Concord Band to Perform Massachusetts Premiere of Twilight of the Gods
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Dr. Andrew Boysen rehearses the Concord Band in his new piece
Twilight of the Gods.
Photo by Neil Tischler.
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Concord, Mass, February 8, 2011 —
The highlight of the Concord Band’s upcoming Winter Concert will be
the Massachusetts premiere of Andrew Boysen's Twilight of the
Gods, as the Band continues its nationally acclaimed tradition of
commissioning new pieces for concert band.
The theme of the concert is “New and Blue,” reflecting a mix
of pieces selected by Music Director James O’Dell that are new for
the Band, have a jazz/blues feel, or are related to the color blue.
The concert will take place at 8:00 pm on March 5, 2011 at the Performing
Arts Center at 51 Walden in Concord.
The program will also include Fruitlands Overture, conducted by
newly appointed Assistant Conductor Steven Barbas.
This piece was composed by Dr. William G. McManus, the Concord
Band’s Music Director Emeritus, and first performed on June 30,
2010 at Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, Mass., the Band’s summer
home.
One of the themes of the piece has a blues feel, so the composition is
both “new” and “blue.”
Continuing the theme, Roger Cichy’s Colours is an
impressionistic work with each of the six movements representing a
particular color.
For example, the third movement of this 1997 composition is called
“Blue Sapphire.”
Also on the program will be Firework by Jan Van der Roost,
Three Jazz Moods by John Lewis, Ralph Vaughan Williams’
Sea Songs, and selections from George Gershwin's Porgy and
Bess.
Twilight of the Gods is an exciting and energetic piece
depicting the story of Ragnarok and the end of the world as told in Norse
mythology.
The story encompasses a series of events, starting with a relentless
winter leading to a series of civil wars across the earth, and concluding
with a great battle between the gods and their adversaries, resulting in
their deaths and the destruction of the earth.
The earth then rises once more, new gods take control of the heavens, and
the human race is born again through two survivors.
(More detailed program notes on Twilight of the Gods are available
here.)
Andrew Boysen, Jr. is presently a professor in the music department at
the University of New Hampshire, where he conducts the wind symphony and
teaches conducting, composition and orchestration.
Twilight of the Gods was commissioned by a consortium of 26
university and community bands, including the Concord Band.
Since 1967 the Band has either commissioned or has had written for it 65
new works for symphonic wind ensemble—possibly more than any other
community band in the world.
The concert begins at 8:00 pm in The Performing Arts Center at 51
Walden Street in Concord on Saturday, March 5, 2011.
Tickets are $15 each ($5 for students and seniors) and are available at
the door.
The Concord Band, founded in 1959, is one of the leading community
concert bands in the United States.
It is well known for its innovative programming and the exceptional
quality of its commissioned pieces.
It presents both formal and Pops concerts throughout the year.
Thousands attend its summer concerts each year at Fruitlands Museum in
Harvard, Massachusetts.
For additional information, contact Peter Norton,
Concord Band Publicity.
Visit our website at
www.concordband.org.
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