Cover art by Sym Schuler
Program Note:
The Meyerson Fanfare was composed to celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Dallas Winds in 2020. The A–B–A architecture of the work, its overall dynamic contour, and palindromic rhythms were inspired by the beautiful arc-shaped balcony upon which many wonderful fanfares have been performed before Dallas Winds concerts at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. The initials M.H.M.—musically spelled E(mi), B(German B♮), and E(mi)—appear at structural points throughout the piece. In the opening two bars, stacked E–B–E chords (all major) are transposed down a half step to a more idiomatic E♭-B♭-E♭, and are deployed in the low brass, followed by the middle instruments, and finally the trumpets. In the central “keystone” section of the work, E-B-E reappears as a linear harmonic progression in the brass that gives way to a short palindromic phrase for percussion alone. During this soft passage, the timpani plays the pitches E, B, and E.
The main melody of the Meyerson Fanfare, which is constructed primarily of intervals in thirds and fifths, represents the thirty and five years since the creation of the Dallas Winds. The contrasting melodic material in the “Fast” section and also other motives throughout the composition were created by deriving and combining tetrachord sets from numbers of the calendar years 1985, 2019, and 2020: respectively the year of the ensemble’s inception and the concert season leading up its thirty-fifth year.
Performances
03|02|2020
West Michigan Arts Academy – Ferrysburg, MI
Boardwalk Brass of Grand Haven
02|02|2020
Grace Community Church – Hudsonville, MI
Boardwalk Brass of Grand Haven