Yale Concert Band: Remembering Keith Wilson

Yale Concert Band

Thomas C. Duffy, Music Director

Remembering Keith Wilson Friday, September 27, 2013 at 7:30 pm

Woolsey Hall, Yale University

JOSEPH WILLCOX JENKINS

American Overture for Band (1956)

ROBERT SPITTAL Pacem: A Hymn for Peace (2004) WALTER PISTON

Tunbridge Fair (1951)

JOHN PHILIP SOUSA The Thunderer (1889) GARY SCHOCKER

Green Places (1992)

I. Topiary

II. Night-Blooming

III. Troll Garden Jake Fridkis, flute

~ INTERMISSION ~

MITCH LEIGH PAUL HINDEMITH (trans. Keith L. Wilson)

The Wilson Wail, or “On to the Taft” (1967) Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber (1943)

I. Allegro

II. Turandot, Scherzo

III. Andantino

IV. Marsch

About Tonight’s Music

American Overture for Band (1956) Joseph Willcox Jenkins

American Overture for Band was Joseph Wilcox Jenkins’ first piece for symphonic band. He wrote the piece for the United States Army Field Band (of which he was arranger from 1951-1953) and dedicated it to its conductor at the time, Chester E. Whiting. Written as a free adaptation of the sonata form, the melodies are constructed of gestures and nuances from the American folk idiom – perfect melodic intervals representing the wide open expanses of the American West and the staccato rhythmic figures that reflect the chatter of telegraph wires across the vast plains and prairies.

Pacem: A Hymn for Peace (2004) Robert Spittal Pacem is derived from one of Robert Spittal’s chamber group compositions. He had intended to use the melody and structure from the original piece, but the size of a wind ensemble offered Spittal a chance to grow and expand his melodies. The resulting Pacem is a beautiful ballad that features full chords, gorgeous melodies, awesome harmonies, and an emotional ending reflecting the scope of the struggle for personal and universal peace.

Tunbridge Fair (1951) Walter Piston Tunbridge Fair was written as a commission from the League of Composers, led by Edwin Franko Goldman, in an effort to build a strong repertoire of American concert band music. When asked to replace his less descriptive original title, Intermezzo for Band, Piston used the diverse and bustling county fair in Tunbridge, Vermont as his inspiration.

Tunbridge Fair stands as a marvel of concise, painstaking craft combined with an energetic and lyrical spirit of expression. Its riotous atmosphere is captured by the bright, bouncy rhythms of the jazzy first voice of the piece, pitted against the smoother, syncopated rhythm of the second voice. The work is bright and loud, yet quietly underscored with subtle humor.

The Thunderer (1889) John Philip Sousa Sousa wrote The Thunderer in 1889. The origin of its title is unclear. According to Marcus Neiman, the march was dedicated to Sousa’s Masonic organization, so it may have some connection to part of the Masonic symbolism or a person within the organization. The title may also refer to the thunderous trumpet and drum parts in the first half of the march. Whatever the case may be, it has stood the test of time as one of Sousa’s most accessible, easily playable marches.

YALE CONCERT BAND Green Places (1992) Gary Schocker Gary Schocker is a world-renowned flutist as well as an award-winning composer. With more than 100 compositions in publication, Schocker has published more pieces for the flute than any other living composer. Flutist James Galway, for whom Green Places was composed, performed the international premiere of the work at Ireland’s Adair Festival in 1992, as well as the American premiere with the New Jersey Symphony in 1993.

In Green Places, Schocker mixes two of his favorite things: idioms and plants. The movements are styled like gardens -- gardens with sprigs of baroque and jazz and classical folk. There’s neo-classical topiary in the chipper, lush, almost courtly first section. A fragrant night oasis arises from the second part’s improvisations, dovetails and winding counterpoint. In the final, most fantastic garden, prancing strings, fanciful solos and a swelling theme conjure a shifty horse ride past trolls.

The Wilson Wail (1967) Mitch Leigh YC ’51, YSM ‘52 Mitch Leigh, renowned composer of Man of La Mancha, wrote this piece in 1967 and dedicated it to his teacher Keith L. Wilson. It was originally entitled On to the Taft, a reference to the historic hotel in downtown New Haven.

Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber (1943) Paul Hindemith (trans. Keith L. Wilson) Symphonic Metamorphosis was premiered by the New York Philharmonic on 20 January 1944, Artur Rodzinski conducting. It has since become one of Hindemith’s more popular and enduring works. It was inspired in part by choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine, who suggested to Hindemith that he compose a ballet based on Weber’s music. However, after watching one of Massine’s ballets and discovering that Massine intended to use sets and costumes designed by Salvador Dali (an artist whom Hindemith disliked), Hindemith decided to part ways with Massine, and the project was dropped. A few years later, Hindemith decided to salvage the music and write a set of variations or metamorphoses instead.

The Weber themes are taken mostly from little-known excerpts from Weber’s Huit Pièces pour le pianoforte à 4 mains and Six Pièces pour le pianoforte à 4 mains, both of which Hindemith and his wife would play together at home. The second movement is based on incidental music Weber wrote for a play by Carlo Gozzi based on the same Turandot legend that later inspired Giacomo Puccini and others.

Believing strongly that Symphonic Metamorphosis should be made available in a band version, Hindemith asked his Yale colleague, Keith Wilson, to consider rendering such an artifact. The resulting transcription, completed in 1961, is now considered a cornerstone of the contemporary concert band repertoire.

Paul Hindemith’s 1960 invitation to colleague Keith Wilson to transcribe for band the Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber

YALE CONCERT BAND

Keith L. Wilson (1916-2013) Keith L. Wilson was appointed to the Yale School of Music faculty in 1946 and taught at Yale for over 40 years before retiring in 1987 at the age of 70. When he joined the faculty, he was the School’s only woodwind professor. During his tenure, he also served as the Associate Dean of the School of Music, Director of the Norfolk Summer School of Music, and, from 1946-72, as Yale Band Director.

In 1956, Wilson conducted members of the Yale Concert Band in the first documented performance of Charles Ives’s Calcium Light Night (Set No. 1, Movement V). In 1959, Wilson led the Yale Band to Europe, on the first international concert tour by any American college band. To this day, the Band continues the tradition of touring, having visited 30 different countries on 26 tours, including a trip earlier this year to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

In 1999 he was awarded the Sanford Medal, the School of Music’s highest honor, in a ceremony during a Yale Concert Band performance. He also received the Gustav Stoeckel Award, which honors faculty who have contributed to the life of the School of Music.

Wilson died peacefully on June 2, 2013 at the age of 96.

About Tonight’s Guest Performer Called a “child prodigy” at age twelve by The Princeton Packet, Jake Fridkis has performed as a soloist throughout the world with concerto appearances in United States, Germany, Italy, France and Brazil. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Music at Yale and studying with Ransom Wilson. He is a member of the new music ensemble Le Train Bleu, led by Ransom Wilson.

Highlights of this coming year include an artist residency at the Banff Music Centre, performing with his YSM quintet on the Yale in New York series at Carnegie Hall, and a guest artist recital appearance at Malone University in Ohio.

An advocate of new music, he has premiered numerous works by Gary Schocker, the worlds most published composer for flute, including two duets with the composer at the National Flute Convention (2005, 2009). Jake continued his musical education at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was awarded the Presidential Scholarship and earned a Bachelor’s of Music degree as a student of Joshua Smith. He was selected as the only student to perform solo at CIM’s 2012 convocation. In Cleveland he served as principal flute in the Ohio Philharmonic and was a member of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra. He performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with the Cleveland Philharmonic, a piece which he had previously performed at the Philadelphia Bach Festival. This is Jake’s second appearance as soloist with the Yale Concert Band after he joined them for D.J. Sparr’s Precious Metal last season.

Jake was a student of Gary Schocker from the time he was 14 until attending CIM. This past summer he attended the Aspen Music Festival and School to study with Mark Sparks. Jake would like to thank his parents for their never ending support throughout his musical journey.

Yale Concert Band on its 26th concert tour, with host Ugnius Vaiginis, Vilnius, Lithuania, May 2013. The Band also toured and performed in Latvia and Estonia.

YALE 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, September 28, 2013: 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.

• Wednesday, October 16, 2013: Yale Jazz Ensemble: Fall Concert. 7:30 pm, Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall. Free.

• Friday, November 15, 2013: Yale Concert Band: Winter Concert. Concerto Grosso (Linn), feat. Robby Moser YSM ’14, trumpet, Zach Quortrup YSM ’14, French horn, and Kevin Dombrowski YSM ’14, trombone; Suite: Gran Partita (Mozart); Angels in the Architecture (Ticheli); Butterflies and Bees! (Duffy). 7:30 pm, Woolsey Hall. Free.

• Sunday, December 8, 2013: Yale Jazz Ensemble at the GPSCY. Two concerts of cabaret jazz, with small and large ensembles. 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Yale’s GPSCY Bar, 204 York St., New Haven. 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 2013-2014 THOMAS C. DUFFY, Music Director STEPHANIE T. HUBBARD, Business Manager KATE GONZALES, Media & Operations Assistant Piccolo Joohee Son SY 15

Bass Clarinet Eric Fung YSM 15

Flute Eve Roth MC 16 Principal Paige Breen SY 16 Emma Platoff MC 17 Jamar Williams SY 17

Bassoon Nick Baskin ES 14 Principal Miguel Goncalves ES 16 Benjamin Lawrence ES 17

Oboe Mason Ji MC 16 Principal Timothy Gocklin YSM 14

Contrabassoon Benjamin Lawrence ES 17

English Horn Kristin Kall YSM 14 Eb Clarinet Andrew Brod BK 17 Clarinet Albert Jiao SY 16 Keith L. Wilson Principal Clarinet Chair Claudia See DC 17 Michael Wang JE 17 Eugene Kim BK 16 Jacob Neis SY 17 Daniel Hwang TC 16 Anson Wang DC 17 Molly Haig DC 14 Libby Dimenstein MC 17 Liz Jones BR 15 Rachel Yen SM 14

Alto Saxophone Alex Pappas SM 15 Principal Jeffrey Ding SY 17 Tenor Saxophone William Gearty BR 14 Baritone Saxophone Catherine Stark BR 16 Trumpet Billy Thomas PC 16 Connor Moseley BK 14 Doron Rose SM 17 Margaret Ott JE 16 Jeffrey March TD 15 David Goerger TD 14

French Horn John McNamara CC 17 Principal Nishwant Swami SM 17 Patrick Jankowski YSM 15 Brandon Wanke MC 17 Sarah Wing Lam Au YSM 14 Trombone Emily Massey JE 14 Principal Melvin Loong SY 14 Noah Steinfeld MC 14 Euphonium Timothy Gladding SY 14 Tuba James Volz SY 15 Principal Quinn White BR 14 Dudley Hall PC 16 String Bass Jonathan Hammonds YSM 14 Percussion Nathaniel Harrington BK 14 Alyssa Hasbrouck MC 14 Erin Maher SM 14 Annie Schweikert BK 15 Georgi Videnov YSM 15 Music Librarian Nick Baskin ES 14

YALE CONCERT BAND OFFICERS President: Rachel Yen Personnel Manager: Eugene Kim Social Chairs: Liz Jones, Billy Thomas Media Specialist: Joohee Son

General Managers: Annie Schweikert, Catherine Stark