Colleen Coleman-
The Gustavus Wind Symphony and Gustavus Wind Orchestra will be performing their Fall Band Concert this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. This concert will feature a wide variety of pieces that the audience is sure to enjoy, such as triumphant fanfare, daydream-like soundscapes, the chatter of hummingbirds, and much more.
GWS will be performing a plethora of pieces this weekend, including some of the pieces they performed at the Family Weekend concerts in October themed around the Nobel Conference this year on sleep. The program starts to expand on this theme, including Daydream by well-known American composer Timothy Mahr. “It is intended to be a musical daydream, with introspective sound eliciting mood changes and shifting images. I hope to conjure up in the listener the sense one perceives when they ‘pull out’ of a daydream, returning to reality after a transient mental trip to places of flight and fancy,” Mahr said. Daydream features ambient percussion noises, slowly drifting lyrical lines, and much more.
GWS will be performing Armenian Dances by Aram Khachaturian, a Soviet Armenian composer and conductor. The piece was originally written for the Red Army Cavalry Band in 1943. “I’m excited to play Armenian Dances because I like how playing old pieces feels like resurrecting them. I like the energy we have during the piece, and how lively it is even though it’s almost 100 years old. It sounds cheesy, but I really like old music because you can have nothing in common with the composer or the people who played it, but you will always share the love of music and creation,” A Flutist in GWS and Sophomore Lily-Ann Gabriel said. The piece shows Khachaturian’s flair in the melody and lots of layering rhythms to create a captivating mood.
GWS will also be performing Of Endless Miles and Empty Rafts by composer Michele Fernández, a piece reflecting the story of an immigrant’s journey. The piece is written in three sections, the first being an opening chorale representing a treacherous journey – the sea tossing around a small raft of people, with the music symbolizing someone falling overboard into the depths of the ocean. The second section features the Guaguancó Afro-Cuban form, with a seamless flashback to a memory of someone at home in peace. The final section of Son-Montuno Afro-Cuban form is another flashback, but of urgency and turmoil, where the individual makes the decision to flee from danger, and then returns to the present time and shows their will to carry on to honor their lost loved ones’ memories.
GWO will be performing Flying Jewels by American composer James David, which is a symphonic poem that captures the joyous and hopeful spirit of a famous essay by author Brian Doyle describing hummingbirds when Europeans first encountered them in North America. The piece starts with dramatic trills passing through the woodwinds, dramatic brass lines, and lots of percussive flair. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how Flying Jewels goes! I think it’s a super fun piece to play and listen to, I love how even within itself it’s super varied and different. It’s also really difficult, which I like,” Baritone saxophonist in GWO and First-year Will Carrington said.
GWO will also be performing Libertadores by Spanish composer Oscar Navarro. Gustavus has a deep connection with Navarro, having hosted him as a guest artist last fall for the high school Honor Band festival, and with GWO having worked with him on their international tour to Spain and France in January 2023. Libertadores features two parts, the first inspired by the Amazon River and the second dedicated to the leaders for the independence of South America. “We played Libertadores at our fall concert the other week, and I’m really excited to perform it again as we’ve been working on it a lot more and have kept perfecting it. It’s a really cool piece, with some singing, body percussion, and swaying,” Bass Clarinet player and Sophomore Madeline Archer said.
The Gustavus Wind Symphony and Gustavus Wind Orchestra will be performing their Fall Band Concert this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. The performance will feature a wide variety of pieces, with fanfare, journeys across water, daydreams, and much more.