BEYOND A WILD DREAM        

PROGRAM NOTE
When I travel back to my childhood home in Iowa to visit family and friends, I often take a couple of days to drive and visit the towns and cities inhabiting the Mississippi River Bend.  Traveling through these communities, one sees both old and new, theaters, dance halls, and park bandstands. Stay long enough and you may begin to hear stories from local residents of a traveling opera company or theater troupe that passed through long ago.  What strikes me in all these cases is that in each town someone had the crazy, wild dream of bringing the arts to their community no matter how big or small. The Quad Cities is one such community where a hundred years ago a group of townspeople had a wild dream to create and support a full symphony orchestra. With this in mind, I began composing imagining what it was like to have attended the first performance in 1916. Twelve hundred people, gathered together at the Burtis Opera House to listen to Wagner, Schubert, Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky that I am sure for many was for the very first time.  In my imaginings, I soon realized I had a similar experience sixty years later, growing up in a small town, hearing a live orchestra for the first time on a school field trip. I left the performance, changed by what I heard, and began to dream.

Beyond a Wild Dream in its development pays homage to those who dream, for those who build, for those who keep the dream alive.  

INSTRUMENTATION
2(picc).2.2.2/4.2.3.1/timp/3perc/strings

DURATION
6 minutes

COMMISSIONED BY
The Quad City Symphony Orchestra for their 100th Anniversary Celebration Opening Concert, Mark Russell Smith, music director, Benjamin Loeb, executive director.

BIG CITY        

PROGRAM NOTE
Having grown up in a small rural midwestern town my first trip to a “big” city was one of wonder, excitement, and a bit of trepidation.  The noisy rush of people, traffic, and concrete overwhelms the senses in a way that is both astonishing and bewildering.  The hustle-bustle of the big city, inspiring for some, overpowering for others, nevertheless leaves an indelible mark on those who dwell and those who visit.  Big City, in its development, reflects the myriad of emotions one goes through when encountering one of our country’s great urban landscapes for the first time.

Big City is dedicated to Nathan Hetherington.

INSTRUMENTATION
2(picc).2.2.2/4.2.3.1/timp/perc4/pno/strings

DURATION
7 minutes

COMMISSIONED BY
The Manhattan School of Music Summer Youth Orchestra, Nathan Hetherington, conductor.

CONCERTO FOR TROMBONE and orchestra       

PROGRAM NOTE
Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra was written with the aim of featuring the lyric and dramatic qualities of the trombone.  In its development, the soloist weaves through a variety of reflected emotional states revealing a journey filled with both darkness and light.  It is a journey sustained by faith and the hope that each day presents an opportunity for a new beginning.

Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra is dedicated to my parents, Wayne and Ellen Frantzen.

INSTRUMENTATION
2(picc)1.eh.2.2/2.1.0.1/timp/1perc/pno/strings

DURATION
24 minutes

COMMISSIONED BY
The Cambridge Symphony Orchestra (MA), Dr. Mark Latham conductor.

IMPETUS

finalist in the 2009 ridgewood Symphony fanfare competition

PROGRAM NOTE
Impetus reflects a call for change; a call that welcomes and fully embraces a new beginning.  In calling out, however, there must be a willingness to say farewell to old beliefs, to old habits, and to old ways of thinking.

INSTRUMENTATION
2(picc)1.eh.2.2./4.3.3.1/timp/3perc/hp/pno/strings

DURATION
5 minutes

PREMIERED BY
The Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, David Gilbert, conductor.
 

LAST TWILIGHT for string orchestra      

PROGRAM NOTE
When something meaningful is lost in life, be it a beloved family member, a valued friend, or a relationship one often yearns to return to how things were in the past.  Everyday living is clouded with memories of once was mixed with the reality of now. Last Twilight in its development reflects this state of mind where one is caught between both the idealized past and the unyielding present. 

DURATION
7 minutes

PREMIERED BY
The Vista String Orchestra, New York, New York.  
 

LITTLE BROTHER        

PROGRAM NOTE
Little Brother is a programmatic work with all original melodic material based on the speech rhythm of the children’s chant:  I had a little brother.   The program reflects memories of my childhood playing “tag” and “hide and seek” with my two younger brothers.  More specifically it depicts a chase where the big brother can’t quite catch the little brother.  The big brother gradually becomes more annoyed and determined, set off by the little brother’s playful taunting.  The climax reveals who eventually wins in the end.

Little Brother is in rondo form.  The A-section represents the little brother.  The B and  C sections represent the big brother.  Besides the introduction and coda, a transitional fugal section is also thrown in.  Many concepts taught in the general music classroom are purposely used in the piece.  This includes speech rhythms, AABA melodic phrase form, rondo form, SO-MI-LA melodic motives, modulation to the dominant, modes (mixolydian, dorian, phrygian, aeolian, and a touch of lydian), aleatoric sections, and so on.  In fact, the melody in the first A section can be performed on mallet instruments by upper-grade elementary students.  An admirer of the Orff-Schulwerk approach to music education, I feel there needs to be a better connection between innovative general music methods and the concert hall.  I hope this work serves as a vehicle to help make this connection.

INSTRUMENTATION
2(picc)2.2.2/4.2.3.1/timp/2perc/pno/strings

DURATION
7 minutes

COMMISSIONED BY
The Nashua Chamber Orchestra, Dr. Mark Latham conductor, Merrimack, New Hampshire.

POEM        

PROGRAM NOTE
Poem was written in memory of an extraordinary young man, William P. Selvitelle, Jr.; trumpet player, poet, and actor.  The work reflects seven different episodes in his life.  The episodes have the following subtitles: The Gift, Awakening, Holy Night, Legoland, Ballad, The Coaster, Transcendence. The title comes from Bill’s love of poetry and music.  Two of his poems, Legoland and The Coaster are given musical interpretations.  After talking with his parents, friends, and teachers I was overwhelmed by the impact Bill had on others.  Persevering through obstacles and hardships he lived life to its fullest.  In doing so he inspired others to do the same. Thanks Bill.

INSTRUMENTATION
2.picc.2.eh.2.bcl.2/4.3.3.1/timp/3perc/hrp/strings

DURATION
12 minutes