Create a Concert: 3•4•18
Four Scottish Dances, by Malcolm Arnold (arr. John Paynter)
I. Pesante
II. Vivace
III. Allegretto
IV. Con brio
Sir Malcolm Arnold (1921–2006), born in Northampton, England, began his musical career at age 20 as a trumpet player in the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Although considered one of the finest players of his time, by age 30, Arnold had given up performing and was focused entirely on composing. His diverse repertoire includes nine symphonies, seven ballets, two operas, one musical, more than 20 concertos, and 132 film scores—among them, Bridge on the River Kwai, for which he won the 1958 Academy Award for Best Original Music Score. (The film also won that year’s Best Picture award.) Malcolm composed many works for brass band and wind band, as well. Four Scottish Dances, completed in 1957, features a set of original works inspired by the rhythms, forms, and timbres of Scottish folk music. The opening movement is in the style of a strathspey, a slow dance from the Spey River Valley of Scotland, and is suggestive of bagpipes. The second movement features the reel, another traditional but lively Scottish dance. The third movement captures the grandeur of the sea and the mountains on a calm summer’s day in the Hebrides, an archipelago extending off Scotland’s west coast. The last movement is a lively fling reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands.
Rhosymedre, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (arr. Walter Beeler)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), born in Gloucestershire, England, was one of the first composers of his generation to travel the English countryside and collect samples of folk music. He considered himself a musical archaeologist in his efforts to preserve more than 800 songs, carols, and hymns. In 1920, Vaughan Williams composed three preludes for organ based on the melodies of Welsh hymns, and today, “Rhosymedre” (sometimes called “Lovely”) is considered the most popular of those preludes. Starting with a simple melody written by Welsh composer J. D. Edwards, Vaughan Williams added a moving bass line and a treble obbligato. “Rhosymedre” has been described as “a piece of grand proportions, with a broad arc that soars with the gradual rise of the tune itself.”
Hungarian Dance No. 1, by Johannes Brahms (transcr. Kenneth Singleton)
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), born in Hamburg, Germany, is one of the most respected and beloved composers of the Romantic period. He wrote across musical genres and forms, producing symphonies, chamber pieces, concertos, piano and organ works, choral compositions, and 200-plus songs. Brahms was highly critical of his own work and spent long hours refining his compositions—sometimes even destroying them in dissatisfaction. He worked on his first symphony for 22 years before premiering the work in 1872. Brahms began Hungarian Dances, a compilation of 21 dances set as piano duets, between 1858 and 1868 (Nos. 1–10) and completed the work in 1880 (Nos. 11–21). He had become familiar with Hungarian and gypsy melodies while touring in 1853 and wanted to capture this fresh, folksy music for a wide audience. Although the pieces are some of Brahms’s most famous, he did not consider them as original but rather as adaptations of other composers’ works. Brahms first orchestrated “Hungarian Dance No. 1” for strings in 1874. Interestingly, he also made an audio recording of part of this dance in 1889 at the invitation of American inventor Thomas Edison.
Intermission
The second half of the concert was determined by audience vote. Here are the seven composer categories that appeared in the program, before the audience vote.
John Philip Sousa (1854–1932) was born in Washington, DC, near the barracks where his father performed in the U.S. Marine Band. At age 13, the young Sousa became an apprentice musician in the band and performed with the group until discharged at age 20. Six years later, in 1880, Sousa returned to the Marine Band as its conductor and set out to transform the group into the nation’s premier military band. He left in 1892, ready for a new challenge, and formed his own civilian band, and during the 40 years he toured with The Sousa Band, he became famous worldwide. Sousa was also a prolific composer, writing not only 136 marches but also 11 operettas, 11 suites, and numerous dance pieces and other songs.
Choose one:
Golden Jubilee March
The Invincible Eagle March
The Pathfinder of Panama March
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961) was born in Australia and spent much of his early life in Europe. A gifted pianist, Grainger made his first public performance at age 10, and he went on to earn a reputation as one of the finest concert pianists of his generation. As a composer, he was strongly influenced by English folk music, and he experimented with existing melodies in many of his works for piano, chamber ensembles, and solo voice and choir. Grainger recorded and collected English folk songs using a wax-cylinder phonograph. He came to the United States at the outbreak of World War I, enlisting in the army band, and he became a U.S. citizen in 1918.
Choose one:
Lincolnshire Posy, Mvmt. 2, Horkstow Grange
Irish Tune from County Derry
Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Doon
Featuring a solo performance against a large ensemble is a long-held concert tradition. That tradition flourished around 1750 with the emergence of the concerto. Virtuoso soloists had become well recognized, and composers often wrote concertos for specific performers, including themselves. Mozart wrote and then premiered 27 of his piano concertos. Jazz has inspired concertos by contemporary composers such as Copland and Bernstein, and other well-known solo works have also come from the world of jazz. Beginning in the 1940s
and 1950s, light-hearted features for soloists and small groups became popularized by
pops orchestras and military bands.
Choose one:
Flute: Meditation from Thaïs, by Jules Massenet
Trombone: Stardust, by Hoagy Carmichael
Percussion: Serenade for a Picket Fence, by Norman Leyden
Gustav Holst (1874–1934) was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and as a young man studied composition at Oxford and the Royal College of Music, where he would later teach. Perhaps best known for his seven-movement orchestral suite The Planets, Holst also composed many other works across a range of genres, including voice and military band. During the revival of the English folk song tradition in the early twentieth century, Holst was influenced by and became friends with fellow composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The two often critiqued each other’s compositions as they wrote them, and Vaughan Williams likely had more influence over Holst’s musical development than anyone else.
Choose one:
Moorside March, from A Moorside Suite
First Suite in E-flat Major, Mvmt. 1, Chaconne
Second Suite in F Major, Mvmt. 4, Fantasia on the “Dargason”
Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) was born in Reno, Nevada, and played in the high school band. He did not begin to study music seriously, however, until he was a college student at the University of Nevada. He later graduated from The Juilliard School and became recognized for his choral compositions and musical innovations, including the launch of his Virtual Choir: an online project involving 185 singers from 12 countries, whose joint recording has been viewed more than 4 million times. Whitacre is recognized worldwide as a composer of choral and instrumental music, as well as a recording artist, musical innovator, and public speaker.
Choose one:
The Seal Lullaby
October
Sleep
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He studied music at Boston Latin School and after graduating entered Harvard University, where he studied composition. At age 25, Bernstein achieved instant fame when as an assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Symphony (and with only 16 hours’ notice), he directed a live radio performance after the scheduled conductor became ill. Bernstein went on to become the Philharmonic’s music director and remained in that position until 1969. Bernstein also composed music, including symphonies, ballets, an opera, a film score, works for violin and chorus with orchestra, several smaller works for solo instruments and chamber groups, and four musicals.
Choose one:
A Simple Song, from Mass
Overture to Candide
Slava!
Karl L. King (1891–1971) was born in Paintersville, Ohio. After learning how to play cornet and then baritone, he performed in and wrote marches for several community bands in Ohio and Illinois. In 1910, he began performing in and composing for the famous circus bands of the day, and he eventually became conductor of the Barnum and Bailey Circus Band. After 10 years, King gave up the circus life and became conductor of the Fort Dodge (Iowa) Municipal Band, a position he held for 50 years. In that role, King was instrumental in passing the 1921 Iowa Band Law, which allowed communities to levy a small tax to support a municipal band. King wrote nearly 300 pieces during his lifetime, including some 200 marches.
Choose one:
Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite March
The Goldman Band March*
Hosts of Freedom March
* Many thanks to Mrs. Rita Flatten, who purchased “The Goldman Band March” for Medalist during the 2017 Give the Gift of Music! program.
Program notes by Susan Freese
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