The Foothill College Symphonic Wind Ensemble

David Bruce Adams, Conductor

Shades of Music

Robert C. Smithwick Theater
Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022-4599
2:30 PM, Sunday, March 21, 1999

Program Notes

Esprit de Corps by Robert Jager

Based on The Marines' Hymn, this work is a kind of fantasy-march, as well as a tribute to the United States Marine Band. Full of energy and drama, the composition has its solemn moments and its lighter moments (for example, the quasi-waltz in the middle of the piece). The composer intends that this work should display the fervor and virtuosity of the Marine Band and the musical spirit and integrity of its conductor, Colonel John R. Bourgeois, for whom the initial tempo marking, "Tempo di Bourgeois," is named. Colonel John Bourgeois is a dramatic, spirited conductor, who reflects the excitement of the music being played. When a tempo is supposed to be "bright" he makes sure it is exactly that. Because the tempo of Esprit de Corps is to be very bright, the marking just had to be "Tempo di Bourgeois!"

Robert Jager was born in Binghamton, New York in 1939 and received his education at The University of Michigan. For four years, he served as the Staff Arranger at the Armed Forces School of Music while a member of the United States Navy. Currently, he is Professor of Music and Director of Theory and Composition at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. Jager has over 65 published compositions for band, orchestra and various chamber groupings, with more than thirty-five commissions including the United States Marine Band and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. He has won a number of awards for his music, being the only three-time winner of the American Bandmasters Association's ``Ostwald Award.'' In addition, he has won the ``Roth Award'' twice (National School Orchestra Association); received Kappa Kappa Psi's ``Distinguished Service to Music Medal'' in the area of composition in 1973; and won the 1975 ``Friends of Harvey Gaul'' bicentennial competition. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Kappa Psi, the American Bandmasters Association, and ASCAP. He is an active composer, conductor, and lecturer throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe, and Japan.

Blue Shades by Frank Ticheli

This composition reflects Frank Ticheli’s love for the traditional jazz music that he heard so often while growing up near new Orleans. Blue Shades was his opportunity to express his own musical style in this medium. He provides the following description of the work:

As its title suggests, the work alludes to the Blues, and a jazz feeling is prevalent — however, it is in not literally a Blues piece. There is not a single 12-bar blues progression to be found, and except for a few isolated sections, the eighth-note is not swung.

The work, however, is heavily influenced by the Blues: “Blue notes” (flatted 3rds, 5ths, and 7ths) are used constantly; Blues harmonies, rhythms, and melodic idioms pervade the work; and many “shades of blue” are depicted, from bright blue, to dark, to dirty, to hot blue.

At times, Blue Shades burlesques some of the clichés from the Big Band era, not as a mockery of those conventions, but as a tribute. A slow and quiet middle section recalls the atmosphere of a dark, smoky blues haunt. An extended clarinet solo played near the end recalls Benny Goodman’s hot playing style, and ushers in a series of “wailing” brass chords recalling the train whistle effects commonly used during that era.

Frank Ticheli was born in 1958 in Monroe, Louisiana. He received his Bachelor of Music in Composition from Southern Methodist College and the Masters Degrees in Composition and Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. He is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Southern California and is the Composer-in-Residence of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. He has composed works for band, wind ensemble, orchestra, chamber ensembles, and the theatre. His music has garnered many prestigious awards including the Goddard Lieberson fellowship and Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy and Institute of arts and letters; the 1989 Walter Beeler memorial Composition Prize; the Ross Lee Finney Award; and first prize in the 11th annual Symposium for New Band Music in Virginia. The “New York Times” has described his music as “lean and muscular and above all, active, in motion.”

Serenade for Band by Vincent Persichetti

This is a work in five movements that reflects the moods of a summer evening, possibly at the bandshell in the park. Beginning with the Pastoral, the easy mood of the country atmosphere is introduced. The Humoreske injects a bit of levity into the scene. The beauty of the night is expressed in the graceful and expressive Nocturne. The Intermezzo plays its role as the transition piece into the Capriccio. This spirited movement reflects the joy of the moment. The main theme is often diverted in its path as youthful exuberance demands its voice. The Serenade for Band (Op. 85) was the first of two commissions  to Vincent Persichetti from the Ithaca (NY) High School Band under the directorship of Frank Battisti. The first performance was on April 19th, 1961, by that band under the direction of the composer. It was the eleventh in a series of “night music” suites for miscellaneous instrumental groupings: No. 1 for Ten Wind Instruments, No. 2 for Piano, No. 3 for Violin, Cello and Piano, No. 4 for Violin and Piano, No. 5 for Orchestra, No. 6 for Trombone, Viola and Cello, No. 7 for Piano, No. 8 for Piano, Four hands, No. 9 for Soprano and Alto Recorders, No. 10 for Flute and Harp, No. 11 for Band, No. 12 for Solo Tuba and No. 13 for Two Clarinets.

Philadelphia-born Vincent Persichetti (1915 - 1987) established himself as a leading figure in contemporary music. He was a virtuoso keyboard performer, scholar, author, and energetic teacher. To his credit are more than eighty compositions, including major works in almost every genre. Dr. Persichetti was graduated from Combs College, Philadelphia Conservatory, and Curtis Institute. He was head of the composition department of the Philadelphia Conservatory (1942-62) and joined the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in 1947. The influence of his musical mind is widely felt, thanks to his expert teaching and his book on harmonic practices of this century.

Suite from the Ballet "Pineapple Poll" by Arthur Sullivan/Macarras, Arr.

The ballet “Pineapple Poll” is a spoof of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In 1950, the copyright on Sullivan’s music expired. One of the first to exploit this opportunity was Sadler’s Wells, who staged the ballet set exclusively to music by Sullivan, arranged by a young Charles Mackerras. During the war, Mackerras had played oboe in the pit of a Sydney theater, where they produced all of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas except for Utopia and Grand Duke, the only two not represented in the ballet. Every bar of music, even the short bridge passages, is taken from some opera. The plot is based upon “The Bumboat Woman's Story” of Gilbert's “Bab Ballards”, which was later developed by Gilbert into “H.M.S. Pinafore”. The story evolves around Pineapple Poll and her colleagues, who are all madly in love with the captain of the good ship H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun. In order to gain admittance to the ship, they disguise themselves in sailors' clothes, a fact which is kept secret from the audience until near the end of the ballet.

Arthur Sullivan (1842 - 1900) was the son of a military band clarinetist who was the first professor of clarinet when the Royal Military School of Music opened in England at Sandhurst in 1957. Sullivan's light operas, written to William Gilbert's libretti over about twenty-five years from 1871, delighted the public and made a fortune for both men and their impresario D'Oyly Carte.

Sir Charles Mackerras was born in the United States of Australian parents in 1925. He studied in Sydney and Prague and made his debut in opera at Sadler’s Wells. From 1966 to 1969, he was First Conductor with the Hamburg State Opera. From 1970 to 1977, he was the Musical Director of Sadler’s Wells in London. Mackerras is a specialist in the Czech repertoire, notably Janácek, and has recorded a cycle of his operas with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Sarabande and Polka by Malcolm Arnold

These two short movements are taken from Malcolm Arnold’s charming ballet called “Solitaire”. Originally scored for a small chamber ensemble of orchestral instruments, the pieces are also available in piano solo form. This arrangement for band captures their light and entertaining nature. The Sarabande reflects a slow Spanish dance in triple time. It is full of the warmth and sunshine of the region. The Polka, on the other hand, reflects Arnold’s freedom of spirit in a frivolous parody of this dance style.

Malcolm Arnold (b. 1921) has created for himself a significant and somewhat unique position in contemporary British music. At a time when much new music is foreboding or despairing, his optimistic outlook and high spirits are the more welcome. He was born in Northampton, a town with considerable musical tradition. He studied at the Royal College of Music, where he would later return as an instructor. His list of works includes nine symphonies, twenty concertos, much chamber music, five ballets, and music for several films; he received an Oscar for his music for the 1958 film, Bridge on the River Kwai. His suites of English, Scottish, and Cornish dances are hallmarks of his repertoire. He served many years as principal trumpet player in the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Of Sailors and Whales by W. Francis McBeth

Of Sailors and Whales is a five-movement work based on five scenes from Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." It was commissioned by and is dedicated to the California Band Directors Association, Inc., and was premiered in February 1990 by the California All-State Band, conducted by the composer. The work is subdedicated to Robert Lanon White, Commander USN (Ret.), who went to sea as a simple sailor.

I. Ishmael - "I go to sea as a simple sailor"

II. Queequeg - "It was quite plain that he must be some abominable savage, but Queequeg was a creature in the transitory state - neither caterpillar nor butterfly."

III. Father Mapple - "This ended, in prolonged solemn tones, like the continual tolling of a bell in a ship that is foundering at sea in a fog - in such tones he commenced reading the following hymn; but changing his manner towards the concluding stanzas, burst forth with a pealing exultation and joy."

The ribs and terrors in the whale
Arched over me a dismal gloom
While all God's sunlit waves rolled by,
And lift me lower down to doom.

In black distress I called my God
when I could scarce believe Him mine,
He bowed His ear to my complaint,
no more the whale did me confine.

My songs forever shall record,
That terrible, that joyful hour,
I give the glory to my God,
His all the mercy and the power.

IV. Ahab - "So powerfully did the whole grim aspect of Ahab affect me that for the first few moments I hardly noted the barbaric white leg upon which he partly stood."

V. The White Whale - "Moby Dick seemed combinedly possessed by all the angels that fell from heaven. The birds! - the birds! They mark the spot."

Dr. Francis McBeth, born March 1933 in Lubbock, Texas, is Professor of Music and Resident Composer at Ouachita University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. As the Conductor Emeritus of the Arkansas Symphony and composer for all media, his intense interest in the wind symphony has been a shaping force in its literature and his style is much reflected in the younger composers. Residing in Arkansas the past thirty years, he was appointed Composer Laureate of that state by Governor Bob C. Riley in 1975.
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