REQUIEM FOR THE UNARMED
ITHACA COLLEGE CONCERT BAND
Benjamin Rochford, conductor
FLUTE
Nawar Aboud
Emma Cardamone
Aaron Cowen
Brooke Delmage
Jamie Friedlander, piccolo
Zoe Lisa
Gillian Nord
Cameron Ting
Rebecca Weinman
Dionisia Yanniotis, piccolo
Alan Zimmerman
OBOE
Jamie Heskett
CLARINET
Evelyn Balzer
Brendan Blazier
Sammi Bullock
Lillian Caccamo
Raelin Meacham
Xavier Pagano
Sami Shone, bass
EJ Tucker
Toag Wolf, E-flat
BASSOON
Jessie Read
Milo Vinson
ALTO SAXOPHONE
Nick Gilbert
Lindsey Green
Isaac Hophan, soprano
Beckett Olson
TENOR SAXOPHONE
Alyssa Ayerle
BARITONE SAXOPHONE
Bailey Briggs
Daniel Edelman
HORN
Emma Bradley
Lucas Ferguson
Joel Rivera
Madison Stolarski
TRUMPET
Jayden Casey
Erik Figueroa
Larkin Hanna
Nathan Johnson
Cameron Nocera
Anthony Reyes
TROMBONE
Thomas Burkum
Victor Chicas Caceros
Ian Equinozzi, bass
Alexander Little
Ilan Medwed
EUPHONIUM
Patrick Hogan
Christian Laughlin
Elvis Lazo
TUBA
Seamus Buford
Alex Nacion
Wyndam Withington
PERCUSSION
Thomas Anzuini
Sierra Dages
Aiden Dearborn
Audrey Diddle
Frankie Marks
Jillian Mihalik
Kendall Schreffler
Rachel Somers
STRING BASS
Dylan Drannbauer
Strange Humors represents another of Mackey's works (after Redline Tango) that has been transcribed for wind ensemble. The first version of Strange Humors was a student piece for string quartet and djembe that Mackey wrote while pursuing his graduate degree at The Juilliard School. It was later adapted for use by the Parsons Dance Company, with choreography by Robert Battle. Its transcription came at the behest of Richard Floyd on behalf of the American Bandmasters Association. The piece represents a merging of musical cultures -- the modal melodies and syncopated rhythms of middle Eastern music with the percussive accompaniment of African drumming.
At the heart of the work lies the pulse of the djembe, which remains from the original version. The djembe, an hourglass-shaped drum played with bare hands, is a major part of the customs of west African countries such as Mali and Guinea, where djembe ensembles accompany many functional celebrations of society.
The piece opens with a sultry English horn solo, a line laced with Phrygian influence representing the "typical" melodies of the most northeastern parts of the African continent -- most notably Egypt, but also parts of the Arabian peninsula. Later, the saxophones emulate the snaking lines of the English horn. The addition of brass and auxiliary percussion to the original orchestration makes for particular impact during the shout sections of the piece, and the groove of the djembe combined with the quirky rhythms throughout leave an impression that lingers in the listener's mind long after its conclusion.
- Program note by Jacob Wallace
Against the Rain is based on a choral work I wrote as a part of a set of songs based on poems by Edna St. Vincent Willay.
Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;
Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink
And rise and sink and rise and sink again;
Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
It well may be that in a difficult hour,
Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,
Or nagged by want past resolution's power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. I do not think I would.
- Program note by composer
A few years ago I wrote a piece called Deciduous, born from a period of loss following my father's passing. His absence left a deep void, and for a time my creativity struggled under the weight of that pain. He was the first close family member I had lost, and it felt natural, even inevitable, to dwell on all that was missing. But in the years since, as I have cycled through ups and downs of healing, certain constants in my life have helped me find strength and meaning again—especially the people closest to me and, of course, music.
When I reflect on the journey through those difficult years, I find myself feeling more and more grateful for these enduring sources of support. Evergreen is a wistful yet exuberant tribute to these constants in our lives, the steadfast forces from which we draw love, energy, and resilience. In this sense, it serves as a companion piece or foil to Deciduous. While loss may lead us to initially fixate on what is gone, remembering what remains -- what has always been there, and what will continue to be helps us move forward.
Evergreen was commissioned by the Rouse High School Honor Band and their Director Ryan Johnstone for their 2024 Midwest Clinic Performance. Deepest thanks to all involved in this commission, and congratulations to Ryan Johnstone and the Rouse High School Honor Band for their invitation to Midwest.
- Program note by composer
Claude Debussy's Preludes are a pinnacle of Impressionism, each based on some fleeting or lasting image. The Engulfed Cathedral imagine Brittanic legend, in which the Cathedral of Ys is swallowed by the sea as a punishment for the sinfulness of its patronage. Each morning, as the townspeople watch transfixed, the cathedral would slowly rise out of the sea at sunrise and be subsequently overwhelm by the waters again as a grim reminder. Debussy captures this image deftly, with his ability obscure metro structure through thick textures, extended and modal harmonies and unconventional rhythms. The three parallel arching structures that comprise the piece slowly reveal the long outline of a tonic triad *G,E, and C major), symbolizing the slow and inevitable descent of the cathedral until it reawakens upon the next sunrise.
- Program note from score
On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis resident George Floyd was murdered by police officers, one of which had a knee on his neck, cutting off all oxygen to his brain. Floyd's last words, the same words used by Eric Garner in 2014, echo across the United States and through the word [sic].
"I. can't. breathe."
Seeing the footage of his murder on television, my heart sank and I felt incredibly sick to my stomach. I couldn't believe what I had witnessed, and it took me weeks to process what had transpired. Someone who looks like me was just murdered in cold blood by law enforcement. I can recall the many people that also look like me that were murdered in similar fashion, both by law enforcement and by civilians with racist intent. Their names became social media hashtags, and ring in the hearts of every black man, woman, and child in the United States.
Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Treyvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Atatiana Jefferson, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd…
A growing list of names. The unarmed black victims of racial injustice.
Too many names to count.
Requiem for the Unarmed is my musical response to the death of George Floyd and to black lives lost due to racial injustice in the United States. This piece is meant to be a memorial to those lives lost and is my plea and prayer.
May this happen no more.
- Program note by composer
When thinking about the concept behind this piece, I knew I wanted to celebrate the purpose of music. Music is something we hear that connects us with that which cannot be heard. In a sense, we learn to “see” the invisible with our ears. I think this is what William Blake touched upon in the opening of his poem, Auguries of Innocence:
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
Every work of art invites us to “see a World in a Grain of Sand”, and every piece of music allows us to experience “Eternity in an hour”. Music is a grain of sand through which we can see an entire world. In other words, it is a smaller reality that helps us grasp a larger reality.
Music can display chaos, yet show that order can come from this chaos. Melodies can be sorrowful in a way that gives permission to the listener to feel sorrow. Music can come alongside people and weep with them or take someone by the hand and carry him into a place of peace. Musical themes can connect someone with joy even when that person has no joy inside herself. Ultimately, music has the power to connect people with a reality outside of themselves and allows them to experience Eternity in an hour.
Eternity in an Hour highlights many individuals and requires a great amount of attentiveness between the musicians. I require each section of the ensemble to pull equal weight as they intricately interact with each other throughout the three movements. By the end of the piece, we should have seen a glimpse of Heaven through the many “Wild Flowers” or various timbres of the ensemble.
- Program note by composer
In Spain, tickets for the bullfight ring are sold in three categories: sol, sombra, and sol y sombra. This determines whether the ticket holder sits entirely in the sun, entirely in the shade, or sometimes in sun and sometimes in shade.
- Program note from score