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Programme Overview
- March Barnes Wallis
- Concerto for Band
- Feelings
- Variations on a Korean Folk Song
- Queen in Concert
Interval
- The Incredibles
- Incantation and Dance
- Disney Selection
- The Troubles of the World
- A NIghtingale Sang in Berkley Square
- MLK
- A Gaelic Blessing
- Selections from Wicked
- Rising Dragons
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Saturday 30th April 2016
Christchurch, Christchurch Road
Northampton NN1 5LL
Conducted by Graham Tear
With NMPAT Community Choir
March Barnes Wallace
Nigel Hess
March Barnes Wallis was commissioned by Royal Air Force Music Services to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the famous Dambuster’s raid and received its first performance on BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night, broadcast live from Biggin Hill Airport on 17 June 2013 by the Central Band of the RAF.
Sir Barnes Neville Wallis was an English scientist, engineer and inventor who is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used to attack the dams of the Ruhr Valley during World War II
Concerto for Band
Gordon Jacob
Gordon Jacob followed closely in the footsteps of Vaughan Williams and Holst in the early part of the twentieth century. Together they enriched the repertoire and raised the status of the military band, and of symphonic wind bands in general, as perceived by the musical establishment. These three composers were among the first to give band music of quality to replace the run-of-the-mill selections of popular tunes that were the staple fare of many concerts.
The Concerto for Band (1974) has two brisk outer movements between which is a beautifully serene slow movement. The rhythmic complexities of the fast movements give the band plenty to think about in terms of precision playing while the central movement requires it to be restrained and expressive.
Listen to
Concerto for Band
Feelings
Morris Albert
arr. Derek Ashmore
Feelings is a 1974 song with lyrics written by Brazilian singer Morris Albert, set to the tune of "Pour Toi," separately composed by Louis Gasté in 1957.
Albert recorded Feelings as a single and later included it as the title track of his 1975 debut album. The song's lyrics, recognizable by their "whoa whoa whoa" chorus, concern the singer's inability to "forget my feelings of love".
Variations on a Korean Folk Song
John Barnes Chance
John Barnes Chance wrote Variations on a Korean Folk Song for concert band in 1965. As the name implies, it consists of a set of variations on the Korean folk song "Arirang", which the composer heard while in South Korea with the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. In 1966 the piece was awarded the American Bandmasters Association's Ostwald Award.
The theme is based upon a concert A♭ major ‘pentatonic scale’. A similar effect can be achieved by playing a melody using only the black notes on a piano keyboard.
At the beginning of the composition, the first part of the theme, resembling Arirang, is introduced quietly in the clarinets; the other instruments join in to play the second part. The song then consists of five variations on this theme.
Listen to
Variations on a Korean Folk Song
Queen in Concert
Freddy Mercury
arr. Jay Bocook
Formed in 1970 it wasn’t until the release of their 3rd studio album Sheer Heart Attack in 1975, and later that same year A Night at the Opera (their 4th) did Queen find international fame. The latter album featuring Bohemian Rhapsody. Their 1977 album News of the World contained ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are the Champions’ which have become popular anthems at sporting events. This selection includes all of these and ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ from their eighth album The Game (1980)
INTERVAL
The Incredibles
Michael Giacchino
arr Jay Bocook
Director Brad Bird was looking for a specific sound as inspired by the films design – a future as seen from the 1960s. John Barry had been the first choice to compose the music though Barry did not want to duplicate the sound of his earlier soundtracks.
The Incredibles was Giacchino’s first big feature film commission, chosen after Brad had heard Giacchino’s earlier work for video games and television. The upbeat jazz orchestral sound was a departure in style not only for Giacchino but also for Pixar which had previously relied on Randy and Thomas Newman (Toy Story) for all of its films.
In November 2015 it was announced that Giacchino would be returning to Pixar to score The Incredibles 2
Incantation and Dance
John Barnes Chance
This composition, which was the first published piece of John Barnes Chance, has become one of his most popular works. He wrote it while serving in the North Carolina public schools under a grant from the Ford Foundation's Young Composers Project. It consists of two contrasting sections. The Incantation is a short, mournful melody, full of mystery, which gradually builds to a ferocious conclusion. The Dance also begins quietly, moving to a complex rhythmic pattern in the percussion, and culminating in a frenzied dance.
A native of Texas, Chance played timpani with the Austin Symphony and taught at the University of Kentucky before his untimely accidental death in 1972.
Listen to
Incantation and Dance
Disney selection
Various
arr. Alan Billingsley
Five classic Disney favourites are presented as a tongue-twister from their titles alone: Zip-a-dee-doo-dah | Bibbidi- bobbidi- boo | Hakuna Matata | Chim Chim Cher-ee | Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
The Troubles of the World
trad. spiritual
This traditional spiritual song was make famous by the American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
"I sing God's music because it makes me feel free", Jackson once said about her choice of gospel, adding, "It gives me hope. With the blues, when you finish, you still have the blues."
A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square
Manning Sherwin
arr. Neaum
The song was published in 1940 and was made famous by Dame Vera Lynn. Becoming a standard the song has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart and Glenn Miller.
MLK
U2
arr. Kings Singers
The tenth and final song from U2's 1984 album,(The Unforgettable Fire). MLK is a lullaby to honour Martin Luther King, Jr. the American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
A Gaelic Blessing
John Rutter
John Rutter is known for his simplistic choral miniatures of which this is one of his best and most often used at weddings, christenings and funerals.
Though the words are filled with religious significance Rutter describes himself as ‘An agnostic supporter of the Christian faith’.
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. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, an alternative telling of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic 1900 story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz.This powerful medley includes No One Mourns the Wicked, The Wizard and I, Dancing Through Life, Defying Gravity and For Good
Rising Dragons
Robert W. Smith
Commissioned by the Korean Navy Symphonic Band under the direction of Lt. Commander Joon Hyung Park, Rising Dragons pays tribute to the legacy of Admiral Yi Sun Shin, of the late sixteenth century and his impact on naval operations throughout the world.
The sea battle is depicted with opposing forces of percussion giving way to a final victorious fanfare. A line from a poem written by Yi Sun Shin inspires the title: "I call to the sea, and the dragons are moved."
Admiral Ballard of the British Royal Navy compared him to Lord Nelson:
‘It is always difficult for an Englishman to admit that Nelson ever had an equal in his profession, but if any man is entitled to be so regarded, it should be this great naval commander.’
