by Cal Armistead
First, full disclosure: despite living in the Concord area for nearly twenty years, I’d never
been to a concert of The Concord Band until last Saturday evening. And now, although I’m late to
the party, I can with authority chastise myself for missing out all these years. It was my great delight
to finally experienced this local cultural treasure first-hand at 51 Walden in Concord on
March 3rd.
The inspiration behind the music for the Winter Concert was “18
18, 19
18,
20
18—
Anniversaries,” and began, stated music director and conductor James O’Dell, with the celebration of the
100th birthday this year of composer Leonard Bernstein. “Then we started thinking, ‘what else can
we tie in?’ We came up with [Charles] Gounod’s 200th,” he said. As for the rest? The connection was
applied loosely, he admitted, “a little bit, but not too much.” Certainly anniversaries are on the minds of The Concord Band members and enthusiasts as
they contemplate their 60th year in 2019.
The concert began with
Overture to Candide, its performance dedicated to assistant conductor
Steven Barbas, who was unable to lead the piece as planned Saturday night due to a death
in his family. The exciting
Overture was a treat for theater nerds in the audience (this reporter included),
reminding us of the comic operetta based on Voltaire’s work that had its premiere under the direction
of Bernstein by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957.
The next number,
Funeral March of a Marionette with its dancing xylophone instantly
brought to mind the image of movie director Alfred Hitchcock stepping into his famous big-bellied
profile. O’Dell described the tune as “a clever little march, a tongue-in-cheek piece,” which was
originally conceived by Charles Gounod as a parody of a music critic he detested.
The grand
Toccata Marziale by Ralph Vaughan Williams conjured images of a royal parade,
and indeed was composed for the Commemoration of the British Empire Exhibition of 1924.
A particular treat for the evening was the performance of
A Trumpeter’s Lullaby, featuring
the impressive talent of trumpet soloist (and Concord Band principal trumpeter) Richard Given.
The piece was written by Leroy Anderson at the prompt of Roger Voisin, first trumpet of the Boston
Pops. In turn, Given himself studied with Voisin at the New England Conservatory, allowing the
appreciative audience to experience this direct lineage of talent and inspiration. The number—which was dedicated to the memory of longtime member and trumpet player Ron Smith, who recently
passed away—was rewarded with whoops, whistles and cheers.
The
Three Dance Episodes from Bernstein’s On the Town conjured the unmistakable excitement
and razzle-dazzle of Times Square in 1944. “Dance of the Great Lover,” “Pas de Deux” and “Times
Square Ballet” created fun auditory images of three sailors seeking romance and adventure during
24-hour shore leave in wartime New York City.
Following intermission, The Concord Band went interplanetary with the Gustav Holst tone
poem “Mars, the Bringer of War,” from his composition
The Planets. Although conceived in 1914 to reflect
the rising threat of World War I, to this listener it also evoked images of marching Star Wars
storm troopers planning intergalactic war. After rising to the musical equivalent of artillery attacks
within a cacophony of chaos, the music quieted, seeming to lay destruction bare, for all to look upon,
and contemplate.
“A Simple Song” from Bernstein’s
Mass was commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy for the
opening of the John F. Kennedy Center in 1971. This meaningful piece reflected—as noted in the
program—Bernstein’s desire to compose an ecumenical service “that would combine elements from
various religions and sects of ancient or tribal beliefs.” At the time, he’d attempted to explore what
he perceived as a spiritual crisis. Certainly A Simple Song, the introductory movement to his
Mass
is as pertinent today, nearly five decades later, as it was then.
Gounod’s
Petite Symphonie showcased nine woodwind musicians from the Band. A fun,
light number that evoked frolicking woodland creatures, it followed—as the program states—“the
standard Mozart serenade instrumentation of two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, and two
horns, but Gounod also included a single flute part for [celebrated flutist Paul] Taffanel.”
Rolling green hills, homes with thatched roofs, and grazing sheep were brought instantly to
mind by
Irish Tune from Country Derry, written by Percy Grainger. The pipes were calling (along
with beautiful flute melodies) with the familiar strains of “Danny Boy.”
The concert was brought to a close with Grainger’s
Shepherd’s Hey, evoking English “Morris
Men” dancers wearing jingling bells. This whimsical, joyful, swirling, twirling piece provided a big
finish, leaving the audience cheered and satisfied.
Including and especially, me.
I am thrilled to have finally “discovered” The Concord Band after all this time (what was I
thinking?), and although this was this first concert I attended, it will be far from my last.
Writer Cal Armistead is the author of the young adult novel Being Henry David
, and is a member
of Custom Blend, an Acton-based a cappella group that has sung together for 16 years. She resides
in Acton.
