SEQUIM — It’s about time.
The Sequim City Band invites the community to a free concert all about time at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Sequim High School auditorium, 601 N. Sequim Ave.
Under the direction of Tyler Benedict, the band — coming off a winter hiatus — kicks off its spring and summer season of music.
“The Triumph of Time March” by the “March King,” John Philip Sousa, was written in 1885. Another “March of Time” is a musical panorama that spans the 50-year period from 1886-1936.
What tells of time better than a clock? Master pop composer Leroy Anderson delighted audiences with his “Syncopated Clock.” This is a light, rhythmic tick-tocking of time with an unusual syncopation.
Times in history are remembered with music.
“Scenes from the Louvre” by Norman Dello Joio is a five-part composition with each movement illustrating a particular time in art history. The music covers the era of the famous Paris museum’s development during the Renaissance. The crafty composer used musical themes from famous composers during each time period to give another dimension to time.
“Lincoln,” by master film composer John Williams, comes from the 2012 motion picture of the same name.
Williams focused on one single month in time during Lincoln’s career and captivates the listener with melodic emotional swells as well as triumphant bombast.
Robert W. Smith’s “Great Locomotive Chase” illustrates fast-moving time with rapid, engine-like patterns of notes.
This composition was inspired by a Civil War-era train chase in which Union troops commandeered a train in Georgia and took it on a high-speed ride wreaking havoc with the railroad line and being chased by Confederate forces and a succession of locomotives for 87 miles.
The “Hounds of Spring” by Alfred Reed is a concert overture for winds.
This American composer and professor of music wrote many works for wind bands. This one is inspired by a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne: “Atlanta in Calydon.” It is a tribute to the time of year when spring is filled with both exuberant youthful gaiety and the sweet tenderness of love.
“A Childhood Remembered” by Rossano Galante captures the time of youth and innocence with light, lyrical and playful melodies.
“Concert Etude” is a piece not so much about time but the musical construct of time called “tempo.” And that tempo is fast — terrifyingly fast.
This piece showcases the band’s own first trumpet player, Randy Stillwell.
“Pastime, A Salute to Baseball” by Jack Stamp is, in his words, “a tribute to America’s pastime featuring salutes to baseball all loosely woven around the anthem ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame.’ ”
Famous players are identified by their jersey numbers using measure numbers, or their name spelled out in notes (B-A-B-E); in rhythmic constellations (Morse codes “SOS” for Sammy Sosa); and even in intervals of pitches (referring to a particular high-kicking pitcher).
One discordant and dissonant measure refers to a particular ball player leaving the composer’s favorite team for another.
The Sequim City Band is a volunteer group of musicians. Concerts are free of charge, although donations are always welcome. Those interested in becoming “Band-Aids” can log on to the SCB website at www.sequimcityband.org.
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Olympic Peninsula News Group is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum.
