UVM Band - Fall 2023

Ignition – Todd Stalter

Ignition is a blindingly fast, raucously energetic concert opener that derives its title from the consecutive rising three-note cells that are the building blocks for almost the entire work. However, the energy unleashed in the music and the imagery of the title serve both as a metaphor for the "spark" of creativity, and as a "celebration in sound" for those who find and follow their own true life's passion and pass it along to others, "igniting" the flame for another generation. It was written for the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony and their conductor, Scott Stewart, who have been steadfast supporters of Todd Stalter's compositions, as a musical "Thank you!" from a grateful composer. - Todd Stalter

Russian Christmas Music is a musical impression of Old Russia in the joyous Christmas season.  It combines elements of some of the oldest known music, Znammeny chant of the Eastern Orthodox Church, with a traditional Russian Christmas tune (“Carol of the Little Russian Children”) and the composer's original music for concert band.  While written as a continuous movement, the composer has identified four sections: Children’s Carol, Antiphonal Chant, Village Song, and Cathedral Chorus.  In addition to an emphasis on low instruments and low register, Reed employs two other characteristics of Russian music: the use of bells -- here portrayed quite literally by the chimes and the glockenspiel -- and the use of thin and thick textures to create a musical equivalent of stones within a mosaic.   Reed was a young staff arranger for an Army Band in 1944 when he received the assignment to write "the Russian piece" that was to be performed in Denver at a holiday concert to celebrate the music of each of the Allies.  In just two weeks, he created what is generally regarded as a masterpiece of the wind band literature. 

Rikudim is a four-movement piece based on the composer's interpretation of Israeli folk dances, creating original work based on the melodic and rhythmic structures of that music.  All of the dances contain characteristic Middle Eastern scales and intervals, and the inner movements display the asymmetric or additive rhythmic style common to the region.

Easter egg-rolling in Washington, D.C. began in 1816 while James Madison was President. In 1880, Congress banned egg-rolling on the Capitol grounds due to concern over what it was doing to the grounds, so President Rutherford B. Hayes invited children to continue the activity on the White House lawn. Music during the egg-roll was introduced by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889, with the Marine Band performing under Sousa’s direction. Sousa wrote Easter Monday on the White House Lawn in 1911, after he had left the Marine Band, as part of a suite he called "Tales of a Traveler".  The music is upbeat and lively, with a hint of ragtime, a very popular style at the time.  The piece is now part of the music played every Easter Monday by the Marine Band.