Concert 6 2024: Harmonious Horizons: a Musical Odyssey

DIGITAL VERSION OF CONCERT PROGRAM

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EXTRA PROGRAM NOTES

Philip Sparke is our feature composer/arranger in this concert. A prolific composer, he has composed many beautiful works and some technically awesome competition works for concert band. We will perform a selection of them in this concert.

Philip Sparke was born in London in December 1951 and studied composition, trumpet and piano at the Royal College of Music, where he gained an ARCM.

It was at the College that his interest in bands arose. He played in the College wind orchestra and also formed a brass band among the students, writing several works for both ensembles. 

At that time, his first published works appeared – Concert Prelude (brass band) and Gaudium (wind band). A growing interest in his music led to several commissions, his first major one being for the Centennial Brass Band Championships in New Zealand – The Land of the Long White Cloud.

Further commissions followed from individual bands, various band associations and the BBC, for whom he three times won the EBU New Music for Band Competition (with Slipstream, Skyrider and Orient Express). He has written for brass band championships in New Zealand, Switzerland, Holland, Australia and the UK, including three times for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall.

A close association with banding in Japan led to a commission (Celebration) from and eventual recording of his music with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. This opened the door worldwide to his wind band music and led to several commissions, particularly from the United States. In 1996 the US Air Force Band commissioned and recorded Dance Movements, which won the prestigious Sudler Prize in 1997. In September 2000 he was awarded the Iles Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians for his services to brass bands. In 2005 Music of the Spheres won the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. He won the same contest again in 2016 with A Colour Symphony. In 2011 he received the BUMA International Brass Award and the 4barsrest.com Special Award for his contribution to brass music. In 2018 he was presented with the International Award at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago and was appointed visiting professor at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music in Kawasaki, Japan, the following year. In 2020 he was made an Honorary Member of the American Bandmasters Association.

His conducting and adjudicating activities have taken him to most European countries, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada and the USA. In May 2000, he took the major step of becoming a full-time composer by founding his own publishing company, Anglo Music Press. The company is devoted to publishing his brass band, concert band, fanfare band and instrumental publications as well as recordings dedicated to his latest works.

Excerpts from “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff, transcribed John Krance

1. O fortune, variable as the moon
2. I lament fortune’s blows
3. Behold the spring
4. Dance – on the lawn
5. The noble forest
6. Were the world all mine
7. The god of love flies everywhere
8. I am the abbot
9. When we are in the tavern – 3:33
10. I am suspended between love and chastity
11. Sweetest boy
12. Hail to thee, most beautiful
13. Fortune, empress of the world

For your enjoyment, John Krance transcribed 13 movements from Carl Orff’s first stage work, Carmina Burana (for concert band without choir or vocal soloists). It was composed in 1935-6 and premiered at the Frankfurt Opera in 1937; it became an outstanding success. Orff drew the inspiration for his grand vocal and orchestral work from 24 poems of the 200 found in the 13th century monastery of Benediktbeuern, near Munich in Bavaria, and published in 1847 under the title of Carmina Burana. Carmina is the plural of the Latin word carmen and in early time, carried the implication of student songs. Burana was the Latin name for the area we know today as Bavaria. Both sacred and secular, the texts are frank avowals of earthly pleasure: eating, dancing, drinking, gambling, and lovemaking. They proclaim the beauty of life and the glory of springtime. The music is simple in harmony and range, consistent with 13th century music, with a driving rhythm to which the listener instinctively responds. John Krance, who worked with Orff on this arrangement, has incorporated the vocal melodies into a setting entirely instrumental in structure. – Program Note by William V. Johnson for the San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra concert program, 15 May 2010

Six hundred years before Carl Orff was born, a group of monks at the Bavarian monastery of Benedikbeuern created a manuscript of verses written by various traveling scholars, clerics, and students who had stayed at the monastery. This manuscript was discovered in 1803 and published in 1847. The verses of late medieval poetry, written in Latin, Middle High German, and Old French, are marked by their vernacular, blunt language and startling eroticism. They extol the virtues of eating, drinking and carnal behavior while taking a sarcastic and scornful stab at the clergy’s decline in morality. In 1937 Orff set them to music that has since become his most famous composition, Carmina Burana.

Carmina Burana has pervaded many film scores and television commercials (if the producers of these projects had taken the time to find out what the chorus was singing, they might have chose something more appropriate!). Nearly everyone recognizes the opening chorus, O Fortuna, but hardly anyone knows that it is a song in praise of the moody Goddess of Fortune, whose wheel of fate rolls unpredictably over mankind. The rest of the cantata is divided into three sections: Spring, In the Tavern, and Court of Love. Spring is a collection of poems praising nature, the sun, the earth and her resources, boisterous singers, coy young girls, and the sensual germination of life and love. In the Tavern consists of verses reserved solely for men. The men first lament, then celebrate the fate of the beautiful swan who is to be roasted for dinner, then sing a series of toasts which degenerate into an orgy of senseless drinking.Court of Love contains only verses with a hint of subtlety. These poems describe the sighs of love, longing, courtship and the desire for a kiss. Court of Love ends with a hymn to the Goddess of Love before the O Fortuna chorus returns, creating a bridge from the beginning of the cantata to the end, reminding us that the wheel of life keeps turning; yesterday, today, and tomorrow. – Program Note by Silas Nathaniel Huff

The Girl With The Flaxen Hair by Claude Debussy arr. Philip Sparke

Claude Debussy wrote his two books of piano Preludes late in life, between 1909 and 1913. The 12 short pieces in each book display a rich variety of styles, moods and emotions, almost a summing up of his compositional output, and each has its own evocative title. The Girl with the Flaxen Hair is the eighth Prelude in the first book and popular for its emotional depth, despite its technical and harmonic simplicity. – Program Note from publisher

One of the most frequently excerpted preludes, The Girl with the Flaxen Hair is a return to the simple harmonies found in earlier works of Debussy. The work comes from the first of two books of piano preludes. Inspired by the poem of the same title by Leconte de Lisle from the collection Poèmes Antiques: Chansons Ecossaises, it is calm and lyrical, a stark contrast to mighty winds of the previous prelude in the set. The image is that of a young girl simply and gently singing of her daydreams, the opening motif reminiscent of the famous spinning wheel of the Gretchen tradition of the romantic period, recalling Schubert’s similar characterization of the young girl.

The harmony presents an interesting combination of Impressionist techniques: the melody is pentatonic, however it is harmonized with diatonic chords. This very cleverly masks the oriental flavor of the pentatonic scale, and when combined with modal cadences, gives the prelude a folk-song like presence. – Program Note from Michigan State University Wind Symphony concert program, October 27, 2016

CHAMBER GROUP ITEM

Molly On The Shore by Percy Grainger arr for wind quintet

In setting Molly on the Shore I strove to imbue the accompanying parts that made up the harmonic texture with a melodic character not too unlike that of the underlying reel tune. Melody seems to me to provide music with initiative, whereas rhythm appears to me to exert an enslaving influence. For that reason I have tried to avoid regular rhythmic domination in my music — always excepting irregular rhythms, such as those of Gregorian chant, which seem to me to make for freedom. Equally with melody, I prize discordant harmony, because of the emotional and compassionate sway it exerts. – Program Note by Percy Aldridge Grainger

Fraser Dun: euphonium soloist performing Pulcinella

Fraser started playing euphonium in 2016, immediately falling in love with its majestic tone and multifaceted role within ensembles. He studied with John Beckley and Jess Jacobs, completing VCE Music in 2021.

He began performing with his first community ensemble – Southern Area Concert Band – in 2019, and since then has played with Frankston Symphony Orchestra, Boroondara Harmony, Boroondara Brass, Box Hill Academy Brass, Melbourne Symphonic Winds, and Knox Wind Symphony. He joined the Grainger Wind Symphony in 2023.

Fraser is currently pursuing a double degree Science/Music at Monash University, studying under Karina Filipi and Roman Ponomariov.

Pulcinella by Philip Sparke

Pulcinella was commissioned by the Taiwanese euphonium player Tzu-Hsiang Lin. Lin is a renowned soloist and teacher and a Besson Euphonium Artist. He teacher euphonium at Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan University of Arts, Shih Chien University and National Kaohsiung Normal University. Lin gave the premiere of Pulcinella in both its concert band and brass band versions in January 2021. Pulcinella continues Sparke’s series of euphonium solos named after characters of the Italian commedia dell’arte and opens with a long and expressive minor melody for the soloist over a brooding accompaniment. This is taken up briefly by the full band and is extended by the soloist after a change of key. A cadenza, accompanied by fragments of the main melody leads to a complete change of mood, tempo and tonality, introducing a Vivo section starting with a perky syncopated tune for the soloist. The band then uses elements of this new tune to introduce a change of key, where the soloist introduces a more lyrical second subject over a pulsing accompaniment. The band then takes this up and changes key to reintroduce the original Vivo melody, which leads to a short and acrobatic coda to bring the work to a spectacular close.

Daniel Chong vibraphone soloist performing

Afro Blue by Mongo Santamaria for vibraphone and piano

“Afro Blue” (1959) by Mongo Santamaria, built on a 3:2 African cross-rhythm (“hemiola”), was the first jazz standard to use this pattern, in which the bass plays six cross-beats per measure of 12/8 with 4 main beats played by marimba and flute.

Mongo Santamaria (April 7, 1917 – February 1, 2003) was born Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría Rodríguez and raised in Havana, Cuba, and came to the United States in 1950. He had grown up with rumba, a Cuban genre of music encompassing dance, percussion and song, where his mentor was Clemente “Chicho” Piquero. Santamaria started playing with Septeto Beloña in 1937 and with the house band of the Tropican nightclub in the 1940s. When in the late 1940s Chicho could not play with a tour, he recommended Santamaria for the position, which he followed by moving to New York City in 1950, where he became Tito Puente’s conga player before joining Cal Tjader’s Latin jazz combo in 1957. In 1960 Mongo recorded two albums in Havana with Willie Bobo before returning to New York City and forming the charanga orquestra La Sabrosa, with Chick Corea on piano. When Chick Corea left, Herbie Hancock filled in and introduced Santamaria to the song “Watermelon Man” which was an immediate hit. Santamaria asked if he could record it; the response was “By all means”. Santamaria’s recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. – https://www.kuvo.org/stories-of-standards-afro-blue-by-mongo-santamaria/

Daniel’s version is based on the recorded performance by Gary Burton (vibes) and Makoto Ozone (piano).

Salute To The Victor by Philip Sparke

Salute to the Victor was commissioned by Helen, Alex and James Grieve for the Golden Kangaroos (Hornsby Concert Band) from Sydney, Australia, in memory of their parents, Louise and Victor Grieve, Founder and Director of Music.

Victor Grieve began his musical career as a fourth generation military musician joining the Gordon Highlanders as a boy musician in 1954. He received much of his training at the Royal Military School of Music (Kneller Hall) and also studied at the London College of Music and Trinity College London.

He was nine years member of the horn sections of the Sydney and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, taking part in overseas tours to Asia and Europe. In 1974 he was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study in Europe under Prof. Hermann Baumann and chose to use part of his award to study youth orchestras and wind bands in the U.K., France, Holland, Germany, U.S.A. and Scandinavia.

He founded the Golden Kangaroos (Hornsby Concert Band) in 1970 and served as their musical director for nearly 40 years, establishing it as one of the best-known bands in Australia.

Salute to the Victor is in traditional march form and, as a tribute to Victor Grieve, who was a devotee of English music (in particular that of Sir Edward Elgar) contains a short quote from that composer’s Sea Pictures in the trio.

CHAMBER GROUP ITEMS

Bugler’s Holiday by Leroy Anderson arr. Charles Metzger for 4 trumpets

This trio may have motivated more trumpet players to learn or improve their double-tonguing technique in the last four decades than any other piece of music. Although the Holiday is relatively uncomplicated, performers are motivated to show their ability with articulations, bell tones, and proper balance. Above all, it’s fun to play and hear. – Program Note from Program Notes for Band

Bugler’s Holiday is one of the best-known pieces of band literature written by the band master Leroy Anderson (1908-1975). Anderson was born in Cambridge, Mass., and began studying piano and music at the New England Conservatory of Music when he was 11 years of age. In 1931, Anderson became director of the Harvard Band. During his four-year tenure with this group, he composed several pieces, one of which was accepted to be played by the Boston Pops. This piece, titled Harvard Fantasy, was a success and resulted in Anderson becoming a regular composer for the ensemble. In 1945, the Pops’ lead trumpet player, Roger Voisin, requested Anderson to compose an original piece for trumpet. The result was Trumpeter’s Lullaby.

It was not until 1954 that Anderson again composed a piece featuring the trumpet. He wrote Bugler’s Holiday as a solo piece for three trumpets accompanied by a band. At that time, Anderson had his own ensemble that was recording for Decca Records. He hoped Bugler’s Holiday would become a hit, possibly helping the group surpass the success of their previous gold-record album released in 1951.

Carl Maira von Weber, Jägerchor aus “Der Freischütz”, op. 77

Rimsky-Korsakov, Notturno for 4 Horns 

THE GRAINGER WIND SYMPHONY

Excerpts from “Manzoni Requiem” by Guiseppi Verdi arr. Emil Mollenhauer

This arrangement of Verdi’s famous Requiem combines five sections of the mass into one of the most powerful works ever scored for concert band. Includes Dies Irae; Tuba Mirum; Recordare; Ingemisco and Rex Tremendae. – Program Note from publisher

The Messa da Requiem is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass (Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi.

In 1869, Verdi had been asked to compose a section for a requiem mass in memory of Gioachino Rossini. He compiled and completed the requiem, but its performance was abandoned (and its premiere did not take place until 1988). Five years later, Verdi reworked his Libera Me section of the Rossini Requiem and made it a part of his Requiem honouring Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist whom Verdi admired. The first performance, at the San Marco church in Milan on 22 May 1874, marked the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death.

The work was at one time called the Manzoni Requiem. It is rarely performed in liturgy, but rather in concert form of around 85–90 minutes in length. Musicologist David Rosen calls it ‘probably the most frequently performed major choral work composed since the compilation of Mozart’s Requiem.’ – Program Note from Wikipedia