Howdy Partner!

Thank you for joining us on our romp through the good ol’ U S of A, meeting plenty of curious folk along the way.

Today we’re celebrating living composers - in fact, everything you hear today has been written in the last 20 years!

To get the party started, meet our musicians:

Flute - Nichaud Munday & Lily Bryant (piccolo)

Oboe - Susan Batten (cor anglais) & Andrew Angus

Clarinet - Kate Stockwin & Vanessa George (bass clarinet)

Horn - Lyndelle Newey & Susan Eldridge

Bassoon - Hamble Geary & Emma Morrison

Conductor - Ingrid Martin

Consort for Ten Winds (2005)

Robert Spittal (1963-) Robert’s website

2 flutes , 2 oboes , 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns

Each movement of Consort reflects on the music of “Les Grandes Hautboise”, the court wind band of France’s great “Sun King”, Louis XIV.

The outer movements Jeux (“games”) and Sautereau (a French version of the Italian dance Saltarello) are whimsical, livel dances which reflect the frivolities and excesses of the court.

The middle movement Aubade (“morning song”) is more intimate, lyrical and influenced by the imitative styles of vocal music of the period. This movement later evolved into the work Pacem: A Hymn for Peace for full concert band.

I. Jeux - 3mins
II. Aubade - 4mins
III. Sautereau - 4mins

Where the Colours Fall (2020)

Alyssa Morris (1984-) Alyssa’s website

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns

Ensign Peak is an “undistinguishable hill rising over 1000 ft from the northern edge of Utah’s Salt Lake Valley”. However what it lacks in aesthetic beauty it makes up for in historical significance to the Mormon faith.

After the death of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Latter Day Saints, it seemed as if every calamity had come upon the Saints. Brigham Young, the President, sought the Lord to know where they should lead the people for safety. While fasting and praying daily on the subject Young had a vision of Joseph Smith who showed him a mountain where an ensign (flag) fell upon the peak. Joseph said “Build under the point where the colours fall and you will prosper and have peace”. Brigham Young led the Mormon pioneers westward toward the peak, and below it Salt Lake City became the home of the Mormon religion.

The hymn High on the Mountain Top, which describes Ensign Peak, is the musical basis for Where the Colours Fall.

By fragmenting, rearranging and playing with the hymn Morris creates soundscapes that shift between awe, solemnity, rippling energy and grandeur.

“It is my hope that this dectet will illuminate the beautiful colours that can be found in this instrumentation, and that the work will pay tribute to the man sacrifices my own ancestors, and many of yours, made to get to ‘…the point where the colours fall’”.

Bold and vast
Steady and Hypnotic
Slowing
Maestoso (Majestic)
Reflective
11mins

Dos Danzas Latinas (2002)

Nancy Galbraith (1951-) Nancy's Website

2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns

This piece is an American melting pot - dances from Cuba and Brazil, written for a Mexican octet by a composer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!

But the dances themselves have an even more eclectic history.

The Habañera began life as an English country dance, and was adopted by the 18th century French court as the “contradanse”. It then made its way into music of Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela Colombia, Peru, Panama and Ecuador via Spanish travellers.

In Cuba it was the first written music to incorporate African rhythms in the early 1800s, and became known as the dance Habañera (“from Havana” - just like the habañero pepper!).

It spawned other popular related dance styles, including the danzon, mambo and cha-cha. In the 20th century, the syncopated (off-beat) rhythms travelled to jazz in the ragtime music of Scott Joplin and W.C.Handy’s St Louis Blues.

The Samba is a Brazilian dance that originated in the early 20th century. It is normally performed by a band of percussion and guitars, sometimes with flutes or other wind instruments. It is characterised by repetitive harmonic progressions (chords) and layered polyrhythms (grooves built up by different patterns of beats).

I. Habanera - 6.5mins
II. Samba - 4.5mins

Ozark Folk Song Suite (2014)

Troy Armstrong (1990-) Troy’s Website

2 flutes (including piccolo), 2 oboes (including cor anglais), 2 clarinets (including bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (including contrabassoon), 2 horns

Max Hunter could have spent his life just doing his job as a travelling salesman. Instead - like a modern day Percy Grainger - he lugged his reel-to-reel tape recorder with him for over 20 years. During and between sales calls, he ventured into the hills and backwoods of the Ozark Mountains, recording over 1600 folk songs from 1956 to 1976.

Fast forward nearly 40 years and a young composer Troy Armstrong stumbled across the Max Hunter collection. Troy had spent more holidays than he could count in the Ozarks - a plateau region located in the southern half of Missouri and north central Arkansas. From the towering cliffs hugging the countless rivers to the twangy sounds of banjos and fiddles the area is rich in culture and scenic beauty. Inspired by the land and taking Hunter’s songs as a starting point, this piece was born.

I. Arkansas Traveller is a wild set of variations on the popular fiddle tune and song of the same name. (2.5min)

II. A Moment Riverside starts with an original tune in the bass clarinet (told to play “like a drunk in a smoky blues bar”) which gives way to a folk tune. These songs dance together until they’re eventually played simultaneously. (3.5min)

III. Barbara Allen is a simple treatment of a beautiful Scottish folk tune that found its way into Ozark music via the Appalachian Trail. (Check out all 9 versions Max recorded, ranging from 5-18 versions - it’s fascinating!) (4min)

IV. Hoecakes, Hominy an’ a Possum Head takes its name from the lyrics of the obscure Missouri Song and is a quirky romp in the minor mode, never settling due to its constantly changing, irregular beat patterns. (2.5min)

V. Crawdad Hole (song here) is Armstrong’s depiction of the gaudy Ozark city of Branson, Missouri. Complete with such shows as Baldknobber’s Jamboree, Soviet comedian Yakov Smirnoff, Kirby the Magician and The Three Redneck Tenors, Branson is a one-of-a-kind tourist trap dropped into the heart of the beautiful, scenic Ozark mountains. (Think Sovereign Hill meets Disneyland meets Tamworth meets Las Vegas). Imagine, if you will, a band playing at one of these shows. The banjo player is picking away until the bass player gets lost. The music soon falls apart and the show comes crashing to a halt. The players try to recover and get things back on track. Cycling through many (earlier) tunes before settling back on the right one, they successfully finish the show with a good ol’ country ending. (2.5min)

Loved the performance? Find out all about the next one, Doodling Through History, on June 26.

(Too far out to commit? Worried the Wheel of Fate/COVID might derail our best-laid plans? We’ve got your back! If fate comes knocking we’ll refund any pre-purchased tickets!)

Our Deepest Thanks

To our crew today: Allison Summers, Vita Daley, Candace Yang, Nicholas de Weger & Marcus De Weger

Fine Music for providing our snazzy music folders