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FESTIVE OVERTURE - Op. 96 (Wheaton College)
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THERE ARE SEVERAL RECORDINGS OF DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH'S 'FESTIVE OVERTURE' (1954) ON THIS PAGE, AND EACH ONE IS A STELLAR PERFORMANCE, INCLUDING THIS ONE BY THE 1975 WHEATON COLLEGE CONCERT BAND, A CHRISTIAN LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE IN WHEATON, ILLINOIS.
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Contemporary band compositions, classical music arrangements, marches, jazz, symphonies, overtures. A collection from bands that I have played in throughout hi
Hello and welcome! "Symphonic Band Performances" is a compilation of recordings from several high school and college bands that I played in including the TMEA (Texas) All State Band, the TMEA Region X All Region Band, the Interlochen Arts Academy National Music Camp, the Cal Poly Tech Band, San Luis Obispo, the USAF Golden West Band, and recordings from my h.s. band, Beaumont H.S. and a few band recordings that were passed down to me. Also included are various All State groups and college and university bands. I participated and played in the large majority of these recordings. There are no professional recordings here and every recording is Public Domain. Most are available for free download. Each song has been converted from the original analog or digital source and edited with Audacity or Dak software. In the majority of these recordings, I play the tenor sax or alto sax, b flat or e flat clarinet, or directing. I was drum major for 2 years in high school, I have a BA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I studied music ed, composition and theory. I had about 500 more recordings I was planning to digitize and upload, but this past Nov. 20th, my home was completely destroyed by fire, and all the contents, including all my music and instruments. So, this is it. Please feel free to post a comment here or on my member page. If you like, please become a fan by clicking "I'm a fan" below.
Song Info
Genre
Classical • Classical General
Charts
Peak #73
Peak in subgenre #21
Author
Dmitri Shostakovich - 1954
Rights
public domain
Uploaded
January 19, 2010
Track Files
MP3
MP3 9.6 MB • 224 kbps • 6:00
Story behind the song
THERE ARE SEVERAL RECORDINGS OF DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH'S "FESTIVE OVERTURE" (1954) ON THIS PAGE, AND EACH ONE IS A STELLAR PERFORMANCE, INCLUDING THIS ONE BY THE 1975 WHEATON COLLEGE CONCERT BAND. WHEATON COLLEGE IS A CHRISTIAN LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE WITH A BIBLICALLY-ORIENTED PROGRAM, LOCATED IN WHEATON, ILLINOIS. THE DIRECTOR OF THE 1975 BAND WAS ARTHUR KATTERJOHN, WHO DIED OF CANCER AT AGE 50 IN 1980. The Festive Overture in A major was written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1954 for a concert held at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the October Revolution (which took place in 1917). The Bolshoi's conductor, Vassili Nebolsin, found himself without a suitable new work to open the concert, and contacted Shostakovich just days before. The composer set to work on the overture with great speed, completing it in three days. He apparently based it on Glinka's Russlan and Ludmilla overture (1842), and it features the same lively tempo and style of melody. Whilst the style reflects Shostakovich, the piece as a whole uses very conventional classical devices of form and harmony. Some commentators have suggested that the work secretly celebrates the death of Stalin the year before. The overture begins with a fanfare in the brass, followed by a fast melody in the wind. The strings (in the band version, brass and woodwinds) take up this melody and the piece reaches a climax with a four-note motif. Suddenly the music reaches a more lyrical melody in the horns and cellos (in the band version, brass), although the tempo remains the same. Shostakovich develops this material in his typical style, using both themes in counterpoint, before the fanfare returns and leads to a rousing coda. The work is a standard piece of the orchestral repertoire. The overture featured in the 1980 Summer Olympics (Games of the XXII Olympiad) in Moscow. It was also the opener for the 1985 and 1986 Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, featuring a change of uniform with the brass line marching through a tunnel.
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