ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The Marine Band will open its Fall 2024 Chamber Music Series at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6 with a program of pieces inspired by historical Marine Band performances. Coordinated by clarinetist Gunnery Sgt. Lucia Disano, the concert will take place at The Alexandria History Museum at the Lyceum in Alexandria. This concert is free and no tickets are required, however, attendees may pre-register on the Lyceum's website.
“When programming this concert, I was inspired by the rich history of the Lyceum and its historic ties to the Marine Band. My hope is that we can transport our audience back to 19th century Alexandria—to envision how dramatically different the very ground beneath our feet once looked—and to marvel at the echoes of nearly 200 years of Marine Band history,” Disano said.
Disano collaborated with Marine Band Historian Staff Sgt. Philip Espe and Jim Holloway of the Lyceum to produce this program. Espe and Holloway researched Marine Band performances in Alexandria throughout the organization’s history to curate a musical examining the history and future of “The President’s Own.”
Program
Directions and parking
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Read what Disano and Espe had to say about the Oct. 6 program:
Disano: Francis Hopkinson’s Washington’s March and Francis Scala’s Medley of Patriotic Airs take us back to the early days of the Marine Band, when the Band looked much different than it does now. In that era, “The President’s Own" often played fife and drum music; not the type of musical groupings we think of in a modern ensemble.
Espe: The first pieces of the program take us straight into the Marine Band’s past. The first, Washington’s March by Francis Hopkinson, celebrates perhaps the most famous Alexandrian: George Washington. Newspaper reports from the early 19th century cite the Marine Band playing in celebratory parades in Alexandria. It’s easy to imagine Washington’s March echoing through the streets of Alexandria during one of these parades. Washington’s March is paired with Francis Scala’s Medley of Patriotic Airs. Many of the accounts of the Marine Band’s activities in the 19th century refer to the Marine Band playing “various patriotic airs.” Francis Scala, one of the Marine Band’s most influential directors in the mid-19th century, had a great hand in this. Scala, an immigrant from Italy, loved opera just like Abraham Lincoln. During his tenure as director of the Marine Band, Scala balanced the repertoire of the band between Western classical art music and homegrown American patriotic music like this medley of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” and the “Battle Cry of Freedom” among other recognizable tunes.
Disano: I love Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Once again, I chose this piece to evoke the Lyceum’s storied past. For many years, the Lyceum was a private home, so instead of grand public concerts, the more intimate sounds of salon music would have filled its halls. This piece embodies everything audiences have come to expect from operatic music: it is dramatic, expressive, and virtuosic. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Clarinet Quintet was born out of a challenge from his teacher, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, who suggested that it was impossible to write a clarinet quintet without being influenced by the iconic Brahms quintet. In the exciting and beautiful finale, one can hear the influences of Dvořák and Elgar, but no Brahms—at least, not according to Stanford, who, upon hearing it, famously declared: “You’ve done it, my boy!”
Espe: “The inclusion of Carmen as arranged by Michael Webster is a nod to Scala and Lincoln’s love of opera. Here, it will be performed by flute, clarinet, and piano trio – an ensemble evoking the late 19th century salon music style that would have been heard in the Lyceum’s past. Coleridge-Taylor, on the other hand, was an extraordinarily successful Black British composer of the late 19th and early 20th century. He has a fascinating connection to Marine Band history. On Coleridge-Taylor’s first tour of the United States, he conducted the newly formed Marine Band Orchestra in a performance of his Hiawatha Suite.”
Disano: The second half of the concert opens with my colleague Master Gunnery Sgt. Alan Prather’s improvised solo guitar arrangement of Johnny Green’s “Body and Soul.” I put this piece here so the audience can experience the full breadth of Marine Band talent; it’s the only jazz piece on the program.
Following “Body and Soul,” Karel Husa’s Five Poems for Wind Quintet makes a departure from the pieces that precede it, highlighting the dramatic evolution of wind music in the 20th century. This work is inspired by birds and the natural "poetry" they create through flight and song. Husa said the following of this work:
“The five poems—one preceded by a short interlude (Lamenting Bird)—express my admiration for these wonderful creatures, who embellish our lives so magically. They are only imaginary poems (there are no words, as the poems have not been written). The suggested titles give the listeners free imagination. Musically, I have tried to bring new possibilities of techniques and sound combinations, as well as highlight the present virtuosity of woodwind performers.”
Finally, we end the concert looking at the future of the Marine Band. Marine Band Librarian Elena Specht wrote Light the Day for the Training Groove project. It was originally inspired by her morning trail runs in Colorado and was intended as recovery music for runners. It’s equally captivating in the concert hall. Its calming, optimistic, and meditative qualities offer the perfect soundtrack for reflecting on the future of American music.”
Espe: The second half of the concert looks at the Marine Band’s repertoire in the 20th and 21st century. A performance of Johnny Green’s immortal standard “Body and Soul” reflects the Marine Band’s work as the ensemble of the White House, providing jazz and cocktail music for the President and their guests. Karel Husa’s Five Poems for Wind Quintet follows. One of the most influential composers of the 20th century, Husa’s Concerto for Wind Ensemble was performed at a gala concert as the winner of the first Louis Sudler International Wind Band Composition Competition in 1984 with the composer conducting the Marine Band at the Kennedy Center.