky’s in its contrapuntal language, exploring the radical world of 20th century dissonance, but always constructed around a tonal center.  Hindemith wrote his monumental orchestral work Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber in 1943 (Keith Wilson's transcription, prepared with the permission of the composer, appeared in 1950). The themes are taken from piano pieces as well as the incidental music Weber composed for the Carlo Gozzi play Turandot (the same legend that had inspired the well known Puccini opera.  Originally a funeral march, Hindemith doubles the tempo, creating a “catchy tune” that is, nonetheless, a bit fast for marching.  (N.B. The link takes one to a performance by my alma mater.  I couldn't resist!)

• Mark Camphouse:  Yosemite Autumn:  Naturalist John Muir wrote, “No temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite.  Every rock in its walls seems to glow with life.”  Mark Camphouse (b. 1954) and his family were vacationing in northern California in 2003.  They found excitement and unfound beauty in places like San Francisco, Big Sur, and Lake Tahoe.  “Then we reached Yosemite….The remaining portion of this family vacation was doomed.  I was there physically with my family, but the creative part of me was definitely somewhere else—absorbed in thinking about ways I might try to go about capturing musically the awe-inspiring sights and sounds of Yosemite.”  Commissioned by the Miami Coral Park High School Wind Orchestra, Yosemite Autumn is dedicated to the memory of the composer’s mother-in-law, Daphna Lodean Wilson (1930-2003) “whose spirit will always seem to glow with life. 

• Satoshi Yagisawa:  Machu Picchu—City in the Sky:  Archeologists believe that Machu Picchu, the glorious mountaintop city in Peru, is the place to which the Incas escaped following Pizzaro’s ransacking of the golden capital city of Cuzco.  Composer Satoshi Yagisawa (b. 1975) has described, in colorful music, that magnificent citadel in an attempt to trace some of the mysteries sealed in Machu Picchu’s past.  He writes that “Three principal ideas dominate the piece:  1) the shimmering golden city of Cuzco set in the dramatic scenery of the Andes, 2) the destructiveness of violent invasion, and 3) the re-emergence of Incan glory as the City in the Sky again reached for the sun.

• Ralph Vaughan Williams:  Sea Songs (led by Conductor Emeritus Charles DCamp):  Although originally a part of the English Folk Song Suite of 1924, Sea Songs was removed (whether by the composer or publisher is actually unknown) and subsequently published as a separate work.  Written in the typical three-part march form (this time with a da capo—a repeat of the opening), it includes the British tunes, “Princess Royal,” “Admiral Benbow,” and “Portsmouth.”  While it was transcribed for orchestra in 1942, the version for wind band is the mostly widely known and heard.

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:  Bassoon Concerto, I. Allegro (Gabby Hartman, bassoon):  what will be a wonderful performance of this classic by the winner or our annual concerto competition.

• Julie Giroux:  Vigils Keep:  Julie Giroux (b. 1961) has composed orchestral, choral, chamber, and numerous concert band works. She is a three-time Emmy Award nominee and in 1992 won an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Direction.  Ms. Giroux has an extensive list of published works for Concert Band and Wind Ensembles. [The QCWE performed her Christmas and Sousa Forever in December 2012].  Commissioned by the Auburn University Symphonic Band and premiered in 2005, Vigils Keep is not a theme and variation based on “Wayfaring Stranger”, nor is it a collection of Sacred Harp Songs. It is an original celebration of southern Life and tradition, a tradition of generations steeped in hard physical work, tests of the human spirit and for many, black and white alike, poverty. The melody of “Wayfaring Stranger” spiritually weaves through Vigils Keep like faith has woven through southern history, holding everything together. All the rest of the notes are inspired by stories, family, the southern way of life, and its music. It is my attempt at drawing a musical picture of what the south looks and sounds like both then and now.

While this may appear to be somewhat a "departure" from my own programing "norm" (we're playing the music of four dead composers), these are all significant contributions to the repertoire.  We're playing music from four countries on three continents.  I am certain that band music history will shine its future light on these works.

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In other important news (at least to me!), the Tri-State Wind Symphony kicks off its 20th season (!) with a May 29 concert at Dubuque's Eagle Point Park.  The time is, as usual, 7:30 p.m., but many seem to enjoy showing up early to catch the antics of the conductor in pre-concert warm-up.  The program is entitled "First Nights" and is a retrospective of the ensemble's season-opening performances over the last decade.  I've even included one work from our very first show way back in 1995.

• Cole Porter, arr. Moffitt:  "Another Op’nin’, Another Show", from Kiss Me Kate 

• Franz von Suppe/Takahashi: Poet and Peasant Overture 

• George Kenny:  Coat of Arms

• Malcolm Arnold, arr. John Paynter:  Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo 

• David Holsinger:  On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss

• Leroy Anderson:  The Wearing of the Green 

• Alan Menkin, arr. Jerry Nowak:  "Under the Sea", from The Little Mermaid 

• Andre Waignein:  Czardas 

• John Williams, arr. Curnow:  Olympic Fanfare and Theme

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Recently, the Iowa House proclaimed May 9 and 10 as "Band Music Days."  Does it get any better than that?

A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING MAY 9 AND 10, 2014 AS IOWA SCHOOL BAND DAYS.  

WHEREAS, From the works of Robert Meredith Wilson to the marches of Karl L. King, Iowa has a long, strong, and proud tradition of band music; and

WHEREAS, music education within school band programs has repeatedly been proven to positively influence student achievement in all curriculums; and

WHEREAS, community support for quality school music programs shows a dedication to the sense of pride and community that school bands can provide; and

WHEREAS, school band programs demonstrate that a well-rounded music education can be key to a student’s success in life and learning; and

WHEREAS, the weekend of May 9 and 10, 2014 are state band contest days; and

WHEREAS, recognizing organizations like the Iowa Bandmasters Association and the Iowa Chapter of the American School Band Directors Association will encourage music excellence throughout our state; NOW THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, that the House of Representatives recognizes May 9 and 10, 2014 as Iowa School Band Days and congratulates the talented and dedicated young musicians who are members of Iowa’s school bands.

Passed by unanimous vote by the House of Representatives on March 31, 2014

And the list could go one….Bettendorf Park Band season starts June 6.  Let the games begin!