Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble: Counterpoint

MAGNUS LINDBERG: Gran Duo for Woodwind and Brass (2000)

IGOR STRAVINSKY: Symphonies d'instruments à vent (1920/1947)

—INTERMISSION—

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Toccata Marziale (1924)

CINDY McTEE: California Counterpoint (1993)

MAGNUS LINDBERG: Gran Duo for Woodwind and Brass (2000)
Gran Duo is a dialogue between the two orchestral families of woodwind and brass, each with their respective material. Their initial characters, equating to the poetic stereotypes of "masculine" and "feminine," become progressively blurred and androgynised during the course of the work, as larger sound masses give way to chamber music-style subgroupings and individual instrumental solos. Lindberg, a master of orchestral sound, has chosen virtually the same forces as Stravinsky in his Symphonies of Wind Instruments; and with its five connected movements, Gran Duo is a symphony in the modern sense—a darkly brooding, yet peaceful work that reflects something of a unique landscape.

—program note by the publisher

IGOR STRAVINSKY: Symphonies d'instruments à vent (1920/1947)
Symphonies for Wind Instruments was completed in 1920 and is an odd piece in the oeuvre of Igor Stravinsky. The instrumentation of the piece is for an extended orchestral wind section without strings and had been adopted into the wind band repertoire following the creation of the Eastman Wind Ensemble in 1952. The title can be somewhat confusing, but one must go to the ancient definition of symphony, meaning "a group of instruments sounding together." With this in mind, the listener can now discern it from what we know a "symphony" to be today. In Stravinsky's mind, each section of homogeneous-sounding instruments (i.e., flutes, clarinets, double reeds, trumpets, etc.) is a symphony. These symphonies make up the four different episodes of the piece. With excerpts of the chorale interspersed within these episodes, the listener will hear a piece in a form all its own.

The 1920 version was premiered by the famous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitsky. Stravinsky decided to make a new version from his first proof and a piano reduction. The new 1947 version came with changes in instrumentation and phrase length. Malcolm McDonald says of the two versions, "...the original version is the more redolent of the liturgy and Russian orthodox church music; the revised version is more abstract, more a cubist play of colors and planes."

—Jeffrey E. de Seriere II, for the California State University, Long Beach, Wind Symphony

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Toccata Marziale (1924)
Toccata Marziale, written in 1924, was Vaughan Williams’s second work for military band and is one of the most significant contributions to the wind band literature. The word “toccata” comes from the Italian toccare, meaning “to touch,” hence its association with the early Baroque virtuoso keyboard pieces written by Frescobaldi and others. Toccata Marziale is a contrapuntal masterpiece for wind ensemble, in which textures are juxtaposed in massed effects with large sections of winds and brasses. A rhythmic vigor, as suggested by the title, permeates the piece, and Vaughan Williams’s brilliant scoring reveals the fundamental properties of the band’s sonority and its instrumental virtuosity and color.

—Frederick Fennell

CINDY McTEE: California Counterpoint (1993)
California Counterpoint was originally written for orchestra (entitled The Twittering Machine) and later adapted for wind ensemble. The title is intended to recognize California conductor Mitch Fennell for having organized the commission to adapt the piece for winds, and is also meant to express my life-long fascination with the work of painter Paul Klee.

There are elements of danger in Klee's painting: arrows piercing some of the birds, a gaping hole or ditch the birds might fall into, and the presence of an exclamation mark, which is a recurring symbol in Klee's work, meant to suggest impending doom.

Most important is my intention that the work, like Klee's Twittering Machine, conveys movement—that it engages the body as well as the mind—that it "dance!"

—program note by the composer

PICCOLO
Kristalis Sotomayor Matos, M.M. '24
Anna Fisher-Roberts, M.M. '23

FLUTE
Hannah Elizabeth Tobias, M.M. '23, Principal*
Nuala Imrie, B.M. '23, Principal^ 
Dayna Dengler, B.M. '26

OBOE
Christian Arroyo Castillo, M.M. '23, Principal*
Christian Panigua, B.M. '23, Principal^
Maya Kaya, B.M. '26
Taylor Childress, B.M. '24, English horn

CLARINET
Marco Chen, G.P.D. '24, Principal*
Gippeum Nam, B.M. '23, Principal^
Cheng Lin Yang, M.M. '23, E-flat clarinet
Alainna Pack, B.M. '25
Annika Pollock, B.M. '25
Lesly Chavez, B.M. '26
Maxwell Reed, B.M. '24, bass clarinet

BASSOON
Lizzie Sylves, B.M. '25, Principal*
Kaitlyn White, B.M. '24, Principal^
Jae Demers, B.M. '25
Lizi Huang, B.M. '23, contrabassoon

SAXOPHONE
Ana Díaz Asencio, M.M. '24, soprano
Christian Arroyo Castillo, M.M. '23, alto
Alexander Dawson, B.M. '26, tenor
Emily Weaver, B.M. '23, baritone

HORN
Yixiang Wang, M.M. '23, Principal*
Maya Schiek, M.M. '23, Principal^
Holly Fullerton, B.M. '26
Amber Dai, M.M. '24

TRUMPET
Robbie Adams, guest artist, Principal*
Max Ignas, guest artist, Principal^
Elliot Wlasiuk, B.M. '26
Caleb Walker, guest artist (Berklee College of Music)

TROMBONE
Jack Armstrong, M.M. '24, Principal*
Aidan Davidson, B.M. '24,  Principal^
Zhenzhen Qian, M.M. '23
Lauren Galarraga, B.M. '24
Derek Putnam, B.M. '24, bass trombone

EUPHONIUM
Lauren Galarraga, B.M. '24, Principal 

TUBA
Ben Pilon, B.M. '24

PERCUSSION
April Ong, B.M. '24
Xingyue Xue, B.M. '23
Christian Weimer, B.M. '25
Jialiu Du, B.M. '26
Ritvik Yaparpalvi, B.M. '25

PIANO
Julian Durr, B.M. '25, Principal 

BASS
Jacob Slater, M.M. '24, Principal

*Principal first half
^Principal second half

Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera 
Concert Production Coordinator – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Manager of Performance Technology – Wes Fowler
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov