[BBCB-Mail] Roanoke College Concert Details (October 11)

[Ed Schwartz]

Hi All!

Here is the order of the music that we will be 
performing on the October 11 concert with Roanoke 
College:

1. Slavic Farewell - Vasilij Agapkin
	Ed Schwartz, Conducting
2.  October - Eric Whitacre
	Dr. Joe Blaha, Conducting
3.  Anzio - Steven E. Brown
	Steve Brown, Conducting
4.  First Suite in E-Flat, Opus 28, No. 1 - Gustav Holst
	Ed Schwartz, Conducting
5. The Kiron Processional - Joe Blaha
	Dr. Joe Blaha, Conducting
6.  Variations on a Hymn Tune - John R. Howell
	John Howell, Conducting
7.  The Poet and the Peasant Overture - Franz Von Suppe
	Dr. Joe Blaha, Conducting
8.  Stars & Stripes Forever - John Philip Sousa
	Dr. Joe Blaha, Conducting

Please plan to be at Olin Hall at 6:30 pm ready 
to play. We will run through a few spots and get 
an idea of balance at that time. Joe is working 
to possibly record the concert.

IMPORTANT!  PLEASE let your section leader know 
if you plan to be at the concert on the 11th (and 
the Pumpkin Festival on the 14th). We need to 
have a count on number of chairs, number of each 
instrument and your names for the program. Thanks 
in advance!

A few notes from John Howell on his Variations on 
a Hymn Tune (Joe, please share these with your 
group):

  - - - - - -
Band:  I don't want to take rehearsal time 
talking about this, but "Variations" is a Tone 
Poem, meaning that I attempt to tell a dramatic 
story using only musical means.  And also meaning 
that everyone has a role to play in this gripping 
drama, and it's helpful to know what role you've 
been cast in!!!

Composer's notes:
	This tone poem depicts the tragedy of the 
H.M.S. Titanic on the night of April 13-14, 1912. 
The idea started as I was sitting behind a 
magnificent section of 8--some rehearsals even 
9--euphoniums in the Blacksburg (Virginia) 
Community Band, wondering how that wonderful 
section could be featured in a piece that gave 
them both melody and close harmony.  I thought 
about variations, then about different hymn 
tunes, and finally began to consider "Nearer my 
God, to Thee" as a good theme for variations. 
The reference to the Titanic followed naturally.

	No, I hadn't seen THE movie!  (Although I 
later saw most of it.)  I had seen one or two 
documentaries, and followed the newspaper stories 
as the actual wreck was found and artifacts began 
to be brought up-including the cornet belonging 
to one of the Titanic's bandsmen.  I knew what 
most people knew about the events on that 
terrible evening, and of course a musical 
depiction can do little more than sketch those 
events.

	Disclaimers:  I know perfectly well that 
the British bandsmen would have played "Nearer my 
God, to Thee" to a different tune, one favored by 
the Church of England, but I wrote this music for 
American audiences for whom the more familiar 
tune already carries an emotional response.  I 
know it was quite unlikely that the ship's band 
would have been playing on the tilting deck as 
disaster approached, although they certainly 
would have played for the most recent church 
service.  And I've been told that the Morse "SOS" 
might not have been in use as an international 
distress call in 1912, but it too has strong 
emotional connections for us today.

	In order to tell this musical story, I 
have unashamedly borrowed ideas from Bedrich 
Smetana (the clarinet figures, from "The 
Moldau"), Samuel Morse (the SOS, of course), John 
Dykes, Meredith Willson (listen for it carefully 
in the euphoniums after the Chaos passes, and 
think about Molly Brown), and probably many 
others.  The timpani part started out in the 
Brahms Requiem, but then got entirely out of 
hand!  And the suspended cymbal remains the 
single best instrument ever invented to depict 
the sweeping waves of the ocean, pace Richard 
Rodgers' "Victory at Sea."  The waltz tune in the 
style of Johann Strauss and the Irish dance tune 
are mine own.  I grew up in a coastal town with 
seagulls, and know their unmusical songs well. 
The cries of gulls and terns are modeled on 
samples I found through an internet search, so 
don't make them too pretty; squawk!

	The "Chaos" at 93 depicts the chaos that 
undoubtedly filled the "unsinkable" Titanic as 
both the ship and its passengers and crew fell 
apart.  This æleatoric section is of 
indeterminate length, to be decided by the 
conductor.  The chaos does not stop at 94 and 95, 
where the trumpets and then the other brass 
should soar above the continuing and slowly 
abating chaos with the Navy Hymn, "Eternal 
Father, Strong to Save," as the ship gradually 
slips beneath the waves.  At 110 all remaining 
chaos should have died away.  The euphoniums 
should indeed drop out one at a time between 115 
and the end as they run out of breath, as if they 
were unlucky enough not to make it to the 
lifeboats.  No circular breathing, please!

	The intended layers of meaning include: 
The unending and unstoppable roll of the North 
Atlantic waves, indifferent to human 
intervention, represented by clarinets and later 
trumpets.  The peacefulness found beneath those 
waves, represented by saxophones and later by 
flutes and horns.  The utter cold and 
indifference of the massive iceberg, represented 
by dissonant low reeds (deliberately dissonant 
because it couldn't care less about the petty 
affairs of those pitiful humans).  The cries of 
sea birds following the ship for a free lunch. 
And of course the hymn of the euphoniums, 
standing apart from the story, remembering and 
offering tribute to the victims of this tragedy 
in full barbershop harmony.

After the Band premiered this piece, one audience 
member said that it really disturbed him.  I 
couldn't have asked for a nicer compliment!  It's 
a very disturbing and still a very timeless and 
moving story.

John Raymond Howell
Blacksburg, Virginia
March 16, 2001
September 20, 2007
  - - - - - -

Thanks, and practice!

- Ed -

-- 
Ed Schwartz, Director
Blacksburg Community Band
Blacksburg, VA 24060
(540) 808-6102
http://arts.bev.net/blacksburgcommunityband/
http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/
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