Carmina Burana
El Relicario
Done in the paso doble form, which was a Spanish dance very popular in the 1920s, this work is a kind of one-step -- even though paso doble actually means "two-step" -- usually set in 6/8 meter, but also sometime, as here, in triple measure.
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.
Bagatelles For Band
The four movements of this work vary in tempo, but they fit one definition of a bagatelle as a short literary or musical piece in a light style. The composer would not have agreed with another definition that called it an unimportant or insignificant thing; a trifle. In a 1963 interview, when asked why many of his band pieces were so short, Persichetti replied:
Length has nothing to do with quality. I feel that each movement of the Bagatelles, for example, is as carefully a worked out musical idea as is a movement from one of my symphonies, and it stands as high in my esteem. I certainly will not add padding to a movement in order to prove its performance.
Bagatelles for Band (Op. 87) was commissioned by Dartmouth College and premiered in May 1961. Persichetti had commented that he did not accept commissions unless he had ideas at the time for that ensemble. He said, “If I hear an idea, I don’t just hear a tune or a harmony; I hear it in a medium.”
Chorale Prelude: Turn Not Thy Face
This work was commissioned and first performed in 1967 by the Ithaca High School Band, under the leadership of Frank Battisti, in memory of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The chorale prelude was an organ form popular in Bach's day. Persichetti, a church organist like Bach, served in the Arch Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia for nearly 20 years after his appointment at the age of 16. Based on a tune of his own, which appears in his Hymns and Responses for the Church Year, this chorale prelude begins in a calm and reflective manner. It builds with tension and it becomes plaintive about the life and circumstances to which it is dedicated. Finally, the melody resolves into a repose, reminiscent of the feeling of hearing Taps played from a distant knoll.
Divertimento for Band
Each of the six movements of the Divertimento covers completely different moods and styles. The work has a beautiful balance from the agitated woodwind figures and aggressive brass polychords in the first and last movements to the delicate and lyrical inner movements. This compendium of styles is rare for a single work. It has been said that Persichetti's use of instruments makes the reeds the movers, the brass the pointers, and the percussion the connectors and high-lighters. The Prologue is driving and electric, while the Song demonstrates Persichetti's lyricism as he weaves two simple and attractive melodies together. The music does Dance in the third movement as it is tossed about by the woodwinds around a trumpet solo passage. The "pesante" opening of the Burlesque suddenly changes to "brightly" with no change in the tempo, but a complete change in the texture. The beauty of the Soliloquy belongs to the solo cornet. The percussion entrance of the March returns the pace to that of the original opening as the brass and woodwind choirs work over the punctuation and timbre of the percussion section.
Pageant
Vincent Persichetti composed Pageant in 1953, as something of a sequel to his Psalm written the previous year. Edwin Franko Goldman was responsible for its commissioning from the American Bandmasters Association. A solo French horn begins with a three note motive that becomes the basis for the entire work. A clarinet choir develops the theme as other instruments are introduced to exploit their tonal colors. The tempo becomes faster for the second section, as the brass and woodwinds take turns with the theme. Pageant is an accessible, warmly exuberant work whose simple directness conceals a formal sophistication that lends the music strength and durability.
Psalm for Band
Psalm for Band was commissioned by the Pi Kappa Omicron music
fraternity at the University of Louisville and premiered on May 2,
1952. It was Persichetti’s second composition for band,
following his Divertimento written in 1950. The composer provided the
following program note:
Psalm for Band is a piece constructed from a single germinating harmonic idea. There are three distinct sections — a sustained chordal mood, a forward moving chorale, followed by a Paean culmination of the materials. Extensive use is made of separate choirs of instruments supported by thematic rhythms in the tenor and bass drums.
Serenade for Band
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.
Unlike his other band marches, Prokofiev wrote this one for concert presentation. This concert march was written in 1943, when he was a dominant force in Soviet music, having rehabilitated himself from being branded "an enemy of the people" as a result of Stalin's characterization of Prokofiev's music as being "degenerate". Opening with a strong allegro pulse that carries the composition, the main theme is introduced by the solo trumpet. Woodwind runs add to the excitement, before a mellow French horn and euphonium phrase is introduced. The clarinets and brass reenter and their themes intertwine to the rousing finale.
Peter and The Wolf
With the Russian title of "How little Peter fooled the Wolf'', this piece came out of a collaboration with Natalia Satz, director of the Moscow Children's Musical Theater. Prokofiev had been inspired by the childrens' reaction to the first concert performed there -- Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and part of the Second Symphony. A story was devised involving animals, each personified by a different instrument of the orchestra. A text was prepared by a poet-friend of Satz, but it was summarily rejected by Prokofiev as being having too many rhymes. He wrote the new text and a piano score in four days and had the full score finished a week later. Within three months, the first performance was given at the Children's Theater on May 6, 1936. The story is told by a narrator of a little boy, Peter, his Grandfather, and the animals of the forest, including the fierce Russian wolf. Despite Peter's disobedience, all's well that ends well. If there is a moral to the story, it is that you shouldn't be afraid to challenge established beliefs (Grandfather's caution) or to take risks. Subtly, it is encouraging children to rely on their wits and to not be held back by the inertia of their elders. If Peter had not ventured outside the safety of the cottage's walls, the wolf would never have been caught.