France: Farrenc arr. Holland - Overture No. 2 (7 minutes)

 

This Overture is the second of two overtures that Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) wrote in quick succession in 1834. Farrenc was most famous in her lifetime as a virtuoso pianist, and, in her early years, she studied with Ignaz Moscheles and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, two of the great pianists and pedagogues of the era. She went on to become a professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire – seemingly the only woman to hold this position in the whole of the nineteenth century.

 

The Overture begins with an ominous slow introduction. Before long, however, this gives way to the main body of the work – a brisk and upbeat allegro. Listen out for the frequent changing of keys and tonal centres that takes place in the middle of the work, keeping us guessing as to when we’ll reach the eventual riotous finale.

 

Today, we’re performing this work in a skilful arrangement made by the band’s former music director, John Holland.

 

 

Japan: Hisaishi - One Summer’s Day arr. Huston (5 minutes)

 

Joe Hisaishi (1950-) is one of the most successful composers of contemporary classical music across the globe, with his scores an integral part of many films from the Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. Spirited Away is perhaps the most commercially successful Studio Ghibli film, achieving huge audience acclaim across the world with box office takings of over ¥31 billion in its opening run on a budget of ¥2 billion. It was also the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

 

The piece ‘One Summer’s Day’ accompanies the opening of the film, taking us swiftly from the mundane to the magical. Much of Hisaishi’s writing here is indicative of his wider interest in electronic and minimalistic music – in the closing section especially, he stacks a number of different musical cells on top of each other, creating a mosaic of melody and rhythm.

 

 

Ireland: Carroll - Dance of the Fir Darrig (2 minutes)

 

Programme note from the composer:

 

The Fir Darrig (Red Man) is a character from Irish folklore; he is one of the 'Little People', a type of Leprechaun who always dresses in red. His home is the space between the ceiling and the thatched roof of a cottage and he will always try to protect the family with whom he lodges. The Fir Darrig is a mischievous character and famous for his sprightly dance which the piece portrays.

 

 

Australia: Grainger - The Immovable Do (5 minutes)

 

Programme note from the composer:

 

The Immovable Do (composed 1933-1939) draws its title from one of the two kinds of Tonic Sol-fa notation, one with a ‘movable Do’ (‘Do’ corresponding to the key-note of whatever key the music is couched in, from moment to moment; so that the note designated by ‘Do’ varies with modulation) and the other with an ‘immovable Do’ (in which ‘Do’ always stands for C). In my composition – which is not based on any folksong or popular tune – the ‘immovable Do’ is a high drone on C which is sounded throughout the whole piece. From the very start (in 1933) I conceived the number for any or all of the following mediums, singly or combined: for organ (or reed organ), for mixed chorus, for wind band or wind groups, for full or small orchestra, for string orchestra or eight single strings. It seems natural for me to plan it simultaneously for these different mediums, seeing that such music hinges upon intervalic appeal rather than upon effects of tone-color.

 

 

Spain: de Falla - Ritual Fire Dance (4 minutes)

 

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) composed his ballet El Amor Brujo (Love the Magician) in 1915, although he revised it a number of times over the following decade. The story follows Candela, a young Andalusian gypsy girl, who is haunted by the ghost of her unfaithful husband. To banish him, a ritual dance must be performed – the Ritual Fire Dance.

 

This number from the ballet has become de Falla’s most famous piece, largely due to its dissemination in a piano transcription made by the composer himself. Listen out for the frequent use of trills and rapid dynamic shifts across different instrument groups, which de Falla uses to create a general sense of unease.

 

 

Russia: Shostakovich - Jazz Waltz no. 2 (4 minutes)

 

While he is usually celebrated in the West as a composer of ‘serious’ music (symphonies, string quartets etc.) Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1976) was also a prolific composer of light music. Indeed, this was an expected duty of composers in the USSR, who had to produce accessible works for mass consumption.

 

Shostakovich first composed the Waltz No. 2 in c.1955 for his score for the film The First Echelon, and seemingly later reused it as part of his Suite for Variety Orchestra. The Waltz has since become one of Shostakovich’s most recognisable works, especially following its use in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut.

 

 

USA: Bernstein - Overture to Candide (5 minutes)

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Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) wrote Candide after his very successful 1953 musical Wonderful Town. Adapted from the novella by Voltaire, it premiered in 1956, telling the satirical story of Candide. During the course of the narrative, Candide travels across Europe, facing unending cruelty, suffering and greed, while only armed with blind optimism as his defence.

While Candide was much less successful in its initial Broadway run than Wonderful Town or West Side Story, it has since been revived on a number of occasions to much greater acclaim. However, the Overture has had a relatively constant place in the orchestral canon since the 1950s and is Bernstein’s most commonly performed work for orchestra.

 

 

Netherlands: Wittrock - A Short Overture about a Long Journey (5 minutes)

 

Programme note from the composer:

 

‘A Short Overture About a Long Journey’ was commissioned in honour of the 25th anniversary of Joop Boerstoel as chief conductor of Symfonisch Blaasorkest Gaanderen. This overture translates the remarkable trajectory of Boerstoel's 25-year journey into a harmonious experience. From the delicate whispers of Chinese melodies to the vibrant crescendos of Italian tones, A Short Overture About a Long Journey takes the audience on a voyage through diverse musical landscapes.

 

 

England: Ellerby - A Silent Movie Suite (12 minutes)

 

Programme note from the composer:

 

A ‘Silent Movie’ Suite was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, Andrew Bassey and Northamptonshire Orchestral Winds. NOW, conducted by Timothy Reynish, gave the first performance at Caroline Chisholm School, Wootton, Northamptonshire on 10th February 2013. The work is a light-hearted, fun piece in parody style evoking the lost era of black and white films shown without dialogue and clothed with just a musical accompaniment. Listeners are encouraged to use their imagination during the six individual movements all of which have an appropriate subtitle to assist:

 

1. Hollywood Fanfare – A brief flourish sets the mood and period in the style of a Golden Age film studio ident. This leads immediately into the next movement proper.

 

2. Follow that Cab! – A racy 'swing' idiom evokes a pursuit scene through the streets of  'Tinsel Town' with the police showing great interest and ringing their bells from time to time as the scenario builds to its inevitable conclusion - the case is solved!

 

3. Gangster's Moll – A soliloquy for the lonely girlfriend waiting for her gangster boyfriend to return home after a hard day's work at the 'office' pushing illicit liquor and busting a few heads! She knows nothing of this, of course, as 'Scarface' is an angel in her eyes...

 

4. Bungling Burglars – Time for a night time raid on the local bank. The robbers break in, fumble around and get more and more animated as their search for the safe leads them nowhere but into each other!

 

5. Matinée Idol – 'Valentino', the darling of them all, reflects on his rise to fame, his multiple Oscars, his magical allure with the ladies and his sure-fire place in the history books - the art of delusion!

 

6. Slapstick! – All aboard for the grand finale: Chaplin, Keaton, you name 'em, they're there! Someone's always chasing someone but no-one knows who or why. The police turn up, the fire brigade turn up, even the army turn up! After a suitable smattering of pies in the face, obligatory rumbles and tumbles the movement concludes with the whole ensemble vanishing into the end credits...

 

 

Czechia: Fučík - Thunder and Blazes March (3 minutes)

 

Julius Fučik (1872-1916) composed the ‘Thunder and Blazes’ or ‘Entry of the Gladiators’ march while he was a military bandmaster in Sarajevo. While it was originally called ‘Grande Marche Chromatique’, this slightly bland title has never stuck, and Fučik later renamed it. Despite its grandiose titles, the march is now best known for its associations with circus performers and especially clowns.

 

Fučik showcases different sections in the various sections of the march – the upper brass feature in the opening, while in the second section, it is the lower brass who come to the fore. Listen out for the slightly bizarre harmony later on in the piece as Fučik cycles between chords a major third apart from one another – a technique that is now most associated with dramatic film music.

 

 

Brazil: de Abreu - Tico-Tico no Fubá (3 minutes)

 

Zequinha de Abreu (1880-1935) was a prominent Brazilian composer in the choro style, with ‘Tico-Tico no Fubá’ (‘sparrow in the cornmeal’ perhaps being his most famous work. Choro music combined elements of music from West African, Portuguese and classical Western traditions and became a key part of Brazilian musical identity during the nineteenth century.

 

Written in 1917, ‘Tico-Tico no Fubá’ is instantly recognisable due to its distinctive syncopated rhythms, which drive the music forward throughout. The winds and brass are frequently juxtaposed throughout this arrangement for wind orchestra with the upper winds carrying the main melodic content while the brass interrupt with syncopated stab chords.

 

 

Italy: Respighi - The Pines of the Appian Way (6 minutes)

 

Programme note from the composer:

 

Misty dawn on the Appian Way: pine trees guarding the magic landscape; the muffled, ceaseless rhythm of unending footsteps. The poet has a fantastic vision of bygone glories: trumpets sound and, in the brilliance of the newly risen sun, a consular army bursts forth towards the Sacred Way, mounting in triumph to the Capitol.