Parkville Symphonic Band Sunday, November 8, 2026, 3:30 p.m.
Concert Selections
Appalachian Dances by James Curnow: Three dance movements based on Appalachian folk
tunes and set in the improvisational styles of the best fiddle players in the Appalachian
communities. The Irish roots of these melodies are clearly recognizable.
Incidental Suite by Claude T. Smith: Among Smith’s finest compositions, these pieces pushed
concert bands into new territories with complex rhythms and time signature changes. The
second movement “Nocturne” is in my opinion among the loveliest slow movements in the band
literature.
Suite of Old American Dances, movements 1-3: Robert Russell Bennett was one of a group of
fine composers and arrangers who produced much of the best music for band during the early to
mid-1900s. His Suite of Old American Dances captures the rhythms and tunes of the musical
forerunners of ragtime and Dixieland, elevating them to concert band classics!
Fiddler on the Roof Medley: “Tradition” and “Sunrise, Sunset” are among the favorite tunes
included in this Calvin Custer arrangement of songs from this Broadway musical.
The Saints’ Hallelujah: Originally a Canadian Brass piece, this adaptation for concert band
cleverly fits motifs from Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” within the familiar “The Saints Go
Marching In” spiritual for a surprisingly satisfying result. It’s almost as if they belong that way!
As Summer Was Just Beginning: Based on an old British Isles folksong, composer Larry Daehn
intended this piece as a tribute to actor James Dean, whose brilliant but brief Hollywood career
ended in a fatal car accident in 1955 when he was only 24. The title is taken from an inscription
on a bronze statue of James Dean standing near Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles.
