Emotional Response To Music.

[AwayWeGo]

Glorious Sounds Of Christmas -- December 19, 2011 -- Vienna VA

Click here for information about this year's Glorious Sounds Of Christmas presentation, featuring the Cathedral Brass of Vienna VA.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

The Program Is Still ON But Tonight's Rehearsal Is OFF.

Glorious Sounds Of Christmas -- December 19, 2011 -- Vienna VA

Snow up to the windowsills with ice up to the hubcaps has caused cancellation of tonight's Cathedral Brass rehearsal.

Plan B is a final rehearsal early Sunday, before the scheduled 4PM early performance. (Late performance starts 7PM Sunday.)

Full Disclosure: It's really only 2-3 inches of snow (so far), but that's enough to cause plenty of early school closures plus a number of activity cancellations -- & the snow is still coming down. So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

All Over But The Shouting For 2010.

Last Saturday evening's Fairfax Band concert, with host singer-songwriter John Lyon & the Fairfax Choral Society, played to a capacity crowd & was a big success. Santa Clause even put in an appearance & joining in with the audience & chorus for The Ultimate Christmas Sing Along.

All the pews were full Sunday's afternoon & evening presentations of The Glorious Sounds Of Christmas featuring The Cathedral Brass (of Vienna VA). Both performances were uplifting & moving -- specially the numbers played on handbells by The Friendship Chimes, an ensemble of adults & teens with physical & mental disabilities, whose appearance was just about the most uplifting & moving of all.

All that's left now is a private club performance tomorrow evening in Manassas VA by the Legacy Brass of Northern Virginia -- the same group that put on the Jazzier Christmas recital on December 5, 2010.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Movie Mania Concert Coming Up February 26, 2011, In Fairfax VA.

Movie Mania is the theme of the next City Of Fairfax Band concert coming up February 26, 2011, at the auditorium of Woodson High School in Fairfax VA. (NOTE: This is a change of venue. Most Fairfax Band concerts are at Fairfax High School, just a few miles away.) The show starts at 8PM. Tickets are on sale now.

Featured at the concert will be memorable Hollywood movie music . . .

Adventures On Earth (John Williams, 1932 - ). John Williams studied composition at UCLA and later attended Juilliard. In 1956, he started working as a recording pianist in film and TV, including the groundbreaking 1958 Peter Gunn soundtrack sessions with Henry Mancini. (He was listed as “Johnny T. Williams” on the album credits.) Williams followed in Mancini's footsteps, becoming composer and music director for over 70 Hollywood films, including Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Memoirs of a Geisha, and more. Williams has received two Emmys, five Oscars, and 17 Grammy Awards, plus several gold and platinum records. From 1980 to 1993, Williams was conductor of the Boston Pops. He has written many concert pieces and is also known for the Olympic themes and fanfares he wrote for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 games. In 1982 Stephen Spielberg charmed America and the world with his movie about a friendly extra-terrestrial being stranded on planet Earth. After some exciting adventures with the children who discover him, and several narrow escapes from the authorities, E.T reunites with his spaceship so he can return home. Original soundtrack music by John Williams helped make E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial a special and spectacularly successful movie. Paul Lavender has arranged for symphonic band a concert piece, titled Adventures On Earth, fashioned from the film music for E.T., composed by John Williams.

-- oOo --​

The Red Pony - Film Suite For Band (Aaron Copland, 1900-1990). Copland wrote the music for the 1949 film The Red Pony during a 10-week period in 1948 on the film studio lot in the San Fernando Valley of California. An orchestral suite was completed that same year, commissioned by Efrem Kurtz of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Four of the original movements were transcribed for performance by the U.S. Navy Band in 1968. The film is based on John Steinbeck's story about a 10-year old-boy, Jody (renamed Tom Tiflin in the movie) growing up on a California ranch. Steinbeck drew on his own experiences growing up in California's Salinas Valley near King City, and a pony he had once cared for. The story derives its warmth and sensitive quality from the character studies of the boy, his parents, his grandfather, and cowhand Billy Buck. The narrative is filled with the emotions of daily living, from the joy of a boy receiving a pony of his very own to the bitter reality of death and dying. Dream March and Circus Music depict two of Tom Tiflin's daydreams -- Tom at the head of an army of knights in silvery armor, and Tom as the whip-cracking ringmaster of the circus. The Walk to the Bunkhouse shows Tom's admiration for Billy Buck's talents, especially his ability with horses. Grandfather's Story tells of how Tom's grandpa led the wagon train “clear across the plains to the coast.” But Grandpa's bitterness that the “Westerning has died out of the people” can't stay hidden from Tom. The suite's last movement suggests the open air quality of country living as it mounts to the climax of a Happy Ending. (Program note adapted from the Foothill Symphonic Winds, Los Altos Hills, California, www.windband.org/foothill )

-- oOo --​

Selections From Disney/Pixar's “Up” (Michael Giacchino, 1967 - ). Michael Giacchino was educated at Julliard in music and film production. His first major composition was for DreamWorks Studios for the video game adaptation of the 1997 movie Jurassic Park, The Lost World. That was the first PlayStation and Sega Saturn video game to be recorded with an original live orchestral score. Giacchino has since continued his relationship with DreamWorks, providing full orchestral scores for many of their popular videogames. Since then he has gone on to work for Disney Pictures and Pixar Films, writing original soundtrack music for the 2004 computer-animated super hero film titled The Incredibles. Continuing with Disney/Pixar, he wrote the soundtrack score for the 2009 computer-animated comedy-adventure film Up, the story of an elderly widower and an earnest young wilderness explorer who fly to South America in an airborne house suspended by helium balloons. Up won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and for the Best Original Score (by Michael Giacchino). Musical elections from the movie were arranged for concert band by Michael Brown.

-- oOo --​

Chicken Run – Main Titles (John Powell, 1963 - , & Harry Gregson-Williams, 1961 - ). Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion claymation film made by the Oscar-winning Aardman Animations studios. Set in Yorkshire, England, in 1959, the story revolves around a flock of farm chickens who see a smooth-talking Rhode Island Red rooster named Rocky as their only hope for escape when the farm owners decide to quit selling eggs and start selling chicken pot pies. The style of the chicken enclosure and the daily routine at the henhouse can be seen as a spoof of WW2 prisoner of war movies like The Great Escape. British composer John Powell moved to the USA in 1997 and in 1998 scored his first major film, Antz, the first film produced by Dreamworks Animation, which he co-scored with fellow British composer Harry Gregson-Williams. Two years later they collaborated again in composing the score to Chicken Run, and also the following year on Shrek. In addition to his collaborations with John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams scored The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well as the second installment in the series, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Chicken Run – Main Titles was arranged for concert band by Paul Murtha.

-- oOo --​

Soundtrack Highlights from Disney's Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Alan Menken, 1949 - ). Victor Hugo's 1831 gothic novel takes place in France in 1482, the day of the Festival Of Fools in Paris. Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre Dame Cathedral, is crowned Pope of Fools. Esmeralda, a beautiful Gypsy with a kind and generous heart, captures the hearts of many, including Captain Phoebus, but especially Quasimodo and his adopted father, Archdeacon Claude Frollo, who is torn between lust for Esmeralda and the rules of the church. He orders Quasimodo to kidnap Esmeralda, but the hunchback is suddenly captured by Phoebus and his guards, who save Esmeralda. Quasimodo is sentenced to be whipped. Esmeralda, seeing that Quasimodo suffers from thirst, offers him water. That act of kindness saves her, for in it she captures Quasimodo's heart. Esmeralda is later charged with the attempted murder of Phoebus, whom Frollo actually attempted to kill in jealousy, and she is sentenced to hang. As she is being led to the gallows, Quasimodo swings down by the bell rope of Notre Dame and carries her off to sanctuary in the cathedral. Clopin, known as King Of The Criminals, rallies the criminals of Paris to charge the cathedral and rescue Esmeralda. King Louis XI, seeing the chaos, cancels the law of sanctuary and commands his troops to kill Esmeralda. When Quasimodo sees the criminals, he assumes they are there to hurt Esmeralda, so he drives them off. Frollo betrays Esmeralda by handing her to the troops and watches while she is hanged. Quasimodo pushes him from the heights of Notre Dame to his death. Quasimodo then crawls off to Esmeralda's tomb with his arms around her body and eventually dies of starvation. Two years later, Esmeralda's skeleton is found with a broken neck, locked in embrace with Quasimodo's bones. When people try to pull them apart, Quasimodo's bones turn to dust. The Disney version (1996) takes major G-rated liberties with the original. In Disney's animated feature, as Frollo prepares to burn Esmeralda at the stake in front of a rioting crowd, Quasimodo, chained to the bell-tower, feels hopeless to save her. Frollo offers Esmeralda her freedom in exchange for her love. She refuses, and the execution commences. Seeing this, Quasimodo becomes enraged and breaks free. He swings down and rescues Esmeralda, taking her back to the cathedral and angrily declaring sanctuary for her. Frollo, however, breaks into the cathedral just as the prisoners begin to break free in revolt with the citizenry. Upstairs, Frollo finds Quasimodo crying over Esmeralda, who is apparently dead. Frollo, attempting to stab Quasimodo is overpowered by Quasimodo instead. Just as Quasimodo prepares to kill Frollo, Esmeralda awakens. Quasimodo runs off with her onto the cathedral's balconies, with Frollo pursuing, sword in hand. As Quasimodo and Frollo struggle, they fall from the tower. Frollo falls to his death. Quasimodo is caught in mid-air by Phoebus and the two of them reunite with Esmeralda. Quasimodo comes to accept that Esmeralda and Phoebus love each other. With Esmeralda's help, he reluctantly emerges from isolation in the cathedral, and is finally accepted into society. Alan Menken's score for the film was nominated for an Academy Award. Calvin Custer's concert band arrangement of the soundtrack highlights features the songs “The Bells Of Notre Dame,” “Out There,” “Topsy Turvy,” “God Help The Outcasts,” and “Hellfire.”

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Avatar Soundtrack Highlights (James Horner, 1953 - ). Composer James Horner and director James Cameron collaborated on the two highest-grossing motion pictures of all time – Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009). Avatar broke several box office records during its release and became the highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. and Canada, also worldwide, surpassing Titanic, which had held those records for the previous 12 years. Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Score. (The film won three Oscars, but not in those categories. So it goes.) Soundtrack highlights arranged for concert band by Jay Bocock feature “The Destruction Of 'Hometree,'” “The Bioluminescence Of The Night,” and “War.”

-- oOo --​

Music from Catch Me If You Can (John Williams, 1932 - ). An FBI agent tracks down and catches a young con artist who successfully impersonated an airline pilot, a doctor, an assistant attorney general, and a history professor, cashing more than $2.5 million in fraudulent checks in 26 countries. That (true) story line is the raw material for Steven Spielberg's 2002 hit crime movie, Catch Me If You Can, with screenplay by Jeff Nathanson. When his parents file for divorce and he has to chose between them for custody, Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) runs away from home. He begins to con his way around, getting better and better at it with each ruse. Posing as a pilot, a lawyer, and a doctor, he gets his money by cashing forged checks. As the numbers go up, FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) starts tracking Frank in a game of cat and mouse. John Williams's original score for Catch Me If You Can was nominated for an Academy Award. Music from the film was arranged for concert band by Jay Bocock.

-- oOo --​

Film Music from Titanic (James Horner, 1953 - ). James Horner was born in the USA (Los Angeles) but was in Britain as a child, studying at the Royal College of Music. Back in California, he received a bachelor's degree in music from USC and a master's from UCLA. Horner's first major movie score was for the 1979 film, The Lady in Red. His work steadily gained notice in Hollywood, leading to larger projects. Horner's breakthrough was in 1982, when he scored Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which established him as a mainstream Hollywood composer. Through the 1980s, he scored 48 Hours (1982), Krull (1983), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Commando (1985), Cocoon (1985), Aliens (1986), Willow (1988), Glory (1989), and Field Of Dreams (1989). Horner's greatest financial and commercial success came in 1997 with the film score for Titanic. The album became the best-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack in history, selling over 27 million copies worldwide. The movie won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. James Horner took home two Oscars – for Best Original Dramatic Score, and for Best Original Song for “My Heart Will Go On” (with Will Jennings, who wrote the lyrics). The concert band arrangement by Calvin Custer features “Southampton,” “Take Her To Sea, Mr. Murdock,” “Hard To Starboard,” and “My Heart Will Go On.”

-- xXx --​

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[sparkmanmendy]

i still remember when the star spangled banner use to play...my eyes use to get watery during our college days...its very emotional thing for me...my dad was in US army

 

[AwayWeGo]

The National Anthem.

i still remember when the star spangled banner use to play...my eyes use to get watery during our college days...its very emotional thing for me...my dad was in US army

Click here for an electrifying rendition of The Star Spangled Banner.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

The Sounds Of Springtime.

Cathedral Brass Concert
Sunday, April 3, 2011 - 7:00 PM - in the church sanctuary
Vienna Presbyterian Church - 124 Park Street NE - Vienna VA 22180
Brass ensemble with percussion & organ
Special appearance by Danielle Talamantes


-- hotlinked --​

Program selections . . .

Fanfare Canzonique
A Mighty Fortress
What Birds See
The Binding
Canzona Bergamasca (for brass quintet)
Little Suite For Brass.
Auf dem strom (for horn, piano, voice)
Pines Of The Appian Way
The Fire Of Eternal Glory​

The performance is free -- no tickets required. (But I expect they'll pass a free-will offering plate at halftime. So it goes.)

If you attend the concert, be sure to come up after the final number & say Hi.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Spotlight On Virginians -- Saturday - April 16, 2011 - 8PM

This year's Spotlight on the Arts concert by the City Of Fairfax Band shines on Virginia talent, including saxophonist Ainsley Kilgo, winner of the 2011 Young Artist Competition, and the contributions of Virginia composers. The evening showcases the premiere performance of And the Grass Sings in the Meadows, a new work commissioned by the City Of Fairfax Band composed by Travis Cross, Director of the Virginia Tech Wind Ensemble. The concert features a reprise performance of Mark Camphouse's Foundation, commissioned and premiered by the the City Of Fairfax Band in 2006. A "Meet the Composers" panel discussion precedes the concert at 7PM.

Click here for the concert flyer.

Some information about the concert selections . . .

1607 – The Dream Comes Alive (James L. Hosay, 1959 - ). James L. Hosay was born in Nashville, Tennessee, but spent most of his life (so far) in Virginia. He grew up in Norfolk. He began arranging music for his school band at age 13. He composed his first original piece 2 years later. After high school he joined the U.S. Army as a bandsman and trumpet player, graduating from the U.S. Armed Forces School of Music. After 3 years of musical performance, he started as a music copyist with the United States Army Band (“Pershing’s Own”), Washington, D.C. That assignment gave him the opportunity to build composition & orchestration skills by studying the techniques of top arrangers -- work that paid off, as in 1981 he won the position of staff arranger with the Army Band. His did special musical arrangements for well known recording artists, including Patti Labelle, Amy Grant, Reba McIntire, & Lee Greenwood. His music was performed for U.S. & foreign dignitaries, heads of state, & the President Of The United States. Now retired from the U.S. Army, James Hosay once again resides in his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, writing music for concert, symphonic, brass, & military bands at all levels. 1607 – The Dream Comes Alive was commissioned by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (JoAnn Falletta, Music Director) to open their 2006-2007 concert season & launch America's Birthday Festival, celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, the 1st English settlement in North America. 1607 – The Dream Comes Alive, a fanfare prelude, was transcribed for symphonic band by the composer. The Jamestown Festival events also prominently featured performances by the Alte Kameraden German Band, an ensemble of the City of Fairfax Band. The Alte Kameraden performed at Anniversary Park's Democracy Stage on May 12, 2007, as part of a program commemorating America's 1st Germanic settlers. The program included 4 selections that had been heard 100 years earlier at the 1907 Jamestown Exposition (Norfolk World's Fair). The Alte Kameraden also performed at the dedication of a historical monument commemorating the First Germans In America.

-- oOo --​

A Jubilant Overture (Alfred Reed, 1921-2005). Alfred Reed was born in New York City. He started musical training at age 10, on trumpet. In his teens, he played in hotel combos in the Catskills. In 1938, he started work in the Radio Workshop, New York, as a staff composer/arranger & assistant conductor. With the outbreak of WW2, he joined the 529th Army Air Corps Band. During 3½ years in uniform, he wrote close to 100 band compositions & arrangements. Upon discharge, Reed enrolled at Juilliard, where he studied composition with Vittorio Giannini. In 1953, Reed enrolled at Baylor University, serving as Symphony Orchestra conductor while earning the Bachelor of Music degree (1955) & Master's degree (1956). His interest in educational music led him to Hansen Publishing, where he was executive editor (1955-1966). He left that position to become professor of music at the University of Miami, where he served until retiring in 1993. After that, he continued composing & made many guest conductor appearances around the world, notably in Japan. Here is a clue in the composer’s own words to the exciting, joyful, & exuberantly youthful character of Reed’s Jubilant Overture: “There are many technical matters that the writer of music concerns himself with in order for the listener to follow the composer’s ideas without difficulty, and so following, grasp and understand them so that the listener can respond to them in a way that all creative artists hope the majority of those experiencing their works will respond: gladly, joyously, and with uplifting of the human spirit. This comes from the sharing of thoughts and ideas through the medium of words, tones, of pictures that constitutes what we call a work of art.” (Alfred Reed “On Composing,” The Instrumentalist magazine, June 1990.)

-- oOo --​

And the Grass Sings in the Meadows (Travis J. Cross, 1977- ). When the City of Fairfax Band obtained grant support to commission a promising young Virginia composer to write an original work for concert band, attention quickly turned to the conductor of Virginia Tech's Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Travis J. Cross, whose musicianship is well known to members of Fairfax Band's board of directors. Travis Cross is an assistant professor of music who teaches courses in conducting in addition to his own conducting responsibilities. He completed doctoral coursework at Northwestern University, Evanston IL, where he studied with Mallory Thompson. He previously earned the Bachelor of Music degree cum laude in vocal & instrumental music education from St. Olaf College, Northfield MN, & the Master of Music degree in conducting from Northwestern. His original works & arrangements for band, choir, & orchestra are published by Boosey & Hawkes, Daehn Publications, & Theodore Music. And the Grass Sings in the Meadows, being premiered at tonight's performance, evokes the musical moods of springtime, as reflected poetically in the closing stanza of the Spring Carol by Scottish poet Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894).

So when the earth is alive with gods,
And the lusty ploughman breaks the sod,
And the grass sings in the meadows,
And the flowers smile in the shadows,
Sits my heart at ease,
Hearing the song of the leas,
Singing the songs of the meadows.

-- oOo --​

Concerto For Saxophone (Paul Creston, 1906 - 1985). Paul Creston was born in New York City to Italian parents. Self-taught except for some early piano & organ lessons, Creston studied theory, composition, literature, & philosophy while working to support himself & his poor immigrant family. Fiercely independent by nature, Creston developed his own style free of any particular school of thought or any 1 teacher’s influence, viewing Bach, Scarlatti, Chopin, Debussy, & Ravel as his greatest “teachers.” Creston made rhythm the foundation of his work, often emphasizing shifting subdivisions of regular meters. He wrote in various musical genres including 5 symphonies, concertos for violin, piano, saxophone, trombone, & marimba, several dance works & songs, plus choral, chamber, & instrumental pieces. Creston’s awards & honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship & the New York Music Critics’ Circle Award. He is the author of Principles Of Rhythm and Rational Metric Notation as well as articles analyzing 400 years of rhythmic practice.

-- oOo --​

Foundation (Mark Camphouse, 1954 - ). Composer-conductor Mark Camphouse was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1954 & received his formal musical training (B.M., M.M.) at Northwestern University. He began composing at an early age, with the Colorado Philharmonic premiering his First Symphony when he was 17. His works for concert band have received widespread critical acclaim & are performed frequently throughout the United States & abroad. Engagements as a guest conductor, lecturer, & clinician have taken him to 36 states, Canada, & Europe. Mr. Camphouse is an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association & serves as conductor of the National Band Association’s Young Mentor Project. He is a full-time faculty member at George Mason University. Foundation (2006) is not only a significant addition to the concert band repertoire, but also a work of special importance to the City Of Fairfax Band. The piece was a commissioned as a memorial to the late Ray Abell, long-time Fairfax Band president. Ray Abell was an extremely important part of the band and the local community. His leadership was vital to the band’s continuity & to its continued record of success during the transitional period following the retirement of Dr. Thomas Hill as music director in 1993. Ray & his wife Sharyl Abell received official recognition from the City Of Fairfax for their many years of volunteer service to the community through their work with the City Of Fairfax Band. After Ray’s death in December 2002, a special Ray Abell Memorial Fund was created at the request of members of his family, who still participate actively in the band. Through private donations to the memorial fund & a grant from the Virginia Commission For The Arts, the City of Fairfax Band was able to commission this special new work for symphonic band in Ray’s memory. The piece was titled by the composer. As melodic material it draws on two of Ray Abell’s favorite hymn tunes: How Firm A Foundation and Be Still My Soul.

-- oOo --​

George Washington Bicentennial March (John Philip Sousa, 1854-1932). To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the 1st President Of The United States, a special United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission was established by Senate Joint Resolution 85 (approved December 2, 1924) to plan & carry out appropriate remembrances. For the gala Washington DC celebration set for February 22, 1932, Sousa wrote a commemorative march in 1930 at the Commission’s request to memorialize the Father Of Our Country. In 1 of Sousa's last public appearances, Sousa conducted the combined bands of the U.S. Army, Navy, & Marine Corps at the Washington Bicentennial gala celebration.

-- xXx --​

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[pablowest]

My response for that music is really emotional. I think that I cried when I heard that.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Cathedral Brass Ensemble Recording On Internet.

Fanfare Canzonique
A Mighty Fortress
What Birds See
The Binding
Canzona Bergamasca (for brass quintet)
Little Suite For Brass.
Auf dem strom (for horn, piano, voice)
Pines Of The Appian Way
The Fire Of Eternal Glory​

A recording of the April 3 Cathedral Brass concert is on the internet.

Click here, then select Cathedral Brass Concert (April 3, 2011).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

TUGger Musical Grandchildren On U-Tube

Click here for U-Tube video of my grandson Graham Cole (age 8) at his piano recital last Sunday, performing a piece that he composed himself.

Click here for a menu of U-Tube trumpet performances by Natalie Dungey, granddaughter of TUG-BBS friends ronandjoan. Natalie's playing is exceptional, not just for someone so young but for a trumpeter of any age.

Full Disclosure: We had the pleasure of meeting & visiting with Ron & Joan last January & the previous January in Orlando FL. It is great fun getting to meet personally with TUG-BBS friends we formerly only knew vicariously via internet. Is this a great web site or what?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

A recording of the April 3 Cathedral Brass concert is on the internet.

Click here, then select Cathedral Brass Concert (April 3, 2011).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

Alan - wondering if you ever played with Irwin Frankel, clarinetist with City of Fairfax Band. Just saw an obit for him, and thought that perhaps your paths might have crossed.

 

[AwayWeGo]

R.I.P. Irwin Frankel.

Alan - wondering if you ever played with Irwin Frankel, clarinetist with City of Fairfax Band. Just saw an obit for him, and thought that perhaps your paths might have crossed.

Irwin Frankel was a Fairfax Band friend from way, way back.

Irwin was our main man on clarinet for many years, & he remained in the 1st clarinet section after the torch passed to other principal players on clarinet, only reluctantly hanging up his horn when the ravages of dementia robbed him of the ability to keep on playing.

In the early years of Fairfax Band, Irwin also played in a woodwind quintet that was active for several years. (Others in that group were Debbie Overson on bass clarinet -- as a substitute for bassoon -- plus Sue Jaster on oboe, a smashing red-haired woman whose name eludes me on flute, & Uncle Alan on horn. That was a long time ago.)

Irwin Frankel was a jazz fan as well as a classical performer, & he headed a dixieland jazz band comprising players from the larger City Of Fairfax Band.

Irwin Frankel was a man of accomplishment, well liked throughout Fairfax Band. Not only that, he remembered Fairfax Band via a bequest in his will, loyally supporting the organization even after he passed on.

He was a good guy & we miss him.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Fairfax Band 2011-12 Season Opener -- "Tribute To The Greatest Generation."

Enjoy the musical sounds of a bygone era as the City Of Fairfax Band presents music in honor of those who fought defending our nation in World War II. Joining us in our production of the swing classics of the era will be vocalist and trombonist Eric Felten, and a female vocal trio, The Swing Set. Also on the program, Louis Saverino's March Of The Women Marines & Mark Camphouse's stirring Symphonic Prelude: The Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

8PM Saturday, October 22, 2011

Fairfax High School Auditorium
3501 Rebel Run
Fairfax VA 22030

Tickets are on sale now. Click here to order.​

Symphonic Prelude -- The Cemetery at Colleveille-Sur-Mer (Mark Camphouse, 1954 - ). Normandy American Cemetery in France sits on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach & the English Channel, 170 miles west of Paris. The 173-acre cemetery site contains the graves of 9,387 of America's military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the 1944 D-Day landings & ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those later recovered & identified. Program note by the composer: Symphonic Prelude (The Cemetery at Colleveille-Sur-Mer) was inspired by a visit to the Normandy region of France in June, 2005. I found the cemetery to be an overwhelmingly moving landmark to the American people & our heritage. It is immaculately maintained, & the seemingly endless rows of white crosses & Stars of David are a powerful reminder of the staggeringly high cost of freedom. This work was written to commemorate the 50th anniversary season of the Northshore Concert Band. It is my sincere hope that the qualities of beauty, dignity, & sacrifice which provided the inspiration for this work will help bring special significance to the Northshore Concert Band's 50th anniversary season theme of "honoring the past & embracing the future." Symphonic Prelude received its premiere performance by the Northshore Concert Band under the direction of Dr. Mallory Thompson on February 19, 2006, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Illinois.

-- oOo --​

Victory At Sea – Symphonic Scenario for Concert Band (Richard Rodgers, 1902-1979). Victory At Sea was an award-winning (Peabody & Emmy) NBC television documentary series telling the story of life & death during American naval warfare in all the oceanic theaters of action in the Second World War. Linking the authentic combat motion picture photography with the gripping narrative was original music composed by Richard Rodgers, orchestrated & arranged by Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981). The complete 1952-1953 television score was 13 hours long, covering all 26 half-hour Sunday afternoon programs. Musical themes heard in the series are featured in Robert Russell Bennett's transcription for concert band: “Song of the High Seas,” “The Pacific Boils Over,” “Guadalcanal March,” “D-Day,” “Hard Work & Horseplay,” “Theme of the Fast Carriers,” “Beneath the Southern Cross,” “Mare Nostrum,” and “Hymn of Victory.” According to Wikipedia Dot Org, Richard Rodgers's music for Victory At Sea consisted of several short piano compositions, each a minute or two long. Robert Russell Bennett not only arranged & transformed Rodgers's original themes for a variety of moods to complement the extensive filmed action, but also composed much more original material for the score. Even so, Bennett received production credit only for arranging the score & conducting the soundtrack recording sessions.

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March Of The Women Marines (Louis Saverino, 1915-2003). The official march of the U.S. Marine Corps Women's Reserve. Probably the most colorful of all the Women's Reserve units was the Marine Corps Women's Reserve Band formed in November 1943 by Captain William F. Santelmann & trained by members of the United States Marine Band (“The President's Own”). Prominent music schools & colleges were canvassed for candidates, & talented enlisted women were auditioned to find the requisite 43 musicians. Director of the band was Master Sergeant Charlotte Plummer, formerly director of the Portland, Oregon, public school system band & member of the city's municipal band. The Camp Lejeune-based Women Marines band gave concerts at Parris Island, Cherry Point, & Henderson Hall, & performed on national radio programs. It played at guard mounts, inspections, graduations, dances, & occasionally at the officers club. It may be best remembered for stirring performances at the weekly Saturday morning MCWR recruit depot reviews, marching to the rhythm of its own March Of The Women Marines, written especially for it by Louis Saverino of the U.S. Marine Band. Saverino was a conductor, arranger, & performer on tuba, contrabass, & bass clarinet. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 1938 & joined the U.S. Marine Band in 1939. In addition to writing the March Of The Women Marines, Louis Saverino arranged the current official version of Hail To The Chief. According to the website Dead Rock Stars Club Dot Com, after Saverino retired from the Marine Band in 1963, he played stand-up bass in jazz ensembles.

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The Homefront: Musical Memories Of World War II (arranged by James Christensen, 1935- ). Jim Christensen’s credits include stints as music director, composer, and arranger for Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers and guest conductor of the City Of Fairfax Band. His talent as a music arranger is on full display in his nostalgic musical return to hometown America during the World War II era, featuring famous popular tunes from that time, including “It’s Been a Long, Long Time,” “Thanks for the Memory,” “Bell Bottom Trousers,” “(There’ll be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me),” and “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.”

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In The Miller Mood (arranged by Warren Barker, 1923-2006). Glenn Miller’s recording of “Tuxedo Junction” sold 115,000 copies the 1st week it was out. Not only that, the 1st gold record ever awarded went to Glenn Miller (1904-1944) for his 1942 million-seller, “Chattanooga Choo-Choo.” When the U.S. entered World War II, Glenn Miller joined the Army Air Corps as a captain, later rising to the rank of major. He was too old for the draft, but volunteered for service anyway “to put a little more spring into the feet of our marching men & a little more joy into their hearts.” During the war, Miller’s band entertained more than a million G.I.s. On the night of December 15, 1944, Miller boarded a military flight to Paris to make arrangements for a Christmas broadcast to the troops. The plane took off in fog & was lost over the English Channel. Warren Barker’s Glenn Miller tribute, titled In the Miller Mood, evokes the distinctive Glenn Miller style & sound through a creative blend of jazz & swing, featuring “In the Mood,” “Moonlight Serenade,” “I’ve Got a Gal In Kalamazoo,” “Serenade in Blue,” “Little Brown Jug,” “At Last,” & the “Anvil Chorus.” In the Miller Mood was commissioned by & dedicated to the Coastal Communities Concert Band of San Diego County, California, Don Caneva, director.

-- xXx --​

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Just Like Old Times -- Fairfax Band Performance In the Style of a Sousa Concert.

Presidential Polonaise (John Philip Sousa, 1854-1932). Sousa was leader of the United States Marine Band from 1880 to 1892. The Marine Band is known as "The President's Own" because of its historic connection with the President of the United States, beginning New Year's Day 1801 when President John Adams invited the Marine Band to perform at the Executive Mansion. Later that year, Thomas Jefferson asked that the Marine Band perform at his inauguration, and ever since the Marine Band has played at all U.S. presidential inaugurations. As “The President's Own,” the Marine Band performs in approximately 50 events every year including state funerals, state arrival ceremonies, state dinners, parades, White House concerts, & other official social events. The Marine Band also goes on concert tour across the U.S. each October & November, a tradition that began in 1891 under the band's most famous director, John Philip Sousa. The Presidential Polonaise (1886) was written at the request of Chester Alan Arthur (1829-1886), who was elected vice president and served as president 1881-1885 following the assassination of President James Abram Garfield. Presidential Polonaise is a composition with a purpose: to keep visitors moving briskly through the White House receiving line. President Arthur left office & died before the piece was ever performed. (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

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Fairest of the Fair (John Philip Sousa, 1854-1932). John Philip Sousa was born in Washington DC in a section known at the time as the Navy Yard. As he put it, his home was “in the shadow of the Capitol dome.” He enlisted as an apprentice in the U.S. Marine Band at age 13 & ended up spending 19 years in military service. He had a passionate love of the USA & took every opportunity to let the world know. If someone asked him about his occupation, he typically answered, “I’m a salesman of Americanism.” His true colors shine through in his patriotic titles: “America First,” “Hail to the Spirit of Liberty,” “The Invincible Eagle,” “The Messiah of Nations,” “Liberty Bell” &, of course, the most famous of all Sousa compositions, “The Stars & Stripes Forever.” But not all Sousa compositions, including his marches, were patriotic & military-flavored. The March King also wrote what he considered concert marches, & he liked the ladies. Women were a favorite subject & "The Fairest of the Fair" fits into both categories -- a melodic concert march inspired by a woman. Sousa wrote “Fairest of the Fair” in 1908 for the Boston Food Fair, & it is claimed that the memory of a pretty girl he had seen at an earlier fair inspired the composition. “Fairest of the Fair” was popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Music publisher John Church Co. sold sheet music of “Fairest of the Fair” not only for bands & orchestras, but also in arrangements for piano (2 hands, 4 hands, even 6 hands), also (solo & duet) for zither, mandolin, banjo, violin, plus other instrumental combinations.

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The Rifle Regiment (John Philip Sousa, 1854-1932). Sousa composed “The Rifle Regiment” in 1886. It is one of many marches he sold outright to Harry Coleman, a Philadelphia publisher, for $35 a title. “The Rifle Regiment” is one of Sousa's finest regimental marches & contains unusual structural features, such as an extended introduction, which is repeated, and an intermezzo or break-strain ("dogfight") which is similarly lengthy & equally unique. The march is titled after The Third U.S. Infantry Regiment ("The Old Guard"), the oldest active unit of infantry in the U.S. Army, which originated as the First American Regiment in 1784. Today the Old Guard, headquartered at Ft. Meyer VA, is a major component of the Military District of Washington. It is the Army's premiere ceremonial unit, whose mission is to conduct memorial affairs to honor fallen comrades, and ceremonies & special events to represent the U.S. Army.

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Thunder & Lightning Polka
(Johann Strauss Jr., 1825-1899). Johann Strauss The Younger composed more than 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, & other dance pieces, plus several operettas & a ballet. Known as "The Waltz King,” he was largely responsible for the popularity of 19th century Viennese waltzes. But he also contributed to the growing popularity of the polka. The actual dance & accompanying music called "polka" got started in Bohemia about 1834. Within a year the dance appeared in the ballrooms of Prague. It got to Vienna by 1839 and reached Paris in 1840. The polka craze spread across all of Europe & even to America within a decade. Polka dancing remained dominantly popular until crowded out by jazz and the dance crazes of the Roaring Twenties. Even so, weekly polka dances are still held many parts of the U.S. In the Vienna of Johann Strauss The Younger, the concert polka was associated with stage spectacles that required special percussive effects -- including whip-cracks, & sometimes even pistol shots. Strauss’s Thunder & Lightning Polka, with lots of rolling timpani and crashing cymbals, is a prime example of the “explosion polka” or schnell (fast) polka. (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

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Air Varié (Arthur Pryor, 1870-1942), arr. Scott Shelsta. Arthur Pryor started young in music, playing valve trombone by age 11, moving on to slide trombone, & mastering that by age 15. He played in his his father's band, among others, joining the John Philip Sousa Band in 1892 & becoming Sousa's assistant conductor 1895-1903. Pryor played his 1st solo with the Sousa Band at age 22 during the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition. In 12 years with Sousa's Band, Pryor estimated that he performed as soloist about 10,000 times. Pryor later formed his own band, whose debut was at the Majestic Theatre, New York City, November 15, 1903. The Pryor Band played on tours until 1909, when Pryor & the band settled down in Asbury Park NJ. No longer touring, Pryor became a staff conductor & arranger for the Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden NJ, forerunner of RCA Victor. Arthur Pryor composed some of the most famous & most enduring solo trombone showpieces, including the Bluebells of Scotland, as well as novelty numbers for band like The Whistler & His Dog. Pryor wrote the Air Varié (based on the tune Annie Laurie) for solo trombone with piano. The concert band arrangement is by Scott Shelsta. (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

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Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White (Louis Guglielmi, 1916-1991). Gugliemi was a Spanish musician of Italian heritage who used the pseudonym Louiguy as composer. His best known piece is a 1950 Latin jazz number made famous with its English title "Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White," which became a monster hit for Cuban bandleader Pérez Prado in 1955. The smash record features a memorable solo turn by trumpeter Billy Regis. The record held the Hit Parade's top spot for 10 consecutive weeks. Lots of recording artists subsequently released their own versions -- Chet Atkins, Pat Boone, Xavier Cugat, Bing Crosby, Devo, Georgia Gibbs, Harry James, Liberace, Billy Vaughn, & Lawrence Welk among plenty more. Spike Jones even released a parody version under the pseudonym Davey Crackpot, featuring George Rock on trumpet. This big-band mambo has remained popular in all sorts of arrangements, including the solo trombone showpiece arranged by Scott Shelsta.

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Simón Bolívar (by Eric Cook), arr. Scott Shelsta. Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco, better known as Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), was a Venezuelan military & political leader whose key role in colonial South America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire made him one of the most influential figures in Latin American history -- hero, visionary, revolutionary, & liberator. During his lifetime, he led Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, & Bolivia to independence, & helped lay the foundations for democracy in much of Latin America. His heroic story inspired music by composer Eric Cook, whose Latin-flavored solo piece for trombone, titled Bolivar, arranged by Norman Richardson, was published in 1955 in London, as No. 57 in the Boosey & Hawkes Standard Military Band Journal. Eric Cook is not well known on the internet, even on trombone web sites. Only 4 items by Eric Cook are in the Boosey & Hawkes on-line catalog, & all 4 are versions of Bolivar (concert band score & parts, band score alone, solo trombone part alone, and a version of the piece for trombone & piano). According to the British brass band web site 4barsrest.com, a brass band version of Bolivar, arranged by Derek Ashmore, was performed by the Scottish Co-op Band (with Paul Kiernan as trombone soloist) in the 2005 Brass In Concert Championships at Gateshead, in northeastern England. Tonight trombone soloist Scott Shelsta plays his own arrangement of the piece, titled Simón Bolívar.

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen, 1905-1986). Judy Garland's signature song, originally titled simply “Over the Rainbow,” was written in 1939 for her starring role in The Wizard of Oz. The song won an academy award for composer Harold Arlen & lyricist Yip Harburg (1896-1981). “Over the Rainbow” was taken out of the film after a preview showing because the producer & the MGM studio chief thought the song "slowed down the picture" & that "the song sounds like something for Jeanette MacDonald, not for a little girl singing in a barnyard." Sustained efforts by the associate producer & by Judy Garland's vocal coach managed to keep the song in the picture. Scott Shelsta has arranged the song as a feature for solo trombone. (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

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Lassus Trombone and Shoutin' Liza Trombone (Henry Fillmore, 1881-1956). James Henry Fillmore Jr., the eldest of 5 children from Cincinnati, Ohio, learned piano, guitar, violin, & flute when he was very young. He also secretly learned to play the slide trombone, which he had to keep quiet because his conservatively devout father believed slide trombones to be uncouth & sinful. Fillmore began composing at 18, & entered the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in 1901. After that, he traveled through the USA as a circus bandmaster with his wife, an exotic dancer named Mabel May Jones. In the 1920s he went back to Cincinnati, directing the Shriners Temple Band, which he turned into 1 of the country's best marching bands. Fillmore wrote so much music that he resorted to various pseudonyms because he didn't think people would believe so many pieces came from just 1 composer. Fillmore was famous for his series of 15 novelty numbers for trombone in ragtime style featuring slide-glissando smears. His first 3 -- "Miss Trombone" (1908), "Teddy Trombone" (1911), & especially "Lassus Trombone" (1915) -- were such hits that Fillmore kept on writing more. The rest of the list is "Pahson Trombone" (1916), "Sally Trombone" (1917), "Slim Trombone" (1918), "Mose Trombone" (1919), "Shoutin' Liza Trombone" (1920),"Hot Trombone" (1921), "Bones Trombone" (1922), "Dusty Trombone" (1923), "Bull Trombone" (1924), "Lucky Trombone" (1926), "Boss Trombone" (1929), & "Ham Trombone" (1929). Soloist Scott Shelsta has done special arrangements of 2 of the best -- “Shoutin' Liza Trombone” & “Lassus Trombone” (for 5 trombone players). (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

-- xXx --​

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Just Like Old Times -- Fairfax Band Performance In the Style of a Sousa Concert.

The City Of Fairfax Band presents "Just Like Old Times," a re-creation of a turn-of-the-century concert in the style of John Philip Sousa's band. Trombonist Scott Shelsta appears as guest soloist in a program including works by Wagner, Mendelssohn, Pryor, Fillmore, Johann Strauss Jr., von Suppé . . . and, of course, Sousa !

Downbeat is 8PM Saturday, February 25, 2012.

Concert venue is Fairfax High School, 3501 Rebel Run, Fairfax VA 22030.

Tickets are on sale now via the Fairfax Band web site. ( Click here. )

Program:

Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Richard Wagner, 1813-1883). Wagner started writing opera at age 17, completing some and abandoning others until his first successful opera, Rienzi, was staged in 1842. Die Meistersinger was an immediate success after its 1st performance in Munich on June 21, 1868. The story takes place in the 16th century, when Imperial Free City Nuremberg was a center of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. The story revolves around the historic guild of Master Singers, an association of amateur poets & musicians, mostly from the middle class, many of whom were master craftsmen in their main (non-musical) professions. The Master Singers developed a craftsmanlike approach to their music-making, with an intricate system of rules for composing & performing songs. The opera draws much of its charm from its faithful depiction of the era, & of historical Nuremberg & the traditions of the Master Singers guild. (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

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Poet & Peasant Overture (Franz von Suppé, 1819-1895). Suppé was an Austrian composer of Italian & Belgian ancestry. His parents named him Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Cavaliere Suppé Demelli, a name that he simplified & Germanized in Vienna. (Outside German-speaking areas, his name appeared on some programs as Francesco Suppé-Demelli.) He started music lessons & began composing at an early age, with no encouragement from his father but with help from a local bandmaster & the cathedral choirmaster. At age 16, he began the study of law -- not his choice -- but he continued studying music too. Suppé was also a singer, making his debut in 1842 as a basso profundo in an opera. He composed about 30 operettas & 180 farces, ballets, & other stage works. Most of those have disappeared into obscurity, but the overtures -- particularly Poet & Peasant (1846) & Light Cavalry (1866) -- have lived on, not only on their own as band & orchestra “pops” concert pieces but also as soundtrack ingredients for movie & TV cartoons & commercials. (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

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Fingal's Cave (Felix Mendelssohn, 1809-1837). Mendelssohn composed Fingal's Cave in 1830 after touring England & Scotland. In a note to his sister Fanny, Mendelssohn sent several measures of music outlining the opening phrase of the overture. "In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me,” he wrote, “I send you the following, which came into my head there." Mendelssohn's inspiration was a cavern known as Fingal's Cave on Staffa, an island in the Hebrides archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. The cave was approximately 35 feet high & more than 200 feet deep, containing colorful pillars of basalt. The overture inspired by Fingal's Cave, unlike overtures that introduce plays or operas, is a concert piece that stands on its own. The piece was dedicated to King Frederick William IV of Prussia. The overture's original title was The Lonely Island. Mendelssohn revised the score & gave the music a new title, The Hebrides, in 1832, but he still used the title Fingal's Cave as well. (Mendelssohn labeled the orchestral parts The Hebrides, but he titled the score Fingal's Cave.) The overture was premiered in London on May 14, 1832. The piece is an early example of romantic program music, creating a mood & setting a scene rather than trying to tell a story. The opening of the overture -- the theme Mendelssohn wrote while touring the Hebrides -- suggests the power & beauty of the cave. The 2nd theme depicts movement of the sea rolling waves surrounding the islands. (Note adapted from Wikipedia.org )

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[AwayWeGo]

Springtime Pops! -- March 24, 2012.

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Blue Tango (Leroy Anderson, 1908-1975). Leroy Anderson was a gifted arranger, composer, & Boston Pops viola player in the 1950s. He created with musical sounds what Norman Rockwell created with paint on canvas: masterpieces of creativity that are so familiar, so recognizable, & so comfortable that they are all too often taken entirely for granted, as though they were inevitable & had always been there with us. Rockwell's paintings are so easy to look at & Leroy Anderson's tunes are so easy on the ear that the talent & workmanship that crafted these gems of American popular art are effectively hidden from view. Blue Tango was a Top Ten record for Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops on the Hit Parade of 1954.

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If Thou Be Near (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750). Eighteen months after the death of Bach’s 1st wife, Bach married the singer Anna Magdalena Wilcken, daughter of the court trumpeter of Prince Saxe-Weissenfels. She was 20, he was 36. Their devotion to each other is shown in the 2 notebooks they compiled together. The first, A Little Clavier Book for Anna Magdalena, came in 1722. The 2nd, finished in 1725, contains 5 beautiful verses linking Bach’s love of Anna Magdalena with his love of God & his readiness for death:

If thou be near, I go rejoicing
To peace and rest beyond the skies,
Nor will I fear what may befall me,
For I will hear thy sweet voice call me,
Thy gentle hand will close my eyes. ​

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Orpheus In The Underworld (Jacques Offenbach, 1819-1880). Offenbach was accepted for study at the Paris Conservatoire at age 14. He was too bored to stick with it, so he dropped out after a year. Even though he earned a living playing cello & became famous as a conductor, what he really wanted was to compose comic pieces for the musical theatre. Having no luck with the Paris Opéra-Comique, he leased a small theatre in the Champs-Élysées for a series of his own small-scale pieces, many of which became popular. In 1858, Offenbach re-did the story of Orpheus & Eurydice from Greek mythology as a comic operetta, his 1st full-length production. In Offenbach’s 2-act spoof, Orpheus is teaching music at the conservatory of Thebes. He is married to Eurydice but they are not in love with each other. Eurydice runs away with the King of the Underworld. Orpheus is glad she’s gone, but a powerful character in the operetta named Public Opinion makes Orpheus venture into the underworld try to get Eurydice back. Orpheus eventually succeeds in losing Eurydice completely. They live happily ever after -- separately. The overture, & the entire production, are full of humor, fun, color, & great tunes, including the famous Can-Can. The military band arrangement of the overture is by A. Hebert.

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Radetzky March
(Johann Strauss Jr., 1825-1899). Johann Strauss The Younger composed more than 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, & other dance pieces, plus several operettas and a ballet. Known as "The Waltz King,” he was largely responsible for the popularity of 19th century Viennese waltzes. But he also wrote a number of famous polkas & marches. Strauss composed the light & charming Radetzky March under a commission from Field Marshall Lieutenant Peter Zanini, who was organizing a "victory festival" in recognition of the exploits of the Austrian Army in Italy. Field Marshall Johann Joseph Count Radetzky de Radetz was the army commander, and so the march was named for him. The 1st performance was conducted by the composer on August 31, 1848. The piece has been played often ever since, notably as the closing number every year at the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year Concert.

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Zampa Overture (Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold, 1791-1833). Ferdinand Hérold enrolled in the Paris Conservatoire in 1806, studying piano, harmony, violin, & composition. He won 1st prize in an 1810 piano competition by playing 1 of his own pieces. In 1812, he won the Prix de Rome. The following year, he wrote his 1st symphony & completed the last of his 4 piano concertos. He composed another symphony in 1815, & (under an Italian pseudonym) a moderately successful opera. His next operas were not all successful, but not all were failures either, so he kept writing operas, with mixed results. Zampa (subtitled The Marble Bride) premiered May 3, 1831, at the Opéra-Comique. The opera's story revolves around the young Count of Monza, who seduced & deserted Alice Manfredi. After squandering his family fortune, Monza goes off to sea as a pirate under the adopted name Zampa. Alice Manfredi, meanwhile, roaming in search of her treacherous lover, is taken in & sheltered by Lugano, a wealthy merchant. After Alice dies of a broken heart, Lugano has a marble statue of her placed in his palace. The local people venerate the statue as the image of a saint. Zampa met with success in France & Germany. Despite reaching 500 performances by 1877, Zampa faded from repertoire in the 20th century, except for the overture, which remains a concert hall staple. The opera was revived at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 2008. The concert band arrangement of the overture is by Vincent Frank Safranek (1867-1955), who served 30 years as a U.S. Army bandmaster & became chief band arranger for Carl Fischer music publishers.

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Cable Car (Sammy Nestico, 1924 - ). Samuel Louis Nestico came from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he played trombone in his high school band. He received a music education degree from Duquesne University in 1946. For 15 years, he was a staff arranger for the United States Air Force Band. Later he was a staff arranger for 5 years with the United States Marine Band. He toured with Woody Herman’s and Tommy Dorsey’s big bands & appeared in performance with the Boston Pops. Tunes he wrote or arranged have been on at least 60 television shows, including M*A*S*H & The Love Boat. Sammy Nestico’s Cable Car is sprightly music that plugs in to the imagination. As you listen, you can picture the cable cars running along California Street, you can hear the clang of the cable cars on the Powell Street line, & you can almost feel the exhilaration of riding in an open-air cable car in the City by the Bay.

-- xXx --​

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Springtime Pops! -- March 24, 2012.

Virginia's City Of Fairfax Band, Robert Pouliot music director, heralds the arrival of spring with a lighthearted program of classical & popular selections in the concert format made famous by Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops. Fiedler’s programming formula set the musical diversity standard for mixing up styles and tempos for variety & fun. Fairfax Band's version of "An Evening at Pops" is set for 8PM Saturday, March 24, 2012, at Fairfax High School, 3501 Rebel Run, Fairfax VA 22030.

Click here to order tickets.

Musical selections on the program . . .

The Magic Of Andrew Lloyd Webber (arranged by Warren Barker, 1923-2006). The Right Honourable Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992. Five years later, Queen Elizabeth made him a life peer as Baron Lloyd-Webber, of Sydmonton in the County of Hampshire. The title makes him a sitting member of the House of Lords. Those royal honors are in addition to a list of show business awards as long as your arm -- including, among many more, 4 Grammy awards, 7 Tony awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe award, Kennedy Center honors, the Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award, & the American Songwriters Hall of Fame. (And he's not even American!) Andrew Lloyd Webber composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, 2 film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Several of his songs became stand-alone hits beyond the shows they came from, and have been widely recorded & performed in concert, including the selections chosen by Warren Barker for The Magic of Andrew Lloyd-Webber -- “Superstar” & “I Don't Know How to Love Him” (from Jesus Christ Superstar, 1970), “Don't Cry For Me, Argentina” (from Evita, 1978), “Memory” (from Cats, 1981), and “Phantom of the Opera” (1986).

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Entry March Of The Boyares (Johan Halvorsen, 1864-1935). Halvorsen was a violinist, concertmaster, conductor, & music professor, as well as composer of dramatic incidental music, 3 symphonies, and 2 Norwegian rhapsodies. Halvorsen's music belongs to the national romantic tradition exemplified by Edvard Grieg. Halvorsen married Grieg's niece, & orchestrated some of Grieg's piano works, including the funeral march played at Grieg's funeral. Entry March Of The Boyares is 1 of Halvorsen's best known pieces. From the 10th through 17th centuries, the Boyars were some of the highest ranking members of the Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian, & Ukrainian aristocracy, 2nd only to the ruling princes. Halvorsen’s March portrays the ceremonial entrance of those aristocratic figures in a theatrical setting. The piece was 1st used as stage music at the Bergen theatre where Halvorsen was director of music. Two years later Halvorsen published an arrangement of the piece for symphony orchestra. The concert band arrangement is by Clifford P. Barnes.

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Theme From Lawrence Of Arabia (Maurice-Alexis Jarre, 1924-2009). Jarre enrolled in the engineering school at the Sorbonne, but decided to study music instead. Against his father's will, he entered the Conservatoire de Paris, majoring in percussion & studying composition & harmony. He became director of the Théâtre National Populaire & recorded his 1st film score in France in 1951. British film producer Sam Spiegel asked Jarre to write the score for the 1962 epic Lawrence Of Arabia, directed by David Lean. That score won Jarre his 1st Academy Award. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's subsequent films. Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole in the title role, is considered 1 of the greatest & most influential films in the history of cinema. The film depicts Lt.Col. T.E. Lawrence's experiences in Arabia during WW1, in particular his attacks on Aqaba & Damascus & his involvement in the Arab National Council. The film's dramatic themes involve Lawrence's emotional struggles with the personal violence inherent in war, his personal identity, & his conflicted allegiances with his native Britain & its army and his new-found comrades of the Arabian desert tribes. The concert band arrangement of the Theme From Lawrence Of Arabia is by Alfred Reed (1921-2005).

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Pachinko (Paul Yoder, 1908-1990). Yoder produced more than 1,500 original compositions & arrangements. His writing & arranging focused on music for young bands, & he produced several instructional method books for learning to play band instruments. Yoder's biographer, Steven Kelly, said it is unlikely any band student in America between the 1930s & 1970s would go without experiencing Yoder's music. Yoder co-founded the Japanese Band Directors Association, served as President of the American Bandmasters Association, & belonged to the Board Of Directors of the Midwest International Band & Orchestra Clinic. Yoder met many band directors in Japan interested in performing western music, beginning an involvement with music education & concert bands in Japan that led to coordinating performances at the MidWest Clinic by many Japanese bands. Alfred Reed called Yoder "an unofficial ambassador of band music between the US & Japan." While in the country, Paul Yoder might have tried his hand at pachinko, a Japanese arcade game that combines some of the action of pinball with features of Las Vegas slot machines. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, without flippers, that uses lots of metal balls smaller than marbles. After a player launches balls into the machine, the balls cascade down through a thick array of pins. In certain locations, the balls may be captured inside the machine. Other sequences of events can trigger release of more balls. Players try to capture as many pachinko balls as they can, to exchange those for prizes. The original pachinko machines were strictly mechanical. Newer versions are heavily into electronics, like video slot machines. Yoder's catchy band number Pachinko evokes the spiky bounce & herky-jerky movement of little steel pachinko balls bounding around inside the arcade amusement devices.

-- oOo --​

Gigi – Selection For Concert Band (music by Frederick Loewe, 1901-1988). Collette's spicy 1944 novella Gigi, about a French girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan, & her romance with a rich man who eventually marries her, had to be toned down lots for Hollywood. MGM studios accomplished that by making it a $3.3 million musical, featuring songs composed by Fritz Loewe with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, who also wrote the screenplay. The 1958 movie was a big success. It not only sold $13 million worth of tickets, it also won 9 Academy Awards, a record at the time, including the Oscar for Best Picture. Lerner & Loewe won the Oscar for Best Song (“Gigi”). André Previn, who arranged & conducted the soundtrack music, won for Best Original Score. Gigi's other Academy Awards were for Best Director (Vincente Minnelli), plus “bests” for Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, & Film Editing. All that success led Lerner & Loewe to adapt Gigi for the musical stage, but their 1973 production was not successful. Top tunes from the show are “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” “The Night They Invented Champagne,” “Gigi,” “I Remember It Well,” “I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore,” & “Say a Prayer for Me Tonight.” The music was arranged for concert band by Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981).

-- oOo --​

Malagueña (Ernesto Lecuona, 1895-1963). Lecuona graduated from the National Conservatory of Havana at age 16, receiving a gold medal for interpretation. His 1928 piano recitals in Paris led to a rise in European interest in Cuban music. Lecuona composed prolifically for stage & film, making heavy use of Cuban & Afro-Cuban rhythms. His most famous songs include "Siboney," "Malagueña," & "The Breeze & I." Much of Lecuona's music was introduced to American audiences by fellow Cuban Desi Arnaz (1917-1986). Malagueña was arranged for concert band by Sammy Nestico (1924 - ).

-- oOo --​

A Tribute To Jerome Kern (arranged by Warren Barker, 1923-2006). Jerome Kern (1885-1945) was born in New York City. His 1st music teacher was his mother, who taught him piano. He later studied at the New York College of Music, & after that studied music in Europe. After working in the London theater, Kern returned home, where the only work he could find was as a music publisher's song plugger & pianist. His 1st published score was an operetta, The Red Petticoat (1912). Between 1914 & 1929 Kern was represented on Broadway by at least 1 show a season. His prolific output included Rock a Bye Baby (1918), Sally (1920), & Sunny (1925). In 1926 he wrote the score for a musical adaptation of an Edna Ferber novel. Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the lyrics. The result was the Broadway classic Show Boat, which opened in 1927 & ran for 572 performances. Hollywood film versions of Show Boat were made twice, 1936 (Universal) & 1951 (MGM). Other than Show Boat, Kern is better known for his songs than for his shows. Warren Barker's Tribute To Jerome Kern features “I Won't Dance” (from Roberta, 1935), “Long Ago and Far Away” (from Cover Girl, 1944), “Pick Yourself Up” (from Swing Time, 1936), and “All the Things You Are” (from Very Warm For May, 1939).

-- oOo --

--- continued, next entry ---​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Potomac Brass Quintet (Of Virginia).

Left to right,
Alan Cole, horn
Sharyl Abell, trumpet
Mark Herzing, tuba
Scott Fridy, trombone
Dan Thomas, trumpet​

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Rose Pink]

Nice photo!

 

[AwayWeGo]

Cathedral Brass Performances May 6 & May 20, 2012.

I will be there (on 3rd horn).

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Dancing Down Broadway -- 8PM, Saturday, May 12, 2012.

The City Of Fairfax Band
Fairfax, Virginia
Robert Pouliot, Music Director

America’s Broadway musicals have brought to the stage a treasure trove of dance music and dance segments. Fairfax Band's May 12 "Dancing Down Broadway" program features dance music from two Leonard Bernstein Broadway classics, West Side Story and On The Town, along with symphonic dance sequences from Fiddler On The Roof and more Broadway hits. Also featured on the program is the 2012 winner of the City Of Fairfax Band’s annual Young Artist Competition, Ava Oaxaca, an oboe player who attends H.B. Woodson High School, Fairfax VA.

Ava Oaxaca, guest soloist​

The show starts at 8PM in the Woodson High School auditorium, 9525 Main Street, Fairfax VA 22031.

Tickets are on sale now. ( Click here. )

Symphonic Dances From West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein, 1918-1990). Leonard Bernstein wrote three symphonies, two operas, five musicals, and lots more musical compositions. During the 1960s, his series of televised Young People’s Concerts made him famous nationwide. After Jerome Robbins came up with the idea of doing a modern musical based on Romeo & Juliet, it took six years before West Side Story premiered. Originally, the action was to take place on New York’s Lower East Side, with tensions flaring between Catholics and Jews at the convergence of Passover and Easter. That project went nowhere. But shifting the conflict to the Polish-American Sharks and the Puerto Rican Jets fired up the authors’ imaginations so much that they took some dramatic and musical risks, not all of which were well received. One of the original producers backed out two months before the start of rehearsals. Columbia Records initially decided against recording Bernstein’s score -- too depressing and too difficult, they said. Despite all the setbacks, the authors and producers kept up their work because they knew they were creating something extraordinary. After its Broadway debut in 1957, West Side Story played 732 times before going on tour. The 1961 film version won 10 Academy Awards. Symphonic Dances From West Side Story was premiered by the New York Philharmonic on February 13, 1961. The 2008 transcription for concert band is by Paul Lavender.

-- oOo --​

Symphonic Dances From Fiddler on the Roof (arr. Ira Hearshen). Fiddler on the Roof was the first Broadway musical to reach the 3,000-performance mark. For 10 years Fiddler held the Broadway record for longest-running musical. Today it stands at 15th on the list. (By contrast, Oklahoma! is No. 29 and South Pacific is No. 32.) The show's title comes from a Marc Chagall painting of eastern European Jewish life picturing a fiddler, who symbolizes survival through tradition and joyfulness in a life of uncertainty and imbalance. The show's book is by Joseph Stein. The lyrics are by Sheldon Harnick. Jerry Bock wrote the music. The highly acclaimed production was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won nine -- including best musical, best score, best book, best direction, and best choreography (by Jerome Robbins). The music behind the show's ethnically styled dance numbers has been recast as a lively symphonic suite by arranger Ira Hearshen, featuring the “Chava Sequence,” “Perchik and Hodel Dance,” “Dance to Life,” “Tradition,” and the “Wedding Dance #1” (the Bottle Dance).

-- oOo --​

Three Dance Episodes from On The Town (Leonard Bernstein, 1918-1990). After Leonard Bernstein wrote the Broadway music for On the Town, Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton teamed up to score Bernstein’s music for MGM. Their achievement won the 1949 Academy Award for best scoring of a musical picture. Three dance scenes from the show (“The Great Lover,” “Lonely Town: Pas De Deux,” and “ Times Square: 1944"), were transcribed for band by Maurice Stith.

-- oOo --​

El Capitan (John Philip Sousa, 1854-1932). According to Frederick Fennell (1914-2004): “The military march is a deceivingly simple form of musical composition. Its obvious and square balance of dynamics, even musical phrases, and a certain preoccupation with heavy orchestration of the belt-and-suspenders variety, have often led casual amateurs and seasoned professionals to the rude awakening that a good march is not as easy to write as it would seem on the surface to be. In the case of the prolific John Philip Sousa, a great gift of writing 'music for the feet instead of the head' brought forth a bountiful production of countless examples in this form.” Sousa was also fond of operetta, and contributed music to 10 works for the stage, including El Capitan, Sousa's first successful operetta and his most successful stage work. A tryout of El Capitan opened April 13, 1896, at Boston's Tremont Theatre. The show opened in New York a week later and ran for 112 performances at The Broadway Theatre. El Capitan toured the USA and Canada for four years, and ran for 140 performances at the Lyric Theatre in London. Now and then the show resurfaces, including a 2009 production by the Lake George Opera (Saratoga Springs NY) and one in 2010 by the Ohio Light Opera (Wooster OH). El Capitan's best known legacy is the famous Sousa military march.

-- oOo --​

Shall We Dance? (arr. Akira Miyagawa, 1961 - ). The fifth Broadway collaboration of Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1985-1960) resulted in The King and I, the musical adaptation of a fictionalized account of a British widow's experience in the palace of the King of Siam as governess and instructress of the king's children. The relationship between the king and the Englishwoman Anna is marked by personal and cultural conflict, as well as by tender affection that neither is able to express. By the end of “Shall We Dance” (Act II), the king still cannot accept the Western monogamous ideal, but it is apparent that he is attracted to Anna, and that he has started to understand the illogical ideal, if only a little. Anna sings . . .

Shall we dance?
On a bright cloud of music shall we fly?
Shall we dance?
Shall we then say "Goodnight” and mean "Goodbye"?
Or perchance,
When the last little star has left the sky,
Shall we still be together
With our arms around each other,
And shall you be my new romance?
On the clear understanding
That this kind of thing can happen,
Shall we dance?
Shall we dance? Shall we dance?

-- oOo --​

Haydn's Concerto for Oboe in C major (1st movement). Music historians recognize the Haydn Oboe Concerto as a superior example of the classical wind concerto, with finely contoured melodic lines richly exploiting the full range of the instrument's technical possibilities available at the time. Music historians believe the oboe concerto dates from the first decade of the 19th century. Not only are they unable to authenticate the precise date of the piece, but they likewise cannot identify the true composer. They agree, however, that the Haydn Oboe Concerto was not composed by Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). No matter who composed it, the concerto's melodic distinction and high degree of craftsmanship have earned it a place in the concerto literature for oboe. Historians think it likely that Haydn's name was added only speculatively to the manuscript, where it is inscribed in unknown handwriting (conclusively not Haydn's) on the title page of the only surviving copy in the monastic library at Zittau. (Note adapted from classicalarchives.com )

-- xXx --​

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Tribute To Greatest Generation -- June 2 American Legion & Fairfax Band Fund Raiser

​

Concert selections & guest performers will be the same as Fairfax Band's "Greatest Generation" tribute concert presented in October 2011. Click here for a description & program notes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[AwayWeGo]

Exuberance Replaced By Wistfulness. (But With Reason For Optimism.)

Tribute To Greatest Generation -- June 2 American Legion & Fairfax Band Fund Raiser

Worsening auditory problems (hearing loss, tinnitus, etc.) have led me to take a timeout from playing in Fairfax Band.

I did not play the June 2 Greatest Generation concert, or the rehearsals leading up to that performance.

I have been playing (French) horn in concert bands 55+ years, & so I miss it terribly when I am not playing, but I am optimistic about the possibility of accommodating myself to improved hearing protection (advanced earplugs, etc.), & I will be searching also for appropriate medical advice so that I can resume participation in concert band. I think I am still OK for brass quintet & brass ensemble, & I look forward to more participation with Fairfax Band in the future.

During this timeout, I am not just sitting around moping. Amid this hearing loss fuss, I am striving not to drift into a Poor Me mood, which not only is unhelpful but also is extremely inappropriate in view of the wonderfully full & rich life I have been given to live.

I have an appointment next month with Dr. Charles Limb at Johns Hopkins. He's not only a top hearing specialist, but also a musician. He has a couple of engaging video presentations on TED. Click here & here for those.

So now I am optimistic in a specific way, not just in general.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[Rose Pink]

Alan, I hope you can get an accurate diagnosis and treatment that will help you. I know music is so important in your life. I wish you well.

Your optimism is inspiring.

Keep us posted. Hugs.