All Campus Orchestra / Concert Band Concert 4.28.24

Years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy.  What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors.  Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical theatre and “serious works,” Bernstein wore all hats with avidity.   And he enjoyed stunning success in most.  He had a passion about everything that he essayed, whether conducting the Mahler that he loved so well, or helping audiences “peel” apart the mysteries of music in his many teaching rôles.  He knew so much, and could do so much, that he genuinely thought that he could do it all.  His leadership of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and other orchestras is legendary, but everyone knows there were some concerts that, frankly, got away from him in his self-indulgence.  He worked assiduously as a composer of “serious” music, but those works—from youthful successes to his late efforts–have enjoyed mixed success.  But, all that simply says is only that he was human.  Other than his epochal conducting, there is one field in which he garnered almost universal acclaim, and that is musical theatre.   When all is said and done, he possessed a talent and a facility for the stage that was as deep as it was prolific.  He simply understood the genre and its demands. 

He plunged in early, writing for student productions at Harvard, and working with a cabaret group (that included Judy Holiday) while a student at the Curtis Institute.   At the age of twenty-six his ballet Fancy Free was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera and On the Town opened on Broadway.  Wonderful Town, Peter Pan, Facsimile, and Candide soon followed, as it seemed that everything he touched became gold.

Based upon Voltaire’s well-known novella, Candide, the original Broadway musical, opened on the first of December in 1957.  It was not a smashing success early on, but over the years—and through many versions, and a changing cast of writers and contributors—it has achieved an enduring place in the musical theatre repertoire.  Its innate wit, sparkle, and general “cheekiness” was natural fodder for Bernstein’s own musical personality, and his songs for the production have come to personify the whole rollicking enterprise.

 The overture is crafted from a buoyant mélange of some of the most memorable tunes from the show, and has become one of the most-performed works by an American composer on symphony concerts.  The “catchy” tunes are cleverly cast into asymmetrical rhythmic patterns (a typical Bernstein trait) that keep the bouncy drive going as this brief work careens to the end.  After all these years, it may seem that all of the tunes are vaguely familiar, so enduring is the work.   And, indeed, some may recognize the melody of the over-the-top song for coloratura soprano (think of the young Barbara Cook or Madeline Kahn), “Glitter and Be Gay,” from its use as a theme for the Dick Cavett television show.  The overture to Candide has taken its place along with much of West Side Story as representative of one of America’s most multi-talented and influential musicians, and is a perfect curtain opener that is thoroughly American.

© 2015 William E. Runyan

Published on Runyan Program Notes (https://runyanprogramnotes.com)

Clifton Taylor’s ConcertPiece for marimba and wind ensemble is an exciting and upbeat concerto for solo marimba with wind ensemble accompaniment. Largely in 6/8 and 3/4 time, the musical material of the piece is mostly motivic, with various opportunities for the marimba soloist to showcase their abilities. Stylistically, the piece has a fusion/pop style, taking its influences from the music of The Pat Metheny Group.

Dr. Clifton Taylor has served as Associate Director of Bands at Mississippi State University since 2005.  At MSU, he co-directs the Famous Maroon Band and basketball pep bands, conducts the MSU Symphonic Band and the Jazz Ensembles, and teaches courses in the Department of Music. A native of Mississippi, he holds two music education degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a DMA in wind conducting from the University of South Carolina.  A veteran teacher, Dr. Taylor has taught instrumental music at every level, from elementary school to community college, and currently directs the band program for the Starkville Homeschool Music Cooperative. 

Dr. Taylor is regularly engaged in composing and arranging for concert band, marching band, and other media.  He arranges many of the pieces performed by the Famous Maroon Band, and he has served as the wind arranger for the Mississippi Lions All-State Band since 2014.  His original concert band works are published by Grand Mesa Music Publishers, Tapspace Publications, RWS Music Company, and Maroon Tune Publications.  He is also the composer and publisher of Honor Band Sight Reading Etudes, a two-volume set of 130 etudes written for all-district and all-state auditions in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida. 

Dr. Taylor performs as a trombonist in symphonic, chamber, and jazz settings, and has served as the principal trombonist of the Meridian Symphony since 2002.  He is affiliated with the College Band Directors National Association; the National Band Association; the Mississippi Bandmasters Association; Phi Beta Mu; Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia; Kappa Kappa Psi; and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

https://www.windrep.org/Concertpiece

Beacon Street March’ was born from the experience of being a Boston University pedestrian. BU students are adept at Dodging crowds, bikes, cars, tour groups, and green line trams. The march’s ragtime-like rhythms, percussive punctuation, and bouncy tone all reflect the syncopated gaits, quick stops, and half runs that get Beacon Street pedestrians where they need to go. It all culminates in a festive final strain, mirroring the Boston Marathon which runs down Beacon Street every year.

It has been a joy to play with the Boston University Concert Band these past three years and an honor for them to have performed some of my music. I am extremely grateful to Dr. Bill and the whole band for making my time at BU that much better.

-notes provided by the composer

Nathaniel Hontz is currently a second-year law student at the Boston University School of Law, concurrently pursuing both a JD and an MA in History at the Boston University Graduate School.  At BU, Nathaniel sings in the Marsh Chapel Choir and plays low brass in the Concert Band. Nathaniel is a 2021 graduate of Princeton University, where he majored in History, sang in the Chapel Choir, and played in the Princeton University Band, Sinfonia orchestra, and Wind Ensemble. Nathaniel was born and raised in Newton, New Jersey, where he grew up performing music with his family (Hontz Family Band) at church, community, and charitable functions. He has been composing and arranging music for various ensembles since high school and has published over 100 works, all of which can be heard on his “Nathaniel Hontz” YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@nathanielhontz

A Movement for Rosa was commissioned by the Florida Bandmasters Association honoring civil rights heroine Rosa Parks and was composed and orchestrated over a three-month period: August-November, 1992. With a duration of approximately 11 1/2 minutes, this ‘movement’ — a quasi-tone poem — contains three contrasting sections. Section I evokes Rosa’s early years, from birth Feb. 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama, through her marriage in 1932 to Raymond Parks in Pine Level, Alabama. Section II portrays years of racial strife in Montgomery and the quest for social equality. Section III is one of quiet strength and serenity. The work’s final measures serve an ominous reminder of racism’s lingering presence in modern American society.

– Program Note by composer

Camphouse provides the following updated notes about A Movement for Rosa:

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Ala. Mrs. Parks earned the title “Mother to a Movement” for her act of personal courage, sparking the Civil Rights movement of the l950s. So significant and inspiring was her peaceful act of defiance that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., inscribed the following words on the frontispiece of his book, Stride Toward Freedom, a copy of which he gave to Mrs. Parks: “To Rosa Parks, whose creative witness was the great force that led to the modern stride toward freedom.”

Throughout the history of our great nation, we have glorified (and rightly so) various heroes, most frequently presidents, military figures, and athletes. But we must not forget heroes who are perhaps less conspicuous but every bit as significant. Rosa Parks, who worked as a tailor’s assistant in a men’s clothing store, became secretary of the Montgomery NAACP and the impetus to a major social movement.

America’s proud heritage and the accomplishments of its people have been and continue to be darkened by racial discrimination. This blight on our country takes many forms, whether subtle or more overt, as with cowardly acts of intimidation and violence by various extremist hate groups. Mrs. Parks addresses this continuing problem in her 1992 book entitled Rosa Parks: My Story. The final three paragraphs of that book:

I look back now and realize that since that evening on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, we have made a lot of progress in some ways.

All those laws against segregation have been passed, and all that progress has been made. But a whole lot of white people’s hearts have not been changed. Dr. King used to talk about the fact that if a law was changed, it might not change hearts but it would offer some protection. He was right. We now have some protection, but there is still much racism and racial violence.

In recent years there has been a resurgence of reactionary attitudes. I am troubled by the recent decisions of the Supreme Court that make it harder to prove a pattern of racial discrimination in employment and by the fact that the national government does not seem very interested in pursuing violations of civil rights. What troubles me is that so many young people, including college students, have come out for white supremacy and that there have been more and more incidents of racism and racial violence on college campuses. It has not been widespread, but still it is troublesome. It seems like we still have a long way to go.

Clearly, Rosa Parks met those challenges and responsibilities with great dignity and courage. As Congressman John Conyers aptly said: “Rosa Parks moved civil rights issues from the back of the bus to the front of America’s conscience.”

-Program Note by Travis J. Cross for the UCLA Wind Ensemble concert program, 29 April 2015

Diversion was composed in 1943 while Bernhard Heiden served in the U.S. Army Band during World War II. In a career that would span roughly six decades, he was to become an influential voice in writing for the saxophone, enjoying an early success with the debut of his 1937 Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano, widely considered to be the first sonata written expressly for the instrument.

Although today Diversion is similarly regarded as a staple of 20th Century saxophone solo repertoire, this work written just six years after the Sonata had a much longer and more arduous path to publication. In his 1985 interview with The Saxophone Symposium, Heiden traces the genesis back to his original score, which was then titled Solo for Alto Saxophone and Band. The quote suggests the humble origins of the piece, written almost incidentally for the 445th Army Services Band, for which he was the assistant bandmaster: “The band had some wonderful players, especially saxophonists; they were all outstanding jazz musicians who had been assembled for that purpose, but they had to play in the concert band … I wrote (Diversion) in 1943 and we performed it many times.”

After Heiden’s return from the war, Diversion was in fact soon accepted by another major publisher. However, as a result of most performance materials being inopportunely misplaced by the company, the deal was ultimately scuttled. In spite of that, Heiden continued to receive steady requests to perform the work year after year. The interest in the piece never died, and fortunately, Diversion got a second chance in the 1980s by virtue of a concert of the composer’s works organized by his former student, Michael Cunningham, then a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Heiden recounts that he uncovered a personal copy of the pencil manuscript score and handed it to Cunningham saying, “If you want to make parts and copy out the score, you are perfectly welcome. I don’t want to be involved with that piece anymore, you know, after thirty years.” This concert was the catalyst that ultimately brought this work to the attention of world-renowned classical saxophonist Eugene Rousseau, who offered to publish it for Heiden under the Etoile brand Rousseau had founded at Indiana University. Heiden accepted and the title was changed to Diversion at the composer’s request to avoid confusion with another of his works, Solo for Alto Saxophone and Piano. The publication of the original score along with a reduction for saxophone and piano helped establish Etoile as a serious saxophone music imprint, a legacy which remains to this day.

The influence of the composer’s mentor, Paul Hindemith, is evident in Diversion’s tonal but non-diatonic harmonies, paired with Heiden’s own elegant melodic writing. Constructed in a loose rondo form, the work is light and tuneful, revealing a mastery of instrumentation, with graceful lines for the solo saxophone and accompaniment passages supporting lightly underneath it. Contrasting sections for wind and brass choirs, punctuated with full tutti ensemble, provide interesting variety and underline climactic moments.

– Program Note from score

All mankind is at the mercy of Mother Nature. Robert W. Smith musically explores the power, the drama, and the fury of weather at its wildest. Close your eyes and you will be surrounded by this dramatic force.

Robert W. Smith was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and educator.

He attended high school in Daleville, after which he left for Troy State University, where he played lead trumpet in the Sound of the South Marching Band. While at Troy, he studied composition with Dr. Paul Yoder. Upon his graduation from Troy State with a Bachelor of Music Education degree, Smith pursued his musical career in South Florida, where he earned a master’s degree in media writing and production from the University of Miami, while studying with Dr. Alfred Reed.

Mr. Smith has over 600 publications in print, with the majority composed and arranged through his long association with Warner Bros. Publications and the Belwin catalog. He serves as the Director of Product Development for C. L. Barnhouse and Walking Frog Records.

Mr. Smith’s credits include many compositions and productions in all areas of the music field. His original works for winds and percussion have been programmed by countless military, university, high school, and middle school bands throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, South America and Asia. His Symphony No. 1, “The Divine Comedy”, Symphony No. 2, “The Odyssey” and Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual have received worldwide critical acclaim. His educational compositions such as The Tempest, Encanto, and The Great Locomotive Chase have become standards for developing bands throughout the world. His numerous works for orchestras of all levels are currently some of the most popular repertoire available today. His music has received extensive airplay on major network television as well as inclusion in multiple motion pictures. From professional ensembles such as the United States Navy Band and the Atlanta Symphony to school bands and orchestras throughout the world, his music speaks to audiences in any concert setting.

Mr. Smith taught in the Music Industry program at Troy University in Troy, Ala. His teaching responsibilities were focused in music composition, production, publishing and business. In addition, he was a managing partner and conductor/producer for American Audio Unlimited, an audio production company specializing in recordings for concert band and orchestra.

https://www.windrep.org/Robert_W._Smith

Galante’s Red Rock Mountain refers to a geologic feature in Ricketts Glen State Park in Luzerne, Pennsylvania. Streams with occasional waterfalls frame the park’s trails. A hiker reaching the summit of Red Rock Mountains is rewarded with vistas that include the undulating ridge of the Allegheny Front and Pocono Formation.

– Program Note from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Wind Orchestra, 3 June 2017

https://www.windrep.org/Red_Rock_Mountain 

Born in Buffalo, New York, Rossano Galante received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Trumpet Performance from SUNY Buffalo in 1992. That same year he was one of nineteen people from around the world to be accepted to the University of Southern California’s Film Scoring Program. He studied with the late Jerry Goldsmith, who won an Academy Award for his film score for The Omen. In 1999, Mr. Galante moved to California to pursue a career in composition and film orchestration. Since then he has worked with two-time Oscar-nominated composer Marco Beltrami, Christophe Beck, Brian Tyler, Christopher Lennertz, and Wolfram de Marco.

Mr. Galante has served as orchestrator for over seventy-five studio films including, Venom: Let There be Carnage, Rambo: Last Blood, Charlie’s Angles, Ready or Not, A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place 2, The Mummy, Logan, Sausage Party, Smurfs: The Lost Village, First They Killed My Father, Ben Hur, The Shallows, Fantastic 4, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Gods of Egypt, Prisoners, The Wolverine, 3:10 to Yuma, A Good Day to Die Hard, Trouble with the Curve, The Thing, Final Destination 5, The Homesman, Don’t be Afraid of the Dark, Knowing, Max Payne, The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Live Free or Die Hard, Red Eye, Die Bluthochzeit, The Tuxedo, Tuesdays with Morrie, among many others.

For his large-scale Wind Ensemble compositions, he has been commissioned by the Federation of Gay Games-Paris 2018, Atlanta Freedom Band, Lake Braddock High School Band, Hofstra University Symphonic Band, Nebraska Wind Symphony, the Amherst Chamber Orchestra, Trenton State College, SUNY Buffalo, Grand Island Middle School, Syracuse Youth Symphony, Point Pleasant Borough High School, North Tonawanda High School, Lockport City School District, Edward Town Middle School, Duxbury High School Wind Ensemble, Allegro: The Chamber Orchestra of Lancaster, Franklin & Marshall College, West Genesee High School Wind Ensemble, East Stroudsburg High School, Grissom High School, Hafabra Publishing, Desert Winds Freedom Band, Starpoint High School Band, Francis T. Maloney High School Band, The Erie County Wind Ensemble, The Solano County Honor Band, The Buffalo Niagara Concert Band and many others in the works.

Mr. Galante has over 53 published compositions.

https://barnhouse.com/composer/rossano-galante/ 

Giuseppe Verdi, after the challenges he faced in launching his opera Un ballo in maschera in 1859, took a break from his work. However, when he received a commission from Russia to compose an opera for the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, he signed a contract and started working on it with his usual dedication. In November 1862, the opera was presented in St. Petersburg, and although it was not a complete success, it was performed in many musical capitals around the world. Verdi was not entirely satisfied with the work, and so he made revisions to it. With the Piave libretto revised by Ghislanzoni, who later collaborated with Verdi for Aida, a new version of Forza was first produced at La Scala in 1869.
The intensity of Verdi’s melodrama in La forza del destino is as apparent in the opera’s seething orchestral introduction as it is in the rest of the work. The opening brass exclamations create a heavy atmosphere of foreboding, and the agitated theme that follows fully enunciates the doom and gloom they portend. This motif, along with the theme of tragic destiny, dominates the overture as the main material or as a grim undercurrent to melodies related to the opera’s characters.

– Orrin Howard (Edited)

Bizet’s final work, Carmen, premiered at Paris’ Opéra-Comique on March 3, 1875. However, the critics were generally disappointed, and the opera often played in half-empty houses. Bizet died of a heart attack on June 3, the morning after the opera’s thirty-third performance, having suffered significant respiratory problems for much of his life. Carmen was given fifteen additional performances at the Opéra-Comique, the last being on February 15, 1876. It was not until seven years later that the opera was presented again in Paris.
A Viennese production that opened in October of 1875, with the spoken dialogue replaced by accompanied recitatives composed by Ernest Guiraud, was a stunning success. Richard Wagner became a fan of the work, and Johannes Brahms viewed the opera twenty times, remarking that he would have “gone to the ends of the earth to embrace Bizet.”
Guiraud created two suites of selections from Carmen, adjusting Bizet’s orchestration to enable the music to be performed without singers. The Prélude begins with Les Toréadors, establishing the opera’s setting in Seville and anticipating the excitement of the crowd inside and outside of the bullring in the final act. It then cuts dramatically to the motive associated with Carmen and her tragic fate. Guiraud follows it in the Suite with the entr’acte between Acts 3 and 4, the brilliantly rhythmic Aragonaise that sets the scene outside the bullring. The Intermezzo is the entr’acte introducing Carmen’s third act, set in a mountain clearing, and the Séguedille is a transcription of Carmen’s seductive aria from Act 1. Les Dragons d’Alcala is a military-style entr’acte between the first two acts that takes us to the barracks and the inn next door. From the second Carmen Suite, the Gypsy Dance opens Act 2 and depicts Carmen and her companions entertaining military officers at the inn.
– The Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (Edited)

Edward Elgar, who was born almost a century after the death of the great German-English master George Frideric Handel, was the first British-born composer to gain international prominence since Henry Purcell made his mark in the 17th century. Although he had fully absorbed the Germanic tradition, Elgar began to converse in a musical language that had a distinctive English accent towards the end of the 19th century. He spoke eloquently to and for his countrymen and his time without relying on English folk music.
Elgar’s name first became known in London through his Imperial March (1896), which was used for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee on June 22, 1897. Building on the momentum of this success, Elgar began writing his most famous and beloved march, Pomp and Circumstance No. 1 (the first of five), borrowing the title of the set from Shakespeare’s Othello: “…the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, the spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, the royal banner, and all quality, pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war.”
– Orrin Howard (Edited)