Hello MSW Friends!

Your section leader has received electronic copies of your section’s music. Please be on the lookout for an email from your section leader with your parts. Remember that you’re responsible for printing your own parts this concert cycle. 

Rehearsal starts before our first downbeat on Wednesday September 10. Please take a moment to listen to our repertoire and study your parts. 

Listen to our rep as a playlist on YouTube.

Flaxen Tresses,David
Listen
Quarter = 144

From the composer: “Flaxen Tresses is a short fantasia on Claude Debussy’s piano prelude La fille aux cheveux de lin (Girl with the Flaxen Hair) for concert band. The simple pentatonic arpeggiated melody is transformed into a bold fanfare depicting an imaginary retro-futurist cityscape of golden light and steel spires. Densely layered textures give way to a tranquil central adagio that highlight Debussy’s rich linear harmonies and textures. Building rhythmic intensity and heavy ostinati utilizing parallel fourths and fifths portray flying automobiles racing on aerial highways. Finally, a chorale-like statement of the opening melody presented in layered canons leads to a massive cadence as we zoom out to see the full majesty of our imaginary metropolis. This work was commissioned by the Civitas Consortium Project and is dedicated to composer Timothy Mahr who has been a continual source of inspiration.”

Intrinsic Light, Nishimura
Listen
Quarter Note = 76

From the composer: “’Intrinsic light’ is a term for the colour or sensation we experience in complete darkness, due to the spontaneous activity of neurons in the retina. My goal with this piece was to represent this phenomenon through sound. Reflecting on this concept prompted a deeper, metaphorical realization: even in times of darkness, we are able to observe, generate, and experience light, and that coming together to make music is one of the ways in which we can do this. When I was a high school student, I participated in the Ontario Provincial Honour Band and performed at the annual OMEA conference. It was a formative experience during which I was surrounded by others who were there out of a genuine desire to share their love of music — a beautiful example of “intrinsic” motivation. It has been ten years since I graduated from my high school music program, and five years since completing my post-secondary studies in music, and I am endlessly grateful to have been part of the music education community in Ontario. Music teachers are some of the unseen superheroes of this world, and it was a huge honour to have been asked to write music in celebration of their work.”

Meditation from Thaïs, Massanet, arr. Harding
Listen
Quarter = 66

The Meditation in Massenet’s romantic opera Thaïs is a violin solo between the third and fourth scenes. In this band arrangement, the flute takes on the role of the violin. The piece captures the allure and charm of Thaïs, an Egyptian priestess.

Monarch Migration, Donjuan
Listen
Quarter Note = 88

From the program notes: “At the heart of this captivating project is Matthew Oyen, a high school band and orchestra director from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Matthew was inspired by the award-winning picture book Monarch Butterflies: Explore the Life Journey of One of the Winged Wonders of the World (Storey Publishing) by author Ann Hobbie and illustrator Olga Baumert. This book shares the remarkable biology, cultural significance, and importance of supporting this iconic species and its spectacular yearly migration to the coasts of California and the mountains of central Mexico. The journey and peril of the monarch butterflies tell an important story of the interconnectedness of our actions.

“Matthew saw in the book an opportunity to share a musical version of the unique monarch migration with high school, college, and university-level musicians nationwide. Through his network with Dr. Brian Messier’s Mexican Repertoire Initiative at Dartmouth College, these directors connected with the talented Mexican composer Nubia Jaime Donjuan. With a deep admiration for nature’s wonders and a desire to connect youth with the world around them, Nubia was an excellent choice to create a musical composition that would not only narrate the fascinating journey of the monarch butterfly but also engage and educate students on the importance of conservation and the wonders of the natural world.”

Over the Blue and Green, Howard
Listen
Quarter Note = 66

From the composer: “One very hot summer, I accompanied a group visiting the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During this time, we sat down with two retired astronauts who told us about their experiences in space. One astronaut, when asked how his perspective on life has changed since being in space, recalled seeing the Earth as an inherently peaceful place, like this beautiful blue and green thing, which he now felt a stronger duty to protect. When asked to share her favorite memory during a mission, the other astronaut detailed a story about being ahead of schedule during a mission, and in the free time she was allowed, watching Earth from the windows of the spaceship. She recalled stretching out her arms, feeling like she was an angel watching over Earth.

“I’ve been imagining myself in these astronauts’ places, wondering what the world would be like if we all saw ourselves as guardians of Earth in this way. This piece explores the feeling of watching over our planet, cherishing its beauty—flying over the blue and green.”

Roma, Coleman
Listen
Quarter Note = 100

From the score notes: “A nation without a country is the best way to describe the nomadic tribes known as gypsies, or properly call, the Romani. Their traditions, their language (Roma), legends, and music stretch all over the globe. from the Middle East, the Mediterranean region, and the Iberian peninsula, across the ocean to the Americas.

“Roma is a tribute to that culture, in five descriptive themes, as told through the eyes and hearts of Romani women everywhere: Romani Women, Mystic, Youth, Trickster, and History. The melodies and rhythms are a fusion of styles and cultures: malagueña of Spain, Argentine tango, Arabic music, Turkish folk songs, 3/2 Latin claves, and jazz.”

Savannah River Holiday, Nelson
Listen
Quarter Note = 132

Nelson’s Savannah River Holiday premiered on NBC Radio in 1953. It was written as an orchestral overture and is one of several Nelson wrote on a holiday theme. The Savannah River forms most of border between Georgia and South Carolina.

The National Game, Sousa
Listen
Quarter Note = 120

“Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s high commissioner, asked Sousa to compose this march on the occasion of the National League’s fiftieth anniversary. Earlier the two had met in Havana. No doubt Sousa told him of his enthusiasm for the game and of the Sousa Band’s own team.” Paul E. Bierley, The Works of John Philip Sousa

Toccata Marziale, Vaughan Williams
Listen
Quarter Note = 120

Frederick Fennell’s program note on Toccata Marziale: “Toccata Marziale, written in 1924, was Vaughan Williams’s second work for military band and is one of the most significant contributions to the wind band literature. The word “toccata” comes from the Italian toccare, meaning “to touch,” hence its association with the early Baroque virtuouso keyboard pieces written by Frescobaldi and others. Toccata Marziale is a contrapunctal masterpiece for wind ensemble, in which textures are juxtaposed in massed effects with large sections of winds and brasses. A rhythmic vigor, as suggested by the title, permeates the piece, and Vaughan Williams’s brilliant scoring reveals the fundamental properties of the band’s sonority and its instrumental virtuosity and color.”

Listen to our rep as a playlist on YouTube.

Thank you!
Amanda Lanser
MSW librarian
amanda.c.lanser@gmail.com