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Crane Wind Ensemble to hold final fall concert in Potsdam Nov. 19

Posted 11/18/12

POTSDAM -- The Crane Wind Ensemble will hold its free final concert of the fall semester Monday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Hosmer Concert Hall, SUNY Potsdam. The concert will include pieces by Augusta …

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Crane Wind Ensemble to hold final fall concert in Potsdam Nov. 19

Posted

POTSDAM -- The Crane Wind Ensemble will hold its free final concert of the fall semester Monday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Hosmer Concert Hall, SUNY Potsdam. The concert will include pieces by Augusta Read Thomas, David Maslanka, Michel Daugherty and Percy Aldridge Grainger.

In her rhapsodic yet playful work, "magneticfireflies," Augusta Read Thomas juxtaposes two "borrowed" musical landscapes -- the compositional characteristics of Mahler and Debussy -- to craft a balanced synthesis of the two.

David Maslanka's "Desert Roads: Four Songs for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble" also connects in a way with composers of the past. His songs for clarinet hearken back to the intimate "songs without words" from such composers as Schumann, Schubert and Brahms. As in many of his works, Maslanka's music is greatly influenced by his meditations and dreams, but these songs for clarinet have no distinct program or conscious attempt at illustration. Julianne Kirk Doyle will join the Crane Wind Ensemble as clarinet soloist for this performance.

Michael Daugherty is a master of musical iconography. One only need read the titles to his works to understand the musical topography: "Desi," "Niagara Falls," "Brooklyn Bridge," "Bells for Stokowski," and so on. In his latest work for winds, "Lost Vegas," the composer states both his musical intent and its genesis through pun.

Closing the program, Percy Aldridge Grainger's "Lincolnshire Posy" is a masterwork in the wind band repertoire. This collection of six "musical wildflowers" pays homage to the people of Lincolnshire, from whom Grainger personally collected the original folk tunes on his Edison wax cylinder recorder in the early 1900s.