Category: Previous Performances

Join RCO for our summer outdoor concert at Glen Miller Park’s Roosevelt Hill Bandshell
Bring your own lawn chair.
Free Admission.

Program

Malaga – Spanish March  Josef Rixner 1902-1973

Rixner was a German composer who wrote light music in the 1930s and early 1940s in Berlin. He also wrote a good bit of brass band music. This ‘Spanish’ march was written in 1938.

Frenesi  Alberto Dominguez Borras  1906-1975

Frenesi (translates to Frenzy) was originally written as a marimba solo. It was ‘covered’ by many musicians and bands over the years. Artie Shaw wanted to add strings to his band arrangements so he had William Grant Still arrange the piece for his big band. Shaw’s recording was released in December of 1940 and remained #1 on the charts for 13 weeks.

Light Cavalry Overture – Franz von Suppe 1819-1895

As is typical of von Suppe, the overture to this operetta has outlived the original stage work it was written for. First performed in 1866 this piece is probably more recognizable as music for cartoons. In fact, Walt Disney used this music in a Mickey Mouse feature “Symphony Hour.” Carl Stalling, who later worked at Warner Brothers, worked with Disney in the early years and developed a tick track system whereas the music for an animated feature is recorded first and then the animators match their drawings to the music.

1487th-The Iron Camels   Jay Conard  1958-

The 1487^th Transportation Company of the Ohio National Guard (now located in Piqua, Ohio) was formerly located in Eaton, Ohio. They are nicknamed “The Iron Camels” because in recent deployments they have transported water. In 2004-2005 the unit was deployed to Iraq as part of the continuing conflict in the region. This march was written to honor members of the unit who served. The march was first performed on May 7^th, 2006 with the Eaton Area Community Band under the direction of Gene Chatfield with several members of the unit present.

Broadway Tonight  arr. by Bruce Chase

This medley of show tunes includes:

• Everything’s Coming Up Roses from Gypsy
• Soon It’s Gonna Rain from the Fantasticks
• My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music
• Try To Remember from the Fantasticks
• People from Funny Girl
• That’s Entertainment

All but the last tune first appeared in stage musicals. Although That’s Entertainment was never in a Broadway musical, it still symbolizes the theatre and has been performed in many live shows.

Laura  David Raskin 1912-2004  arranged by Joe Lipman

This music, composed by David Raksin for the 1944 movie Laura, starred Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. This theme is heard almost continuously throughout the picture. We are playing a version based on the 1950 version by Joe Lipman for a recording session with Charlie Parker.

The Depot Jay Conard  1958-

This is a musical tour of the Richmond Depot around 1919. After the sunrise, we hear a family “Heading for the Depot” (perhaps in their new automobile) to see their brother off on the morning train. Once “Inside the Depot” we dodge baggage carts and passengers coming and going until we see an incoming train approach the platform. There we spot the outgoing engine as “The Train Starts.” We hear the pinging of its metal skin as the steam-heat inside expands the metal. We hear some machinery screech and the steam whistle toot (flutes) as pressure builds for the “Train Heading Out.” The wheels turn faster and faster as the train leaves the station and as it moves farther away we hear the steady clacking on the tracks until it disappears. As we look around we notice a soldier saying “Farewell” to his sweetheart as they plan for the future when he returns. Our attention shifts to the sound of the “Arrival” of another train, this one carrying father after a week-long trip. When the train stops with a giant hiss of escaping steam, we see people step off the train as we “Welcome Home” father. All that’s left now is for our “Heading Home.”

Teddy Bear’s Picnic  John W. Bratton  arr. by Tad Stewart

In 1902 the craze for Teddy Bears started when President Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot a captive bear on a hunting trip in Mississippi. Bratton wrote this ‘two-step’ dance number in 1907. In 1932 songwriter Jimmy Kennedy wrote the lyrics that we know today. This arrangement was done by Tad Stewart of Eaton, Ohio who directs the Eaton Area Community Band.

Leroy Anderson Favorites Leroy Anderson 1908-1975  arranged by Calvin Custer

Anderson is most famous for the light classical pieces he wrote for the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler. He studied Scandinavian languages at Harvard and worked as a linguist during WWII. His first ‘hit’, The Syncopated Clock, was written while assigned to the Pentagon after the war. This medley contains: Blue Tango, Belle of the Ball, The Syncopated Clock, and Serenata.

Pennywhistle Jig  Henry Mancini  1924-1994

Mancini wrote this piece for the 1970 movie The Molly McGuires. This great Irish tune is played today by Sandi Cox on the piccolo.

American Frontier by Calvin Custer

This medley of American tunes includes: The Girl I Left Behind, an old Irish tune used by the British and U.S. military. It is still played at West Point during final formations at graduation; Chester, a New England hymn-tune by William Billings written around the time of the Revolutionary War;  Oh Susanna by Stephen Foster;   Shenandoah, a tune used on sailing ships and ends with a stirring version of America, the Beautiful.

RCO Musicians

RCO String Ensemble – Early Holiday Concert

4:30 pm on Sunday, November 21^st

Reid Memorial Church 1004 N. A St. – Richmond, Indiana

No Admission charge. We request that you wear a mask for the protection of the musicians and other audience attendees.

Music by Mozart, Holst, and John Rutter along with some festive holiday numbers to get you ready for the season.

Program:
Fantasia on Scarborough Fair
Arranged by Mark Barnard. 
This piece published in 2014 uses the English Folk song in an innovative way that highlights the strings.  The song is about the Scarborough Fair held in Yorkshire and details some impossible task that your loved one is required to do – make a shirt without any seems, wash your laundry in a dry well, farm the land between the surf and the shore.

Sonata Concertante 
Based on Mozart’s Sonata for piano four hands, arranged by Frederic Westcott.
The Sonata in B^b K. 358 originally for piano duet written in Salzburg about 1773 is here re-imagined for strings.  We are playing the 1^st and last movements with Jenny Williams playing the piano part much like a concerto.

The Holly and the Ivy
Arranged by Chip Davis. 
This Old English carol is in a setting by Chip Davis, of the Mannheim Steamroller fame, sounds much like a medieval song.  Davis was born and raised in Ohio and earned a music degree from the University of Michigan in both percussion and bassoon.

Dargason from the St. Paul Suite
By Gustav Holst. 
Again an English folk song is the basis for this piece which is combined with Greensleeves.  Holst wrote this for the St. Paul School for Girls string orchestra in 1913.

A Time for Christmas 
Arranged by David Bobrowitz. 
This piece published in 2017 uses 3 well-known carols:  Good King Wenceslas, The First Noel, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; in a medley that shows off many string techniques.

Silent Night
Arranged by Erik Morales. 
This famous Christmas carol was written in 1818 and was originally in 6/8 time at a faster tempo (more guitar-friendly).  First used in the US around 1859 when it was translated into English.  The middle section has a quicker more “waltz-like” quality.

Suite for Strings
By John Rutter. 
This piece was published in 1973 but written much earlier when Rutter was in his twenties and BEFORE he was known as a choral composer.  It has four movements all based on (you guessed it) English folk songs.  We will do #3, O Waly Waly, based on the Welsh tune “The Water is Wide” and #1, a rousing version of A-Roving.

The Sleigh
By Richard Kountz. 
First published in 1926 this ‘Russian’ sleigh song is a fast-moving fun piece.

RCO String Ensemble Members
Jay Conard – Conductor

Thank you to the Friends of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church for graciously hosting this event.
The RCO plans to return to full orchestra rehearsals/concerts after the first of the year. Rehearsals will be held in the Chapel room of Reid Memorial Church. Follow us on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/rcoindiana or checkout our webpage at https://rcoindiana.org

SUMMER CONCERT
Sunday, July 25th
3:30pm
Glen Miller Park
Bandshell at Roosevelt Hill

Program Notes:

1. Magnificent Seven by Elmer Bernstein
   The Magnificent Seven is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges and starring Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach and Steve McQueen. The supporting cast features Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn and Horst Buchholz. The film is an Old West–style remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Japanese film Seven Samurai. There are 4 films in the original series (that use Bernstein’s music) and a modern remake that does NOT use the original music.
   • The Magnificent Seven (1960)
   • Return of the Seven (1966)
   • Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)
   • The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972)
   • The Magnificent Seven (2016)
     
2. English Folk Song Suite by Ralph Vaughn Williams 1872 – 1958

Originally for Military Band 1923 “Folk Song Suite”, orchestrated for full orchestra by his student in 1923 as “English Folk Song Suite”.
Arranged for British-style brass band in 1956 by Frank Wright and published as English Folk Songs Suite.

The second movement is a ballad “My Bonny Boy” with lyrics about a broken-hearted girl who gave her heart to a lad who ran off and found another lass.

My Bonny Boy

I once loved a boy and a bonny bonny boy,
I loved him I vow and protest,
I loved him so well, there’s no tongue can tell,
Till I built him a berth on my breast.

‘Twas up the wild forest and through the green groves
Like one that was troubled in mind,
I hallooed, I whooped and I blew on my flute
But no bonny boy could I find.

I looked up high and I looked down low
The weather being wonderful warm;
And who should I spy but my own bonny boy
Locked fast in another girl’s arms.

He took me upon his assembled knees
And looked me quite hard in the face,
He gave unto me one sweet smile and a kiss
But his heart’s in another girl’s breast.

Now my bonny, bonny boy is across the salt seas
And I hope he will safely return;
But if he loves another girl better than me
Let him take her, and why should I mourn?

Now the girl that enjoys my own bonny boy,
She is not to be blamed, I am sure,
For many’s the long night he have robbed me of my rest
But he never shall do it no more.

3. GERSHWIN!  George Gershwin  1898-1937
Arranged by Jay Conard.

Most of Gershwin’s hits had lyrics written by his brother Ira.
Gershwin went to Europe to try to find a teacher among the ‘serious’ composers of the day. Maurice Ravel’s rejection letter to Gershwin told him, “Why become a second-rate Ravel when you’re already a first-rate Gershwin?” Gershwin died after an operation to remove a brain tumor in July of 1937.

This medley contains the following songs (notice only one included does NOT have lyrics by his brother Ira):

Intro uses “I Got Rhythm” and “Fascinating Rhythm”.

• ‘SWonderful (1927 w/ Ira)
• Someone to Watch Over Me (1926 w/Ira  and verse)
• Swanee (1919 lyrics by Irving Caesar – made famous by Al Jolson)
• Our Love Is Here to Stay (1937 w/Ira)  Last composition George Gershwin completed.  Lyrics completed after George’s death.  Verse reconstructed by Oscar Levant.
• Embraceable You (1928 w/Ira)
• Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off  (1937 w/Ira) Verse included here.  Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers performed this duet on ROLLER SKATES!!!
• I’ve Got Rhythm (1928 w/Ira)  Famously belted out by Ethel Merman.

We know of Gershwin’s prowess on the piano by recordings and piano rolls he made.

4. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 – 2^nd Movement – Allegretto

Beethoven was born in December of 1770 (last year marked the 250^th anniversary of his birth.  Symphony #7 was written in 1811-1812 and premiered in 1813.  He felt it was his finest symphony to date and is the most organic with four separate movements in a very standard form – no big new technics but rather a very cohesive fully realized piece.  The 2^nd movement was so well received that it was encored at the first performance and many times just the 2^nd movement was programmed by itself without the rest of the symphony.

5. LORD OF THE DANCE  by Ronan Hardiman (1961- )  
Irish composer for the Lord of the Dance – Cry of the Celts

Includes music from Hymn tune “Simple Gifts” included in many church hymnals as “Lord of the Dance” and also music by Ronan Hardiman (“Cry of the Celtics“) used in the dance sensation of the same name.  A Tour de Force of violin techniques – including some ‘fiddling.’

6. American Frontier arr. by Calvin Custer (1939-1998)

This medley of American tunes includes: “The Girl I Left Behind“, an old Irish tune used by the British and U.S. military. It is still played at West Point during final formations at graduation; “Chester“, a New England hymn-tune by William Billings written around the time of the Revolutionary War; “Oh Susanna” by Stephen Foster; “Shenandoah“, a tune used on sailing ships, and ends with a stirring version of “America, the Beautiful.”

Orchestra Members

• VIOLIN 1
  • Anita Crull — Concert Mistress
  • George Carr
  • Ana Aquino-Roja
  • Barb Myers
  • Jaime Perez-Orduno
• VIOLIN 2
  • Beverly Doyle
  • Dick Miller
  • Cynthia Fadem
  • Ted Halsted
• VIOLA
  • Michael West
  • Gloria Morgan
• CELLO
  • Kelly Remo
  • Miriam Zimmer
  • Ray Ontko
  • Eevett Loshek
• BASS
  • Mike Mustin
• PIANO
  • Jenny Williams
• PERCUSSION
  • Rod Blanchford
  • Michael Buchholz
  • Kendale Hamilton
• FLUTE
  • Sheryl Mabry
  • Carolyn Miller
  • April Sanders
  • Ashley Phenis
• CLARINET
  • Don Miller
  • Carolyn Gardner
  • Cathy Ackerman
• SAXOPHONE
  • Amy Bryant – Alto/Soprano
  • Sophie Kochensparger – Tenor
• HORN
  • Michele Lilly
• TRUMPET
  • Steven Stoller
  • Henry Kochensparger
  • Caleb Scott
  • Charles Kochensparger
• TROMBONE/EUPHONIUM
  • Don Shrader
  • Mark Simmons
• TUBA
  • Brian Lilly
  • Tyler Roebuck