Скачать или смотреть A Festive Music (1968) by Ronald B. Lo Presti (1933-1985)

When one talks about Ronald Lo Presti, the first and probably only thing that comes to mind is his 1964 symphonic band composition Elegy for a Young American. It has an extensive and enduring legacy in both performance and recording, 60 years after it was penned. It’s one of my favorite pieces as well, having played it a couple of times during my playing days. However, it’s gotten to the point where the Elegy seems to be Lo Presti’s only hit for band today, and has completely overshadowed a body of work that was built over the course of his storied career as a composer. Unlike Claude Smith, who has a few rare pieces in a large catalog, Lo Presti has many rare band works in a much smaller collection. One of the goals RareSymphonicBand has is to uncover and rediscover the repertoire of so-called “one-hit wonders” like Lo Presti, who have been cited as writing highly-regarded, top quality literature for band, yet are completely forgotten or even unknown today.

We begin our journey through Ronald Lo Presti’s rare band compositions with A Festive Music, completed in 1968. It is very high on the rarity chart, with no known publication and only 2 recordings. The beginning is slow adagio full of rich dark chords in the low brass with a tritone horn call on top. A short build brings us to a fortissimo set of chords that are “festive”, and then winds down to allow a flute melody to lead to a callback to the tritone. The chorale retains its dark sound until suddenly the tempo is fast and the meter is in 5/4. Woodwinds have this unrelenting driving melody that moves fast, then gets brought back in the euphoniums. The intensity builds to a strong peak but then mellows out in order to bring a new chorale with horns taking the melody and woodwinds supporting, then the same chorale repeats with the roles reversed. We then segway back to the fast 5/4 for a brief build to the fortissimo playing of the chorale, which then returns to the fast tempo a third time for one more climb to the top of the intensity mountain. After a caesura break the fortissimo adagio from the beginning returns and like before winds down for the clarinets to take the motif and bring us back to the dark chords and tritones. The volume stays reserved here, and this time saxophones suddenly pick up the 5/4 tempo that ends up building to the maestoso home stretch. The brass lead the charge in one final “festive” line leading to the last chords of the piece and a piano-to-fortissimo final note.

This piece is so rare that there is barely any information about it. No program notes are available, and as mentioned it may not have even been published. This recording by the 1968 Arizona AA All State Band is one of only 2 documented recordings of A Festive Music. No other performances past the 2 recordings are known. A Festive Music is part of a real stellar band catalog that has been largely overlooked and overshadowed. This piece, along with many other Lo Presti band works that we will look at, are in dire need of both performances and updated recordings. Ronald Lo Presti is a truly gifted band composer that needs more attention, and if his music is truly considered highly-regarded then it is up to us ensure it does not fade into obscurity.

Sources:
Worldcat.org

Wikipedia

YouTube

Wind Repertory Project

http://www.nhipa.org/commissions.html....

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