UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's Symphonic Wind Ensemble will present works spanning the history of music in its annual fall concert at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in Esber Recital Hall. Tickets, $4.99 for the general public and $2.00 for students, will be available 30 minutes prior to the performance.
Henry Purcell's "Funeral Music for Queen Mary" was originally composed in 1695 to honor the British queen, and was subsequently performed at Purcell's own funeral later that same year. Commissioned by the BBC, Gustav Holst's "Hammersmith" (1930) is a two-part tone poem creating a musical impression of the Hammersmith section of London where Holst taught school for nearly 30 years. Steven Bryant's "Ecstatic Waters" (for wind ensemble and electronics) premiered in 2008 and was the winning composition of the 2010 National Band Association's William D. Revelli Competition.
The Symphonic Wind Ensemble is conducted by Dennis Glocke, assisted by wind conducting master's student Eric Palmquist. This concert is also available through live streaming video at the Penn State School of Music.
Program
"Funeral Music for Queen Mary" -- Henry Purcell (elaborated by Steven Stucky)
"Hammersmith" -- Gustav Holst
"Southern Harmony" -- Donald Grantham (Eric Palmquist, conductor)
"Ecstatic Waters" -- Steven Bryant
The Symphonic Wind Ensemble is the premier wind/percussion ensemble in the School of Music. This highly select 40-member ensemble is comprised of the finest wind and percussion instrumentalists on campus. It performs a variety of repertoire ranging from chamber music to literature that utilizes the full ensemble. It concertizes extensively both on and off campus, and is open to all students, regardless of major, by audition.