Download Carolina Wind Symphony Spring 2014 Program Notes

Carolina Wind Symphony
Spring 2014 Program Notes
Nabucco (Overture)………………………………………Giuseppi Verdi (1813-1901)
The Nabucco Overture (short for Nebuchadnezzar) comes from Verdi’s opera, which
tells the Biblical story of the defeat, and exile of the Jews from their homeland by the
Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Composed in 1842, it was the first major success
from the operatic composer who would later write La Traviata, and Aida. The overture
begins with a low brass chorale that represents the steadfast faith of the Hebrews in
their time of defeat and enslavement. Contained in the overture is the famous, Va
pensiero, in which the chorus of Hebrew slaves sing longingly of their lost homeland,
“Go, my thoughts, on golden wings; fly and settle on the slopes and hills.” The chorus
was soon embraced as an iconic voice in the struggle for Italian Unification. In 1901,
the 100,000 mourners attending Verdi’s funeral spontaneously sang Va pensiero as
their choral benediction to Italy’s beloved composer.
Down a Country Lane…...…………………….………...Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
In 1962 Life Magazine commissioned Aaron Copland to write a solo piano work for
young students. The June 29, 1962 issue of Life included an article entitled, “Our
Bumper Crop of Beginning Piano Players”. Featured along with the article was Down A
Country Lane. In the article, Copland cautioned that, “this composition is a bigger
challenge than it first looks, and even third-year students will have to practice it before
trying it out in public.” Copland adapted thematic material for the piano solo from a
1945 soundtrack for The Cummington Story, a film distributed by the Office of War
Information depicting the successful assimilation of Eastern European refugees into a
small New England town. Like his film score for the film adaptation of Thornton
Wilder’s Our Town, Copland’s music conjures up the imagery a rich New England
Autumn. Copland was quick to point out that, “The music is descriptive only in an
imaginative, not a literal sense. I didn’t think to the title until the piece was finished.
Down A Country Lane just happened to fit its flowing quality.”
Aaron Copland occupies a special place in twentieth century American music; it is a
part of the vernacular of American musical culture... How could this man, a Jew from
Brooklyn, the son of immigrant parents from Russia, educated in Paris by Nadia
Boulanger, speak a musical language immediately understood by all Americans?
Perhaps it is the absolute directness of the music - the lack of ambiguity or pretension that strikes us as so American. We are, after all, for better or for worse, a people who
value such directness of expression - it is truly "a gift to be simple", even a virtue. In a
century of ever-increasing musical complexities, Copland stood out: a clear voice, a
voice for "the common man" in each of us. -Hugh Wolff, Conductor - The Saint Paul
Chamber Orchestra
British Eighth.…………………………………………...……….Zo Elliott (1891-1964)
On the title page of British Eighth March by Alonzo (Zo) Elliott is the following
inscription: “Dedicated to the members of the immortal British Eighth Army and
accepted for them by General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. “ What many consider as a
quintessential “British March” was actually composed by a “preppy” New Englander.
Alonzo Elliott was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. He received his education
from Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts), Yale University, Cambridge
University (England), Columbia University Law School, and the American Conservatory
(France). His teachers included Nadia Boulanger and Leonard Bernstein. British
Eighth was composed by Elliott shortly after a triumphant sweep across North Africa
when the Eighth Army under the leadership of General Montgomery defeated the
famed Afrikakorps and their first commander, Erwin Rommel.
Intermission
A Childhood Remembered…………………………..........Rosanno Galante (b. 1967)
Born in Buffalo, New York, Mr. Galante received his Bachelor of Arts in trumpet
performance from SUNY at Buffalo in 1992. That same year he was one of nineteen
people from across the country accepted to the University of Southern California’s
Film Scoring Program. He studied with the late Jerry Goldsmith (The Omen, The
Wind and the Lion, Star Trek, Rudy) In 1999 he moved to California to pursue a
career in film composition and orchestration.
Watchman, Tell Us of the Night...…………………….....Mark Camphouse (b. 1954)
A Hymn for all children, Watchman, Tell Us of the Night portrays the loneliness, loss of
innocence and yet enduring hope of the survivor of child abuse. The work is a musical
tribute to survivors, often dreamlike in nature, as seen through the eyes of the child.
The title for the composition is taken from John Browning's 1825 text, Watchman, Tell
Us of the Night. This text is frequently sung as alternate lyrics to John Elvey's hymn
tune, St. George’s Windsor - also known as the “Thanksgiving Hymn”, Come, Ye
Thankful People Come. “Watchman, tell us of the night. For the morning seems to
dawn; Traveler, darkness takes its flight; Doubt and terror are withdrawn. Watchman,
let thy wanderings cease; hie thee to thy quiet home. Traveler, yes; it brings the day.
Healing wholeness now has come!”
Amazing Grace………………………….……………………Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)
A Note To Performers from Frank Ticheli... I wanted my setting of AMAZING GRACE to
reflect the powerful simplicity of words and melody – to be sincere, to be direct, to be
honest – and not through the use of novel harmonies and clever tricks, but by traveling
paths in search of truth and authenticity. I believe that music has the power to take us
to a place that words alone cannot. And so my own feelings about “Amazing Grace”
reside in the setting itself. The harmony, texture, orchestration, and form are
inseparable, intertwined so as to be perceived as a single expressive entity. The
spiritual “Amazing Grace,” was written by John Newton (1725-1807), a slaveship
captain who, after years of transporting slaves across the Atlantic Ocean to the New
World, suddenly saw through divine grace the evilness of his acts. First published in
1835 by William “Singin’ Billy” Walker in the Southern Harmony, “Amazing Grace” has
since grown to become one of the most beloved of all American spirituals. - Frank
Ticheli - May 11, 1994