The Fresno State Wind Orchestra performed in the concert hall Thursday night for its first performance of the fall semester.
Under the direction of Steven McKeithen, who holds a doctorate in musical arts in conducting, the university’s premier wind ensemble began its performance with a piece titled “Elytra” by Paul Dooley, who holds a doctorate in composition. Though this piece was inspired by fighter jet planes, the composer later shifted the focus to the material of insect wings, called elytra, which led to the final composition that demonstrates both the delicacy and speed of insects.
The student musicians executed the piece with variety, from the fast-paced runs at the beginning with a steady cowbell, to some slower, more serene sections where the oboe gets to shine.
Muted brass and augmented chords fortified the movement in the song overall.
An extraction of “Wine-Dark Sea” called “This Cruel Moon” by John Mackey was the second piece and focuses on a theme of loss and sorrow. It tells the story of Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War, specifically, his encounter with Calypso. Despite Calypso’s deep love for him, she ultimately helps him return to his family.
There is a soft, slow opening with minimal percussion, which mimicked the boat at sea. It builds up to something stronger and then resolves with flutes and mallets.
“Hammersmith” followed, a piece that was inspired by composer Gustav Holst’s visits to Hammersmith. The piece incorporates musical ideas that reflect the slow-moving river and other sounds that he encountered in the town, focusing on an overarching theme of intellectualism.
The first half of the composition is slow and windy, with low brass adding a steady, dark feeling. It moves into a more boisterous and uptempo second part with intense cymbal crashes, triplets and sixteenth note runs. Reverting back to the softer part of the piece, the music slows and the low brass closes it out.
The fourth piece, composed by Michael Gandolfi, who holds a doctorate in composing, called “Vientos y Tangos” had a completely different aesthetic than the other pieces. It was written as a birthday present, specifically as a wind band tango, which was unusual for 2004. The composition features a wide variety of variations of tango through solos and changes in the speed of the piece.
This single-movement piece starts quietly at first but grows in volume with brass to help strengthen the tango feel. Percussion later jumps in with snare, tom drums, timbales and clapping. Some castanets, claves and tambourine spice up the piece in addition to well-executed xylophone runs in the middle of the piece.
The composition added musical color to the program, as it used a much different style in comparison to the other pieces. The tango combines many instruments to make the piece catchy.
“In Storm and Sunshine” by John Clifford Heed is a traditional circus march that is designed to be fast, exciting and entertaining. A minor key is used for the piece to represent a storm that adds a mysterious feel, while a major key represents the sunshine, conveying a happier mood.
The march started off with a bang when the cymbals crashed, the snare was hit, and all the musicians played together. It carries many dynamic shifts from extremely loud parts to sudden quiet measures. As many circus marches are, this was very technically demanding of all players because of the challenging melodic lines and the fast tempo.
To end the night, “Slava!” composed by Leonard Bernstein was performed. Slava means “glory” in Russian, and the piece has lots of humor and funny elements, contrasting with both powerful and tiny things throughout.
It features a wide variety of instruments from woodwinds and brass to a substantial percussion section. Some of the comical elements include a slide whistle, wood block and a ratchet. There are also mutes on the trumpets and trombones that produced a “wawa” sound that added an older vaudeville style.
The short piece ends with the musicians shouting “Slava!” as a punctuation point and with a “ba-dump-dump” sound, like a joke’s punchline.
The next large Fresno State music concerts will be the Choral Concert held on Oct. 19 and Big Bands in Concert on Oct. 28.
