REFUGE & RESILIENCE

Overture to Candide
Leonard Bernstein/Trans. Clare Grundman

Sanctuary
Frank Ticheli

Council Oak
David Gillingham

The Invincible Eagle
John Philip Sousa

Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral
Richard Wagner/Trans. Lucien Cailliet

PROGRAM NOTES

Overture to Candide
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), trans. Walter Beeler

Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide bursts with energy, wit, and optimism. Based on Voltaire’s 1759 satire, the Broadway operetta Candide opened in 1956 but closed after only 73 performances. Audiences found it too intellectual for musical theatre and too theatrical for opera. Still, the overture immediately took on a life of its own. Bernstein later remarked, “There’s more of me in that piece than anything else I’ve done.”

The overture blends warmth and brilliance, weaving together two melodies from the show: the sweeping duet Oh, Happy We and the dazzling aria Glitter and Be Gay. Its quicksilver rhythms and brass fanfares create a joyful whirlwind that challenges musicians and delights audiences alike.

Opening tonight’s concert, Candide celebrates the resilience of optimism — an invitation to meet uncertainty not with fear, but with courage, humor, and the hope that art always brings.

Sanctuary
Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)

Frank Ticheli wrote Sanctuary in 2005 as a gift to his longtime friend and mentor, H. Robert Reynolds. The piece begins with quiet chimes and a solo horn — Reynolds’s first instrument — that sings a calm, familiar melody. The music rises gradually to a dark, powerful climax before returning to stillness and peace.

The title suggests many meanings: safety, rest, or sacred space. Ticheli’s music moves between tension and tranquility, always returning to a simple three-chord progression that feels like home. The soft echoes of the opening bells at the close suggest that strength is often rebuilt in calm reflection.

In this program, Sanctuary provides a musical place of rest — a reminder that refuge is not only a destination, but also a state of heart that allows us to recover and begin again.

Council Oak
David Gillingham (b. 1947)

David Gillingham’s Council Oak honors a living symbol of endurance. On the Seminole Hollywood Reservation in Florida stands a massive oak tree where tribal leaders met during their struggle for recognition and survival. Those gatherings helped revive the Seminole people, leading to their official recognition by Congress in 1957.

Commissioned by the Florida Bandmasters Association, Gillingham’s work draws on four traditional Seminole songs preserved in the Smithsonian archives, along with a newly composed theme he calls the “Song of the Council Oak.” The music moves from solemn reflection to rhythmic vitality, ending in a powerful, unified sound that feels deeply rooted and alive.

Council Oak portrays community strength — how people find hope together when their identity and future are tested. It reminds us that resilience is often found beneath shared shelter.

The Invincible Eagle March
John Philip Sousa (1854–1932)

Composed in 1901 for the Pan-American Exposition, The Invincible Eagle quickly became one of Sousa’s proudest patriotic marches. He nearly titled it Spirit of Niagara, capturing the same unstoppable energy that flows through its soaring melodies and confident rhythms.

In tonight’s program, this march serves as a joyful statement of collective confidence — a musical breath of fresh air that bridges reflection and grandeur, celebrating the steadfast courage that moves people, and nations, forward.

Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral
Richard Wagner (1813–1883), trans. Lucien Cailliet (1891–1985)

Drawn from Act II of Wagner’s opera Lohengrin (1848), Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral portrays the heroine’s solemn walk to her wedding, accompanied by the voices of her people. The music unfolds in one long arc — quiet reverence growing into radiant majesty.

Lucien Cailliet’s transcription masterfully adapts Wagner’s orchestral and choral textures for concert band, preserving the composer’s grandeur while revealing new color and clarity in winds and brass.

As the conclusion to Refuge & Resilience, Elsa’s Procession closes the journey with assurance and grace. After moments of energy, reflection, and renewal, this work rises as a musical benediction — a reminder that resilience, when joined with faith and purpose, leads ultimately to peace.