11.01.2020 ENS Wind Ensemble

WIND ENSEMBLE Andrew Yozviak, conductor

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 MADELEINE WING ADLER THEATRE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 3:00 PM

PROGRAM West Chester University Wind Ensemble Andrew Yozviak, conductor

FANFARE FOR AN UNCOMMON WOMAN ............................................................... Joan Tower (b. 1938)

DANCE MOVEMENTS ............................................................................................. Philip Sparke (b. 1951) I. Lento (for the Brass) II. Molto Vivo (for the Woodwinds) A SOMERSET RHAPSODY ....................................................................................... Gustav Holst Transcribed by Clare Grundman

HAMMERSMITH, “PRELUDE AND SCHERZO FOR BAND” ................................. Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

FUGUE A LA GIGUE ................................................................................ Johann Sebastian Bach Transcribed by Gustav Holst

Please silence all cell phones and electronic devices.

PROGRAM NOTES Fanfare for an Uncommon Woman, No. 1 (1987) Joan Tower is widely regarded as one of America’s most significant living composers. Here work spans many genres from an eclectic mix of chamber ensembles to wind band and symphony orchestra. She notes the following about her first Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, No. 1 was inspired by Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and employs, in fact, the same instrumentation. In addition, the original theme resembles the first them in the Copland. It is dedicated to women who take risks and who are adventurous. Written under the Fanfare Project and commissioned by the Houston Symphony, the premiere performance was on January 10, 1987, with the Houston Symphony, Hans Vonk, conductor. The work is dedicated to the conductor Marin Alsop.

We would like to respectfully dedicate tonight’s performance to the memory of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Dance Movements (1996) Dance Movements was commissioned and recorded by the United States Air Force Band and was first performed at the Florida Music Educators Association Convention in January of 1996. The piece went on to win the Sudler International Wind Band Competition Prize in 1997. Philip Sparke’s United States commissions stemmed from his popular work with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra and their commissioning of his work Celebration in 1991.

London-native Sparke is a prolific composer for concert and brass band. He studied composition, piano, and trumpet and the Royal College of Music. His works for brass band are frequently used as test pieces and he has composed works for many brass band championships worldwide.

The four movements of Sparke’s Dance Movements are performed without pause and the second and third movements feature virtuosic writing for the woodwind and brass sections, respectively. Sparke writes that the “movements are all dance-inspired, although no specific dance rhythms are used.”

The nature of the commission itself inspired the work, as it called for a large concert band including cello, harp, and piano. The middle two movements that feature the brass and woodwind families respectively will be performed this evening.

I. Lento (for the Brass) This third movement is described by Sparke as a “love duet in classical ballet” for the brass section.

The opening is scored for muted trumpets, vibraphone, and harp, moving in stepwise upward and downward motion. After the introduction, a horn calls and a trombone answers, both marked declamando, building to create a resplendent brass chorale.

II. Molto Vivo (for the Woodwinds) The second movement is centered on what Sparke described as an English country dance tune “that had been plaguing me for some time.” This “plaguing” dance theme is interrupted throughout the movement as it develops and passes through a variety of keys until the arrival of a “bubbling ostinato” found in the harp, piano, cello, and glockenspiel. The oboe presents a comparatively indolent melody that is then taken by the soprano and alto saxophones. Later in the movement, a syncopated thematic idea is sounded in the clarinets and lower winds, built on 9th and 11th chords.

Note contributed by Ann Hiloski-Fowler

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) Gustav Theodore Holst was born in Cheltenham, England on September 21, 1874. The son of a church organist, Holst began learning the pianoforte, organ, and violin. At the age of twelve, he began his studies on the trombone, which would become is primary instrument through adulthood.

In 1895, Holst met Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music in London. It was here that the two close friends began sharing their works and discussing compositional ideas; an activity that they would continue until late in life.

In 1905, Gustav Holst became the music master at St. Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith, England, and director of music at Morley College in 1907. Holst’s two military band suites were composed in the music room at St Paul’s. These two works would cement him as one of the cornerstone composers of the wind band medium. These works were reflective of the early portion of Holst’s compositional output. During this period, he would primarily write music that could be played by student or amateur music groups. However, as Holst began to travel and experience the compositions of Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, and Arnold Schoenberg, and others, his compositions reflected the increased use of chromaticism that was becoming more popular in the day. His most popular compositions of this era include The Planets, and Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo.

Note contributed by John Obringer Somerset Rhapsody (1906/1980) The nationalistic inclinations displayed by the cataloguing and cultivation of folk songs in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was enthusiastically embraced by Gustav Holst and his contemporaries. A Somerset Rhapsody was composed in 1906 at the request of Cecil Sharp, one of England’s foremost folksong collectors. The piece received its first performance in February of 1906 by the City of Bath Pump Room Orchestra with Holst conducting. It was rewritten following this performance and produced at Queens Hall, London by Edward Mason on April 6, 1910. Clare Grundman transcribed the work for band in 1980.

The three folk songs employed, Sheep Shearing, High Germany, and The True Lover’s Farewell, are presented without significant melodic variation. More interesting is the harmonic language and contrapuntal textures Holst offers. The choice of this piece for transcription is a natural one given the subject material.

Hammersmith (1932) Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo for Band was commissioned by the B.B.C. military band in 1927 and finished in 1930, some nineteen years after the massively-popular Second Suite in F. The performance history of the piece is a bit unusual, with the first performance of the work being an orchestral transcription by Holst himself, performed by the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra at Queens Hall, London on November 25th, 1931. The first performance of Holst’s original version for band took place April 17th, 1932, performed by the United States Marine Band at the American Bandmasters Association Convention in Washington, D.C. Hammersmith would then have a long hiatus of performance, with no subsequent performances on record taking place until April 14th, 1954, in which Robert Cantrick led it in performance with the “Kiltie Band” of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University). It is now considered a cornerstone of the wind band repertoire. Imogen Holst wrote the following regarding the work by her father:

“ Hammersmith’s mood is the outcome of long years of [Holst’s] familiarity with the changing crowds and the changing river: those Saturday night crowds, who were always good-natured even when they were being pushed off the pavement into the middle of the traffic, and the stallholders in that narrow lane behind the Broadway, with their unexpected assortment of goods lit up by brilliant flares, and the large woman at the fruit shop who always called him ‘dearie’ when he bought oranges for his Sunday picnics. As for the river, he had known it since he was a student, when he paced up and down outside William Morris’s house, discussing Ibsen with earnest young socialists. During all the years since then, his favorite London walk had been along the river-path to Chiswick. In Hammersmith, the river is the background to the crowd; it is a river that goes on its way unnoticed and unconcerned.”

Note contributed by John Johnston Fugue á la Gigue (1928) In December of 1927, Gustav Holst received a request from the British Broadcasting Corporation to compose a twelve-to-fifteen minute work in one movement for its military band. The work fulfilling that request would be Hammersmith, Op. 52, but Holst, who had not written a note for military band since revising his own Second Suite in F for Military Band in 1922, wanted to do a “warm-up” first. He wrote to D. Millar Craig, director of programs at BBC: “…If there is no immediate hurry, I would like to postpone writing this piece and first arrange one of Bach’s Organ Fugues for military band. I have had this at the back of my mind for many years.”

Holst completed his military band version in May of 1928 and on July 22 of that same year he conducted it on a special B.B.C. Wireless Military Band broadcast featuring his own works. An immediate hit, Bach’s Fugue a la Gigue received a “record post” from listeners. Both the orchestral and military band versions were published in 1929.

West Chester University Wind Ensemble Andrew Yozviak, conductor Flute Erica Hinchcliff Morgan Turner Wiktoria Godawa Erica Westcott Nick Hall Piccolo Julia Carey (Pic) Oboe John Johnston John DeBiase Madison Feeser Bassoon Meghan Freer Joe Plavin Dominick Destefano Bass Clarinet Tom Russo

Clarinet Jen Parziale Morgan Kock Laura Sachaczenski Paige ReHill Aria Garling Ben Davan Saxophone Andrew Morrison Joseph Wolf Sara Powell Amy Dulaney Horn Matt Hontz Felicia Quinn Katie Fox Casey Jennings Hannah Atlas Frank Stroble Trumpet Chloe Francis Josiah Stetler Zach Walter Maeve Bartra Bonnie Callahan Sam Zatkow

Trombone Kevin Scheetz Julia Galdi Bass Trombone Lucy Ferruzza Euphonium Isaac Sattazahn Will Rachko Natalie Travers Tuba Brandon Mooney Andrew Puleo Gavyn Frankenfield Piano Aaron Hungerford Bass James Devor Percussion Sean McWilliams Luke Thurston Dan Farnum Nate Gittelman Anthony Maldonado Jacob Scheidt

UPCOMING WELLS SCHOOL OF MUSIC EVENTS For full event details visit wcupa.edu/music or call (610) 436-2739

COVID-19 STATEMENT In Person Audiences Are Not Permitted for Fall 2020 Events Saturday, November 7, 2020, 8:00 PM Friends of Jazz Concert featuring the WCU Criterions Jazz Ensemble and special guests Jonathan Ragonese, director Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall Performing Arts Center

Tuesday, November 10, 2020, 8:15 PM Keyboard Honors Recital Emily Bullock, director Ware Family Recital Hall Swope Music Building

Sunday, November 15, 2020, 3:00 PM Harp Festival Gloria Galante, director Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center

Sunday, November 15, 2020, 7:00 PM Brass Ensembles Concert Jonathan Fowler, director Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center

Monday, November 16, 2020, 7:30 PM Faculty Recital: Quintsylvania Winds Henry Grabb Philips Autograph Library Philips Memorial Building

Tuesday, November 17, 2020, 7:30 PM Recital Choir Concert David P. DeVenney, director Ware Family Recital Hall Swope Music Building

Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 8:15 PM Guitar Ensemble Concert David Cullen, director Ware Family Recital Hall Swope Music Building

Thursday, November 19, 2020, 8:15 PM Vocal Jazz & Latin Jazz Ensembles Concert Ryan Kelly & Marc Jacoby, directors Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center

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For further information, please call (610) 436-2868 or visit wcufoundation.org A majority of performances are available to watch via live stream at Facebook.com/ArtsAtWCUPA and LiveStream.com/wcupa.

Mr. Robert Rust, Audio & Visual Technician Steinway & Sons Piano Technical, Tuning and Concert Preparations by Gerald P. Cousins, RPT If you do not intend to save your program, please recycle it in the baskets at the exit doors.

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