Military Escort March

Harold Bennett (Henry Fillmore)

Full Wind Ensemble

To start our concert off with a bang, here's Military Escort March by Harold Bennett/Henry Fillmore. In all honesty, Mr. Fillmore could have titled this piece "The Second-Hand March". The introduction of Military Escort came from a march by Will Nicholson of Vallonia, Indiana. Fillmore bought the work for $35, revised the melody and harmony, added an additional 96 bars of his own material, and copyrighted the march in 1923 for both band and orchestra, using his Harold Bennett pseudonym.

Originally designed for beginning bands, Fillmore was amazed when the manuscript was read by his Shrine Band, and the members proclaimed it one of his very best marches. The composer apparently did not realize that the open-tone cornet fanfares and low brass melodies, as well as the repetitive "shave-and-a-haircut" rhythms, had been familiar to instrumentalists for centuries. Using these basic patterns, Fillmore produced an uncomplicated masterpiece which rises and falls in the band popularity polls but never disappears. According to Paul Bierley (noted Sousa and Fillmore scholar) Military Escort even outsold The Stars and Stripes Forever march for a period of about four years. A few years later, Sousa told Fillmore, "I wish that march had my name on it!"

About the Composer

Henry Fillmore( December 3, 1881 – December 7, 1956), also known as Harold Bennett, was an American musician, composer, publisher, and bandleader, best known for his many marches and circus screamers.

He was a prolific composer and arranger of music for wind band. Paul Bierley documents 256 original compositions in the Fillmore catalog. His free spirit and love of “fun music” is evident across the majority of these works and, accordingly, his best marches are notable for their intense energy, bravado, and technical challenge. His best known works include Americans We (1929), The Circus Bee (1908), The Crosley March (1928), The Footlifter (1935), His Honor (1934), The Klaxon (1930), Lassus Trombone (1915), Military Escort (1923, under the pseudonym Harold Bennett), Rolling Thunder (1916), and Shoutin’ Liza Trombone (1920).

Fillmore was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 3, 1881. As a youth, he received early musical training in piano, but was never genuinely motivated to become an accomplished pianist. He demonstrated considerable aptitude as a vocalist, performing frequently at church, and he displayed an early talent for composition, often performing his own original pieces. He learned to play the violin, flute, and guitar, although he was mostly self-taught on these instruments. By the mid-1890s, he began to study the trombone and it became his favorite instrument.

Two Part Invention No. 8, BWV 779

J. S. Bach (31 March 1685 – 28 July 1750)

Flute, Electric Guitar, & Snare Drum

Performers
Flute: Slava Michael Prudchenko
Electric Guitar: Mihnea Burduja
Snare Drum: Thomas Philpot

To continue with Bach, next is the Invention Number 8 in F major. Bach did not invent the genre or term “Invention”, but followed the models of composers like Pachelbel, Fischer, Vivaldi and Bonporti. As always, he perfected whatever forms and models he used and for all practical purposes the term “Invention” is firmly associated with Bach. Although they are short and transparent works, they are complete in themselves, with a clear main motive that is developed and elaborated in accordance with strict rules. Despite their brevity, the Inventions present Bach’s principles of composition and his craft in crystalline form.

Originally keyboard works, both the Inventions and the Sinfonias have been adapted for many different instrumental ensembles. Here we have flute, electric guitar, and snare drum. Bach is infinitely flexible.

Waltz
from the ballet “Coppélia” (1870)

by Léo Delibes (21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891)
arranged by Theodore Moses Tobani

Full Wind Ensemble

Coppélia, sometimes subtitled “The Girl with the Enamel Eyes” is a comic ballet by Léo Delibes. Coppelia deals with the familiar story of the doll-maker magician who tries to bring his creations to life. The scene is set in a town in Galicia (then Austria, now exotic Poland). This waltz occurs in the second act of the ballet. One of the lead characters, Swanilda a village beauty, dances before the house of the old Doctor Coppelius. She’s trying to get the attention of a beautiful girl in the house. Swanilda can see her through a window sitting motionless. Swanilda has reason to believe that her fiancé is interested in the lovely stranger. She and her companions invade the workshop of Coppelius while he is away in an attempt to discover more about her rival. What she discovers is the “girl” turns out to be only a life size doll – Coppelia.

About the Composer
Léo Delibes was the first notable composer of ballet to emerge after the death of Rameau, the art of ballet composition having suffered a period of neglect in the interim. Delibes was the first to craft a full-length ballet score with the care and distinction already common among the best opera composers; not only could he produce buoyant, memorable tunes, but he delivered them in sparkling orchestrations. He also wrote several operas, of which Lakmé — which generated one popular aria (the “Bell Song”) and a now-ubiquitous duet — is the best known.

Delibes studied at the Paris Conservatory under Adolphe Adam. In 1853, he became accompanist at the Théâtre-Lyrique, moving to the same position at the prestigious Paris Opéra ten years later. His great success as a composer of theater music in the 1870s and early 1880s gained him a professorship in composition at the conservatory in 1881, and membership in the French Institute in 1884.

The French did not place much value on instrumental music during Delibes’ youth, so the emerging composer concentrated on light-hearted operettas and farces in the manner of Offenbach. His first opportunity to work on a large ballet score came in 1866, when he collaborated with Ludwig Minkus on La Source. The success of this ballet led eventually to commissions for the two works that would again raise ballet music to its highest level: Coppélia (1870), based on a story of E.T.A. Hoffmann, and Sylvia (1876), based on a mythological theme. The former is still produced regularly; both light, graceful works generated concert suites that, although not as common in the concert hall as they might be, have been frequently recorded.

Meanwhile, Delibes honed his skill as an opera composer. Most notable are his opéra comique Le Roi l’a dit (1873) and his more serious, exotic Lakmé (1883). Delibes’s church music (he once worked as an organist) has fallen by the wayside, as have most of his colorful songs, with the exception of Les Filles de Cadiz, which exudes the same Franco-Spanish air as Bizet’s Carmen.

His most important work, clearly, was for the stage, particularly those two 90-minute ballet scores. Their significance, beyond their own merits, is the direct influence they had on Tchaikovsky, whose mastery of the symphonic ballet owes everything to Coppélia and Sylvia.

Composer Biography by James Reel, allmusic.com

Capriol Suite (selections)
Basse Danse    Mattachins (Sword Dance)

by Peter Warlock
arranged by R. Stevens

Saxophone Ensemble

Performers:
Sopranino Sax: Jeff Smith
Soprano Sax 1: Rob Tanzola
Soprano Sax 2: Preston Casey
Alto Sax 1: Cole Smith
Alto Sax 2: Preston Casey, Rob Tanzola, Trinity Baker
Tenor Sax 1: Jeff Smith
Tenor Sax 2: Robert Baker
Baritone Sax 1 – 2: Robert Stevens

Capriol Suite is a set of dances composed in October 1926 by Peter Warlock and is considered one of his most popular works. Originally written for piano duet, Warlock later scored it for both string and full orchestras. According to the composer, it was based on tunes in Thoinot Arbeau’s Orchésographie, a manual of Renaissance dances. However, Warlock’s biographer, Cecil Gray, wrote that “if one compares these tunes with what the composer has made of them it will be seen that to all intents and purposes it can be regarded as an original work”.

The work is dedicated to the Breton composer Paul Ladmirault.

The complete suite consists of six movements:

1. Basse-Danse, Allegro moderato, D minor
2. Pavane, Allegretto, ma un poco lento, G minor
3. Tordion, Con moto, G minor
4. Bransles, Presto, G minor
5. Pieds-en-l’air, Andante tranquillo, G major
6. Mattachins (Sword Dance), Allegro con brio, F major

About the Composer

Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 1894 – 17 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine’s interest in occult practices, was used for all his published musical works. He is best known as a composer of songs and other vocal music; he also achieved notoriety in his lifetime through his unconventional and often scandalous lifestyle.

As a schoolboy at Eton College, Heseltine met the British composer Frederick Delius, with whom he formed a close friendship. After a failed student career in Oxford and London, Heseltine turned to musical journalism, while developing interests in folk-song and Elizabethan music. His first serious compositions date from around 1915. Following a period of inactivity, a positive and lasting influence on his work arose from his meeting in 1916 with the Dutch composer Bernard van Dieren; he also gained creative impetus from a year spent in Ireland, studying Celtic culture and language. On his return to England in 1918, Heseltine began composing songs in a distinctive, original style, while building a reputation as a combative and controversial music critic. During 1920–21 he edited the music magazine The Sackbut. His most prolific period as a composer came in the 1920s, when he was based first in Wales and later at Eynsford in Kent.

Through his critical writings, published under his own name, Heseltine made a pioneering contribution to the scholarship of early music. In addition, he produced a full-length biography of Frederick Delius and wrote, edited, or otherwise assisted the production of several other books and pamphlets. Towards the end of his life, Heseltine became depressed by a loss of his creative inspiration. He died in his London flat of coal gas poisoning in 1930, probably by his own hand.

Wave

Antonio Carlos “Tom” Jobim (1927 – 1994)
Arranged by Bogdan Dragan

Clarinet Sextet with Percussion

Performers
Clarinet: Carla Memmelaar, Joel Del Valle, Lorene Evans, Charles Oscarson, Pascale Wortley
Bass Clarinet: Carolyn Toomer
Percussion: Slava Michael Prudchenko

“Wave” (also known as “Vou Te Contar” in Portuguese) is a bossa nova / jazz standard written by Antônio Carlos Jobim. Recorded as an instrumental on his 1967 album of the same name, its English lyrics were written by Jobim himself later that year. Since its premiere it has remained constantly popular.

The song was voted by the Brazilian edition of Rolling Stone Magazine to be the 73rd greatest Brazilian song. According to The Jazz Discography by Tom Lord, the song has been recorded nearly 500 times by jazz artists. This arrangement for clarinet sextet is by noted arranger Bogdan Dragan.

About the Composer

Antonio Carlos Jobim was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to cultured parents. His father was a diplomat, and his mother founded a primary school. He began formal music studies in his teens, eventually foregoing the idea of becoming an architect. His early influences were the big bands of the ‘40s, West Coast jazz of the ‘50s, composers such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Chopin, Villa-Lobos (introduced to him by his German piano teacher), and, of course, the Brazilian samba.

Jobim’s gentle guitar, romantic rhythms, and warm vocal style epitomized the sensuality of his music. He recorded with orchestrators Claus Ogerman and Nelson Riddle, vocalist Frank Sinatra, and several jazz musicians. Many of his songs became well-established in the jazz repertoire and were given English lyrics by various writers: “Corcovado” (“Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars”), “Wave,” “Chega de Saudade” (“No More Blues”), “One Note Samba”, “Amor Em Paz” (“Once I Loved”), “How Insensitive,” “Triste,” “Waters of March,” “Dindi,” and “A Felicidade.”

When interest in the bossa nova waned at the end of the ‘60s, Jobim turned to scoring Brazilian films. The Bossa Nova rivival brought him back to the international scene in the mid-‘80s when he toured with his own group that included his wife, son, and daughter. Just before his death in 1994, he recorded a collaboration with pop star Sting.

About the Arranger

Bogdan Dragan was born in Ukraine in 1972 to a family of musicians, he began his studies at the age of 6, at the conservatory, as a pianist and at the age of 10 as a clarinetist.

In 1991, Bogdan completed a clarinet course at the Colégio Musical, and later, in 1996, he graduated from the National Academy of Music of Ukraine (Kiev), with the specializations: soloist, conductor, musician of the symphony orchestra, clarinet teacher.

During his years of study, he worked as a clarinetist in various institutions in the country’s capital, such as: Small Opera Theater and Kiev Ballet (first clarinet), Kiev Chamber Orchestra (first clarinet), “Rídni Náspivy” Folk Orchestra and Quintet Wind Instruments of the Kiev Philharmonic where he worked for 7 years until he came to Brazil. At the same time, with the desire to learn the technique of sound recording, Bogdan performed a one-year internship (1996-1997) at the Radio Central Recording Studio of Ukraine with Prof. Dr. L. Bylchinsky. In 1997, Bogdan entered graduate school at the National Academy of Music in Ukraine as a clarinet player but did not complete his studies due to his move to Brazil. During a year in graduate school, he performed some concerts with the piano as a soloist in the Concert Halls in Kiev.

In 1998, he was invited, by maestro Roberto Minczuk, to work at the Ribeirão Preto Symphony Orchestra (SP). Over the years in Brazil, he took a course as a sound technician at the Escola de Audio Profissional CAM and is eventually making audio recordings of several instrumental and vocal ensembles in his studio; he worked on several social projects such as Oficina Candido Portinari (SP), Institution Savegnago (Sertãozinho / SP) and Free Academy of Music and Arts (Ribeirão Preto / SP), teaching clarinet and music theory classes. Bogdan currently works intensively as an arranger for several orchestras and instrumental ensembles in Brazil and abroad.