02/29/24 Crane Symphonic and Concert Bands

Evening Concert Series Helen H. Hosmer Concert Hall

2023-2024 Season Thursday, February 29, 2024 7:30 p.m.

Symphonic Band and Concert Band Symphonic Band Brian K. Doyle, conductor

PROGRAM Miniaturas, op. 52 (1929) Dawn The Sleeping Village Promenade The Approaching Soldiers Fiesta

Joaquín Turina (1882-1949) Trans. John Krance

Phoenix Rekindled (2021)

Grace Baugher (b. 1995)

On the Grid (2023)

Aaron Perrine (b. 1979) Consortium Premiere

Three Songs of Bengal (2019) Anodo Dhara Bohiche (A stream of joy flows through the world) Joy Bigolito, Karuna Rupini Gange (Hail, O Ganges your melting compassion”) Aakash Ta Kapchilo Ken (“Why was the sky shaking, why was the earth dancing”) Elegy for a Young American (1967) Second Suite in F, op. 28, no. 2 (1911) March Song without words Song of the Blacksmith Fantasia on the “Dargason”

Aakash Mittal (b. 1985)

Ronald Lo Presti (1933-1985) Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

Symphonic Band Personnel Piccolo Caleigh Dutton * Flute Maxwell Todak * Kayla Sumberg Sofia Perez Zoey Steele Catharine Chapman Hannah Goldstein Matthew Williams Oboe Mariana Morales * Amara Leitner * English Horn Amara Leitner Bassoon Matthew Eckrich Melissa Mitchell E-flat Clarinet Paige Krebs Clarinet David Bobowski * Tommy Rock Connor Martin Mckenna Hickey Sam McManus Lance Frayler Jessica Schaller

Bass Clarinets Jessica LaRocca Julia Saxby Alto Saxophone Jack Orrange * Madison Valenti Tenor Saxophone Ryan Dunia Baritone Saxophone Kennedy Royal Trumpet Julia Avdoulos * Ethan Cobey * Daniel Maldonado Jonny Smith Jaydon Ceron Michael Panella Adam Sheifer Michael Morra Horn Haley Sullivan Moriah Clendenin Anthony Bruno Will Kirk

Trombone Tobey Dwyer Brandon Campbell Octavia Duvigneaud Bass Trombone Ian Bailey Euphonium Josh Coldren Casey DeJesus-Webb Tuba Noah Somers * Matt Smith Isabella Santoli Gia Boolukos Percussion Drew Spina* Sasha Truax Elijah Sutton Brandon Phelps Vatressa Teamoh0 Piano Jack Jiang Librarians Ashley Colucci Kayla Outman * Section Principal

PROGRAM NOTES Symphonic Band THE CRANE SYMPHONIC BAND Conducted by Dr. Brian K. Doyle, the Crane Symphonic Band is SUNY Potsdam’s oldest wind band. James Garfield, a 1905 Potsdam Normal School graduate, established the band as The Normal Band in 1926. Although Garfield referred to the group as the Symphonic Band as early as 1940, the ensemble went through several official name changes before Professor Harry Phillips settled permanently upon the current name. Guest conductors have included Percy Grainger, Morton Gould, Edwin Franko Goldman, Vincent Persichetti, Captain William J. Stannard (founder of the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own”) and Colonel William Santlemann (U.S. Marine Corps Band, “The President’s Own”). The Symphonic Band has premiered numerous works, particularly by Crane faculty members Arthur Frackenpohl, Robert Washburn and Elliot Del Borgo.

MINIATURAS, OP. 52 Joaquín Turina After his musical studies in Seville and Madrid, Turina went to Paris where he was encouraged and helped by French composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Dukas and Schmitt. Returning to Spain in 1914, he soon became known as one of the most representative figures of the Spanish nationalist school. His Miniaturas – originally for piano – reflect this nationalistic element, drawing their inspiration from scenes of Spanish life, to which he has given a characteristic lyrical expression, somewhat romantic in tendency. Turina portrays humor and a Sevillian character in this work through the use of the Spanish rhythms. He also gives a Spanish feel to his harmonic language, and exploits the instrument’s register, using fully contrasting tone color throughout the various movements. This work infuses the color and atmosphere of these contrasting traditional Spanish scenes.

This concert band arrangement of numbers 1-4 and 7 of Miniaturas is taken from the original work for piano, op. 52 piano work. This version arranged by John Krance, reflects Turina's background in and penchant for impressionism. Each movement is vividly evocative of their names: Dawn, The Sleeping Village, Promenade, The Approaching Solders, and Fiesta.

Krance’s arrangement is dedicated to the U.S. Army Field Band of Washington, D.C., Major Chester E. Whiting, conductor.

PHOENIX REKINDLED Grace Baugher Phoenix Rekindled was written in recognition of those who deal with depression and burnout, especially in our music community. I hope this piece will offer a moment of rest and encouragement. You will come back from this. You will get your fire back!

This piece was commissioned by the Lockport Township High School Wind Symphony for their performance at the 75th annual Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.

Program note by Grace Baugher

ON THE GRID Aaron Perrine On the Grid began when I discovered the Netflix documentary Formula 1: Drive to Survive. Prior to watching the series, I had no knowledge of F1 racing. I thought I knew two things: the cars travel at insane speeds, and the best driver typically wins. However, that latter is only partially true. In fact, much of the success—or lack thereof—can be attributed to the effort of the entire team. I like that about F1, and the same idea applies to many areas of our lives. As you might have guessed, I was correct about the speed. F1 cars routinely travel over 200 miles per hour, so buckle up, get on the grid, and be ready to go at lights out!

Program note by Aaron Perrine

THREE SONGS OF BENGAL Aakash Mittal While living in West Bengal with the goal of studying Hindustani Raga Music, I regularly experienced the vast repertoire of Bengali composers and songwriters. As a person of Punjabi-Euro origin, the music of Bengal utilized instruments, sounds, and song forms I had never encountered. During my stay I played saxophone alongside Baul singers in Tanmoy Bose's band Taal Tantra. I listened to the poetry and songs of Tagore at chai stands, on concert stages, and on rooftops. These experiences struck me as an important testament to the plurality of South Asia's cultural landscape.

As a follow-up to my first wind ensemble piece, Samay Raga, Three Songs of Bengal is a reflection on the music I encountered within Bengali communities. Each movement is an instrumental arrangement of a traditional Bangla (Bengali) song for concert band. The piece begins with a song composed by Rabindranath Tagore, the polymathic artist, poet, playwright, composer, and activist who was an important figure in the Bengal Renaissance. The second movement is by Kazi Nazrul Islam who was nicknamed the "rebel poet" for his

dissent against the British Empire and the cultural hegemony of Tagore. The piece concludes with a song from the Baul tradition, a community of wandering minstrels whose music centers nature themes and the body.

Commissioned by a consortium of ensembles, and conductors. Lead commissioner: Grand Street Campus High School Bands, Brooklyn, NY, Jeff W. Ball, Sondra Braeutigam, Jasmine Britt – conductor.

Program note by Aakash Mittal

ELEGY FOR A YOUNG AMERICAN Ronald Lo Presti Elegy for a Young American was written in 1964 and is dedicated to the memory of President John F. Kennedy. The Indiana Wind Ensemble, with Daniel DiCicco conducting, premiered the work in April of that same year.

Except for a ten-measure allegro near the end, the tempo of the entire work is a slow adagio. Contrast and balance are achieved by solo instruments alternating with small sections of instruments and with the sound of the full band. A simple scalar motif in the opening clarinet develops through the elegy, giving the listener a full musical experience of pain, grief, and loss. The ending chimes leave us with a sense of acceptance and peace.

SECOND SUITE IN F, OP. 28, NO. 2 Gustav Holst Although it is uncertain for which occasion Gustav Holst wrote his Second Suite in F, op. 28, no. 2, his daughter and biographer Imogen Holst remarks that the piece was most likely written for the Festival of Empire commemorating the coronation of George V as all his other 1911 works were. Unfortunately, the piece languished unperformed for eleven years before its inaugural performance on 30 June 1922 at Royal Albert Hall by the Royal Military School of Music Band-Kneller Hall.

This premiere followed on the heels of Holst’s First Suite in E-flat, also for military band, by two months. Ironically, the First Suite also received an unwarranted hiatus of thirteen years, having been composed in 1909. Upon their belated premieres, both works achieved immediate critical acclaim and have since become cornerstones of the wind band repertoire.

Unlike the First Suite in E-flat, whose melodies unfold from an original germinal idea, the Second Suite in F is a collection of deftly arranged folk tunes. Although Holst did not collect the folk songs himself, they were collected by friends in the English Folk Song Society and published in their journals. The Society was formed in 1906 to preserve the rapidly fading oral tradition of Britain’s indigenous music. Among the Society’s prominent members were Ralph Vaughan Williams, Percy Grainger, Cyril Scott, George Barnet Gardiner [the collector of the majority of the folk songs used here], and Charles Villiers Stanford.

The folk song material in the Suite unfolds as follows: I. Morris Dance [Glorishears] – Swansea Town – Claudy Banks II. I Love my Love III. The Blacksmith IV. Dargason - Greensleeves Of the tunes employed, Holst found “Swansea Town,” “I Love my Love” and “The Blacksmith” compelling enough to set later as choral works in his Six Choral Folk Songs (1916). Holst also re-cast the entire fourth movement into the finale of his St. Paul’s Suite (1913).

As Imogen Holst writes of the “perfect marriage” of the contrasting tunes “Dargason” and “Greensleeves,” “it is difficult to believe that the two tunes were not meant for each other: they live their own lives, each leaning to the other instead of fighting for their independence.

It was a fortunate venture: never again did he succeed so brilliantly in this highly dangerous practice.”

Concert Band Jill Roberts, conductor

PROGRAM Slava! (1977)

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) Trans. Clare Grundman

English Dances, Set 1 Op. 27 (1965) Andantino Vivace Mesto Allegro risoluto

Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) Arr. Maurice Johnstone

O Magnum Mysterium (2003)

Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) Trans. H. Robert Reynolds

La Mezquita de Cordóba (The Mosque at Cordóba) (2005)

Julie Giroux (b. 1961)

Strange Humors (2006)

John Mackey (b. 1973)

Concert Band Personnel Piccolo Catherine Keach Rosalind Hoffman Flute Lydia Geiger* Mark Peragine* Liz Combs Morgan Lorey Catherine Keach Rosalind Hoffman Fatima Aguilar Paige Bourgeois Oboe/English Horn Molly Murphy* Connor Martin Eb Clarinet Matthew Lannigan Clarinet Ashley Colucci* Bree Nickson Matthew Lannigan Elliott Brock Shannon Frank Charli Deixler Mckenna Hickey

Bass Clarinet Ethan Feuer* Savana Angulo Diamond Rosario Alto Saxophone Megan Henry* Crystal Machuca Robinson Correa Tenor Saxophone Tommy Castellon Bari Saxophone Jack Burley Trumpet Isaac Aviles* Gianna Voskinarian* Michael Morra Jacob Hathaway Joshua Buessem Carter Sterner Caiden Cook Donny Anderson Horn Moriah Clendenin* Noah Garland Kwamell Kelly

Trombone Wyatt Moore* Julien Herschkowitz Bass Trombone Victor Mainetti Euphonium Zachary Phipps* Austin Pelissier Tuba Mason Wiedeman* Matthew Deutscher Skylar Wood Percussion Jared Emmerson* Julia Taylor Angel Ren Tyler Schmitt Matthew Puhlman

Librarians Ashley Colucci Kayla Outman

* Section Principal

PROGRAM NOTES Concert Band THE CRANE CONCERT BAND Conducted by Jill Roberts, the Crane Concert Band dates to the earliest days of the Potsdam Normal School’s Music Department. Begun as a laboratory band, the “Junior Band” was where younger students received experience on secondary instruments and older students practiced their conducting skills. The Concert Band has undergone several name changes, including a period in the 70’s where the Symphonic, Concert, and University Bands were assigned colors (Red, Blue, and Green) to emphasize their co-equal natures, a practice still adhered to today. Past conductors have included William L. Lake, Jr., Joshua Roach, Trish Cornett, Michael Schaff, Rebekah Covell, Alan Woy, Roy Schaberg and Gordon Mathie. Both Elliot Del Borgo and Robert Washburn guest conducted and composed works for the Concert Band.

SLAVA! Leonard Bernstein When Mstislav Rostropovich (“Slava” to his friends) invited Leonard Bernstein to help him launch his inaugural concert as Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, he also asked him to write a rousing new opening piece for the festivities. This overture is the result, and the world premiere took place on October 11, 1977, with Rostropovich conducting his orchestra at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The first theme of Slava! is a vaudevillian razz-ma-tazz tune filled with side-slipping modulations and sliding trombones. Theme two, which prominently features the electric guitar, is a canonic tune in 7/8 time. A very brief kind of development section follows, after which the two themes recur in reverse order. Near the end they are combined with a quotation (proclaimed by the ubiquitous trombones) from the “Coronation Scene” of Mussorgsky’s Boris Goudonov, where the chorus sings the Russian word “Slava!”, meaning “glory!”

In this way, of course, the composer is paying an extra four-bar homage to his friend Slava Rostropovich, to whom this overture is fondly dedicated.

Program Note by Jack Gottlieb

ENGLISH DANCE: SET ONE Malcolm Arnold Arnold's mastery of instrumentation in evident in every page of English Dances, the first set of which was completed in 1950 and the second in 1951. Although the listener might think that the composer had resurrected several folk tunes, every theme in these boisterous, good-humored dances is original with Arnold.

Three modes, characteristic of folk music, are used in this first set. The first dance, Andantino, is in the Dorian mode. The lilting theme is first heard by flute and oboe against an ostinato accompaniment by horns, timpani, and muted trumpets. The second dance, Vivace, is Mixolydian, having a flattened seven degree of an otherwise major scale. The gloomy third dance, Mesto, is in Aeolian mode and has a simple pentatonic theme which rises a major third each of the four times it is played. In the Mixolydian mode finale, Allegro Risoluto, the theme goes from one section to another with the brass playing the chief role.

Program Note from Program Notes for Band

O MAGNUM MYSTERIUM Morten Lauridson Morten Lauridsen’s choral setting of O Magnum Mysterium (O Great Mystery) has become one of the world’s most performed and recorded compositions since its 1994 premiere by the Los Angeles Master Chorale conducted by Paul Salamunovich. The work was commissioned by Marshall Rutter in honor of his wife Terry Knowles. H. Robert Reynolds arranged the symphonic wind version of this popular work with the approval and appreciation of the composer.

About his setting, Morten Lauridsen writes: "For centuries, composers have been inspired by the beautiful O Magnum Mysterium text with its depiction of the birth of the newborn king amongst lowly animals and shepherds. This affirmation of God’s grace to the meek and the adoration of the Blessed Virgin are celebrated in my setting through a quiet song of profound inner joy."

O Magnum Mysterium O magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum ut animalia viderent Dominum natum jacetum in praesepio!

0 great mystery, and wondrous sacrament that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in their manger!

Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Christum. Alleluia!

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear the Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!

Program Note by Catharine Sinon Bushan, University of Texas

LA MEZQUITA DE CÓRDOBA Julie Giroux In 169 B.C. the Romans founded Córdoba. After the fall of Rome, it existed under the rule of the Visigoths and became the capital of Al Andalus, Muslim Spain, in 716.

The Moors conquered Córdoba in the eighth century, and by the tenth century the city boasted a population of 500,000, compared to about 38,000 in Paris. According to the chronicles of the day, the city had 700 mosques, some 60,000 palaces, and 70 libraries -- one reportedly housing 500,000 manuscripts and employing a staff of researchers, illuminators and book binders. Córdoba also had some 900 public baths as well as Europe’s first street lights.

Reigning with wisdom and justice, the rulers of Córdoba treated Christians and Jews with tolerance. They also improved trade and agriculture, patronized the arts, made valuable contributions to science, and established Córdoba as the most sophisticated city in Europe.

When the Moors conquered Córdoba, they found a Visigoth cathedral, promptly pulled it down and built a mosque complex, the walls of which enclosed about four acres. It was over 40 years in the making. Over the centuries, the Moors roofed over and developed more and more within this complex. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths alike were practiced within its walls, an unprecedented feat then and literally unheard of today.

When the Christians reconquered Córdoba in 1236, the new rulers were so awed by its beauty that they left it standing, building their cathedral in the midst of its rows of arches and columns. Thus it is preserved today, fondly referred to in Spain as "La Gran Mezquita."

La Mezquita contains over 500 marble, granite, and alabaster columns. Mixed into the califal styles, one can see the Byzantine and oriental influences, as well as Hispano-romanic and Visigoth elements throughout the mosque. The grandeur of La Mezquita and its colorful political and religious history has earned it its place as a true wonder of the civilized world.

La Mezquita de Córdoba opens with the destruction of the original Christian church in 716 A.D. and proceeds as a musical celebration of its multi-cultural, religious and artistic accomplishments.

Program Note by Julie Giroux

STRANGE HUMORS John Mackey Strange Humors represents another of Mackey's works (after Redline Tango) that has been transcribed for wind ensemble. The first version of Strange Humors was a student piece for string quartet and djembe that Mackey wrote while pursuing his graduate degree at The Juilliard School. It was later adapted for use by the Parsons Dance Company, with choreography by Robert Battle. Its transcription came at the behest of Richard Floyd on behalf of the American Bandmasters Association. The piece represents a merging of musical cultures -- the modal melodies and syncopated rhythms of middle Eastern music with the percussive accompaniment of African drumming.

At the heart of the work lies the pulse of the djembe, which remains from the original version. The djembe, an hourglass-shaped drum played with bare hands, is a major part of the customs of west African countries such as Mali and Guinea, where djembe ensembles accompany many functional celebrations of society.

The piece opens with a sultry English horn solo, a line laced with Phrygian influence representing the "typical" melodies of the most northeastern parts of the African continent -- most notably Egypt, but also parts of the Arabian peninsula. Later, the saxophones emulate the snaking lines of the English horn. The addition of brass and auxiliary percussion to the original orchestration makes for particular impact during the shout sections of the piece, and the groove of the djembe combined with the quirky rhythms throughout leave an impression that lingers in the listener's mind long after its conclusion.

Program Note by Jacob Wallace