Program for February 14, 2010 Madison Central High School Auditorium
Athletic Festival March, Op. 69, No.1 (1935) Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
arr. Richard Franko Goldman
Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev began composing marches for wind band in the mid 1930s, during the period when he returned to the Soviet Union. His first was the Athletic Festival March, which he wrote while imagining a festival march for millions of young Soviet athletes.
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. 1916) Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961)
Most common popular lyrics sung to this tune are “Danny Boy,” although numerous other poems and hymns have been set to it. As was often his practice, Grainger arranged this melody for various other instrumentations. “Irish Tune” also was published for string orchestra, mixed chorus, and piano solo.
Lassus Trombone (1915) Henry Fillmore (1881–1956)
Henry Fillmore was a member of a music publishing family. He gained fame as the “Father of the Trombone Smear,” writing a series of fifteen novelty tunes featuring trombone glissandos. A number of these, including “Lassus Trombone,” have a strong ragtime influence. The trombone "smears" were ragtime pieces reflecting the minstrel show idiom of vaudeville. On many occasions John Phillip Sousa and his band performed Lassus Trombone, it being his favorite smear.
Excerpts from Sebastian Ballet (1944) Gian Carlo Menotti (1911–2007)
trans. (1961) Philip J. Lang
Italian-born, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti studied at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute alongside Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber. In 1944, Menotti composed the ballet score from which this band arrangement was drawn. The subject of the ballet, Sebastian, is a Moorish slave, secretly in love with a concubine, but she is having an affair with the Prince of their Italian kingdom. In an operatic-style maneuver, Sebastian sacrifices himself to foil a plot against his secret love, thus allowing her to unite with the prince. Menotti's tuneful music has been compared to that of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, who wrote the opener for today’s concert.
Coat of Arms (1957) George Kenny
George Kenny was a pseudonym of composer Kenneth Whitcomb (b. 1926), who began arranging professionally in 1961 for the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point. He subsequently served as Associate Bandmaster of the USMA Band and Cadet Glee Club. Coat of Arms, 23 Skidoo!, and My Old Kentucky Home are some of his more than 30 compositions and arrangements.
Mannin Veen: A Manx Tone Poem (1933) Haydn Wood (1882–1959)
Haydn Wood was a British composer and violinist. At the age of two Wood moved with his family to the Isle of Man, a self-governing Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea at the geographical center of the British Isles. The island and its culture were often a source of inspiration for the composer. The title of this work is translated from the Anglo-Manx dialect as “Dear Isle of Man.” The composer wrote the following notes, found in the score:This work, based on Manx folk-songs, is founded on four of these tunes. The first, “The Good Old Way,” is an old and typical air written mostly in the Dorian mode. The second, which introduces the lively section of the work, is a reel – “The Manx Fiddler.” The third tune, “Sweet Water in the Common” relates to the practice of summoning a jury to decide questions concerning water rights, boundaries, etc. The fourth and last is a fine old hymn, “The Harvest of the Sea,” sung by the fishermen as a song of thanksgiving after their safe return from the fishing grounds.
Highlights from My Fair Lady Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986) and Frederick Loewe (1901–1988)
arr. C. Paul Herfurth
Lerner and Lowe became one of the most successful song-writing teams ever to hit Broadway. Their best known shows included Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and Camelot. This medley from the 1956 musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalian consists of the following selections: On The Street Were You Live, With A Little Bit Of Luck, I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face, and I Could Have Danced All Night.
arr. Richard Franko Goldman
Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev began composing marches for wind band in the mid 1930s, during the period when he returned to the Soviet Union. His first was the Athletic Festival March, which he wrote while imagining a festival march for millions of young Soviet athletes.
Irish Tune from County Derry (arr. 1916) Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961)
Most common popular lyrics sung to this tune are “Danny Boy,” although numerous other poems and hymns have been set to it. As was often his practice, Grainger arranged this melody for various other instrumentations. “Irish Tune” also was published for string orchestra, mixed chorus, and piano solo.
Lassus Trombone (1915) Henry Fillmore (1881–1956)
Henry Fillmore was a member of a music publishing family. He gained fame as the “Father of the Trombone Smear,” writing a series of fifteen novelty tunes featuring trombone glissandos. A number of these, including “Lassus Trombone,” have a strong ragtime influence. The trombone "smears" were ragtime pieces reflecting the minstrel show idiom of vaudeville. On many occasions John Phillip Sousa and his band performed Lassus Trombone, it being his favorite smear.
Excerpts from Sebastian Ballet (1944) Gian Carlo Menotti (1911–2007)
trans. (1961) Philip J. Lang
Italian-born, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti studied at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute alongside Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber. In 1944, Menotti composed the ballet score from which this band arrangement was drawn. The subject of the ballet, Sebastian, is a Moorish slave, secretly in love with a concubine, but she is having an affair with the Prince of their Italian kingdom. In an operatic-style maneuver, Sebastian sacrifices himself to foil a plot against his secret love, thus allowing her to unite with the prince. Menotti's tuneful music has been compared to that of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, who wrote the opener for today’s concert.
Coat of Arms (1957) George Kenny
George Kenny was a pseudonym of composer Kenneth Whitcomb (b. 1926), who began arranging professionally in 1961 for the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point. He subsequently served as Associate Bandmaster of the USMA Band and Cadet Glee Club. Coat of Arms, 23 Skidoo!, and My Old Kentucky Home are some of his more than 30 compositions and arrangements.
Mannin Veen: A Manx Tone Poem (1933) Haydn Wood (1882–1959)
Haydn Wood was a British composer and violinist. At the age of two Wood moved with his family to the Isle of Man, a self-governing Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea at the geographical center of the British Isles. The island and its culture were often a source of inspiration for the composer. The title of this work is translated from the Anglo-Manx dialect as “Dear Isle of Man.” The composer wrote the following notes, found in the score:This work, based on Manx folk-songs, is founded on four of these tunes. The first, “The Good Old Way,” is an old and typical air written mostly in the Dorian mode. The second, which introduces the lively section of the work, is a reel – “The Manx Fiddler.” The third tune, “Sweet Water in the Common” relates to the practice of summoning a jury to decide questions concerning water rights, boundaries, etc. The fourth and last is a fine old hymn, “The Harvest of the Sea,” sung by the fishermen as a song of thanksgiving after their safe return from the fishing grounds.
Highlights from My Fair Lady Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986) and Frederick Loewe (1901–1988)
arr. C. Paul Herfurth
Lerner and Lowe became one of the most successful song-writing teams ever to hit Broadway. Their best known shows included Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and Camelot. This medley from the 1956 musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalian consists of the following selections: On The Street Were You Live, With A Little Bit Of Luck, I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face, and I Could Have Danced All Night.
