The Wind Symphony went back in time on Nov. 7, specifically to 1963, when they played music all from that year. Prior to the start of the symphony, Associate Professor of Communications Jeff Halliday took the podium as announcer for the event. He asked everyone to stand and take part in singing the National Anthem while the performers played the notes in the background. Even the first performance was excellently completed.
Halliday proceeded to list off events both national and local that influenced the performance. The first piece by, “A Festive Overture,” was well played, and the music flowed nicely together.
The piece, composed by Alfred Reed, was exciting and definitely a good festive piece to open with. It was also possibly an appropriate piece to begin with as Reed was also a member of the Beta Tau Chapter for Phi Mu Alpha at Baylor University.
The crescendo for the composition was intense and proceeded into well, rising to the note. The piece flowed into a smoother melody, much calmer than it began, before rising again suddenly into the final portion of the piece. The music definitely held transitioned melodies that seemed to captivate the audience.
Overall it was an excellent first number to open with. The second piece, “Elegy for A Young American” by LoPresti, focused on the events surrounding the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It was a “dramatic work expressing the sorrow … over the president’s death,” as Halliday said.
The piece allowed the audience to feel the intensity of the day and time throughout the melody. The emotion behind it was extremely apparent. Through the notes and the work, the piece followed the moments leading up to the assassination.
The event and the post sorrow all were identified by the notes whether soft or bass-centered. It was definitely one of the most powerful pieces of the night.
“Liturgical Music for Band” played next. The work, by composer Martin Mailman, was interesting, broken up into four different parts made apparent by the pause between each one as students flipped the page on the piece.
The composition parts included Introit, Kyrie, Gloria and ended with Alleluia. 1996 alumni, James Lyle, Jr., the now Minister of Music at Mt. Peace Baptist Church in North Carolina, assisted in “American Guernica” by Adolphus Hailstork.
The special guest received visible importance in the program as his work was written out under the list of pieces to be performed. Lyle took the piano during the performance which included breaks when Lyle would be solo on the instrument while his moments were surrounded by the intensity of the day brought out through the loud beating of the drums and quick melodies.
The piece included the use of an instrument used in creating a fire truck’s siren-sound. The chaos of the day was beautifully illustrated and orchestrated through the sound of the music and allowed and extreme amount of emotion to be apparent in one work.
The final piece performed, “Thundercrest March” by Eric Osterling had “harmonies… thick and more extensive” as Professor Halliday read before the performance. The work reflected the jazz music that was popular at the time. The music was refreshingly uplifting and definitely a strong way to end the night.
The performance was directed and conducted by Dr. Gordon Ring, Professor of Music. Ring led his classes extremely well and allowed them to bring the audience one of the best recitals with some of the best-picked compositions that brought the year in particular to life. The audience was appropriately engulfed by the music throughout the evening.
