This eighteenth installment is proposed by Matthew George, Director of Bands and Orchestras, John Ireland Distinguished Professor, University of St. Thomas, WASBE Secretary
Grade 3
Guangxi Folk Hill Song (2019) – 3’ – Purchase at JC Link Music
Chen Qian (China,1962), Li Chan (China,1981)
Listen here
Guangxi Folk Song tells the story of Liu Sanjie, a fifteen-year-old girl nicknamed Shiliu from the Zhuang and Hakka ethnic groups in Guangxi. Faced with harsh environments and various unscrupulous people, Shiliu sees how she can use her wisdom to win a better life by taking advantage of her hill song singing skills.
The movie is based on a touching story of resisting feudal oppression, and fighting for marriage freedom. Shiliu is revered as the "God of Songs" or "Fairy of Songs" because of her composing and singing of mountain songs. Shiliu is not a specific real person, just a character, from the Guangxi folk legends.
The music is in two parts, a slower introduction followed by a quick allegro 2/4 section that modulates. It is rhythmically straightforward and blends the primarily-used pentatonic scale with occasional Western chromatic harmony.
Chen Qian, born in Guiyang, began violin lessons with his father at the age of three and started playing piano at age four. At seventeen, he worked as pianist for the City Song and Dance Ensemble of Guiyang. He recently retired as composer for the Military Band of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. His range of works cover symphonic, chamber, television and film music, and have been performed all over the world. In 1997, he was honored with a concert of all wind music at the Beijing Concert Hall, the first of its kind in China.
Li Chan was born in 1981 in China. She graduated from the Composition Department of Central Conservatory of Music (Beijing). She is currently the Composer of the Military Band of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China. She is a freelance composer and has written multiple pieces for professional and community groups. Her works have been published by People's Music Publishing House (China), Murphy Music Press and JC Link Music (Hong Kong, SAR).
Grade 3
Méphisto Masqué (1889/2021) – 5' – Purchase at LBware music
Edmond Dédé (USA, 1827-1901) / tr. Lawren Briana Ware (USA)
Edmond Dédé composed "Mephisto Masque" in the 1860's. It was written for ophicleide and orchestra - today our closest modern solo instrument would be the euphonium. This transcription came about as part of the Black Composer Revival Consortium. The transcriber prepared versions of Méphisto Masqué for both wind ensemble and for string orchestra and set the ophicleide solo within the ensemble.
The work opens with a haunting opening section, followed by a lively polka, and ends with an energetic coda. Stylistically, Méphisto Masqué is very much in the style of the era.
Edmond Dédé (1827-1903) was a free-born black from New Orleans. He was a noted violinist and composer. Finding life hard in the mid-1800's for a black musician, he moved to Mexico and then ultimately to France.
Dr. Lawren Brianna Ware’s compositions have been featured on two professionally recorded albums (the Amernet Quartet’s “Alabama String Quartets (Birmingham Arts Music Alliance)”(2020) and Dr. Cole Bartels’ “On the Brink”(2022). Her most recent projects include being the inaugural composer and co-founder of the Black Composer Revival Consortium, composing for the Minnesota Consortium for Black American Composers (2020), and composing and releasing an electronic music album in conjunction with comic book writer Jaromir François on the comic My Brother Teddy (2021). In July of 2022, Brianna became the first African-American composer selected to be the composer in residence for the Seal Bay Music Festival in Vinalhaven, Maine.
Grade 3
Dois Corações (year of composition Unknown) – 6' – Purchase at brasilsonoro.com
Pedro Salgado (Brazil) / revised Marcelo Jardim (unknown)
The dobrado Dois coraçãos, is widely considered to be the anthem for Brazilian bands. Dois Corações starts with short 8-bar introduction follow by the first section containing the main theme accompanied by a staccato bass. The second theme modulates and utilizes material from the first with different orchestration. As common in the dobrado (a Brazilian march), the second section is a much thinner texture. The next short section utilizes material from the introduction followed by the Trio. The work concludes with a recapitulation of the first section followed by a coda that again utilizes material from the introduction.
Pedro Salgado was born near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Like Sousa in the USA, Salgado was known as the “King of Dobrados” in Brazil. He was the founder and conductor of several bands in the state of São Paulo. Salgado wrote several, even thousands of works which included popular songs, dobrados and waltzes and well as hymns and popular Brazilian folk and dance music.
Grade 3
Monarch Migration (2023) – 4’30” – Purchase at Nubia Jaime-Donjuan
Nubia Jaime-Donjuan (Mexico, 1984)
In the realm of art and education, collaborations between artists and schools have proven to be a powerful tool for creativity and learning. Such partnerships bring fresh perspectives, inspire young minds, and ignite a passion for the arts. This is how Monarch Migration was born. It was written in two versions, one for concert band and another for string orchestra.
Monarch Migration was commissioned by a consortium of 41 schools throughout the United States. The impact of Monarch Migration extends far beyond the concert hall. Students who participate in the project are developing a newfound appreciation for music, nature, and their own creative abilities.
The Monarch Migration stands as a testament to the incredible potential that lies within collaborations between composers and schools. Through the shared experience of creating a musical composition, students gain not only musical skills but also a profound connection to the natural world. The project demonstrates that art has the power to transcend boundaries, inspire change, and ignite a lifelong love for both music and the environment.
- Adapted Program Note by composer
Nubia Jaime-Donjuan began her cello studies at age 6, forming part of the Symphonic Youth Orchestra of Sonora. She then continued her professional studies in the University of Sonora.
She has studied composition with Arturo Márquez and Alexis Aranda, orchestration with David H. Bretón. Ms. Jaime-Donjuan has adopted the artistic and cultural expressions of her surroundings to create her music, always taking inspiration from different elements of nature.
Ms. Jaime-Donjuan recently served as resident composer for the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble of the University of St. Thomas, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Tzintzuni.
Nubia is the first and only woman to win the Arturo Márquez Chamber Orchestra Composition Contest (2021), with her work Maso Ye’eme, which merges the popular genre danzon and the Yaqui Deer Dance.
Grade 3.5
La Marche Rouge (unknown) – 3'46" – Purchase at felixhauswirth.com
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (Switzerland, 1865 - 1950) / arr. Felix Hauswirth (Switzerland)
As a climax to the July 1914 celebrations of the centenary of Geneva's accession to the Swiss Confederation, the State Council of the Canton of Geneva commissioned a festive spectacle: La Fête de Juin.
The music was composed by Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, the texts were by Daniel Baud-Bovy and Albert Malsch, Aloys Hugonnet was responsible for the stage design, and Firmin Gémier was in charge of the staging. The patriotic spectacle shows all phases of Geneva's glorious history, from the earliest epochs to the unification with Switzerland and finally to the golden age at the beginning of the First World War. La Marche Rouge is part of the 4th act of this Geneva historical spectacle. – Felix Hauswirth
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (6 July 1865 – 1 July 1950) was a Swiss composer, musician, and music educator who developed Dalcroze eurhythmics, an approach to learning and experiencing music through movement.
Comments