The Sinfonians
Clifton Williams
This work was commissioned by the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. It was the first in a series of instrumental pieces to be commissioned by the Sinfonians and was dedicated to Archie N. Jones, former president of the fraternity and later director of that organization’s foundation. Williams conducted the first performance of The Sinfonians at the fraternity’s national convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, in July 1960.
The march opens with an extended fanfare introduction before the horns state the familiar Sinfonian theme: “Hail Sinfonia! Come, brothers, hail!” The melody is then completed, embellished, and extended in the style of the composer. In a 1982 international survey, The Sinfonians received more votes than any of Williams’ other works.
– Program Note from Program Notes for Band
The “Hail Sinfonia!” melody is from The Pirates of Penzance by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
Melodious Thunk
David Biedenbender
As the title suggests, Melodious Thunk was inspired by the famous jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. There are no direct quotes from the music of Monk, although a short fragment from Dizzy Gillespie’s tune Salt Peanuts is used. The composer, David Biedenbender, writes:
“I really liked the idea of playing around with Monk’s name, first, because I personally really enjoy goofing around with “spoonerisms” (silly, ridiculous, mix-and-match letter games, which often happen by accident: for example, slip of the tongue becomes tip of the slung), and, second, because this nickname actually provided great musical inspiration. Melodious: well, that’s fairly obvious; and thunk (which is a great onomatopoeia!) became the starting points for the piece. Big, fat thunks are interspersed with pointy, clunky, bluesy blips, which are then transformed into a long, smooth, laid-back melody accompanied by a funky bass line … I hope you’ll hear some similarities between this piece and Monk’s iconic musical style and quirky attitude.”
I don’t normally like to begin program notes with dictionary definitions — it feels pretty stuffy to me — but it seemed appropriate for this piece, so here goes…
thunk [thuhngk] noun & verb
1. [n.] an abrupt, flat, hollow sound (example: The book landed on the floor with a thunk.); synonym: thud
2. [v.] to produce an abrupt, flat, hollow sound
3. [v.] colloquial past tense and past participle of think.
Melodious Thunk was inspired by the famous jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. Monk’s wife, Nellie Smith, nicknamed him “Melodious Thunk” because of his clunky, awkward, and brilliant(!) piano playing, and his somewhat scatterbrained and disoriented nature.
Melodious Thunk was commissioned by a consortium of bands organized by Ryan Shaw and the Cedar Springs High School Symphonic Band.
– Program Note by Composer
Forbidden Fruit
Luigi Zaninelli
Strange as it may seem, there was a time in the United States when certain dance forms were considered “sinful and depraved.” Two of the most notorious dances of that time were rags and tangos. While it is true, that both of these dances were the products of the demimonde of unrivaled promiscuity and debauchery, with the passing of time, their sinfulness now only seems quaint and naive. However, what does remain even to this day is the power of their infectious energy and charm.
– Program Note by Composer
Symphonic Dances from Fiddler on the Roof
Jerry Bock / arr. Ira Hearshen
The 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof was a blockbuster, breaking many Broadway records at the time. The script, adapted by Joseph Stein from the stories of Sholom Aleichem, was a musical portrait of Eastern European Orthodox Jews in the village of Anatevka experiencing pograms and the threat of expulsion by the Russian czar. It centers around the struggles of a poor Jewish milkman, Tevye, with five daughters, where life is as precarious as the perch of a fiddler on the roof. Tradition is what gives them strength against adversity. Tevye is tested when he needs to break the arranged match made between the butcher and Tevye’s eldest daughter, Tzeitel, who loves Motel, a struggling tailor. The Wedding Dance #1 (Bottle Dance) marks the celebration of Motel and Tzeitel’s wedding. Defiance to the prohibition against opposite sexes dancing together occurs in the Perchik and Hodel Dance, when the student dances with Tevye’s second daughter, Hodel. The czar’s forces perform a “demonstration” and wreck the wedding party.
Months later, Perchik must leave for Kiev to work for the revolution. He proposes to Hodel, saying he will send for her. Tevye protests that making their own match breaks tradition and he forbids it. He is informed that the youngsters only want his blessing, not his permission. Time passes and middle daughter, Chava, asks for permission to marry Fyedka, a Russian boy. Marriage outside of the Jewish faith is a tradition Teyve cannot break. He eventually loses her as the young couple elope. The loss of his daughters to the men they love is conveyed in a dance of the Chava Sequence. The story ends on a sad note that the Jews must leave Anatevka and Teyve, his wife, Golde, and their two youngest daughters pack what they can carry and leave for America. The music recalls a happier time with the dance To Life.
– Program Note by Roy Stahle for the Foothill Symphonic Winds concert program, 8 December 2013
Joy Revisited
Frank Ticheli
Joy, and its companion piece, Joy Revisited, are the results of an experiment I have been wanting to try for many years: the creation of two works using the same general melodic, harmonic, and expressive content. In other words, I endeavored to compose un-identical twins, two sides of the same coin — but with one major distinction: Joy was created with young players in mind, while Joy Revisited was aimed at more advanced players. Thus, Joy is more straightforward than its companion piece. Where Joy sounds a dominant chord (as in the upbeat to measure 10), Joy Revisited elaborates upon that chord with a flourish of 16th notes. While Joy Revisited moves faster, develops ideas further, and makes use of a wider register, Joy is more concise.
Despite these and many more differences between the two works, both come from the same essential cut of cloth. Both were composed more or less simultaneously, and both were born out of the same source of inspiration. In short, Joy and Joy Revisited serve as two expressions of the feelings experienced by one expectant father (who happens also to be a composer) on one wonderfully anxious and exciting day.
– Program Note by composer
A Thousand Inner Voices
Mathew Campbell
In December 2021, Dr. Kaitlin Bove approached me to compose a new piece for the …And We Were Heard organization. It would serve as a fundraising work for yearly expenses — and the organization would receive all of the proceeds of the consortium. I’ve always believed in the mission Dr. Bove and the rest of the …And We Were Heard team started out on, and I was incredibly excited to do a small part to contribute to the organization.
I was just coming off my first premiere at The Midwest Clinic, and I was wondering what was next. Within weeks, my head was flooded with doubtful thoughts that I had peaked as a composer and it was all downhill from there. I did my best to cope with these thoughts, but I could not shake them. I had a myriad of projects to complete, and I couldn’t quiet what felt like a thousand inner voices telling me that I wasn’t good enough. Then I did what I do best, and I came up with the idea for this piece. Composing this piece was a coping mechanism, especially because it freed my mind to create freely and justify to those voices that I can do what I want to do. …That I can accomplish my goals. …That I can quiet said voices.
The many musical layers in this work represent the thousand inner voices. Some are positive, but most are negative. They distract from the theme and mock it at times. This occurs throughout the piece until just after halfway, where a chorale beckons the radiant positivity that exists in all of us. This battle between positive and negative lasts to the end of the piece where we hear a triumphant chord, only to be followed by a sinking, negative ending. After all, this piece isn’t about only quieting these voices. It’s about learning to live with them.
I wanted to share musical inspiration and call to all who come in contact with this piece to be brave enough to rise above these doubtful voices. With this courage to pursue and achieve our goals with our one true voice, we may finally say “and we were heard.
– Program Note by composer
Memento
Travis J. Cross
Memento was commissioned by the Indiana Bandmaster Association and premiered at eight different sites across Indiana by the all-district honor bands on November 13, 2011.
The work is dedicated to my paternal grandmother, Madeline Cross (b. 1927), one of the millions of people worldwide suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The title refers both to a physical keepsake or souvenir and the memories associated with such an item. It also evokes the Latin phrase memento mori, which literally means “remember that you will die;” although often associated in works of art with wrath and judgment, the phrase resonates most with me as an invitation to live generously and honestly.
The idea of nostalgic memory emerges most directly through two short quotations from On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away, the official state song of Indiana (though perhaps less popular than Back Home in Indiana). Written by Paul Dresser in 1897, the two verses fondly recollect first the narrator’s childhood, especially his mother, and then his lost sweetheart. I chose a tune with a specific Indiana theme in honor of the commissioning party, but its sentimental context and harmonic progression pay clear homage to ‘Stephen Foster and the American musical tradition he created.
– Program Note by composer
Selections from Wicked
Stephen Schwartz / arr. Jay Bocook
Rarely has a musical in modern times taken Broadway by storm the way this huge hit from Stephen Schwartz has done. The story line of the Wicked Witch of the West is intriguing, and the music is filled with depth and beauty. This powerful medley includes No One Mourns the Wicked, The Wizard and I, Dancing Through Life, Defying Gravity and For Good.
– Program Note from publisher