The first Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album appeared in 1984 -- some 28 years ago. And recorded Christmas music has never been the same. Initially, major buyers and distributors didn't think that the modernized, electronic versions would work in the holiday genre. But Chip Davis persisted, and has sold 27 million Christmas records -- 9 million of that first CD. Mannheim Steamroller is produced and marketed through Davis' Omaha company, American Gramaphone, and now distributed through Universal Music.
Mannheim Steamroller has been doing Christmas tours for 27 years. There is so much demand that there are actually two tours going on at the same time -- a red tour and a green tour. This year, the eastern red tour will make it as far west as Kansas City on December 27 & 28, playing the Music Hall. The midwestern green tour will play Lincoln on December 19, at the Lied, and will make other stops in Kearney, Des Moines, and Omaha. Tickets are available through the Mannheim Steamroller website or at the Lied box office.
If you like Mannheim Steamroller's modernized arrangements of traditional Christmas carols, you might enjoy the Lincoln Community Concert Band's concert on Monday, December 10, at Kimball Recital Hall on the UN-L campus. The band will be playing the authorized concert band arrangements of the Mannheim Steamroller tunes. All Mannheim Steamroller. And admission is free.
Showing posts with label Lincoln Community Concert Band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lincoln Community Concert Band. Show all posts
Monday, December 3, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
President Garfield's Inauguration March to be Performed
President Garfield's Inauguration March will be performed on Monday night, October 15, 2012, at Kimball Recital Hall at UN-L. It will be performed by the Lincoln Community Concert Band as a part of their fall concert. The 7:30 p.m. concert is free. President Garfield is subject of Destiny of the Republic, the One Book One Lincoln selection for 2012.
A young John Philip Sousa wrote the march in 1881 for the March 4th inauguration of James A. Garfield as President of the United States. Sousa had been named leader of the U.S. Marine Corps Band in 1880. The march was first performed at the inauguration by the Marine Corps Band with Sousa conducting. Inaugural processions take a long time, and this march is a little longer than the typical Sousa march. Sousa also wrote a march for Garfield's 1881 funeral -- Garfield being the only president for whom Sousa wrote two marches.
Also on the band's concert will be three movements from Poulenc's Les Biches, the ballet which launched Francis Poulenc's career. The ballet was written in 1923 for Serge Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe, and premiered the following year. Les Biches has multiple translations and is a play on words, being a female deer (doe) or a darling. Poulenc (1899-1963) said that he based the work on paintings of Watteau depicting Louis XV and various women in Louis' deer park. The ballet was reorchestrated in 1939, and Poulenc pulled out an orchestral suite, from which these three pieces are taken.
Other works on the concert include a fantasy on sea songs, a selection of tunes from Meredith Willson's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," and selections by Chicago (the musical group) and the Kingston Trio.
A young John Philip Sousa wrote the march in 1881 for the March 4th inauguration of James A. Garfield as President of the United States. Sousa had been named leader of the U.S. Marine Corps Band in 1880. The march was first performed at the inauguration by the Marine Corps Band with Sousa conducting. Inaugural processions take a long time, and this march is a little longer than the typical Sousa march. Sousa also wrote a march for Garfield's 1881 funeral -- Garfield being the only president for whom Sousa wrote two marches.
Also on the band's concert will be three movements from Poulenc's Les Biches, the ballet which launched Francis Poulenc's career. The ballet was written in 1923 for Serge Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe, and premiered the following year. Les Biches has multiple translations and is a play on words, being a female deer (doe) or a darling. Poulenc (1899-1963) said that he based the work on paintings of Watteau depicting Louis XV and various women in Louis' deer park. The ballet was reorchestrated in 1939, and Poulenc pulled out an orchestral suite, from which these three pieces are taken.
Other works on the concert include a fantasy on sea songs, a selection of tunes from Meredith Willson's "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," and selections by Chicago (the musical group) and the Kingston Trio.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Haydn Who?
The Lincoln Community Concert Band is performing a mostly British concert Monday, March 19th, at 7:30 p.m. While several of the composers are well known, one in particular, is not -- especially in the U.S. That's Haydn Wood. In the UK, Wood is remembered as a composer of light orchestral music, but he was much more.
Haydn Wood (1882-1959) was born in Yorkshire, England into a very musical family, but at the age of 2, moved with his family to the Isle of Man, where he grew up. He was considered a violin prodigy, who entered the Royal College of Music at 15. He made a life of music, touring as a musician, composing songs, light music and serious classical music. A few of his songs became so popular in the World War I era (Roses of Picardy in particular) that Haydn Wood was able to compose what he wanted, rather than worrying about if his music would be published or performed.
Wood always considered the Isle of Man to be his home, and a number of his compositions recall that island in the Irish Sea. The band will be performing one of them, A Manx Overture: The Isle of Mountains and Glens. Some 40 of Wood's works are for band, either written or arranged. That's not suprising in that Haydn Wood's father conducted a brass band.
A Manx Overture can be heard Monday, March 19th, 7:30 p.m. at the College View Seventh Day Adventist Church here in Lincoln.
If you're interested in hearing more of Haydn Wood's works, the library has some CDs, including one with his Violin Concerto.
Haydn Wood (1882-1959) was born in Yorkshire, England into a very musical family, but at the age of 2, moved with his family to the Isle of Man, where he grew up. He was considered a violin prodigy, who entered the Royal College of Music at 15. He made a life of music, touring as a musician, composing songs, light music and serious classical music. A few of his songs became so popular in the World War I era (Roses of Picardy in particular) that Haydn Wood was able to compose what he wanted, rather than worrying about if his music would be published or performed.
Wood always considered the Isle of Man to be his home, and a number of his compositions recall that island in the Irish Sea. The band will be performing one of them, A Manx Overture: The Isle of Mountains and Glens. Some 40 of Wood's works are for band, either written or arranged. That's not suprising in that Haydn Wood's father conducted a brass band.
A Manx Overture can be heard Monday, March 19th, 7:30 p.m. at the College View Seventh Day Adventist Church here in Lincoln.
If you're interested in hearing more of Haydn Wood's works, the library has some CDs, including one with his Violin Concerto.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Howard Hanson's Laude
One of the more interesting pieces being performed in Lincoln this month is Howard Hanson's Laude: Chorale, Variations and Metamorphoses. Hanson wrote Laude as a commission for the College Band Directors National Association in 1975. It was premiered in Berkeley, California at the association's annual conference by the California State University Long Beach Band, conducted by Larry Curtis.
While Howard Hanson (1896-1981) is remembered as a composer of orchestral music (as well as being the director of the Eastman School of Music and the first American to win the Prix de Rome), he wrote several works for band throughout his career, works which are considered important in 20th century American band literature.
In his later years, Hanson looked back to his childhood in Wahoo, Nebraska for inspiration. Laude reflects this, as it is based on a Swedish chorale he knew as a child, All the world praises the Lord, a paraphrase of Psalm 150, which Hanson quotes as "Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, With psaltery and harp, With timbrel and dance, With string instruments and organs, Praise him upon the loud cymbals, the high-sounding cymbals, Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
Laude begins with a unison statement of the chorale theme accompanied by percussion, and fanfares. Throughout the piece, percussion sets off the variations, which are in various moods and tempos. In the seventh variation, the chorale returns in the Lydian mode, one of the ancient church modes, and the sound grows. Finally a simple melody from Hanson's childhood (and his Third symphony) appears, with the chorale superimposed, moving to the final climax of the work. (Thanks to Howard Hanson's extensive notes for the premier for some of these thoughts).
If you would like to hear Laude, it will be performed by the Lincoln Community Concert Band at Kimball Recital Hall on Monday, December 12, 2011, at 7:30 pm. The free concert is just one of many interesting musical events in Lincoln this month.
While Howard Hanson (1896-1981) is remembered as a composer of orchestral music (as well as being the director of the Eastman School of Music and the first American to win the Prix de Rome), he wrote several works for band throughout his career, works which are considered important in 20th century American band literature.
In his later years, Hanson looked back to his childhood in Wahoo, Nebraska for inspiration. Laude reflects this, as it is based on a Swedish chorale he knew as a child, All the world praises the Lord, a paraphrase of Psalm 150, which Hanson quotes as "Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet, With psaltery and harp, With timbrel and dance, With string instruments and organs, Praise him upon the loud cymbals, the high-sounding cymbals, Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
Laude begins with a unison statement of the chorale theme accompanied by percussion, and fanfares. Throughout the piece, percussion sets off the variations, which are in various moods and tempos. In the seventh variation, the chorale returns in the Lydian mode, one of the ancient church modes, and the sound grows. Finally a simple melody from Hanson's childhood (and his Third symphony) appears, with the chorale superimposed, moving to the final climax of the work. (Thanks to Howard Hanson's extensive notes for the premier for some of these thoughts).
If you would like to hear Laude, it will be performed by the Lincoln Community Concert Band at Kimball Recital Hall on Monday, December 12, 2011, at 7:30 pm. The free concert is just one of many interesting musical events in Lincoln this month.
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