MEASURING UP (part three)

On August 25, immediately after denigrating many of my conductor colleagues, I decided to at least ponder a critique of my own programing.  Therein I wrote:

It only seems appropriate that I put my own programming to the test....it is generally agreed that the modern wind band lacks the depth of the repertoire when compared to the symphony orchestra....
Whereas the literature of the concert band/wind ensemble is less broad than its orchestral counterpart, it is probably as deep due to the outgrowth of activity in [both the artistic and] educational realms and the many contemporary composers (starting particularly in the 1950s) who have deemed that the wind band is a legitimate medium for important composition.  This is a worldwide phenomenon, with compositions spanning the globe.  Always important for its many different schools of march compositions, serious works are constantly coming from Europe, particularly the low countries.  The far east, and particularly Japan, is increasing in productivity, where composers are creating exciting and challenging works for the outstanding youth wind groups of that country.  And, of course, the amount of wind music produced in the United States--in difficulty levels from very easy to vastly challenging--is definitely unsurpassed.

Thus, the wind conductor must be cognizant of his/her repertoire; there is no room for "early music specialists" or contemporary ensembles:  the wind conductor has to know it all.  Many in the field are constantly searching for the newest works, sort of a backlash to the "old days" in which much of the band's programming relied on transcriptions of orchestral works.  It is no more viable to play only original works for band as it is to totally ignore transcriptions, marches, etc.  The repertoire is both deep and eclectic, and our programming must recognize this.

For the complete post, see here. 

Of course I am pondering this closely on the heels of what was a highly successful performance of the Quad City Wind Ensemble.  As luck(?) would have it, one of the works I programed never arrived from our vendor so I had to insert a different piece in its place.  The work I selected, Francis McBeth's Kaddish, ended up resulting in a change of my thematic focus; what was "A Sweet Serenade" became simply "Journeys."  It took the focus from the potentially cheesy to the profound and resulted in a program that I feared might be too esoteric for our sometimes conservative audience.  I have to be scorned for shortchanging our supporters' sensibilities for the concert was received as well as any we have offered.

But I must stay on task.  For our closing performance I have chosen my own tried and true theme: Songs and Dances.  While this is not at all the first time I have used this theme, all of the music we will play is new to my own repertoire (save for one piece on which I played percussion last summer).  So I believe it safe to say that I am offering myself as much of a challenge as the performers.

We will open with "The Huntresses" from Leo Delibes (1836-1891) ballet, Sylvia, in an arrangement by William A. Schaefer.  The work premiered in 1876 in Paris and did not achieve immediate fame; it was not until a 1952 revival by the Royal Ballet that it earned a place in the repertory.  Mr. Schaefer is a master transcriber and his version captures much of the excitement of the orchestral original.

Percy Grainger

We move immediately from the dance to the song, and what a beautiful song it is!  Australia-born Percy Grainger (1882-1961) spent a significant part of his 20s collecting and transcribing English folk songs.  Many of these would find their way into his many compositions for wind band (as well as chorus and orchestra), but his gorgeous Colonial Song is an original work, written first for piano in 1911 and later transcribed by the composer for "military" (as opposed to brass) band in 1921.  Of the work, Grainger wrote that it was “an attempt to write a melody as typical of the Australian countryside as Stephen Foster's exquisite songs are typical of rural America.”  While the venerable Sir Thomas Beecham would state upon first hearing, “My dear Grainger, you have achieved the almost impossible! You have written the worst piece of modern times," the haunting melody would become part of the basic band repertoire by the 1980s.

Philip Sparke

Four Dance Movements by the British composer Philip Sparke (b. 1951) fill out the bulk of the first half of the program.  This 1995 work was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force Band and obviously has a slew of notes!  The movements, played without pause are I. Ritmico, II. Molto vivo (for the woodwinds), III. Lento (for the brass), and IV. Molto ritmico.  Of the work, Sparke writes, "The four movements are all dance-inspired, although no specific dance rhythms are used. The first has a Latin American feel and uses xylophone, cabasa, tambourine and wood block to give local colour. The second woodwind movement uses a tune that had been plaguing me for some time and is, I suppose, in the style of an English country dance. The brass movement was composed without a specific dance analogy, but I think it can been seen as a love duet in classical ballet. The fourth and longest movement has, I hope, cured me of a ten-year fascination, almost obsession, with the music of Leonard Bernstein and I will readily admit that it owes its existence to the fantastic dance music in West Side Story."

John Philip Sousa probably wrote no more tuneful a march than The Fairest of the Fair, composed for the Boston Food Fair in 1908.  Enough said. 

David Holsinger

The second half of the program consists entirely of music of the America's, beginning with David Holsinger's (b. 1945) Liturgical Dances.  This work was commissioned in 1981 by Beta Mu Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia to honor the chapter's 75th anniversary at Central Methodist College. Unlike many of Holsinger's other works, Liturgical Dances is not programmatic, but rather a reflection of the composer's memories of his student days as a brother in Beta Mu. The music is both poignant and exuberant, "classic" and "modern", rambunctious and reflective. It pays tribute to Men of Music, not only for their dedication to a vocation, but also for their passion to the medium. The composer's tribute is probably best summed up in the subtitle, "Benedicamus Socii Domino" - Let us all, as companions, praise the Lord!

Eric Ewazen

Eric Ewazen (b. 1954) has been a member of the faculty at the Julliard School since 1980 (not a bad gig to get when you are 26!)  Ewazen reflects on the catastrophic events leading to the composition of Hymn for the Lost and the Living:  "On September 11, 2001, I was teaching my music theory class at the Juilliard School, when we were notified of the catastrophe that was occurring several miles south of us in Manhattan. Gathering around a radio in the school's library, we heard the events unfold in shock and disbelief. Afterwards, walking up Broadway on the sun-filled day, the street was full of silent people, all quickly heading to their homes. During the next several days, our great city became a landscape of empty streets and impromptu, heartbreaking memorials mourning our lost citizens, friends and family. But then on Friday, a few days later, the city seemed to have been transformed. On this evening, walking up Broadway, I saw multitudes of people holding candles, singing songs, and gathering in front of those memorials, paying tribute to the lost, becoming a community of citizens of this city, of this country and of this world, leaning on each other for strength and support. A Hymn for the Lost and the Living portrays those painful days following September 11th, days of supreme sadness. It is intended to be a memorial for those lost souls, gone from this life, but who are forever treasured in our memories."

Arturo Marquez

The program will include a guest soloist (to be determined) but the program concludes as we began--with a dance, albeit a riotously different one, the 1994 Danzon No. 2 by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez (b. 1950).  This incredibly popular work is often called (along with Moncayo's Huapango) the second national anthem of Mexico.  It has become even more well-known thanks to the amazing Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela, which included it on their 2007 European tour.  Yes, I'll readily admit it--I stole this one from the repertory of "The Dude," Gustavo Dudamel of the L.A. Philharmonic.

So, how do I stack up? Our repertoire for this concert is international, with works from France, Great Britain, and Mexico.  A large portion of the program is American.  In all, the program covers historical perspective and styles dating from 1876 to 2001.  In all honesty, I'll have to say, not bad; not bad at all....  

The Dude--if only I had his hair!