Program Notes
Tiptoe Through the Tubas
Sunday, February 12, 2012, 3:00 PM
McAfee Performing Arts Center
Dr. Edward C. Harris, conductor
Marty Erickson, tuba
Colas Breugnon Overture
Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904–1987), transcribed for symphonic band by Walter Beele
Kabalevsky was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, the son of a civil servant. He showed early talent for music, playing the piano by ear at the age of six and beginning to compose soon after. His formal musical education began when he was fourteen, when his family moved to Moscow so he could attend the Scriabin School of Music. In 1925, he entered the Moscow Conservatory to study composition. Kabalevsky became an assistant instructor at the Conservatory and earned full professorship in 1939. His style is marked by clear tonality and energetic rhythms, which made it easy for him to abide by the Communist Party’s decree that music be socially usable. He never abandoned his early interest in young people and produced numerous instrumental compositions and songs for them. He regularly corresponded with students at 150 high schools, giving them advice and direction in their musical interests.
Kabalevsky completed his opera Colas Breugnon, The Master of Clamecy in 1937. Based on the novel by Romain Rolland, the plot is set in sixteenth century France and centers around the efforts of Colas to overthrow the cruel lord (the duke) and free his people from tyranny. The story develops Colas into a sort of Burgundian Robin Hood, at once a jester and philosopher, vine grower and artist, combining in himself a lusty appetite for food, wine, and an ardent love of art
Lincolnshire Posy
Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961), assembled by Frederick Fennell
Born the son of an architect in Australia, Grainger was a precocious pianist. He gave a series of concerts at the age of twelve, using the earned proceeds to study in Frankfurt, Germany, for six years. After this, he began his European career as a concert pianist, settling in London in 1901. He came to the U.S. in 1915, enlisted as an Army bandsman at the outbreak of World War I, and became a United States citizen in 1919. It was during his stay in England that Grainger became passionately involved in collecting and arranging folk songs and country dances. He was a picturesque nationalist who tried to retain the original flavor of British folk songs and their singers by strictly observing their peculiarities of performance, using composition techniques such as varying beat lengths and parallelism.
Conceived and scored for wind band in 1937, Lincolnshire Posy is based on folk songs collected in Lincolnshire, England. Each of the movements is intended to be a musical portrait of the singer. The composition begins with “Lisbon,” a sailor’s song in a brisk meter. “Horkstow Grange (The Miser and His Man – A Local Tragedy),” is named for a pleasantly situated eighteenth-century farm house that stands beside the B-204 road to South Ferriby. The tune is a requiem for an oppressive overseer and his “man,” who couldn’t tolerate abuse any longer and used a club on the miser. “The Brisk Young Sailor” is a simple tune that tells of one “Who Returned to Wed His True Love.” “Lord Melbourne” is a war song with the lyrics: “I am a noble Englishman, Lord Melbourne is my name. I never lost any battle, but won great victory.” The set is completed with “The Lost Lady Found (Dance Song),” that tells the story of a woman stolen by gypsies. Her uncle is suspected of doing away with her in order to acquire her estate. However, her sweetheart searches everywhere and eventually finds her in Dublin. Returning home, the pair arrives in time to prevent the uncle’s hanging for the alleged crime. The town rejoice
Concertino for Tuba and Wind Instruments
Rolf Wilhelm (b. 1927)
Wilhelm was born in Munich and is known as “the German John Williams.” He has written numerous scores for radio, television and films.
“Concertino” was composed at the request of Robert Tucci, performer with the Bavarian State Opera and the Berlin Philharmonic. He premiered this piece during the International Euphonium and Tuba Conference in 1983, accompanied by the United States Air Force Band under the direction of Col. Arnald D. Gabriel. According to the composer, “It was my desire to write an easily understood, uncomplicated and jolly work for this fascinating instrument with an enormous range of four octaves and so many expressive possibilities. The second movement in particular proves how lyrical and eloquent the tuba can be. This version was composed in 1998 and can be regarded as an extension of the original chamber music instrumentation to a large symphonic dimension.
The Redwoods
Rossano Galante (b. 1967)
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Galante received his Bachelor of Arts degree in trumpet performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1992. He was accepted into the Film Scoring Program at the University of Southern California, where he studied with the late film composer Jerry Goldsmith. He moved to Southern California in 1999 to pursue a career in film composition and orchestration. Galante’s film credits as composer or orchestrator include Big Fat Liar, Scary Movie 2, and Tuesdays with Morrie.
This work was commissioned by the North Tonawanda (New York) High School Band. “The Redwoods” is a bold and adventurous overture, reminiscent of epic film scores. It features dynamic brass fanfares and sweeping woodwind lines.
Largo Al Factotum, from Il Barbiere di Sivigli
Gioacchino Rossini (1792–1868), arranged by Sam McClung
An only child, Rossini took lessons in singing and the harpsichord as a young child. He entered the Bologna Academy in 1806 to study counterpoint and the cello. He later won commissions from Italian theaters in Venice, Milan, and Naples. It was during this period that he composed Otello, La Gazza Ladra, and The Barber of Seville. He went on to enjoy a successful career as composer and producer in London and Paris, composing all 39 of his operas within two decades. After his completion of William Tell in 1829, Rossini spent the rest of his life teaching and composing in Italy and France, finally settling again in Paris.
This adaptation of the familiar aria from The Barber of Seville was arranged especially for Marty and the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C. The arranger, Sam McClung, was a shipmate and close friend of Marty’s, and they continue to collaborate and stay in touch. Mr. McClung was chair of the Central Florida University Music Department. He recently retired and is living in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. He continues to compose and arrange for band, orchestra, big bands, film and more.
Tuba Tiger Rag
Original music by Harry DeCosta (1885–1964), arranged by Luther Henderson, adapted for band by David Marshal
Mr. Brubaker, Chief Arranger of the U.S. Navy Band from 1985 to 1998, has become a close friend of Marty Erickson, having performed and worked with him for over 25 year.
This arrangement was inspired by a tuba player in the Virginia Grand Military Band, in which Jerry Brubaker performs on French horn. Brubaker was going to take a bow for a composition the group played, and he had to walk through the large tuba section, whose tubas were on the floor. As he carefully stepped around the mass of tubing, a tuba player commented, “Tiptoe through the tubas!” After completing this new version of “Tiptoe,” Brubaker immediately thought that Marty might very well get a lot of use out of the arrangement. It features the familiar theme, with variations that include a Bossa Nova and a March, giving opportunities for the folks in the “back of the band” to come to the front and show off.
Them Basses (A march in which the basses have the melody throughout)
G.H. Huffine (1889–1947)
Getty Herschel Huffine was a self-taught American composer, trombonist and tuba player. He was born in Kentucky, the eldest of four children. He was employed at an axe handle factory when the Bowling Green town band was organized in 1907, and he was accepted into the band on the condition that he learn to play the valve trombone. Huffine did this and also taught himself tuba and the basics of harmony, counterpoint and composition. He spent several years playing in professional circus bands and minstrel shows and worked for C.L. Barnhouse as a music engraver. In 1919, Huffine settled in Binghamton, New York, playing tuba in the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Factory Band and filling in on trumpet, trombone and string bass.
“Them Basses,” published in 1924, is Huffine’s best-known march. It is a “screamer” or circus march, which is generally much faster than a traditional military march, and is intended to stir up an audience’s excitement during a show. The quick tempo of this march challenges players with major and chromatic scales throughout the piece. The march itself is an answer to the age-old student musician question, “Why do I have to learn scales?”
SJWS program notes are edited by Karen Berry from the composers’ notes, Band Notes by Norm Smith and:
Foothill College Symphonic Band
J. W. Pepper
Marty Erickson
Good News Music (Tuba Tiger Rag)
The Wind Repertory Project (The Redwoods)
G. Schirmer Inc. (The Redwoods)
Wikipedia (Them Basses)
The Wooster (OH) High School Music Department (Them Basses)
Just for Brass (Concertino for Tuba and Wind Instruments
IMDb (Harry DeCosta)