50th Anniversary Celebration: 3•3•19
Festive Overture, Op. 96, by Dmitri Shostakovich (trans. Donald Hunsberger)
Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) was 11 years old at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution and formation of the Soviet Union by the new communist government. At age 13, he entered the Petrograd Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition, and at age 20, he rose to worldwide fame after composing Symphony No. 1. With his avant-garde styles and satiric themes, Shostakovich established himself as one of the nation’s foremost young composers. However, when Josef Stalin became dictator in the late 1920s, the cultural climate changed dramatically. Shostakovich initially resisted the strict Soviet standards of art and was officially denounced twice. He later complied, but many of his works are interpreted as indicating contempt for the Soviet government. During his career, Shostakovich composed 15 symphonies, numerous chamber works and concerti, several operas, and even many film scores. He wrote “Festive Overture” in 1954 on a commission from the Bolshoi Theatre to commemorate the 1917 revolution, and he completed the piece in less than a week. Today, Shostakovich is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century and likely the greatest to emerge from the Soviet Union. This setting of “Festive Overture” is by Donald Hunsberger (b. 1932), a noted American conductor and arranger who is conductor emeritus of the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Irish Tune from County Derry, by Percy A. Grainger
Percy Grainger (1882–1961) was born in Australia, but he spent much of his early life in Europe and immigrated to the United States as a young man. In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, Grainger enlisted in a U.S. Army Band, playing oboe and soprano saxophone. He completed his first band setting of “Irish Tune from County Derry” for the Army Band in 1918—the same year he became a U.S. citizen. The piece is based on a folk melody from the Irish county of Derry. Grainger’s interest in folk music stemmed, in large part, from his friendship with Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, to whom he dedicated the piece.
Concert Polka: Jenny Wren, by Roland Davis (arr. David Werden)
The name Jenny Wren is used to refer to a female blue wren or another small, perching songbird and also appears in literature and popular music. Charles Dickens included Jenny Wren as a character in his last novel, Our Mutual Friend, published in 1865; the girl cared for her alcoholic father and was a sympathetic figure. Paul McCartney wrote a song called “Jenny Wren” and released it on a 2005 album. The wren is reportedly his favorite bird, and Dickens is one of his favorite authors. The song tells of a girl with a lovely voice whose broken heart “took her song away.” This band arrangement of “Concert Polka: Jenny Wren” is by David Werden, a well-known euphonium soloist. Today’s soloist is Medalist’s principal euphonium, Lee Dummer.
Lee Dummer, Euphonium
Amazing Grace, Traditional (arr. William Himes)
The words of this traditional hymn were composed in 1772 by Englishman John Newton, and for many years, they were sung to the melodies of more than 20 songs. In 1831, the words of “Amazing Grace” were put to the melody by which it’s known today: an early American folk song called “Loving Lambs.” Composer and arranger William Himes (b. 1939) has composed or arranged more than 170 works for choral and instrumental groups. Since 1977, he has served as head of the The Salvation Army’s U.S.A. Central Territory Music and Gospel Arts Department.
Al Hansen, Photo Presentation
Medalist March, by Arlin Snesrud
Arlin Snesrud (b. 1939) was one of the founding members of Medalist Concert Band, and he served as the group’s president for much of its early history. Snesrud is also credited with naming the group. At a planning meeting in the fall of 1968, he suggested the name Medalist, taken from a golf term, to denote outstanding performance, and the name was adopted unanimously. Several years later, Snesrud, a professional arranger and music copyist, composed “The Medalist March” and dedicated it to the band. After publishing the march in 1971, he turned full time to writing and arranging. “Snes,” as he is fondly known, moved to Arizona in 1983, where he lives with his wife Jan, also a former Medalist member.
King Cotton, by John Philip Sousa (ed. Frederick Fennell)
“March King” John Philip Sousa (1854–1932) began his career in the U.S. Marine Band at age 13, serving as an apprentice. He became leader of the Marine Band at age 26 and served in that position for 12 years, when he resigned to form his own band. Sousa had the ability to lead and conduct talented musicians, and he also developed a flair for writing marches. By the time of his death at age 78, he had composed 136 marches, along with a variety of other works. Sousa wrote “King Cotton” in 1895 for the Cotton States and International Exposition. The term king cotton denoted the historical importance of cotton as a cash crop in the South. Sousa and his band drew huge audiences at fairs and expos, and their well-attended appearance at the Cotton Expo saved the event from financial failure.
Intermission
Gloria in Mundo Pax, by Mark Wolfram
Mark E. Wolfram (b. 1954) grew up in Bloomington and studied music with Earl C. Benson, conducting with Václav Nelhybel and Alfred Reed, and composition and arranging with Frank Bencriscutto. Wolfram earned a Bachelor of Music degree at Northwestern University, where he studied with John P. Paynter and Frank Crisafulli, and he continued his studies at UCLA and USC. Wolfram has written for many musical stars, has composed music for several TV shows and numerous cartoons and awards shows, and continues to compose for films, recordings, and advertising, as well as the concert stage. “Gloria in Mundo Pax” (“Hymn to World Peace”) explores the struggle between harmony and dissonance, positive and negative, good and evil. In the composer’s words: “Sometimes, human strife dominates, leaving little room for harmony and peace, and at other times, the soothing, powerful balm of love and understanding prevail over the din of troubled times.” Wolfram describes this work as “an allegory for our times, in which we must strive to create and maintain a better world for all.”
For Dr. Earl C. Benson and the Medalist Concert Band in Celebration of Their Fiftieth Anniversary
Komm, Süsser Tod, by Johann Sebastian Bach (trans. Alfred Reed)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was from a large family of northern German musicians. He became a proficient organist after studying with his eldest brother and served in various positions as church organist and court musician. He wrote “Komm, Süsser Tod” (“Come, Sweet Death”) when he was chapel master and director of choral music in Leipzig as one of a set of 69 sacred songs and arias. Although many of the melodies in the set were from existing works of music, this melody is believed to be an original Bach composition. Bach was not recognized as an extraordinary composer until the 1800s, when several biographies of him were written and all of his known music had been published. Although more than 1,000 of Bach’s compositions have been published, just as many are believed to have been lost. This transcription of “Komm, Süsser Tod” by Alfred Reed (1921–2005) is a masterful interpretation for the instrumental setting.
Someday, Sweetheart, by John Spikes and Reb Spikes (arr. Stan Bann)
Brothers John (1882–1955) and Benjamin Franklin “Reb” (1888–1982) Spikes were not only musicians but also entrepreneurs. After managing a traveling jazz band, they settled in Los Angeles and started a music store, a nightclub, an agency, and a publishing house. They sold and published jazz music and were the first to record an all-black jazz band. The Spikes brothers wrote “Someday, Sweetheart” in 1919. First recorded in 1921 by blues singer Alberta Hunter, the song became a hit and was performed by Jelly Roll Morton, Count Basie, Woody Herman, and Jimmy Dorsey, among others. The vengeful lyrics warn that “Someday, sweetheart, You’re gonna be sorry for what you’ve done to my poor heart…. But as you sow, So shall you reap, dear!” This arrangement is by Stan Bann, Medalist’s principal trombone player and a well-known Twin Cities musician.
Cheryl Bann, Clarinet
Celebrations, by John Zdechlik
John Zdechlik (b. 1937) was born in Minneapolis and played trumpet and piano as a boy. At age 16, he played in and arranged music for local dance bands and was especially interested in the works of Stan Kenton and Count Basie. Zdechlik earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from the University of Minnesota, and he served as assistant to conductor Dr. Frank Bencriscutto from 1963 to 1970. Zdechlik went on to teach music theory and composition and to conduct instrumental groups at Century College in White Bear Lake; he retired in 1997 after almost 30 years. Zdechlik has published more than 60 compositions for band, small ensembles, and soloists, and several of his pieces are standards in the wind band repertoire. Among his many commissioned works is “Celebrations,” written for the Medalist Concert Band to celebrate the group’s twentieth anniversary in 1988.
March of the Steel Men, by Charles S. Belsterling (arr. Harry L. Alford; ed. J. Jurrens)
Charles S. Belsterling (1874–1959) was born in Philadelphia to a prominent family. He became a lawyer and a successful businessman, eventually serving as president of U.S. Steel. Throughout his life, he dabbled at writing music, and in the early 1930s, he published “The Ambassador,” a march written for piano. In 1936, after hearing the Joliet (Illinois) High School Band perform at a U.S. Steel function, he contacted Harry L. Alford—then one of the finest arrangers of band music in the United States—and hired him to score “The Ambassador” for band. The piece was renamed “The March of the Steel Men” and premiered by the Joliet High School Band on March 19, 1937. The Steel Men are the school’s mascots.
Dr. Earl C. Benson, Emeritus Conductor
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