Wednesday, November 13th - Saskatoon Community Bands Present "Majestic Vistas"

7:30pm at the Broadway Theatre

Featuring Wind Ensemble & Jazz Band

PROGRAM NOTES

Wind Ensemble – Nick Fanner, Conductor

Mt. Everest - Rossano Galante

Comprised of robust brass melodies, sweeping woodwind lines and rhythmic ostinati, this piece captures the epic beauty and grandeur of Everest, the highest mountain on earth.

As I Walked Through the Meadow - arr. Pierre La Plante (Pastorale on a Traditional English Folksong)

In his collection of “100 English Folksongs” (1918), Cecil Sharp notes the existence of various versions of the song, As I walked through the Meadow. This band arrangement is based on one of two settings found in this collection. Briefly summarized, a young man is walking through a meadow when he meets a young lass picking flowers and is, of course, immediately smitten.  After at first reusing his advances, she is won over and becomes his bride the very next day. 

The music itself conjures up the images of waling through a meadow on a beautiful spring day, with the sun shining, the lowers blooming, a gently breeze blowing, and allows time to enjoy some peace and quiet, reflect, and, at least for a while, forget the cares of the day.

Mount Fuji "Fuji-san" - Julie Giroux

This is the first movement of Julie Giroux’s Symphony No. IV – Bookmarks from Japan, Premiered by the Musashino Academy of Music Wind Ensemble in the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater Concert Hall Tokyo, Japan, July 16, 2013. 

Big, bold and easily recognized yet shrouded in mystery and lore, Mount Fuji offers a multitude of inspirational facets. The piece is based on one view of Mt. Fuji covered in mist and low clouds which slowly burns off as the day progresses.  Orchestration and composition techniques follows this scenario starting off with mysterious, unfocused scoring.  As the piece progresses, the scoring gets more focused and bold with the final statement representing Fuji-san in a totally clear view.

The above program notes appear on the composer’s website: https://www.juliegiroux.org

A Walk in the Morning Sun - Pierre La Plante

While growing up in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in the 1950’s, some of the first orchestra music I heard was written by Leroy Anderson. The town’s radio station, WDOR, had a noon show that featured area news, community events, obituaries and local gossip, with musical interludes sprinkled in.  Although Leroy Anderson had been composing since the 1930’s, this was the time when he was experiencing his greatest commercial success, and his orchestral miniatures were a staple on WDOR. Blue Tango, A Trumpeter’s Lullaby, The Syncopated Clock and of course, Sleigh Ride, are only a partial list of this master tunesmith’s orchestral gems. A Walk in the Morning Sun, is a musical “tip of the hat” to Leroy Anderson’s unique style and contributions to American Music. 

The Sound of Music by Rodgers & Hammerstein - arr. Robert Russell Bennett

The Sound of Music (2015) Music: Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein (1895–1960) Orchestration: Robert Russell Bennett (1894–1981) The film version of "The Sound of Music" is fifty years old! The last musical by the luminary team of Rodgers and Hammerstein addresses the unsavory topic of Nazi Germany and the oppression of the arts. Critical response to the film was widely mixed, with Bosley Crowther of The New York Times calling it “romantic nonsense and sentiment,” and Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times describing it as “three hours of visual and vocal brilliance.” The film was a major commercial success, becoming the number one box office movie after four weeks, and the highest-grossing film of 1965. By November 1966, "The Sound of Music" became the highest grossing film of all-time—surpassing "Gone With the Wind"—and held that distinction for five years. The film was just as popular throughout the world, breaking previous box-office records in twenty-nine countries. "The Sound of Music" received five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. In 1998, the American Film Institute listed "The Sound of Music" as the fifty-fifth greatest American movie of all time. In 2001, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” 

Robert Russell Bennett orchestrated “The Sound of Music” for Broadway. Note that where the Austin Band’s performance of the piece is complete, this evening’s performance by the Saskatoon Community Bands Wind Ensemble will include only the selections which appear in the film:

• The Sound of Music

• The Lonely Goatherd

• My Favorite Things

• Sixteen Going on Seventeen

• So Long, Farewell

• Do-Re-Mi

• Edelweiss

• Maria

• Climb Every Mountain

INTERMISSION 

Jazz Band  - Doug Gilmour, Conductor

A Few Good Men - Gordon Goodwin/arr. Ralph Ford

 Written by the leader of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, this arrangement is a re-scored version of the original recording. It’s a clever blend of Rock/Funk style with a March groove in the drum set, very ably played by D’Arce McMillan.           

A Day in the Life of a Fool (Manha de Carnaval)- Luiz Bonfa/arr. Terry White

 Originally written as the principal theme of the 1959 movie Black Orpheus, this song was introduced to North American jazz listeners by Stan Getz and other major jazz artists. The beautiful melody really stays with you!

Back Home Again in Indiana - James F. Hanley/arr. Greg Yasinitsky

Known by jazz players as simply “Indiana”, this is one of the classic jazz standards and is one that every jazz player should have ready to go at jam sessions. 

Charade - Henry Mancini/arr. Mark Taylor 

Henri Mancini wrote this song for the 1963 movie of the same name which starred Audrew Hepburn and Cary Grant. The song was nominated for an Oscar that year, and recordings by Mancini himself, Andy Williams, and Sammy Kaye did well on the billboard charts. Originally written as a wistful waltz, Mark Taylor has arranged this in a Samba style (that is not very wistful!). Laura Jardine is the soloist.

C-Jam Blues - Duke Ellington/arr. Mark Taylor

 Duke Ellington “wrote” this song in 1942. The title tells the story – it’s in the key of C, and it’s really just a flimsy excuse to jam (improvise), as the melody only includes two notes – C and G. It’s almost always heard in swing style, but Mark Taylor has cleverly arranged this in the New Orleans “Street Beat” style.

Thank you for coming tonight! We hope you'll join us for our next concert at Holy Cross High School on Monday, December 16th at 7:30pm featuring our Concert Band & 630 Experience Band!