Richard Wagner (1813-1833): Taurersinfonie

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) was a lifelong

friend of the Geyer family (Richard Wagners
surname until age 14). This relationship propelled
Richard in his adult years to carry on the tradition of
excellent German opera as a tribute to the great
contributions of Weber. In 1826, Weber died of
tuberculosis. He was buried in London and remained
there until 1844, at which time his family chose to
have him exhumed and returned to his homeland.
The return of their native son brought great pomp
and circumstance to the people of Dresden and a
great celebration was planned. A torchlight
procession led his remains through the city,
accompanied by large wind band replete with 20
rope drums, at the end of which Wagner spoke a
eulogy.
The Truerersinfonie, considered one of the
foundational works of wind band literature, has lush
sonorities and stirring melodic lines providing the
listener a glimpse into the grandeur of such a
historical event. Wagner chose to use two themes
from Webers opera Euryanthe (an opera which
had very little success because of a mediocre
libretto). He felt it contained some of Webers most
beautiful melodies. In the final scene of the opera,
two characters in death are reunited (as foretold in
the first act) to dwell forever together.

ewig vereint mit Udo weilt sie dort. Which

translates, together forever with Udo they dwell
there, sung heroically in the final scene. Wagner
used this phrase, played by solo trumpet to
represent the return of Weber to his final resting
place, reunited with his people and them with him.
Program note by Dean Snavely
John Mackey (1973-): Aurora Awakes
Commissioned by the Stuart High School Wind
Ensemble, Doug Martin, director.World premiere on
May 8, 2009, at J.E.B. Stuart High School, Falls
Church, VA. Conducted by Doug Martin.
Winner of the 2009 ABA / Ostwald Award. Winner of
the 2009 National Band Association's "William D.
Revelli" Award. Aurora now had left her saffron bed,
And beams of early light the heav'ns o'erspread,
When, from a tow'r, the queen, with wakeful eyes,
Saw day point upward from the rosy skies.- Virgil,
The Aeneid, Book IV, Lines 584-587
Aurora the Roman goddess of the dawn is a
mythological figure frequently associated with

beauty and light. Also known as Eos (her Greek

analogue), Aurora would rise each morning and
stream across the sky, heralding the coming of her
brother Sol, the sun. Though she is herself among
the lesser deities of Roman and Greek mythologies,
her cultural influence has persevered, most notably
in the naming of the vibrant flashes of light that
occur in Arctic and Antarctic regions the Aurora
Borealis and Aurora Australis.
John Mackeys Aurora Awakes is, thus, a piece about
the heralding of the coming of light. Built in two
substantial sections, the piece moves over the
course of eleven minutes from a place of remarkable
stillness to an unbridled explosion of energy from
darkness to light, placid grey to startling rainbows of
color. The work is almost entirely in the key of E-flat
major (a choice made to create a unique effect at
the works conclusion, as mentioned below),
although it journeys through G-flat and F as the work
progresses. Despite the harmonic shifts, however,
the piece always maintains a pun intended bright
optimism.
Though Mackey is known to use stylistic imitation, it
is less common for him to utilize outright quotation.
As such, the presence of two more-or-less direct
quotations of other musical compositions is
particularly noteworthy in Aurora Awakes. The first,
which appears at the beginning of the second
section, is an ostinato based on the familiar guitar
introduction to U2s Where The Streets Have No
Name. Though the strains of The Edges guitar have
been metamorphosed into the insistent repetitions
of keyboard percussion, the aesthetic is similar a
distant proclamation that grows steadily in fervor.
The difference between U2s presentation and
Mackeys, however, is that the guitar riff disappears
for the majority of the song, while in Aurora Awakes,
the motive persists for nearly the entirety of the
remainder of the piece:
When I heard that song on the radio last winter, I
thought it was kind of a shame that he only uses
that little motive almost as a throwaway bookend.
That's my favorite part of the song, so why not try
to write an entire piece that uses that little hint of
minimalism as its basis?
The other quotation is a sly reference to Gustav
Holsts First Suite in E-flat for Military Band. The
brilliant E-flat chord that closes the Chaconne of that
work is orchestrated (nearly) identically as the final
sonority of Aurora Awakes producing an
unmistakably vibrant timbre that wont be missed by
aficionados of the repertoire. This same effect was,
somewhat ironically, suggested by Mackey for the
ending of composer Jonathan Newmans My Hands
Are a City. Mackey adds an even brighter element,
however, by including instruments not in Holsts
original:
That has always been one of my favorite chords
because it's just so damn bright. In a piece that's
about the awaking of the goddess of dawn, you need
a damn bright ending -- and there was no topping

Holst. Well except to add crotales.

Program note by Dean Snavely

Program note by Jake Wallace

Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987): Divertimento

for Band:
Divertimento was premiered by The Goldman Band
on June 16, 1950 with the composer conducting. The
composition was started during the summer of 1949
in El Dorado, Kansas. In stories related to various
sources, Persichetti began writing the work with a
clash between choirs of woodwinds and brass, with a
timpani "arguing" with them. After looking at this, he
realized that the strings were not going to become a
part of this piece. In an article from 1981 Persichetti
stated:

Gustov Holst (1874-1934): First Suite in Eb For

Military Band
As a young musician in England, Gustav von Holst
(the von was dropped during WWI) stopped his study
of piano because of neuritis in his right hand and
made his living as a trombonist in the Scottish
Orchestra and other engagements. As his skill as a
composer grew, he found there was no time to
continue as a performing musician and turned his
time to full time composition. At the beginning of
the 20th century composers were encouraged to
create new compositions for military bands in
England. Holst used his experience as a wind player
to influence his skills as an orchestral composer,
leading to his first 2 suites for military band.
The First Suite in Eb is a 3 movement work in which
the first four notes of the first movement provide the
motive for all melodic material, creating a cohesive
bond throughout. The first movement, the
Chaconne, is an 8 bar melody which is repeated 15
times in variation, each time stated by a different
instrument. Twelve of the statements are strict, the
other four use inversion, relative key or the
dominant. The movement reaches its final musical
moment with a spectacular Eb major chord. The
second movement, Intermezzo: Vivace, begins with
a quick, dance like feel, followed by a rich, horizontal
melodic section. As the movement develops, Holst
brings the two together brilliantly, using traditional
counterpoint. Frederick Fennel stated in his 2005
analysis of the historic work that Band music like
this simply did not exist before Holst. Note the
insistence of forward moving rhythm played by the
Eb clarinet throughout the movement. It is an
essential part of the composition and provides a
distinct sound that propels the music forward. The
final movement, March: Temp di Marcia, captures the
grand spirit of the traditional British brass band
quick-march. As with all three movements, the
chaconne provides the melodic content, but in the
March, Holst also uses familiar melodies like Land of
Hope and Glory. His brilliance in composition is
evident in his ability to alter the melody to include
land but with the chaconne melody still as its
foundation.
Holst left very little information regarding
performance practice. The only instruction was on
his two-line condensed score:
As each movement is founded on the same phrase, it
is requested that the Suite shall be played right
through without a break. It is suggested that in the
absence of a string bass, the ad lib part for that
instrument in the Intermezzo shall not be played
on any brass instrument, but omitted, excepting
where the notes are cued in other parts. Also in the
absence of timpani, the ad lib part for the latter is to
be omitted entirely.

I soon realized the strings weren't going to enter, and my

Divertimento began to take shape. Many people call this
ensemble Band. I know that composers are often
frightened away by the sound of the word "band", because
of certain qualities long associated with this medium - rusty
trumpets, consumptive flutes, wheezy oboes, disintegrating
clarinets, fumbling yet amiable baton wavers, and gumcoated park benches! If you couple these conditions with
transfigurations and disfigurations of works originally
conceived for orchestra, you create a sound experience
that's as nearly excruciating as a sick string quartet playing
a dilettante's arrangement of a nineteenth-century piano
sonata. When composers think of the band as a huge,
supple ensemble of winds and percussion, the obnoxious
fat with drain off, and creative ideas will flourish.

It is because of the scoring of this work and the

attitude the composer showed in the creation of the
work, which Fennell felt was new for the "band"
medium.
Program note from The Wind Repertory Project
Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Folk Dances
Dimitri Shostakovich studied at the Petrograd
Conservatory where he wrote his Symphony No. 1 in
F Minor, which brought him world attention. During
his early years following graduation in 1923 he wrote
music to serve the political needs of his country.
After criticism from the government, he composed
his famous Fifth Symphony. He taught at the
Leningrad Conservatory just prior to World War II.
Again he incurred government condemnation in
1948, but kept composing a series of serious works,
which surfaced after Stalins death.
Shostakovich composed in a variety of styles using
folk music, humor, altered harmonies and many
other compositional techniques. Few composers
have been as highly honored and few are as highly
respected by the music profession as well as the
concert-going public.
Composed in Shostakovichs light-hearted style, this
single movement work is filled with the joy and
exuberance of the Russian people. The many folk
melodies are combined in a string so that musical
energy abounds and the spirit of folk dances can
easily be imagined. The first version of Dmitri
Shostakovichs was instrumented by M. Vakhutinsky
for Russian bands.
Program note by H. Robert Reynolds

Vaclav Nelhybel (1919-1996):

Symphonic
Movement
Vaclav Nelhybel was born in Polanka, Czechoslovakia
in 1919. In addition to playing organ, he studied
composition and conducting at the Prague
Conservatory of Music, and musicology at the
University of Prague during the same time. He then
studied medieval and renaissance music at the
University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Nelhybel was
known as a prolific and highly skilled composer who
considered the band as important as any other
medium of musical expression.His over 400
publications include operas, ballets and works for
orchestra, chorus, and band. His personal
enthusiasm and technical proficiency were evident in
his conducting as well as his composing. Nelhybel
was considered to be one of the foremost composers

of significant band music in the United States.

Although he has written several large-scale works for
band, the composer described Symphonic
Movement as my first composition for band written
completely on a symphonic level. This single
movement work continues to be one of Nelhybels
most popular among band conductors. Essentially a
theme and variations, the opening is an intense
statement of the main theme, which alludes to the
variations of the principal thematic material that
follows. Dedicated to John P. Paynter and the
Northwestern University Band, the work remains an
integral aspect of the band repertoire.
Program note courtesy of Long Island University
Winds.