Yale Concert Band
Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director
“Overtures and Icons” Friday, October 10, 2014, at 7:30 pm
Woolsey Hall, Yale University
GEORGE GERSHWIN arr. R. Mark Rodgers RICHARD WAGNER arr. John R. Bourgeois GUSTAV HOLST
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Cuban Overture (1932) Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral from Lohengrin (1846) Second Suite in F for Military Band (1911) I. March II. Song without Words, “I’ll Love My Love” III. Song of the Blacksmith IV. Fantasia on the “Dargason” Grand Symphonie Funèbre e Triomphale (1840) III. Apotheosis
~ INTERMISSION ~
BYRON ADAMS
Ballade for Piano and Wind Orchestra (1986) David Molina, TD ’15, piano
CARL ORFF Carmina Burana (1935) XIII. Fortuna Imperatix Mundi arr. John Krance (Fortune, Empress of the World) with the Yale Glee Club Jeffrey Douma, Music Director ANTONIO DE CABEZÓN arr. Percy Aldridge Grainger DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH ed. H. Robert Reynolds
Prelude in the Dorian Mode (1936) Folk Dances (1942)
About Tonight’s Music Cuban Overture (1932) George Gershwin (arr. R. Mark Rodgers) Eight years after writing his famous Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin returned from a holiday in Havana and wrote Cuban Overture, a hybrid of Gershwin’s well-known American style and Cuban dance rhythms. The piece, originally titled Rumba, received good reviews at its premiere in August 1932, which was, in Gershwin’s words, “the most exciting night I have ever had…17,845 people paid to get in and just about 5,000 were at the closed gates trying to fight their way in – unsuccessfully.” “In my composition,” Gershwin wrote, “I have endeavored to combine the Cuban rhythms with my own thematic material. The result is a symphonic overture, which embodies the essence of the Cuban dance. It has three main parts. The first part is preceded by a forte introduction featuring some of the thematic material. Then comes a three-part contrapuntal episode leading to a second theme. A solo clarinet cadenza leads to a middle part, which is in a plaintive mood. The finale is a development of the preceding material in a stretto-like manner. The conclusion of the work is a coda featuring the Cuban instruments of the percussion.” Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral from Lohengrin (1846) Richard Wagner (arr. John R. Bourgeois) Rife with medieval color and pageantry, Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral, from the opera Lohengrin, prefaces Elsa’s marriage to Lohengrin, the mystic knight of the Holy Grail who has come to deliver Antwerp from destruction at the hands of Hungarian invaders. In this early Wagnerian opera, one can recognize the first glimmers of those serious musical contemplations, Tristan, Parisfal, and of course, The Ring of the Nibelungen. This dramatic arrangement of Wagner’s stirring original composition culminates with the mighty Newberry Organ and a six-part trumpet fanfare. Second Suite in F for Military Band (1911) Gustav Holst Second Suite in F for Military Band was written at a time when the composer “needed rest form the strain of original composition,” and embraced the use of English folk songs and folk tunes throughout. The March movement’s three tunes are derived from the music of lively Morris dances (a type of dance popular in the Renaissance and commonly danced in England as part of the May games). In Holst’s setting, the tune’s opening five-note motive is heard twice as an introduction to the first tune. The second tune, Swansee Town, is broad and lyrical, played by the first baritone horn. The third tune, Claudy Banks, is distinctly different from the other two, having a lilting, swinging feeling derived from its compound duple meter.
YALE CONCERT BAND The second movement is a slow, tender English love song, I’ll Love My Love. The sad tune, heard first in the oboe, is a setting of the folk song lyrics, which tell of two lovers separated by their parents and of the deep love that they will always have for each other. The Song of the Blacksmith is rhythmically complex, much of it being in septuple meter. One actually hears the stroke of the hammer on the anvil. The Dargason is an English country-dance dating from the 16th century. Its peculiar property is that it does not really have an end, but keeps repeating endlessly. Holst combines the Dargason with the well-known haunting chant-like “Greensleeves,” a love song that later acquired different words and became a Christmas carol. Grand Symphonie Funèbre e Triomphale (1840) Hector Berlioz Composed in 1840 in response to a commission from the Ministry of the Interior, the Grande Symphonie Funèbre e Triomphale was first performed on July 28 of that year for the inauguration of the column at the Place de la Bastille that commemorated the victims of the July revolution of 1830. The work represents the partial fulfillment of a project that had been haunting Berlioz for several years, that of a great funeral celebration in music for France’s great men. The work also betrays the influence of Beethoven, notably the Eroica Symphony for the opening funeral march, and the finale of the Ninth Symphony for the concluding movement. It was written originally for a large wind and brass band. The Apotheosis is the final movement from the Symphonie Funèbre e Triomphale. Berlioz later added a choral part to this movement, singing words that immortalized French war dead. Gloire! Gloire et triomphe à ces Héros! Gloire et triomphe! Venez, élus de l’autre vie! Changez, nobles guerriers, Tous vos lauriers Pour des palmes immortelles! Suivez les Séraphins, Soldats divins Dans les plaines éternelles! A leurs chœurs infinis Soyez unis! Anges radieux, Harmonieux, Brûlants comme eux, Entrez, sublimes Victimes! Gloire et triomphe à ces Héros! Ils sont tombés aux champs de la Patrie! Gloire et respect à leurs tombeaux!
Glory! Glory and triumph to these heroes! Glory and triumph! Just elected another life! Change, noble warriors, All your laurels For immortal palms! Follow the Seraphim divine soldiers In the eternal plains! In their infinite choruses Be One! Radiant angels harmonious, Hot like them Enter sublime Victims! Glory and triumph to these heroes! They fell to the fields of the Fatherland! Glory and respect to their graves!
Ballade for Piano and Wind Orchestra (1986) Byron Adams “The Ballade for piano and wind orchestra is a work cast in two large sections, the first of which begins and concludes with a long melody stated by the piano. The second section, which is rapid and occasionally march-like, consists of material from the first section, but altered as if in a distorting mirror. This second section culminates in a cadenza for the piano; there follows a dream-like recall of the opening idea followed by a brisk and brilliant coda. The Ballade was composed between March and December 1986, the piano part was designed for Craig Combs, and the piece was written at the request of Thomas C. Duffy for the Yale University Band. The work is dedicated, in appreciation, to my colleague Thomas C. Duffy.” – Byron Adams Tonight’s soloist is David Molina. He is a senior in Yale College, double majoring in Humanities and Russian/East Europen Studies, and is a freshman counselor in Timothy Dwight College. Son of Sidney Molina, classical guitarist and founder of Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet (QGQ), David was born in São Paulo, Brazil and began playing the piano at age three. Since then, David has studied under Viviane Louro, Marisa Lacorte, and Rogério Zaghi and has participated in masterclasses with Flavio Augusto (Brazil), James Dick (USA), and Alla Dadaian (Russia). Since his first appearance in 2001, David has earned various first prizes in national piano competitions in Brazil as well as special awards for performance of works by Brazilian composers. From 2006 to 2011, David played concerts in São Paulo, Florianópolis, and other major cities as pianist of the American School of São Paulo’s Jazz Band. At Yale, David has performed as pianist of the Yale Concert Band since his freshman year. Carmina Burana (1935) Carl Orff (arr. John Krance) Carl Orff composed a number of works for the theater and concert hall, but he is most remembered for his dramatic cantata, Carmina Burana, written in 1936. He became fascinated with the power of primitive rhythms and simple melodies, which gradually found expression in his own compositions. With Carmina Burana, he turned to a deliberately simplified style, characterized by its rhythmic energy and the repetition of short melodic phrases supported by elemental block harmonies. The texts of Carmina Burana, which are part of the oral tradition of Alpine Bavaria, combine the subjects of religion, love, and mankind living in society. The texts are derived from various traditions, and some melodies began as drinking and love songs, though Orff did not know this at the time. The piece begins and ends with a powerful hymn to the goddess Fortuna, the Empress of the World, seen as a whirling wheel carrying its victims first to the heights, and then dashing them to the ground. “O Fortuna” serves as a theme unifying the whole work and acting as a reminder that our lives are ever subject to Fortune. Tonight’s concert will feature the Yale Glee Club singing “O Fortuna” from the movement Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi.
YALE CONCERT BAND O Fortuna, velut Luna statu variabilis, semper crescis aut decrescis; vita detestabilis nunc obdurat et tunc curats ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem dissolvit ut glaciem.
O Fortune! Like the moon ever-changing, rising first then declining; hateful life treats us badly, then with kindness making sport with our desires, causing power and poverty alike to melt like ice.
Sors immanis et inanis, rota tu volubilis, status malus, vana salus semper dissolubilis,
Dread destiny and empty fate, an ever-turning wheel, who make adversity and fickle health alike turn to nothing,
obumbrata et velata michi quoque niteris; nunc per ludum dorsum nudum fero tui sceleris.
in the dark and secretly you work against me; how through your trickery my naked back is turned to you unarmed.
Sors salutis et virtutis michi nunc contraria est affectus et defectus semper in angaria. Hac in hora sine mora corde pulsum tangite; quod per sortem sternit fortem, mecum omnes plangite!
Good fortune and strength now are turned from me. Affection and defeat are always on duty; come now, pluck the strings without delay; and since by fate the strong are overthrown, weep ye all with me.
Prelude in the Dorian Mode (1936) Antonio de Cabezón (arr. Percy Aldridge Grainger) Percy Aldridge Grainger first scored Antonio de Cabezón’s Prelude in the Dorian Mode for strings in 1934. The wind version was made in 1936 as part of the Chosen Gems for Winds. Chosen Gems is a series of settings of what Grainger called “other people’s music,” twenty-three arrangements ranging from 12th century “English Gothic Music” to Elizabethan violin music to the music of Fauré, Franck and Eugene Goosens. Grainger’s interest in the use of early music scored for winds stemmed from his friendship and collaboration with the British music scholars Dom Anselm Hughes and Arnold Dolmetsch, and the great American musicologist, Gustav Reese. Folk Dances (1942) Dmitri Shostakovich (ed. H. Robert Reynolds) As an artist in Stalin’s Soviet Union, Shostakovich contended with the dominance of the state over artistic product. He adopted a nationalistic style after his pure music was criticized as being neither nationalistic nor socially realistic. The original version of the Folk Dances was scored for the traditional Russian military band. H. Robert Reynolds did the expanded orchestration for modern concert band.
About the Music Director Thomas C. Duffy (b. 1955), composer and conductor, is Professor (adjunct) of Music and Director of Bands at Yale University. He served as Acting Dean of the School of Music in 2005-2006, having served as Associate Dean since 1996 and Deputy Dean since 1999. He has served as a member of the Fulbright National Selection Committee and was a member of the historic Tanglewood II Symposium (2007). He attended the Harvard University Institute for Management and Leadership in Education in 2005. He has served as president of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) and the New England College Band Association (NECBA), editor of the CBDNA Journal, publicity chair for the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and chair of the Connecticut Music Educators Association’s Professional Affairs and Government Relations committees, and has represented music education in Yale’s Teacher Preparation Program. He is member of American Bandmasters Association, American Composers Alliance, Connecticut Composers Inc., the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, and BMI. An active composer with a D.M.A. in composition from Cornell University, where he was a student of Karel Husa and Steven Stucky, he has accepted commissions from the American Composers Forum, the United States Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Army Field Band, and numerous bands, choruses and orchestras. He joined the Yale faculty in 1982. In 2009 he received an award from the United States Attorney’s Office for his innovative program with the Yale Concert Band (Yale 4Peace Rap for Justice) which, through the integration of classical and rap music, addressed gangs, crime and violence in Connecticut’s cities. Upcoming Yale Bands Performances • Saturday, October 11, 2014: Yale Family Weekend Concert. Yale Glee Club, Jeffrey Douma, Music Director; Yale Concert Band, Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director; Yale Symphony Orchestra, Toshiyuki Shimada, Music Director. 7:30 pm, Woolsey Hall. Free. • Sunday, November 16, 2014: Yale Concert Band: A Good Old-Fashioned Band Concert. Overture from Colas Breugnon (Kabalevsky), Molly on the Shore (Grainger), Scenes from the Louvre (Dello Joio), and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, for which the public is invited to bring bells and participate. 2:00 pm, Woolsey Hall. Free. • Wednesday, December 3, 2014: Yale Jazz Ensemble: “The Nutcracker Swings.” Feat. Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. 7:30 pm, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall. Free. • Friday, February 20, 2015: Yale Concert Band: Winter Concert. Suite from Three Penny Opera (Weill); What We Do Is Secret (McLoskey, feat. YSM brass quintet and band). 7:30 pm, Woolsey Hall. Free. For further information please contact: Yale University Bands P.O. Box 209048, New Haven, CT 06520–9048 ph: (203) 432–4113; fax: (203) 432–7213 stephanie.hubbard@yale.edu; www.yale.edu/yaleband
YALE CONCERT BAND 2014-2015 THOMAS C. DUFFY, Music Director STEPHANIE T. HUBBARD, Business Manager Piccolo Joohee Son SY 15* Flute Neyèn Romano MC 16* Principal Paige Breen SY 16* Emma Platoff MC 17 Catherine Lacy BR 18 Jamar Williams SY 17 Oboe Mason Ji MC 16* Principal Timothy Gocklin YSM 15* English Horn Timothy Gocklin YSM 15* Eb Clarinet Andrew Brod BK 17 Clarinet Eugene Kim BK 16* Keith L. Wilson Principal Clarinet Chair Alexander Ringlein BR 18* Jacob Neis SY 17 Anson Wang DC 17 Daniel Hwang TC 16 Ellie Handler ES 18 Liz Jones BR 15 Jimi Mandilk LAW 17 Betsy Li SY 18 Bass Clarinet Mary Wingerson PC 18* Principal Libby Dimenstein MC 17*
Bassoon Benjamin Lawrence ES 17* Principal Lily Sands BR 18* Grant Laster JE 18 Contrabassoon Grant Laster JE 18*
Trombone Curtis Biggs YSM 15* Richard Liverano YSM 16* Jonathan Weisgerber YSM 15 Euphonium Tristan Glowa MC 18 Tuba James Volz SY 15* Principal Matthew Smith JE 18
Alto Saxophone Alex Pappas SM 15* Principal Michael Hoot BR 17* Tenor Saxophone Hayley Kolding SY 17* Baritone Saxophone Alec Mukamal SY 18* Trumpet Patrick Durbin YSM 15* Principal Adé Ben-Salahuddin PC 18* Aaron Krumsieg YSM 16* Benjamin Rudeen MC 17 Holt Sakai BR 18* Miki Sasaki YSM 15† Carl Stanley YSM 15 Grant Swinton MC 18 Katie Trimm BK 18 Timothy Will YSM 15† French Horn John McNamara CC 17* Principal Nishwant Swami SM 17* Leah Surratt PC 18* Derek Boyer BR 18* Brandon Wanke MC 17
Piano David Molina TD 15* String Bass Caleb Small PC 15* Percussion Jonathan Roig ES 18* Principal Matthew Keown YSM 16* Rebecca Leibowitz TC 18* Colum O’Connor BR 18* Terry Sweeny YSM 15* Harp Haley Rhodeside YSM 15* Music Librarian Jacob Neis SY 17
* Performing in Ballade † Performing only in Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral
YALE CONCERT BAND OFFICERS
President: Eugene Kim General Managers: John McNamara, Jacob Neis Social Chairs: Libby Dimenstein, Emma Platoff
Personnel Manager: Anson Wang Publicity Chair: Joohee Son
Yale Concert Band Ghana Tour May 19 - June 1, 2014
Above: The Yale Concert Band and the National Symphony Orchestra Ghana collaborated for an HIV/ AIDS benefit concert at the National Theatre in Accra. Right: In the village of Yamoransa, the Band performed musical and other volunteer services. Pictured are the school children giving a warm welcome to Director Thomas C. Duffy. Below: The Band after a performance at the U.S. Embassy in Accra.