Washington, DC -- “The President’s Own” Fall Chamber Music Series will continue with a concert of music that evokes modern imagery at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 14, at John Philip Sousa Band Hall located in the Marine Barracks Annex in southeast Washington, D.C. The concert is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. The program will also be streamed live at www.marineband.marines.mil and youtube.com/usmarineband.
“Towards the end of the 19th century, composers began to rely less on the traditional forms and harmonies of their predecessors,” said concert coordinator saxophonist Gunnery Sgt. David Jenkins. “Moving through the 20th century, and now into the 21st, composers continue to find new ways to create vivid scenes. This program presents works from 1938 through 2013 which all evoke strong imagery.”
Jenkins continued, “From the playful character sketches found in the works of Paul Bowles and William Albright, to the spacious, old cathedral of Pēteris Vasks and the Asian-inspired minimalism of Steve Reich, each piece rewards the imaginative listeners by creating a unique and fully-realized world of its’ own.”
The program will begin with Witold Lutoslawski’s Mini Overture, a work for brass quintet, followed by Pēteris Vasks’ Castillo Interior, a meditative work for violin and cello named in honor of the great 16th-century mystic and saint Teresa of Ávila.
The program continues with William Albright’s Pit Band; Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas; and Paul Bowles’ Music for a Farce. Pit Band is composed for the unique instrumentation of alto saxophone, bass clarinet, and piano. The composer said of the piece, “This work, with its unusual ensemble of three haphazard instruments—a pick-up band—attempts to digest an evening-long musical comedy in a few minutes.”
The program will close with Bernard Herrmann’s Echoes for String Quartet. Herrmann is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, which included "Vertigo," "Psycho," "Rear Window," "The Birds," and "North by Northwest." Echoes is one of the last works that Herrmann wrote that was not meant to accompany a film. However, some of the themes of this string quartet sound familiar, because they appeared in Herrmann’s scores for Hitchcock. The title of “echoes,” as noted by the composer himself, “is meant to imply a series of nostalgic emotional remembrances.”
Complete program and program notes
Directions and Parking Information
Watch the Live Stream