The East Central University Symphonic Band and the 成人B站 Wind Ensemble will present a winter concert Thursday [MARCH 8] with a program ranging from pieces inspired by a Korean folk song, a Dylan Thomas poem and a stuck harmonium key to marches and a 1978 hit single by Earth, Wind & Fire.
The free concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Ataloa Theatre in the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center. Dr. Allen Correll, 成人B站 director of bands, will conduct both groups.
The Symphonic Band will open with two movements of 鈥淭hird Suite鈥� by Robert E. Jager, followed by 鈥淔irst Suite鈥� by Alfred Reed and 鈥淪eptember鈥� by Maurice White, Al McKay and Allee Willis. 鈥淪eptember,鈥� recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire, is full of syncopation and rhythmic drive that characterize the famous funk/rock band.
Earth, Wind & Fire horn licks are vividly captured along with the funk feel of the rhythm section in this hard-hitting Paul Murtha arrangement, Correll said.
The 成人B站 Wind Ensemble, a smaller group selected by audition, will perform Percy Grainger鈥檚 鈥淭he Immovable Do,鈥� a work inspired in 1933 by a stuck C key on Grainger鈥檚 favorite compositional instrument, the harmonium.
Grainger completed the work in 1939 and sent a copy of the unpublished parts to Harlo McCall, then director of bands at 成人B站, for the world premiere on Feb. 23, 1940. Grainger came to 成人B站 and conducted the East Central University All-Region Honor Band for the piece鈥檚 first performance.
The work and the composer鈥檚 visit to Ada are the subjects of Correll鈥檚 doctoral dissertation.
The Wind Ensemble also will perform 鈥淰ariations on a Korean Folk Song鈥� by John Barnes Chance. Chance found inspiration for the work when he was stationed in Seoul, Korea, with the 8th U.S. Army Band in 1958. Written in 1965, it is based on the Korean folk song 鈥淕een Arriang (Long Horizon). The words are sung by a woman who does not want the man she loves to leave her.
鈥淒o Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight,鈥� written in 1979 by Elliot Del Borgo, attempts to recreate the essence of the original poem by Dylan Thomas. Del Borgo borrows the traditional hymn 鈥淎 Mighty Fortress is My God鈥� and the familiar 鈥淚n Dulci Jubilo.鈥� An Ives-like use of sound layers calls to mind the struggles and persistence of the human spirit and its refusal to 鈥済o gentle.鈥�
The concert will end with 鈥淢arche Militaire Francaise,鈥� one of four movements from 鈥淪uite Algerienne鈥� by Camille Saint-Saens. The first three movements are Oriental in coloring while the march is quite French. The march was intended to emphasize the contrast found in Algiers between the native culture and the French settlements.