Fonder, Mark

Ithaca College Concert Band

English

Ithaca College

Ithaca College Digital Commons @ IC All Concert & Recital Programs Concert & Recital Programs 4-29-1999 Concert: Ithaca College Concert Band: The Literate Band Ithaca College Concert Band Mark Fonder Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programs  Part of the Music Commons Recommended Citation Ithaca College Concert Band and Fonder, Mark, "Concert: Ithaca College Concert Band: The Literate Band" (1999). All Concert & Recital Programs. 6315. https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programs/6315 This Program is brought to you for free and open access by the Concert & Recital Programs at Digital Commons @ IC. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Concert & Recital Programs by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC. ITHACA COLLEGE CONCERT BAND Mark Fonder, conductor "The Literate Band" Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (1979) Sun Paints Rainbows on the Vast Waves (1982) INTERMISSION Tears (1994) Hans Christian Andersen Suite (1997) Introduction: The Noble Poet The Journeying Storyteller: Europe by Railway The Little Match-Girl Constantinopel: A Poet's Bazaar Elliot Del Borgo (b. 1938) David Bedford (b. 1937) David Maslanka (b. 1943, S0ren Hyldgaard (b. 1965) Dream Waltz (The Poet and "The Swedish Nightingale") The Tinder-Box Ford Hall Auditorum Thursday, April 29, 1999 8:15 p.m. ABOUT THE PROGRAM Tonight's concert is the culmination of an integrated arts experience for the students in the band. Poetry and prose influenced or inspired the composers who wrote tonight's selections. So, in addition to rehearsing this music, students spent time researching Samuel Taylor Coleridge's life and works. We shared the duties of producing a term paper. We analyzed the metaphors hidden within Dylan Thomas's poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. The novel Monnew provided us with an insight of the horrific effects of the colonization efforts by the French in Africa and favorite children's stories by Hans Christian Andersen were revisited. These four works created a vast emotional palette for composer and performers alike. Music and literature often share similar artistic techniques. We speak of the rhythm of poetry as much as we study the metaphorical and symbolic references to musical motives. Just as a short story has themes, so it goes with a song. There is tension and release, unity and variety and, most importantly, insight into the human experience. The Dylan Thomas poem Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night was the motivation for Del Borgo's tone poem. Del Borgo writes, "while not a programmatic depiction of the poem, the work attempts to recreate the essence of the poem in sound." The opening motive, representative of the life force, permeates much of the work. An Ivesian use of sound layers -- in the form of polytonal hymns -- calls to mind the struggles and persistence of the human spirit and its refusal to "go gentle." Regarding the second selection, Bedford wrote, "The title comes from a jotting in Coleridge's notebook during the period when he was working on The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and is a reference to a passage which the poet had read in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. This was a letter from a Father Bourzes, of which the pertinent paragraph reads: 'I shall add on observation more concerning Marine Rainbows, which I observed after a great Tempest off of the Cape of Good Hope. The Sea was then very much tossed, and the Wind carrying off the Tops of the waves made a kind of Rain, in which the Rays of the Sun painted the Colours of the Rainbow'. (Italics and capitals in original). It is this evocative description which provided the stimulus for this composition and influences the feeling and atmosphere of its sound-world. Unlike many pieces of Wind-Band (scores of which I studied since this is my first composition in this medium) there is very little doubling of notes. The band is subdivided into a set of ensembles as follows: the piccolo and 2 flutes, the low clarinets, the 3 comets and the 3 trumpets form 4 trios. The 2 oboes, cor anglais and bassoon, the high clarinets, the 4 saxophones and the 4 French horns form 4 quartets, while the 3 trombones, euphonium and tuba form a quintet. Each percussion player is often temporarily 'attached' to one of these smaller ensembles, a good example being the opening build-up of the pairs of chords after the slow introduction. In the coda, the band is divided into 3 rhythmically independent groups. Each percussionist has a tambourine. While one of them maintains a steady reference beat, the other 3 are each attached to one of the band groups which results in a kaleidoscoplically rhythmic ending." David Maslanka wrote: "The title Tears comes from my reading of the novel Monnew by the African writer Ahmadou Kourouma. His story tells of the dissolution of a traditional African culture as Europeans overran it. The native people were made to endure the "monnew" -- the insults, outrages, trials, contempts, and humiliations -- of colonialism. This is the external motivation for the piece, but I don't know anyone in Africa directly. I have come to understand that fascination with something in the external world means that a thing deep inside has been touched. So the piece is about something in me. Over the years my music has acted as predictor for me. It gives me advance nonverbal messages about things I don't understand yet -- movements of my unconscious that are working their way toward the light." Tears finally is about inner transformation, and about groping toward the voice of praise. As St. Francis and St. Ignatius have it, the proper function of the human race is to sing praise. Tears is about inner breaking, and coming to terms with the pain that hinders the voice of praise; Tears is about the movement toward the heart of love. Maslanka's friend Richard Beale captured these thoughts in a brief and powerful poem: Unless tears come to wash my eyes I will not see again. Unless I lift my arms in gratitude for pain they will lack the strength to harvest daffodils. S0ren Hyldgaard published the following program notes for the final selection: 1. Introduction: The Noble Poet [Fanfare & Hans Christian Andersen Theme] Ne are introduced to The Poet's Theme; a noble little melody associated with Hans Christian Andersen, himself throughout the piece. This work is about the Danish national poet's larger-than-life adventures as much as his beloved fictional stories. 2. The Journeying Storyteller: Europe by Railway I: The Train Station II: Full Steam Ahead! In one of his numerous travelogues, Andersen shares his awe-inspired, almost childish infatuation with the recent wonder of technology - the railway! A man used to bitter blisters and bumpy carriage rides, Hans Christian Andersen clearly saw the steam-engine train as a blessing. This hybrid movement is a free depiction of the writer's enthused notes, carrying you from a local train station through southern Europe and a 11 the way to the exotic landscapes of Near-and Middle East. .:>. The Little Match-Girl In one of Andersen's saddest and most beloved short stories, a young child on New Year's Eve desperately tries to sell a few bundles of matches. Ignored by the busy citizens, the little girl fantasizes about warm lodgings and rich food. In the flare of her matches, she has a vision of her old grandmother in Heaven, which is soon to be welcoming a new soul as the last match fades away ... 4. Constantinopel: A Poet's Bazaar "A Poet's Bazaar" is one of Hans Christian Andersen's most contagiously uplifting books. In short, his portrayal of the marketplaces of Constantinopel (now known as Istanbul) is one of great romanticism and poetry - and very little realism. Like a child in a candy store, Andersen describes the smells of exotic teas, incense, and ryices. Thus, rather than staying anywhere near loyal to indigenous .v1iddle-East harmony, I wrote this lively piece more in tradition with theatrical 'Hollywood' conventions, airing on the way more than one cliche'd preconception about Arabian Nights or Persian Markets ... 5. Dream Waltz [The Poet and "The Swedish Nightingale"] Much has been written and speculated about the romantic life of Hans Christian Andersen; little derives from his own log-keeping, but his obsession with famous soprano Jenny Lind is undeniable. A true mega-star in her own time, Ms. Lind was affectionately referred to as 'The Swedish Nightingale' and lent her title as a primary inspiration fo Andersen's Chinese fairytale. The poet regarded himself clumsy and not at all a ladies' man; I could not help visualizing the poet and his singer of dreams in a grand ballroom, him trying to lead his belle but invariably stepping over his own big feet in what becomes more of a nightmare. Hence, I hope you will find yourself in a sort of musical maze here - always looking to put the right foot down at the right beat and frantically searching for romantic grace and harmony. Have you ever waltzed in 7 /8 time? 6. The Tinder-Box I: The Soldier's March II: The Old Witch; the Giant Dogs "With Eyes Big As The Round-Tower" III: Hex Beheaded! A Danish rendition of the story of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lam Andersen lit up the hearts of his fellow Danes with his Tinder-Box the story of a cheerful soldier tricked by a mean old witch to descend into a hollow tree and retrieve her old Zippo. The soldier charms his way past the three mean watchdogs but eventually decides there must be something to that old tinderbox - and bluntly chops off the witch's ugly head! This is only the opening of a wild romp of a tale. But why tell the rest of such a well known story? If you don't know the ending -GO READ IT! '\ ITHACA COLLEGE CONCERT BAND Mark Fonder, conductor Piccolo Tenor Saxophone Stacia Jaronski Annemarie A. Edmonds Peter Kincaid Flute Cheryl Housten Baritone Saxophone Katya Ermolaer Jeffrey Stepien Adriana Marallo Sarah Paysnick Trumpet Kelly Coleman Dou~las Fraley Rebecca Dent Hug Ash Laurie Jerva Jim Dawson Tiffany Rahrig Keith David Reeves Molly Sassaman Dylan Race Erin McCully Peter Farrell Bram Tobey Oboe/English Horn James C. Hegedus, N Hannah McKeown Brian Cassagnol Horn Melissa Pelkey Sarah K~t Allison alneraitis Bassoon Patrick Votra Colleen Maclean Jennifer Schnorbus Shelley Facente Gerald H. Porteus, III Trombone E-Flat Clarinet Philip Obado Kristina Westin Shana Dean Jason M. Silveira Clarinet Brian Honsberger Emily Rider Euphonium Elizabeth Feck Matthew Feinberg Christina M. Carnevale Kerry Cleary Anna Pruett BretDunham Tuba Damian Vella Jenna Topper Jen Siracusa Todd Morgan Brian McAndrew Clarinet (continued) Sean Anderson Patricia Eppedico Aaron Vogel Christine Stevens Keyboard Sandy Hales Erin McCully Amy Yaremczak Sandy Hales Bass Clarinet Timpani Martha Everett Jennifer Higgins Toni Musnicki Percussion Alto Saxophone Eric Smith Dan Shaut Philip Shrut Brent Davis Gina Alduino Patrick Gehlhoff Laurel Feldman Jaimie Bernstein 

Concert: Ithaca College Concert Band: The Literate Band

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Concert: Ithaca College Concert Band: The Literate Band

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