The Stephen F. Austin State University Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band will present a concert of “Classics: British and Otherwise” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.
The Symphonic Band, under the direction of Dr. Tamey Anglley, assistant director of bands, will begin the concert with “Intrada: Two Baroque Fanfares” transcribed by Kenneth Singleton. The first fanfare is from the opening chorus of Claudio Monteverdi’s “Vespers of 1610,” “O God, Make Haste to Save Me.” The second fanfare is Benedetto Marcello’s opening chorus from “Psalm 19,” “The Heavens Declare.”
“Both fanfares were originally composed for voices and instruments – winds, strings and keyboards,” Anglley said.
The second selection is “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams and arranged by Jay Bocook. Composed in 1910, Williams set the original Tallis melody from 1567 for string orchestra. This Bocook arrangement was composed in 2006.
The Symphonic Band will end its half of the concert with “Colonel Bogey March” by Kenneth J. Alford, who was a British Army bandmaster who published his marches under this pseudonym, but his real name was F.J. Ricketts.
“The British Army did not like service personnel to have professional lives outside of the armed forces,” Anglley explained. “Alford composed the tune based on a fellow military man and golfer’s characteristic two-note whistle instead of shouting ‘Fore!’ on the golf course. ‘Colonel Bogey’ became a standard term in the British golf scoring system and is where the term ‘bogey’ originated, meaning one over par.”
Under the direction of Dr. David W. Campo, associate director of bands, the Wind Symphony will begin its portion of the concert with Alford’s stirring march “Army of the Nile.” It was written as a tribute to General Sir Archibald Wavell’s inspiring victories in the Western Desert Campaign in 1941, which marked the turning point in the many reverses Britain had experienced in the early years of World War II. The late Frederick Fennell, an internationally recognized conductor, once stated, “Kenneth Alford’s march evokes the past with his customary and telling dedication to a time in history when British soldiers were gathered in this part of Africa. Why they were there is a subject long passed into the record of the 20th century.”
The Wind Symphony will also perform Percy Grainger’s “Irish Tune From County Derry,” which Campo describes as one of Grainger’s best-known works. It is based on a tune collected by Miss J. Ross and published in “The Petrie Collection of Ancient Music of Ireland” in 1885. Grainger’s memorable setting for wind band was written in 1909 and dedicated to the memory of composer Edward Grieg.
The concert will close with “A Moorside Suite” by Gustav Holst, who was commissioned in 1927 to write a competition piece for the BBC and the National Brass Band Festival Committee. The result was “A Moorside Suite.”
“The suite has three movements, and upon a first listen, one hears a noticeable sophistication that was lacking in the military suites,” Campo said. “Composer Gordon Jacob arranged ‘Moorside Suite’ for strings in 1952 and later made another arrangement of the piece for military band under the title ‘Moorside March’ in 1960. It is said that Holst was very happy upon hearing the 15 brass bands play his piece in the competition in 1928.”
The concert is a presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.
