Program Notes - Stanly County Concert Band

Program Notes
Irving Berlin was a Russian-born Jewish-American composer and
lyricist. Widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in
American history, his music forms a great part of the Great
American Songbook.
God Bless America is in the form of a prayer for God's blessing and
peace for the nation. Our version is arranged by Joseph Martin. The
band is joined by the Pfeiffer University Concert Choir, and the
Stanly County Chorale.
The Star Spangled Banner is the National Anthem of the United
States. The words were originally a poem, “Defense of Fort
McHenry”, written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key after witnessing the
bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy
during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812. The melody
was a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the
Anacreontic Society, a men’s social club in London. The Star
Spangled Banner was officially made our National Anthem by a
congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 by President Herbert
Hoover.
Our National Anthem will be sung by Cameron Jackson with a
posting of the colors by the Stanly County Chapter 12 DAV. This
group posted the colors at the 2012 Democratic Convention in
Charlotte, North Carolina. The members are Bobby Williams, David
Thompson, J T Hatley and Joe Aldrich.
The Stanly County Chorale will present its program, “The Promise of
Living – A Collage of American Folk Song” on Saturday, December 5,
2015, at 7:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Albemarle.
This program will feature choral arrangements of American folk
songs by composers and arrangers such as Aaron Copland, Mack
Wilberg, Alice Parker and Robert Shaw.
The Chorale is under the Direction of Caroline Stephenson, and
accompanied by Zoey Brouthers.
The Pfeiffer Concert Choir will be featured on Pfeiffer University’s
annual Christmas Concert on November 29, 7:00 pm in Henry
Pfeiffer Chapel, Misenheimer. The Concert Band, along with other
Pfeiffer music ensembles, will also participate in this concert. The
Concert Choir is under the direction of Joseph Judge and is
accompanied by Dr. Beth Harrison.
America the Beautiful, arranged by Carmen Dragon, is one of the
most majestic arrangements that exist for band. The lyrics were
written by Katharine Lee Bates, and the music was composed by
church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward.
Dragon (1914-1984) was a conductor, composer, and arranger
whose work included numerous film scores, a long engagement with
the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, and a long-running
classical music radio show on the Armed Forces Network. This
arrangement displays the full color range of the band.
Amparita Roca is the best-known composition by Spanish musician,
composer and conductor Jaime Teixidor, who named it after one of
his piano students, then 12-year-old Amparito Roca. It is based on a
pasadoble, a lively style of Spanish dance with a march-like tempo.
Modelled after the sound, drama, and movement of the Spanish and
Portuguese bullfight, this march has been a staple in traditional
American band literature for many years and is considered one of
the better known pieces of Spanish music around the world.
Legacy of Honor, composed by Larry Clark, was commissioned in
2014 by the Ludington Guard from Menomonie, Wisconsin in honor
of all past directors in celebration of their dedication and leadership
during the band’s 125 year history. This band is one of the oldest
community bands still performing in America. Music by Larry Clark
is some of the most popular and most performed by concert bands
and orchestras of all ability levels. Mr. Clark is an ASCAP award-
winning composer with over 200 publications in print and is in
demand to write commissions for bands and orchestras all over the
country.
Ruckus, by Randall Standridge, is an example of contemporary band
composition with a very modern feel. With loud,
boisterous, aggressive and mixed meter, heavy percussion and
thumping rhythm, this piece exemplifies the definition of “ruckus” in
the dictionary as “a noisy commotion, fracas or rumpus.”
From Arkansas, Mr. Standridge is a member of ASCAP and Phi Mu
Alpha, and is in demand as a composer, arranger, clinician, and
designer. His music is recognized as worthwhile literature for
concert festivals and band concerts across the United States and
throughout the world.
Armed Forces Salute, arranged by Bob Lowden, is an impressive
tribute honoring our men and women of the Armed Forces. It
includes: The Caisson Song; Semper Paratus; The Marines' Hymn; The
U.S. Air Force and Anchors Aweigh.
Mr. Lowden weaves these service songs together with transitions
that include snippets from several other patriotic songs that include
America the Beautiful; Dixie; Yankee Doodle; Columbia, the Gem of
the Ocean; When Johnny Comes Marching Home; Battle Hymn of the
Republic; Washington Post; and Sailor’s Hornpipe. Lowden was an
American composer, music educator, conductor, arranger and
trombonist. As a composer he wrote many works for wind band, big
band and jazz ensembles.
Taps is a musical piece sounded at dusk, and funerals, particularly
by the U.S. military. It is performed during flag ceremonies and
funerals, generally on bugle or trumpet, and often at Boy Scout and
Girl Scout meetings and camps to signify the end of the day. It is also
known as Day is Done, the first line of the song lyrics:
Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh.
The tune is a variation of an earlier bugle call known as the Scott
Tattoo which was used in the U.S. from 1835 until 1860, and was
arranged in its present form by the Union Army Brigadier General
Daniel Butterfield, an American Civil War general.
Our presentation begins with the playing of Taps by Sargent Scott
Mills of the 208th Army Band, then is followed by Taps for Maynard
which was originally arranged for nine trumpets by Walter White
and played at the funeral of Jazz trumpet legend Maynard Ferguson
in 2006. Arranged by two of our own members, Kim Hardy and Clif
Robinson, our presentation features the entire brass section of the
band.
A Lincoln Portrait, written by Aaron Copland, contains narration of
excerpts of Abraham Lincoln's great documents, including the
Gettysburg Address. The composer used material from speeches and
letters of Lincoln, and quoted original folk songs of the period,
including Camptown Races and Springfield Mountain.
Mr. Copland was an American composer, composition teacher,
writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other
American music. The open, slowly changing harmonies of many of
his works represent what many people consider to be the sound of
American music, evoking the vast American landscape and pioneer
spirit. In addition to his ballets and orchestral works, he produced
music in many other genres including chamber music, vocal works,
opera, and film scores.
Our guest narrator is Mr. Cameron L. Jackson. A North Carolina
native, Mr. Jackson is an avid performer at home on both the concert
and operatic stage. Growing up in the Albemarle/New London area,
he graduated from North Stanly High School and was involved in the
Uwharrie Players during his high school career. During his
developing career as a singer, he has been the recipient of both the
DOBO performance scholarship and the AJ Fletcher Opera Scholars
award from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts respectively. He has
performed extensively with Piedmont Opera, Opera Wilmington,
The Princeton Festival Opera, the AJ Fletcher Opera Institute, and
the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Jackson will soon perform
the role of Beaupartuis in the AJ Fletcher Opera Institute's winter
production of Nino Rota's Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze.
God Bless America is an American patriotic song written by Irving
Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The revised version
became the signature song for the singer Kate Smith who had a
radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades. Smith
became known as “The Songbird of the South” due to her enduring
popularity during World War II and contribution to American
culture and patriotism.

Download Report