Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Ikan Kekek
Arranged by Yu Hang Tan
CSUF Titan Voices
Kim Nason, Director
May 10, 2023
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Soloists: Kaitlin Chheng and Sydney Tagaro

Bruce Broughton - Themes from "Silverado"
CSUF University Symphony Orchestra
Kimo Furumoto, Director
November 14, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

John Mackey - "Aurora Awakes"
CSUF Symphonic Winds
Dr. Gregory X. Whitmore, Director
November 20, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

BWV 36 - Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern
Johann Sebastian Bach
Arranged by John Srutowski
CSUF Brass Ensemble
Sycil Mathai, Director
December 8, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

André Previn - Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano - III. Jaunty
Dr. Rong-Huey Liu, Oboe
William May, Bassoon
Vivian Liu, Piano
November 2, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Ruth Batchelor & Kenny Rankin - "Haven't We Met"
CSUF Jazz Singers
Andreas Preponis, Director
December 7, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Solos
Tricia Tran and Maricela Navarro

Hilario Duran - "Farewell"
CSUF Jazz Chamber Ensemble
Rodolfo Zuñiga, Director
November 16, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Solos
Bora Jang, Piano
Danilo Gutierrez, Alto Saxophone

Piae Cantiones - Gaudete!
Arranged by Michael Engelhardt
CSUF Titan Voices
Dr. Robert Istad, Director
December 6th, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Soloists: Alyssa Cavero & Karlee Dix
Percussion: Daniel Garcia, Galadriel Pokraki, Wilson Le, and Isabell Liao

Jose Gallardo - "Muchacha"
CSUF Jazz Chamber Ensemble
Rodolfo Zuniga, Director
October 9th, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton
Featuring Guest Artist, Gilbert Castellanos

Solos
Lee Trueblood, Guitar
David Tillman, Tenor Saxophone

Steve Allee - "Pure Spirit"
CSUF Jazz Chamber Ensemble
Rodolfo Zuniga, Director
October 9th, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Solos
Jordan Sandoval, Trumpet
Victor Gonzalez, Tenor Saxophone

Kelijah Dunton - "Stillwater"
CSUF Symphonic Winds
Dr. Gregory X. Whitmore, Director
October 3, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Jake Runestad - "Let My Love Be Heard"
CSUF Concert Choir
Dr. Christopher Peterson, Director
September 25, 2021
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Jake Runestad is an award-winning and frequently performed composer of “highly imaginative” (Baltimore Sun) and “stirring and uplifting” (Miami Herald) musical works. He has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations such as Washington National Opera, VOCES8, the Swedish Radio Symphony, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, and more. “The Hope of Loving,” the first album of Jake’s music, recorded by Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare, received a 2020 GRAMMY award nomination. Jake’s visceral music and charismatic personality have fostered a busy schedule of commissions, residencies, workshops, and speaking engagements, enabling him to be one of the youngest full-time composers in the world. Considered “one of the best of the younger American composers” (Chicago Tribune), Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts, in addition to formative mentoring from acclaimed composer Libby Larsen. A native of Rockford, IL, Mr. Runestad is currently based in Minneapolis, MN. Find out more at: JakeRunestad.com

About the Piece from the Composer:
Though originally written for Choral Arts Northwest, this work has taken on a new life in light of the atrocities in Paris and Beirut. Jonathan Talberg, the conductor of the choir at Cal State Long Beach, led his singers in a performance during the memorial vigil for Nohemi Gonzalez, a Long Beach student who was killed in the Paris attacks. The day after the vigil, the choir was supposed to begin rehearsing holiday music; however, Jonathan felt that was not appropriate and wanted time for the singers to grieve this loss. So, at the beginning of rehearsal, he passed out a brand new piece of music (Let My Love Be Heard), rehearsed it, and then recorded it. It was posted on SoundCloud and shared in memory of Nohemi and as a plea for peace. Their musical offering is a powerful outpouring of grief but also a glimmer of light. I am honored that this piece, "Let My Love Be Heard," has helped to provide hope in the darkness of our world.

A Prayer
by Alfred Noyes
Angels, where you soar
Up to God’s own light,
Take my own lost bird
On your hearts tonight;
And as grief once more
Mounts to heaven and sings,
Let my love be heard
Whispering in your wings.

Shawn Kirchner - "Sweet Rivers"
CSUF Concert Choir
Dr. Christopher Peterson, Director
October 21, 2018
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Sweet rivers of redeeming love lie just before mine eyes:
Had I the pinions of a dove, I’d to those rivers fly.
I’d rise superior to my pain, with joy outstrip the wind:
I’d cross o’er Jordan’s stormy waves and leave the world behind.

A few more days, or years at most, my troubles will be o’er:
I hope to join the heav’nly host on Canaan’s happy shore.
My rapt’rous soul shall drink and feast in love’s unbounded sea,
The glorious hope of endless rest is ravishing to me.

O! Come, my Savior, come away, and bear me through the sky;
Nor let thy chariot wheels delay, but quickly draw thou nigh.
Then I shall join the angel throng and circle ‘round thy throne;
I’ll sing through all the ages long,and joy to be thine own.

CSUF Cello Choir
Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns (100th Anniversary of the composer)

DIRECTOR: Bongshin Ko

CELLOS:
B. Michael Phillips
Michelle Jung
Ryan Phipps
Ixchel Cisneros
Benjamin Her
Hyejin Lee
Edward Montalvo
Jocelyn Francis
Shane Nagatani
Chelsea Wong

GUITAR: Nicholas Fuentes

Video production: Shane Nagatani

Recorded: May, 2021
Location: Meng Concert Hall

Kim André Arnesen - "Flight Song"
CSUF Concert Choir
Dr. Christopher Peterson, Director
October 21, 2018
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton

Kim André Arnesen collaborated with the Welsh-Scottish poet and librettist Euan Tait to write this beautiful piece of music, written as a gift to Dr. Anton Armstrong and the St. Olaf Choir. The flight is a metaphor for the beginning of a young adult life preparing to take off, and the conductor’s arm is like the beating of the soul’s great wings. The piano introduction flows gently in ¾ time, with steady rolling eighth notes followed by the men’s voices in repeated rhythmic fashion. The treble voices carry the melody in the second verse confirming that the flight of music comes together when voices unite. The music climax is depicted in the bridge on the text, “yes, we hear you, all you who cry aloud, and we will fly.”

Kim Andre Arnesen grew up in Norway playing piano, singing in the Nidaros Cathedral Boys’ Choir, all while frequently listening to his favorite band, The Cure and watching MTV. After attending the Music Conservatory in Trondheim, choral music became his greatest passion. His music has been performed by choirs all around the world. He has several large-scale works, including Magnificat and Requiem. Arnesen has been the composer-in-residence for Kantorei, a Denver based choral ensemble, and he also has commissioned works by The
National Lutheran Choir, the Texas Choral Directors Association and the Oregon Bach Festival

Sten Källman - Berusa Er!
CSUF Concert Choir
Dr. Christopher Peterson, Director
March 24, 2019
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton

Alex van den Boogaard, Grande Coles and Ayanna Lewis, percussion
Tatiana Tate, Trumpet

This appealing song grew out of a connection the composer made with a pastor in Haiti. The pastor, Pouris Jean Baptiste, translates scriptures into Haitian Creole, and Sten Källman met with him to learn about expressions of love in the Haitian culture and mythology. It is in the style of a Haitian Carnival and the text (translated into Swedish from Haitian Creole) is from the Song of Solomon 4 and 5. This catchy tune is unaccompanied
and in a minor key with simple verses and choruses. The improvised trumpet adds color to the song and its seductive words.

Sten Källman is a Swedish born musician who trained musically in his younger years in the Congregationalist Church as singer and flute player. When he was eighteen years old, he moved to Haiti for one year and discovered the richness and complexity of the culture. He is currently a freelance musician as well as a professor of world music at the University of Gothenburg and he frequently returns to Haiti to study, work, and tour

Vad din kärlek är skön,
min syster och min brud.
Din kärlek ljuvare än vin,
din balsam ljuvare än alla dofter.
Vad din kärlek är skön,
min syster och min brud.
Din kärlek ljuvare än vin,
din balsam ljuvare än alla dofter.
Av sötma dryper dina läppar, min brud,
din tunga gömmer honung och mjölk.
Av sötma dryper dina läppar, min brud,
dina kläder doftar som Libanon.

I din lustgård där växer
granatträd med frukter,
henna, nardus och saffran,
kanel och kalmus och de finaste kryddor.
I din lustgård där växer
granatträd med frukter,
henna, nardus och saffran,
kanel och kalmus och de finaste kryddor.
Du är trädgårdens källa,
en brunn med friskt och kallt vatten.
Du är trädgårdens källa,
med bäckar från Libanon.

Berusa,
berusa er av kärlek!
Jag sov, men mitt hjärta,
mitt hjärta var vaket.
Hör, min vän knackar på,
min vän som får mitt inre att skälva.
“Öppna för mig, min syster,
min älskade, min duva.
Mitt hår är fuktigt av dagg,
mina lockar våta av nattens droppar.”
Jag stiger upp för att öppna för min vän,
mina händer dryper av myrra.
Från fingrarna rinner myrra,
som får mitt inre att skälva.

Berusa,
berusa er av kärlek!

Berusa,
berusa er av kärlek!

Your love is delectable
My sister and bride
Your love sweeter than wine
Your balm lovelier than any scent
Your love is delectable
My sister and bride
Your love sweeter than wine
Your balm lovelier than any scent
Your lips are oozing with sweetness, my bride
Your tongue conceals honey and milk
Your lips are oozing with sweetness, my bride
Your clothes bear the scents of Lebanon

In your garden of Eden there grows
Spruces bearing fruits
Henna, Nardus, and Saffron
Cinnamon and Calamus, and the most delicate spices
In your garden of Eden there grows
Spruces bearing fruits
Henna, Nardus, and Saffron
Cinnamon and Calamus, and the most delicate spices
You are the source of the garden
A well with fresh and cold water
You are the source of the garden
With brooks from Lebanon

Intoxicate
Intoxicate yourselves with love

I slept, but my heart
My heart was awake
Hear, my friend knocking on my door
My friend that makes me tremble
Open up to me, my sister
My beloved, my dove
My hair is moist from dew
My curls wet from the droplets of night
I rise to open up to my friend
My hands bathed in myrrh
Myrrh flows of my hands
And makes my heart tremble
Intoxicate
Intoxicate yourselves with love

​ ​ ​ ​

Ingolf Dahl - Sinfonietta
II. Pastoral Nocturne
CSUF Wind Symphony
Dr. Dustin Barr, Director
April 21, 2018
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Ingolf Dahl is an example of a European-born composer who entered completely into the musical life of his adoptive country. After studying music in Germany and Switzerland, Dahl worked as a conductor of the Zurich Opera before immigrating to the U.S. in 1938. Settling in Los Angeles, he found work as a composer and conductor for radio and film. He also became close friends with Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky. Dahl became a naturalized citizen in 1943 and joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in 1945. In addition to his work at USC, where he remained until his death, Dahl served on the faculty of the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood (1952–55). The composer received many awards and commissions throughout his lifetime.

The Sinfonietta was commissioned by the Northwestern and Western Divisions of the College Band Directors National Association and premiered in 1961 by the University of Southern California Wind Orchestra, conducted by William Schaefer. The piece is in three movements, with the outer movements unified by a set of six notes that serve as the primary
melodic material. In composing the Sinfonietta, Dahl used the instruments of the band in a chamber music fashion by consistently avoiding writing for the full ensemble.

Regarding the SInfonietta's second movement, Dahl wrote:

"The second movement, a 'Notturno Pastorale,' consists of alternations and superimpositions of several musical forms in a single movement. These forms are: a fugue, a waltz, and a gavotte. The fugue subject is first presented in a lyrical saxophone solo. Superimposed upon the fugue is the waltz, which alternately recedes into the distance and returns to the
foreground. By contrast, the middle section—Gavotte— is of a much simpler fabric: a lightly accompanied oboe tune."

​ ​ ​ ​

Saunder Choi - "Leron, Leron sinta
CSUF Concert Choir
Dr. Christopher Peterson, Director
October 20, 2019
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton

This Filipino folk song is often sung in the Tagalog region of the Philippines. It is a work song and represents the people who are harvesting fruits in the fields though its origin is unclear. The tune is catchy and often mistaken for a children’s song, however, the text indicates otherwise, and some have thought it a courting song. This fast, animated arrangement includes frequent time signature changes as well as shifting tonalities that help to make it easy for the listener to enjoy.

Saunder Choi was born in Manila, Philippines and he studied composition and conducting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, receiving the Leroy Southers Award from the composition department. For his age, he is one of the more accomplished choral writers from his country. His works are being performed internationally in festivals and competitions and he is quickly getting recognition from around the world.

Leron, leron sinta
Buko ng papaya,
Dala-dala’y buslo,
Sisidlan ng sinta,
Pagdating sa dulo’y
Nabali ang sanga
Kapos kapalaran,
Humanap ng iba.

Gumising ka, Neneng,
Tayo’y manampalok,
Dalhin mo ang buslong
Sisidlan ng hinog.
Pagdating sa dulo’y
Lalamba-lambayog,
Kumapit ka, neneng,
Baka ka mahulog.
Ang ibigin ko’y
Lalaking matapang,
baril niya ay pito,
sundang niya ay siyam
Ang sundang nya’y siyam
Ang lalakarin nya’y
Parte ng dinulang
Isang pinggang pansit
Ang kanyang kalaban.

Leron, Leron my dear,
Blossoms of the papaya tree,
With a bamboo basket,
he’d gather some fruits.
But when he reached the top (of the tree),
the branch broke.
Oh, what a trick of fate,
he had to search for another.

Wake up, neneng*;
let’s pick some tamarind fruits.
Take the bamboo baskets,
to put the ripe ones in.
Upon reaching the top (of the tree),
the branches swayed heavily.
Hold on tight, neneng,
as you might fall.

The one I will love
is a fearless man.
He has seven guns
and nine knives.
The journey he will take
is the distance of a table
A plate of noodles
is his foe!

*neneng is a colloquial term referring to a girl and does not have an adequate English translation.

Morten Lauridsen - "Sure on this Shining Night" from "Nocturnes"
CSUF Concert Choir
Dr. Christopher Peterson, Director
October 20, 2019
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Morten Lauridsen uses a poem by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning James Agee. The poem, “Sure On This Shining Night,” has been interpreted by scholars to represent the resolution of sorrow through the kindness and hope for humankind, found in the exquisiteness of both the earth’s natural beauty and heaven’s celestial splendor. Lauridsen’s quiet expression of joy in the opening phrases by the men is accentuated by soaring voices from the women. All voices eventually blend together with the lush harmonies
that the composer is well known for and the music transports the listener to a higher musical plane of hushed wonder, where, “Sure on this shining night, all is healed, all is health, hearts all whole.”

Sure on this shining night
Of star-made shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.

The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.

Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
Wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

California State University, Fullerton

Patrick Harlin - Rapture
CSUF Wind Symphony
Dr. Dustin Barr, Director
February 20, 2019
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

In a feat that went largely unnoticed, an expedition of ultra-cavers reached the Mount Everest of caving: the first descent to the deepest point in the deepest known cave on earth. The year was 2007. At the time, two expeditions were in direct competition for this honor, one charting the Krubera Cave in the Republic of Georgia and the other exploring Mexico’s
Chevé Cave.

In each case, explorers spent weeks at a time underground in deadly and
deafening (little known fact: did you know some caves can be really loud?!) environments, often in total darkness. In the book Blind Descent, author James Tabor chronicles this historic accomplishment and touches on an experience all ultra-cavers undergo at some point in their career. After weeks underground and deprived of normal circadian rhythms, climbers experience the near-crippling onset of emotion and a primal need to escape known among cavers as “The Rapture.” It can happen at any time and is described as exponentially worse than a panic attack; at times bordering on a religious experience. There is nothing the explorers can do but wait out The Rapture as they can be days or even a week’s
travel from the surface.

Rapture for symphony band is not about creating a terrifying experience, nor is it just about cave exploration; rather I use the concept to tap into a universal human experience—the onset of extreme emotional states. Music can be a catalyst or conduit to heightened emotional experiences. Building from just a few musical ideas, Rapture begins almost imperceptibly and then is magnified to an extreme. Chaos mounts; the reverberation and soundscapes of the cave are visited including an echoing melody in the middle of the work that travels from the woodwinds to percussion. Rapture closes by stepping back from the abyss—resurfacing and revisiting the opening musical ideas, and leaving the resolution (triumph or madness?) up to the listener.

-Patrick Harlin

Cal State Fullerton School of Music
CSUF Women's Choir
Carol Lomakin Aspling, conductor
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

The Dove and the Maple Tree (from Moravian Duets)
Antonín Dvořák

Antonín Dvorák was one of the first Czech composers to receive international fame. Many of his works are firmly planted in the nationalist category, often utilizing rhythms and melodies from Czech folk songs. Early in his career, Dvorak made a living through teaching music, including to the Neff family. He began to write various duets with piano accompaniment for this particular family, and eventually published these compositions in a collection titled Moravian Duets. This collection ultimately pushed Dvorak onto the international stage, and in this compilation, we find The Dove and The Maple Tree.

The smooth and lyrical vocal lines shift back and forth between major and minor modes, while constantly underlaid by a quick moving piano part. This mirrors the two characters introduced at the beginning; one a flighty and carefree dove, and the other a sad and lonely maiden. The listener will hear two separate yet distinct sections, one dance-like, the other reminiscent of an ardent march. This again reflects our two characters, but brings special attention to our poor maiden, sewing and crying as she reminisces a love lost.

Letěl holúbek na pole,
aby nazobal své vole.
Jak své volátko nazobal,
pod javorečkem posedal.
Pod javorečkem má milá
zelený šátek vyšívá.
Vyšívá na něm víneček,
že ju opustil syneček.
Vyšívá na něm z růže květ,
že ju opustil celý svět.

From the sky a small dove flew down, took his meal from the field so brown.
When he had pecked his fill at last,
under a maple tree he passed.
There sat a maiden in the shade.
A green babushka She had made.
She embroidered very slowly,
weeping for love that’s not to be.
Roses of red her needles sew, But in the world not one will know.
So with her tears embroiders she there, there in the shade this maiden fair.

David Biedenbender - Dreams in the Dusk
CSUF Wind Symphony
Dr. Dustin Barr, Director
March 2, 2018
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton
Damon Zick, Alto Saxophone

The initial inspiration for Dreams in the Dusk came while walking on my father-in-law’s farm on a cold, snowy evening. Situated in rural Michigan, miles from the nearest city on the flattest land I have ever seen, I came the closest I have ever been to feeling real silence. The silence, stillness, and peace that I found in the fleeting moments of daylight while walking in the crisp, fresh snow was one of the ways that I dealt with the passing of my sister-in-law, Julia Hope Voelker, a mere 23 years old, who lost her battle with cancer in January of 2013. Those walks at dusk became a kind of ritual for me during the last few weeks of her life, as our family had gathered together to be with her as she lived out her final days in her childhood home. Searching for a voice for the many emotions I was feeling, I turned to one of my favorite poems, “Dreams in the Dusk” by the American poet Carl Sandburg. For me, this poem captured the essence of that sacred time at the waning of the day in a way that was beautiful and profound.

Dreams in the Dusk

By Carl Sandburg

Dreams in the dusk,
Only dreams closing the day
And with the day’s close going back
To the gray things, the dark things,
The far, deep things of dreamland.

Dreams, only dreams in the dusk,
Only the old remembered pictures
Of lost days when the day’s loss
Wrote in tears the heart’s loss.

Tears and loss and broken dreams
May find your heart at dusk.

Sandburg, Carl. Chicago Poems. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1916, 1999.

There are two primary musical gestures that most often occupy the musical foreground of the piece, including a moaning, groaning, or wailing, which is usually manifest in the form of long, slow portamenti between notes in various melodic structures, and sharp, quick crescendi, which are usually orchestrated into either spacious chords or tight harmonic clusters. The melodic groans are a kind of musical mourning, analogues of sung or spoken lamentations. The quick crescendi are used in a variety of contexts in Dreams in the Dusk, but, for me, they represent the musical icon of reverse tape playback effects, which are nearly ubiquitous in popular and electronic music. More important than a genre or technique reference, they take on a specific personal significance within the context of this piece, signifying a desire to turn back time, to start again, to change the diagnosis, to return to a time when all was well.

CSUF Wind Symphony 2019-2020 Highlights
Video from Cal State Fullerton School of Music's 2020 Award Convocation

Video by Dr. Dustin Barr!

CSUF Symphonic Winds 2019-2020 Highlights
Video from Cal State Fullerton School of Music's 2020 Award Convocation

Video by Dr. Dustin Barr!

William Bolcom - First Symphony for Band IV. Marches funeraires et dansantes
CSUF Wind Symphony
Dr. Dustin Barr, Director
March 7, 2020
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Commissioned by the Big Ten Band Directors Association and premiered by the University of Michigan Symphony Band, Michael Haithcock, conductor, my First Symphony for Band (2008) was originally planned to be my Ninth Symphony. I had decided to follow my friend John Corigliano’s example of calling his magnificent Symphony No. 3, "Circus Maximus" for band Symphony No. 3. On reflection I realized that, since Beethoven and Mahier, ninth symphonies have been thought of as a composer’s last will and testament — a third symphony doesn’t have that stigma — and I’m not ready for that final word yet. Thus, this is a First Symphony for Band.

The First Symphony is by far the most ambitious piece in my very small catalogue for band. In form it relates most closely to my fifth and sixth symphonies for orchestras: as with them, it begins with a tight sonata movement followed by a scherzo, a slow movement, and a sort of rondo-finale. Ô tempora ô mores, a tragic and forceful protest, laments our dark time. Scherzo tenebroso is a cousin to the scherzi in my third, fifth and sixth symphonies, especially in the sardonic use of popular material in their trios; in this trio, as we hear the cornet playing a waltz, I envision a clown dancing. Andantino pastorale belies a seemingly simple tunefulness with its dark undercurrent. The image of a New Orleans funeral procession, followed by a joyous dance-like march back from the graveyard, gives the form of Marches funéraires et dansantes, and leaves us at long last with an atmosphere of exuberance and hope.

Program Note by composer

William Bolcom - First Symphony for Band II. Scherzo tenebroso
CSUF Wind Symphony
Dr. Dustin Barr, Director
March 7, 2020
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton
Solo: David Pittel, Cornet

Commissioned by the Big Ten Band Directors Association and premiered by the University of Michigan Symphony Band, Michael Haithcock, conductor, my First Symphony for Band (2008) was originally planned to be my Ninth Symphony. I had decided to follow my friend John Corigliano’s example of calling his magnificent Symphony No. 3, "Circus Maximus" for band Symphony No. 3. On reflection I realized that, since Beethoven and Mahier, ninth symphonies have been thought of as a composer’s last will and testament — a third symphony doesn’t have that stigma — and I’m not ready for that final word yet. Thus, this is a First Symphony for Band.

The First Symphony is by far the most ambitious piece in my very small catalogue for band. In form it relates most closely to my fifth and sixth symphonies for orchestras: as with them, it begins with a tight sonata movement followed by a scherzo, a slow movement, and a sort of rondo-finale. Ô tempora ô mores, a tragic and forceful protest, laments our dark time. Scherzo tenebroso is a cousin to the scherzi in my third, fifth and sixth symphonies, especially in the sardonic use of popular material in their trios; in this trio, as we hear the cornet playing a waltz, I envision a clown dancing. Andantino pastorale belies a seemingly simple tunefulness with its dark undercurrent. The image of a New Orleans funeral procession, followed by a joyous dance-like march back from the graveyard, gives the form of Marches funéraires et dansantes, and leaves us at long last with an atmosphere of exuberance and hope.

Program Note by composer

William Bolcom - First Symphony for Band I. O tempora o mores
CSUF Wind Symphony
Dr. Dustin Barr, Director
March 7, 2020
Meng Concert Hall - Cal State Fullerton

Commissioned by the Big Ten Band Directors Association and premiered by the University of Michigan Symphony Band, Michael Haithcock, conductor, my First Symphony for Band (2008) was originally planned to be my Ninth Symphony. I had decided to follow my friend John Corigliano’s example of calling his magnificent Symphony No. 3, "Circus Maximus" for band Symphony No. 3. On reflection I realized that, since Beethoven and Mahier, ninth symphonies have been thought of as a composer’s last will and testament — a third symphony doesn’t have that stigma — and I’m not ready for that final word yet. Thus, this is a First Symphony for Band.

The First Symphony is by far the most ambitious piece in my very small catalogue for band. In form it relates most closely to my fifth and sixth symphonies for orchestras: as with them, it begins with a tight sonata movement followed by a scherzo, a slow movement, and a sort of rondo-finale. Ô tempora ô mores, a tragic and forceful protest, laments our dark time. Scherzo tenebroso is a cousin to the scherzi in my third, fifth and sixth symphonies, especially in the sardonic use of popular material in their trios; in this trio, as we hear the cornet playing a waltz, I envision a clown dancing. Andantino pastorale belies a seemingly simple tunefulness with its dark undercurrent. The image of a New Orleans funeral procession, followed by a joyous dance-like march back from the graveyard, gives the form of Marches funéraires et dansantes, and leaves us at long last with an atmosphere of exuberance and hope.

Program Note by composer