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5 May 2012 - Fleet Baptist Church
Jubilee Concert (with Kings and Queens of the Bible) Programme Notes
Raiders March
The Raiders March, Indiana Jones' theme, was originally two songs simply played on piano by composer John Williams. He invited Steven Spielberg to his performance and Spielberg asked him to link the two songs together to create Raiders March. The song was composed around 1980 and was recently included in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It has been used in every movie and also appears in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
Great Gate of Kiev, The
The Great Gate at Kiev is probably the best known movement from the Pictures At an Exhibition Suite, which in turn is probably the best known work by Modest Mussorgsky.
Unlike other transcriptions of this work that have been written for brass band, this version remains faithful to the piano original (not Ravel's orchestral arrangement).
Mussorgsky composed the work in commemoration of his friend, the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann, who died in 1873. In 1874 an exhibition of over 400 of the artist’s works was mounted in the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg. Pictures at an Exhibition takes the form of an imaginary musical tour around such a collection.
Handel’s Largo
Xerxes was King of Persia. He held a 180-day feast. While in "high spirits" from the wine, he ordered his queen, Vashti, to appear before him and his guests to display her beauty. But she refused to come. To find a new queen suitable to King Xerxes, it was decreed that beautiful young virgins be gathered to the palace from every province of his kingdom. King Xerxes chose Esther for his new wife and queen.
Xerxes is an opera by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London;on 15 April 1738. The opera is set in Persia in 480 BC. The Largo is the opening aria sung by Xerxes to a tree.
James Bond Collection
A selection of music from James Bond films
Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves
Nabucco (short for Nebuchadnezzar) is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi based on the Biblical story. It follows the plight of the Jews as they are assaulted, conquered, and subsequently exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar was the first Babylonian king to rule Egypt, his best known accomplishment was his palace especially the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
One Voice by Barry Manilow (1979)
According to Manilow, this song came to him in a dream: "It woke me up and I croaked it into my cassette recorder and then went back to sleep. When I woke up and played it back, there it was. A whole song. Amazing."
Grease
Grease is an 1978 American musical film based on the 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. It was successful both critically and at the box office; its soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best selling album of the year in the United States
West Side Story
An American musical with music by Leonard Bernstein. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.
The story is set in the Upper West Side neighborhood in Manhattan, New York in the mid-1950s. The musical explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
INTERVAL
Salamanca
A modern bolero (another form of Spanish dance!) from the old team of Dave Baker and Pol Stone who wrote for dance bands.
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, the capital of the province of Salamanca. It is probably best known for having the oldest university in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe.
When I’m 64
"When I'm Sixty-Four" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney released in 1967 on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
A song by the English rock band Queen, written by Freddie Mercury in 1979. While it peaked at number two on the U.S. charts on 23 February 1980, remaining there for four consecutive weeks. It topped the charts in Australia for seven weeks
As reported by Mercury in the Melody Maker, 2 May 1981, Mercury composed "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the guitar in just five to ten minutes. Other accounts say that he wrote it while lounging in a bubble bath in the Hotel in Munich. The entire song was reportedly recorded in less than half an hour (although Mack says it was six hours).
Pomp & Circumstance 4
The "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" (full title "Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches"), Op. 39 are a series of marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar. March No. 4 is as upbeat and ceremonial as No. 1, containing another big tune in the central Trio section.
Nearer my God to thee
This year is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s maiden voyage. The band continued playing, even when it became apparent the ship was going to sink, and all members perished.
There has been much speculation about what their last song was. Several passengers, alleged that the final tune played was that of the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee".
Colonel Archibald Gracie, said the tunes played by the band were "cheerful" but that he didn't recognise any of them, claiming that if they had played ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’ as claimed in the newspaper "I assuredly should have noticed it and regarded it as a tactless warning of immediate death to us all and one likely to create panic.
Nimrod
Nimrod was the great-grandson of Noah and the king of Shinar. Nimrod has traditionally been considered the leader of those who built the Tower of Babel in Babylon. He was a man of power in the earth, and a mighty hunter. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden of Eden, God had made garments for them to wear to replace their fig leaves. When they died, the garments were passed to Enoch, then to Methuselah and then to Noah. After the flood, Ham stole the garments and hid them. Later, he gave them to his son Cush, who also hid them. Cush then gave them to his son Nimrod. Nimrod received supernatural strength when he put on Adam’s garments, and he was a mighty hunter and destroyed many of the giants in his region, along with the wild beasts which kept many in fear of being devoured.
Edward Elgar wrote the Enigma Variations in 1898–1899, it is a theme and fourteen variations – each variation is dedicated to one of Elgars friends. Augustus J. Jaeger was a music editor and was a close friend of Elgar. Nimrod is the name of the 9th variation and refers to King Nimrod, described as "a mighty hunter before the Lord" - the name Jäger being German for hunter.
Rule Britannia
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740
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