Marshall Municipal Band: MMB to seek refuge from heat for Thursday concert

The Marshall Municipal Band has a wide variety of music scheduled for their concert this week, according to Director Kevin Lines, but the forecast for extremely hot weather has prompted band officials to move the concert indoors.

The concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 28, will be held in the Family Life Center of the First United Methodist Church, 225 E. Arrow St.

The concert will begin with a John Philip Sousa march that is new to the band's repertoire this year.

"Sousa hoped that the march 'Jack Tar' would become as important to the navy men as his 'Stars and Stripes Forever' had become to army men," Lines said.

The march premiered in 1903 at London's Royal Albert Hall with the king and queen present. It was performed at that time by the joint forces of the Coldstream Guards, Scots Guard, Irish Guards, Himenoa Band of New Zealand, Sousa's Band and the Queen's Hall Orchestra.

For the band's first overture they will perform the music of Clare Grundman with his Civil War Suite "The Blue and The Gray."

Grundman became one of the most influential composers of band music. His works in the 1950's and 1960's changed the way composers wrote for bands. This medley includes "Kingdom Coming," "Marching Through Georgia," "Tenting Tonight," "The Yellow Rose Of Texas," "The Bonnie Blue Flag," "Aura Lee," "Dixie," "Battle Cry Of Freedom" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

The band will feature Kim Deutsch on oboe as she performs "Gabriel's Oboe" from the 1986 motion picture "The Mission."

In the movie, the theme is most prominently used when Jesuit Father Gabriel walks up to a waterfall and starts playing his oboe, aiming to befriend the natives with his music so he can carry his missionary work in the New World.

The band turns to the music of the silver screen with "Hollywood!" The songs in this arrangement are cinema classics that have retained their popularity through the years. This work includes "Thanks for the Memory," "Theme from Star Trek, The Motion Picture," "Moon River," "Never On Sunday," "Over The Rainbow" and "Raiders March."

Continuing with movie music, the band has selected to perform "The Mansions of the Lord" from the 2002 Paramount motion picture "We Were Soldiers."

This work was performed at the end of the memorial service for President Ronald Reagan at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., according to Lines.

Next on the program will be a piece by composer Leroy Anderson.

"Anderson was an amazing man with many talents who could have succeeded in any endeavor he chose, but the world will be forever fortunate he selected music composition as his life-long vocation," Lines said. "Anderson will always be remembered for the compositions he wrote for the Boston Pops Orchestra. The band will perform his infectious 'Blue Tango.'"

The band's second overture for the evening is "Dance of the Amazons" by Anatole Liadov. Liadov's music is characterized by a strong flavor of Russian nationalism customary of his time, according to Lines. Arranger Andrew Glover has skillfully rewritten this particular work for concert band that was originally written for orchestra.

The final march of the evening is James Swearingen's, "Children of the Shrine."

"This march was commissioned by the Aladdin Shrine Band of Columbus, Ohio, and dedicated to the efforts of Shriners who help children with medical treatments and expenses," Lines said. "Often referred to as the 'World's Greatest Philanthropy,' the Shrine of North America has, over the years, financially supported the construction of 22 hospitals designed for the care of children. Medical attention for orthopedic problems, severe burns, and spinal cord injuries is available to any child until they reach their 18th birthday, absolutely free of charge."

The closing trilogy will begin with the Fred J. Allen arrangement "They Led My Lord Away."

"This Allen setting of the hymn maintains the dignity and plaintive searching quality of the original hymn through the use of some of the many, beautiful sonorities available in the modern band," Lines said.

The band's patriotic work is "Duty, Honor, Country." This work by Harold Walters includes text from Gen. Douglas MacArthur's address at the U. S. Military Academy in May of 1962.

The band will conclude their concert with their signature march by Abe Holzmann "Uncle Sammy."