Flourish for Wind Band was written as an overture to English composer Ralph Vaughn Williams' pageant Music and the People, and was first performed in London in April, 1939. Soon afterwards, the music was lost and wasn’t re-discovered until 1971! The opening fanfare, presented by the brass, is contrasted by a soft, legato, second theme, dominated by the woodwinds. The piece ends with a return of the fanfare.
An Ancient World imagines the ruins of a
past civilization, exploring the mysterious landscapes that were
once so beautiful. Reawakened in a new light, the world
reignites with energy. After a final mourning of that which was
lost and can never be restored (measures 95--130), the piece
ends with a celebration of this new energy and hope for a better
tomorrow. Adrian B.
Sims is a young African-American composer (b. 2000) from
the Pacific Northwest. A trombonist, Adrian studied at the
University of Maryland and is currently enrolled in the Masters
program in Composition at the University of Texas at Austin.
Chale Chalo is a song from Lagaan ("land
tax"), an epic 2001 Indian sports-drama film written and
directed by award winning director Ashutosh Gowariker. Set in 1893,
during the time of British colonial rule, the film involves
a group of villagers looking for relief from the high land
taxes. A British
Army officer challenges them to a game of cricket (a
sport they don't know how to play) to either avoid paying the
taxes for three years if the villagers win or pay three times
the tax if the British Army team wins.
"Chale Chalo" is a phrase of encouragement in Hindi roughly
analagous to "Let's go" and takes place in the film while the
villagers are learning cricket. Lagaan was nominated for
the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. Music for
the film, composed by Academy Award-winning composer A.R.
Rahman, won numerous National Film Awards in India.
Many mysteries surround the South Pacific island of Easter Island and the monstrous stone statues located there. Over the years, many theories and speculations have been offered as to the meaning of these statues and the demise of the advanced civilization that created them. With Silent Eyes, They Look to the Sea musically portrays the story of a culture that exhausted the limited natural resources of the island, whereupon they turned on each other, warring between themselves for what little was left and ultimately resorting to cannibalism. The result of this was the complete devastation and defoliation of the island resources and the demise of their civilization. The actual events continue to be unknown for sure, but the secrets of Easter Island and a long lost culture is locked within the hollow stare of the hundreds of stone statues left behind.
They have stood with dignity for centuries,
Sentries of a lost culture and time,
the secrets of their creator locked
within their hollow stare.
They cannot speak, and with silent eyes,
they look to the sea...
perhaps in blind vigil as a warning
to those who chose to forget the past.
-David Myers
David A. Myers, UVM Class of 1978, was the
Instrumental Music Instructor at Shelburne Community School for
many years. He holds a B.S. in Music Education and a M.Ed.
Specializing in Middle-Level Education from the University of
Vermont, where he was President of the UVM Concert Band. With
Silent Eyes.... was premiered by the UVM Concert Band in
November 1998.
Princess Mononoke is an award-winning Japanese
anime film from 1997 produced by Studio Ghibli that broke
box office records and eventually became the
highest-grossing film in Japan and the first Studio Shibli
film released internationally. The film, set in 14th
Century Japan, opens with Prince Ashitaka fighting a demon
to protect his village. While he is victorious, he
is poisoned in the battle and must leave his village
behind to seek a cure. Usually the poison makes the victim
go mad and become filled with hatred at which point demon
worms known as Tatari-Gami appear and the victim
dies. In the case of Ashitaka, because he has a true
heart without hatred, he does not become a demon right
away but his condition gradually worsens until he is cured
at the end of the film. Ashitaka is cured by the
Deer God who rules the Forest, a sacred place that is
pivotal to the movie's ongoing conflict between nature and
man. The title character of the film, Princess
Mononoke, is referred to in the film by the name
"San". Though human, she was raised by the wolf
goddess Moro and is primarily concerned with protecting
the forest and its animals from the encroaching humans
In early autumn of 1998, a high school band director from Shizuoka prefecture visited, asking me to arrange Princess Mononoke. I knew that the movie was a blockbuster hit the summer prior; however, I had not listened to the music until then. There was a recording done, not the sound track, by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. It was an eye opening, heart-moving experience. I understood why the director asked for this project. I based my arrangement on that recording. For this suite, I selected three pieces, “Ashitaka Kouki (The Legend of Ashitaka)”, “Tatari-Gami”, and “San and Ashitaka in the Forest of the Deer”. - Kazuhiro Morita