Symphonic Band to premiere director's composition

TIFFIN - The Heidelberg College Symphonic Band's fall concert will feature the premiere performance of a piece composed by its director as well as selections with an international flavor.

The concert, Tilting at Windmills, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 3) in Brenneman Music Hall. It is free and open to the public.

The concert will feature the premiere performance of a new work, Five Scenes from Don Quijote, composed by John E. Owen, director of bands at Heidelberg. The work is based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, which was first published in 1605 and is regarded as one of the great works of Western literature as well as Spain's most popular literary work.

Owen's composition draws on some of the most familiar stories from Don Quijote; its five movements are titled Don Quijote and Sancho, Tilting at Windmills, Dulcinea, Knight of the Mirrors and Death of Quijote. Completion of the work was supported by a Heidelberg summer research grant.

The concert program also includes four other works, opening with the march Honey Boys on Parade by Victor Cupero, composed in 1915 and one of the most popular circus and minstrel marches of its time. Dancing in Air by Japanese composer Yo Goto is a lively piece featuring fast asymmetrical rhythms. Echoes, by American composer Samuel Hazo, was commissioned in memory of a popular Pennsylvania high school band director diagnosed with cancer. Bushdance, by Australian composer Ralph Hultgren, celebrates native Australian songs and traditions, picturing the journey to a bush dance and the songs and entertainment found there. This work also requires the band to construct a native Australian instrument, a lagerphone, which is made of wood and beer bottle caps.

The Chamber Winds, a select ensemble of 25 musicians drawn from the Symphonic Band, will perform William Byrd Suite by English composer Gordon Jacob. The piece is based on the work of Byrd, a pupil of Thomas Tallis, who was known for his choral and keyboard music, both sacred and secular. Jacob's setting of six of Byrd's pieces demonstrates his genius in instrumentation and instrumental form.

The Symphonic Band is an auditioned ensemble of 54 musicians drawn from virtually all majors at the college. The band performs the best of wind and percussion works. For additional information, call 448-2073.