2008 Woodie Awards
Symphonic band 'blows' audience away
Lisa Haberzettl
Issue date: 12/10/07 Section: Style
The University of Maine Symphonic Band delivered a stellar performance on Thursday night at Hauck Auditorium. The venue saw a nearly full house for the first half of the performance. Conducting the symphonic band was Curvin Farnham; James Hebert, who sits first chair trombone, narrated the event, giving brief bits of historical background information on each piece.
The program opened with "Alleluia! Laudamus Te," written by Alfred Reed, a sweeping and engaging piece that siezed the audience's attention. The following piece was "Overture in C" written by Charles Catel in 1793, shortly after the end of the French revolution.
The following piece, "Wine From These Grapes," written by W. Francis McBeth, was commissioned in 1992 in memoriam of a late band conductor. The title is taken from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Much like Millay's poetry, "Wine From These Grapes" was a somber and heavy piece that left the audience feeling aurally exhausted.
The audience was given a bit of respite with "Variations on a Maine Theme." Written by Craig Skeffington in 2007, the piece was commissioned by the UMaine chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi in the memory of Richard Jacobs, a former clarinet professor from UMaine. Unlike the previous memorial piece, "Variations on a Maine Theme" was light and airy. If "Wine From These Grapes" was mourning death, "Variations" celebrated the life of Jacobs. At the conclusion of the piece, house lights went up and Farnham gestured to Skeffington to stand and take a bow.
While the second half of the concert didn't see as many seats filled as the first, the symphonic band continued to deliver. The band returned and brought the audience back with them with the rousing "Fanfare For West Point," composed by James Barnes. Just as the title suggests, the piece featured the brass section and was filled with flourishing major chords.
The mood in the auditorium dipped back to the somber side with "A Symphonic Prelude," another piece by Reed. Farnham stepped aside from the conductor's podium to allow Assistant Conductor Brady Harris to take over. As Hebert explained, Reed based the piece around the main melody from the folk song "Black in the Color of My True Love's Hair." The piece stayed true to the ballad-like song and the audience was lulled with sweet but mysterious counter-melodies from the woodwinds.
The program opened with "Alleluia! Laudamus Te," written by Alfred Reed, a sweeping and engaging piece that siezed the audience's attention. The following piece was "Overture in C" written by Charles Catel in 1793, shortly after the end of the French revolution.
The following piece, "Wine From These Grapes," written by W. Francis McBeth, was commissioned in 1992 in memoriam of a late band conductor. The title is taken from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Much like Millay's poetry, "Wine From These Grapes" was a somber and heavy piece that left the audience feeling aurally exhausted.
The audience was given a bit of respite with "Variations on a Maine Theme." Written by Craig Skeffington in 2007, the piece was commissioned by the UMaine chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi in the memory of Richard Jacobs, a former clarinet professor from UMaine. Unlike the previous memorial piece, "Variations on a Maine Theme" was light and airy. If "Wine From These Grapes" was mourning death, "Variations" celebrated the life of Jacobs. At the conclusion of the piece, house lights went up and Farnham gestured to Skeffington to stand and take a bow.
While the second half of the concert didn't see as many seats filled as the first, the symphonic band continued to deliver. The band returned and brought the audience back with them with the rousing "Fanfare For West Point," composed by James Barnes. Just as the title suggests, the piece featured the brass section and was filled with flourishing major chords.
The mood in the auditorium dipped back to the somber side with "A Symphonic Prelude," another piece by Reed. Farnham stepped aside from the conductor's podium to allow Assistant Conductor Brady Harris to take over. As Hebert explained, Reed based the piece around the main melody from the folk song "Black in the Color of My True Love's Hair." The piece stayed true to the ballad-like song and the audience was lulled with sweet but mysterious counter-melodies from the woodwinds.
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