Marine Corps Band New Orleans Independence Day Concert 2016 Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marinecorpsbandneworleans YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/#/user/MarineBandNewOrleans Instagram: https://instagram.com/mcbnola/
Ever wonder what it would be like to march in a Marine Band? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P-u_eEu4N24
Marine Bandsmen are still held to the rigorous physical fitness standards of the Marine Corps: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RMXzTlFGBEY 1|Page
Officer in Charge Biography: Chief Warrant Officer 3, Michael J. Smith Chief Warrant Officer 3, Michael J. Smith, a native of Terre Haute, Indiana, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1987. Upon completing Recruit Training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, he was meritoriously promoted to Private First Class and transferred to the Armed Forces School of Music at the Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, Virginia for the six-month basic musician’s course as drummer with the Drum and Bugle Corps. After completing the Basic Musician’s Course at the Armed Forces School of Music and receiving his next promotion, Lance Corporal Smith reported to the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps in Albany, Georgia. At the conclusion of 1989, by a decision of the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Albany Drum and Bugle Corps was replaced with a band. Lance Corporal Smith was promoted to Corporal when the Albany Marine Band stood-up in January of 1990. Later that same year during Operation Desert Shield when ground combat was determined eminent, Corporal Smith was sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. There he trained with Combat Replacement Regiment Six and deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield with perimeter security platoons for Naval Fleet Hospital 15 in Al Jubail, and 1st Medical Battalion in Al Khanjar. At the conclusion of Desert Storm, Corporal Smith returned and resumed his duties as a percussionist with the Albany Marine Band. After Corporal Smith was promoted to Sergeant, he was transferred to Okinawa Japan in 1994 for duty with the III Marine Expeditionary Force Band, where he served as the Percussion Section Leader and Platoon Sergeant. Highlights of that tour included several the 50th Anniversaries of several WW II battles in the Pacific to include the Battle of Iwo Jima, where Sergeant Smith reenlisted once again, but this time at the top of Mount Surabachi at the location where the famous flag raising took place. After Japan, and completion of the six-month intermediate course at the Armed Forces School of Music, Sergeant Smith transferred to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Band in Parris Island, South Carolina. There Sergeant Smith was promoted to Staff Sergeant and served as the Percussion Section Commander and Public Affairs Chief. Staff Sergeant Smith once again returned to the Armed Forces School of Music for six-months to attend the Advanced Course, then transferred to the Marine Corps Band in Quantico, Virginia, as the Operations Chief and Enlisted Band Leader. In 2000, Staff Sergeant Smith was selected for Warrant Officer and reported to the 2nd Marine Division Band in June 2001 for his first assignment as a Marine Corps Band Officer. In 2004, the 2nd Marine Division Band was augmented with an additional 100 Marines and in 2005 they deployed to Iraq as the primary Guard Force for the 2nd Marine Division Headquarters Forward at Camp 2|Page
Blue Diamond, Al Ramadi, Iraq with 142 Marines. Returning to Camp Lejeune with 142 after the mission was complete; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Smith was transferred to Marine Corps Forces Reserve Headquarters in 2006 for duty as the Band Officer of the New Orleans Marine Band in Louisiana. The Band and Command was very much involved with the recovery of post-Katrina, New Orleans, and the Gulf Coast. On the 4th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the Band culminated all of the physical and musical recovery efforts by presenting the ultimate gift of music to the people of New Orleans, a commission composed by Robert W. Smith entitled “Promising Skies”, inspired by their “Spirit of Rebirth” and dedicated to the people of New Orleans. The piece was debuted to a standing-room-only audience inside the iconic Saint Louis Cathedral in the heart of the French Quarter, receiving a sevenminute standing ovation. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Smith was then selected for the Officer College Degree (Completion) Program. Remaining in New Orleans, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Smith attended and graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. In June of 2011, Chief Warrant Officer Smith reported for duty assignment as Officer in Charge and Principle Conductor of the Marine Forces Pacific Band where he and the band represented our Country and Corps in 70th Anniversary ceremonies commemorating historic events and battles of World War II. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Smith returned to Marine Corps Forces Reserve Headquarters in June 2015 and once again resumed his duties as Officer in Charge and Principle Conductor of the Marine Corps Band New Orleans.
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Enlisted Conductor Biography: Enlisted Conductor, Gunnery Sergeant Justin A. Hauser A native of Albany, New York, Gunnery Sergeant Justin Hauser attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., in May of 2002 after attending the State University of New York at Fredonia. Following Marine Combat Training, Gunnery Sergeant Hauser reported to the Armed Forces School of Music in September of 2002. Upon graduation of the Basic Musician Course, he reported to the III Marine Aircraft Wing Band in Miramar, California. While a member of this unit, Gunnery Sergeant Hauser served as a clarinet instrumentalist, Public Affairs NCOIC, Assistant Enlisted Conductor, Supply NCOIC, and Sergeant of the Guard. He also deployed to Iraq for two tours of duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, where he served as Sentry and Sergeant of the Guard. In August of 2007, Gunnery Sergeant Hauser transferred to the Parris Island Marine Band in South Carolina, serving as clarinet instrumentalist, Operations Chief, and the band’s Acting Enlisted Conductor. He was selected to attend the Unit Leader Course at the Naval School of Music in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in December 2010. Upon graduation, Gunnery Sergeant Hauser remained on staff where he taught in the Basic Academics and Rehearsal Division departments. He also served as the Equal Opportunity Officer for the Marine Detachment and in September of 2014 attended the Senior Musician Course, graduating in May of 2015. Gunnery Sergeant Hauser assumed his current position as the Enlisted Conductor of Marine Corps Band New Orleans in June of 2015.
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Concert Program Concert Opener “For a Patriotic Celebration” Charles Mekealian Charles Mekealian is a Sergeant currently serving as a trumpet instrumentalist with Marine Corps Band New Orleans. A native of Sanger, California, Mekealian performs routinely in the Marine Corps Band New Orleans Concert Band and Brass Quintet, and has arranged several works for those and various other ensembles within the Band. Concert Opener for a “Patriotic Celebration” was composed in 2015, and premiered by Marine Corps Band New Orleans. It is a bold and powerful fanfare featuring the brass section along with the tympani, perfect for the opening selection of a concert for an American holiday. There are subtle hints of “The Star Spangled Banner” within the piece and the abundant layering written in the music is representative of our countries trials throughout its history.
United States of America National Anthem The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics by Francis Scott Key John Stafford Smith Established as America’s National Anthem in 1931, lyrics for “The Star-Spangled Banner” were penned as a poem by Francis Scott Key, originally entitled “The Defense of Fort McHenry.” Key was born on August 1st, 1779 in Frederick County, Maryland. He became a successful lawyer, and was eventually appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. After a series of trade agreements, America declared war on Great Britain on June 18th, 1812. After British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building, and Library of Congress, they set their sights on Baltimore. When British ships bombarded Fort McHenry, Key was aboard a British ship, negotiating the release of prisoners. We watched the bombing campaign take place approximately 8 miles from his location. When the British gave up their attack and withdrew, leaving behind a battered – but still standing – Fort McHenry, the sunrise illuminating the tattered American flag atop the fort was Key’s inspiration for the poem. Circulating by way of newspapers, and set to the music of an English tune entitled “To Anacreon in Heaven” by John Stafford Smith, people began to call the song “The Star-Spangled Banner”. In 1916, 5|Page
28th President Woodrow Wilson directed it to be played at all official events, and it was adopted as the national anthem of the United States of America on March 3rd, 1931.
Captain America March Composer: Alan Silvestri Alan Silvestri was born on March 26, 1950 and is an American composer and conductor who works primarily in film and television. Silvestri started his film/television composing career in 1972 at age 21, composing the score for the low-budget action film The Doberman Gang. From 1977 to 1983, Silvestri served as the main composer for the television series CHiPs, writing music for 109 of the series' 139 episodes. Silvestri met producer Robert Zemeckis, when the two worked together on Zemeckis's film Romancing the Stone (1984). Since then, Silvestri has composed the music for all of Zemeckis's movies, including the Back to the Future trilogy (1985-1990), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007), A Christmas Carol (2009), Flight (2012) and The Walk (2015). In 1989, Silvestri composed the score for the James Cameron-directed blockbuster The Abyss, and is also known for his work on the films Predator (1987) and Predator 2 (1990), both of which are considered preeminent examples of action/science fiction film scores. Since 2001, Silvestri has also collaborated regularly with director Stephen Sommers, scoring the films The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004), and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009). His most recent work includes The Avengers (2012), The Croods (2013), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Silvestri has also composed music for television series, including T. J. Hooker (one episode), Starsky & Hutch (three episodes), Tales from the Crypt (seven episodes). In 2014, he composed the award-winning music for the science documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. On 31 January 2014, it was announced that a stage musical adaptation of Back to the Future was in production. The show, which is being co-written by original writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, is expected to be performed in 2015, on the 30th anniversary year of the film. Silvestri will team up with Glen Ballard to compose a new score, with the addition of original songs from the film, including "The Power of Love", "Johnny B. Goode", "Earth Angel" and "Mr. Sandman". Captain America March can be heard in small bits throughout the movie, Captain America: The First Avenger. The theme personifies the patriotic nature of a young Steve Rogers during World War 2 with the U.S. Army’s fight against the Axis powers in Europe.
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March of the Resistance & Scherzo for X-Wings Composer: John Williams John Williams was born on 8 February, 1932 in New York. He is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning over sixty years, Williams has composed some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in cinematic history, including Jaws, the Star Wars series, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and the first three Harry Potter films. Notable works by Williams include theme music for the Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, "The Mission" theme used by NBC News, the television series Lost in Space and the incidental music for the first season of Gilligan's Island. Williams has composed numerous classical pieces and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments; he served as the Boston Pops' principal conductor from 1980 to 1993.
Williams is the recipient of five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and 22 Grammy Awards. With 50 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams' score to 1977's Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to Star Wars was additionally preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry, for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. Williams was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016. Williams composed the score for eight movies in the Top 20 highest grossing films at the U.S. box office. March of the Resistance is one of the featured themes from “Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens”. This piece is theme for the coalition, the Resistance, meant to infiltrate the New Order who is trying to regain control of the galaxy which was lost by the Empire three decades earlier. Heavy brass and a new heroic melody emerge into Star Wars with new heroes and sounds that continue to add to the John Williams “Symphony” that is Star Wars. Scherzo for X-Wings takes place during the final aerial battle in “Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens”. “Scherzo” is a musical style that is typically written in a fast three beat pattern and is the first of its kind in the Star Wars soundtrack. John Williams wanted to add more musical variety to his Star Wars score and decided that it was time for a scherzo. A scherzo is typically written in the second to last movement of a traditional symphony. The Star Wars theme (Luke’s theme) is prevalent throughout the piece and mixed in with many rhythmic and chromatic elements. The “Force Theme” is heard at the end of the piece tying in the fact that this mystic power surrounds everything. 7|Page
Trooper Salute Composer: Jay Bocook Jay Bocook pays tribute to the rich heritage of the Troopers Drum Corps in this tapestry of Americana. Thematic material from "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," "Shenandoah," "The Battle Cry of Freedom" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is skillfully woven into a breathtaking production number. Jay Bocook is a professional composer and arranger, and also the Director of Athletic Bands at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. He was born in Clearwater, Florida in 1953 and received a Bachelor of Music degree from Furman University in 1975, and went on to receive a Master of Music degree from University of Louisiana at Monroe,. He is an alumnus of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national men's music fraternity. Bocook became a Sinfonian at Furman University, joining the Gamma Eta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1972. He was also inducted into the Theta Lambda chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota as a National Arts Associate in 2006.
Concord Composer: Clare Grundman Clare Grundman was born in Cleveland and graduated from Shaw High School in East Cleveland in 1930. He then attended The Ohio State University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 1934. For a few years he taught instrumental music in Ohio and Kentucky public schools, but returned to Ohio State in 1937, where he taught orchestration, applied lessons in woodwind instruments, and conducted the band. He received his MA degree in 1940. After finishing his degree he moved to New York. He then studied composition with Paul Hindemith at the Berkshire Music Center, and served as a military musician in the United States Coast Guard from 1942 to 1945. Among his many awards were an Honorary Membership in the Women Band Directors International (1974), the AWAPA award of the National Band Association (1982), the American Bandmasters Association’s Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation (1983), the Sudler Order of Merit of the John Philip Sousa Foundation (1990), and the American School Band Directors Association’s Goldman Award (1992). In addition to his musical accomplishments he coauthored the 1974 New York Times Crossword Puzzle Dictionary.
Grundman composed scores for films, radio, and television, as well as orchestrations for Broadway musicals. He also wrote a few works for various chamber ensembles and for full orchestra. However, he is best known for his many compositions and arrangements for symphonic band. Many of his band 8|Page
pieces are rhapsodies or fantasies on folk tunes from various countries. They are often played by American high school bands, especially An Irish Rhapsody, but he also used melodies from England, Finland, Japan, Norway, and Scotland. Concord was commissioned by the United States Marine Band, it includes three traditional tunes from colonial New England: The White Cockade, America and Yankee Doodle.
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine Composer: John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer, conductor, band leader, and author of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries particularly remembered for his American military marches. A Freemason, Sousa was fascinated by what the group considered mystical qualities in otherwise natural phenomena. He also composed a march, "Nobles of the Mystic Shrine," dedicated to the high degree freemasonry Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The march is elaborately scored for traditional band instrumentation.
Variations on America Composer: Charles Ives Composed in 1891 when Ives was seventeen, is an arrangement of a traditional tune, known as "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (words by Samuel Francis Smith), and at the time the de facto anthem of the United States. The tune is also widely recognised in Thomas Arne's orchestration as the British National Anthem, "God Save the Queen", and in the former anthems of Russia ("The Prayer of the Russians", from 1816 to 1833), Switzerland ("Rufst du, mein Vaterland", until 1961), and Germany ("Heil dir im Siegerkranz", from 1871 to 1918), as well as being the current national anthem of Liechtenstein ("Oben am jungen Rhein") and royal anthem of Norway. Ives prepared it for a Fourth of July celebration in 1892 at the Methodist church where he was organist in Brewster, New York. He performed it for the first time on February 17, 1892, and made revisions to the work until 1894.
The interludes are Ives's first notated use of bitonality: the first combines F major for the right hand and D-flat major for the left hand and pedals, whilst the second combines A-flat major and F major. Ives' biographer Jan Swafford notes that whilst it might be tempting to hear Variations on "America" as a satire, the probability is that Ives meant the work as a sincere exercise in variations for organ. He adds that whilst Ives was capable of musical jokes, they are usually considerably broader than here. Ives was 9|Page
not deaf to its comic potential however: he later noted that his father "didn't let me do it much, as it made the boys laugh" in church.
The Blues Brothers Review Composer: Jay Bocook This fun medley is non-stop excitement! Composer Jay Bocook comprised this tune of the up tempo soulful hits: I Can't Turn You Loose; Soul Man; Soul Finger and Everybody Needs Somebody To Love. Featuring music from the 1980 Dan Akroyd and John Belushi movie “The Blues Brothers”. Akroyd grew up playing the blues and turned Belushi on to the genre when they worked together on Saturday Night Live. They originally created the Blues Brothers for a sketch on the show. They went on to not only make the movie but record a number of albums as their characters Jake and Elwood blues.
Bolero Composer: Maurice Ravel Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by the French composer Maurice Ravel (1875–1937). Originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian actress and dancer Ida Rubinstein, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is Ravel's most famous musical composition. Before Boléro, Ravel had composed large scale ballets (such as Daphnis et Chloé, composed for the Ballets Russes 1909– 1912), suites for the ballet (such as the second orchestral version of Ma mère l'oye, 1912), and one-movement dance pieces (such as La valse, 1906–1920). Apart from such compositions intended for a staged dance performance, Ravel had demonstrated an interest in composing re-styled dances, from his earliest successes – the 1895 Menuet and the 1899 Pavane – to his more mature works like Le tombeau de Couperin, which takes the format of a dance suite. Boléro epitomises Ravel's preoccupation with restyling and reinventing dance movements. It was also one of the last pieces he composed before illness forced him into retirement. The two piano concertos and the Don Quichotte à Dulcinée song cycle were the only compositions that followed Boléro. The work had its genesis in a commission from the dancer Ida Rubinstein, who asked Ravel to make an orchestral transcription of six pieces from Isaac Albéniz's set of piano pieces, Iberia. While working on the transcription, Ravel was informed that the movements had already been orchestrated by Spanish conductor Enrique Fernández Arbós, and that copyright law prevented any other arrangement from being made. When Arbós heard of this, he said he would happily waive his rights and allow Ravel to orchestrate the pieces. However, Ravel changed his mind and decided initially to orchestrate one of his own works. He then changed his mind again and decided to write a completely new piece based on the musical form and Spanish dance called bolero. While on vacation at St Jean-de-Luz, Ravel went to the 10 | P a g e
piano and played a melody with one finger to his friend Gustave Samazeuilh, saying "Don't you think this theme has an insistent quality? I'm going to try and repeat it a number of times without any development, gradually increasing the orchestra as best I can." This piece was initially called Fandango, but its title was soon changed to "Boléro". According to Idries Shah the main melody is adapted from a tune composed for and used in Sufi training.
Colors Ceremony Evening Colors Morning and evening colors have been a tradition in the United States military history since 1843 when the U.S. Navy borrowed the tradition of morning and evening colors from the British. According to the Royal Navy National Archives, the present ceremony of hoisting colors each morning was instituted by Lord St. Vincent in 1797. The first mention of a time regulation for morning colors was in the 1843 Rules and Regulations for the government of the Navy, if sunset was after 6 p.m. morning colors would be at 8 a.m. and if sunset was before six, colors would go at 9 a.m. Though since 1876, morning colors was set at 8 a.m. in all cases. A bugle call, “First Call”, is sounded, typically by a lone bugler, to give warning that the colors ceremony will take place in 5 minutes. “Sound Attention” is sounded prior to the raising or lowering of the flag to alert all within the area to give proper honors during the posting of the flag. Another bugle call is played, “To the Color”, to raise the flag in the morning and “Retreat” is played to lower the flag in the evening. The final bugle call, “Carry on”, is sounded to alert people in the area that the posting of the flag is complete.
The Last Full Measure of Devotion Composer: Ian Fraser - Soloist: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael J. Smith Arranger: Michael Davis Born on 23 August 1933 in Hove, England, Ian Fraser was a composer, conductor, orchestrator, arranger, and music director. In a career spanning over 50 years, he was nominated for thirty-two Emmy Awards, of which he received eleven. This won Fraser the honor of being the most-honored musician in television history. His first twenty-three Emmy nominations were consecutive, which is the longest stint of individual nominations in the history of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Fraser served in the British Armed Forces for five years, and performed as a solo pianist, harpist, and percussionist with the Royal Artillery Band. He died at the age of 81 of cancer, at his home in Los Angeles, California, on 31 October 2014. 11 | P a g e
The Last Full Measure of Devotion comes in part from the lines of Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address: “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…” President Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 1863 The lyrics are as follows: Last Full Measure of Devotion In the long and honored history of America There are names that shine like beacons in the night The Patriots whose vision gave us meaning Who kept the lamp of freedom burning bright In the long and honored history of America There are those that paid the last and final price Who were called upon by chance, or desperate circumstance To make the ultimate sacrifice A grateful nation bows its head in sorrow And in thanks for guaranteeing our tomorrow The last full measure of devotion That’s what they gave to the cause The last full measure of devotion And though they cannot hear our applause We honor them forever and keep alive their story Pay tribute to their lives and give them all the glory The last full measure of devotion Beyond the call of duty were their deeds The last full measure of devotion They gave themselves to serve the greater need And for those who did survive And came back home alive They join in praise of comrades who were slain And highly resolved, most highly resolved That these dead shall not have died in vain
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Armed Forces Medley Composer: Thomas Knox The Army Goes Rolling Along, before it became the official tune of the US Army, was the proud anthem of the U.S. Field Artillery Corps written by Lieutenant Edmund L. Gruber. During the final days of WWI, senior artillery leaders wanted to make the tune official and, mistaking is as having been composed during the American Civil War, allowed John Phillip Sousa to incorporate most of the tune into his composition “The U.S. Field Artillery March.” When the song topped the charts, selling over 750,000 copies, and embarrassed but innocent Sousa discovered that the songs author was in fact Lt. Gruber. He ensured Gruber received royalties for the tune, and the Army decided to recycle what was now known as “The Caisson Song”. H.W. Arberg arranged what we know today as “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” and the Army copyrighted the song in 1956. Anchors Aweigh was composed by Lieutenant Charles A. Zimmerman, the U.S. Navy bandmaster from 1887 to 1916, as a catchy tune to rally the Naval Academy’s football team. Midshipman Alfred Hart Miles approached Lt. Zimmerman to compose a piece that would inspire, could be used as a football marching song, and would live forever. Together, the two composed the tune and lyrics that would become “Anchors Aweigh,” dedicated to the Naval Academy Class of 1907. Semper Paratus was penned in 1922 by Captain Francis S. Van Boskerck. After the Coast Guard motto “Semper Paratus” or “Always Ready” was officially recognized in 1910, Boskerck wanted a song that would rival “Anchors Aweigh” and “The Caisson Song.” He penned the lyrics while stationed in Savannah, Georgia, and the music five years later while stationed in the Aleutian Islands. The geographic diversity of Boskerck’s location while composing this piece are referenced in the lines “From Aztec shore to Arctic Zone, To Europe and Far East.” U.S. Air Force, composed by Robert Crawford, was selected in 1939 as the song of the Air Force. The piece was one of 757 submissions to Liberty Magazine, which sponsored a contest for a song for the service branch in 1938, and was selected by a committee of Air Corps wives. Since that time, the line “Nothing’ll stop the U.S. Air Force” became a motto and tradition. The Marines’ Hymn is believed to be set to the tune of an aria in Jacques Offenbach’s opera “Genevieve de Brabant.” The tune was reshaped to fit the now-famous lines “From the Halls of Montezuma, To the Shores of Tripoli.” Tradition has that an unknown officer wrote the first verse to the Hymn while serving in the Mexican War (1846-1848). The tune was meant to highlight the various campaigns of the Marines. Continuing this custom, every campaign Marines participate in gives birth to a new, unofficial verse. Although the U.S. Marine Corps did not have copyright ownership of the Marines’ Hymn until 1991, the first use of the Hymn as the Marines’ official anthem was in 1929.
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La Bonne Cuisine Composer: Leonard Bernstein Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the US to receive worldwide acclaim. According to music critic Donal Henahan, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history." His fame derived from his long tenure as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, from his conducting of concerts with most of the world's leading orchestras, and from his music for West Side Story, Peter Pan, Candide, Wonderful Town, On the Town, On the Waterfront, his Mass, and a range of other compositions, including three symphonies and many shorter chamber and solo works. Bernstein was the first conductor to give numerous television lectures on classical music, starting in 1954 and continuing until his death. He was a skilled pianist, often conducting piano concertos from the keyboard. As a composer he wrote in many styles encompassing symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music and pieces for the piano. Many of his works are regularly performed around the world, although none has matched the tremendous popular and critical success of West Side Story. La Bonne Cuisine was written in 1949 based on Emile Dumont's La Bonne Cuisine with movements named after 4 recipes from the cookbook. The individual movements are called 1) plum pudding, 2)Ox Tails, 3)tavouk gueunksis and 4)rabbit at top speed.
Knoxville: Summer of 1915 Composer: Samuel Barber – Soloist: Amy Pfrimmer “We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville Tennessee in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child” (italics mine)— the opening of James Agee’s essay Knoxville and Samuel Barber’s 1950 composition for soprano and orchestra, “Knoxville: Summer of 1915.” The American Civil War was the bloodiest war that the world had known up to that time. This war has often been considered the precursor to modern warfare, with its trenches and tremendous death tolls. The Civil War was a Composer James Agee harbinger of modern war in other disturbing ways as well. It was fought over attempted cultural hegemony and blatant nationalism, bound up with racial oppression. The civilian population of the South was brutalized in the Union’s vindictive march to the Atlantic Ocean on the Georgian coast. The year 1915—the year that James Agee chose for his essay—was only 50 years after that war, less, in fact, than our distance now from the Second World War. 14 | P a g e
Of course, 1915 has other implications. That year Americans were determined to avoid the war in Europe, both in spite of and because of the knowledge of the terrible human cost. “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” is poised precariously in the early evening, before the dark horrors of the night of the 20th Century. The family in the Agee/Barber work is a portrait of Southern stoicism and reserve; their quiet small talk skirts the fears of tomorrow as well as the sadnesses of yesterday, and focuses on life at the moment. The voice of this text seems to vacillate between that of the child-narrator and the adult-narrator remembering his childhood thoughts. We are not sure where one voice ends and the other begins. The beginning of the piece quotes the music of the impassioned prayer sung later, at the climax. Gradually, the strident leaps in the strings dissolve into a gentle rocking motion against which the text unfolds. While this rocking motive is indeed less vehement, it still contains the same musical element of the fervent prayer, only softened. In this way, the music seems to guide us to that state of being “successfully disguised to [one’s self] as a child.” The pathos is apparent but contained. In fact, the child’s sense of security is in continual conflict with his sense of existential terror. Most obviously, the streetcar passing by obliterates the previous Edenesque depiction of evening. In its wake remains the rough wet fear of mortality and the loneliness of the night. The night scene is described: “On the rough wet grass of the back yard my father and mother have spread quilts.” The sustaining comfort of quilts, on which the family rests, is only an inch thick; underneath lie uncertainty and mortality in its biblical metaphor of grass. Childlike simplicity and dark emotion alternate with increasing duress, culminating in the speaker’s desperate prayer for the well-being of his people: “By some chance, here they are, all on this earth; and who shall ever tell the sorrow of being on this earth, lying, on quilts, on the grass in a summer evening, among the sounds of the night. May God bless my people, my uncle, my aunt, my mother, my good father, oh, remember them kindly in their time of trouble; and in the hour of their taking away.” The rocking music returns, all the more comforting, if ultimately less reassuring. As the voice of the adult and child fuse, the speaker realizes that with all their regard and love, his family will not—in fact, could not, even when they were still alive—tell him who he is, who he should be. In this tragedy of universal loneliness, however, lies also the hope that one’s spirit, since it must be cultivated alone, will develop on its own terms and flourish. Barber dedicated the piece to the memory of his father. — Jed Gaylin Text, “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” — from James Agee’s essay "Knoxville" and the introduction to his Pulitzer Prize-winning posthumous novel, A Death in the Family We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville Tennessee in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child. 15 | P a g e
...It has become that time of evening when people sit on their porches, rocking gently and talking gently and watching the street and the standing up into their sphere of possession of the trees, of birds' hung havens, hangars. People go by; things go by. A horse, drawing a buggy, breaking his hollow iron music on the asphalt: a loud auto: a quiet auto: people in pairs, not in a hurry, scuffling, switching their weight of aestival body, talking casually, the taste hovering over them of vanilla, strawberry, pasteboard, and starched milk, the image upon them of lovers and horsemen, squaring with clowns in hueless amber. A streetcar raising its iron moan; stopping; belling and starting, stertorous; rousing and raising again its iron increasing moan and swimming its gold windows and straw seats on past and past and past, the bleak spark crackling and cursing above it like a small malignant spirit set to dog its tracks; the iron whine rises on rising speed; still risen, faints; halts; the faint stinging bell; rises again, still fainter; fainting, lifting, lifts, faints foregone: forgotten. Now is the night one blue dew. Now is the night one blue dew, my father has drained, he has coiled the hose. Low in the length of lawns, a frailing of fire who breathes... Parents on porches: rock and rock. From damp strings morning glories hang their ancient faces. The dry and exalted noise of the locusts from all the air at once enchants my eardrums. On the rough wet grass of the back yard my father and mother have spread quilts. We all lie there, my mother, my father, my uncle, my aunt, and I too am lying there.‌They are not talking much, and the talk is quiet, of nothing in particular, of nothing at all in particular, of nothing at all. The stars are wide and alive, they seem each like a smile of great sweetness, and they seem very near. All my people are larger bodies than mine‌ with voices gentle and meaningless like the voices of sleeping birds. One is an artist, he is living at home. One is a musician, she is living at home. One is my mother who is good to me. One is my father who is good to me. By some chance, here they are, all on this earth; and who shall ever tell the sorrow of being on this earth, lying, on quilts, on the grass, in a summer evening, among the sounds of the night. May God bless my people, my uncle, my aunt, my mother, my good father, oh, remember them kindly in their time of trouble; and in the hour of their taking away. After a little I am taken in and put to bed. Sleep, soft smiling, draws me unto her: and those receive me, who quietly treat me, as one familiar and well-beloved in that home: but will not, oh, will not, not now, not ever; but will not ever tell me who I am.
National Game Composer: John Phillip Sousa Touring musicians often turned to baseball for amusement in their leisure time on the road, and Sousa's band had its own baseball team, which Sousa was the pitcher, that played teams from "rival" bands. An avid baseball fan, Sousa once auctioned his conductor's baton to raise funds for baseball equipment for the sailors at the Great Lakes naval training station outside Chicago. He wrote The National Game for the 50th anniversary of baseball's National League and dedicated it to the first major league Baseball Commissioner, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis. 16 | P a g e
Casey at the Bat Composer: Randol Alan Bass - Narrated by: Norman Robinson Casey at the Bat was commissioned in 2001 by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as a part of their Americana concert series from that season. The work is a colorful and highly descriptive narrative setting of the famous poem, “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, first published in an 1885 edition of The San Francisco Chronicle. (The poetry has been slightly paraphrased from the original to replace some arcane Randol Alan Bass terminology.) This composition was conceived in a distinctly cartoonish style – reminiscent of the orchestral music so masterfully created by Carl Stalling and other great film score writers during the Golden Age of the animated short. In addition to brief quotes from Till Eulenspiegel of Richard Strauss, the melody from Take Me Out to the Ballgame (Tilzer-Norworth) is interpolated throughout the fabric of the piece (although the lyrics are never sung). The first performance of this work took place during the Spring of 2001, under the baton of Richard Kaufman and featuring Pat Sajak as narrator of the well-known poem. Mr. Bass, the composer, has achieved an impressive array of performances and commissions by highlyrespected and prestigious ensembles. These include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony of Washington, D. C., the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. His Gloria setting was premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1990 by the New York Pops under Skitch Henderson. His arrangement Joy To the World; A Fanfare for Christmas Day has been recorded by the Boston Pops under the direction of Keith Lockhart, and can be heard on their current CD release, Sleigh Ride. His arrangement of Conquest of Paradise (Vangelis) was commissioned by the Boston Pops and can be heard on their 2000 CD Summon the Heroes under the baton of eminent film composer John Williams. Additionally, his works have been performed by the Tanglewood Chorus, the Grand Rapids Symphony and Chorus, the Dallas Symphony and Chorus, The Colorado Symphony and Chorus and the Los Angeles Master Chorale as well as numerous other orchestras and choruses throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Anthem From Chess Composer: Benny Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus Goran Bror “Benny” Andersson was born in Stockholm to 34-year-old civil engineer Gösta Andersson and his 26-year-old wife Laila. His sister Eva-Lis Andersson 17 | P a g e
followed in 1948. Andersson's musical background comes from his father and grandfather; they both enjoyed playing the accordion, and at six, Benny got his own. Father Gösta and grandfather Efraim taught him Swedish folk music, traditional music, and the odd schlager. Benny recalls the first records he bought were "Du Bist Musik" by Italian schlager singer Caterina Valente and Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock". He was especially impressed by the flip side "Treat Me Nice" as this featured a piano. This smörgåsbord of different kinds of music was to influence and follow him through the years. When Andersson was ten he got his own piano, and taught himself to play. He left school aged 15 and began to perform at youth clubs. This is when he met his first girlfriend Christina Grönvall, with whom he had two children: Peter (born 1963) and Heléne (born 1965). In early 1964, Benny and Christina joined "Elverkets Spelmanslag" ("The Electricity Board Folk Music Group"), the name was a punning reference to their electric instruments. The repertoire was mainly instrumentals, one of his numbers was "Baby Elephant Walk", and he wrote his first songs. Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (born 25 April 1945; credited as Björn Ulvæus) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA (1972–1982), and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!. He co-produced the film Mamma Mia! with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson. "Anthem" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song describes the feelings of Soviet Russian challenger, Anatoly Sergievsky, when he defects. The song was originally sung by Tommy Körberg on the original concept album and as Anatoly in the original West End cast. It was later covered by various artists including Josh Groban on his album Stages and Kerry Ellis.
America the Beautiful Composer: Samuel Augustus Ward Arranged by: Carmen Dragon Narrations by: Norman Robinson Samuel Augustus Ward was born in Newark, New Jersey, on 28 December 1847. An American organist and composer, he was the founder and first director of the Orpheus Club of Newark, where he died on 28 September 1903, leaving no descendants. Ward was the last in an unbroken line of Samuel Wards, beginning with the Rhode Island Governor and Representative to the Continental Congress. Ward was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Samuel Augustus Ward
Ward is best remembered for the 1882 tune “Materna,” which he intended as a setting for “Oh Mother Dear, Jerusalem,” published in 1892. In 1910, after Ward’s death, the tune was combined with the Katharine Lee Bates poem, “America,” which itself was published in 1895. This led to the birth of the patriotic song “America, the Beautiful.”
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