Friday, August 30, 2013

Intermezzo Sunday Concert, June 8, 2014 @ 3pm


Windward Brass from Navy Band Southeast


Navy Band Southeast’s Brass Quintet, Windward Brass, performs music ranging from traditional brass quintet literature and patriotic fare to Broadway hits and the popular music of today.
  • MU2 Scott Farquhar (Unit leader, Horn) 
  • MU3 Carl Schulte (Trumpet) 
  • MU3 Shawn Reince (Trumpet) 
  • MU2 Tony Garcia (Trombone) 
  • MU2 Rebecca Jenkins (Tuba)
    Giovanni Gabrieli : Canzona per Sonare No. 2
    Ludwig Maurer : Three Little Pieces
       Maestoso alla marcia - Andante con moto - Allegro grazioso
    Victor Ewald : Quintet No. 3, Op. 7. Allegro
    Michael Kamen : Quintet
    W. C. Handy : St. Louis Blues
    John Philip Sousa : El Capitan
    Eric Ewazen : Frost Fire. Tense and dramatic
    Armed Forces Medley

    PLEASE NOTE: This Sunday concert takes the place of one originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 3

    ABOUT THE MUSICIANS

    Established in 1995, Navy Band Southeast is one of 13 official U.S. Navy Bands. Proudly representing the Commander, Navy Region Southeast, the band consists of 35 highly trained professional musicians dedicated to the highest levels of musical performance. Highly versatile, the band or any of its various sub-groups are perfect for the widest variety of musical settings including military ceremonies, public concerts, parades and much more. Inspiring pride and patriotism through music, this incredibly popular unit performs more than 500 engagements annually throughout the Southeastern United States.


    Musician Second Class Scott Farquhar hails from Kalamazoo, Michigan. He studied music at Kalamazoo Valley Community College before entering the Navy in 2001. MU2 Farquhar has served the Navy for 13 years as a hornist and is currently the Unit Leader of “Windward Brass.”

    Musician Second Class Rebecca Jenkins is from Alexandria Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. MU2 Jenkins has been serving the Navy for four years as a Tubist.

    Musician Second Class Antonio Garcia hails from Austin, Texas and has been in the Navy music program for almost four years. He has recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from Rutgers University, primarily studying with American Brass Quintet trombonist, Michael Powell. This is his first tour, but he looks forward to his next assignment with U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band in Naples, Italy.

    Musician Third Class Carl Schulte is from Clarkston, Michigan, and holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Western Michigan University, as well as a Master of Music Degree from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He has served the Navy for two years as a Trumpet player. In addition to being a valued member of “Windward Brass,” MU3 Schulte is a freelance musician and private instructor.

    Musician Third Class Shawn Reince was born and raised in Green Bay, WI. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Music from the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. In 2009, MU3 Reince graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities earning a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance. Upon graduation, MU3 Reince was accepted into the Navy Music Program and attended Recruit Training in December 2010.


    PROGRAM NOTES, by Ed Lein, Music Librarian


    Giovanni Gabrieli : Canzona per Sonare No. 2

    Italian composer Giovanni Gabrieli (1554?-1612) was among the most influential musicians bridging the Renaissance and Baroque stylistic periods. He became organist and chief composer for Venice's famed Saint Mark's Basilica, and the prestigious position made him one of the best-known composers in Europe. Among the Venetian master’s students was the early German Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), who in turn cultivated the style that culminated in the works of J.S. Bach (1685-1750). Canzon Secunda a 4 (Second Song for 4) is one of four canzoni by Gabrieli included in Canzoni per sonare (Songs to Play), an anthology of works by a number of different composers first published in 1608. They are among the earliest works intended for performance specifically by instruments rather than by voices.

    Ludwig Maurer : Three Little Pieces
       Maestoso alla marcia - Andante con moto - Allegro grazioso

    Following a successful career as violin soloist and conductor in Germany and France, German-born composer Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer (1789-1878) moved permanently to Russia in 1833. In 1834 he appeared as soloist in the first Russian performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and in 1835 he became director of the French Opera in St. Petersburg. Maurer's principal works include four operas, ten violin concertos, a symphony, and six string quartets. His Maestoso alla marcia, Andante con moto, and Allegro grazioso are the first three of his 12 Kleine Stücke (12 Little Pieces). Originally for 2 cornets, 2 horns and trombone, the pieces were published posthumously in 1881.

    Victor Ewald : Quintet No. 3 in D-flat Major, Op. 7.  I. Allegro moderato

    Professor of Civil Engineering by day, Victor Ewald (1860-1935) was a Russian composer and cellist with the Beliaeff Quartet, said to have been one of Russia's most influential music ensembles. Ewald belonged to the same nationalist circle that spawned "The Mighty Handful" (Balakirev, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Cui), who hoped to forge a distinctly Russian musical style rooted in indigenous folk music, and less beholden to Germanic compositional traditions. Brick and cement manufacturing notwithstanding, Ewald is most remembered for his four Brass Quintets, opp. 5-8.  This might seem a bit surprising for a cellist, but his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory included both cornet and horn, and he was photographed as the tuba player in a brass quintet in 1912. Ewald's quintets generally are regarded as the most significant original works for brass quintet from the Romantic era. They also are among the earliest examples of music written for the "modern" brass quintet voicing (2 treble instruments, and one each in alto, tenor and bass ranges), made practicable with the development of modern valved brass instruments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Of Ewald's four quintets, only Quintet No. 1, Op. 5 was published during his lifetime.  His Quintet No. 3 in D-flat major, op. 7, was composed (and probably performed) around 1912, but the manuscript only came to light in 1964. A decade later, the American Brass Quintet gave the first "modern" performance.

    Michael Kamen : Quintet

    Best known for collaborations with rock musicians and for his film scores (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Don Juan de Marco, X-Men, etc.), American composer and oboist Michael Kamen (1948-2003) received multiple Oscar, Gloden Globe and Emmy nominations, and won numerous other awards including three Grammys. In addition to his music for over 80 films and television shows, Kamen’s output includes ten ballets, a concerto for saxophone, and one for electric guitar. His one-movement Quintet dates from 2002, and was commissioned by the famed Canadian Brass.

    W. C. Handy : St. Louis Blues

    Called "The Father of the Blues," W(alter) C(hristopher) Handy (1873-1958) was born in a log cabin in Florence, Alabama, which now is preserved as the W. C. Handy Home, Museum & Library. Handy's father was a preacher who tried to discourage his son from taking up popular music, so W.C. was mostly self-taught and had to keep his true calling from his parents. In addition to early gigs throughout the Southeast United States and Cuba, Handy performed on cornet at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. He joined the faculty of the newly-formed Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes in 1900, but by 1902 he realized he could make a better living as a touring musician. In 1912 Handy wrote Memphis Blues, perhaps the first song in a distinct "blues" style, which also became the inspiration for the foxtrot dance-step. Two years later Handy himself published St. Louis Blues, which has a "tango" bridge section using the habanera rhythm, perhaps reminiscent of his time spent in Cuba. The jazz standard has been recorded by numerous jazz and popular musicians— and also by Minnie Mouse in the 1931 cartoon short, Blue Rhythm.

    John Philip Sousa : El Capitan

    "The March King" John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was an American composer and conductor whose many works include 136 marches and 10 operettas. As fate would have it, the composer of Stars and Stripes Forever was born in the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C., where his father was a member of the Marine Band. Musically precocious, at age six Sousa began studying violin, piano, flute, cornet, baritone, trombone and alto horn, and at age 13 his father enlisted him as an apprentice in the Marine Band, reportedly to keep the youngster from running away and joining a circus band. Beginning at age 21 Sousa performed first as violinist and later as a conductor for Broadway shows, and drawing on this experience he returned to the Marine Band as its conductor from 1880-1892. He then formed a civilian band, but during World War I he became a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve and conducted the Navy Band in Illinois. El Capitan (1896) is the name shared by Sousa's most popular operetta and the march composed on themes from his stage work.

    Eric Ewazen : Frost Fire. III. Tense and dramatic

    On the faculty of the Juilliard School since 1980, Eric Ewazen (b. 1954) also has been lecturer for the New York Philharmonic's Musical Encounters Series, Vice-President of the League of Composers/International Society of Contemporary Music, and Composer-In-Residence with the Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York City. With a particular affinity for wind ensemble and brass music, Ewazen has won multiple awards and commissions, and his works receive numerous international performances. Published in 2006, Frost Fire was commissioned by the American Brass Quintet for its 40th anniversary. “Tense and Dramatic” is the last of the work’s three movements.

    Armed Forces Medley

    It is no surprise that the Armed Forces Medley combines music honoring the valiant men and women who serve and have served the United States as members of our Army (The Army Goes Rolling Along), Coast Guard (Semper Paratus), Marine Corps (The Marines’ Hymn), Air Force (The U.S. Air Force) and Navy (Anchors Aweigh). Past and present Service members and their families are invited to stand during the playing of your branch’s song. We honor and salute you!



    Windward Brass performing Fats Waller's Aint Misbehavin' at a Music @ Main "Out to Lunch" concert in June 2013.


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