The Naperville Winds at Carnegie Hall

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Program Notes

Overture to “Candide”

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
arr. Clare Grundman (1913-1996)

Few have contributed more to American musical culture than Leonard Bernstein. Equally gifted as a conductor, composer, concert pianist, and teacher, he excelled at finding ways to connect with different audiences. In the nearly thirty-five years since his death in 1990, both his music and status as an American icon continue to flourish. He composed in a diverse array of genres during his prolific career, blurring the lines between classical and popular styles. He wrote works not only for the concert stage, ballet, and opera; but also for film and Broadway. His music for West Side Story is some of the most recognizable in the musical theater repertoire.

Bernstein established himself as one of the first American-born conductors to achieve international fame. He served as music director of the New York Philharmonic and appeared in living rooms across the nation in his landmark televised Young People’s Concerts, which aired for years on CBS.

Bernstein composed an equally innovative score for the musical theater stage a few years before the debut of West Side Story. Candide was composed between 1953 and 1956 and is based on the 1759 French satire Candide or Optimism by Voltaire. The libretto is both irreverent and emotionally rich, and Bernstein’s brilliant music brings to life the story of Candide, his true love Cunégonde, and their tutor Doctor Pangloss. The brief overture is chock-full of the youthful optimism that underscores much of the show and quotes several of the most memorable songs.

Although the initial reception and lasting success of Candide pales in comparison to West Side Story, its overture has endured as one of the most frequently performed concert openers in the orchestra and band repertoires.

– Program notes from the United States Marine Band

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Roma

Valerie Coleman (b. 1970)

A nation without a country is the best way to describe the nomadic tribes known as gypsies, or properly called, the Romani. Their traditions, their language (Roma), legends, and music stretch all over the globe, from the Middle East, the Mediterranean region, and the Iberiean peninsula, across the ocean to the Americas. ROMA is a tribute to that culture, in five descriptive themes, as told through the eyes and hearts of Romani women everywhere: “Roman Woman,” “Mystic,” “Youth,” “Trickster,”, and History. The melodies and rhythms are a fusion of styles and cultures: Malagueña of Spain, Argentine Tango, Arabic music, Turkish folk songs, 3/2 Latin claves, and jazz.

ROMA is quicksilver in nature: there are many contrasting themes and layers with very little transition. The work should be well-paced in performance, always passionate and intense, with a flow and groove in rhythmic passages (never stiff or square).

Section I: Introduction: “Romani Woman” (mm. 1-39)

A dolce introduction sets the scene in a descriptive way: an old woman fortune teller reading the palm of a client, giving the sense of romantic mysticism, or even tragedy. She is frail, but within her is the strength and fire of the Romani (alto saxophone solo and cadenza).

Section II: Four Main Themes (mm. 40-296)

Theme I: “Mystic” begins at B with a clarinet and tambourine/doumbek blend. The clarinet timbre should favor a more sotto voce color to give a mysterious quality to the melody. The color does not mean a softer, barely audible sound, as it is the foreground to the accompanying percussion. The clarinet (and whole ensemble) should treat the Mystic melody the way a violinist interprets Piazzolla’s concert Argentinean tango music: the notes that have tenuto/accent markings should be played with as much spice as the performer can muster, giving sizzle to accented notes. The tambourine line should be played sharply, precisely, as dry as possible. Performing this type of articulation with a “dotted quarter – dotted quarter – quarter” rhythm runs the risk of rushing however, so one must be exceptionally vigilant about staying in the pocket. The doumbek here is in its simplest form, with little to no embellishments.

Theme II: “Youth” (mm. 64-79): In measure 64, the upper winds should perform the countermelody with a warm singing quality, never strident. This is a more youthful, playful melody depicting a young Romani girl in Spain. The key here and throughout the piece is to achieve a consistency of style with the main melody as it grows (through adding on instruments), while keeping a light feel that grooves.

Theme III: “Trickster” (mm. 124-228): Following the transition that starts in m. 124, there is a winding down into a jazzier section. The persona of mischief and thievery that stereotypically depicts the Romani as tricksters is found in the tutti trombone melody, supported by the 3/2 claves in the lower woodwinds. The trombones should use big band jazz phrasing and articulations, while interjections in the upper winds should stay light and easy, still using the tango articulations from before. F is the transition full of twists and turns. Syncopation should be played still within the big band style, with the trumpets on harmon mutes, stems out. Clarinets and lower winds in m. 212 should blend together, creating a smooth and airy cocoon of sound with intense Middle Eastern-style melody. 

Theme IV: “History” (mm. 229-296): This section represents the proud Romani nation through the horn melody. At the Molto meno mosso, keep the tempo well-paced and majestic, with an instantaneous faster tempo at the Molto piu mosso (mm. 251-254). Return quickly to the mood and slower tempo of the Molto meno mosso.

Section III: Recap of Themes and Coda

The jazz section returns at the Molto piu mosso of m. 297, and the trombones once again take the lead. This jazz section acts as a transition to the return of a variation of the Roma melody played by trumpet 1. When the Roma melody fully returns in m. 351, it should be played with a sense of abandon, the tone of the saxophones and clarinets intense. The tones should be a little brighter and somewhat nasal, giving a vocal and slightly brazen vocal quality to it (still very proud). This building of intensity will set up the Malagueña feel of the end, four measures after J. At this point I can’t help but to think of the successive spinning of belly dancers, veils flying through the air, with turns getting faster and more intense ending with a drum roll and dramatic pose.

– Program notes from score

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Bamboo Shoots and City Streets

Benjamin Barker (b. 1995)

This piece is an exploration of the blend between tradition and urbanization, inspired by bamboo shoots I saw growing in the middle of the pavement while on a walk with a friend. I wondered what it would sound like to tell the story of the resilience and adaptability of these bamboo shoots as they continue to grow and adapt in an ever urbanizing environment.

I explored this concept by blending genres of music that represent both tradition and urbanization. Tradition is represented through the sounds of traditional Japanese music forms (such as gagaku or taiko), while urbanization is represented through the inclusion of elements of pop, rock, metal, and jazz. 

The piece begins in the midst of a forest of bamboo shoots. With each sudden percussive impact a new shoot bursts through the ground. The woodwinds and xylophone assist us in moving forward while weaving through the narrow spaces between bamboo stalks. As the texture thins out and moves outside of the forest, we are suddenly thrown thrusted into an urban landscape.

The next section features stereotypical city sounds: car horns via muted trumpets, passing traffic in the trombones, and a general sense of busy hurriedness represented through the constantly moving and evolving textures. The string bass, drumset, low brass, and low reeds are frequently treated as a jazz rhythm section. It is also in this section that we are exposed to the introduction of the main theme of this piece (first seen in the horns at measure 44). This theme, for me, brought to mind the image of bamboo swaying in the wind, and returns multiple times in several environments throughout the piece, displaying the many places bamboo is able to adapt and flourish. While the soundscape painted here sounds largely urban, it is important to note that the majority of material in this section is based on traditional Japanese music forms: the initial rhythmic figure in the horns and saxophones is derived from solo shamisen music, the woodwinds regularly interrupt phrases with shakuhachi-like motivic elements, many of the harmonies featured later in the section are directly taken from gagaku, and the initial “bamboo forest” triplet figures found in the xylophone and woodwinds in the beginning are hidden within the jazz saxophone solis. As all of these sounds and textures develop, they grow increasingly urgent and intense, building to an overwhelming extent.

Next, an escape to the countryside. The business and complexity of the city disappears, and we are able to reflect on the beauty of the bamboo in its more natural habitat. A modified form of our original bamboo forest theme, cognizant of a river, is developed in sequence to build into a new presentation of the main theme (rhythmically modified with transposed pitches, but otherwise the same). This restatement of the main theme is accompanied by the nostalgic sounds of a fuurin (wind chime), shakuhachi-like figures in the flutes, more fragments of the bamboo forest theme, and the harmony that I largely associate with pop and rock music. We come to a full realization of the beauty of this scenery in measure 140, and then return to our sequential river texture from before which fades into a serene stillness. 

Suddenly, in a very unexpected location, we are thrust back into the bamboo forest theme once again. This is the bamboo in the pavement: defiant and resolute. Taiko drums set an underlying determination that drives this section forward while an assortment of battle-cries in the brass intermingle with the familiar sounds of festival music in the woodwinds. This section ebbs and flows, growing into a shameless metal groove before thrusting us, once more, into a majestic and powerful resurgence of the main theme. This theme reminds us of tradition’s firm roots that have persisted and adapted through an ever-urbanizing environment, continuing to grow in power and intensity up to the very last note.

-Program note by composer

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About The Naperville Winds

The Naperville Winds comprises talented musicians from across Chicagoland and beyond. It is the ensemble’s mission to promote the very best wind band repertoire from a diverse array of styles, time periods, and composers. The Naperville Winds rehearse weekly from August through April and perform four concerts per season.

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The Naperville Winds Board of Directors

Rudi Schwerdle, President
Ken Kelly, Vice President
Barb Holland, Secretary
Nate Dickman, Treasurer
Claudia Andrews and Lori Foster, Board Members at Large

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Alyssa Arkin, Conductor

Ms. Alyssa Arkin earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she played clarinet in the Illinois Wind Symphony and studied conducting with Dr. Linda Moorhouse. Alyssa earned her Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting and Clarinet Performance degree from the University of Florida and studied with Dr. David Waybright and Professor Mitchell Estrin. She was awarded the 2018 CBDNA Mike Moss Conducting Study Grant.

Alyssa is a passionate educator with experience teaching in Illinois and Florida. She currently teaches band in Glen Ellyn School District 41 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois and serves as a woodwind instructor for the Bison Marching Band at Buffalo Grove High School in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. 

Alyssa would like to express her immense gratitude and love for her family, especially her parents, Phil and Jill, and the members of the Naperville Winds. She dedicates tonight’s performance to the memory of her best friend and biggest band supporter, her late brother Christian “Bubba” Arkin.

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The Naperville Winds Personnel