Masterworks 1: Countdown!

Program

1. 

   Overture in Five Flat

   Julie Giroux · 5:00

   Composed for the 2010-2011 Missouri All State Band Sponsored by the Missouri Bandmasters Association, In Honor of Dr. Lowell Graham. The first page of the score sums up the nature of this piece by stating: "Quarter Note = "You've got 5 minutes." The piece is not in five flats but in the key of Bb and for the most part lays comfortably on the instruments. Exciting and virtuoustic, Overture in Five Flat even if not played in exactly five minutes should please audiences and players alike. If you do in fact end at the exact 5 minute timing, that's wonderful. If you play it in under 5 minutes, well of course, you win! Towards the end of the score there is an increase in tempo. The rest of the tempos are for you to pick. There is a slight hint at tempo in the cover art. Good luck and may the force be with you. - Program Note by composer

2. 

   Symphony No. 4

   Andrew Boysen · 13:59

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   Phil LaneGuest Conductor

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   Symphony No. 4 follows a traditional form. However, the entire work is based on the octatonic scale, an alternation of half-steps and whole-steps. By using this scale, the Symphony includes both great dissonance as well as great consonance in sounds and colors, and creates a unique work for band. - Program Note from the University of North Dakota University Band concert program, 13 October 2020 Symphony No. 4 for Winds and Percussion was commissioned by and dedicated to the McCracken Middle School Symphonic Band (Skokie, Illinois). It was premiered at the 2004 Illinois Music Educators Association All-State Conference on January 30, 2004, with the composer conducting. Written in four movements, Symphony No. 4 derives most of its motivic material from its opening two measures. Several extended techniques and contemporary compositional methods are used throughout the work. These include bowed percussion, dissonance, aleatoric music, unmetered measures, singing, and extended use of the octatonic scale. - Program Note from McCracken Middle School Symphonic Band concert program, 22 December 2006

3. 

   Armenian Dances, Part Two

   Alfred Reed · 20:25

   Armenian Dances, Part II is the final three movements of the complete suite. Included are The Peasant’s Plea, Wedding Dance, and Songs of Lori. Imaginatively developed from the Armenian folk song collections of Gomidas Vertabed. Armenian Dances, Part Two was commissioned by the A.G.B.U. Alex Manoogian Cultural Fund and dedicated to Dr. Harry Begian. - Program Note from publisher In his Armenian Dances (Part II), Reed has captured many of the styles, tempos, and subtleties of the Armenian folk songs and dances. Part II was commissioned after the highly successful premiere of Part I, which was completed in 1977. The two parts comprise a full-length symphony. Reed, acting as arranger and composer, drew his inspirations from the vast collection of Gomidas Vartabed (1869-1935). Gomidas has been credited as the founder of Armenian classical music for his work on preserving and documenting over four thousand folk songs. Khoomar is a female Armenian name. This movement is based on a light-hearted song that depicts how two young people meet and marry. The wedding dance conveys the joy and excitement of the occasion. Lorva Horovel is a plowing song from the district of Lori. The multiple themes in this movement are varied in rhythmic and melodic structure. They reflect the physical and spiritual feelings of the farmer as he proceeds with his work. The sheer effort of this undertaking sets a heavy tone to the movement as the brass and percussion make their introductory proclamations. The farmer pleads with his oxen to put themselves into the task. Good progress and bright spirits are represented by a fast dance common to Eastern Armenia. A slow and plaintive song (Giligia) tells of a longing for his country and lost homeland. The mood picks up with a presto dance theme that builds to a dramatic closing. - Program Note by William V. Johnson for the San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra concert program, 14 April 2007

4. 

   Cajun Folk Songs Part 2

   Frank Ticheli · 10:15

   Continuing and expanding the style of his first set of Cajun Folk Songs, composer Frank Ticheli has written a work in two contrasting movements. The first, Ballad, is a melancholy song fleshed out with starkly beautiful textures and harmonies. This breathtaking movement gives way to a brash and energetic cowboy hoe-down that's delightfully entertaining. - Program Note from publisher Commissioned by the Indiana Bandmasters Association - Program Note from score This work is the second set of folk songs composed as a tribute to the people of the old Cajun culture. Cajuns are descendants of the Acadians, a group of early French colonists who settled in Nova Scotia and were driven south to Louisiana by the British in the mid-1750s. Louisiana-born Frank Ticheli based these works on folk melodies whose precise origins are unknown, freely combining them with original music. In the first movement, he opens with a personal reflective brass chorale, followed by two different settings of a Cajun folk song. This melancholy Ballad, with its starkly beautiful textures and harmonies, is followed by a brash and lively Country Dance. This music evokes the energetic feeling and style of a Cajun two-step, a form commonly used in the dance halls of southern Louisiana that has stylistic similarities to Scottish folk dances and the American hoedown. - Program Note from Iowa State University Symphonic Band concert program, 20 April 2018

5. 

   Zoom

   Scott Boerma · 4:00

   The word "zoom" took on a new meaning during the pandemic of 2020-21. Meetings, classes, social gatherings, and holiday celebrations took the form of online video conferences that were generically called "Zooms." Those of us in the musical profession often had to resort to makeshift, substitute forms of ensemble performances that often resembled these gatherings. One upside for me was a weekly Zoom hang that developed with four of my closest friends (all university band conductors) from across the country. One of those friends is Jamie Nix, for whom I was commissioned by his former graduate students to write this piece, in celebration of his tenth year as Director of Wind Ensembles at Columbus State University. A common theme in our weekly chats was our unbridled enthusiasm (and impatience) to get back to what we love the most, making live music with our students. All of us have felt like we've been feverishly revving our engines behind the starting line, breathlessly waiting to see the green flag fly, knowing that the checkered flag awaits on the other side. Well, start your engines...because here we go...full speed ahead! — Scott Boerma, May 5, 2021 Commissioned by the Dr. Jamie L. Nix 10-Year Anniversary Consortium.

Program notes