What’s this program about?
Enter the musical world of Sir Malcolm Arnold, a world of brisk expression and energy, evocative 
soundscape, precise instrumentation, and winsome melody. A world of richly colored, well crafted, deeply satisfying sound.
Many people discover Malcolm Arnold through his sets of appealing dances and through his film scores, especially Bridge on the River Kwai.
What’s this program about?
We think of West Side Story as Bernstein’s musical, but it needed director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, scriptwriter Arthur Laurents, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim to bring all of the elements together. West Side Story was a dividing line in each of the collaborators’ lives. It launched Sondheim’s career. Bernstein never again wrote anything like it.
“The chief problem,” Bernstein wrote, was “to tread the fine line between opera and Broadway, between realism and poetry, ballet and ‘just dancing,’ abstract and representational.” Featuring jazz and Latin forms, and songs too operatic for actors without trained voices, the collaborators agreed to preserve the “kid” quality by casting teens rather than seasoned professionals.
Works discussed: Bernstein, West Side Story
What’s this program about?
Was it the great tunes, the snappy lyrics, or both? George Gershwin’s fabulous songs are a treasured part of American music. His Rhapsody in Blue, theater works American in Paris and Porgy and Bess, brought him celebrity status and changed the course of American music. After his premature death, his brother Ira carried on the legacy working with the Library of Congress to ensure that these musical treasures are ours today. Professor Carol surveys the life and works of Gerswhin.
Works discussed: Rhapsody in Blue, Songs, Three Preludes for Piano
What’s this program about?
Music – the revitalizing force that keeps life energized, toes tapping, and the soul young at heart. Young players take the stage as the Dallas Wind Symphony combines forces with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony to perform works by Paul Hindemith, Frank Ticheli, Charles Rochester Young, John Williams, and Percy Grainger.
Works discussed: Young, Tempered Steel; Ticheli, Blue Shades; Hindemith, Symphonic Metamorphosis
What’s this program about?
Richard Wagner was, and remains, one of the most intense and controversial figures of all time. For those who love Wagner’s music, Wagner becomes an obsession. Wagner understood and glorified the sound of wind instruments, especially brass, and transcriptions of Wagner’s operatic music have made highly effective and enjoyable arrangements for wind band. That’s how Wagner became a band geek.
Works discussed: Wagner’s Rienzi, Lohengrin, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung
What’s this program about?
In today’s classical music world, there are not many composers who can stir up the excitement that might have accompanied the premiere of a new work by Brahms. But John Mackey is a composer who can. He has a popular following from all over the world. The Dallas Wind Symphony collaborated with a group of wind bands to commission Mackey’s new Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble. Mackey dedicated the work to Don Fabian, principal saxophonist of the Dallas Wind Symphony, and Professor Carol talks to Fabian about the upcoming premiere.
Works discussed: John Mackey’s Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble
What’s this program about?
Ottorino Respighi was not at war with tonality or tradition, and his works have consequently been denigrated at times as “crowd pleasers.” Although he wrote successful concertos, operas, and ballets that were widely performed in his day, he is known primarily for his Roman trilogy: Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals. Professor Carol takes a close look at Roman Festivals and the current revival of interest in Respighi’s works.
Works discussed: Respighi’s Roman Festivals, Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, Laud of the Nativity
The Respighi Foundation
The Resphigi Society
Further reading: Elsa Respighi. Ottorino Rspighi. His Life-Story Arranged By Elsa Respighi. Translated by Gwyn Morris. London: Ricordi, 1962.
What’s this program about?
Professor Carol talks with Mary Preston, the resident organist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, about the Lay Family Concert Organ. The organ built by C.B. Fisk for the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center is one of the finest instruments ever built. Mary Preston joins the Dallas Wind Symphony in a concert to be featured on Michael Barone’s syndicated radio show “Pipedreams.”
Works Discussed: Hindemith Kammermusik No. 7; Walton “Crown Imperial”; Guilmant Finale from Sonata in D Minor
Where you can find:
At the Meyerson
Mary Preston plays Marcel Dupre
Pomp and Pipes
What’s this program about?
Military music inspires the troops, facilitates maneuver, intimidates the enemy, sends signals, marks daily events of camp life, entertains the troops in their leisure time, and comprises an important part of the pageantry and tradition of military life.
Works Discussed: Scotland the Brave, Yankee Doodle, Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, Bugle Calls, The Army Song
Where you can find:
U.S. Army Field Band: From Sea to Shining Sea
Frederick Fennell: Music of the Civil War
The Edinburgh Military Tattoo: Bagpipe Marches of Scotland
Farmer, The World of Military Music
What’s this program about?
Carol interviews Dean Bouras, arranger for the Dallas Wind Symphony Big Band concerts, and John Trapani, leader of the John Trapani Big Band about the era, the music, and its popularity today.
Works Discussed: Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Norman Leyden
Where you can find:
Big Band Collection
Big Band Magic
