Program for April 16, 2012 Madison Middle School Auditorium
Dedicatory Overture (1964), Clifton Williams (1923–1976)
Clifton Williams was a pivotal figure in the twentieth-century band music revolution. He was among the first serious composers to devote his efforts to the creation of music for band, theorizing that such music would be played more frequently and his audiences would be larger. The publisher reports, “Dedicatory Overture was commissioned by Epsilon Upsilon Chapter of Phi Beta Mu Sinfonia (National Honorary Music Fraternity) at Evansville College, Indiana, for use in services dedicating a new music building. A concert overture in form, Dedicatory Overture employs the composer’s own settings of the Evansville College alma mater hymn contrasted with much original material.”
Panis Angelicus (1859), César Franck (1822–1890)
arr. (1943) Russell Harvey
César Franck was a Belgian-born Parisian, pianist, organist, teacher, and professor. His Panis Angelicus, originally conceived for tenor voice, was a setting of two stanzas of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Sacris Solemnis (Blessed Sacrament) that may be translated as follows:
The angelic bread
Becomes the bread of men
The heavenly bread
Ends all prefigurations:
What a wonder!
The Lord is eaten
By a poor and humble servant.
Court Festival (1957), William P. Latham (1917–2004)
I. Intrada
II. Pavan
III. Galliard
IV. “The Horses” Branle
William P. Latham was a distinguished teacher of theory and composition at the University of Northern Iowa and later at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). The first three movements of his Court Festival use original material intended to emulate dance music of the 16th and 17th century. “Intrada” means “entrance” or “opening piece.” The pavan and galliard were dances of Italian origin that were typically played as a pair. A branle was a very poplar dance in the 16th century, and “The Horses” was, in fact, an actual dance tune of the era.
Frozen Bill Rag (1909), Arthur Pryor (1870–1942)
Arthur Pryor was a trombonist who played in the Sousa Band and who started his own touring band in 1903. He wrote Frozen Bill the year he stopped touring with the band. At that time Pryor went to work for the Victor Talking Machine Company as a conductor and arranger. A “rag” was a selection that was “in ragged time,” meaning the rhythms were uneven, or syncopated.
An American Tribute, various composers
arr. (1982) John Edmondson
This medley of Americana consists of “The Girl I Left Behind Me” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” both of which are Irish tunes that were popular in America during the Civil War; the nostalgic “Shenandoah”; F. W. Meacham’s mid-19th century march “American Patrol”; and “America,” a tune of obscure origin that came to this country from England before the Revolutionary War.
The Crosley March (1928), Henry Fillmore (1881–1956)
ed. (2001) Robert E. Foster
Henry Fillmore was a member of a Cincinnati music publishing family, but he was an independent sort who regularly ran afoul of his parents’ approval. Biographer Paul Bierley noted, “Fillmore’s zest for life is evident across all of his marches.” This march is named after Powel Crosley, Jr., a fellow Cincinnatian and an inventor whose most notable endeavors were creating the Crosley Radio, establishing the WLW radio station, manufacturing refrigerators, purchasing the Cincinnati Reds, building airplanes, and producing the Crosley automobile.
Clifton Williams was a pivotal figure in the twentieth-century band music revolution. He was among the first serious composers to devote his efforts to the creation of music for band, theorizing that such music would be played more frequently and his audiences would be larger. The publisher reports, “Dedicatory Overture was commissioned by Epsilon Upsilon Chapter of Phi Beta Mu Sinfonia (National Honorary Music Fraternity) at Evansville College, Indiana, for use in services dedicating a new music building. A concert overture in form, Dedicatory Overture employs the composer’s own settings of the Evansville College alma mater hymn contrasted with much original material.”
Panis Angelicus (1859), César Franck (1822–1890)
arr. (1943) Russell Harvey
César Franck was a Belgian-born Parisian, pianist, organist, teacher, and professor. His Panis Angelicus, originally conceived for tenor voice, was a setting of two stanzas of St. Thomas Aquinas’ Sacris Solemnis (Blessed Sacrament) that may be translated as follows:
The angelic bread
Becomes the bread of men
The heavenly bread
Ends all prefigurations:
What a wonder!
The Lord is eaten
By a poor and humble servant.
Court Festival (1957), William P. Latham (1917–2004)
I. Intrada
II. Pavan
III. Galliard
IV. “The Horses” Branle
William P. Latham was a distinguished teacher of theory and composition at the University of Northern Iowa and later at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). The first three movements of his Court Festival use original material intended to emulate dance music of the 16th and 17th century. “Intrada” means “entrance” or “opening piece.” The pavan and galliard were dances of Italian origin that were typically played as a pair. A branle was a very poplar dance in the 16th century, and “The Horses” was, in fact, an actual dance tune of the era.
Frozen Bill Rag (1909), Arthur Pryor (1870–1942)
Arthur Pryor was a trombonist who played in the Sousa Band and who started his own touring band in 1903. He wrote Frozen Bill the year he stopped touring with the band. At that time Pryor went to work for the Victor Talking Machine Company as a conductor and arranger. A “rag” was a selection that was “in ragged time,” meaning the rhythms were uneven, or syncopated.
An American Tribute, various composers
arr. (1982) John Edmondson
This medley of Americana consists of “The Girl I Left Behind Me” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” both of which are Irish tunes that were popular in America during the Civil War; the nostalgic “Shenandoah”; F. W. Meacham’s mid-19th century march “American Patrol”; and “America,” a tune of obscure origin that came to this country from England before the Revolutionary War.
The Crosley March (1928), Henry Fillmore (1881–1956)
ed. (2001) Robert E. Foster
Henry Fillmore was a member of a Cincinnati music publishing family, but he was an independent sort who regularly ran afoul of his parents’ approval. Biographer Paul Bierley noted, “Fillmore’s zest for life is evident across all of his marches.” This march is named after Powel Crosley, Jr., a fellow Cincinnatian and an inventor whose most notable endeavors were creating the Crosley Radio, establishing the WLW radio station, manufacturing refrigerators, purchasing the Cincinnati Reds, building airplanes, and producing the Crosley automobile.
