PSC’s Symphonic Band

On Sunday, April 27, the Plymouth State College Symphonic Band, under the direction of Dr. Gary Corcoran, presented Times and Places. The afternoon proved to be a delight, with the selections ranging from musical theatre to English folk songs.

The first selection, Summer Dances by Brian Balmages, was a bright piece and a great choice to open with. It brought to life the beautiful weather that was coming with the incoming Spring and Summer seasons. It also was an appropriate piece to start; especially because of the amazing weather that Plymouth has been experiencing.

The melancholy feelings of the fall season were captured by composer Eric Whitacre in the next piece, October. Dr. Corcoran described the piece as really touching upon the reality of that beautiful crisp fall day, but at the same time realizing that the bleakness of the long dark winter was coming closer and closer. The piece also captured the restless energy and excitement of the fall day, It was beautifully played and wove into it all of the elements that Dr. Corcoran spoke of.

The third piece was Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Aldridge Grainger. This piece had a most interesting origin that helped make the song that much more entertaining. Grainger traveled around England gathering folk songs that he recorded onto a phonograph, an old-fashioned record player. He then took the songs and, as exactly as possible, wrote them down and thus created Lincolnshire Posy. There were six parts to this song, each one with its own character and excitement. The third part, Rufford Park Poachers, featured several soloists, all of which had a great quality of sound and were very talented. All the songs, although each one was different and unique, blended together to create a masterpiece of music.

Robert W. Smith wrote the next piece, Inchon, as a tribute to his father, who was a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts. The song started with several of the musicians coming off the stage with tympani drumheads and walking to various places inside the theatre. Suddenly, they began to shake the drumheads, which in turn made a sound that eerily and very realistically resembled a helicopter. The sound was also aided by a recording of a helicopter played as a sound cue. It stops suddenly, and then an alto flute begins to play a haunting melody that transports the audience back to another time and place—a time of war. As the song continues, the intensity and emotion of the song surrounds you and makes you feel as if you are truly going to march into battle. The song ends with the helicopter coming back full force, and then silence, broken only by the sad song of the alto flute once again.

After that came the piece that had originally drawn me to the concert in the first place—South Pacific by Richard Rodgers, and by no means was I disappointed. This piece was arranged by Mark Rodgers and, unlike the typical medley of songs that is traditionally played, it played through the songs of the show in the order that they appear as well as being more complete pieces of the songs instead of the little tidbits that are usually played. The band moved flawlessly from song to song throughout the piece, and played each movement with accuracy, brightness, and emotion.