UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE WIND ENSEMBLE

Overture to, “Colas Breugnon” (1937/2003)
Dmitri Kabalevsky
(1904-87)

Dr. Michael Stewart, guest conductor

J'ai été au bal (1999)
Donald Grantham
(b. 1947)

Desire Lines (2024)
Ryan Lindveit
(b. 1994)

*World Premiere*

The Melody Shop (1910)
Karl L. King
(1891-1971)

Dr. Fuller Lyon, guest conductor

Sarcasmes (2020)
Alexandre Kosmicki
(b. 1978)

Dr. Victor Chavez, clarinet soloist

Hymn to the Sun with the Beat of Mother Earth (2006)
Satoshi Yagisawa
(b. 1975)

Colas Breugnon

As the son of a mathematician, Dmitri Kabalevsky was encouraged by his father to study math and economics. Kabalevsky, however, showed an early aptitude for the arts and started his formal music education at the Scriabin School of Music in Moscow when he was fourteen. He entered the Moscow Conservatory in 1925, where he studied composition with Nikolai Miaskovsky and earned a full professorship in 1939.

Kabalevsky was a composer during a period in Russia’s history that was full of stylistic constraints for artists. His music embodied the Russian government’s music ideology which was reminiscent of Russian folk songs and steered clear of modernism.

Kabalevsky’s first opera, Colas Breugnon: Master of Clamecy, was based a novel of the same name by French author Romain Rolland. The story centers on the love life of a scalawag wood carver, Colas Breugnon, who is antagonized by a villainous Duke. The spirited music in the comedic opera turns dramatic when soldiers return and introduce a plague to the village and the Duke orders the wood carvers’ statues burned. The comedy returns when the wood carver gets revenge on the Duke by carving a statue of the Duke riding backwards on a donkey for the entire village to see and enjoy. The excitement and brisk nature of the overture has not only made it a favorite in orchestra halls, but transcriptions by Harding, Beeler, and Hunsberger for wind band have also ensured its popularity in the wind band genre.

J’ai été au bal

J’ai été au bal is a celebration of some of the popular/folk music styles of Louisiana, in particular Cajun music and the brass band tradition of New Orleans. The dance flavor of much of the music is suggested by the title (“I went to the dance”), and two traditional Cajun dance tunes are employed. The first appears near the beginning and later at the end. “Allons danser, Colinda” ('lets go dancing, Colinda') is a boy’s attempt to coax Colinda into going dancing, and part of his argument is “it’s not everyone who knows how to dance the two-beat waltzes." The touching little tune does work better in a syncopated two, but is usually represented in the notation as 3+3+2. The second Cajun song is “Les flames d’enfer” ('the flames of hell'), most often performed as a heavily-accented two-step. My version is much faster and lighter, and is introduced by a country-fiddle style tune. The brass band begins with solo tuba, followed by a duet with the euphonium, and culminating in a full brass presentation.

Desire Lines

Desire lines are the informal footpaths that hikers make as a shortcut on a trail to avoid a longer route. They reflect a collective motivation to reach the destination more quickly, and in the context of a mountain trail, they reflect a yearning desire to make it to the peak. While writing this piece I was thinking about desire lines, desire itself, hiking in the Smoky Mountains, Rachel Carson’s love letters, Emily Dickinson’s Master Poems, emotional longing, Impressionism, synchronicity, free will, love, and zigzagging lyricism.

The piece has three peaks, each a bit bigger than the last. In my mind, I relate these climaxes metaphorically to three stages on a mountain hike. The first peak reflects the feeling of excited anticipation when you can see the summit from the base of the hike. The second peak reflects that feeling on a hike when you have been going for a while and reach what seems like it could be a grand overlook until you realize you are only about half-way there and have a lot of mountain left to climb. After a great deal of exertion, you finally reach the third peak, the most beautiful part of the entire hike and bask in the realization that it was all worth the effort. At the end, however, you discover that the most beautiful part of the peak is not the view itself but rather the unhurried feeling you get when you close your eyes and listen to the birds and the wind.

The Melody Shop

This march was dedicated to E.E. Powell and Al Shortridge, owners of the Powell Music Co. Melody Shop in Canton, Ohio, King's hometown at the time. The nineteen-year-old composer was playing euphonium with Robinson's Famous Shows and was on tour much of the time, but he always enjoyed returning to Canton to see his family and friends. March researcher Robert Hoe wrote that "of all the marches ever written, this one is considered the ne plus ultra (summit of achievement) for baritone-euphonium players." Most clarinet players also appreciate the challenge in their part.

Hymn to the Sun with the Beat of Mother Earth

Commissioned by Tokai City Wind Music Band for their 40th anniversary celebration. They gave the composer a difficult theme, that is: For 40 years we did our activity as if we were a family. We had new experiences, welcoming new members, supporting and helping one another, sometimes having troubles. Through these experiences, the band became our Sun. With the piece, we would like to express our enthusiasm for progress, taking over the early members’ will. The composer used to join in a school band, so he strongly agreed with the theme, but composing is another hard thing to do. He decided to drop in on the band almost every time he went to Nagoya, and promoted friendship with them, which led him to compose this piece.

* = principal

Flute

Whitney Applewhite*
Alan Cook
Rebecca Deal
Sophia Dobbie

Oboe

Matthew Barrett*
Samuel Willard

Bassoon

Ava Kroeppler*
James Carnal
Ally Rogers (contra)

Clarinet

Grace Dobrescu
Anna Hutchinson
Nathaniel Palcone
Rafael Puga*
Lillian Smith
Troy Weatherford
Meredith William

Bass Clarinet

Landon Blankenship

Contra Bass Clarinet

Ashley Melvin

Saxophone

Sean Keenan (alto)
Dawson May (tenor)
Matthew Rhoten* (alto)
Benjamin Strobel (bari)

Horn

Rose Capooth
Caleb DeLong
Nichole Hollenbeck*
Margaret Kinzer
Ben Makins
Aaron O’Donnell
Maya Siddiqui

Trumpet

Christian Carroll
Lauren Dodd
Lexy Kilgore*
Jayden Robins
Philip Troutman
Eric Xie

Tenor Trombone

Alex Boone
Jaydon Headrick
Thomas Long
Jacob Noel*
Matthew Walker

Bass Trombone

Elijah Hoffmann

Euphonium

Brett Rodgers*
Sam Vance

Tuba

Harrison Jeffers
Anderson Johnson*
Cameron McKenzie

Percussion

Ian Alward
Ethan Booher
Anna Davis
Lydia Dodd
Eli Garcia
Trik Gass*
Christopher Rosas

Piano

Jing Fang Huang

Harp

Kari Novilla

Organ

Preston Turner

String Bass

Halimah Muhammad

Directors

Dr. John Zastoupil
Dr. Michael Stewart
Dr. Fuller Lyon

Soloist

Dr. Alex Lapins

GTAs

Tyler Hamilton
Matthew Waymon

Dr. Maria Fernanda Castillo, flute
Dr. Victor Chavez, clarinet
Prof. Jaren Atherholt, oboe
Prof. Ben Atherholt, bassoon
Dr. Allison Adams, saxophone
Dr. Arthur Zanin, trumpet
Dr. Katie Johnson-Webb, horn
Dr. Alex van Duuren, trombone
Dr. Alex Lapins, euphonium/tuba
Dr. Andrew Bliss, percussion
Kevin Zetina, percussion
Dr. Michael Stewart, Associate Director of Bands, Director of Athletic Bands
Dr. Fuller Lyon, Assistant Director of Bands, Assoc. Director of Athletic Bands

April 10-13, 2024
TMEA Wind Ensemble performance in Nashville

April 25, 2024
Symphonic and Concert Band Concert

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Want to know more about the bands at the University of Tennessee? Please visit utbands.utk.edu.