Program Notes
Anti-Fanfare for wind ensemble, minus brass (2019)
The inspiration for Anti-Fanfare came during a lesson with Cynthia Johnston Turner where we were studying works for winds and percussion with atypical instrumentation. At the end of the lesson, we concluded that there was a gap in the repertoire for a short, exciting concert opener for woodwinds and percussion. I was particularly inspired by her “commission” that day: “You should write one, you know, an antifanfare.”
Anti-Fanfare opens with a typical fanfare motive, but listeners will notice that the similarities end there. The piece employs the full complement of the woodwind and percussion sections (plus piano) in contrast to centuries of brass/orchestral fanfares. The typical stately cadence has been replaced by a quick 3/4 meter, with the language of the piece inspired by the composer’s forays into contemporary jazz fusion and electronica. All of this, while giving the brass a well-deserved break. The piece was premiered by the University of Georgia Hodgson Wind Ensemble in January 2020, with the composer conducting.
—Program Note by Andrew Blair
Hymn to a Blue Hour (2010)
The blue hour is an oft-poeticized moment of the day—a lingering twilight that halos the sky after sundown but before complete darkness sets in. It is a time of day known for its romantic, spiritual, and ethereal connotations, and this magical moment has frequently inspired artists to attempt to capture its remarkable essence. This is the same essence that inhabits the sonic world of John Mackey’s Hymn to a Blue Hour. Programmatic content aside, the title itself contains two strongly suggestive implications: first, the notion of hymnody, which implies a transcendent and perhaps even sacred tone; and second, the color blue, which has an inexorable tie to American music. Certainly Hymn to a Blue Hour is not directly influenced by the blues, per se, but there is frequently throughout the piece a sense of nostalgic remorse and longing—an overwhelming sadness that is the same as the typically morose jazz form. Blue also has a strong affiliation with nobility, authority, and calmness. All of these notions are woven into the fabric of the piece— perhaps a result of Mackey using what was, for him, an unconventional compositional method:
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I almost never write music “at the piano” because I don’t have any piano technique. I can find chords, but I play piano like a bad typist types—badly. If I write the music using an instrument where I can barely get by, the result will be very different than if I sit at the computer and just throw a zillion notes at my sample library, all of which will be executed perfectly and at any dynamic level I ask. We spent the summer at an apartment in New York that had a nice upright piano. I don’t have a piano at home in Austin—only a digital keyboard—and it was very different to sit and write at a real piano with real pedals and a real action, and to do so in the middle of one of the most exciting and energetic (and loud) cities in America. The result (partially thanks to my lack of piano technique, and partially, I suspect, from a subconscious need to balance the noise and relentless energy of the city surrounding me at the time) is much simpler and lyrical music than I typically write.
Though not composed as a companion work to his earlier Aurora Awakes, Hymn to a Blue Hour strikes at many of the same chords, only in a sort of programmatic inversion. While Aurora Awakes deals with the emergence of light from darkness, Hymn to a Blue Hour is thematically linked to the moments just after sundown—perhaps even representing the same moment half a world away. The opening slow section of Aurora Awakes does share some similar harmonic content, and the yearning within the melodic brushstrokes seems to be cast in the same light. The piece is composed largely from three recurring motives: first, a cascade of falling thirds; second, a stepped descent that provides a musical sigh; and third, the descent’s reverse—an ascent that imbues hopeful optimism. From the basic framework of these motives stated at the outset of the work, a beautiful duet emerges between horn and euphonium, creating a texture spun together into a pillowy blanket of sound, reminiscent of similar constructions elicited by great American melodists of the 20th century, such as Samuel Barber. This melody superimposes a sensation of joy over the otherwise “blue” emotive context—a melodic line that over a long period of time spins the work to a point of catharsis. In this climactic moment, the colors are at their brightest, enveloping their surroundings with an angelic glow. Alas, as is the case with the magical blue hour, the moment cannot last for long, and just as steadily as they arrived, the colors dissipate into the encroaching darkness, eventually succumbing at the work’s conclusion with a sense of peaceful repose.
—Program note by Jake Wallace
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Le Bal de Béatrice d’Este (1905)
In writing the ballet Le Bal de Béatrice d’Este in Paris in 1905, but setting it in 15th-century Milan, Reynaldo Hahn blurs the line between Renaissance Italy and fin-de-siècle France. Although the ballet does not seek to retell an actual historical occasion, the work is firmly based within a historical context. Béatrice (1475–1497) was of the Italian noble family Este who ruled Ferrara from 1240 to 1597 and was celebrated for significant patronage of the arts throughout the Renaissance. In 1490, she married Ludovico Sforza the Moor, Duke of Milan. During Ludovico’s reign, Milan was praised as the “new Athens;” he lavishly supported the humanities and many of the greatest artists of the day (including Leonardo da Vinci) who resided in Milan to be near their patron. Béatrice, Duchess of Milan, was equally noted for her tremendous beauty and charm, as well as for her love of poetry and dancing; her grand balls were regarded highly throughout Italy.
Within the framing processional and recessional, the interior movements of the suite consist of three Renaissance dances (although with a subtly more modern sensibility), a character sketch of Béatrice’s sister Isabella (Ibérienne), and an impression of da Vinci’s controversial painting Leda and the Swan.
Be Thou My Vision (1999)
It was an honor and privilege to compose this work for Ray and Molly Cramer in honor of their parents. The work is heartfelt, expressive, and hopefully inspiring. The hymn tune Slane is one of my favorites and inspired me to compose a countermelody which is likened to an old Irish ballad. Since Slane is, in fact, an old Irish ballad, the two tunes share this unique camaraderie.
The work opens with a medieval-like flavor of reverence leading to the first presentation of Slane (Be Thou My Vision) in D-minor stated in chantlike somberness by the euphonium. Following, the newly composed Irish ballad is sung by the flute, which leads to a dramatic statement of Be Thou My Vision by the full ensemble in A-major. The work is interrupted by a prayerful interlude. Following is the marriage of the two Irish tunes in D-flat major which grows to a glorious climax and then subsides. A heavenly benediction closes the work.
—Program note by David Gillingham
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—Program note by Steven Dennis Bodner
Suite française
I. Normandie—Darius Milhaud uses two lively Norman folk songs: Germaine, about a warrior coming home as seen through the eyes of a young woman; and The French Shepherdess and the King of England, about a comic meeting between the two title characters. Milhaud added some original material to help him depict the region where so many American servicemen landed in France during World War II.
II. Bretagne—A foghorn announces the beginning of Bretagne, a province with deep ties to the sea. The movement uses the sea shanties to depict the story of a young woman and her seafaring lover.
III. Île-de-France—With lively folk song, this movement depicts the bustle of Paris. It begins with a children’s round that alternates bars of three beats and two, and which Milhaud sets in four beats while still retaining the accents of the original. The lyrical melody that follows also reflects the bubbly attitude of the City of Light.
IV. Alsace-Lorraine—Here, Milhaud takes a dark turn, with material suggesting distant artillery fire around a solemn funeral procession, fitting for a region that borders Germany and was taken over during the war.
V. Provence—Reflecting on his home region, Milhaud utilizes a rondo with a fast, scatterbrained main theme, alternating with a fife-andtambor segment typical of the French Provinces countryside and a slower, slightly more romantic subject—both of these interludes derived from the principal melody.
—Program note from Austin Symphonic Band concert program
Folk Festival from The Gadfly (1955/1971)
The Gadfly was a highly successful film inside the Soviet Union, a sugary and entertaining drama based on a popular historical novel by the English writer Ethel Voynich. Published in 1897, it is set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria, a time of tumult, revolt, and uprisings. The story centers on the life of Arthur Burton. A tragic relationship between Arthur and his love, Gemma, simultaneously runs through the story. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism. Folk Festival, from the The Gadfly, op. 97a, features Dmitri Shostakovich’s notorious combination of lyrical, flowing melodies with technical flourishes in the winds.
—Program note by the San Jose Wind Symphony concert program, March 2014
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Michael Kobito, conductor
Michael Kobito is a mu sic educator, conductor, a nd t rumpeter f rom Cartersville, Georgia. He serves as the conductor of the Emory Wind Ensemble and associate conductor of Tara Winds.
Prior to his appointment at Emory University, Kobito served as director of bands at Woodland High School in Cartersville. During his tenure as director, the band performed at multiple national events including the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade in Washington D.C., the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference, the Southeastern United States Honor Band Festival, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, University of Georgia’s Janfest Honor Band Festival, and most recently in the 2023 London New Year’s Day Parade. He also taught AP Music Theory, where his students earned a 100 percent pass rate on the AP exam.
As a conductor and trumpeter, Kobito is an active musician, performing regularly around metro-Atlanta in Tara Winds and the Georgia Brass Band. As a conductor of Tara Winds, the band was invited to perform in France at the 2023 Festival des Anches d’Azur in La CroixValmer, and has been invited to perform at the 2024 GMEA In-Service Conference. Additionally, with these groups, Kobito has performed at multiple honor invitational events including the Midwest Clinic in Chicago and the North American Brass Band Competition in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has served as a guest conductor for the Georgia Brass Band and has been the clinician for multiple honor bands around Georgia and the United States. He has been the recipient of the National Band Association Citation of Excellence for his work with the Woodland Band and Tara Winds on five occasions.
Kobito is a dedicated advocate for education, having served as an ambassador for educators in the state as the 2023 Georgia Teacher of the Year. He is an active keynote speaker, clinician, and panelist on topics around best education practices and pedagogy, teacher recruitment and retention, and the future of education.
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Emory Wind Ensemble
The Emory Wind Ensemble (EWE) is a nationally recognized organization dedicated to performing wind literature of the highest caliber while nurturing individual artistic excellence within an ensemble setting. Membership is determined by audition each fall. Concert programming comprises a wide variety of styles, forms, and genres from several centuries of compositional practice, designed to provide comprehensive exposure to the masterpieces for winds and percussion from the Renaissance period through the modern era. A flexible instrumentation is employed with predominantly one player per part, giving students the opportunity to experience true wind ensemble performance practice.
The EWE performs two concerts each semester, regularly participates in world premieres of new music, tours the United States and abroad, and is a national leader in the commissioning of new music, including works by Warren Benson, Steven Bryant, Stephen Paulus, Bruce Broughton, Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, John Mackey, David Maslanka, Jonathan Newman, and many others. In 2017, the ensemble was showcased by the College Band Director’s National Association among its peer institutions with a citation for musical excellence at the “Small Band Showcase,” presented at the Association’s National Conference in Kansas City.
The EWE’s recent collaborations include performances with the Emory University Chorus; the Emory Dance Company; Emory’s Mary Emerson Professor of Piano William Ransom; Chris Martin, principal trumpet of the New York Philharmonic; Stuart Stephenson, principal trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Joe Alessi, principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic; Adam Frey, international euphonium solo artist; and Grammy Award–winning solo clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.
The EWE has performed concert tours of Munich, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Lucerne, Graz, Prague, Vienna, and Greece. Additionally, it has performed at the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) State Convention in Savannah, Georgia; at the Southern Division College Band Directors National Association Conference (CBDNA); and for various events on Emory’s campus, including the inauguration of James Wagner as president of Emory University. Most recently, a brass ensemble made up of EWE members performed live during a national broadcast by the National Basketball Association. The EWE is recorded on the NAXOS and Centaur music labels.
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