FSU Wind and Brass Ensembles Concert

Pealer Recital Hall, PAC

FSU’s Department of Music Presents Brass Ensemble and Wind Ensemble in Joint Concert

Frostburg State University’s Department of Music will present its Brass Ensemble in “The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli” and its Brass Ensemble in concert on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pealer Recital Hall of FSU’s Woodward D. Pealer Performing Arts Center.

Directed by Dr. Donny Albrecht, the Brass Ensemble consists of Daniel Coughenour on the horn; Alex Frye on trombone; Patrick Godfrey, Martin Harden and Morgan Tichnell on trumpets; Jacob Hunt on percussion; Douglas Holtz on the tuba; and Zachary Inglish on bass trombone.

Featuring classic repertoire for symphonic brass ensemble, the program will include the following selection by Giovanni Gabrieli: “Canzon Seconda a Quattro,” arranged by Raymond Horton; “Canzon per Sonare,” arranged by Michael Rondeau; “Canzon VI” from “Sonata e Canzoni,” arranged by Mike Magatagan; and “Sacre Symphonia,” arranged by Serban Nichifor. In addition, the ensemble will play “Triumphal March” by Giuseppe Verdi, arranged by Clair W. Johnson, and “Fanfare for the Common Man” by Arron Copland.

Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.

The canzonas originated as arrangements of chansons – a type of French polyphonic songs. Gradually the canzonas became independent of their chanson models, and those published by Giovanni were all original compositions. These pieces were played during the epistle and post-Communion of a church service. “Canzon Secunda a Quattro” (“Second Song for 4”) is one of four canzoni by Gabrieli in the 1608 anthology “Canzoni per sonare” (“Songs to Play”). The anthology helped pave the way for the Baroque concerto style.

After 1587 Giovanni’s principal publications were the two immense “Sacrae symphoniae” of 1597 and 1615 (printed posthumously), both of which contained purely instrumental music for church use or massive choral and instrumental motets for the liturgy. He usually conceived the music for separated choirs but showed an increasing tendency to specify which instruments were to be used and which choirs were to consist of soloists and full choir, as well as to distinguish the musical style of each, thus initiating a completely new approach to the creation of musical color and orchestration.

Many composers have written a triumphal march, with maybe the best known one being by Italian composer Verdi for his 1871 grand opera, “Aida,” where, in the second act, Radames leads the Egyptian army on its return following their victory over the Ethiopians.

Copland composed “Fanfare for the Common Man” in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It was inspired in part by a speech made earlier that year by then American Vice President Henry A. Wallace, in which Wallace proclaimed the dawning of the “Century of the Common Man.”

The Wind Ensemble, conducted by Peter B. Lewis, will perform “Give Us This Day” by David Maslanka, “X” by Daniel Montoya, “William Byrd Suite” by Gordon Jacob, “March” from “Symphonic Metamorphosis” by Paul Hindemith and “Bugler’s Holiday” by Leroy Anderson.

“Give Us This Day” (2005) is in two movements, moderately slow and very fast. The music feels symphonic, hence the subtitle, “Short Symphony.” The first movement is deeply searching in character, while the second is highly energized. The words, “give us this day,” from the Lord’s Prayer, touch the idea of being immediately and vividly alive in the moment, the reason why music making can be so vital and compelling.

A playful and spirited romp, Montoya’s “X” (2013) is an essay in abstraction. It is, from a fundamental perspective, absolute music. Freely exploring the notion of the influence of others’ music on his own, Montoya summons forth the voice of nine other composers besides himself (totaling 10, numerically represented by the Roman “X”) with hidden references woven into the tapestry of sound.

Jacob’s “William Byrd Suite” is one of 400 pieces completed by the prolific composer. It was composed in 1923 to honor the 300th anniversary of Byrd’s death (c. 1623). A pupil of Thomas Tallis, Byrd excelled at writing secular and sacred polyphonic choral and keyboard music in the 16th and 17th centuries.

“Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber” is an orchestral work written by German composer Hindemith in 1943. The fourth movement, the march finale, is from Weber’s Op. 60 duets, much expanded. The horn calls implicit in Weber’s trio section are made explicit in Hindemith’s version, and become the basis of the requisite big finish.

For “Bugler's Holiday” (1954) composer Anderson, who worked in military intelligence during WWII and the Korean War, said he wanted to imagine what three military buglers would do on their day off. “You’ll hear some bugle calls that may sound familiar,” he said, “but you’ll probably realize that they are not played regulation and they wouldn’t get away with it on post.”

Admission is $10 for adults; $5 for seniors, members of the military, and FSU faculty and staff; and free for students and children. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.frostburg.edu. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the door.

For more information, contact FSU’s Department of Music at 301-687-4109.

Music, Performance, Recital