The Red Balloon Anne McGinty

-M. 54, time signature to 3/2, and the 3 note melodic idea returns and is passed around the trumpets, clarinets, oboes and flutes. Begin the crescendo on beat 3 in M. 54, and continue through m. 55. Suspended cymbal roll on beat 4 of m. 55 as well.

M. 56-62

-M. 62 is a transition between this brief repeat of a beginning melody, and the end of the piece; Horn, clarinet and alto sax 1 have the brief moving line, and much more ritard.

M. 63-73

-M. 63-65, Euphonium solo

-M. 65, beat 2-end, Horn solo

-M. 66 beat 2-end, Trumpet solo

-M. 65, moving quarter/half notes in clarinets, cue for them.

-Fermata on beat 1 of measure 69, decrescendo and ritard to pp in measure 61.

-Another fermata on beat 3 of measure 72, then next cue is final chord. Diminuendo to niente.

Suggested listening:

-Westminster Cathedral Choir:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y9yM53TowA

-Eastman Wind Ensemble:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ibzmO04Io

-The Ohio State University Wind Symphony: Southern Harmony: Music for Wind Band CD

-Chamber Choir of Europe: Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium

- Articles about the painting and its influence:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123516723329736303.html

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Life_with_Lemons,_Oranges_and_a_Rose

- Articles on O Magnum Mysterium (the chant)

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Magnum_Mysterium

- Morten Lauridsen

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morten_Lauridsen

- http://www.windrep.org/O_Magnum_Mysterium

- http://lamc.org/bio-lauridsen.php

- http://www.peermusicclassical.com/composer/composerdetail.cfm?detail=lauridsen

Variations on a Korean Folksong

John Barnes Chance

Band Group I
Biographical Information:

John Barnes Chance was born in Beaumont, Texas and began his studies in

composition at the age of 15. He studied at the University of Texas under Clifton

Williams, Kent Kennan, and Paul Pisk. Chance served in Seoul, Korea where he

worked as both an arranger for the United States Army Band and as a timpanist for

the Austin Symphony. Interestingly, he also became the composer-in-residence for

the Greensboro, North Carolina public school system, specifically at the high school

from 1960-1962 as part of the Ford Foundation Young Composers Project. Partially

due to this, Chance wrote a large amount of music playable by high schools and very

popular among high school wind bands. In 1971, he was the head of Theory and

Composition Department at the University of Kentucky.

Chance composed works for band, orchestra, chorus, chamber groups, and

solo instruments. Some of his noted works include: Symphony No. 2 for Band,

Incantation and Dance, Blue Lake Overture, and Elegy. In 1972, Chance died from an

accidental electrocution in his backyard. He was only 40 years old at the time of his

death. After his passing, the University of Kentucky and Chance’s publisher, Boosey

& Hawkes, Inc. established the John Barnes Chance Memorial Scholarship Fund in

his honor. Suffering the untimely death in a backyard gardening accident, Chance

died of cardiac arrest on August 16th 1972 and is survived by his two children.
Composition Information:

While serving in Seoul, South Korea as a member of the Eighth U.S. Army

Band, while riding a public bus, Chance overheard the traditional South Korean folk

song, “Arirang” and later used the melody as a basis for his five variations to

compose the piece in 1965. “Arirang” literally means rolling hills and relates to a

story of a man who is forced to leave his significant other despite her desperate

pleas to accompany him.

The simple melody of Arirang is made from the Ab pentatonic scale and is

first introduced in the clarinets. Though the song is based off that of an Eastern

melody, Chance maintains a Western flavor in the music by employing traditional

western harmony through the use of triadic harmony.

The formal structure of the piece is theme and five distinct variations. The

theme is of Eastern origin, but Chance maintains a traditional Western tonal

function based on triadic harmony and a pentatonic melody. Formal techniques

utilized in the piece include: canon, inversion, imitation, augmentation, ostinato, and

polymeter. There is a distinct Eastern influence present featured by the percussion

instruments. Each variation strives to set the original theme in a different setting,

including a racing tempo, a slow and brooding lament, and a maestoso finale.

In 1966, the piece was awarded the American Bandmaster’s Association’s

Ostwald Composition Award and remains a favorite in standard concert band

repertoire.
Historical and Stylistic Information:

A common basis for many compositions, folk music is commonly described

as music transmitted by mouth or music of unknown composers. Due to the aural

transmission of the music, folk melodies are generally very simple and act as great

motives that can be built upon and varied in classical literature. This specific folk

melody originates from the Gyeongsang region of the Joseon Dynasty and mentions

the Mungyeong Saejae mountain pass which acted as an important gateway in and

out of the region and dates back at least 1000 years.

There are a number of passes in Korea called “Arirang Pass” and one is a pass

among some hills in central-northeastern Seoul. Arirang Pass is an imaginary

rendezvous of lovers in the land of dreams. The heroine of the story from which the

Arirang Song originated is a fair maid from Miryang; a modest woman killed by an

unrequited lover.

Arirang is one of the few folk songs known by all Koreans and even among

foreigners. The refrain (“Arirang, Arirang”) is found in each version, but the

numerous versions have their own personal ideas and lyrics composed by singers

wishing to express themselves. The folk song does not have a fixed form, and its

various melodies and forms are arranged by residents from various regions.

The variations of the song that can be grouped into classes based on the

lyrics, the placement of the refrain, the nature of the refrain, the overall melody, and

other factors. The titles of each version of the song are usually prefixed by their

place of origin.

• 
  Comprised of a theme (original setting) with five variations
  
• 
  Eastern (pentatonic) melody with Western (read: triadic) harmony and
  

• 
  Uses canon, inversion, imitation, augmentation, ostinato, polymeter
  
• 
  Use Eastern-sounding instruments to convey traditional setting
  

• 
  Like most theme and variations, must make sure original idea is kept in mind
  

• 
  Technical precision required, especially in first variation (heavy sixteenth note
  

vivace 3)

• 
  May be worth investing in a wind gong instead of a traditional tam-tam—more
  

• 
  Often a woodwind vs. brass texture – bringing out these color changes will help
  

• 
  Quite important to capture the correct “characteristic” of each variation so the
  

• 
  Rhythmic accuracy is a must in all instruments – percussionist often fill in holes
  

• 
  Temple blocks often act as a melody or a supplement to the melody – the
  

percussion section

• 
  Measure 38 vivace section has many 16th notes for woodwinds
  
• 
  Sustained notes in larghetto section à tuning for horns could be sketchy
  
• 
  Alignment of 8th notes in measure 116
  
• 
  Chromatic descending trading between sections measure 168
  
• 
  MEASURE 190  alignment
  
• 
  Soli percussion section measure 204  coordination between all players/having
  

• 
  21 measure trill for flutes, Eb clarinets, oboes, piccolos at the end…ouch.
  

Form:

theme and variations. The first theme is 16 measures and played twice with a slight

extension of 5 bars before moving through 5 variations. The first variation utilizes a

8+7 phrase structure, and like the theme, is played twice. Variation II sticks to a

similar phrase structure as the theme as well, exhibiting the same 5 bar extension,

but with a greater degree of overlap in the phrasing. Variation III is 8+8+8+10 and

then repeated for a second time before moving on to the pieces shortest variation.

In 3/2 meter, this variation on has 2 8 bar phrases. The last movement, marked “con

islancio” or impulsiveness technically has a simple 4 bar phrase that is passed

around the ensemble, but they all enter in 3 bar increments. Essentially, the

movement could be viewed in 3’s.
Folk Song Theme (m. 1-37)

In the first theme, we see Ab as the major tonal center, but the tune is actually

first introduced in Eb Major. The first theme has the melody in the clarinets and then adds some harmony in flutes and oboe in measure 9. At 17, the saxes take the melody with the euphonium up a minor third and added harmony in the low brass, low clarinets and bassoons. At the half way point of the melody, the clarinets and saxes switch again with the horns providing harmonic support. This first portion of the piece reaches its fullest orchestration at measure 31 with everyone playing except oboe and trumpet that add 3 measures before the end of the first section. Texturally, the only interesting aspect of the first section is that there is no trumpet at all until the very end and that the saxes and clarinets never play at the same time until 31. Dynamically it stretches from piano to forte and rhythms rarely get faster than an 8th note.

• 
  3/4 con moto – Clarinets in unison, theme without accompaniment
  
• 
  9 – 16: Alto sax joins clarinet – theme in unison, flute / piccolo / Eb alto
  

• 
  17 – 24: Alto / tenor / baritone play theme, flute / Eb alto / bass clarinet /
  

accompaniment (“waltz” accompaniment – beat 2 sustained)

• 
  25 – 30: Clarinet / horn partial theme, light flute / clarinet accompaniment,
  

• 
  31 – 37: Closing material – repeated figure from theme in clarinets /
  

ending with small “tag” in trumpets to signal end of theme.

Moving into the first variation, rhythm is immediately contrasted from the first

section by using primarily 16th notes and switching to a vivace tempo. The melody starts in the oboes, alto clarinet, bassoons, alto sax and timpani to an extent. Tenor sax has the exact same line but at the 5th. Measure 43 adds flutes, piccs and Bb clarinets but one beat before the beginning group on melody creating a nice back and forth between the two groups. Orchestrationally, brass is added to woodwinds and percussion at 48 and rhythmically breaks up the texture with accented quarter notes against 16th note groupings. Reaching a brief, full band sound at 51, the low woodwinds and low brass are finally introduced. 68 proves to be the high point of the movement with the span of orchestration at its most extreme and a dynamic of ff. With the movement ending 10 bars later at the same dynamic and span, I think it is fair to say that the 1st variation is one big long crescendo.

• 
  3/4 vivace - Theme in diminution, sixteenth note-based, oboe / alto
  

appearance of percussion (gong and temple block)

• 
  High woodwinds join in partial canon of theme diminution, denser
  

enter in chords followed by low woodwinds, low brass, and

timpani at forte / fortissimo dynamic

• 
  Restatement of the variation with less dense ensemble, more
  

trumpets in mutes (color change), vibraphone joins trumpet

melody at 63 over the sixteenth note ostinato, temple block solo

ends the segment

• 
  Full ensemble (brass + sax vs. woodwind texture) with percussion
  

segment increases drama before final sixteenth note figure

Providing contrast, the second variation is marked as larghetto and instead of

16th notes, uses only half notes for the first 4 bars and then introduces the theme slightly altered and inverted in the 5th bar by solo oboe. Flutes and clarinets take over at 90 with the rest of the band providing harmonic stability at the half note and dotted half note duration. In order to avoid “dead space” in the score, Chance wisely overlaps the brief flute and clarinet melody with the oboe when it comes back in 86. Changing the texture for the second half of the phrase in the oboe, Chance drops the low brass, but brings them back in at measure 99 where the horns, flutes, and alto saxes have taken over the melody. Oddly enough, Chance truncated the melody to 6 bars so that he can extend the cadence until right before the trumpets take the melody at 108. By this time, the accompaniment has moved to flowing, triadic 8th notes, but the overall texture follows the rest of the movement at generally piano dynamic with soft hair pin dynamics.

• 
  3/4 larghetto – reduced ensemble (low woodwinds / horns)
  

ornamentation)

• 
  Flute and Bb clarinet 3 m. interlude, using melodic fragment, oboe
  

• 
  Melodic fragments continue in flute / alto / horn with repeating
  

enters 108 and states original theme in its entirety

Moving back to a quicker pace, the third variation is in allegro con brio and in 6/

8. He gives the accompaniment of 8th notes on beats 1 and 4 8 bars to get set up before bringing in the 6/8 rhythmicized theme in the trumpets. They carry it onward to 140 with the accompaniment remaining in the low brass and horns and woodwinds accentuating the accented dotted quarters in the melody. At 140, Chance bumps it up a level by setting the dynamic to ff, puts the melody is basically all of the woodwinds and broadens the accompaniment to dotted quarters in the trombones. Leading up to 150 with a three measure trill in clarinets and up and a sffp roll in the snare, Chance brings in all voices that were missing before and writes either accented dotted quarters or triplet groupings that prepare for the final wind up to the end. Though all voices are marked at ff, be sure to bring out the melody in the trumpets from 150-157. From here until 172, Chance is basically just providing a huge harmonic wind down from the climax at 150. Eventually the voices fade out in a staggered fashion until there is just a snare drum playing a solo that leads into the next movement.

• 
  6/8 allegro con brio (in 2), timpani / low brass staccato accompaniment
  
• 
  Trumpet melody in unison – fanfare style, ensemble “hits” every
  

• 
  Ensemble melody, trombones take over previous horn
  

• 
  Full ensemble, high WW / trumpet melody with rest
  

• 
  Ensemble “fall” from high WW through low WW, brass have
  

• 
  Snare drum feature at reserved dynamic, timpani establishes meter
  

The fourth movement is the shortest, and possibly most interesting

rhythmically as it is in 3/2 time. Starting with a timpani solo accompanied only by a

unison tied note in the bass and contra bass clarinet, the movement then moves to

chords moving at half and whole length values in the woodwinds. A quick flash of

notes before 191 signals the entrance of the brass and all voices continue to move

together until the end of the movement at 198. This entire movement is unlabeled

dynamically. Start soft and follow the line.

• 
  3/2 sostenuto, full WW melody w/ continuing timpani ostinato,
  

• 
  Full brass added to melody, flute / piccolo sustain tones, flute /
  

Last but not least, the 5th movement starts out appearing to be a percussion feature with a solo in the snare drum and adding cymbals, gong and various keyboard percussion gradually. They continue their 3 bar ostinato throughout the movement, but at 214, the flutes come in with the melody only to be joined by the clarinets 3 bars later. Each voice that enters with the melody from here on out always enters on the third bar giving the piece a bit of an unsettling quality. With the majority of the woodwinds now at some point in the melody, 223 heralds the entrance of trumpets, horns and trombones with an augmented version of the melody. Continuing in this way, not much changes rhythmically until 234 when we finally see some variation in 8th note grouping. Going off the idea of 3, the 8th notes appear to be groups in 3s rather than the standard 2 and then move to triplets before 241. Here begins the 20 measure long held trill in the upper woodwinds until the end. Meanwhile, all other voices create the harmonic push to the end with minor pentachords flourishes at the 16th note level until they, too, finally come to a held tied note at measure 254. 4 from the end there is a subito piano that allows the

band to create room to grow towards beat 2 of measure 261 before a final 16th note

flourish to end the piece.

• 
  3/4 con islancio (with fire), percussion soli, layering in with
  

• 
  Four groups of three measures – vibe solo with percussion, flute
  

phrases are completed in last three measures

• 
  Trumpets / horns / trombones play sustained figure over WW, low
  

• 
  Melodic motion begins to increase – first eighth notes, then
  

• 
  WW sustain over sixteenth note figures in clarinets / saxophones /
  

• 
  Sustained notes for first four measures save low WW, vibraphone,
  

sixteenth notes begin in percussion (temple blocks and eventually

snare figure from beginning of variation) and brass returns to

fortissimo for one last sixteenth note figure and push at the very

end of the piece
Suggested Listenings:

1. Brooklyn College Conservatory: John Barnes Chance, Incantation and Dance,

2. Johannes Brahms, Variations on a Theme by Haydn

3. Julian Lloyd Webber plays Korean traditional song Arirang, http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klu0kEMU6JA

4. Illinois State University Wind Symphony, The Legacy of John Barnes

Chance, Naxos

5. United States Army Field Band and Soldier’s Chorus, From Seoul to Berlin,

Naxos
Sources/Bibliography:

1. 
   Variations on a Korean Folksong, http://www2.okcu.edu/music/prgnotes.asp
   

foothill/pgm_note/notes_c.htm#Chance

2. 
   http://www2.okcu.edu/music/prgnotes.asp
   
3. 
   http://www.koreanamericanstory.org/arirang/flash/main/index.htm
   
4. 
   Program Notes for a Concert of International Folk Music by the Community Band of Brevard
   
5. 
   " John Barnes Chance." Ridgewood Concert Band. http://ridgewoodband.org/special/jbc.aspx
   

Chant and Jubilo

Francis McBeth

Jackie, Nat, Mary, Faithe

Biographical Information:

W. Francis McBeth was born March 9, 1933 in Lubbock, Texas. He died of a stroke January 6, 2012, his wife and two children surviving. He studied at Hardin-Simmons University, the University of Texas, and Eastman School of Music. McBeth was a professor and composer at Ouachita University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He held the position of music director for the Arkansas Symphony in Little Rock. McBeth was the recipient of numerous awards and achievements including, but not limited to: “Presley Award at Hardin-Simmons University, the Howard Hanson Prize at the Eastman School of Music, American School Band Directors Association's Edwin Franko Goldman Award, Fellow of the American Wind and Percussion Artists by the National Band Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's American Man of Music in 1988, Kappa Kappa Psi's National Service to Music Award, Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor in 1993, and Past President of the American Bandmasters Association” (Southern Music Composers). Finally, the Governor of Arkansas named McBeth Composer Laureate of the State of Arkansas in 1975.

Composition Information:

This piece was published in 1963 by the Southern Music Company. The work runs approximately six minutes long and is a grade IV. It was commissioned by Jerry Loveall and the Four States Bandmasters Convention in Texarkana, Texas. Francis McBeth conducted the first performance in January of 1962 by the Four States Bandmasters Band. The material from which this composition was written also appeared in McBeth’s Hymn for Band. The piece comprises of two connected but contrasting movements. The chant is modal and reminiscent of early church organum. The Jubilo is notable for its “explosive lower brass and percussion.”