Georg Philip Telemann is a composer born march 24, 1681 in Magdeburg which is

City in Germany. Telemann mainly composed for instruments like violin, recorder, flute, oboe, trumpet, and horn. He composed several pieces such as Viola Concerto in G major, which is a softer piece, and Miriways, which is very dramatic. Telemann mixed late Baroque and early Classical styles in over 3,000 works. Telemann died on June 25, 1767, at the age of 86 in Hamburg, Germany. He died in the afternoon from "chest ailment". At the time of his death, he was still active as the city musical director of Hamburg

Sonata in C Minor by Georg Philip Telemann was written to educate young musicians during performances. Sonata provides written-out, proper instructions for slow movements, teaching players how to improvise in the style a higher musician would. Sonata in C Minor was originally for flute or violin, but was designed to be versatile. The two movements being played are Allegro, movement I, and Allegro, movement V. Movement I is a piece that gives tons of momentum. The first rhythms are repeated constantly throughout the movement. It‘s light and bouncy. Movement V is more straight, with rhythm still being repeated though less than movement I and is a faster movement than I. Movement V is more like a dance with the pop of each big beat. 

Nino Rota composed many types of music, such as operas, film scores, and classical pieces. Born in Milan, Italy on December 3, 1911, Rota was a child prodigy. He studied at the Milan Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music. In his later years, Rota had many accomplishments. Some of his most prized works include the film scores for La Strada (1955), La Dolce Vita (1960), and The Godfather (1972). Nino Rota impacted music today by inspiring many with his emotional and lyrical pieces.

Sonata In Re was composed in 1937. During this time Rota was composing many pieces for small ensembles. He wanted to take his music career more seriously, since he was still a fairly young composer. This piece reflects melodic charm and cinematic lyricism. 

Split into three movements, Sonata In Re captures many emotions. Movements one and three are fast paced and feature many complex passages. They are also bright in emotion and tone. Movement two is slower, with longer notes focusing on beauty. It also has a more minor tone, even featuring notes like anxious or expressive. However, there are many spots in this movement that sound upbeat and lyrical.

Vassily Brandt wrote country pictures, He was a principal trumpet in Bolshoi Theatre he eventually became cornet one. He was born and raised in 1869 in Coberg Germany, he eventually died in Saratov Russia in 1923. He also was the second ever trumpet at the Moscow conservatory. Brandt is widely studied peace 34 orchestral Etudes is his most known . at the feast is meant to sound like a feast with almost mariachi band vibes. Under a lime tree is ment to sound like a day sitting under a tree. In the church is ment to sound like sitting in a church. Overall the parts names describe how they sound pretty well. Country pictures is 3 parts in the church, in a lime tree, and at the feast. Each of these parts describe a picture with the music. In the church is like listing to a church organ. Under the lime tree reminds me of like a tom and Jerry chase. At the feast is like what you hear when there is a food fight and you see a meatball flying slow motion through the air then hitting a teacher. Overall country pictures really plays out its name.

Yvonne Desportes was a French composer and teacher. She was born on July 18, 1907 in Coburg, Germany. Desportes studied piano and attended the École Normale de Musique as well as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. She then taught concepts like solfège at the latter. Additionally, she has won four Prix de Rome. Over the course of her life, Deportes would write 332 compositions. The majority of these works were for vocal performers, but the French Suite is one of her best known pieces. Desportes is remembered for her cyclic structure. She died on July 19, 1993 in Paris, France.

The French Suite was composed in 1939. It is one of the eleven clarinet quartets composed by Desportes, but it is the only one regularly performed in the United States. Her works, including The French Suite are unique in the clarinet quartet repertoire because they split the melodic parts evenly amongst all of the group members. The piece also uses Baroque historical articulation style, especially in movement two “Sarabande”. The French Suite can be played with four equal clarinets or three Bb clarinets and a bass clarinet.

This performance will feature movements 1, 2, and 5: “Prelude”, “Sarabande”, and “Bourre”. Movement 1 starts with a sixteenth note round. The melody switches parts amongst all of the group members with sixteenth notes as the underlying metronome. The movement builds tension before ending with another sixteenth note round. Movement 2 is a much slower tempo than the movement prior. All four players play the same melody with only a slight variation in the fourth clarinet. The melody changes in the middle of the movement before returning to the original melody. Movement 5 once again has a contrasting tempo, but this time it is faster than the movements before it. “Bourre” has a much more light and happy feel to it. The parts play contrasting parts before coming together for a few measures and then splitting up again. The melody then changes to an almost lyrical sounding eighth note pattern that is trading from the first and second clarinets. The third and fourth clarinets serve as a countermelody with a grace note and half note combination. The melody goes higher and higher until it falls back into the first light melody as the beginning of the movement. The last few measures are a slowed down version of the melody ending in a beautiful final chord.

The composer for Sonata No. 5 is Johann Ernst Galliard. Born in 1687 in Celle, Germany, and passed away in 1747 at the age of 60 years old. The six sonatas were apparently requested by Handel’s bassoonist, Kennedy. They were announced May 1, 1733 as Six Sonatas for the Bassoon or Violoncello with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord, published by John Walsh of London. He also composed six English Cantatas.

The six sonatas published in 1733 has a style of Italian chamber sonata style, featuring a mix of slow, expressive movements and fast, allegro movements. This type of piece is originally written with a piano accompaniment, with key signatures often being A, B, C, D, E, and F minor keys. Six sonatas have been edited and published mainly by McGinnis & Marx (edited by Marx/Weis-Mann). It’s also published by International Music Co. (edited by Arthur Weisberg). These sonatas are frequently used for study and performance in the bassoon repertoire, as well as trombone and euphonium.

While listening to this type of music you will be hearing lots of contrast while there will be melodic interpretation.My first movement features a slow, expressive style. In my second movement you will hear a short and separated 16th and 8th notes. There are fast allegro movements especially in my last movement with a light triplet style. This fits in the style of the Italian chamber sonata style.

Jon whiltlock moved around a lot as a child, but in the first few years of his life he lived in Saudi Arabia due to his dad’s work.  But he later on he moved to Macon, Georgia, Riyadh, and Thousand Oaks, California. However, in 1991 he decided he wanted to settle down in Knoxville, TN This is where he started  his competitive marching career. Whitlock was known for many different things; singer-songwriter, made a "hybrid rudiment" list that is widely known in the marching band world. Contributed to the Rudimental Cookbook, played on many records with artists such as Christabel, Matt Woods, and Mac Gayden. He was also named the best performer in the Spirit of Atlanta and placed 7th out of 80 in a solo competition.

In-pulse by Jon Whiltlock  is a marching snare, solo written to showcase the technique and range of the modern marching snare drummer. This piece requires for clarity, endurance, and rhythmic understanding. Whitlock, known for his contributions to percussion education and performance literature composed impulse as both a performance and something to challenge the percussionist to maintain control and musicality while also focusing on rhythms and dynamic contract.

In-pluse lives up to its title through a driving, spontaneous, sense of motion. The articulation, rapid rudimental passages, and large dynamic contrast. Clean roles, and syncopated figures make it seem like the music is having a conversation. Moments with spacious phrases, allow to perform with energy that takes raw excitement of the marching snare tradition. 

The composer of sketches from I-40 W is Jack Yagerline. Jack was born in Fairfax,

Virginia and was born on May 15th 2000. What makes Jack Yagerline important is that he has made very many small ensemble pieces, he has even partnered with other composers to make ensemble and small ensemble pieces. Some of Jacks other significant pieces include, Nature Scenes a percussion ensemble, Skylights a sax quintet, and the Invicta sax quartet.

The main context of this piece is a road trip he took, but there’s more too it than that. For example in the beginning of the piece it starts off slow, how Jack describes it is that this is where his road trip started, so it starts slow because it’s nothing new or exciting to him. Then it starts to pick up speed at D in the piece, this is new territory for him so it’s more exciting for him.

It keeps going this fast and at I it’s a bunch of random little solos between the saxophones, it could be imagined that there’s all of these random little cool things he’s seeing, then you get to J where it slows down, you could assume that things has calmed down or something bad might have happened. Once you get to M it starts to accelerate like it’s getting better, then you get to O where it’s a little more familiar, then it’s the end of the piece/ the end of his exciting road trip.

It starts off slow with a long melodic line between tenor and alto. Then it starts to pick up the pace at D with bari and tenor sax playing the melodic line, until just before E soprano takes over the melody and switching to tenor and alto that start a call and response. Then, at F alto takes over the melody still keeping the pace that was set at D. Then at H it starts to do a trade off of eighth notes between all of the saxes. At I tenor, alto, and soprano all have the melody but different melodies from each other, then J it slows down and sounds somber or bitter sweet. It continues this with little solos between all of the saxes until it gets to M and it starts to accelerate it continues to accelerate until O when all of the saxes have a little solo the same as the beginning and finally ending on hold the last note as a chord.

No program notes were provided for this selection.

The composer of the piece was David Uber. He was an American composer born on August 5th, 1925 in Passaic, New Jersey and died on June 29th, 2007 at 85 years old. He was a trombone player, so he primarily made trombone pieces. Some pieces made by David Uber include a simple song, David Uber Suite, and Deep River.

Uber's Manhattan Vignettes for Three Trombones by David Uber, is meant to musically capture a quiet, reflective moment in New York City. Written in a slow lento tempo and beginning very softly (pp), it evokes the calm area of early morning or evening along the East River, hence the name Shadows on the East River. The long, connected phrases and smooth melodic lines suggest drifting shadows, water movement, and the stillness between bursts of urban activity. As part of the vignettes, the music functions like a short clip, focusing less on dramatic action and more on mood, imagery, and expression, allowing the trombones to blend together to paint a peaceful yet slightly mysterious urban scene. The audience should view David Uber’s ‘Shadows of the East River’ as a thrilling, demanding, and rewarding, large-scale theatrical production. Audience members are treated to a high-energy, immersive experience that showcases technical and artistic skills, engaging performance that brings the, likely, dramatic, narrative to life. Shadows of the East River gives mysterious and lyrical performance.

Siecilinne and Allegro is composed by the well known Johann Sebastian Bach. Born in Eisenach on the 21st of March, 1685 and he grew up in a household full of trainee musicians, played in the old Dominican monastery, St George’s Church’s choir on the organ, as well as at the town hall where brass musicians would go to perform together. After his parents' passing he became an orphan and learned how to compose music around 1704 and pursued the organ. By 1707 he was composing music more and more and even had incidents of his work being stolen from him. He then started a family and had a couple of sons and moved around. He started playing for people at recitals and was soon appointed concertmaster and was composing new music every month. His wife passed in 1720 from an unknown illness and after remarrying became the new cantor and ‘director musices’ of St. Thomas’s Church in Liepzig. He continued to compose more of his well known works, but his health began to deteriorate and he suffered from a serious eye condition, as well as motor problems in his right arm and his writing hand. He underwent eye surgery and could see fairly well afterwards, but ended up dying of a stroke on 28 July in 1750. Bach has given so much to the music world by revolutionizing music in

perfecting Baroque counterpoint, advancing harmonic theory, and defining structural, intellectual musical mastery. He had created over 1,000 compositions including the Brandenburg Concertos and The Well-Tempered Clavier, which brought the Baroque era to its peak.

This piece is actually a part of the Flute Sonata in E major, BWV 1031, and is said to be composed around 1730-1734. The piece I’m specifically playing was arranged by Neal Ramsey, because it was originally made for a flute to play, and the arrangement is designed to highlight the lyrical and technical abilities of the saxophone. The Bach scholar Robert Marshall argued that the sonata was composed by Bach because of the referral of two sources, Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in the manuscript copy of the work in his handwriting and Christian Friedrich Penzel, his last pupil. But, musicologist Jeanne Swack has argued that BWV 1031 was "modelled" on a previous work for flute in E-flat by Johann Joachim Quantz.

When you first hear the piece, the Siecilinne, starts as this melodic, slow 6/8 feel with these big swells. But, it switches gears halfway through, the Allegro, and turns into this fast, up- beat melody with a lot of movement and dynamic contrast. There are moments where it will be loud and powerful, and others where it will build from a quiet piano and crescendo right back into a forte.

The composer of Gaiety Polka is a man named Harry Hartley. He was born December 3rd, 1881 and died December 7th, 1956. Harry went by a few names in his lifetime. When he wrote multiple pieces in a time period he would put them under different names so people would not deter from the same composer. He was well known for his work on marches and pieces with a trombone.

     The music starts off at a slow tempo with a nice flow. However, it does not last long as the piece speeds up throughout the middle section. It is played at a faster tempo with quicker changes. The ending is a mix of both the slow and fast paces. It starts back at slow speed to accelerate up to the faster movements.

Opal was written by H. Voxman an American music, educator, composer, and arranger best known for his instrumental method books and solos used in programs. Voxman was born in 1902 in Central Ville, Iowa and spent much of his career focused on music educator rather than concert performance. Some of his other well-known works. Include Reba selected studies, concert and contest collection and many graded solos that are widely used in schools today. Opal was composed as a solar study piece most likely intended for education and performance. The piece is designed to help develop musicians work on tone and quality as well as changes being musical and expressive. rather than telling a specific showcasing where playing contrasted with more energetic sections. As you will hear, Opal begins with calm lyrical sentences that are smooth expressive and encourages the listener. As the peace continues, it picks up pace and becomes more active and dramatic with faster rhythms, allow dynamics and contrasting moods that keep audiences engaged. There are moments that are playful, and there are moments that are serious. The audience will get a loud contrast of expressive and exciting lyrics throughout this piece.

No program notes were provided for this selection.

Mitchell Peters is a renowned American percussionist.

He was born on August 17th, 1935 in Red Wing, Minnesota and he died October 28th, 2017 in Encinitas, California.

He was a premier American percussionist, composer, and educator.

Mitchell Peters also wrote Yellow After the Rain and Sea Refractions.

Waves by Mitchell Peters starts off a very calm and soft piece of music but grows a bit at some parts. Waves uses all 4 mallets very often and utilizes the 1234 sticking at the beginning and near the end a 4321 sticking. 

Waves is very soft but has really unique patterns of notes and it changes key signatures 3 different times in the piece. This piece has a lot of dynamics as well and there are a lot of crescendos and decrescendos. The audience can anticipate hearing a lot of dynamics in this solo and the music constantly getting quieter then louder.

No program notes were provided for this selection.

No program notes were provided for this selection.

Arietta and Allegro was written by Mozart. Mozart was a prolific Austrian composer and he was a child prodigy of the Classical era. Mozart died on December 5, 1791 from a severe miliary fever in Vienna, Austria. He is important because he perfected the Classical style, and his operas are significant. A few would be “The Magic Flute”, “Jupiter Symphony”, and “The Marriage of Figaro”.

     Arietta and Allegro by Mozart and transcripted by Richard E. Powell is a delightful, easy piece. It is arranged for brass instruments, such as; trumpet, trombone, and baritone. It is a modern arrangement often used for solo competitions. It provides a contrast between the Arietta and the Allegro. The Arietta is more lyrical and the Allegro is more lively.

     The audience should hear this piece as a contrast between Arietta and Allegro. They should hear the Arietta part as more lyrical, singing, and melodic moving part. Where they should hear the Allegro as a more lively, cheerful, and fast moving part. In the Arietta part the listeners should feel a sense of intimacy and sensitivity. In the Allegro part the listeners should feel the shift into a faster and driving part.

No program notes were provided for this selection.

Escapade is a marimba solo by Mitchell peters born in 1935 and died 2017. He was an influential, American percussionist, educator and composer, born in Los Angeles, California. Peters was a long time percussionist with the Los Angeles, Philharmonic and became one of the most respected percussionist in the whole world. Through his method books and solo literature, he shaped generations of percussionist with a  musical approach to technique and expression. His educational materials, including his widely used snare drum and keyboard, percussion studies, remain monumental in percussion. Peters music are valued for their balance of technical development and musicality,  rewarding for any performer. 

Composed as part of Peter‘s repertoire for keyboard, percussion, Escapade, was written to develop technique while maintaining a musical character. The title alone suggest a lively adventure or playful, and the piece reflects that throughout. Rather than serving as an attitude, Escapade blends technical exercises, such as interval changes and shifting hand patterns into a beautiful piece.  It has become a very popular selection for competitions because it allows performers to show their technique and dynamic shaping.

Escapade sparkles with energy in motion. Bright colors of the marimba are highlighted through arpeggios, and lyrical moments that contrast with more rhythmic section. The piece moves with a dance, like quality, requiring balance in the melody. Dynamic contrast and freezing shape, takes the music into a playful journey, grabbing the adventurous character this piece needs. 

No program notes were provided for this selection.

Camille Saint-Saëns was born October 9th, 1835 in Paris, France. He was a composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. Camille was married to Marie Laure Emile Truffot, and they had two children; André and Jean-François. He was considered a child prodigy, due to the fact that he composed his first piece at the age of three. He later went on to perform in public at age five. His most notable works were The Carnival of the Animals Suite, and Symphony No. 3. Saint-Saëns died on December 16th, 1921 in Algiers, Algeria. 

Today, Sydney Suelzer will be playing from L'Éléphant from The Carnival of the Animal Suite. The Elephant is number five of fourteen in the suite. This piece was written in 1886, and was intended as a joke for a Mardi Gras party. L'Éléphant is around one minute and thirty seconds long. There will be piano accompaniment being played by Adam Strong. 

This piece is considered a Waltz, and is played like a dance.  Listeners will hear the double bass, which is the largest string instrument, playing heavy like an elephant. During the middle portion of the song, there will be a light rhythm that indicates an elephant trying to dance and be light on its feet. L'Éléphant is supposed to be playful and fun, while still practicing the technique on bass. 

No program notes were provided for this selection.

Henri Rabaud was born on November 10, 1873 in Paris, France. He was both a composer and a conductor. Rabaud conducted ensembles such as the Paris Opéra  and the Boston Symphony. In 1894, he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome, a composition competition. His father was a professor at the Paris Conservatory and Henri Rabaud would later become the director in 1922. He composed a variety of works from operas to symphonies to chamber music. Rabaud died in Paris, France on September 11, 1949.

Solo de Concours translates in English to Contest Solo. It was composed in 1901 for the Paris Conservatory graduation solo competition. It was used for the same competition in 1908, 1915, 1925, and 1937. The piece is meant to show off every aspect and register of the instrument. It remains a popular clarinet solo choice to this day.

Solo de Concours begins with a dramatic piano chord followed by a long clarinet cadenza. It then moves to a slow, lyrical section. After that, a quick melody comes in. It gets louder and louder before dropping back down to its original soft dynamic. The section ends with a long trill. The piece then moves to a playful triplet section. Finally, the ending has chromatic sixteenth note runs that lead to high concert F to finish the piece.

Bela Fleck was born July 10th,1958 in New York, NY. He is 67 years old and has won seventeen Grammys. His band is Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, which is most famous for Flight of the Cosmic Hippo. Bela plays banjo, and mainly makes fusion jazz and blue grass pieces. David Steinquest is a percussionist with a degree from Northeast Louisiana University, and the University of Michigan. He has been the professor of percussion since the 1980’s at Austin Peay State University.

David took the original blue grass version of Metric Lips, and transposed it for xylophone, vibraphone, and two marimbas. This piece takes influences from Chick Corea, Indian music, blending jazz, Irish music, and bluegrass. Bela originally wrote this for banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and mandolin. 

Today, this piece will be played by Sydney Suelzer, Graham Garman, Bradey Cagle, and Addison Van Buskirk. This piece is approximately four minutes long and is 120 bpm. The begging of Metric Lips will start off with a counter melody by the vibraphone and marimba two. During the middle of the piece, there will be a solo section and a swing grove; which contributes to the jazz fundamentals. At the end of the piece, we will go back to the beginning and replay some of the melodic rhythms. The time signature is constantly changing, and contributes to the playfulness of the tune.