Audio Files
America (Chorale) - Traditional/arr. by Mark Walker
Mother Earth - David Maslanka
Sørgesmarsj over Rikard Nordraak - Edvard Grieg/edited by Frederick Fennell
"Mambo" from West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein/arranged by Michael Sweeney
Ghosts of the Old Year - James M. David
I. Calm, determined
II. Ferocious, intense
Mother Earth - David Maslanka
Sørgesmarsj over Rikard Nordraak - Edvard Grieg/edited by Frederick Fennell
"Mambo" from West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein/arranged by Michael Sweeney
Ghosts of the Old Year - James M. David
I. Calm, determined
II. Ferocious, intense
Program Notes
Mother Earth (2003) David Maslanka
Mother Earth was composed for the South Dearborn High School Band of Aurora, Indiana, Brian Silvey, conductor. The commission was for a three-minute fanfare piece. Each piece takes on a reason for being all its own, and Mother Earth is no exception. It became an urgent message from Our Mother to treat her more kindly! My reading at the time of writing this music was For a Future to be Possible by the Vietnamese monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. He believes that the only way forward is to be extremely alive and aware in our present moment, to become awake to the needs of our beloved planet, and to respond to it as a living entity. Music making allows us to come immediately awake. It is an instant connection to the powerful wellspring of our creativity, and opens our minds to the solution of any number of problems, including that of our damaged environment. My little piece does not solve the problem! But it is a living call to the wide-awake life, and it continues to be performed by young people around the world.
Sørgesmarsj over Rikard Nordraak (1866/1981) Edvard Grieg/transcription by Jan Eriksen/edited by Frederick Fennell
Edvard Grieg found a warm reception for the nationalist character in his music both at home in Norway and at centers of musical culture throughout the world. His awareness of genuine Norwegian folk music or of the waiting acceptance by Norwegian nationalists of any composer whose music might fire the cause was a debt he avowedly owed to Rikard Nordraak. The two men enjoyed a fast compositional and personal friendship in early manhood.
They were in Europe in pursuit of their musical development when Nordraak died very suddenly in Berlin on 26 March 1866. Grieg was in Rome when he received this news a dozen days later. He composed the Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak for piano on that same day, 6 April 1866. The Grieg to come is very present in this personal expression of his grief.
The March was scored for brass and for military band by the composer who so treasured this music that he carried it with him on all journeys. It was played at his interment in the setting for orchestra by Jovan Halvorsen.
It is difficult to understand why this attractive and thoroughly representative music by Grieg has remained so little played, particularly by all wind groups. This transcription for the contemporary wind ensemble was made, appropriately, by the Norwegian band enthusiast and authority Jan Ericksen.
Mambo from West Side Story (1957/2014) Leonard Bernstein/arr. Michael Sweeney
In 1955-57, Leonard Bernstein wrote the musical West Side Story, the work that would ensure his fame as a composer. Then—after a New York run of almost two years (772 performances) and a national tour—in the opening weeks of 1960, Bernstein revisited his score for West Side Story and extracted nine sections to assemble into the Symphonic Dances. They premiered at a “Valentine for Leonard Bernstein” gala concert by the New York Philharmonic under Lukas Foss’ direction, on February 13, 1961.
The crucial role of dance in West Side Story added to the challenge of adapting the music for the concert platform. The orchestrations call for vibrant instrumental combinations and a huge percussion section (not to mention the vocal talents of the orchestra members!) to enhance the kinetic quality of the rhythms. More deeply, they tilt the narrative weight from a love story to gang conflict. We hear first the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, then the utopian opposite; their juxtaposition creates a dramatic tension that shapes the entire work. The printed score includes the following description:
Mambo (Meno presto)—Reality again; competitive dance between the gangs.
Ghosts of the Old Year (2016) James David
I. Calm, determined
II. Ferocious, intense
Ghosts of the Old Year is among the most personal and challenging works I have yet written. The genesis of the piece was my sense of unease about the state of the world and particularly the Southern US where I grew up. In particular, the last decade of Southern violence caused me to question the purpose and intent of my own music. The idea that the South could continue to foster such hatred and ignorance more than fifty years after the civil rights era seemed like a call to action. So often the intellectual response of Southerners has been tepid and aloof, with an indifference to the seething stew of race and poverty around them. This work, then, is a raw and unvarnished response to these feelings.
The title is taken from the great James Weldon Johnson’s poem of the same name which is excerpted here:
The snow has ceased its fluttering flight,
The wind sunk to a whisper light,
An ominous stillness fills the night,
A pause — a hush.
At last, a sound that breaks the spell,
Loud, clanging mouthings of a bell,
That through the silence peal and swell,
And roll, and rush.
What does this brazen tongue declare[?]…
'Tis telling that the year is dead,
The New Year come, the Old Year fled,
Another leaf before me spread
On which to write.
Johnson’s imagery of a bell sounding in the winter night also felt like another call to action and brought to mind numerous musical possibilities. Bells and other metallic percussion play a significant role throughout the work as a result. A second major source of inspiration is the hymn tune “Beach Spring” attributed to B. F. White, who was an important figure in the Southern “singing schools” of the nineteenth century. A beautifully simple tune built on the pentatonic scale, it is set with several original harmonizations and first heard in the euphonium.
This tune along with two original melodies serve as the backbone of the work’s two movements. The first movement presents a pastoral idea of the South that revels in its natural beauty and the deep cultural roots found there. The second movement calls all of this into question and notes the brutality of its past and present. However, the work ultimately concludes with a final call to action through an optimistic last statement of “Beach Spring” combined with Johnson’s bell sounding through the night.
On a personal note, this piece was composed during my father’s ultimately terminal struggle with cancer. He was always in my thoughts as I was composing and remains so as I write these words. He believed that it was more appropriate to ask for more, rather than expect less, from each other.
-Notes by the composer, April 2017
Mother Earth was composed for the South Dearborn High School Band of Aurora, Indiana, Brian Silvey, conductor. The commission was for a three-minute fanfare piece. Each piece takes on a reason for being all its own, and Mother Earth is no exception. It became an urgent message from Our Mother to treat her more kindly! My reading at the time of writing this music was For a Future to be Possible by the Vietnamese monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh. He believes that the only way forward is to be extremely alive and aware in our present moment, to become awake to the needs of our beloved planet, and to respond to it as a living entity. Music making allows us to come immediately awake. It is an instant connection to the powerful wellspring of our creativity, and opens our minds to the solution of any number of problems, including that of our damaged environment. My little piece does not solve the problem! But it is a living call to the wide-awake life, and it continues to be performed by young people around the world.
Sørgesmarsj over Rikard Nordraak (1866/1981) Edvard Grieg/transcription by Jan Eriksen/edited by Frederick Fennell
Edvard Grieg found a warm reception for the nationalist character in his music both at home in Norway and at centers of musical culture throughout the world. His awareness of genuine Norwegian folk music or of the waiting acceptance by Norwegian nationalists of any composer whose music might fire the cause was a debt he avowedly owed to Rikard Nordraak. The two men enjoyed a fast compositional and personal friendship in early manhood.
They were in Europe in pursuit of their musical development when Nordraak died very suddenly in Berlin on 26 March 1866. Grieg was in Rome when he received this news a dozen days later. He composed the Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak for piano on that same day, 6 April 1866. The Grieg to come is very present in this personal expression of his grief.
The March was scored for brass and for military band by the composer who so treasured this music that he carried it with him on all journeys. It was played at his interment in the setting for orchestra by Jovan Halvorsen.
It is difficult to understand why this attractive and thoroughly representative music by Grieg has remained so little played, particularly by all wind groups. This transcription for the contemporary wind ensemble was made, appropriately, by the Norwegian band enthusiast and authority Jan Ericksen.
Mambo from West Side Story (1957/2014) Leonard Bernstein/arr. Michael Sweeney
In 1955-57, Leonard Bernstein wrote the musical West Side Story, the work that would ensure his fame as a composer. Then—after a New York run of almost two years (772 performances) and a national tour—in the opening weeks of 1960, Bernstein revisited his score for West Side Story and extracted nine sections to assemble into the Symphonic Dances. They premiered at a “Valentine for Leonard Bernstein” gala concert by the New York Philharmonic under Lukas Foss’ direction, on February 13, 1961.
The crucial role of dance in West Side Story added to the challenge of adapting the music for the concert platform. The orchestrations call for vibrant instrumental combinations and a huge percussion section (not to mention the vocal talents of the orchestra members!) to enhance the kinetic quality of the rhythms. More deeply, they tilt the narrative weight from a love story to gang conflict. We hear first the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, then the utopian opposite; their juxtaposition creates a dramatic tension that shapes the entire work. The printed score includes the following description:
Mambo (Meno presto)—Reality again; competitive dance between the gangs.
Ghosts of the Old Year (2016) James David
I. Calm, determined
II. Ferocious, intense
Ghosts of the Old Year is among the most personal and challenging works I have yet written. The genesis of the piece was my sense of unease about the state of the world and particularly the Southern US where I grew up. In particular, the last decade of Southern violence caused me to question the purpose and intent of my own music. The idea that the South could continue to foster such hatred and ignorance more than fifty years after the civil rights era seemed like a call to action. So often the intellectual response of Southerners has been tepid and aloof, with an indifference to the seething stew of race and poverty around them. This work, then, is a raw and unvarnished response to these feelings.
The title is taken from the great James Weldon Johnson’s poem of the same name which is excerpted here:
The snow has ceased its fluttering flight,
The wind sunk to a whisper light,
An ominous stillness fills the night,
A pause — a hush.
At last, a sound that breaks the spell,
Loud, clanging mouthings of a bell,
That through the silence peal and swell,
And roll, and rush.
What does this brazen tongue declare[?]…
'Tis telling that the year is dead,
The New Year come, the Old Year fled,
Another leaf before me spread
On which to write.
Johnson’s imagery of a bell sounding in the winter night also felt like another call to action and brought to mind numerous musical possibilities. Bells and other metallic percussion play a significant role throughout the work as a result. A second major source of inspiration is the hymn tune “Beach Spring” attributed to B. F. White, who was an important figure in the Southern “singing schools” of the nineteenth century. A beautifully simple tune built on the pentatonic scale, it is set with several original harmonizations and first heard in the euphonium.
This tune along with two original melodies serve as the backbone of the work’s two movements. The first movement presents a pastoral idea of the South that revels in its natural beauty and the deep cultural roots found there. The second movement calls all of this into question and notes the brutality of its past and present. However, the work ultimately concludes with a final call to action through an optimistic last statement of “Beach Spring” combined with Johnson’s bell sounding through the night.
On a personal note, this piece was composed during my father’s ultimately terminal struggle with cancer. He was always in my thoughts as I was composing and remains so as I write these words. He believed that it was more appropriate to ask for more, rather than expect less, from each other.
-Notes by the composer, April 2017