The University of Connecticut Symphonic Band will offer a concert entitled “Stolen Gems” tonight at 8pm.
Every work presented on this concert is masterwork “stolen” by the band from another musical genre.
From the world of music theatre the concert begins with Overture to “Candide” by American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer, and pianist Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein is best known for his work for West Side Story. Candide is based on Voltaire’s satire of the same name, and the four-minute sonata-form overture brilliantly pokes fun at 18th and 19th century musical conventions while also weaving in tunes that will reappear later in the work.
O Magnum Mysterium or “Oh Great Mystery” was a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. O Magnum Mysterium has been reworked by many composers. This arrangement for band is the quiet, joyful version by American composer Marten Lauridsen who’s choral setting is one of the most performed pieces for choir.
The Slavonic Dances by Czech composer Antonin Dvorák is taken from great pieces for symphony orchestra. The sixteen symphonic pieces of The Slavonic Dances perfectly realize Dvorák’s efforts to compose in the Czech folk manner. Many of his works are influenced by the folk music of his native Bohemia, but The Slavonic Dances also include characteristics of the dance music of Poland, Ruthenia, Slovakia, and other parts of Central Europe.
Borrowed from great Baroque keyboard works is the Fantasia in G Major for organ by famous German composer and musician Johann Sebastian Bach. The piece is strikingly dissonant in its constant texture of suspensions, and is perfect for the modern wind band by virtue of its five-part polyphonic writing and rich harmonic sonority.
The final selection comes from the word of Opera: The Barber of Seville Overture by “the Italian Mozart,” Gioachino Rossini. The Barber of Seville, based on a French comedy, is Rossini’s best known work and regarded as one of the world’s greatest comic operas. The original score for the overture has been lost, so Rossini replaced it with an overture from one of his previous operas.
All pieces will be returned to their rightful owners after the concert!
The concert is directed by Dr. David Mills, Director of Bands, and assistant conducted by Jessica Von Villas, a graduate student pursuing a Masters of Music with a concentration in Instrumental Conducting. The concert is at 8pm tonight at the von der Mehden Recital Hall located at 875 Coventry Road across from Mirror Lake on the UConn campus. Plenty of free parking is conveniently located across the street in Lot 1.
For more information, contact: Kirk Matson at Kirk.Matson@uconn.edu