Program for June 3 & 4, 2016 Richmond Centre
At 2:00 on the program is the Madison Community Band from Richmond, Kentucky, John Stroube, conductor. First up on the program is John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme, arranged by a man who is no stranger to the Great American Brass Band Festival, Kentucky’s own James Curnow! This work was commissioned by the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and Williams wrote about it, “The human spirit soars, and we strive for the best within us.” The Madison Community Band with John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme.
BAND PLAYS OLYMPIC FANFARE AND THEME
Verdi’s opera La Forza del Destino, which translates as The Force of Destiny, contains love, death, deception, plot twists, acts of disloyalty, and revenge. (It’s an opera.) The overture heard on this afternoon’s program begins with three unison brass notes—the ominous “fate” motive. It presents melodies from the opera, and we repeatedly hear the la-ti-do-mi ascending motive associated with Leonora, a main character in the opera. The overture is considered to be a masterwork of thematic development. Ladies and gentlemen, La Forza del Destino!
BAND PLAYS LA FORZA DEL DESTINO
Alberte Chiaffarelli, an Italian born composer, conductor, clarinetist, and arranger was the principal clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic from 1914–1920. Among his compositions was the delightful Motor Boat Rag configured in march form. Music aficionados will note that the Trio section is in the dominant key rather than the typical subdominant.
BAND PLAYS MOTOR BOAT RAG
Organist Alexander Guilmant wrote Morceau Symphonique for trombone and organ as a contest piece for the Paris Conservatory. Firmly in the Romantic tradition, the work unfolds in a slow-fast-slow-fast sequence. Featured on trombone today is Matt Barnhill, the band director in the Berea Community Schools. Matt performs regularly with the Madison Community Band, the Lexington Community Orchestra, and the Metrognomes. Please welcome trombonist Matt Barnhill performing Morceau Symphonique
BAND PLAYS MORCEAU SYMPHONIQUE
Prolific American composer and pianist George Gershwin, was very popular during his own lifetime. Next on the program is Warren Barker’s The Symphonic Gershwin,” a medley that includes “An American in Paris,” “Rhapsody in Blue,” and “Cuban Overture.”
BAND PLAYS THE SYMPHONIC GERSHWIN
In his early life, Karl King became a specialist in circus bands. Although he was a native Ohioan, he settled in Ft. Dodge, Iowa where he conducted the Ft. Dodge Municipal Band for fifty-one years. He is quoted as having said that Emblem of Freedom, was his best march. We’ll hear it next, Karl King’s Emblem of Freedom.
BAND PLAYS EMBLEMS OF FREEDOM
Following his retirement as a junior high school band director, Californian Grant Hull continued to write and perform music into his eighty-sixth year. Today the Madison Community Band will play his arrangement of Drunken Sailor. He once wrote that he had a 27-foot sloop that he sailed on the San Francisco Bay, so he was a sailor, but sober for the most part.
BAND PLAYS THE DRUNKEN SAILOR
Known as an “American composer of light concert music,” Leroy Anderson wrote for Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, an collaboration that brought him to prominence. For the next selection on the program, Belle of the Ball, Anderson set out to create a fast waltz in the Viennese tradition, yet the melody has been compared to those of Tchaikovsky.
BAND PLAYS BELLE OF THE BALL
Henry Fillmore ran away from home three times to play trombone in circus bands. He took the name for this march, The Circus Bee, from an imaginary circus trade paper. Speculation is he was paying homage to (or poking good-natured fun at) John Klohr’s march The Billboard. The Madison Community Band concludes its program with Henry Fillmore’s stirring The Circus Bee.
BAND PLAYS THE CIRCUS BEE
BAND PLAYS OLYMPIC FANFARE AND THEME
Verdi’s opera La Forza del Destino, which translates as The Force of Destiny, contains love, death, deception, plot twists, acts of disloyalty, and revenge. (It’s an opera.) The overture heard on this afternoon’s program begins with three unison brass notes—the ominous “fate” motive. It presents melodies from the opera, and we repeatedly hear the la-ti-do-mi ascending motive associated with Leonora, a main character in the opera. The overture is considered to be a masterwork of thematic development. Ladies and gentlemen, La Forza del Destino!
BAND PLAYS LA FORZA DEL DESTINO
Alberte Chiaffarelli, an Italian born composer, conductor, clarinetist, and arranger was the principal clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic from 1914–1920. Among his compositions was the delightful Motor Boat Rag configured in march form. Music aficionados will note that the Trio section is in the dominant key rather than the typical subdominant.
BAND PLAYS MOTOR BOAT RAG
Organist Alexander Guilmant wrote Morceau Symphonique for trombone and organ as a contest piece for the Paris Conservatory. Firmly in the Romantic tradition, the work unfolds in a slow-fast-slow-fast sequence. Featured on trombone today is Matt Barnhill, the band director in the Berea Community Schools. Matt performs regularly with the Madison Community Band, the Lexington Community Orchestra, and the Metrognomes. Please welcome trombonist Matt Barnhill performing Morceau Symphonique
BAND PLAYS MORCEAU SYMPHONIQUE
Prolific American composer and pianist George Gershwin, was very popular during his own lifetime. Next on the program is Warren Barker’s The Symphonic Gershwin,” a medley that includes “An American in Paris,” “Rhapsody in Blue,” and “Cuban Overture.”
BAND PLAYS THE SYMPHONIC GERSHWIN
In his early life, Karl King became a specialist in circus bands. Although he was a native Ohioan, he settled in Ft. Dodge, Iowa where he conducted the Ft. Dodge Municipal Band for fifty-one years. He is quoted as having said that Emblem of Freedom, was his best march. We’ll hear it next, Karl King’s Emblem of Freedom.
BAND PLAYS EMBLEMS OF FREEDOM
Following his retirement as a junior high school band director, Californian Grant Hull continued to write and perform music into his eighty-sixth year. Today the Madison Community Band will play his arrangement of Drunken Sailor. He once wrote that he had a 27-foot sloop that he sailed on the San Francisco Bay, so he was a sailor, but sober for the most part.
BAND PLAYS THE DRUNKEN SAILOR
Known as an “American composer of light concert music,” Leroy Anderson wrote for Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, an collaboration that brought him to prominence. For the next selection on the program, Belle of the Ball, Anderson set out to create a fast waltz in the Viennese tradition, yet the melody has been compared to those of Tchaikovsky.
BAND PLAYS BELLE OF THE BALL
Henry Fillmore ran away from home three times to play trombone in circus bands. He took the name for this march, The Circus Bee, from an imaginary circus trade paper. Speculation is he was paying homage to (or poking good-natured fun at) John Klohr’s march The Billboard. The Madison Community Band concludes its program with Henry Fillmore’s stirring The Circus Bee.
BAND PLAYS THE CIRCUS BEE
