SEQUIM — The Sequim City Band will host a free concert with a nautical theme at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The concert will be in the Sequim High School auditorium, 503 N. Sequim Ave.
Sequim City Band concerts are free of charge but donations are accepted.
Under the direction of Tyler Benedict, the band will perform pieces that invoke a rolling river, the tragedy of sinking ships at sea, comical pirates, dancing Russian sailors and majestic Navy vessels, according to a news release.
On the band’s list for Sunday’s concert is David Holsinger’s piece, “On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss,” which incorporates the well-known hymn “It is Well with My Soul.”
Bliss wrote a hymn based on a reflective composition written by Horatio Spafford, whose wife and four daughters were on a ship that sunk at sea. His wife was the only survivor in his family.
Despite losing his daughters, he expressed his grief while maintaining his faith and focusing on redemption, concert organizers said, adding that the music “is as gentle and restful as Spafford’s composition.”
“Sea Songs” is a march by British composer and folk song collector Ralph Vaughan Williams. Included are the “Princess Royal,” “Admiral Benbow” and “Portsmouth.”
The band also will play selections from “The Pirates of Penzance” by Arthur Sullivan, arranged by J.P.Sousa.
This comic opera tells the story of a 21-year-old apprentice to a band of pirates.
He discovers his birthday is actually Feb. 29 and he has to serve until his 21st birthday, or another 63 years. Easily recognized is the well-known witty “Major General’s Song.”
American composer, conductor and music educator Claude T. Smith wrote “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” also known as “The Navy Hymn.”
This hymn, traditionally associated with seafarers, was written in 1860 and later adopted by the Royal Navy, the U.S. Navy, the Royal Marines and the U.S. Coast Guard.
It includes “rich harmonies, a brilliant fanfare, a choir of French Horns and a fugue among the woodwinds and brass,” organizers said.
John Philip Sousa’s “Who’s Who in Navy Blue” was composed at the request of the 1920 graduating class of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Another military march written by Sousa is “Hands Across the Sea” and was composed after the Spanish-American War.
Sousa reportedly came across a line in a play that inspired him: “A sudden thought strikes me — let us swear to an eternal friendship.”
Music from the motion picture “Titanic” by James Horner will be recognized. This medley includes the uplifting “South Hampton,” the ominous iceberg theme of “Hard to Starboard,” “Take Her to Sea Mr. Murdoch” and the famous “My Heart Will Go On.”
“Russian Sailor’s Dance” is the well known dance from “The Red Poppy.”
This pre-Russian Revolution ballet was scored by composer Reinhold Gliere. The dance is a transcription of a Russian folk song entitled “Yablochko” or “Little Apple.”
American composer Frank Ticheli is popular with concert bands for good reason.
His “Shenandoah” is based on the folk song of the same name and this piece evokes the image of a rolling river with its life affirming energy.
For more information, go to www.sequimcityband.org.
