July 14, 2014 -- The Marine Band’s Summer Fare concerts this week feature newly commissioned 1st Lt. Ryan J. Nowlin making his conducting debut in his new role as Assistant Director. Nowlin was commissioned and appointed Assistant Director in a ceremony on July 3 in John Philip Sousa Band Hall at the Marine Barracks Annex in Washington, D.C. The evening performances at 8 p.m., Wednesday, July 16, and Thursday, July 17, on the west steps of the U.S. Capitol, will include marches by John Philip Sousa and Henry Fillmore, Gustav Holst’s Suite in F for Military Band, and Carmen Dragon’s arrangement of Samuel Augustus Ward’s “America, the Beautiful.” Both concerts are free and no tickets are required.
The concert will begin with Sousa’s march, “The National Game,” written for the 50th anniversary of baseball’s National League, followed by Joseph Wilcox Jenkins’ American Overture for Band and Jean Baptiste-Arban’s “Carnival of Venice,” featuring tuba soloist Gunnery Sgt. Franklin Crawford. “Carnival of Venice” was originally written for trumpet but arranged for tuba by Richard Domek of University of Kentucky. The set of variations was written in the early 1860s and was undeniably inspired by Niccolo Paganini’s 20 variations for violin. It remains one of the great showpieces for brass soloists today.
One of the highlights of the program, Holst’s Suite in F for Military Band uses seven traditional English folk melodies, including the familiar, lyrical melody of “Greensleeves.” While other composers of the time wrote for the concert band as they would for an orchestra without strings, Holst created a unique sound intended to cast the concert band as a serious concert medium.
The second half of the concert includes Fillmore’s “The Circus Bee” march and Sammy Nestico’s arrangement of Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane’s “The Trolley Song” from Meet Me in St. Louis, featuring mezzo-soprano Gunnery Sgt. Sara Dell’Omo. The concert will conclude with Marine Band music production chief Master Sgt. Donald Patterson’s transcription of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Festive Overture followed by Dragon’s majestic and inspirational arrangement of “America, the Beautiful.”
Complete Program and Notes
Inclement weather announcements will be made after 6 p.m. on the Marine Band Concert Information Line at (202) 433-4011. For more information, please visit www.marineband.marines.mil.