Classical Music
Reimagined
Concert Experience
Robert Pippin, Conductor Sunday, April 12, 2015, 2:00pm Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall The Fairest Of The Fair
John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) Arranged by Keith Brion & Loras Schissel
Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa Variations on America
Ira Hearshen (b. 1948)
Charles Ives (1874-1954) Transcribed for band by William E. Rhoads Based on the orchestra version by William Schuman
The Glass Bead Game: Concerto for Horn and Wind Ensemble The Call & Awakening Jason Johnston—Horn
James A. Beckel Jr. (b. 1948)
Symphony in D Major Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Movement 3 Transcribed by Robert Pippin Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen Arrangement World Premier
This recital is offered in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting The use of cameras and video or tape recorders without prior permission is strictly prohibited. Notice: For your own safety, LOOK for your nearest EXIT. In case of emergency, WALK, do not RUN, to that EXIT. By order of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.
Program notes The Fairest of the Fair John Philip Sousa “The March King”, John Philip Sousa, is the cornerstone composer for the band world. Sousa composed 136 marches, was the conductor of the United States Marine Band “The President’s Own” for twelve years, and organized the most popular touring band of the time, “The Sousa Band”, which toured the world for 39 years and performed 15,623 concerts. He even contributed his expertise to modify the design of a bass brass instrument called a helicon, into the marching tuba we know today as the “sousaphone”, which was intended to project the tuba sound over the top of the band whether they were sitting down or standing up. Though noted for his composition of marches, Sousa also wrote operettas. The concert programs of the Sousa band featured transcriptions of orchestral works, songs from operas and musicals performed with singers, solo instrumental pieces with band accompaniment, as well as a good supply of favorite concert marches. The Fairest of the Fair was written in 1908 for the annual Boston Food Fair. The inspiration for the title of this march was a pretty girl who worked at the fair, even though Sousa never met her. Though this was the only march Sousa composed in 1908, it is considered one of his most melodic and best-written marches, with its light, bouncy introduction and harmonious trio.
Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa Ira Hearshen Ira Hearshen is a prolific orchestrator, arranger, and composer working in Los Angeles in the film industry. Some of his credits include Undercover Brother, Scorpion Kink, Rush Hour, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Guarding Tess, and The Three Musketeers.
The “Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa” began as a composer satisfying an interest and love of the music of Sousa, and wanting to create as a sort of homage. What he ended up with ultimately became the second movement of the symphony, After “The Thunderer”. Hearshen took the theme from the trio of the march, slowed the tempo down to 48 beats per minute, set it in the style of the Finale of Mahler’s 3rd symphony, and created a standalone piece of amazing beauty and power that has become part of the standard repertoire of band programs around the world. Based on the overwhelmingly positive reception to this piece, Hearshen decided to complete a four-movement symphony based on themes from John Philip Sousa marches. He developed the other three movements from an exploration of a peculiar four-note passage Hearshen found interesting in several of Sousa’s marches, C-B-C-A, which happen to also be the first four notes of the “Dies Irae” portion of the Catholic Mass. All of the marches Hearshen wanted to use incorporated this same musical motive. It occurs in the trio sections of both The Washington Post, and of Hands Across The Sea. These four notes are the first four notes heard in The Stars and Stripes Forever. The third movement of this symphony, After “Fairest of the Fair” uses the four-note “Sousa Signature” from the introduction to the original march as the introduction to the scherzo movement, and is developed further throughout the work. This four-movement re-imagining of Sousa’s march themes was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1997. The movements have been composed with the intention that each of them can be played as individual, stand alone pieces, or as a complete work.
Variations on America Charles Ives Charles Ives is considered one of the most innovative and intriguing of all American composers. He is famous (or infamous) for his penchant for polytonal writing. Ives was raised in a musical family, being the son of a Civil War bandmaster. Under his father’s guidance, Charles was encouraged to experiment with musical sounds and “stretch his ears.” Charles’ father exposed him to polytonal music, instructing him to sing a tune in one key while accompanying him on piano in another key, and to introducing him to contraptions that created quarter-tones. When Ives’ was thirteen years old, he took a job as a church organist, and eventually studied composition at Yale with Horatio Parker. Charles Ives is famous because of his original style of music composition, but he made his living as an insurance executive, in some ways, becoming the embodiment of what some believe is an American trait of being a “jack of all trades.” Ives wrote innovative music employing techniques of polytonality, polymetric rhythms, tone clusters and microtones. He also wrote very traditional and tonal works including sacred hymns, patriotic melodies and rags. He created several masterworks, including four orchestral symphonies. Variations on America was originally written for organ and was completed in 1891. The piece is one of Ives’ first extant examples of polytonality, where a section of the music is presented in two different keys simultaneously. The piece begins with a short introduction, with five variations following. The trumpet solo in the fifth variation was originally played by the pedals on the organ, with the marking in the score “as fast as the pedals can go.”
The orchestral arrangement by William Schuman was premiered by the New York Philharmonic in 1964, and the band transcription of that orchestral version was premiered by the University of New Mexico Wind Ensemble in 1967.
The Glass Bead Game: Concerto for Horn and Wind Ensemble James A. Beckel Jr. James Beckel is an accomplished performer, having been the principal trombonist with the Indianapolis Symphony since 1969. Many of his original compositions have been performed by professional orchestras, most notably, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta, Houston, Cincinnati, and Baltimore. He has been an Individual Arts Fellow through the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, and was recently one of 50 composers chosen nationwide to be part of the Continental Harmony Project. The Glass Bead Game: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra was premiered by the Indianapolis chamber orchestra in 1997, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. This piece is loosely based on the Herman Hesse novel of the same name. The conflict between man and his environment, as described in Hesse’s novel, is expressed in the first movement through the conflicting keys of E-flat major and A major. The first of the two main themes in this movement represent the main character in the novel, Joseph Knecht. The second theme, and particularly, the dialogue between the solo horn, flute, and piccolo was inspired by the introduction of the “Music Master” character, who accepts Knecht into the intellectual society of the elite Castalia. This version for Wind Ensemble has been transcribed and arranged by the composer.
Symphony in D Major Gustav Mahler Mahler’s first symphony, the “Symphony in D Major,” was originally premiered as a symphonic tone poem in the Viagadó Concert Hall with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra on November 20, 1889. This performance was a failure, attributed to Mahler’s presentation of a “tone poem” without program notes to support a programmatic storyline or theme. The second performance would not occur until more than three years later, in 1893, with significant revisions to the score and the inclusion of program notes, which was more successful. “My symphony was received with furious opposition by some and with wholehearted approval by others. The opinions clashed in an amusing way, in the streets and in the salons!” The second and third performances of the symphony included the additional title “Titan”, most likely a reference to the literary work of the same name by Jean Paul, whom Mahler admired. The fourth, and all subsequent performances of the symphony dropped all program notes, and additional titles and was simply called “Symphony in D Major”. Mahler explained in a letter to Max Marschalk in 1896: “Originally, my friends persuaded me to supply a kind of program, in order to facilitate the understanding of the D major. Thus, I had subsequently invented this title and explanations. That I omitted them this time was caused not only by the fact that I consider them inadequate, but also because I found out how the public has been misled by them.”
Although officially not “program music”, the third movement still has some very programmatic elements. Maher writes in that same letter to Marschalk: "In connection with the third movement (marcia funebre)... I received the extra musical suggestion for it from the well-known nursery picture (The Hunter's Funeral)... the eerie and ironical, brooding sultriness of the funeral march." This picture depicts a funeral of a hunter whose procession is not of humans, but wild animals, including a bear, foxes, hares, a wolf, cranes and partridges, and song-birds, all of whom appear to take great joy from the occasion. The procession is led by rabbits carrying banners, with music provided by a bohemian band. The movement includes two distinct musical themes: the first is based on the folk tune “Frère Jachques” or “Bruder Martin,” and the second, developed in the middle of the movement, references one of the composer’s own works, the “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen” (‘Songs of a Wayfarer’). I transcribed this movement for band, because ever since it was first introduced to me by my teacher and eventual friend and colleague, Dr. David Shaner at Colorado State University, I always felt it would work well as a band piece. The prominence of the wind parts in the orchestration, and the limited and simplified usage of the strings seemed to make a band version a natural consideration. I have attempted to remain as true to what I believe the musical intent of the composer to be through this transcription, combining a sense of macabre, whimsy, and lyrical expression present in the original work. ~Robert Pippin All program notes by Robert Pippin
Robert Pippin, Conductor Robert Pippin is Director of The Johns Hopkins Wind Ensemble, and the assistant conductor for the Peabody Wind Ensemble, periodically guest conducting that ensemble for performances. He is also the teacher on record for the Basic Conducting courses at Peabody. Before arriving at the Peabody Conservatory, Robert was the Director of Bands at Thompson Valley High School in Loveland, Colorado, where he developed a comprehensive band curriculum with a strong tradition of musical excellence in all aspects of the program including various concert bands, jazz ensembles, marching band, and an active chamber program. In addition to teaching, Robert was an active performer in Colorado and Wyoming, playing trombone as a tenured member of the Fort Collins Symphony, and as a freelance artist regularly performing classical, jazz and chamber music. Currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Band Conducting at The Peabody Conservatory with Dr. Harlan Parker, Robert holds the Graduate Assistantship in Wind Conducting, and held the Graduate Assistantship in Music Education in 2013-2014. Robert received his Bachelor of Music in Education and his Master of Music in Conducting from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. While attending Colorado State, he was a guest conductor with the University Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. As a trombonist, Robert was awarded the Honors Recital, the Sallee Award for Performance, the David Paul Knight Jazz Performance Award, and was a guest soloist with the Wind Ensemble and the University Symphony Orchestra Concerto Contest winner. Robert studied conducting with J. Steven Moore, Wilfred Schwartz and Michael Schaff while at Colorado State University. In recent years, Robert has been a clinician with bands, orchestras and jazz ensembles, as well as presenting a clinic at the 2012 Colorado Bandmasters Association annual convention.
Jason Johnston, Horn Horn Teacher and Lecturer at the University of Wyoming, Jason is Principal Horn of Fort Collins Symphony, Opera Fort Collins, and the Canyon Concert Ballet. He is also Associate Principal Horn for the Greeley Philharmonic, Acting Assistant Utility Horn for the Cheyenne Symphony, Principal Horn for the Emerald City Opera, Principal Horn of the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra and section member of Opera Colorado and the Boulder Brass. He appeared as a soloist with the Steamboat Symphony performing Mozart’s Second Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, the Fort Collins Symphony performing The Britten Serenade, the University of Wyoming Wind Symphony performing The Glass Bead Game, the Fort Collins Wind Symphony performing Shadowcatcher as a member of the Apollo Chamber Brass, and most recently presented the Schumann Konzertstücke on third horn with the Colorado Springs Chamber Orchestra. Jason is also a hornist with the Steamboat Winds, Rocky Ridge Wind Quintet, and the Korean Summer Winds based in Busan, South Korea. He was also a member of the Elevenet Jazz Ensemble, an ensemble with which he had the fantastic opportunity to take part as a performer/clinician at the 2008 International Association of Jazz Educators conference in Toronto, Canada. Jason has also performed with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic as Principal Horn and other capacities, the Omaha Symphony as Principal Horn and other capacities, the Billings Symphony as Principal Horn, the Strings in the Mountains Music Festival Orchestra, the Denver Brass, the Boulder Bach Festival, Colorado Chamber Orchestra, Boulder Philharmonic, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the San Juan Symphony, Longmont Symphony, Front Range Chamber Players, Denver Municipal Band, Northern Colorado Opera Orchestra and the Rocky Mountain Horn Ensemble. Jason can be heard on the commercially available recordings, “IN A WORLD…” on the Goes to Eleven label, with Wil Swindler’s Elevenet on the Origin Records label, and the Denver Brass, “Brass & Organ: Feel the Sound.” Jason has been teaching in the Colorado/Wyoming Front Range for 17 years and currently maintains a strong private studio of students who regularly attend All-National Honor Orchestras, All-Northwest Honor Bands and Orchestras, All-State Orchestras, All-State Bands, Collegiate Honor Bands, and various District Honor Bands. Jason has students attending universities all over the country including the San Francisco Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and the YouTube Symphony in Sydney, Australia. Jason coaches/teaches individual lessons and small chamber ensembles at the Rocky Ridge Music Conservatory and works closely as a section coach with several Front-Range high schools.
Personnel Flute Elizabeth Milligan Grace Tsai Benjamin Costello* Oboe Peter Morey Hannah Staudinger English Horn Garrett Hale Bassoon Kevin Solomowitz Trevor Ward E-flat Clarinet William Fossett Clarinet Weily Shay Lea Pandy Andrew Im Scott Johnson Yi-Ting Hsieh Bass Clarinet Jessica Hiemstra
Alto Saxophone Benjamin Learish Anastasia Kupstas Tenor Saxophone Tyrone Page Jr. Baritone Saxophone Sean Meyers Trumpet Jong Hwan Yun Joshua Olariu Bethany Nette Samuel Hughes Brandon Sklute Horn Sze Fong Yeong Rachel Kristina Jones Natalie Merino Jennifer Morey* Piano Sean William Calhoun Harp Olivia Kim
Trombone Ian Striedter Sarah Manley An-Chi Ling Bass Trombone Harry Oehler Euphonium Catriona Barr Ray Fisk Abhinn Malhotra Tuba Jisang Lee Matthew Ordille Timpani Brendan Betyn Percussion Nonoka Mizukami Karen Toney Matthew Overbay Mark DeMull Wanyue Ye Double Bass James Peterson
Off-Stage Brass Trumpet Nash Rochman* Tai Kyung Hairston* Scott Albert* Trombone Michael Carter Randal Moore Ricson Poonin Bass Trombone Christian Hizon
*A special thanks to musicians of The Johns Hopkins University for adding their talents to this performance!
I would like to recognize the “Backers” of my Kickstarter campaign that supported this concert event. Your contributions allowed me to bring our guest soloist to Baltimore, pay for production costs, and helped to feed the musicians! Without your help, this concert would not have been possible. Together, you raised over $1,500! Thank you! ~Robert Pippin
Maestro
Section Player
Concert Master
Merry & Larry Hulse Chris Johnson Chris Pederson
Principal
Kevin Rorke James Simpkins Derek Smith
Charles Joe Pippin
Kyle Foreman
Judith Harmon Robert Page Robert C. Pederson Bernhard Yutesler
Assistant Principal
Victor Amaya Kris Hulse Bob & Betty Pippin James Pippin Andy & Cathy Burroughs
Ron Blair Boeding Bruce & Carrie Hansen
Thank You to the Poudre High School Wind Ensemble, in Fort Collins, Colorado, for playing an initial read-through of the Mahler transcription in January of this year. Also, thank you to one of my oldest friends, fellow brass player, and director of the Poudre High School band, Corry Petersen, for letting me use his band as musical “guinea pigs” and offering orchestration suggestions!