PROGRAM NOTES
SYMPHONY NO. IV: BOOKMARKS FROM JAPAN, I. FUJI-SAN - "MT. FUJI" (2013)
JULIE GIROUX
ANDY COOK, CONDUCTOR
JULIE GIROUX
ANDY COOK, CONDUCTOR
Based on the bookmark "Fine Wind, Clear Morning" by Hokusai Katsushika which is a woodblock sketch from Hokusai's collection The 35 Views of Mt. Fuji.
The sketch Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Gaifu kaisei), also known as South Wind, Clear Sky or Red Fuji, by Hokusai Katsushika is the inspiration for this work which is subtitled Fuji-san. In early autumn when, as the original sketch title specifies, the wind is southerly and the sky is clear, the rising sun can turn Mount Fuji red. Fuji-san has many different looks depending on the viewer's vantage point, time of year, weather and even time of day. Big, bold and easily recognized yet shrouded in mystery and lore, Mount Fuji offers a multitude of inspirational facets. This piece is based on one view of Mt. Fuji covered in mist and low clouds which slowly burn off as the day progresses. Orchestration and composition techniques follow this scenario, starting off with mysterious, unfocused scoring. As the piece progresses, the scoring gets more focused and bold with the final statement representing Fuji-san in a totally clear view.
- Program note by composer
SONG FOR SILENT VOICES (2018)
WAYNE OQUIN
KAYLIN KNOST, CONDUCTOR
WAYNE OQUIN
KAYLIN KNOST, CONDUCTOR
I love composing for the human voice. Nothing is more musically meaningful than finding the perfect poem, however unknown, and letting it transport me into worlds of sound I otherwise might not have considered. For me, the process of setting any text usually involves culling from the countless ways a stanza could be sung, to find the one I feel best captures the essence of the written word. I labor on every detail of the language -- syllables, vowels, and consonants -- giving each element its own unique melodic shape. Without fail, the music brings added meaning.
In October 2017, I began an unaccompanied choral work to honor the memory of a remarkable man, my long-time friend, Herbert M. Loyd, M.D. The text consisted of one word: Alleluia. I became fascinated with the idea of setting this single utterance hundreds of ways, each repetition determined to portray some new element of this ancient sacred expression. Even before I knew the ending or how it would arrive, I was certain I wanted to explore an instrumental version. Beyond the affirmative title, beyond the emphatic nature of the repetitive lyric -- alleluia … alleluia -- the slow harmonic rhythm in the opening, the song-like simplicity of the themes, the long soaring lines of the climax -- at times as many as eight singing simultaneously -- all urged me to undertake a transcription for the many colors of the wind ensemble.
Continually I'm drawn to music's power to connect, its gift of going beyond words. To enter music, this seemingly separate world of pitches, harmonies, rhythms, and textures, is to plunge more deeply into life itself. How true of the current work: unresolved dissonances speaking to our collective humanity in all its beauty and many imperfections; frequent modulations reflecting a world of constant change; a single solo voice signifying child-like innocence; the final diminuendo depicting life’s brevity. Words alone would be inadequate.
My hope is that this music somehow merges grief and gratitude; the quiet void from a life lost and the thankfulness for times shared.
- Program note by composer
We dedicate this piece to Mr. Bob Wilhite. Mr. Wilhite was a great friend, mentor, and band director to many of us you see before you. He was an active musician and brought joy to all around him. He made each day of band exciting and fun. Mr. Wilhite passed away suddenly on Christmas Eve, 2021. We miss him greatly.
THE DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN (2022)
CHRISTOPHER SAKOWSKI
WORLD PREMIERE
CHRISTOPHER SAKOWSKI
WORLD PREMIERE
This piece is a celebration of the achievement of the students as they worked very hard to earn a performance opportunity at their state convention. This piece is designed to be an intraspective addition to concert programs.
The Darkness Before Dawn presents an opportunity for some of the brass sections to be featured and offers some flexibility for use of antiphonal large drum moments. The large drums can be near each other, or spread around the back of the ensemble, or even could be out mixed in with the audience. The director has flexibility based on their own unique performance situation.
- Program note by composer
DANZóN NO. 2 (1998/2009)
ARTURO MARQUEZ (TRANS. NICKEL)
ARTURO MARQUEZ (TRANS. NICKEL)
The idea of writing the Danzón No. 2 originated in 1993 during a trip to Malinalco with the painter Andrés Fonseca and the dancer Irene Martínez, both of whom are experts in salon dances with a special passion for the danzón, which they were able to transmit to me from the beginning, and also during later trips to Veracruz and visits to the Colonia Salon in Mexico City. From these experiences onward, I started to learn the danzón’s rhythms, its form, its melodic outline, and to listen to the old recordings by Acerina and his Danzonera Orchestra. I was fascinated and I started to understand that the apparent lightness of the danzón is only like a visiting card for a type of music full of sensuality and qualitative seriousness, a genre which old Mexican people continue to dance with a touch of nostalgia and a jubilant escape towards their own emotional world; we can fortunately still see this in the embrace between music and dance that occurs in the state of Veracruz and in the dance parlors of Mexico City.
The Danzón No. 2 is a tribute to the environment that nourishes the genre. It endeavors to get as close as possible to the dance, to its nostalgic melodies, to its wild rhythms, and although it violates its intimacy, its form and its harmonic language, it is a very personal way of paying my respects and expressing my emotions towards truly popular music. Danzón No. 2 was written on a commission by the Department of Musical Activities at Mexico’s National Autonomous University and is dedicated to my daughter Lily.
- Program note by composer