STRICTLY OBSERVING: Getting prepared for May flowers

On April 29th, I attended the annual spring presentation of the Wytheville Community College Concert Band.  This particular program, entitled April Flowers, served as the finale for the band’s eighteenth season.  I always enjoy attending these free concerts, which occur twice annually and are open the public, this particular performance being one of the best I have seen from the instrumental ensemble.
Their opening number, The Courier Journal March, was composed by R.B. Griffith in honor of his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.  Published in 1961, this tune was actually written a decade earlier and was originally titled The Red M March, in honor of Manuel High School where he served as band director.  The particular rendition of this number featured a specific arrangement by Wytheville Community College Concert Band director, Bill Svec. 
Following that was the overture from the 1784 opera, Armida.  Though many various composers have been linked to this opera, it is symphonic composer Franz Joseph Haydn who is most often credited for its conception.  This was Haydn’s last opera and regarded by many, including Haydn himself, as his best.  Armida tells the story of an enchantress by the same name who bewitches a Christian Crusader named Renaldo.  In turn, when the spell is broken, Renaldo overpowers Armida with his love and persuades her to become a Christian.  Performing this overture with an arrangement by Richard W. Bowles, our local band did an excellent job on an obvious very difficult number.
The next two selections were, in my opinion, the highlight of the entire program.  First was Gustav Holst’s Second Suite in F Op.28 No. 2 arranged by David Bussick for saxophone quartet.  This featured the talents of Brandon Mock on tenor saxophone, his mother, Laurie Mock on alto, Reed Counts on tenor and Ryan Altizer on baritone.  A crowd pleaser, Svec pointed out that the aforementioned quartet included the eldest and youngest members of the band.  While Brandon Mock is a high school sophomore, Reed Counts will soon celebrate his 80th birthday.  “It’s great to be able to showcase such talent from within our own group,” he commented.  Next was a medley arranged by Jerry Brubaker entitled The Music of Disneyland.  It featured portions of such classic Disney tunes as “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,” “The Mickey Mouse March,” “(Yo Ho) A Pirate’s Life For Me,” “You Can Fly, You Can Fly,” “The Great Outdoors,” “The Best Time of Your Life,” “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes,” and “It’s A Small, Small World,” all blended together in one fantastic selection. 
After a brief intermission, the band returned to kick off the second half of April Flowers with Getty H. Huffine’s Them Basses March with another special adaptation from Svec.  Huffine composed this march in 1924 after spending years as a self taught composer, trombonist, and tuba player.  This would become his best known work.  Having been a member of the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Factory band at the time of his death, the surviving members of the ensemble performed this tune at Huffine’s graveside service in February 1947.  Following that lively number was an enjoyable medley of such patriotic tunes as “America the Beautiful,” “The Star Spangled Banner,” “You’re A Grand Ole Flag,” “Taps,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “America,” called An American Celebration.  Conceived by Larry Neeck, this tune was designed to evoke emphasis onto many national landmarks including the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery. 
Also featured in the program was an instrumental medley featuring some recognizable tunes from the legendary Rogers and Hammerstein musical, The Sound of Music, including the “The Sound of Music,” “How Can Love Survive,” “Sixteen Going On Seventeen,” “The Gentle Goat Herd,” “My Favorite Things,” “So Long, Farewell,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss,” “An Ordinary Couple,” “No Way To Stop It,” “Maria,” and “Climb Every Mountain.” This number also featured an arrangement by well-known band composer Robert Russell Bennett. 
The band chose Fred Jewell’s E Pluribus Unum March with an arrangement by Andrew Glover as their closing number.  This 1916 composition is another tune flavored with American patriotism.  The Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum translates as “from many comes one” and is signified in this song, which honors the many unified states that make up our single great nation.
This was an excellent performance on behalf of the Wytheville Community College Concert Band, which I was grateful to have had the opportunity to attend.  If you missed this performance, be sure to catch their next concert at the Elizabeth Brown Memorial Park in Wytheville as part of the Chautauqua Festival on Sunday, June 22 at 9:00 P.M.
A graduate of Wytheville Community College, Zach Cooley lives in Wytheville. Contact him at .