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| Leo Delibes |
Even though he earned the praise of
Tchaikovsky, speaking of him more favorably than Brahms, Leo Delibes (1836-1891) is known today for a handful of works: his penultimate opera, Lakme, and two ballet scores, Coppelia and Sylvia. It was the latter
work that Tchaikovsky would write, ". . . what charm, what wealth of
melody! It brought me to shame, for had I known of this music, I would have
never written Swan Lake." Delibes use of almost Wagnerian
leitmotivs throughout the score, combined with his prodigious use of the brass
instruments, would make this score among the most unique (and possibly
troubled) of its time.
William J. Schaefer’s excerpt from the
score includes the a small portion of the Prelude and the entirety of “Les
Chasseresses” (The Huntresses), scored with a blaze of brass (particularly the
horns), truly reminiscent of Delibes’ original score.
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| Grainger |
A son of Australia, Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961)
remains today one of the most significant (as well as novel) composers for the
wind band. Although his contributions include significant numbers for piano and
voice as well as the orchestra, it is in the “band world” where he has achieved
his lifelong acceptance. A highly
accomplished pianist, he was held in highest regard for his interpretation of
the Piano Concerto of Edvard Grieg, with whom he prepared the work shortly
before the composer’s death in 1907.
Originally written for the piano as a
birthday gift to his bellowed mother in 1911, Grainger said of the piece 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.” He subsequently scored the work for two
voices, harp, and string orchestra; violin, cello and piano; theater orchestra,
small orchestra and this 1918 version for wind band. The tune would also appear in other Grainger compositions,
including his Gumsucker’s March.
Colonial
Song did not originally receive critical acclaim; in fact, Thomas Beecham
wrote in 1914, "My dear Grainger, you have achieved the almost impossible!
You have written the worst piece of modern times.” It may be that this commentary led Grainger to rework the
score for band following World War I and a significant part of the band’s basic
repertory was born.
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| Sparke |
Philip
Sparke (b. 1951) wrote Dance Movements on a commission from
the United States Air Force Band and was first performed by that ensemble at
the Florida Music Educators Association Convention in January 1996. It subsequently won the 1997 Sudlow
International Wind Band Composition Competition. Of the work, the composer writes:
The four movements (played without a
break) 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 theme 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 specific dance analogy, but I
think it can be 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.
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| Sousa |
Nothing is truly known of the impetus
for The
Fairest of the Fair.
Composed for the Boston Food Fair of 1908 (and the only march that Sousa would write that year), it is
said that he was inspired by a pretty girl he had seen at an earlier fair, the
date and location of which remain a mystery. Still, it remains one of the Sousa’s most “fair”
compositions, full of life, verve, and particular tunefulness.
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| David Holsinger |
David
Holsinger’s (b. 1945) musical path began with fifteen years of service as
music minister, worship leader, and composer in residence to Shady Grove Church
in Grand Prairie, Texas. In 1999,
he joined the music faculty at Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee, where he
is the Conductor of the Lee University Wind Ensemble and teaches conducting and
composition. (His biography also
notes that he is an avid model railroader!)
Holsinger has written hundreds of
works, primarily for the wind band and is one of our most widely performed
composers. His primary publisher,
TRN, notes of his style: “Much of Holsinger's music
is characterized by unrelenting tempos, ebullient rhythms, fluctuating
accents….poly-lineal textures, vigorous asymmetrical melodies, and high
emotional impact. His adagio works are as intransigently passionate as his
allegros are exuberant!”
Commissioned
by the Beta Nu chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (Central Methodist College,
Fayette, Missouri) in 1984, Liturgical Dances bears the
subtitle, “Benedicamus Socii Domino” (Let us all, as companions, praise the
Lord.) Rather than an established
programmatic nature—like many of his other works—this piece is, in Holsinger’s own words, “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.”
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| Eric Ewazen |
A member of
the faculty of the Julliard School since 1980, Eric Ewazen was teaching
a music theory class several miles uptown from the area that would forever be
known as “Ground Zero.” The event
that would eternally alter our nation’s consciousness and even innocence
dramatically changed the lives and livelihood of America’s largest city, as an
almost deafening silence engulfed the streets of New York. But then, “a few days later,” writes
Ewazen:
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 citizen 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 11, 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.
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| Griffe |
Charles
Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920) was the most famous American representative
of the impressionistic school most closely related with Claude Debussy. The exotic and mysterious sounds that
he heard during his European studies also included the influence of Russian
composer Alexander Scriabin as well as an unpublished one-act drama, Sho-jo, one of the earliest works by an
American composer to show direct inspiration from the music of Japan.
His 1919 Poem, written for solo
flute and orchestra, was among his last published works. The New
York Tribune would note of the work’s premiere, “Compositions for the
flute, even when played by such a splendid musician as Georges Barrère do not
as a rule give rise to wild enthusiasm, yet yesterday's audience applauded the
work and the soloist for several minutes.” The Poem clearly demonstrates Griffes’ growing penchant to use a more
abstract and structured musical style whose language became deeply complex.
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| Arturo Marquez |
A
renowned Mexican composer, Arturo
Marquez’s (b. 1950) musical style employs musical forms and styles of his
native country and incorporates them into his primarily orchestral
compositions. The son of a
mariachi musician, he would spend his late childhood in the U.S.A. (near Los
Angeles) before returning home to attend the Mexican Music Conservatory. Subsequent studies include a
composition scholarship presented by the French government, a Fulbright Award,
and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts.
Based
on the music of Cuba and the Veracruz region of Mexico, Marquez’s series of
eight danzones are among his best known compositions. Inspired by a visit to a ballroom in Veracruz, his 1994 Danzon
No. 2 (unlike some other works on our program) focuses on the accents rather
than the time signatures. It
thereby presents a precision in every measure that remains constant. Of
particular note, Danzon No. 2 was
included on the program of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra conducted by
Gustavo Dudamel (now conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic) on their 2007
tour of Europe and the United States.
Oliver Nickel’s 2009 transcription for wind band captures all of the
excitement of the original.
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