Joyful and Triumphant

BRIAN BRITT, conductor
J.J. PEARCE HIGH SCHOOL WIND ENSEMBLE, guest ensemble
GREG HAMES, PHS director of bands

J.J. Pearce Program

Le Père la Victoire “Father of Victory” March, Louis Ganne
San Antonio Dances, Frank Ticheli
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, Johann Sebastian Bach
A Christmas Festival, Leroy Anderson

Youth Winds Program

Finale from Symphony No. 3, Vittorio Giannini
Variants on a Mediaeval Tune, Norman Dello Joio
Kingfishers Catch Fire, John Mackey
Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson
Merry Christmas, Everyone! (sing-along)

Concert Description

The LSWO Youth Winds starts the 2013-2014 concert season on Sunday, December 15, 2013 at 2:30pm with a holiday program titled “Joyful and Triumphant.” The Youth Winds will be conducted by Richardson Independent School District Fine Arts Director Brian Britt and will perform works by John Mackey, Norman Dello Joio, Leroy Anderson, and Vittorio Giannini. In the Lone Star Wind Orchestra organization’s continued commitment to giving back to the community and supporting local school bands, the Youth Winds will share the Dallas City Performance Hall stage with the J.J. Pearce High School Wind Ensemble under the direction of Greg Hames.

The program includes John Mackey’s Kingfisher’s Catch Fire, Norman Dello Joio’s Variants on a Medieval Tune, Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, and the finale to Vittorio Giannini’s Symphony No. 3. Along with J.J. Pearce High School Wind Ensemble’s program, the concert will also feature Christmas selections including a sing-along.

Program Notes

Written and compiled by Andrew and Kendal Tucker
Additional program notes by Greg Hames

Le Père la Victoire (1888)
Louis Ganne

The march Le Père la Victoire (Father of Victory) was composed in 1888 as a rallying cry for French Military forces after their defeat during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71. The date of composition marks the centennial of the great victories of the French Revolution.

San Antonio Dances (2010)
Frank Ticheli

The composer writes, “San Antonio Dances was composed as a tribute to a very special and unique city. Having lived in San Antonio for three years as a young music professor at Trinity University, I was able to experience firsthand the city’s captivating blend of Texan and Hispanic cultural influences.

It has been 20 years since I lived in San Antonio, but the city still captures my heart and tugs at my soul, sentiments I tried to capture in the music. The first movement depicts the seductively serene Alamo Gardens with its beautiful Live Oak Trees providing a welcome shade from the hot Texas sun. Lazily winding lines give way to a brief but powerful climax depicting the Alamo itself.

The second movement celebrates San Antonio’s famous Riverwalk. Inspired by the streets and canals of Venice, Italy, architect Robert Hugman proposed his idea of converting the San Antonio riverfront into a beautiful urban park back in the 1920s. It took decades to complete, but the Riverwalk eventually became a reality—a 2 ½ mile stretch of stunningly landscaped waterfront
lined with hotels, restaurants, night clubs, shops and businesses.

Picture a group of friends seated at an outdoor patio of one of the Riverwalk’s many Tex-Mex restaurants, enjoying the scenery, the food, the company. In time, the evening settles in, the air cools, the mood brightens, the crowd increases, music is heard from every direction. Before you know it, the whole place is one great big fiesta and one feels it could go on forever. Viva San Antonio!”

San Antonio Dances was premiered by the Lone Star Wind Orchestra at the Texas Bandmasters Association convention, July 2010, in San Antonio, TX.

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (1723/1981)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Arr. by Alfred Reed

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring is one of Bach’s most popular chorales and is taken from his Cantata Be Thou Cheerful, O My Spirit, BWV 147. The source for the chorale was taken from a melody by Johann Schöp (1590-1664) and later used by Bach in two of his four-part chorales, Nos. 233 and 365.

A Christmas Festival (1950/1952)
Leroy Anderson

A Christmas Festival was written in 1950 and is still one of Anderson’s most popular works. Old favorites include “Joy to the World”, “Deck the Halls”, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”, “Good King Wenceslas”, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “Silent Night”, “Jingle Bells”, and “Adeste Fidelis.”

Finale from Symphony No. 3 (1958)
Vittorio Giannini

The composer writes, “The Symphony No. 3 was composed on a commission by the Duke University Band and its conductor, Paul Bryan, during the summer of 1958, in Rome Italy, where I was spending my vacation. It is my second work for band; the first, Preludium and Allegro, was commissioned by Richard Franko Goldman. I can give no other reason for choosing to write a symphony to fulfill this commission than that I “felt like it,” and the thought of doing it interested me a great deal. I will not go into the technical details of the work. Basically, the listener is not concerned with them beyond what they can hear for themselves. I follow no ‘isms’ when I compose; I try to project and communicate a feeling, a thought that is in me at the time, using whatever technique is suggested by my mood to achieve this communication. The form of the movements is this: first movement – sonata allegro; second movement – A B A; third movement – A B A B; fourth movement –sonata allegro. There is no program – only what I heard and felt at the time. I hope it makes music.”

Variants on a Mediaeval Tune (1963)
Norman Dello Joio

Throughout Dello Joio’s composition career there is an undercurrent of his fascination with mediaeval music and liturgy. In Variants on a Mediaeval Tune, Dello Joio utilizes the theme ‘In Dulci Jubilo,’ which has both mediaeval roots and a liturgical association (Christmas). The theme is followed by five contrasting variations, each one an example of Dello Joio’s contemporary contrapuntal and harmonic style. Variants on a Mediaeval Tune was commissioned by the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation for the Duke University Band, Paul Bryan, conductor. It was first performed on April 10, 1963.

Kingfishers Catch Fire (2007)
John Mackey

Kingfishers Catch Fire is in reference to a “kingfisher,” a bird with beautiful, brilliantly colored feathers that look in sunlight as if they are on fire. Kingfishers are extremely shy birds and are rarely seen, but when they are seen, they are undeniably beautiful. The first movement, “Following falls and falls of rain,” is suspended in tone, but with hope, depicting the kingfisher slowly emerging from its nest in the early morning stillness, just after a heavy rain storm. The second movement, “Kingfishers catch fire,” imagines the bird flying out into the sunlight. You may catch the reference of the Stravinsky’s “Firebird” at the end of the piece.

Sleigh Ride (1948)
Leroy Anderson

Sleigh Ride is a popular light orchestral piece composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946 and finished the work in February 1948. Lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in a sleigh on a winter’s day with another person, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950. This popular piece is often performed on holiday programs, even though the lyrics never mention any holiday-related activities. Still, since the Boston Pops, conducted by Arthur Fielder first recorded the piece in 1949, it has become a holiday concert staple.