Overture to “Candide” (1955/1986)

Leonard Bernstein/Trans. Clare Grundman

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Candide was Leonard Bernstein’s third Broadway musical, following his success with On the Town and Wonderful Town.  The work was based on Voltaire’s satire of the same name.  The music still sparkles today as some of Bernstein’s most creative work and the Overture has become music that stands alone and remains one of the composer/conductor’s most often performed works.  The overture is full of musical challenges and highly sophisticated issues, not the least of which is a highly controlled sense of metronomic control and ensemble collaboration.  Clare Grundman’s transcription retains all of the original’s sense of joy and excitement.

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Puszta (1988)

Jan Van der Roost

I.  Andante moderato

II.  Tranquillo

III.  Allegro molto

IV.  Marcato; Presto

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Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost wrote his Puszta in 1988. Subtitled “Four Gipsy Dances,” the work is just that: a clear celebration of the Gypsy tradition with generally fast dances with the exception of a tranquil second movement. The work is highly approachable and is a classic example of the kind of music written by this gifted composer.

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Two Views of “The Thunderer”

The Thunderer (1889)

John Philip Sousa

After “The Thunderer (1994)

Ira Hearshen

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Little is known about the details of John Philip Sousa’s composition of The Thunderer, other than its appearance in 1889 and dedication to the Columbia Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, of Washington, D.C., a Masonic chapter. Sousa had been “knighted” in that organization three years earlier, so he may have some peripheral involvement with the organization and events that may have been a part of the inspiration. Regardless, it has become one of the most recognizable and characteristic of Sousa’s marches.

In 1994, composer Ira Hearshen became intrigued with the idea of composing a symphony with the themes of four different classic marches of John Philip Sousa as its basis and inspiration. Prodded by his good friend, Lt. Col. Lowell E. Graham, who was the conductor of the United States Air Force Band at the time, Hearshen began with the second movement, also the slow movement, and used the main Trio theme from The Thunderer as its basis. For his inspiration, the composer used the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, a huge and expansive work that remains one of the most stirring slow movements ever written. If one knows the original Mahler work, it is easy to spot many of the sections that Hearshen emulated.

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Presentation of Allegro Grant

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Variations on a Korean Folk Song (1967)

John Barnes Chance

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John Barnes Chance wrote his classic Variations on a Korean Folk Song in 1967 in the early part of his career, and it remains a strong contribution to the wind band repertoire. Using the Korean folk song “Arirang,” the work is a classic piece of the theme and variations form with a clearly them followed by five variations that cleverly manipulate the theme into intriguing new settings. This music is also an example of a composer who died far too young at the age of 39 five years after the composition of this work in 1972.

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Concertino for Four Percussion and Wind Ensemble (1908)

David Gillingham

featuring musical guests

David Eyler, Tom Christianson, Kenyon Williams, and Sigurd Johnson

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David Gillingham wrote his Concertino for Four Percussion and Wind Ensemble for the Oklahoma State University Wind Ensemble, Joseph Missal, conductor and Wayne Bovenschen, Professor of Percussion Studies.  For this “little concerto,” the composer utilized a large percussion setup that includes mallet percussion (including two marimbas), various drums and small percussion instruments.  The work opens with a slow introduction that introduces the first theme of the work; the Allegro that follows utilizes both the original theme and a second more angular theme as the focus of its inspiration.  A significant challenge for the percussion, the work is a virtuoso showpiece for the four performing percussionists.​

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