Wind Symphony’s favorites from past 5 years
The Eastern Utah Wind Symphony, a college-community ensemble, will present its final performance of the 2003-04 season on Friday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Price Civic Auditorium. The concert, “Blasts from the Past,” will feature favorites performed by the Wind Symphony from 1999 to 2003.
The Eastern Utah Wind Symphony, a college-community ensemble, will present its final performance of the 2003-04 season on Friday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Price Civic Auditorium. The concert, “Blasts from the Past,” will feature favorites performed by the Wind Symphony from 1999 to 2003.
The concert will open with The Battle Pavane by Tielman Susato. Susato was a composer, arranger and music publisher during the 1500s, and The Battle Pavane is a piece he originally wrote for keyboard. The Wind Symphony will perform a full band setting by Bob Margolis, who describes the work as “a sort of Renaissance marching band piece.”
Next on the program will be A Festival Prelude by Alfred Reed. Retired from the University of Miami music faculty, Reed has composed and arranged dozens of pieces for band, and continues to compose and conduct across the United States and around the world well into his eighties. A Festival Prelude effectively blends bold and lyrical styles.
In Darkest Africa will be heard next in the concert. John Philip Sousa composed the music during the 1890s, at a time when his famous touring band and compositional talent were known around the world. In Darkest Africa was written to display the skill of Sousa’s band members, as well as capture the imagination of the audience.
The next work to be presented on the Wind Symphony concert, Three Ayres from Gloucester, is a popular piece for band written in a folk-song style. The three sections – “The Jolly Earl of Cholmondeley,” “Ayre for Eventide,” and “The Fiefs of Wembley” – are designed to capture the mood of 10th-century English peasants and their life on the Wembley estate.
Polly Oliver, another popular band work in a folk song style, is next on the program. This composition is by Thomas Root, director of bands at Weber State University, and is based on a 19th century English tune. The story tells of a young woman who disguises herself as a soldier, rides off to locate her beloved army captain, and then reveals her true identity to him so that they might be married.
The concert will conclude with music that has ties to the state of Iowa. Karl King lived a boyhood dream that most young men of his day only experienced as fantasy – he literally ran away from home to join the circus! King later moved on to conduct the renowned Fort Dodge Municipal Band, an Iowa group that no doubt performed his Circus Days march many times.
Following Circus Days will be highlights from The Music Man by Meredith Willson. The Music Man is set in the fictitious Iowa town of River City and includes memorable songs such as “The Wells Fargo Wagon,” “Till There Was You,” and “Seventy-Six Trombones.”
The Eastern Utah Wind Symphony is conducted by Gregory Benson, professor at CEU. The April 23 concert is sponsored by Price Culture Connection. Admission is free.
