Program

PROGRAM NOTES 

Fanfare and Gambol was composed in the fall of 2022 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Low Country Community Concert Band from Bluffton, SC.

The work is presented in A-B-A form with the initial theme of the Fanfare, or A section, stated primarily by the brass section and layered with running-like rhythms in the woodwinds. The B section, or Gambol section, portrays the act of running or jumping - embellished by the skipping motion of mixed meters beneath an airy theme scored in the woodwinds, solo trumpet and solo French horn. The brass section, as if they were jealous from being left out of the games, joins the Gambol in celebratory fashion before suddenly retreating into a distant reprise of the original theme by the clarinets and muted trombone. These distant sounds quickly crescendo into the recapitulation of the A Section Fanfare. With the help of bombastic percussion, the work rises to a resounding conclusion, but not without one final tribute to the Gambol by the French Horns in the last measure!

Bayou Breakdown

Bayou Breakdown began as an attempt to write a fugue in the style of J.S. Bach.  The main melody is introduced in a four-part fugue scored for woodwinds.  A brief transition introduces a folk-like lyrical theme based on a pentatonic scale. A brief transition takes the piece to its most dissonant section, evoking a poorly played waltz.  The main melody attempts to reappear but its swept away by a progression of descending chromatic chords.  After a complete stop, the initial fugue returns featuring solos by the clarinet, bassoon, alto saxophone, oboe, trumpet, and tuba.  After a few short trio statements of the main tune, the piece ends with a polyphonic flurry from the full band. 

In writing Bayou Breakdown, I hoped to create a piece that would provide musical and technical challenges for performers yet could be immediately enjoyed by the listener, musician and non-musicians alike.  While the piece was written for my terrific students in the University of Toledo Wind Ensemble, it is dedicated to one of my most influential mentors, Frank Wickes, Director of Bands at Louisiana State University. 

Poem

Charles Griffes fits uneasily within the usual story of the development of American music in the early 20th century. Born in Elmira, NY, Griffes studied piano and composition in Germany—a typical path for aspiring American musicians of his generation. But his interest in Asian and Celtic cultures—seen in pieces like 5 Poems of Ancient China and Japan (1917) and 3 Poems of Fiona Macleod (1918)—foreshadowed the exoticist impulses of ultramodernists like Henry Cowell. And his delicate, brilliant orchestration connected him to French trends, which would captivate American composers in the 1920s.

Griffes’ Poem is a one-movement flute concerto that suggests Claude Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun as a reference point. The initial ascending rumble in the strings sets the scene for the flute and generates most of the piece’s melodic material. The flute enters with a version of this opening motive and then forges a rhythmically and harmonically indistinct course. The instrument’s rhythmic energy ebbs and flows, and the strings interrupt its motion periodically. About halfway through the piece, a passage for echoing French horns signals a transition from this hazy, rhapsodic section to one with clearer rhythmic profiles. String tremolos and a brief, feverish flute solo usher in a lively folk dance, at one point radiantly accompanied by tambourines. The dance episode culminates in a brilliant descending passage as the opening material returns, this time with a solo viola playing a newly prominent role.

Griffes was 35 when the New York Symphony Society first presented his Poem with flutist Georges Barrère. The New York Tribune called it a “composition of much grace and variety of expression, rich in melodic ideas and written with an unusual feeling both for the solo instrument and for the orchestra. If Americans can but continue to produce such works, all talk of the unrequited native composer will be speedily set at rest.” Griffes died just a few months later, leaving to his successors the task of realizing the Tribune’s prediction for American music.

Resplendent Glory

American composer Rossano Galante was one of nineteen candidates in the United States to be accepted to the film scoring program at the University of Southern California in 1992, the same year he received his bachelor of arts degree in trumpet performance from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. After studying with the late Jerry Goldsmith, Galante embarked on a career in film composition and scoring, with film credits on Scary Movie 2 and Channels, among others. He has been commissioned by musical groups across the country, including the Nebraska Wind Symphony, Trenton State College, and SUNY at Buffalo. Commissioned by and dedicated to Dr. Peter Loel Boonshaft and the Hofstra University Symphonic Band, Resplendent Glory showcases the dynamic possibilities of the wind ensemble. The composer describes the piece in more detail: Resplendent Glory is a romantic/heroic composition. The main theme of the work begins immediately, stated by trumpets, then passed to the woodwinds and horns. The theme then modulates with a Morse code-like ostinato in the woodwinds to support the trumpet melody, and adding sporadic horn counterpoint. This flows into the B section where the trumpet melody is supported by horn triplets and woodwind runs. This section should sound very heroic. The B theme is then stated by trombones with woodwinds supporting the rhythmic harmony. Next, the A theme returns with more activity and counterpoint, followed by the transition to the C section of the work. This section has a very lush melody stated by woodwinds and horns. Oboes and clarinets take over the theme accompanied by an eighth note ostinato and a flute obbligato. After a tutti restatement of this romantic theme the main melody returns with full ensemble, ending with a big climax full of brass fanfares and woodwind flourishes.

Third Symphony Movement III and IV

The Third Symphony was commissioned by the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. The conductor of the band at the time, Col. Alan Bonner, told me that he wanted a major work for wind band. He said that he didn't care about style, length, difficulty, or anything else; I was given complete freedom to write whatever I wanted to. I began to work on it in earnest at a very difficult time in my life, right after our baby daughter, Natalie, died. This symphony is the most emotionally draining work that I have ever composed. If it were to be given a nickname, I believe that "Tragic" would be appropriate. The work progresses from the deepest darkness of despair all the way to the brightness of fulfillment and joy.

The third movement is a fantasia about what my world would have been like if Natalie had lived. It is a farewell to her. The finale (fourth movement) represents a rebirth of spirit, a reconciliation for us all. The second theme of the last movement is based on an old Lutheran children's hymn called I am Jesus' Little Lamb. This hymn was sung at Natalie's funeral. The last stanza of the song reads: Who so happy as I am Even now the Shepherd's lamb? And when my short life is ended, By His angel host attended, He shall fold me to His breast, There within His arms to rest. Three days after I completed this symphony, on June 25, 1994, our son Billy Barnes was born.

If the third movement is for Natalie, then the finale is really for Billy, and our joy in being blessed with him after the tragic death of his sister. - Program Note by composer