MARCH FOR BEN AND BOB was composed at the suggestion of
drummer Bob Rutenbeck (a former U.S. Navy musician — then 83 years of age) to
Ben Krabill (then 13 years of age — a percussion student of the composer)
during the June 24, 2001 band concert at Chetzemoka Park. At Ben’s next drum lesson he mentioned this
to me. (“What else could I do but
comply?”) This march was performed by
the band on August 25, 2002, with Ben playing the 8-bar snare drum solo
included in the march.
THE PORTLAND ‘84 MARCH was inspired by the composer’s
hearing the Royal
Marine Band and the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Pipes and Drums perform in Portland,
Oregon, on their 1984 U.S. tour. A
copy of this march was presented to the Royal
Marine Band in
Portsmouth, England, on the composer’s visit to Great Britain in 2002. The march includes the Scottish folk song, A Wee Drop o’ Oats, which is played by the Great
Highland Bagpipe and drums and later together with the whole band. It was first played in concert on August
25, 2002, at Chetzemoka Park in Port Townsend.
PETITE SUITE FOR ORCHESTRA consists of a Baroque-styled
theme which then takes on several variations: Waltz (with some
Strauss-like rhythms), Largo (a retrograde version in the Pentatonic scale), Jig, a romantic-styled Andante, a Tango, and Fugue followed by a brief Finale. The Port Townsend Community Orchestra presented this piece during its
March 1, 2003 concert. The composer
has transcribed this work for concert band, renaming it Petite Suite for
Band. It is scheduled for presentation during the 2009
summer concert series at Chetzemoka Park in Port Townsend.
THE RED HAT TRIPTYCH, as with others of the composer’s
works, has a story behind it. After a
Port Townsend Composers concert at Franklin Court in August 2003, sponsored
by CENTRUM, the performers, composers and their families had lunch at the
adjoining Bread and Roses Café. The
wife of one of the composers mentioned that the Red Hat Society needed some
music composed for it. She thought a waltz
would be nice; another Red Hatter wanted a polka; and the composer had
enjoyed some measure of success with his marches. Thus was born the three-part suite: 1. Polka, 2. Waltz, 3. March. The Port Townsend Community Orchestra premiered the piece at its May
1, 2004 concert. The Red Hatters in
the audience even participated by some marching to the strains of the piece
when it was played. Everyone had a
great time. Its transcription for band
was performed by the Summer Band July 25, 2004.
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