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The Ohio State University Wind Symphony 2/3/22

Russel C. Mikkelson

Russel C. Mikkelson
conductor


Thursday, Feb. 3

5 p.m.


OHIO MUSIC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Professional Development Conference

Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
 

PROGRAM


Downey Overture

Óscar Navarro (b. 1981)

Downey Overture is dedicated with all my affection to the Downey Symphony Orchestra, for its hard work and dedication, and, of course, to its conductor, Sharon Lavery, for her professionalism and great passion for music. Downey Overture is a Latin-American fusion with which I have wanted to link my birth country, Spain, and California, the land that, as a result of the two years I lived there, has left a permanent imprint on my heart. An amalgam of rhythm and musical color wrapped in an atmosphere of dance are the essence of this piece. It is joyful, energetic and written with all my enthusiasm and dedication.

Óscar Navarro


Lux Perpetua

Frank Ticheli (b. 1958)

Lux Perpetua was composed for the Baylor University Wind Ensemble in memory of two young clarinetist members of that ensemble, Laura Onwudinanti and Jack Stewart, whose lives were tragically cut short in an automobile accident in 2014. The work’s title is drawn from the last line of the Latin text, Lux aeterna: “et lux perpetua luceat eis” (and let perpetual light shine upon them). The idea of light as both protector and illuminator was constantly in my mind as I composed the piece. Two kinds of light comprise the work: one soft and meditative, the other more sparkling and effervescent. Also in mind were the respective personality traits of the two dedicatees, Jack being more thoughtful and introspective, Laura being more spontaneous and gregarious.

A simple call motive begins the piece, introduced by the clarinets. Its two main notes form a descending minor third, a sound that is universally associated with a call or greeting (think “yoo-hoo”) but also widely associated with playground games and nursery rhymes. This idea is laced into the entire fabric of the piece, sometimes serving as transition material, other times appearing unexpectedly for purposes of contrast, still other times flowering into main melody.

The main melody is at once longing and noble in quality, and is constructed in a way that suggests the notion of infinity. Its accompanying harmony depicts a kind of bellows or the act of breathing, in and out perpetually. It never settles on a final chord, but instead moves to a built-in modulation, compelling the melody to repeat itself in a chain of new keys.

A faster, more energetic middle section serves as a dramatic contrast, but rather than give it a new theme, I chose to continue with a variant of the main melody. The accompanying harmony is still breathing, the lyrical line still permeating the entire section, but this time building to a tremendous climax. The final coda is a brief meditation. The main melody echoes itself tenderly as the harmony begins its slow and fragile ascent to the heavens.

Note by the composer


Variations on a Theme of Glinka

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908)

Abby Yeakle Held, oboe

Although published in the United States as Variations on a Theme of Glinka for Oboe and Military Band, the work’s true title by the composer is Variations for Oboe and Wind Orchestra. This concertante, the second of three written by Rimsky-Korsakov for the Russian Navy bands, is a set of twelve variations on the melody of What, Beautiful Maiden by Glinka. It was first performed in March 1878 with Rimsky-Korsakov conducting and Russian Navy NCO Ranishevsky as the oboe soloist. In his autobiography, Chronicle of My Musical Life, the composer writes:

The three compositions for solo instrument and wind orchestra] were written, firstly, with the goal of providing concert solo works for instruments not often afforded such roles, and secondly, for me to master the virtuosic concerto/concertante compositional style, with its solo, tutti, cadenzas, etc.

Note by Andrew McMahan


Paris Sketches

Martin Ellerby (b. 1957)

1.  Saint Germain-des-Prés
2. Pigalle
3. Pèr Lechaise
4. Les Halles

This is my personal tribute to a city I love, and each movement pays homage to some part of the French capital and to other composers who lived, worked or passed through it — rather as did Maurice Ravel in his own tribute to the work of an earlier master in Le Tombeau de Couperin. Running like a unifying thread through the whole score is the idea of bells — a prominent feature of Paris life.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés: The Latin Quarter famous for artistic associations and bohemian lifestyle. This is a dawn tableau haunted by the shade of Ravel: the city awakens with the ever-present sense of morning bells.

Pigalle: The Soho of Paris, this is a burlesque with scenes cast in the mold of a balletic scherzo — humorous in a kind of “Stravinsky-meets-Prokofiev” way. It’s episodic, but everything is based on the harmonic figuration of the opening. The bells here are car horns and police sirens!

Père Lachaise: This is the city’s largest cemetery, the final resting place of many a celebrity who had once walked its streets. The spirit of Satie’s Gymnopédies — themselves a tribute to a still more distant past — is affectionately evoked before what is in effect the work’s slow movement concludes with a quotation of the Dies Irae. The mood is one of softness and delicacy, which I have attempted to match with more transparent orchestrations. The bells are gentle, nostalgic, wistful.

Les Halles: A fast, bustling finale; the bells triumphant and celebratory. Les Halles is the old market area, a Parisian Covent Garden, and like Pigalle, this is a series of related but contrasting episodes. Its climax quotes from Hector Berlioz’s Te Deum, which was first performed in 1855 at the church of St. Eustache — actually in the district of Les Halles. A gradual crescendo, initiated by the percussion, prefaces the opening material proper, and the work ends with a backward glance at the first movement before closing with the final bars of the Berlioz Te Deum.

Martin Ellerby


Come Sunday

Omar Thomas (b. 1984)

1.  Testimony
2. Shout!

Come Sunday is a two-movement tribute to the Hammond organ’s central role in black worship services. The first movement, Testimony, follows the Hammond organ as it readies the congregation's hearts, minds and spirits to receive The Word via a magical union of Bach, blues, jazz and R&B. The second movement, Shout!, is a virtuosic celebration — the frenzied and joyous climactic moment(s) when The Spirit has taken over the service. The title is a direct nod to Duke Ellington, who held an inspired love for classical music and allowed it to influence his own work in a multitude of ways. To all the Black musicians in wind ensemble who were given opportunity after opportunity to celebrate everyone else’s music but our own — I see you and I am you. This one’s for the culture!

— Omar Thomas
 

ROSTER


PICCOLO
Jiwoon Choi
Meagan Gaskill
Brandon Landry

FLUTE
Yuanzhu Chen *
Jiwoon Choi
Arianna Bendit
Meagan Gaskill
Brandon Landry
Jonathan Mitchell
Maggie McCarter

OBOE
Michael Rueda *
Jerrin Wofford

BASSOON
Dylan Tharp *
Dustin Gourley

E-flat CLARINET
Vanessa Klassen
Kaleigh McGee

CLARINET
Vanessa Klassen *
Gabrielle Valladares
Jiaqi Liu
Kaleigh McGee
Louis Maligaya
Maddy Brickner
Marco Rojas
Lily Tropple
Peter Breckenridge

BASS CLARINET
Danny Hong
Eli Johnson

CONTRABASS CLARINET
Eli Johnson

ALTO SAXOPHONE
Colin Howell *
Alexander Lowe

TENOR SAXOPHONE
Sean Bauman

BARITONE SAXOPHONE
Pi Huizhong

HORN
Brian Walsh *
Brittany White
Abbey Burger
Emily Lay
Alex Sallade

TRUMPET
Benjamin Guegold *
Alexander Sanso *
Luke Bingham
Julia Moxley
Vanessa Rivera
Matt Pileski
Connor McMullen

TROMBONE
Charlotte Stefani *
Tristan Miller
Melody Harrell

BASS TROMBONE
C. J. McGhee

EUPHONIUM
Sean O’Brien *
Gareth Whelan
Carter Bivens

TUBA
Bradley Krak *
Justin White
Cameron Reinbolt

PERCUSSION
Ben Shaheen *
Clay Schneider
Amelia Duplain
Hannah Moore
Ben Kerger
Justin Monroe

DOUBLE BASS
Dallas Carpenter

PIANO
Anna Lavin

HARP
Nathan Hay
 


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