Masters of Composition

North America offers us good examples of how the culture of wind orchestras results from the confluence of many musical traditions, from those of indigenous peoples to those brought by Europeans. With particular expression in the last century, these orchestras have shown themselves capable of satisfying multiple purposes, with different musical styles and diverse social affinities. It was then that the repertoire grew; when it ceased to consist fundamentally of adaptations of scores originally written for other instrumental formations. The most prestigious composers then began to compose expressly for wind orchestras.

This program of the Metropolitan Wind Orchestra brings together four works that illustrate this richness and diversity. It begins with An Outdoor Overture, a piece composed by Aaron Copland in 1938 for the students of the School of Music and Art in New York. This is followed by musical portrayals of four scenes from Mark Twain’s famous book Huckleberry Finn. The music was composed by Swiss Franco Cesarini in 2005. From Samuel Barber, we can hear a military march that he composed shortly after enlisting in the US Army during World War II in 1943. Finally, traditional Armenian dances and melodies recovered as early as the 1970s by a Manhattan-born Austrian descendant, Alfred Reed.

Programme

Aaron Copland An Outdoor Overture
Franco Cesarini Huckleberry Finn Suite
Samuel Barber Commando March
Alfred Reed Armenian Dances (Part 1)

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