Books to the Ceiling

Saturday night, my husband and I once again had the pleasure of attending a concert presented by the U.S. Army Concert Band. (Here’s a post on the performance we saw last year.) This fine organization has initiated a program in which guest conductors are invited to lead the ensemble. For this performance, the conductor was Stephen Pratt, Professor of Music and Director of Bands at one of the nation’s premiere schools of music schools at Indiana University.

Stephen Pratt

Col. Thomas H. Palmatier

We were led in the singing of the National Anthem by the Commander and Conductor of the U.S. Army Field Band in Washington DC, Colonel Thomas H. Palmatier. He then turned the directorship of the band over to Mr. Pratt – and we were off!

The first piece was “Smetana Fanfare,” Karel Husa’s tribute to his fellow Czech composer, Bedrich Smetana. This lively offering was followed by “Give Us This Day” by David Maslanka. (I was not able to find this piece on YouTube, but this video of “Mother Earth” will give you an taste of Maslanka’s work.)

The poster plays in the featured ensemble; click here to read his comments. I was not able to find a sufficiently good video of the Smetana Fanfare, so instead, here is the mighty Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Rafael Kubelik, plays what is probably Smetana’s best known and best loved work, “Die Moldau,” from Ma Vlast.)

The next work was “Symphony for Band” by Morton Gould. Here, an excerpt is played at a conducting workshop :

Following an intermission, we were treated to “Zion” by Dan Welcher:

The evening concluded with the delightful “Suite of Old American Dances” by Robert Russell Bennett. Here’s the first dance in the Suite, the Cake Walk:

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Sunday afternoon my friend Emma and I went once again to the Bach Concert at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore. Ever since early November, I have been attending these monthly performances, and loving them.

The concert opened with the Sinfonia from Cantata 21, played by the small and exquisite Bach Concert Orchestra, under the direction of  T. Herbert Dimmock.  Here is the Sinfonia, excerpted from the massive sixty-disc set of Bach’s complete cantatas:

The main attraction, as it were, was Cantata 148: “Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namen” (“Bring to the Lord the honor due His name.”) This seemed a sorter work than usual in this genre, but no less striking in its beauty. Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Blades and tenor Joseph Regan were the soloists. We were then treated to a Chorale Prelude, played by organist Mickey Thomas Terry.

It is at this point that the audience is invited to stand and join the choir in singing a hymn. Maestro Dimmock explained that this particular hymn – English translation “Ah, whither may I fly?’ – is contained in the cantata we just heard.

The hymn singing is always followed by an organ solo. The selection this time was Mozart’s Fantasia in f minor, one of the few works he wrote for that instrument. This work was programmed in honor of the recent anniversary of Mozart’s birthday (January 27, 1756). “Just think what we might have if Mozart had lived as long as Bach did,” mused Dimmock. True – he died in 1791 at the age of 35. Yet how lucky we are to have the treasures that he did live to bestow on the world!

When the piece first began, I thought it sounded very much like Bach; later, the signature aching sweetness of Mozartean melody unmistakeably emerged. Here is a rather nifty video tribute to the composer. The soundtrack is the Fantasia, played by Simone Stella:

This was a lengthy piece, played with assured mastery by Mickey Thomas Terry, who, in his capacity as adjunct faculty, teaches church music at Howard University’s School of Divinity.

Mickey Thomas Terry

The program concluded with Bach Concert Choir’s a cappella performance of Tchaikovksy’s Cherubim Song:

I love being in Christ Lutheran Church. It is a beautiful place of peace.

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Here is the upcoming schedule for the U.S Army Concert Band. Click here for the complete schedule of offerings from the Bach Concert Series for the 2008-2009 season.

I am deeply impressed by the level of musicianship displayed by both of these performing groups. Admission to these wonderful concerts is free of charge. Obviously I recommend both, with the greatest enthusiasm!