Wind Symphony featuring Juliet White-Smith, viola 9/25/24

Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024  •  7:30 p.m.

Weigel Auditorium
Columbus, OH

WIND SYMPHONY 
Russel C. Mikkelson, conductor 
Sarah Baker, guest conductor
Shawn Davern, guest conductor

FACULTY GUEST SOLOIST 
Juliet White-Smith, viola


"Music from Around the World"


Flourishes and Meditations on a Renaissance Theme

Michael Gandolfi (b. 1956)

Theme: Spagnoletta

Variation I. A Cubist Kaleidoscope
Variation II. Cantus in augmentation: speed demon
Variation III. Carnival
Variation IV. Tune’s in the round
Variation V. Spike
Variation VI. Rewind/Fast Forward
Variation VII. Echoes: a surreal reprise


Flourishes and Meditations on a Renaissance Theme is a set of seven variations on an anonymous Renaissance melody that is simply titled Spagnoletta. It is derived from a popular melody titled Españoleta or ‘Little Spanish Tune.’ [Variation titles above]

I first knew this melody as quoted by Joaquín Rodrigo in his Fantasia para un gentilhombre for guitar and orchestra. I also found this tune in the 1970s in a collection of Renaissance songs for classical guitar, and I have played it in that form countless times over the years. I was motivated to probe this elegant tune with which I have been acquainted for four decades, with the expectation that it would prompt a wealth of ideas unique to such a longstanding relationship. The beauty and elegance of the original tune resides in its simplicity, so I chose to present it at the outset of the piece in a clear and streamlined orchestration. 

— Note by the composer 


I wake in the dark and remember

Joel Puckett (b. 1977)

1.   Rain Journey (attacca)
2.   I lie listening to the black hour

Juliet White-Smith, viola

Consortium premiere 


W. S. Merwin’s poetry has been a constant in my [Puckett's] adult life. His words bring me comfort in times of anxiety, smiles in times of happiness, and comfort in times of grief. 2020–2021 brought difficult times for all of us, and I once again found myself turning to Merwin’s words.

I rarely know exactly what his poetry means, but I love how they make me feel. This was no different for the poem that inspired my viola concerto, I wake in the dark and remember. As I was writing, I rolled over the imagery in my mind: “wake in the dark and remember,” “listening to the black hour,” “you are asleep beside me while around us the trees full of night lean,” etc. etc. These images are so vivid and clear, yet they lack any strict narrative, so my imagination became free to run wild and see the sounds the words inspire.

The concerto is in two movements which are played without pause. I wake in the dark and remember was commissioned by an international consortium of ensembles, including The Ohio State University Wind Symphony. It is dedicated with great admiration and gratitude to the extraordinary violist Kimberly Sparr, who gave the premiere.

Below is the W. S. Merwin poem that inspired this concerto. Please take a moment to read these words and listen to the sounds they provoke in your own imagination.

W. S. Merwin — Rain Travel

I wake in the dark and remember
it is the morning when I must start
by myself on the journey
I lie listening to the black hour
before dawn and you are
still asleep beside me while
around us the trees of night lean
hushed in their dream that bears
us up asleep and awake then I hear
drops falling one by one into the sightless leaves and I do not know when they began but
all at once there is no sound but rain
and the stream below us roaring
away into the rushing darkness

From The Essential W. S. Merwin, courtesy Copper Canyon Press, copyright W. W. Merwin, 2019.

— Note by the composer


Awayday

Adam Gorb (b. 1958)

Shawn Davern, guest conductor  

In this six-minute curtain raiser my [Gorb's] inspiration has come from the great days of the American Musical Comedy. I have tried to express in a brief sonata form movement the exhilaration of ‘getting away from it all’ for a few short hours on a festive Bank Holiday. Musically the piece is a homage to the great days of the Broadway musical with its irresistible brashness and irrepressible high spirits. If you can envisage George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky and James Bond travelling together at a hundred miles per hour in an open-top sports car, I think you’ll get the idea. 

Note by the composer


Musica Boema

Zdeněk Lukáš (1928–2007)

1.  Cantabile

Sarah Baker, guest conductor  


Musica Boema was commissioned in 1976 through an American band director named Joel Blahnik for his colleague at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Stanley DeRusha. Blahnik had met Lukáš through a common friend while researching music in Czechoslovakia in 1973, and recognizing Lukáš’ talents, asked the composer to write a work for winds and percussion. Musica Boema is Lukáš’ first work for wind band and was premiered at the 1978 American Bandmasters Association convention under the direction of DeRusha. It features many Czech folk songs of irregular length and modal tonality. 

Note by Nikk Pilato


Russian Christmas Music

Alfred Reed (1921–2005)

Reed was commissioned to write Russian Christmas Music a mere 14 days before it was scheduled to be performed and broadcast live on NBC. Originally written in November 1944, the work was first performed in December of that year in Denver, Colorado. Two years later, the piece was elaborated and revised, and in that form was one of the three prize-winning work in the 1947 Columbia University contest for new serious music for symphonic band.

An ancient Russian Christmas carol (Carol of the Little Russian Children) is mixed with motives from orthodox liturgical music from the Eastern Orthodox Church. Though set as a single piece, the composer originally subtitled the four easily separated sections Children's Carol, Antiphonal Chant, Village Song, and Cathedral Chorus. Reed also utilized this theme as well as the “Cathedral Chorus” section as source material for Slavonic Folk Suite, a piece written for novice musicians.
 



Personnel


Piccolo
Braden Stewart
Katie Sharp
Sofia Geelhood

Flute
Katie Sharp *
Jonathan Mitchell
Braden Stewart
Sofia Geelhood
Lance Korte
Shreeya Yampati
Allie Gerckens

Oboe
Lauren Kowal *
Sophie Cracieun
Laura Pitner

English Horn
Laura Pitner

Bassoon
Brandon Golpe *
Isaiah Heyman
Bitania Petros

Contrabassoon
Isaiah Heyman

E-flat Clarinet
Bernadette John

Clarinet
Kaleigh McGee *
Xinchen Du
Bernadette John
Samuel Langer
Joseph Zishka 
Asa Mattson
Joseph DeCillis 
Christopher Larsen
Favius Pena-Amaya

Bass Clarinet
Rachel Weinstein *
Mason Williams

Alto Saxophone
Lucinda Dunne *
Cooper Greenlees

Tenor Saxophone
Sean Bauman

Baritone Saxophone
Colin Fogerty

Horn
Annie Moon *
Cheng Peng
Olivia Boden
Andrew Waite 
Paul Bissler 
Nora Lemmon

Trumpet
Luke Bingham *
Nick Schnitzspahn
Zach Heffner
Bobby Petty
Connor McMullen 
Will Fisher
Abbey Zunic

Trombone
Tristan Miller *
Charlotte Stefani
Gavin Abrams
Alex Myers
Nik Henderson

Bass Trombone
Shawn Davern

Euphonium
Davis Aho *
Ayden Casa
Andrew Eynon

Tuba 
Justin White *
Patrick Woo 
Will Roesch

Percussion 
Haydn Veith *
Matt Hanson
Brody Fogle
Noah Landrum
Stephen Alexander
Kye Pyeatt

Piano/Celeste
Manuel Vizurraga

Double Bass 
Dallas Carpenter (faculty)

Harp
Abigail Bachelor (faculty)

* principal
 


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