S23 Vermont Wind Ensemble

YouTube video (Cal State Long Beach Wind Symphony) Old YouTube video of Bernstein + the NY Philharmonic at one of their Young People's Concerts YouTube video of m. 207-end - staged version

Candide, written in 1955, was Bernstein’s third Broadway musical, a collaborative adaptation of an 18th-century satire by Voltaire. Though the musical was not immediately successful, its overture quickly became one of Bernstein's most performed works. The overture is Bernstein at his high-spirited best - full of rhythmic energy and soaring tunes that would become so familiar to audiences in his music for "West Side Story".

YouTube video (Cal State Long Beach Wind Symphony)
Windliterature.org's Fairest of the Fair page with information about the piece and links

Fairest of the Fair is generally regarded as one of Sousa's finest and most melodic marches. It stands out as one of the finest examples of the application of pleasing melodies to the restrictive framework of a military march. The Boston Food Fair was an annual exposition and music jubilee held by the Boston Retail Grocers' Association. The Sousa Band was the main attraction for several seasons, so the creation of a new march honoring the sponsors of the 1908 Boston Food Fair was the natural outgrowth of a pleasant business relationship. - Paul Bierley

Fantasy on a Theme by Sousa was commissioned by the Cedar Rapids (IA) Jefferson High School Band Parents Association in honor of the career of former Director of Bands Earle Dickinson. As one of hundreds of alumni of the Jefferson Band program under Earle Dickinson, I was enormously honored to be given the opportunity to compose a work in his honor. The course of my life was affected greatly by this wonderful person and, although he would be hesitant to admit it, the same is true of many who passed through the "Band of Blue".

How then to write a piece that would appropriately pay tribute to Mr. D? I asked Thad Driskell and Andy Houk (present directors), and even Mr. D himself, for their opinions. I wanted to write something that Mr. D would like and so I asked him what pieces he enjoyed the most throughout his career. One of the things he mentioned was his recent interest in the music of John Philip Sousa. This prompted me to think of my favorite Sousa march, The Fairest of the Fair, written in 1908. I decided that a composition based on that theme might be able to incorporate many of the things Mr. D loves most. - Andrew Boysen.

Armenian Dances (Part One) is based on five Armenian folk songs collected by Godimas Vartabed (1869-1935) that demonstrate the typical Armenian use of drone, ornamented melodies, and additive rhythms. The first section uses two songs transcribed in the early 1900's: Tzirani Tzar ("The Apricot Tree") and Gakavi Yerk ("The Partridge's Song"). Hoy, Nazan Eem is a lively, lyric love song that utilizes additive rhythmic groupings of 2 + 3. Alagyaz depicts the majestic Armenian mountain of the same name. The last section, based on Gna, Gna ("Go, Go"), is a humorous, fast-paced song. Alfred Reed (1921-2005) was one of America's most prolific composers, having published over two hundred works in many genres.

Near Woodstock Town is a tune is from "The Songs of England"(a collection of over 200 songs published in the late 19th century) and is listed as a melody from the 17th century. It was a broadside ballad of that era meaning that the words were printed on a single-sided paper and could be handed out as a leaflet. Broadsides contained only the words and a reference to the common melody to which they were set, hence the many different sets of words used with the same melody.

Near Woodstock Town in Oxfordshire,
As I walked forth to take the air,
To view the fields and meadows round,
Methought I heard a mournful sound.

Down by a crystal riverside,
A gallant bower I espied,
Where a fair lady made great moan,
With many a bitter sigh and groan.

Alas, quothe she, my love's unkind,
My sighs and tears he will not mind!
Soon after he had gain'd my heart,
He cruelly from me did part.

The lady round the meadow ran,
And gathered flowers as they sprang;
Of every sort she there did pull,
Until she got her apron full.

The green turf served her as a bed,
And flowers a pillow for her head;
She laid her down and nothing spoke,
Alas! for love her heart was broke.

Havendance - Frank Ticheli

YouTube video (Concord Band, Concord, MA - don't let the short intro. from Cajun Folk Songs fool you, this really IS a video of Havendance )

For her earliest holiday costume, my daughter Haven wanted to be dressed as a ballerina. It was a passion that has not stopped to this day. Havendance was the first of the “children’s dances” (including Nilesdance in 1987, and Graysondance in 1995). In 1982 I was teaching in Chillicothe, Missouri, and the former band director, Claude T. Smith and I were asked to write pieces for an anniversary concert of a North Central Missouri honor band. Haven was eight and constantly leaping and dancing about the house, and she seemed the perfect subject for a “dance” piece. Thus Havendance. - David Holsinger

Chorale and Shaker Dance - John Zdechlik

YouTube video (Rocky Mountain Wind Symphony)
Audio/Video with score analysis
windliterature.org's Chorale and Shaker Dance page
Website with information on the Shaker Hymn

Chorale and Shaker Dance is made up of two main ideas: the first is the simple melody found in the opening Chorale; the second is the melody of the well-known Shaker Hymn "The Gift to Be Simple". The composer transforms both themes throughout the work, often presenting both of them at the same time. Soloist instruments often present themes in a contrapuntal, or imitative, manner, while entire sections of the ensemble play their rhythms in jazzy syncopations, or in longer note values that utilize jazz harmonies. The Shaker theme isn't heard completely until near the end of the piece, when the trumpets play it above long note supportive harmonies in the brass and low woodwinds.

’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
    ’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
    ’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
    To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
    Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

Vermont Wind Ensemble - S23