Holiday Pops

Program

1. 

   Festival Fanfare for Christmas

   John Wasson · 3:45

   Originally composed for full orchestra, this edition for wind band is a magnificent and powerful setting for the holidays. Starting with a brilliant fanfare for brass, the piece blossoms into a showcase for the entire ensemble incorporating the familiar O Come, All Ye Faithful and Joy to the World. - Program Note from publisher Festival Fanfare for Christmas by John Wasson (b. 1956) was commissioned and premiered by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1996, and was recorded on their CD Dallas Christmas Gala in 2000. Mr. Wasson adapted the work for wind ensemble and it was subsequently recorded by the Dallas Wind Symphony in 2012 for their Horns for the Holidays CD. Wasson was asked to create a work based upon two well-known Christmas carols, Joy to the World and O Come, All Ye Faithful, and to utilize the four trumpets in the orchestra antiphonally from the balconies of the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. The opening Baroque-like fanfare originates in one pair of trumpets, moves to the horn section and then to the other pair of trumpets, and finally to the large ensemble. Throughout the work the trumpets return and replay the fanfare figure, and share it with various sections within the larger ensemble. - Program Note from score

2. 

   The Seal Lullaby

   Eric Whitacre · 3:45

   In the spring of 2004 I was lucky enough to have my show Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings presented at the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop. The workshop is the brain child of legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell), and his insights about the creative process were profoundly helpful. He became a great mentor and friend to the show and, I am honored to say, to me personally. Soon after the workshop I received a call from a major film studio. Stephen had recommended me to them and they wanted to know if I might be interested in writing music for an animated feature. I was incredibly excited, said yes, and took the meeting. The creative executives with whom I met explained that the studio heads had always wanted to make an epic adventure, a classic animated film based on Kipling’s The White Seal. I have always loved animation, (the early Disney films; Looney Tunes; everything Pixar makes) and I couldn’t believe that I might get a chance to work in that grand tradition on such great material. The White Seal is a beautiful story, classic Kipling, dark and rich and not at all condescending to kids. Best of all, Kipling begins his tale with the mother seal singing softly to her young pup. (The opening poem is called The Seal Lullaby). Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us, And black are the waters that sparkled so green. The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us, At rest in the hollows that rustle between. Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow, Oh weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease! The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee, Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas! Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936 I was struck so deeply by those first beautiful words, and a simple, sweet Disney-esque song just came gushing out of me. I wrote it down as quickly as I could, had my wife record it while I accompanied her at the piano, and then dropped it off at the film studio. I didn’t hear anything from them for weeks and weeks, and I began to despair. Did they hate it? Was it too melodically complex? Did they even listen to it? Finally, I called them, begging to know the reason that they had rejected my tender little song. “Oh,” said the exec, “we decided to make Kung Fu Panda instead.” So I didn’t do anything with it; just sang it to my baby son every night to get him to go to sleep. (Success rate: less than 50%.) A few years later the Towne Singers commissioned the choral arrangement of it, and in 2011 I transcribed the piece for concert band. I’m grateful to them for giving it a new life, and to the schools, colleges and directors listed who have believed in this new transcription. And I’m especially grateful to Stephen Schwartz, to whom the piece is dedicated. His friendship and invaluable tutelage has meant more to me than I could ever tell him. - Program note by composer

3. 

   Irving Berlin's Christmas

   Irving Berlin · arr. Michael Brown · 6:40

   This spectacular setting for band and optional choir and strings highlights Irving Berlin's most beloved holiday songs. Included are: Happy Holiday; Snow; I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm; Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep and White Christmas. - Program Note from publisher

4. 

   Russian Christmas Music

   Alfred Reed · 14:25

   Reed was commissioned to write Russian Christmas Music a mere 14 days before it was scheduled to be performed and broadcast live on NBC. Originally written in November 1944, the work was first performed in December of that year in Denver, Colorado. Two years later, the piece was elaborated and revised, and in that form was one of the three prize-winning work in the 1947 Columbia University contest for new serious music for symphonic band. An ancient Russian Christmas carol (Carol of the Little Russian Children) is mixed with motives from orthodox liturgical music from the Eastern Orthodox Church. Though set as a single piece, the composer originally subtitled the four easily separated sections Children's Carol, Antiphonal Chant, Village Song, and Cathedral Chorus. Reed also utilized this theme as well as the “Cathedral Chorus” section as source material for Slavonic Folk Suite, a piece written for novice musicians. - Program Notes excerpted from score and Western Michigan University Symphonic Band concert program, 21 November 2021 Although originally written and peformed in 1944, Reed submitted a revised and expanded version of the piece to the Columbia University contest for new, serious music for symphonic band in 1947, where it was named one of three prize winners. This 1947 version established the work's structure as it is known today, although it remained unpublished for several years afterward. The revised version was dedicated to Harwood Simmons, who conducted one of its first performances with the Syracuse University Symphonic Band in 1948. - Program Note by Logan Vander Wiel

   — Intermission —

5. 

   Suite from The Nutcracker

   Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky · arr. James Curnow · 9:40

   Of all the great full-length ballets, three of the most popular have music by Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky arranged eight excerpts from The Nutcracker into a concert suite, and conducted its first performance in 1892. This arrangement is not a transcription of the entire suite, but is designed to capture the spirit of each movement while reducing it to a programmable length. To help ensure correct stylistic approach, recordings of the entire orchestral suite should be made available to your players. - Notes To The Director, from the published score

6. 

   Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

   Johnny Marks · arr. Luther Henderson, adapted for band by Michael Brown · 3:00

   Set in a jazzy medium swing style, Luther Henderson created an unforgettable setting of Rudolph for the Canadian Brass. Michael Brown's skillful adaptation for concert band maintains the clever scoring devices and "shtick" of the original. - Program Note from publisher Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a song written by Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry's recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949. - Program Note from Wikipedia

7. Fantasy on Lo, How a Rose E'er Bloomingfor Wind Ensemble

   Eric Guinivan · 8:00

   Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming is a fantasy for wind ensemble on the traditional German Christmas carol of the same name (Es ist ein Ros entsprungen), most widely known in its 1609 harmonization by composer and organist Michael Praetorius. Loosely following the structure of a flowing set of variations, the piece begins with the original Praetorius harmonization in the clarinets, then introduces and develops two original themes through a series of lyrical solos over a reimagined version of Praetorius’s harmony. The first half of the piece centers on the lush and expressive colors of the woodwind family, and the latter half features the brass in a majestic chorale and a dramatic, gradual build to the piece’s climax.

8. 

   Largo from Winter (The Four Seasons)

   Antonio Vivaldi · arr. Philip Sparke · 4:00

   Although he wrote 39 operas, 73 sonatas and generous amounts of religious music, Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi is best known for his concertos. Having learned the violin from his father, a Venetian barber, Vivaldi later penned one of the most popular string pieces in history, The Four Seasons. Written in Vivaldi's distinctive style, the composition features melodies often broken into small phrases with forceful syncopated rhythms, making it a perfect subject for percussion adaptation. - Program Note from score

9. 

   Sleigh Ride

   Leroy Anderson · 2:45

   Sleigh Ride is a light orchestra standard whose music was composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had formed the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946, and he finished the work in February 1948. The original recordings were instrumental versions. The lyrics, about riding in a sleigh and other fun wintertime activities, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950. The orchestral version was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. A selection of the artists who have recorded it include Herb Alpert, The Andrews Sisters, The Carpenters, Bing Crosby, The Boston Pops Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, the amazing Debbie Gibson, The Muppets, and Andy Williams. - Program Note from Wikipedia

Program notes

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