The Star Spangled Banner (2017)
JOHN STAFFORD SMITH (1750-1836)
arr. SEAN O'LOUGHLIN (b. 1972)
The melody of "The Star Spangled Banner" originated as a song sung in meetings of the Anacreontic Society, a British gentleman's club popular in the late 18th century, and would likely have been the backdrop to drinking and merriment among the club's attendees.
The lyrics come from a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key entitled "The Defense of Fort M'Henry," written after witnessing the bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry by British forces during the War of 1812. Key's poetry focused on the tattered flag flying above the fort and its persistence through the overnight attack.
The song enjoyed relative, if sporadic, popularity throughout the 19th century, but became increasingly associated with American patriotism in the later years of the 19th century. In 1916, President Wilson ordered that the song be played at patriotic functions, and soon became the beneficiary of Congressional pressure to recognize it as America's National Anthem. "The Star Spangled Banner" became our National Anthem on March 4, 1931.
This arrangement by American composer and arranger Sean O'Loughlin was originally written for the Oregon Symphony, but has proliferated over the years to a variety of regional and major orchestras, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, which has played this arrangement at several Baltimore Orioles and Ravens games. O'Loughlin adapted his arrangement for concert band in 2017.
Proud Heritage (1955)
WILLIAM E. LATHAM (1917-2004)
"Proud Heritage" is one of William Latham's most well-known works. Latham, a native of Louisiana, studied at Cincinnati College and the Eastman School of Music before a stint in the U.S. Army, where saw active combat towards the end of World War II. Latham spent most of his professional career as a professor at the University of North Texas, retiring in 1981. "Proud Heritage" is a processional march that mixes legato clarinet and euphonium lines with bright brass fanfares and a climactic finish. For many years, it was the parade march for the WIlliamsport High School Blue Band, and has become the standard march of the Williamsport Community Band as well.
...and the antelope play (2008)
JOHN CARNAHAN
My tone poem, ...and the antelope play, depicts the transformation through time of the Antelope Valley, from ancient times, to the eventual displacement of the Native American culture, to modern times. The work considers both geographical and cultural aspects in its musical portrayal of the vast and beautiful high desert of California. The title is taken from the 19th century song Home on the Range, specifically from the line, "Where the deer and the antelope play," although you will not hear the song except in some melodic fragments. The thematic material of the music is based solely upon these fragments and word association from the song. Although well hidden, you may find the themes more readily by word association than by melodic association. ...and the antelope play is a through-composed tone poem in eight sections, played without pause, with each section bearing a descriptive verse from my poem: ...first there was wind ......morning light .........behold the valley ............and the antelope play ............the plight of the valley .........the spirit remains ......and the antelope? ...the valley home ...first there was wind - The piece begins with the sound of the warm desert wind and a lone tumbleweed blowing across the valley plain. The haunting sound of the Native American flute breaks the silence and summons forth the spirit world. ...morning light - The rays of the brilliant sun break through the sky. ...behold the valley - The expanse of the Valley is depicted by a warm and lyrical Western chorale. ...and the antelope play - The hot open plains play host to the indigenous pronghorn antelope, which frolic freely across the valley floor. ...the plight of the valley - The western expansion of the railroad and the arrival of the Spanish settlers disrupt the natural serenity of the valley and herald the demise of the antelope and the Native American tribes of the Serrano, Kitanemuk, Kawaiisu and Tatavian. ...the spirit remains - Throughout the vast change toward westernized civilization and industrialization, the Spirit World constantly remains. ...and the antelope? - Although the home to the pronghorn antelope and Native Americans has been changed forever, the valley will always hold their memory and be home to their spirit. ...the valley home - The beautiful expanse of the valley endures, with a reprise of the Western chorale. The piece concludes with the first complete statement of Oh give me a home, and ends on a single note, home. This piece is dedicated to the Antelope Valley Unified School District Honor Band and was the winner of the 2007 CBDNA Young Band Composition Competition. - Program Note by composer
Amazing Grace (1984)
JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807)
Arr. Luis Maldonado (d. 1995)
"Amazing Grace" is one of the most popular and recognizable tunes in the American songbook--despite being originally written by a lifelong Englishman! John Newton was a British clergyman and abolitionist who penned this famous hymn after his ship, which was involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade, was buffeted by strong winds. Fearing it would sink, the (up until then) nonreligious Newton prayed for safety. As the storm passed and Newton remained safe, he chose to dedicate his life to religion and abolitionism, becoming a vocal opponent of the slave trade until his death in 1807.
Not much is known about the arranger of this version of the hymn. Luis Maldonado was a tubist and euphonium performer of some notoriety in the 1980s and 1990s, and held professorships at several institutions during this time. It is likely that this arrangement initially started life for brass band before being adapted for the full concert band. In fact, some versions of this arrangement do not even credit Maldonado as the arranger, although our best musical scholarship leads us to believe he deserves the arranging credit for the gorgeous setting of "Amazing Grace." Luis Maldonado unfortunately took his own life in the spring of 1995.
Lincoln Portrait (1942)
AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
arr. Walter Beeler (1908-1973)
Aaron Copland is often credited for codifying and popularizing the "American Sound" of the classical music tradition, much of which he did during his Populist or "Americana" period that stretched from the late 1930s through the 1940s. During this time, Copland wrote some of his most famous works, including "Fanfare for the Common Man," "Appalachian Spring," "Rodeo," and his monumental "Third Symphony."
Also within this period is "Lincoln Portrait," which was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in 1942. Copland was asked to set the words of an "eminent American" and initially hoped to use Mark Twain, although eventually he gravitated towards Lincoln.
"Lincoln Portrait" is a long piece, approximately 16-18 minutes, and doesn't employ its narrator until over halfway through the piece. Copland draws on several folk songs, including "Camptown Races" and "On Springfield Mountain" to tell a vaguely biographical story of Lincoln's life. The words Copland chose to highlight span Lincoln's political career, and are printed in their entirety (along with their source) below:
"Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility." (Annual Message to Congress December 1, 1862)
"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country." (Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862)
"It is the eternal struggle between two principles, right and wrong, throughout the world. It is the same spirit that says 'you toil and work and earn bread, and I'll eat it.' No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation, and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle." (Lincoln-Douglas debates, October 15, 1858)
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy." (Unpublished writings, August 1858)
"That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." (The Gettysburg Address, November 1863)
Fanfare Politeia (2021)
KIMBERLY ARCHER (b. 1973)
Fanfare Politeia is an homage to the origins of our democracy, and to the ancient sources that Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson, and Adams drew from in their conceiving and writing our Constitution. "Politeia" is a Greek word derived from "polis" (city). Aristotle used the term to represent concepts such as citizens' rights and constitutional government, while Plato's examination of justice – a book which we now call The Republic, in English – was actually entitled Politeia in the original Greek. Commissioned by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band for the 59th Presidential Inauguration, Fanfare Politeia celebrates our traditions of a free and fair election, and of a peaceful transition of power.
-Program note by composer
An American Elegy (2000)
FRANK TICHELI (b. 1958)
"An American Elegy" was commissioned by the Columbine Commissioning Fund, a special project sponsored by the Alpha Iota Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi at the University of Colorado on behalf of the Columbine High School Band. Contributors to the Fund included members, chapters, alumni, and friends of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma National Honorary Band Fraternity and Sorority. The work received its premiere performance by the Columbine High School Band, William Biskup, director, Frank Ticheli, guest conductor, on April 23, 2000. Its premiere served as the centerpiece of a special commemorative concert given by the Columbine High School Band in conjunction with the University of Colorado Wind Symphony, held at Macky Hall in Boulder, Colorado. An American Elegy is, above all, an expression of hope. It was composed in memory of those who lost their lives at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and to honor the survivors. It is offered as a tribute to their great strength and courage in the face of a terrible tragedy. I hope the work can also serve as one reminder of how fragile and precious life is and how intimately connected we all are as human beings. I was moved and honored by this commission invitation, and deeply inspired by the circumstances surrounding it. Rarely has a work revealed itself to me with such powerful speed and clarity. The first eight bars of the main melody came to me fully formed in a dream. Virtually every element of the work was discovered within the span of about two weeks. The remainder of my time was spent refining, developing, and orchestrating. The work begins at the bottom of the ensemble’s register, and ascends gradually to a heartfelt cry of hope. The main theme that follows, stated by the horns, reveals a more lyrical, serene side of the piece. A second theme, based on a simple repeated harmonic pattern, suggest yet another, more poignant mood. These three moods — hope, serenity, and sadness — become intertwined throughout the work, defining its complex expressive character. A four-part canon builds to a climactic quotation of the Columbine Alma Mater. The music recedes, and an offstage trumpeter is heard, suggesting a celestial voice — a heavenly message. The full ensemble returns with a final, exalted statement of the main theme.
-Program note by the composer
The National Game (1925)
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA (1854-1932)
John Philip Sousa, is the most famous in a long tradition of American march composers. By 1925, Sousa was at the height of his popularity and well and truly enshrined as the "March King." He was approached by Kennesaw Mountain Landis, the commissioner of baseball, to write a march to honor baseball, America's "National Game" to honor the 50th anniversary of baseball's senior circuit, the National League.
Sousa obliged with a fun, bombastic 6/8 march that even simulates the crack of the bat in the break strain.
America, the Beautiful (1960)
SAMUEL A. WARD (1848-1903)
arr. Carmen Dragon (1914-1984)
The lyrics to "America the Beautiful" were written by Katherine Lee Bates, a 33-year-old English professor on a cross-country trip. Inspired by the sights she saw along her journey, and especially overwhelmed by the beauty of Pike's Peak in Colorado, Bates wrote down her thoughts in a poem that eventually was published as "America the Beautiful." The poem was revised several times until it's final form in 1911, and has since become one of the most enduring patriotic standards. It was even in consideration to become America's National Anthem prior to 1931, and has been proposed as an alternative to "The Star Spangled Banner" several times in the last 60 years.
This arrangement by Carmen Dragon was originally for orchestra before being adapted to symphonic band. Dragon was a composer and arranger for a variety of television and film endeavors in the mid-20th century, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.