Name: MetaMarch by stevenbryant in Parody Suite
Duration: 4 min 10 s
Description: PROGRAM NOTE and SCORE: http://stevenbryant.com/metamarch.php

"Parody Suite" is the umbrella term for my four pieces that quote and rework familiar melodies from other popular band works: Chester Leaps In, ImPercynations, MetaMarch, and Suite Dreams. While I've used the term "parody" in this title, I do NOT mean it to imply that I'm belittling or ridiculing any of the original pieces. In fact, I believe it would be more accurate to describe these as 'remixes' of the originals, as filtered through my hazy memory of playing these works when I was a student in various bands.

They can be performed together, or individually, or in any combination. If you're performing all four, the original intended order is:

ImPercynations
Suite Dreams
MetaMarch
Chester Leaps In
This ordering preserves some key relationships I've purposely set up across the works, and helps it to somewhat adhere to a traditional symphonic scheme (slow 2nd mvt., march for the 3rd mvt., etc.). This order is not set in stone, however. A common programming approach with several of these in the past has been to pair them with the parodied work. For example, Chester Leaps In and Schumann's Chester have appeared on a number of programs together.

Parody Suite

"Lost It To Trying" from the album Lanterns, now available on ITunes: http://bit.ly/1hqLie6

Watch the official music video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkLT5krv_6c

Written, Performed & Recorded by Son Lux
Vocals - Lily & Madeleine (http://lilandmad.com)
Baritone Saxophones - Jack Bashkow, Steven Temme
Tenor, Alto Saxophones - Steven Temme
Flutes - Alex Sopp

Ryan Lott Music (ASCAP) administered by Domino Publishing Company USA (ASCAP)
© 2013 Joyful Noise Recordings + Son Lux / sonluxmusic.com

Lanterns

Lost It To Trying

Buy from iTunes

Son Lux - Lost It To Trying

This is a live performance with The President's Own Marine Band with Jason Fettig, conducting.

Program note:
My wife’s grandfather was an extraordinary man. He was an immigrant who walked around quoting poetry and whistling tunes from his childhood in Scotland. Like a character from a movie he always seemed to pull just the right verse for the occasion.

 
In the spring of 2007, he fell into a coma following a severe stroke. After weeks of being in this state he awoke and said: 

 
In mist or cloud…

 …on mast or shroud… 

…It perched for Vespers nine… 

…Whiles all the night… 

…through fog-smoke white, 

Glimmered the white moon-shine. 

 
These were the final words of a man who always chose the right words. Within the hour he was gone. 

 
Not recognizing the verse, I immediately ran to Google to decipher what message the old man could have been delivering.

 
The verse is from the famous poem of condemnation and redemption, “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”. The poem is the story of a mariner condemned to travel the earth telling his tale of hubris and punishment in search of redemption. The mariner shot an albatross for no other reason than he felt like it and then suffered the wrath of both death and living-death for his gall. 

 
The verse my wife’s grandfather quoted is the verse immediately before the one containing the ill-fated murder of the albatross. As they say, the calm before the coming storm. 

 
My work entitled, “It perched for Vespers nine,” on a surface level engages the imagery from the verse itself. But at the emotional core of the work is my trying to work out what my wife’s Pop Pop might have been trying to tell us about what awaits us “In mist or cloud”.

 
It perched for Vespers nine was commissioned by the American Bandmasters Association and the University of Florida. For performance materials or any additional questions please contact:

www.billholabmusic.com

Buy Studio Recording

It Perched For Vespers Nine (LIVE The President's Own Marine Band)

PROGRAM NOTE and SCORE: http://www.stevenbryant.com/suitedreams.php

Suite Dreams

Remix / "mashup" of Percy Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy.
PROGRAM NOTE and SCORE: http://stevenbryant.com/imp.php

MetaMarch

stevenbryant

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