YOUTH PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOL PROGRAM

Festive Overture (1954/1965)
Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906-1975)
tr. Hunsberger

Kevin Callihan, conductor

Eternal Father, Strong to Save (1860/1975)
John B. Dykes
(1823-1876)
arr. Claude T. Smith

Connor Kinman, guest conductor

Commando March (1943)
Samuel Barber
(1910-1981)

Dr. John Zastoupil, guest conductor

The Frozen Cathedral (2012)
John Mackey
(b. 1973)

Kevin Callihan, conductor

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE PROGRAM

La Procession du Rocio (1913/1962)
Joaquin Turina
(1882-1949)
tr. Reed

apricity, mvt I (2023)
Hilary Purrington
(b. 1990)

Tyler Hamilton, graduate assistant conductor

Wine-Dark Sea (2014)
John Mackey
(b. 1973)

1. Hubris
2. Immortal Thread, So Weak
3. The Attention of Souls

YPAS PROGRAM NOTES

Festive Overture

The Festive Overture was composed in 1954, in the period between Symphony No. 10 and the Violin Concerto. Its American premiere was given by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra on November 16, 1955. In 1956, the New York Philharmonic under Dmitri Mitropoulos presented the overture in Carnegie Hall. 

A Russian band version of the overture was released in 1958 and utilized the standard instrumentation of the Russian military band, i.e., a complete orchestral wind, brass and percussion section plus a full family of saxhorns, ranging from the Bb soprano down through the Bb contrabass saxhorn. This new edition has been scored for the instrumentation of the American symphonic band.

The Festive Overture is an excellent curtain raiser and contains one of Shostakovich's greatest attributes -- the ability to write a long sustained melodic line combined with a pulsating rhythmic drive. In addition to the flowing melodic passages, there are also examples of staccato rhythmic sections which set off the flowing line and the variant fanfares. It is truly a "festive overture."

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Rich in harmony, dynamics, and thematic interplay, Eternal Father, Strong to Save is based on the missionary hymn of the same name composed in 1860 by John Bacchus Dykes, 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. The work is dedicated to the United States Navy Band, Lieutenant Commander Ned E. Muffley, conductor, and was premiered at the Band's 50th anniversary concert held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1975.

Commando March

When famed composer Samuel Barber joined the United States Army in 1942, he quickly went to work writing music for the war effort. Though not officially commissioned to do so by the US government, Barber’s first work after his military induction was Commando March, and it was premiered by the Army Air Forces Technical Command Training Band in early 1943. Commando March enjoyed immediate success as the Goldman Band played the work throughout the summer of 1943, leading to a request by Serge Koussevitzky for Barber to adapt it for orchestra. The orchestral adaptation received its premiere with the Boston Symphony under the baton of Koussevitzky in October of 1943. The rapid pace of composition, premiere, achieving popular success and orchestral adaptation in the same calendar year can be attributed to Barber’s high status as one of the most widely-accepted American composers of his time.  Barber’s music gathered broad acclaim not just among his American colleagues, but throughout Europe as well, solidifying him as one of the titans of twentieth-century American music. Commando March endures as a cornerstone work for wind band, standing as the singular, yet beloved contribution to the band genre from a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning icon of American music.

The Frozen Cathedral

The Koyukon call it Denali, meaning “the great one,” and it is great. It stands at more than twenty thousand feet above sea level, a towering mass over the Alaskan wilderness. Measured from its base to its peak, it is the tallest mountain on land in the world, a full two thousand feet taller than Mount Everest. It is Mount McKinley, and it is an awesome spectacle. And it is the inspiration behind John Mackey’s The Frozen Cathedral.

The piece was born of the collaboration between Mackey and John Locke, Director of Bands at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Locke asked Mackey if he would dedicate the piece to the memory of his late son, J.P., who had a particular fascination with Alaska and the scenery of Denali National Park. Mackey agreed, and immediately found himself grappling with a problem: He had never been to Alaska.

How could I tie the piece to Alaska, a place I'd never seen in person? I kept thinking about it in literal terms, and I just wasn’t getting anywhere. My wife, who titles all of my pieces, said I should focus on what it is that draws people to these places. People go to the mountains -- these monumental, remote, ethereal and awesome parts of the world -- as a kind of pilgrimage. It’s a search for the sublime, for transcendence. A great mountain is like a church. “Call it The Frozen Cathedral,” she said.

I clearly married up.

The most immediately distinct aural feature of the work is the quality (and geographic location) of intriguing instrumental colors. The stark, glacial opening is colored almost exclusively by a crystalline twinkling of metallic percussion that surrounds the audience. Although the percussion orchestration carries a number of traditional sounds, there are a host of unconventional timbres as well, such as crystal glasses, crotales on timpani, tam-tam resonated with superball mallets, and the waterphone, an instrument used by Mackey to great effect on his earlier work Turning. The initial sonic environment is an icy and alien one, a cold and distant landscape whose mystery is only heightened by a longing, modal solo for bass flute, made dissonant by a contrasting key, and more insistent by the eventual addition of alto flute, English horn, and bassoon. This collection expands to encompass more of the winds, slowly and surely, with their chorale building in intensity and rage. Just as it seems their wailing despair can drive no further, however, it shatters like glass, dissipating once again into the timbres of the introductory percussion.

The second half of the piece begins in a manner that sounds remarkably similar to the first. In reality, it has been transposed into a new key and this time, when the bass flute takes up the long solo again, it resonates with far more compatible consonance. The only momentary clash is a Lydian influence in the melody, which brings a brightness to the tune that will remain until the end. Now, instead of anger and bitter conflict, the melody projects an aura of warmth, nostalgia, and even joy. This bright spirit pervades the ensemble, and the twinkling colors of the metallic percussion inspire a similar percolation through the upper woodwinds as the remaining winds and brass present various fragmented motives based on the bass flute’s melody. This new chorale, led in particular by the trombones, is a statement of catharsis, at once banishing the earlier darkness in a moment of spiritual transcendence and celebrating the grandeur of the surroundings. A triumphant conclusion in E-flat major is made all the more jubilant by the ecstatic clattering of the antiphonal percussion, which ring into the silence like voices across the ice.

UT PROGRAM NOTES

La Procession du Rocio

La Procession du Rocio was given its premiere in Madrid in 1913. Every year in Seville, during the month of June, there takes place in a section of the city known as Triana, a festival called the Procession of the Dew in which the best families participate. They make their entry in their coaches following an image of the Virgin Mary on a golden cart drawn by oxen and accompanying by music. The people dance the soleare and the seguidilla. A drunkard sets off firecrackers, adding to the confusion. At the sound of the flutes and drums, which announce the procession, all dancing ceases. A religious theme is heard and breaks forth mingling with the pealing of the church bells and the strains of the royal march. The procession passes and as it recedes, the festivities resume, but at length they fade away.

Composer Joaquin Turina (1882-1949) was a native of Spain, but was influenced early in his career by the impressionistic harmonies of Debussy and Ravel while studying in Paris. Upon returning to Spain, he drew inspiration from Spanish folk music with La Procession du Rocio becoming one of his best-known works. The music portrays a festival and procession that takes place in the Triana neighborhood of Seville, and is filled with wonderful idiomatic Spanish musical elements. Alfred Reed’s marvelous transcription created in 1962 remains an enduring staple in the repertoire for wind bands.

apricity

apricity is a jubilant and vivid two-movement work for wind ensemble. The title is a now-archaic word that describes the warmth of sunshine during winter. This sensation, which looks ahead to springtime renewal and fairer weather, struck me as a poignant moment of joy and optimism. Taking inspiration from the poem Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver, the movements’ titles -- if you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy and joy is not made to be a crumb -- expand on this idea of seizing and savoring joys, especially the small and unexpected.

The first movement, if you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, opens with a clamorous motive that alternates with moments of resonance. A meandering melody, played by the piccolo, emerges during these resonant pauses. While the piccolo’s winding tune develops and reappears throughout the movement, the opening clamorous motive stretches into a defined melody that first appears in a soulful oboe solo. These two melodies -- one quick-moving and meandering, and the other lyrical and expressive -- alternate and return. At the first movement’s high point, the two melodies coincide: the high woodwinds sing out a lyrical melody in the foreground while the B-flat clarinets play the meandering melody in the background. The movement ends with a reference to the work’s fragmented opening music and a final solo exploration of the lyrical melodic material.

The sprightly second movement, joy is not made to be a crumb, opens similarly to the first: a gestural motive alternates with moments of rest and resonance, but the music’s lighthearted character is markedly different from the first movement. This lively motive expands in range and gathers force, eventually tumbling into a peaceful, contemplative passage featuring an emotive trombone solo. An emerging brass chorale swells and develops, eventually bringing the work to a joyful and resolute climax. The final measures recall the movement’s opening materials, now sounding against a shimmering veil of sound.

- Program Note by composer

Wine-Dark Sea

For the past 10 years, I've written all of my music in collaboration with my wife, Abby. She titles nearly all of my pieces, a process that usually involves my writing the music, then playing it for her, after which she tells me what the piece is about. Without her help, Aurora Awakes would be "Slow Music Then Fast Music #7 in E-flat." Sometimes she'll hear a piece halfway through my writing process and tell me what the music evokes to her, and that can take the piece in a different (and better) direction than I had originally intended. I've learned that the earlier she is involved in the process, the better the piece turns out. So with Wine-Dark Sea, my symphony for band, I asked for her help months before I ever wrote a note of music.

The commission, from Jerry Junkin and The University of Texas Wind Ensemble, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, was for a piece lasting approximately 30 minutes. How could I put together a piece that large? Abby had an idea. Why not write something programmatic, and let the story determine the structure? We had taken a similar approach with Harvest: Concerto for Trombone, my trombone concerto about Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. Why not return to the Greek myths for this symphony? And since this story needed to be big (epic, even), I'd use the original, truly epic tale of Odysseus, as told thousands of years ago by Homer in The Odyssey.

The full Odyssey, it turned out, was too large, so Abby picked some of the "greatest hits" from the epic poem. She wrote a truncated version of the story, and I attempted to set her telling to music. Here is the story the way Abby outlined it (in three movements), and I set it:

After ten years of bloody siege, the Trojan War was won because of Odysseus's gambit: A horse full of soldiers, disguised as an offering. The people of Troy took it in as a trophy, and were slaughtered.

Odysseus gave the Greeks victory, and they left the alien shores for home. But Odysseus's journey would take as long as the war itself. Homer called the ocean on which Odysseus sailed a wine-dark sea, and for the Greek king it was as murky and disorienting as its name; he would not find his way across it without first losing himself.

I. Hubris

Odysseus filled his ship with the spoils of war, but he carried another, more dangerous, cargo: pride. This movement opens with his triumphal march, and continues as he and his crew maraud through every port of call on their way home.

But the arrogance of a conquering mortal has one sure consequence in this world: a demonstration of that mortal's insignificance, courtesy of the gods. Odysseus offends; Zeus strikes down his ship. The sailors drown. Odysseus is shipwrecked. The sea takes them all.

II. Immortal thread, so weak

This movement is the song of the beautiful and immortal nymph Kalypso, who finds Odysseus near death, washed up on the shore of the island where she lives all alone. She nurses him back to health, and sings as she moves back and forth with a golden shuttle at her loom. Odysseus shares her bed; seven years pass. The tapestry she began when she nursed him becomes a record of their love.

But one day Odysseus remembers his home. He tells Kalypso he wants to leave her, to return to his wife and son. He scoffs at all she has given him. Kalypso is heartbroken.

And yet, that night, Kalypso again paces at her loom. She unravels her tapestry and weaves it into a sail for Odysseus. In the morning, she shows Odysseus a raft, equipped with the sail she has made and stocked with bread and wine, and calls up a gentle and steady wind to carry him home. Shattered, she watches him go; he does not look back.

III. The attentions of souls

But other immortals are not finished with Odysseus yet. Before he can reach his home, he must sail to the end of the earth, and make a sacrifice to the dead. And so, this movement takes place at the gates of the underworld, where it is always night.

When Odysseus cuts the throats of the sacrificial animals, the spirits of the dead swarm up. They cajole him, begging for blood. They accuse him, indicting him for his sins. They taunt him, mocking his inability to get home. The spirit of his own mother does not recognize him; he tries to touch her, but she is immaterial. He sees the ghosts of the great and the humble, all hungry, all grasping.

Finally, the prophet Teiresias tells Odysseus what he must do to get home. And so Odysseus passes through a gauntlet beyond the edge of the world, beset by the surging, shrieking souls of the dead. But in the darkness he can at last see the light of home ahead.

Wine-Dark Sea is dedicated to Jerry Junkin, without whom the piece would not exist. The second movement, Immortal thread, so weak, telling of Kalypso's broken heart, is dedicated to Abby, without whom none of my music over the past ten years would exist.

- Program Note by composer

Dr. Maria Fernanda Castillo, flute
Dr. Victor Chávez, Jr., 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

Flute
Lane Pehl
Yacine Diop
Jojo Ombati  
Irene Sohn
Jonathan Beacham

Oboe
Leticia Ferreira
Samantha Cole
Johnny Wagner

Bassoon
Christian Nolden
Louis Taguchi

Clarinet
Hyun Kim
Edward Kim
Darren Xie
Elayna Stewart
Katie Stinnet
Reimay Ni
Katy Sosa-Stephens
Katelyn Fowler
Brooklyn Nicely

Bass Clarinet
Isabella Powell
Killian Ames
Victoria Powell

Alto Sax
Noah Sparks
Jacob Krantz
Josseline Hernandez Trejo
Quinn Shean
Kasi Delano

Tenor Sax
Mela Campbell

Baritone Sax
Aidan Natsis

Trumpet
Colin Selch
Drew Moutachouik
Mitchell Kang
William Shavkey
Madison Wallitsch
Daniel Kang
Mira Fritz
Benjamin Townson
Roman Allgeier

Horn
Keegan Coomer
Reid Allen
Trey Adams
Gabe Porter
Roman Moldoveanu

Trombone
Kevin Canales
Mox Wilson
Bryce Coleman
Eric Maxey

Euphonium
Levi Perez
Rehaan Egbert
Adrian Perez

Tuba
Conner Dempsey
Carmen Morales
Andrew Snyder
Kyle Martin

Percussion
Quinton Schwaniger
Charlie Humble
Carson Froedge
Alexander Schardein
Aiden Gie
Eric Kim
Jonah Sorenson
Finn Paris
Josie Brown
Ewan Higdon

* = principal

Flute
Lynne-Grace Wooden
Rebecca Deal*
Sophia Dobbie
Ella Pinchok

Oboe
Matthew Barrett
Grace Davis*
Jessie Wilson

Bassoon
Ava Kroeppler*
James Carnal

Clarinet
Landon Blankenship
Grace Dobrescu
Ryder Fitzgerald
Anna Hutchinson
Nathaniel Palcone
Rafael Puga*
Bryce Neely
Troy Weatherford
Meredith Williams
Joshua Zhou

Bass Clarinet
Alex Jett

Contra Bass Clarinet
Ashley Melvin

Alto Saxophone
Sean Keenan
Alex Singleton*

Tenor Saxophone
Brooklynn Crabtree

Bari Saxophone
Benjamin Strobel

Horn
Cameron Allen
Rose Capooth
Margaret Kinzer
Ben Makins*
Aaron O’Donnell
Casey Treanor

Trumpet
Andrew Beiter*
Justin Bowers
Lauren Dodd
Matthew Dunevant
Issac Hair
Jayden Robins
Eric Xie

Tenor Trombone
Wyatt Detrick*
James Garrick
Elizabeth Greene
Thomas Long
Matthew Walker
Bass Trombone
Bryce McCracken

Euphonium
Amy Smith*
Sam Vance

Tuba
Harrison Jeffers
Cameron McKenzie*
Casey Mobley

Percussion
Anna Davis
Lydia Dodd
Chang Gao
Freddy Morales*
Burke Rivet
Trik Gass (extra)
Christopher Rosas (extra)

Piano
Stephanie Hensley

Harp
Kari Novilla

String Bass
Jack Willard

October 03, 2024
Symphonic and Concert Band Concert

October 24, 2024
Wind Ensemble @ World’s Fair Park

November 21, 2024
Symphonic and Concert Band Concert

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