REPERTOIRE SESSIONS

Session 2: Tuesday, July 14

Ohlone Wind Orchestra

Tony Clements, Director

Fremont, California

For the President’s Own - John Williams

Grand Fanfare - Giancarlo Castro D’Addona

Salome - Gareth Wood

Starsplitter - Philip Rothman

Berglicht - Oliver Waespi

For the President’s Own (2013)

4’ Grade 5 Hal Leonard, United States

Named by President Thomas Jefferson in 1801, “The President’s Own” United States Marine

Band, at over 200 years of age, is one of our country’s most venerable musical organizations,

and recognized as one of the finest of its kind anywhere in the world. For the President’s

Own is an original fanfare for band composed for the 215th anniversary of the United States

Marine Band. It was premiered on May 26, 2013 at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Per-

forming Arts in Fairfax County, Virginia (Michael J. Colburn/United States Marine Band) .

John Williams had worked with the band on previous anniversaries in 2003 and 2008, and

during a tour concert in 2009 at Royce Hall in Los Angeles. John Williams commented that

he has always been impressed by the amazing musicality of the band in its balance, unity,

brilliance of the brass and overall technical ability, and wanted to write a piece that show-

cased the amazing ability of this top notch performing organization.

John Williams (b. 1932)

John Williams is an American composer, conductor and

pianist with a career spanning over six decades. Born in

New York, John studied music at UCLA and was later

drafted into the Air Force, where he conducted and ar-

ranged music for the Air Force Band. Upon ending his

service John continued his studies at Juliard, during

which he began working as a jazz pianist in clubs and

studios. Upon completion of his studies he returned to

Los Angeles and began his career as an orchestrator for

films, a career that would eventually lead to his emer-

gence as a major film score composer. In addition,

from 1980 to 1993 he succeeded Arthur Fiedler as the

principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. John

has written numerous original concert works for symphonic ensembles, including a sinfo-

nietta for wind ensemble. He has received numerous Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Gold-

en Globe awards for his compositions and continues to work as an active composer to this

date.

Grand Fanfare (2004)

8’ Grade 5.5 Editions BIM, Switzerland

Grand Fanfare is an exciting and virtuosic showpiece originally composed for the Venezuelan

Brass Ensemble, which stems from the famous Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuaela.

Grand Fanfare paints a dramatic vista of the Venezuelan countryside by showcasing all of the

instruments in the ensemble to generate an exuberant energy. The composer has transcribed

his work for both wind band and traditional brass ensemble, in addition to the original brass

band setting.

Giancarlo Castro D’Addona (b. 1980)

Giancarolo Castro was born 1980 in Barqui-

simeto (Venezuela), in a family of musicians.

He began as a trumpet player and later as a

composer in “El Sistema*”. He studied at the

conservatory of music Vicente Emilio Sojo in

Barquisimeto and then at the University Insti-

tute of Musical Studies in Caracas. His com-

positions range from academic music to Latin

music and some of them have been recorded

by EMI Classics and EuroArts.

Salome (2013)

14’ Grade 6 Maecenas Music, England

Salome has come to symbolize the dangerous female seductress and is a story that has long been a subject for

painters, authors and musicians including such distinguished names as Leonardo da Vinci, Oscar Wilde and

Richard Strauss. Salome was the stepdaughter of King Herod and on the occasion of his birthday danced for

him and his court "a dance of excessive inhibition" (the sequence Strauss depicted in his opera as 'the dance of

the seven veils'. The King was so pleased that he offered her anything she desired in return. Through Salome,

Herodias her mother, took the opportunity to obtain the head of John the Baptist against who she held a

grudge for declaring her marriage to Herod unlawful. Gareth Wood's graphic, almost tactile score is so de-

scriptive, that he vividly brings to life the anguish, lust and murder found in this tortured and tormented story.

Gareth Wood

Gareth Wood was born in Cilfynydd, Wales in 1950.

He studied composition and the double bass at The

Royal Academy of Music, joining the Royal Philhar-

monic Orchestra in 1972. Since then Gareth has

toured extensivGareth Wood was born in Cilfynydd,

Wales in 1950. He studied composition and the dou-

ble bass at The Royal Academy of Music, joining the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1972. Since then

Gareth has toured extensively with the orchestra, ap-

pearing at all the world's major music festivals. He

has also played for many of the world's greatest con-

ductors, such as Stokowski, Kempe, Karl Bohm, Hai-

tink, Solti and has performed the Ring Cycle at Eng-

lish National Opera with Reginald Goodall. He be-

came Chairman of the Royal Philharmonic in 1991, a

post he held for three years. ely with the orchestra,

appearing at all the world's major music festivals. He

has also played for many of the world's greatest con-

ductors, such as Stokowski, Kempe, Karl Bohm, Hai-

tink, Solti and has performed the Ring Cycle at Eng-

lish National Opera with Reginald Goodall. He be-

came Chairman of the Royal Philharmonic in 1991, a

post he held for three years.

Starsplitter (2006)

5’ 30” Grade 5 Philip Rothman Music, United States

Starsplitter is a fast moving, colorful soundscape, with each instrument playing an important

role in the vibrant sonic platform. It’s an effervescent work belonging to the episodic ‘color-

splash’ end of the spectrum of Minimalism . The piece moves from one aural soundscape to

another in a free form, always maintaining a constant driving pulse throughout the work. Ac-

cording to the composer, he arrived at the title after considering many combinations of celes-

tial terms to describe this piece's explosive energy

Philip Rothman

Philip Rothman holds a Bachelor of Music degree summa

cum laude from Rice University and a Master of Music de-

gree from The Juilliard School, where he was awarded a

full scholarship. His teachers in composition have included

Samuel Adler, Edward Applebaum, Samuel Jones, Richard

Lavenda and Stephen Shewan. His compositions have been

performed by the Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony

Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, National Phil-

harmonic of Lithuania, Juilliard Orchestra, New York

Youth Symphony, United States Military Academy Band,

and numerous other ensembles. His endeavors have earned

him numerous honors including four ASCAP Foundation

Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, a Renée B. Fish-

er Foundation Award, the Brian M. Israel Prize, a fellow-

ship from the League of American Orchestras, a New Mu-

sic USA grant, and annual ASCAP Plus Awards since

1998. Through his company “NYC Music Services”, Roth-

man provides music preparation services to professional

composers, publishers, and institutions. Clients include

Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, NFL Films, Indi-

anapolis Symphony/Symphonic Pops Consortium, and European American Music Corporation, and he

runs the Sibelius users blog SibeliusBlog.com. Rothman is in demand as a consultant and lecturer, current-

ly serving as program advisor to the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.

Berglicht (2008)

10’ 30” Grade 5 Beriato Music/ Dehaske Music, The Netherlands

The sun glides over the white-blue rock, the glaring back-light on the snowflakes whisked up by the wind,

mirror-images in waterfalls and ice-fields, glaciers veined with moraines, further on the dark caves and cliffs,

stone chasms that seem infinitely dark, the cool shadow on the north flank of the rocks, damp chilliness,

woods at the foot of the valley. These powerful, almost poetic images spark off the composer’s creative pro-

cess for "Berglicht". Another compositional element is the chorale "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern",

which enhances the idea of 'light' even more. In this way "Berglicht" turned out as a choral fantasy for a large

wind orchestra.

At the start of the work, after a short overture, the brass introduces parts of the chorale theme, accompanied by

bright chords from the woodwind. This is followed by a quick section with the first variations on the theme,

first very rhythmically, then tunefully. Then we hear an idyllic "Pastorale dété", though the mood gradually

becomes darker. The full theme is now introduced for the first time by muted brass, accompanied by somber

chords from the woodwind. Slowly but surely the tension increases, while the theme of the chorale neverthe-

less unfolds once again in a dramatic but only fragmentary way. Towards the end, calm gradually returns. The

light shines once again and the theme rings out one last time, but now with a different timbre and rhythm. The

mountain light slowly but surely makes way for a peaceful and joyful atmosphere.

Oliver Waespi (b. 1971)

Oliver Waespi completed his studies in composition at the

Musikhochschule Zürich under the tutelage of Gerald Bennett

and Andreas Nick, attended the Royal Academy of Music in Lon-

don and the masterclasses of Simon Bainbridge, Sylvia Caduff,

Peter Maxwell Davies, Brian Elias, Klaus Huber, Alfred Reed as

well as Michael Rose at the Vanderbilt University/USA. His mu-

sic has been performed in many European countries, in Australia,

Japan, Singapur and the USA at the Schweizerischen Tonkün-

stlerfest, the George Enescu Festival and various WASBE World

Conferences. Oliver Waespi maintains a wide and diversified

interest in music which brings him into contact with both young,

amateur musicians and internationally renowned professional art-

ists and orchestras. Central to his interest is the investigation of

various, apparently contradictory aesthetic possibilities in order to

illuminate certain musical ideas from differing sides. It is thus

that abstraction and clarity, linear and vertical orientated thinking,

art music and folkmusic all combine in the works of Oliver Waespi.

All works on today’s reading

session are available for sale from:

Midwest Sheet Music

2616 Metro Blvd

Maryland Heights, MO 63043

Ph. 314-942-1522

Instrumental@MidwestSheetMusic.com