Program for December 12, 2010 Madison Central High School Auditorium
Whip and Spur—Galop (1902) Thomas S. Allen (1876–1919)
arr. (1990) by Ray Cramer
A galop is a fast-paced duple meter dance that, in this case, reflects the excitement of horseback riding and is used often at circuses and rodeos. The composer, Thomas Allen, made his living writing for Vaudeville, a major entertainment industry of the era.
Yorkshire Ballad (1984) James Barnes (1949)
This work was written in the style of a folksong and was intended to emulate the style of composer Percy Grainger. James Barnes is a professor of music at the University of Kansas and has written extensively for bands at all levels.
Third Suite (1967) Robert E. Jager (1939)
I. March
II. Waltz
III. Rondo.
Robert Jager was, for four years, the Staff Arranger/Composer for the Armed Forces School of Music. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan and taught at Old Dominion University and Tennessee Technological University. Now retired, he resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His Third Suite is filled with wry humor. The march consists of measures with three, four, and five beats—there even are a couple of measures with six beats! You can tap your foot to it, but it would be very difficult to march to. A waltz should contain a rapid three beats per bar, but this movement, too, is interspersed with measures that have too many or too few beats. The rondo, uniquely, is what it purports to be, this particular one taking the form of ABACABA. Note also the five-chord introduction that reappears throughout the piece to mark the onset of a new section.
Commando March (1943) Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Samuel Barber produced this march, his only work for band, which was premiered shortly after its completion by the Army Air Corps Band. From its title we take that it was written in honor of those invaluable small fighting forces that made quick and destructive raids against enemy-held areas during World War II. It features four treatments of a stirring, wartime inspired theme and is characterized by a contrast between dotted and triplet rhythms. Barber was unusual among composers in that he was a trained singer, a baritone in his case. His most popular composition may be his Adagio for Strings, recently heard in several feature films, most prominently Schindler’s List. Commando March and Adagio for Strings both are representative of Barber’s capacity to create and embellish rich melodies, something not universally found even among the most decorated of composers.
Variations on a Korean Folk Song (1965) John Barnes Chance (1932–1972)2)
“Barney” Chance studied composition at the University of Texas with Kent Kennan and Clifton Williams and was sponsored by the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project to serve as composer-in-residence at Greensboro, North Carolina, in the early 1960s. Subsequently he taught theory and composition at the University of Kentucky until his untimely death at age 40. His award-winning Variations on a Korean Folk Song has a pentatonic theme that receives six treatments in the course of the work. It is based on “Arrirang,” a song Chance heard when he was stationed in Seoul in 1958–59.
Sleigh Ride (1948) Leroy Anderson (1908–1975)
Known as an “American composer of light concert music,” Cambridge native Leroy Anderson received all his education in or near his hometown, including the New England Conservatory of Music and Harvard. Arrangements he did for the Harvard University Band were noticed by Arthur Fiedler, conductor of the Boston Pops, and thus started a collaboration that brought Anderson to prominence. Violinist and conductor Vladimir Spivakov summarized Anderson’s work succinctly: “The craftsmanship, the humor, the humanity!” Oddly, Sleigh Ride was written in the midst of a heat wave in Woodbury, Connecticut; but it effortlessly evokes the thrill of horse-drawn forward motion on a crisp, cold winter occasion. It is a light holiday classic without peer.
arr. (1990) by Ray Cramer
A galop is a fast-paced duple meter dance that, in this case, reflects the excitement of horseback riding and is used often at circuses and rodeos. The composer, Thomas Allen, made his living writing for Vaudeville, a major entertainment industry of the era.
Yorkshire Ballad (1984) James Barnes (1949)
This work was written in the style of a folksong and was intended to emulate the style of composer Percy Grainger. James Barnes is a professor of music at the University of Kansas and has written extensively for bands at all levels.
Third Suite (1967) Robert E. Jager (1939)
I. March
II. Waltz
III. Rondo.
Robert Jager was, for four years, the Staff Arranger/Composer for the Armed Forces School of Music. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan and taught at Old Dominion University and Tennessee Technological University. Now retired, he resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His Third Suite is filled with wry humor. The march consists of measures with three, four, and five beats—there even are a couple of measures with six beats! You can tap your foot to it, but it would be very difficult to march to. A waltz should contain a rapid three beats per bar, but this movement, too, is interspersed with measures that have too many or too few beats. The rondo, uniquely, is what it purports to be, this particular one taking the form of ABACABA. Note also the five-chord introduction that reappears throughout the piece to mark the onset of a new section.
Commando March (1943) Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Samuel Barber produced this march, his only work for band, which was premiered shortly after its completion by the Army Air Corps Band. From its title we take that it was written in honor of those invaluable small fighting forces that made quick and destructive raids against enemy-held areas during World War II. It features four treatments of a stirring, wartime inspired theme and is characterized by a contrast between dotted and triplet rhythms. Barber was unusual among composers in that he was a trained singer, a baritone in his case. His most popular composition may be his Adagio for Strings, recently heard in several feature films, most prominently Schindler’s List. Commando March and Adagio for Strings both are representative of Barber’s capacity to create and embellish rich melodies, something not universally found even among the most decorated of composers.
Variations on a Korean Folk Song (1965) John Barnes Chance (1932–1972)2)
“Barney” Chance studied composition at the University of Texas with Kent Kennan and Clifton Williams and was sponsored by the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project to serve as composer-in-residence at Greensboro, North Carolina, in the early 1960s. Subsequently he taught theory and composition at the University of Kentucky until his untimely death at age 40. His award-winning Variations on a Korean Folk Song has a pentatonic theme that receives six treatments in the course of the work. It is based on “Arrirang,” a song Chance heard when he was stationed in Seoul in 1958–59.
Sleigh Ride (1948) Leroy Anderson (1908–1975)
Known as an “American composer of light concert music,” Cambridge native Leroy Anderson received all his education in or near his hometown, including the New England Conservatory of Music and Harvard. Arrangements he did for the Harvard University Band were noticed by Arthur Fiedler, conductor of the Boston Pops, and thus started a collaboration that brought Anderson to prominence. Violinist and conductor Vladimir Spivakov summarized Anderson’s work succinctly: “The craftsmanship, the humor, the humanity!” Oddly, Sleigh Ride was written in the midst of a heat wave in Woodbury, Connecticut; but it effortlessly evokes the thrill of horse-drawn forward motion on a crisp, cold winter occasion. It is a light holiday classic without peer.
