Boston Liberties

Boston Liberties was commissioned by the Concord Band in 2002. Composer Julie Giroux wrote this four movement work in recognition of Boston as the maritime center of America in Colonial days. The first movement, “Boston Harbor,” is set in a traditional seafaring, swashbuckling style with a “touch of the Irish.” The second movement, “Facts are Stubborn Things,” is based on a quote from a speech John Adams made to a jury in Boston while defending the British soldiers involved in “The Boston Massacre.” The third movement is Julie Giroux’s personal reflection of her own time spent wandering on the grounds of historical cemeteries and wondering about the lives of the people buried there. The final movement depicts the mishaps, fires, fog cannon, explosions, ship horns, and other noises of Boston Harbor and the rebuilding and constant operation of the Boston Lighthouse. (Source: published score)

2008 Fall Concert

50th Anniversary Season

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Concord Band

Dr. William G. McManus, Music Director

Dr. Steven Grimo, Guest Conductor

Program
Dr. William G. McManus conducting
Parade of the Tall Ships	Jay A. Chattaway
Four Songs Without Words on Poems of Kleist	Michael H. Weinstein
Gluck Auf! Hymn An Die Sonne Ich will hinein Du bist mir die Kamille
Ye Banks and Braes O' Bonnie Doon	Percy Grainger
Boston Liberties	Julie Giroux
Boston Harbor Facts are Stubborn Things Granary Grounds A Penny a Ton
An Ellington Portrait	arr. Floyd E. Werle
Intermission
Dr. Steven Grimo, conducting
La Mezquita de Córdoba	Julie Giroux
Dr. William G. McManus conducting
Porgy and Bess Selection	George Gershwin; arr. Robert Russell Bennett
Dr. Steven Grimo, conducting
March Madness	arr. TSgt. John Bliss

Read all notes for this program...

Parade of the Tall Ships

Parade of the Tall Ships is an exciting concert march composed by Jay Chattaway in commemoration of the 1976 Operation Sail, which was the largest gathering of tall sailing ships from all over the world. This historic event took place in New York Harbor on July 4, 1976, as part of America’s Bicentennial celebration. (WGM)

Four Songs Without Words on Poems of Kleist

The Concord Band is honored to present the world premiere of Four Songs Without Words on Poems of Kleist for Concert Band, an original work for concert band by Concord resident Michael Weinstein, who teaches composition at the New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music. This work was inspired by four poems of German writer Heinrich Kleist. Discussing poety and musical composition, Weinstein writes, “I love poetry and am delighted at finding a good verse or two for a song setting—once I find something I like, it makes the composing easier for me (not as abstract an exercise as writing, say, a sonata or a symphony or concerto). A good poem suggests an immediate form and gives the mood of a composition.” (WGM)

Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Doon

Ye Banks and Braes O’ Bonnie Doon is a slow, sustained Scottish folk song. This setting by composer Percy Grainger is one of his most memorable folk song settings, and is now considered one of the cornerstones of band repertoire. Grainger’s original setting of this was done in 1901 for “men’s chorus and whistlers.” (Source: Band Music Notes)

An Ellington Portrait

Duke Ellington was one of the few jazz artists whose style never seemed to become dated. He was always able to blend his own art with new influences and trends. Songs he wrote as long as seventy years ago still sound fresh and many of the most up-to-date jazz musicians still play them. Floyd Werle’s setting of An Ellington Portrait includes eight – but by no means all – of his best ones: “It Don’t Mean a Thing ,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Mood Indigo,” (his first “hit”), “Azure,” “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart,” “Solitude,” “Caravan” and “In A Sentimental Mood.” (Source: Band Music Notes)

La Mezquita de Córdoba

In 169 B. C. the Romans founded Córdoba, Spain. After the fall of Rome, it existed under the rule of the Visigoths and became the capital of Al Andalus, Muslim Spain, in 716. When the Moors conquered Córdoba, they found a Visigoth cathedral, promptly pulled it down and built a mosque complex, the wall of which enclosed about four acres. Over the centuries, the Moors roofed over and developed more and more within this complex. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths alike were practiced within its walls, an unprecedented feat that would be unheard of today. When the Christians reconquered Córdoba in 1236, the new rulers were so awed by its beauty that they left it standing, building their cathedral in the midst of its rows of arches and columns. Thus it is preserved today, fondly referred to in Spain as “La Grand Mezquita.” Julie Giroux’s La Mezquita de Córdoba opens with the destruction of the original Christian church in 716 A.D. and proceeds as a musical celebration of its multi-cultural, religious and artistic accomplishments. (Source: published score)

Porgy and Bess Selection

Porgy and Bess Selection contains seven songs from George Gershwin’s folk opera, Porgy and Bess, which climaxed Gershwin’s spectacular career. Porgy and Bess has been criticized as being between serious opera and musical comedy, but the beauty of the music and the expressive content which is so right for the occasion, has an immediate and complete appeal. This arrangement by Robert Russell Bennett includes: “Summertime,” “A Woman Is a Sometime Thing,” “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin,” “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “Picnic Parade,” and “Oh Lawd, I’m on My Way.” (Source: Band Music Notes)

March Madness

March Madness was arranged for the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., by TSgt. John Bliss. This delightful and very unusual march arrangement is composed of sections, themes, and quotes from numerous wellknown marches including symphonic marches, circus marches, marches from television shows, movies and Broadway, and, of course, Sousa marches. Tonight’s audience will be challenged to see how many of these marches they can identify. (WGM)