Announcer Notes for June 6 & 9, 2012 June 6 - Van Peursem Ampitheater, in the Ravine, EKU; June 9 - Main Stage, Great American Brass Band Festival
A Jubilant Overture Good (evening) (afternoon) ladies and gentlemen. Seated before you is the Madison Community Band and I’m your announcer, Dr. David Greenlee. Today’s performance will begin with Alfred Reed’s A Jubilant Overture. During his lifetime, Reed was one of the most prolific and popular composers of music for wind band. The composer has indicated that the three-part work is reminiscent of the mood brought about by the coming of spring. It employs the classic fast-slow-fast overture form. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the Madison Community Band and its conductor, Dr. John Stroube. (38 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: A Jubilant Overture
Percy Aldridge Grainger’s Australian Up-Country Tune was inspired, to some extent, by the melodies of Stephen Foster. The original version of this gentle piece was a wordless song for chorus, and it was first sung at Grainger’s own wedding. This band version, arranged by longtime Director of Bands at Northwestern University, Glenn Cliffe Bainum, presents the tune three times, each scored more richly than the previous. Ladies and gentlemen—we give you Australian Up-Country Tune. (33 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Australian Up-Country Tune
**DANVILLE ONLY!! At the Ravine, skip to Toccata Marziale**
Who could not relate as Dorothy expressed her yearning by singing, “Over the Rainbow”? This timeless ballad from the American songbook transcends its cinematic origin. Please welcome our soloist, a central Kentucky native, Professor of Trumpet at Michigan State University, Professor Rich Illman. (23 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Over the Rainbow
Toccata Marziale was Ralph Vaughan Williams second work for band, following his English Folk Song Suite. The title indicates that it is a technical piece in the manner of various keyboard toccatas by Frescobaldi, Bach, and others; and that it is of the sort to be played at a military occasion. In fact, its premiere in 1924 was by the band of the Royal Military School of Music at a national exhibition in Great Britain. Regarding this work, conductor and scholar Frederick Fennell has written, “A great rhythmic vigor permeates the whole score, propelling the strong contrapuntal lines throughout the vividly clear harmonic textures.” Ladies and gentlemen--Toccata Marziale. (46 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Toccata Marziale
American composer Morton Gould attempted to integrate jazz and pop music into his compositions as exemplified by our next selection, entitled Pavanne. Technically, a pavane is a slow, stately court dance of the 16th and 17th centuries. This 20th century work evokes the proper mood but with a jazz-influenced twist. (25 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Pavanne
Czech composer Julius Fučík [YOO-li-us FUT-sheek] wrote The Florentiner March, subtitled “an Italian Grand March.” The title refers to the Italian city of Florence, and we find the march to be almost a tone poem, implying picturesque scenes the listener might imagine. Ladies and gentlemen, Fučík’s The Florentiner March. (25 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: The Florentiner March
American composer Kenneth Whitcomb began arranging professionally in 1961 for the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point. He subsequently served as the academy’s Associate Bandmaster. Of Whitcomb’s more than 30 compositions and arrangements, Coat of Arms, published under the pseudonym “George Kenny,” is one of most well known. (25 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Coat of Arms
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 his own band, when he went to work for the Victor Talking Machine Company as a conductor and arranger. A “rag,” the category in which our next selection falls, is music that is “in ragged time,” meaning the rhythms are uneven, or syncopated. Ladies and gentlemen--Frozen Bill. (30 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Frozen Bill
Composer 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.” Our closing march is named after Powel Crosley, Jr., a fellow Cincinnatian and an inventor among whose endeavors were: creating the Crosley Radio, establishing the WLW radio station, manufacturing refrigerators, purchasing the Cincinnati Reds, building airplanes, and producing the Crosley automobile. The title of our closing selection--The Crosley March.
I’m your announcer, Dr. David Greenlee, and on behalf of the Madison Community Band and its conductor, Dr. John Stroube, we thank you for your kind attention today. (53 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: The Crosley March
BAND PLAYS: A Jubilant Overture
Percy Aldridge Grainger’s Australian Up-Country Tune was inspired, to some extent, by the melodies of Stephen Foster. The original version of this gentle piece was a wordless song for chorus, and it was first sung at Grainger’s own wedding. This band version, arranged by longtime Director of Bands at Northwestern University, Glenn Cliffe Bainum, presents the tune three times, each scored more richly than the previous. Ladies and gentlemen—we give you Australian Up-Country Tune. (33 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Australian Up-Country Tune
**DANVILLE ONLY!! At the Ravine, skip to Toccata Marziale**
Who could not relate as Dorothy expressed her yearning by singing, “Over the Rainbow”? This timeless ballad from the American songbook transcends its cinematic origin. Please welcome our soloist, a central Kentucky native, Professor of Trumpet at Michigan State University, Professor Rich Illman. (23 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Over the Rainbow
Toccata Marziale was Ralph Vaughan Williams second work for band, following his English Folk Song Suite. The title indicates that it is a technical piece in the manner of various keyboard toccatas by Frescobaldi, Bach, and others; and that it is of the sort to be played at a military occasion. In fact, its premiere in 1924 was by the band of the Royal Military School of Music at a national exhibition in Great Britain. Regarding this work, conductor and scholar Frederick Fennell has written, “A great rhythmic vigor permeates the whole score, propelling the strong contrapuntal lines throughout the vividly clear harmonic textures.” Ladies and gentlemen--Toccata Marziale. (46 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Toccata Marziale
American composer Morton Gould attempted to integrate jazz and pop music into his compositions as exemplified by our next selection, entitled Pavanne. Technically, a pavane is a slow, stately court dance of the 16th and 17th centuries. This 20th century work evokes the proper mood but with a jazz-influenced twist. (25 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Pavanne
Czech composer Julius Fučík [YOO-li-us FUT-sheek] wrote The Florentiner March, subtitled “an Italian Grand March.” The title refers to the Italian city of Florence, and we find the march to be almost a tone poem, implying picturesque scenes the listener might imagine. Ladies and gentlemen, Fučík’s The Florentiner March. (25 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: The Florentiner March
American composer Kenneth Whitcomb began arranging professionally in 1961 for the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point. He subsequently served as the academy’s Associate Bandmaster. Of Whitcomb’s more than 30 compositions and arrangements, Coat of Arms, published under the pseudonym “George Kenny,” is one of most well known. (25 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Coat of Arms
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 his own band, when he went to work for the Victor Talking Machine Company as a conductor and arranger. A “rag,” the category in which our next selection falls, is music that is “in ragged time,” meaning the rhythms are uneven, or syncopated. Ladies and gentlemen--Frozen Bill. (30 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: Frozen Bill
Composer 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.” Our closing march is named after Powel Crosley, Jr., a fellow Cincinnatian and an inventor among whose endeavors were: creating the Crosley Radio, establishing the WLW radio station, manufacturing refrigerators, purchasing the Cincinnati Reds, building airplanes, and producing the Crosley automobile. The title of our closing selection--The Crosley March.
I’m your announcer, Dr. David Greenlee, and on behalf of the Madison Community Band and its conductor, Dr. John Stroube, we thank you for your kind attention today. (53 sec.)
BAND PLAYS: The Crosley March
