Ensemble receives standing ovation
Sammy Gradwohl
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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The first part of the program featured the "Ungrounded Marches"-the Coast Guard March, the "Anchors Aweigh" March, the Air Mobility Command March and the Flieger-Marsch, the march of the Austrian Air Force. The Coast Guard March opened with a bright trumpet fanfare and a trumpet theme supported by the saxophones. Lively and upbeat throughout, the piece also allowed a great display of dynamic contrast. The smooth, contrasting second section started with the flutes and clarinets, and then built upon itself until the entire group joined in at the end.
The "Anchors Aweigh" March started with a fanfare from the whole ensemble. The opening section's theme also showed great dynamic range, obvious crescendos and diminuendos accentuated by the ever-present drum roll. Halfway through, the familiar "anchors aweigh" voiced itself through the saxophones and clarinets, decorated by flute and piccolo. Finally, elements of both themes came together, and a key change provided a nice dramatic effect.
The last piece before intermission was the fifth movement of Johan de Meij's Symphony No. 1: The Lord of the Rings for Wind Orchestra. The movement, entitled "Hobbits," personified the hobbits' journeys from Hobbiton through Middle Earth and finally over the sea for the first and last time. It opened with drones from the saxophones, which gradually complicated rhythmically as the rest of the brass, and the other sections as well, joined in with a medley of different ideas. The first main idea was very lighthearted and playful and flitted from section to section. The second section, by contrast, was very slow and somewhat solemn, almost majestic as the drums kept a steady march over the theme in the rest of the band. The ending was much quieter, but still rather determined, and the notes faded out quietly into nothing as the piece ended.
The first piece of the concert's second half was the final march of the evening, the Gasparilla Day March, a pirate march. It had some elements of a traditional march, but the opening theme sounded more like a dance than anything else. This feeling was heightened by the addition of a tambourine to the instrumentation. The dancelike undertone remained throughout as the motive expanded through the instruments.
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