Music Director Emertius, Dr William G. McManus

Dr William G. McManus
Music Director Emeritus

Dr. William McManus was Music Director of the Concord Band from 1995 to 2009. Upon his retirement as Music Director, he was named Music Director Emeritus. A graduate of the Boston Conservatory, with advanced degrees from Boston University, Dr. McManus was, until his retirement in 2001, Director of Fine and Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools. In 2004, he was appointed Associate Professor of Music Education at the College of Fine Arts at Boston University and was Chair of the Music Education Department until his retirement in June 2008.

The Massachusetts Music Educators Association awarded Dr. McManus the Lowell Mason Award and the Distinguished Service Award. He was also given the Conductor of the Year Award by the Massachusetts Instrumental Conductors Association. In March 2008, he received the Visionary Leadership Award, the most prestigious award given by the MMEA. In May of 2008, he was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award by the faculty of the Boston University College of Fine Arts. In October, 2008, Dr. McManus received the Concord Band’s Lifetime Service Award.

Dr. McManus served as President of the MMEA from 1991 to 1993 and President of the Eastern Division of MENC: The National Association for Music Education from 1999 to 2001. He has been Conductor of the Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, the Framingham Concert Band, the 215th Army Band, and the United States Youth Wind Ensemble, and has been a guest conductor throughout the Eastern United States and Europe.

Since his retirement from Boston University, Dr. McManus has been living in Sandwich on Cape Cod where he continues to compose and arrange music for concert band and jazz ensemble. He also con- tinues to play jazz piano and saxophone, performing with several jazz bands in the Boston area.

2012 Fall Concert

A Tribute to William M. Toland

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The Concord Band 

James O’Dell, Music Director

Dr. William G. McManus, Music Director Emeritus

Program
Fanfare for a Festive Day	Roger Cichy
Pennyghael: Reflections of Scotland	William M. Toland
Welcome and introduction by Charles Learoyd,  Concord Band clarinetist (1975–present), Current Band President
Satiric Dances	Norman Dello Joio
Allegro pesante Adagio mesto Allegro spumante
Introduced by Dan Diamond, Concord Band percussionist (1970–present),  Board member (1971–present), former Band President
Eternal Father, Strong to Save	Claude T. Smith
Introduced by Chris Mudgett, Bedford High School Class of 1971,  Concord Band flutist (1975–present), former Board member and Band President
“Nimrod” from Enigma Variations	Edward Elgar; arr. Reed
Introduced by David Purinton, Concord Band clarinetist (1973–present)
Postcard	Frank Ticheli
Introduced by Keith Phinney, Bedford Director of Music (1956–1988)
Intermission
Proud Heritage	William Latham
Chester	William Schuman
Introduced by Mark Mudgett, Bedford High School Class of 1973,  Concord Band arranger (1974–1976), Concord Band trumpeter (1970’s and 1990’s)
Elegy	William G. McManus
World Premiere
Introduced and conducted by Dr. William G. McManus, Composer,  Concord Band Music Director (1995–2009), Music Director Emeritus (2009–present)
Welsh Variants	James Curnow
Introduced by Kenneth Troup, Bedford High School Class of 1962,  Concord Band percussionist (1971–present), Board member (2010–present)
El Capitan	John Philip Sousa/arr. Hindsley
Video remarks by John Ferrillo, Bedford High School Class of 1973,  principal oboist, Boston Symphony Orchestra (2001–present)
Auld Lang Syne	Trad/arr. William M. Toland

Read all notes for this program...

El Capitan

El Capitan is the best known of John Philip Sousa’s fifteen operettas. The operetta concludes with this march and in 1899 Sousa increased his band to over a hundred musicians and featured this work in a victory parade for Admiral Dewey and his returning Spanish-American war veterans. (March Music Notes, Norman E. Smith)

Fanfare for a Festive Day

The music of Roger Cichy has been frequently performed by the Concord Band. Fanfare for a Festive Day is largely based on the four opening pitches G, C, D, and F played in ascending order. Eventually, this four-note motive is joined with additional material to become the thematic material for the fanfare. Throughout the main statement of this thematic material, changing meter patterns are used to compress the phrases, thus pushing the music ahead and increasing its forward momentum. (Published Score)

Pennyghael: Reflections of Scotland

Bill Toland wrote Pennyghael: Reflections of Scotland after a trip to Scotland, which was the Concord Band’s 25th anniversary gift to him. Featuring a medley of Scottish tunes, the work begins with a sustained drone and introduces a fragment of the second theme. The first tune in march style is boldly introduced by a blaze of percussion, and quickly passes throughout each section of the band. The lyrical second tune is announced by the oboe and quickly joined by the third tune, this time introduced by the alto saxophone. After several orchestrations and modulations, the jaunty final tune whirls its way through several variations, slowly winding down back to the opening drone and a final restatement combining two of the main melodic themes. (JRO)

Satiric Dances

Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes by Norman Dello Joio was the first work commissioned by the Concord Band. Originally written for piano, the piece was arranged for band for the commemoration on April 19, 1975, of the Bicentennial of the first military engagements of the American Revolution, in Lexington and Concord, MA. The three-movement work combines comedic and lyrical themes, sometimes edgy and angular, and at other times beautifully song-like. The final movement is an energetic romp punctuated with sixteenth note rhythmic percussion driving the theme as it is passes from section to section. (JRO)

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Claude T. Smith was one of Bill Toland’s favorite composers. Smith’s Eternal Father, Strong to Save is a masterful work, rich in harmony, dynamics, and thematic interplay. The piece is based on the missionary hymn of the same name composed in 1860 by William Whiting, which was adopted as the official hymn of the U.S. Navy. This work opens with a brilliant fanfare. The melody of the hymn then appears in a fugue developed by the woodwinds. The brass echo the fugue until the melody once again appears played by the choir of French horns. The ensemble joins in for a finale reminiscent of the introductory fanfare. (Music Program Notes)

Nimrod

Nimrod is the fifth of fourteen variations contained in Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. The Nimrod variation enshrines a conversation between Elgar and his friend A. J. Jaeger (which translates to “hunter” in German). Nimrod is the great hunter of the Bible. This programmatic work reveals the composer’s masterful orchestration and was performed at Bill Toland’s request at our Winter, 2012, concert. (JRO and the Oxford Concise Music Dictionary)

Postcard

Postcard by Frank Ticheli was commissioned by the composer’s friend, colleague, and former mentor, H. Robert Reynolds, in memory of his mother, Ethel Virginia Curry. It was composed as a short energetic piece celebrating her life and a brief “postcard” as a musical reflection of her character—vibrant, whimsical, succinct. It was first performed in 1992 by the University of Michigan Symphony Band, conducted by Reynolds. (Published Score)

Chester

Chester is the third of the three movements from William Schuman’s New England Triptych, written in 1956. The tune is based on a famous American Revolutionary hymn and marching song by early American composer William Billings. In the first section Schuman introduces the first tune in the woodwinds and then in the brasses. In the next section the melody is given a more contemporary setting with mid-twentieth century rhythmic and harmonic devices utilized to sustain interest. The closing section brings back the hymnlike treatment of the theme and the work is brought to a dramatic close. (Band Music Notes, Norman Smith and Albert Stoutamire)

Elegy

William G. McManus composed Elegy in memory of William M. Toland. The work opens with a solemn memorial theme played by solo trumpet accompanied by timpani, one of the many percussion instruments Bill played. After a brief transition section, clarinets and flutes introduce a hymn-like lifecelebrating theme. Following several statements of this melody, the percussion section is featured with the timpani now playing a motif from the opening memorial theme accompanied by snare drum, bass drum and cymbals. This section leads to a majestic restatement of the celebration theme by the full band. The work closes as it began with the memorial theme played by solo trumpet, but this time accompanied by a tolling chime. (WGM)

Welsh Variants

Welsh Variants is one of several outstanding works written by James Curnow for the Concord Band. It was commissioned when the Band was under the baton of Bill Toland, and the composer conducted the world premiere on October 22, 1988, in Concord. The main theme is "Suo Gan," a traditional Welsh folk song, also featured in the film Empire of the Sun. The theme is first presented in a brilliant style by the woodwinds. Curnow then transforms the theme into a number of contrasting variations utilizing the full resources of the symphonic band, as well as featuring many solo instruments. (WGM)

A Tribute to William Toland

Bill Toland

The Concord Band’s Fall Concert at 8 pm on Saturday, October 27 will be a tribute to the group’s first Music Director, William Toland. The concert will be held at Bedford High School, where Toland was Band Director and Assistant Director of Music from 1957 to 1984.

Toland, who led the Band from 1962 to 1995, passed away in January 2012 at the age of 80.

Known in Boston’s western suburbs as a dedicated music educator, Toland earned many awards, including the DeMolay Award for Exemplary Teaching, and the Lowell Mason Award for Outstanding Leadership in Music Education from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA). He was also active in the MMEA Northeast District festivals, often serving as host, band manager, and district band conductor.

While with the Concord Band, Bill Toland was recognized as an important contributor to the world of band music through his prolific commissions of new works for concert band, particularly his commissions of Satiric Dances (1975) and Five Concord Diversions (1987). Toland received a bachelor of music degree from Boston University in 1953, a master of music degree from B.U. in 1960, and a master of music education from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, in 1970.

Under current Music Director James O’Dell, the Concord Band will perform Norman Dello Joio’s Satiric Dances, Toland’s own Pennyghael: Reflections of Scotland, James Curnow’s Welsh Variants, also commissioned by Toland, and more. Former Concord Band Music Director William McManus will conduct the premiere of Elegy, a tribute he wrote in Toland’s memory.