Marshall Municipal Band to start 88th season in new location

Members of the Marshall Municipal Band brass section perform during the band's June 5, 2008, performance. (Eric Crump/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The band will perform concerts at a new location this summer: the east side of First United Methodist Church, located at 225 E. Arrow St., according to a news release from band officials.

"We're very happy to see that the courthouse is receiving the repairs it so desperately needs," said Director Kevin Lines. "The band is actually quite used to moving, and until we moved into our permanent rehearsal facility three years ago, we moved approximately six times in a little over three years. It seemed every time we moved into a vacant building it would sell. In fact, we were in one building for less than three weeks. So as you can see, moving for the summer is just another adventure for the musicians."

One thing the band hasn't changed, though, is how each concert will begin and end.

"We begin every concert with 'The Star Spangled Banner,' and we always end with 'Uncle Sammy,' which is a tradition that goes back to Director Eddie Eckels," Lines said.

After the national anthem, the concert will open with John Philip Sousa's march "The Diplomat."

"Sousa dedicated this 1904 march to Secretary of State John Milton Hay, who had impressed him with his diplomatic prowess," Lines said. "The world celebrated the 150th anniversary of Sousa's birth in 2004, and a gentleman named Frank Byrne prepared this work. Byrne was a long-time member of the United States Marine Band and now serves as the executive director of the Kansas City Symphony."

The first overture of the concert will be Robert W. Smith's "Where The Black Hawk Soars."

"This work was written for the dedication ceremony of Brooke Point High School in Stafford, Virginia. It has become a favorite of both the audience and band alike," said Lines.

Some low brass players, including Lines on trombone, will be featured on one of the concert numbers.

"With the many talented musicians we have in the band, it's always fun to feature them, and this week we're going to feature the entire trombone section with 'Trombone Blues.' This Fred Jewell tune was often used for clown acts in the circus," Lines said.

The band will continue with a work by composer Larry Daehn titled "As Summer Was Just Beginning (Song For James Dean)." Many will remember actor James Dean who was killed in a car accident at age 24 in 1955. Although he had a brief acting career, Dean made three landmark movies in 16 months: "East of Eden," "Rebel Without A Cause" and "Giant."

Daehn loosely based this piece on a folk song from the Britain called "The Winter it is Past, and the Summer's Here at Last," Lines said.

From the British Isles, the band moves south to Italy with Luigi Denza's frolicking folk song "Funiculi, Funicula."

"It's actually a very interesting story," said Lines. "Denza wrote this work for the dedication ceremony of a funicular railway in 1880. It becomes an instant success, and people all over the countryside are singing it. Six years later, composer Richard Strauss is touring the region, he hears it and includes it in his first major symphonic work. However, the work was not in the public domain as he thought, so both he and his publisher face court action for their copyright infringement."

The municipal band concert will end its first concert with pieces both new and old.

"We always close our concerts with a sacred work, a patriotic work and 'Uncle Sammy,'" said Lines. "Our sacred work is new to the band this year and is based on the hymn 'Be Thou My Vision.' The patriotic work is Jay Bocook's 'At Dawn They Slept (December 7, 1941).' This work depicts the U. S. military presence at Pearl Harbor in the days preceding Dec. 7, 1941."

Lines is glad to continue one of Marshall's musical traditions again this summer.

"As I speak with people around the state, they are constantly amazed Marshall has so many musical offerings for a town of our size. The musicians and myself are humbled to continue this Marshall musical legacy, and we look forward to providing the community a summer of free concerts," concluded Lines.