Carnival Overture

Carmen Fantaisie Brillante

Soloist: Brian Teran de Leon, flute

Profanation

Bernstein takes a “Stravinskian” approach to motivic composition in Profanation. Symmetrical and asymmetrical meters are juxtaposed in an abrupt fashion as the composer develops compact musical cells that emphasize rhythm over melody. Bernstein delivers these modern compositional techniques in a palatable fashion that audiences enjoy. Fine high school and university wind bands could successfully perform this work, but conductors should allocate sufficient preparation time to allow players to gain familiarity with Bernstein's rhythmic vocabulary. This rousing ending of this piece would work well as a concert closer.

- Notes from Great Music for Wind Band

Bernstein’s first symphony was his entry into a competition sponsored by the New England Conservatory. Although it didn't win the competition, the work greatly impressed Fritz Reiner, Bernstein’s conducting teacher at Curtis, who agreed to premier it with the Boston Philharmonic. Composing in 1942, a year before his conducting debut, Bernstein was struck by the terrible fate that was then descending upon the Jews in Europe. He expanded on his already written Hebrew Song, retitling it as the finale, Lamentation. The preceding movements were titled Prophesy and Profanation. The three movements correspond to the story of the prophet Jeremiah of the Book of Lamentations. Bernstein did not intend the work to be programmatic but rather to create an “emotional quality.” The scherzo second movement, Profanation, was written to give a general sense of the destruction and chaos brought on by the pagan corruption within the priesthood and the people.

- Program note from Owasso High School Wind Ensemble concert program, 20 December 2012

Jeremiah, Bernstein’s first symphony, was premiered in 1944, with the composer conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony and Jennie Tourel as mezzo-soprano soloist. Although this early work failed to win a 1942 contest sponsored by the New England Conservatory, it did win the Music Critics Circle of New York Award in 1944. The test of the Jeremiah Symphony is from the book of Lamentations. Prophecy, the first movement, aims to parallel in feeling the intensity of the prophet’s please for his people. Lamentations, the third movement, observes the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Profanation, the scherzo second movement, is based on the traditional Hebrew “Haftarah”, a biblical selection from the Books of the Prophets read after the parashah in the Jewish synagogue service. The music depicts a general sense of destruction and chaos brought on by pagan corruption in ancient Jerusalem. The score is dedicated to Bernstein’s father.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band

A Movement for Rosa was commissioned by the Florida Bandmasters Association honoring civil rights heroine Rosa Parks and was composed and orchestrated over a three-month period: August-November, 1992. With a duration of approximately 11 1/2 minutes, this 'movement' -- a quasi-tone poem -- contains three contrasting sections. Section I evokes Rosa's early years, from birth Feb. 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama, through her marriage in 1932 to Raymond Parks in Pine Level, Alabama. Section II portrays years of racial strife in Montgomery and the quest for social equality. Section III is one of quiet strength and serenity. The work's final measures serve an ominous reminder of racism's lingering presence in modern American society.

- Program Note by composer

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Mrs. Parks earned the title “Mother to a Movement” for her act of personal courage, sparking the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s.

In his book Stride Toward Freedom, Dr Martin Luther King states, “When the history books are written in future generations, the historians will pause and say, ‘There lived a great people –- a black people –- who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.’ This is our challenge and our responsibility.”

- Program Note by the Austin (Texas) Symphonic Band concert program, 7 February 2015

Movement” for her act of personal courage, sparking the Civil Rights movement of the l950s. So significant and inspiring was her peaceful act of defiance that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., inscribed the following words on the frontispiece of his book, Stride Toward Freedom, a copy of which he gave to Mrs. Parks: “To Rosa Parks, whose creative witness was the great force that led to the modern stride toward freedom.”

Throughout the history of our great nation, we have glorified (and rightly so) various heroes, most frequently presidents, military figures, and athletes. But we must not forget heroes who are perhaps less conspicuous but every bit as significant. Rosa Parks, who worked as a tailor’s assistant in a men’s clothing store, became secretary of the Montgomery NAACP and the impetus to a major social movement.

America’s proud heritage and the accomplishments of its people have been and continue to be darkened by racial discrimination. This blight on our country takes many forms, whether subtle or more overt, as with cowardly acts of intimidation and violence by various extremist hate groups. Mrs. Parks addresses this continuing problem in her 1992 book entitled Rosa Parks: My Story. The final three paragraphs of that book:

I look back now and realize that since that evening on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, we have made a lot of progress in some ways.

All those laws against segregation have been passed, and all that progress has been made. But a whole lot of white people’s hearts have not been changed. Dr. King used to talk about the fact that if a law was changed, it might not change hearts but it would offer some protection. He was right. We now have some protection, but there is still much racism and racial violence.

In recent years there has been a resurgence of reactionary attitudes. I am troubled by the recent decisions of the Supreme Court that make it harder to prove a pattern of racial discrimination in employment and by the fact that the national government does not seem very interested in pursuing violations of civil rights. What troubles me is that so many young people, including college students, have come out for white supremacy and that there have been more and more incidents of racism and racial violence on college campuses. It has not been widespread, but still, it is troublesome. It seems like we still have a long way to go.

Clearly, Rosa Parks met those challenges and responsibilities with great dignity and courage. As Congressman John Conyers aptly said: “Rosa Parks moved civil rights issues from the back of the bus to the front of America’s conscience.”

- Program Notes by Travis J. Cross for the UCLA Wind Ensemble concert program, 29 April 2015