San Jose Wind Symphony

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Program Notes

Sunday, April 5, 2009, 3:00 PM

"THREE CONCERTOS"
San Jose State University - Music Building Concert Hall

Dr. Edward C. Harris, conductor
Pavitra Rengarajan, flute
Peter Cheng, clarinet
Emily Liu, marimba

Königsmarsch

Richard Strauss (1864-1949), arranged by Roger Barrett

Richard Strauss enjoyed early success as a conductor and composer and was influenced by the work of Wagner. He developed the tone poem to an unrivalled level of expressiveness and achieved great success with a series of impressive operas. His relationship with the government in Germany was ambiguous, a fact that protected him but led to post-war difficulties and self-imposed exile in Switzerland.

Königsmarsch was first performed in an orchestral version in 1907 at a palace concert for Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, conducted by the composer. It is characterized by “romantic forces of rich scoring, rigorous flourishes, and a bold sense of harmonic power.”

Concerto No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 73 (Movement III: Allegretto)

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), transcribed by Peter Schmalz

As a boy, Carl Maria von Weber studied piano and violin in Salzburg and Vienna. His father arranged performance tours for Carl all over Europe until the death of his mother. He later joined the choir-boys school in Salzburg. Weber became known as the founder of German romantic opera.

In 1810, Weber met the virtuoso clarinettist Heinrich Baermann during a concert tour. Weber wrote a concertino for Baermann and they performed it at a court concert for King Maximilian of Bavaria. The King immediately commissioned two full-length concertos from Weber. Written in 1811, the Clarinet Concerto in F Minor was the first of these two concertos.

First Suite in Eb for Military Band

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Gustav Holst was one of England’s most prominent composers and was also a professional trombonist and a teacher of composition and organ. His music includes operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber music and songs. During the First World War, he was placed in command of all English Army Bands, organizing music among the troops under the Y.M.C.A. Army and Education program. He continued his teaching as musical director at the St. Paul’s Girls School in the Hammersmith borough of London.

Written in 1909, the First Suite in Eb is generally regarded as a cornerstone work for concert band and is one of the few band pieces that have been transcribed for symphony orchestra. The opening theme of the “Chaconne” is repeated by various instruments as others weave varied filigrees around the ground theme. In the middle of the first movement, the principal theme is inverted for several repetitions. The “Intermezzo” is based on a variation of the “Chaconne” theme, presented first in an agitated style, then in a cantabile mood, the two styles alternating throughout the movement. The “March” is introduced by a British band quick-march pulse from the brass and followed by Holst’s “Land of Hope and Glory” version of the “Chaconne” theme in the great tradition of the singing chorus. Eventually, the two themes are combined in a thrilling counterpoint leading to the end with a dynamic marking of ffff (fortiss-iss-iss-imo)!

Fantasia in G, “Freude, Schöner Götterfunken”

Timothy Mahr (b. 1956)

Timothy Mahr was born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. He graduated with two bachelor degrees summa cum laude from St. Olaf College in 1977 and 1978. He received a master’s degree in trombone performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts in instrumental conducting from the University of Iowa. In 1994, Mahr joined the faculty of St. Olaf College, where he serves as Professor of Music and Director of Bands. Active also as a composer, Mahr has over 50 works to his credit, many of which are published for band. He is sought after as a guest conductor and clinician.

The composer writes: “Fantasia in G is a joyful celebration for winds and percussion. The piece was inspired by the opening line of Johann Schiller’s poem, Ode to Joy: “Freude, Schöner Götterfunken” (“Joy, bright spark of divinity”). The same text was used by Ludwig van Beethoven in his famed Symphony No. 9.”

The piece is dedicated “To Miles H. Johnson and the St. Olaf College Band, Northfield, Minnesota.”

Concerto for Marimba (Movement IV: Despedida)

Ney Rosauro (b. 1952), arranged by Dr. Thomas McCutchen

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ney Rosauro has developed a successful international career as a percussionist, composer and pedagogue. He is an immensely popular composer of percussion concerti, with an average of 1,200 performances each year by distinguished orchestras and wind ensembles worldwide. His numerous compositions and method books have become standards in the percussion repertoire, and his CDs have been hailed by critics, percussionists and general music-lovers alike. As a soloist and teacher, he has presented courses, solo concerts and performances with orchestras around the world.

The Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra was written in 1986 and is dedicated to the composer’s son Marcelo. The work was originally written for marimba and string orchestra and was premiered in the U.S. with the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin. The wind ensemble version is arranged by Dr. Thomas McCutchen. With the commercial success of a CD and video, the Concerto rapidly came to be regarded as part of the standard literature for percussion. It is considered to be the most popular marimba concerto today and has been performed by more than eight hundred orchestras worldwide.

The concerto contains four movements, which follow the fast-slow-fast pattern, with a medium-tempo third movement added before the vigorous finale. Some Brazilian motifs and jazz elements are used throughout the piece, which contains strong rhythmic patterns and catchy melodies. The marimba leads the thematic material throughout the piece, and the solo explores the many possibilities of modern four-mallet technique. According to a review from Percussive Notes magazine, “…the concerto is superbly written for the unique timbre and virtuoso technical qualities of the marimba.”

The Carnival of Venice, Solo with Band

Giulio Briccialdi (1818-1881), band arrangement by Anton Coppola, edited by Wilkins, Meister & Davis

Giulio Briccialdi was born in Terni and died in Florence. Although his flute-playing father gave him some lessons, he also wanted him to enter the church. After moving to Rome, Briccialdi found employment in a theater orchestra. His precocious talents were further recognized when he was made a member of the exclusive Academia di S. Cecilia at age 15, and he was later hired as flute teacher to the brother of the King of Naples. He gave concerts throughout Europe and in America. Living for a time in London, he advised the firm of Rudall and Rose on the construction of a flute with a special B key. This device became known as the Briccialdi B. By the year 1870, he was the flute professor at the Florence Institute of Music, founding a flute-building workshop. His only opera, Leonora de Medici, was unsuccessful, but his flute compositions and treatises were popular. The Carnival of Venice has been the subject of many virtuosic arrangements.

Pas Redoublé (Double-Quick Step), Op. 86

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), transcribed for concert band by Arthur Frackenpohl

Paris-born Charles Camille Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy, composing his first piece for piano at the age of three. He was a private student of Gounod and entered the Paris Conservatory at age 13. Saint-Saëns had total recall; any book he read or tune he heard was forever committed to his memory. He held the coveted post of organist at the Church of the Madeleine from 1857 to 1875. He was also an accomplished pianist, conductor, score reader and astronomer. As a composer, his works include operas, symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and sacred and secular choral music. His highly popular works, including Danse Macabre and Samson and Delilah, were written during a short and tragic marriage that included the loss of his two young sons within a period of six weeks. The Carnival of the Animals is a favorite of children of all ages, but it had only two performances during Saint-Saëns’ lifetime, possibly because he had written it as a parody of some of the popular music of the time.

Pas Redoublé was originally written for four-hand piano. The tempo of a pas redoublé varies with the proficiency of the performers, as well as the wishes of the composer and the customs of the period. During the mid-nineteenth century, military units in some nations were marching to a cadence of about 90 steps per minute for the slow march (pas ordinaire), 120 for the quick march (pas redoublé), and 160 to 180 for the double-quick march (pas de charge). Arranger Frackenpohl recommends a tempo of 144 for this march.

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Program notes are edited by Karen Berry and excerpted from the composers’ notes, Band Notes by Norm Smith, The Pepper Music Catalog and:

Foothill College Symphonic Wind Ensemble
Wikipedia.org
Vic Firth
Norfolk (UK) Symphony Orchestra
The University of San Diego Symphony Orchestra
Northwest Missouri State University Wind Symphony
Ball State University Concert Band