Wind Symphony: Love & Nature

FALL FAIR

Canadian composer Godfrey Ridout lived and taught in Toronto, achieving early fame in his composition career for his film and radio scores used by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and National Film Board of Canada. His works encompass a variety of genres, but Ridout is best known for this overture for orchestra, defining his traditionalist tendencies, easy lyrical style, and sense of fun. 

Fall Fair is the result of a commission by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for performance (by the CBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Ernest MacMillan conducting) at the United Nations, New York City, on United Nations Day, October 24, 1961. Described by the title, there are snatches of country fiddle tunes, a noisy gaiety and activity, and pastoral nostalgia.  

SELECTIONS FROM “THE DANSERYE”

The Danserye was published in 1551 as an extensive collection of short and varied dance music. Dancing was a regular part of social interaction among the upper class, and proficiency in dancing was a primary requisite of any young noble’s upbringing. The music used to accompany courtly dances was generally divided into distinct formal sections with clearly defined rhythmic patterns. The Danserye was published without a prescribed instrumentation but included the suggestion, “pleasing and appropriate to be played on musical instruments of all kinds.” In 1551, a noble court’s instrumental forces may have varied widely based upon the wealth of the court and the ease of acquiring instruments or performers. Writing music for flexible instrumentation allowed Susato to maximize his base of consumers. During this period, instruments were generally used in homogeneous groups, or “consorts.” Variety of sound would have been achieved either by alternating between different consorts, or by mixing members of consorts. This particular arrangement, prepared by Patrick Dunnigan, capitalizes on the various consorts contained within the modern wind band. 

LOVE AND NATURE

The first movement, Flower Power, is inspired by the titular social movement of the 1960s - 70s and sonically critiques the juxtaposition of fragility and strength, beauty and utility, and nonviolence and force. Flower Power reflects the ethos of Marc Riboud's iconic photograph The Ultimate Confrontation: The Flower and the Bayonet and incorporates a musical Easter egg -- a countermelody for counterculture. The second movement, Star-Crossed, summons the hope, whimsy, and longing of its ill-fated protagonists through celestial textures and luminous scoring. The third and final movement, Slow Burn, explores both versions of the titular literary trope -- romantic and anger-fueled -- through the arboraceous lens of controlled fire, an originally indigenous practice that mitigates the drought-driven effects of climate change. Slow Burn foregrounds bright and wooden sounds to pay homage to our forests and the necessity of ecological restoration. 

Program Note by composer

SODBUSTER

Elizabeth Raum is a Canadian composer who is known for her prolific body of work, which covers a wide range of genres and styles. Her music is: tonal, tuneful, often light-hearted, and programmatic drawing eclectically on traditional vocabularies and sonorities. The term “sodbuster” refers to one who breaks the sod. Raum wrote, “When I was asked to write a new work for the Saskatchewan Band Association, they wanted something exciting and optimistic, something that would reflect the personality of the people of Saskatchewan. So, I wrote a combination march and overture, full of fanfare and melody. Then I had to give it a name. After several days of unsuccessful thought, I happened to be sitting with friends in a Bushwackers, a restaurant that specializes in its own delicious home brewed beers, and as I perused the menu of beer offerings, I spotted just the name for my new work for band: Sodbuster.

Program Note by composer

AURORA AWAKES

Aurora now had left her saffron bed, 
 And beams of early light the heav’ns o’erspread, 
 When, from a tow’r, the queen, with wakeful eyes, 
 Saw day point upward from the rosy skies.

Virgil, The Aeneid, Book IV, Lines 584 - 587

Aurora Awakes is a piece about the heralding of the coming of light. Built in two substantial sections, the piece moves over the course of eleven minutes from a place of remarkable stillness to an unbridled explosion of energy – from darkness to light, placid grey to startling rainbows of color. The work is almost entirely in the key of E-flat major, although it journeys through G-flat and F as the work progresses. Despite the harmonic shifts, however, the piece always maintains a – pun intended – bright optimism. 

Program Note - Jake Wallace

BIOGRAPHY

Sommer Helweh Forrester is an Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Toronto. She teaches courses in music education, conducts the Wind Symphony, and serves as the Coordinator of Music Education.   

Forrester is a sought-after music educator and conductor who works with scholars, K-12 educators, and performing artists in various contexts. Through her scholarship, Dr. Forrester investigates how reflective practice and critical inquiry can inform inclusive and socially responsive approaches to teaching and learning music. Forrester is published in prominent peer-reviewed research and practitioner journals. Forrester serves on the executive board for the Society for Music Teacher Education and the editorial board for the Journal of Music Teacher Education. She is an active guest conductor and clinician in North America and the Middle East.

Forrester holds Doctoral (Ph.D.) and Masters degrees in in Music Education with a cognate in Wind Conducting from the University of Michigan; Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto; and Honors Bachelor of Music Education from Western University. A former K –12 classroom teacher, Forrester proudly taught music in Canada, Palestine, Israel, and Kuwait. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Eric Chow, Concert Office - Supervisor 

Karen Wiseman, Performance Collection – Librarian 

Sara Ainsley Ko, Performance Collection – Student Librarian 

Eddy Aitken, Performance Office – Administrator 

Amanda Eyer Haberman, Performance Office – Assistant 

Ilinca Stafie – Performance Office - Staff

Ticket Prices: $30 Adult, $20 Senior, $10 Student. 
University of Toronto students with a valid T-Card are admitted free at the door (space permitting, some exceptions apply). No ticket reservation necessary.