From savannahs, forests, plains, and even the ocean depths, MAFB’s fall concert pairs three familiar film scores Elton John’s immortal Lion King, John Williams’ terrifying Jaws, and Joe Hisaishi’s lush Howl’s Moving Castle with pieces off the beaten track like Viet Cuong’s Howls and Hymns for trombone and band, Julie Giroux’s Our Cast Aways — a work honoring rescue animals, and Gabriela Ortiz’s Kauyumari, the Sacred Blue Deer of Mexico’s Wixarika people.
Lions, Tigers, and Bears!
Béla Bartók: Bear Dance
John Walter Bratton: Teddy Bears’ Picnic
Viet Cuong: Howls and Hymns
Julie Giroux: Our Cast Aways
Joe Hisaishi: Howl’s Moving Castle
Elton John: The Lion King
Gabriela Ortiz: Kauyumari
Camille Saint-Saëns: Selections from Carnival of the Animals
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate: Seminole Snake Dance
Darrington E. White: Tiger Galop
John Williams: Theme from Jaws
About the program
John Williams: Jaws
It’s quite impressive how John Williams manages to create such terror and suspense from just two iconic notes. Williams was well rewarded for his ingenious score winning the Oscar, Golden Globe, and Grammy for what would become one of the most recognizable film scores in history.
Joe Hisaishi: “Merry-Go-Round of Life” from Howl’s Moving Castle
“The Merry-Go-Round of Life” is the central melody of Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar nominated film Howl’s Moving Castle. The film explores Miyazaki’s pacifism as well as feminism, old age, and compassion which are common tropes in his works. This track is one of Joe Hisaishi’s most popular, especially since TikTok creators started using it to underscore their videos.
Viet Cuong: Howls and Hymns
Howls and Hymns was written with a specific goal in mind: give the soloist a challenging part while the ensemble portions remain accessible to a variety of skill levels. The commissioner trombonist Tim Smith also wanted to have a substantive piece that avoided stereotypical “schtick” and easy accompaniment. Viet Cuong delivered with this work with gorgeous hymn-like sections and raging “howls.”
Julie Giroux: Our Cast Aways
Julie Giroux is one of MAFB’s favorite composers and Our Cast Aways perfectly showcases her skill at writing for band. A true animal lover, this gorgeous piece is dedicated to rescue animals and those who open their hearts and homes to these shelter pets. Fun fact - two of our artistic director’s old dogs, Feyd and Rabban, are included in the multiple pages of pictures that make up the front matter of the score.
Gabriela Ortiz: Kauyumari
Kauyumari is the sacred blue deer of Mexico’s Wixarika/Huichol people. The blue deer represents a spiritual guide, one that is transformed through an extended pilgrimage into a hallucinogenic cactus allowing the participants to communicate with their ancestors, do their bidding, and take on their role as guardians of the planet. The melody is a traditional one from the De La Cruz family who are dedicated to recording ancestral folklore.
Elton John: Lion King
Our third film score of the afternoon, The Lion King contains so many favorites it’s not hard to believe that the soundtrack was diamond certified only five short years after the film’s release in 1994. In a great alternate history exercise, imagine what the music would sound like had lyricist Tim Rice’s first choice of ABBA written the songs instead of Sir Elton John!
Darrington E. White: Tiger Galop
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fight song, Tiger Galop is dedicated to the students, faculty, administration and staff of Centerville High School in Centerville, Texas. Can you guess what their school mascot is…
Béla Bártok: Bear Dance
Like Jaws, Bear Dance also features a low ostinato (a repeated musical pattern). Dancing bears were widespread throughout Europe from the Middle Ages to the 19th century and the practice has lasted into the 21st century in Spain and Eastern Europe in spite of pressures from animal rights groups. In 1908 this piece was originally written for piano, then arranged by the composer for orchestra in 1931, and then in 1955 was finally arranged for band.
John W. Bratton: The Teddy Bears’ Picnic
Dating from nearly the same year as Bear Dance, Bratton’s 1907 Teddy Bears’ Picnic is a charming novelty march (or two-step) that utilizes some clever percussion instruments. Lyrics were added to the work in 1932 and the recording from that release was of such high quality that BBC audio engineers used it through the 1960s to test frequency responses of studio equipment.
Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate: Seminole Snake Dance
Seminole Snake Dance was composed in the memory of and dedicated to Chief Enoch Kelly Haney. Mr. Haney (Seminole/Muscogee) was an internationally recognized artist from Oklahoma who served as Principal Chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and as a member of both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature. His bronze statue The Guardian, which sits atop the Oklahoma state capitol.
Camille Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals
This humorous suite depicting animals (and also pianists) was a great hit at private salon performances. It was so successful that Camille Saint-Saëns forbade public performance and publishing of the piece until after his death because he felt it was too frivolous for his “serious composer” image. He’d probably be dismayed to learn that “Weird Al” Yankovic and Wendy Carlos collaborated to write a Carnival of the Animals, Part Two which included aardvarks, cockroaches, unicorns, and, bringing this concert full circle, sharks.