Toccata for Band                   
Frank Erickson's Toccata for Band has been extremely popular among high school and college bands ever since it was first published in 1957. Essentially two ideas are expressed in the Allegro non troppo and Andante con moto sections. The first, featuring the trumpets and clarinets, is quick and rhythmic; the second, featuring French horn, is slow and lyrical.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band

Rhythm Stand
Written by Bowling Green State University Alumnus Jennifer Higdon, Rhythm Stand pays tribute to the constant presence of rhythm in our lives, from the pulse of a heart beating to the rhythmic sounds of the world around us. Celebrating the "regular order" we all experience, Higdon incorporates traditional and non-traditional sound within a 4/4 meter American style swing to heighten student awareness and enhance their creativity. Organized in unique compositional and rhythmic patterns, this work invites students to explore multiple ways of organizing sounds and making music.

In the composer's own words: 

"Since rhythm is everywhere, not just in music (ever listened to the tires of a car running across pavement, or a train on railroad tracks?), I've incorporated sounds that come not from the instruments that you might find in a band, but from 'objects' that sit nearby ... music stands and pencils! Music stands are played with pencils, which are both 'objects' at hand. Not only that, but some of the performers in this piece get even more basic ... they snap their fingers. Because music can be any kind of sound arranged into an interesting pattern, I decided to add sounds that you wouldn't normally hear coming from band instruments, sounds which are created out of ordinary things that might be sitting nearby. Composing is merely the job of combining interesting sounds into interesting patterns. And interesting patterns create cool rhythms. So ... I'm making a STAND FOR RHYTHM!" 

-Program Note from score

This Cruel Moon
This is an adaptation of Immortal thread, so weak, the middle movement of Wine-Dark Sea. John Mackey had received requests from band directors wanting to perform the middle movement of the symphony separately and without harp. 

This movement is the song of the beautiful and immortal nymph Kalypso, who finds Odysseus near death, washed up on the shore of the island where she lives all alone. She nurses him back to health, and sings as she moves back and forth with a golden shuttle at her loom. Odysseus shares her bed; seven years pass. The tapestry she began when she nursed him becomes a record of their love.

But one day Odysseus remembers his home. He tells Kalypso he wants to leave her, to return to his wife and son. He scoffs at all she has given him. Kalypso is heartbroken.

And yet, that night, Kalypso again paces at her loom. She unravels her tapestry and weaves it into a sail for Odysseus. In the morning, she shows Odysseus a raft, equipped with the sail she has made and stocked with bread and wine, and calls up a gentle and steady wind to carry him home. Shattered, she watches him go; he does not look back.

- Program Note from publisher

An American Heritage
Bowling green State University Alumnus and Associate Conductor of "The President's Own," United States Marine Band. Ryan Nowlin, composed "An American Heritage" in 2013.  Comissioned by the Elmwood High School Bands, the work begins with flourishes and fanfares, transitions to a slow, reflective section, and finishes with the same fanfare as the beginning. This scenic work is a snapshot of small towns across the country and undoubtedly inspired by Bowling Green, Ohio!

Traffic
Known as an important composer of art songs, Ned Rorem’s work extends well beyond this genre.  He composed three symphonies, four piano concertos, nine operas, ballets, theatre music and many other orchestral works.

Traffic is an arrangement of the quick paced and short second movement from Ned Rorem’s Symphony No. 3.  It was written in France and New York in 1957 and 1958.

-Program Note from the score

Canzona
Canzona is a short, brisk work, which opens with a declamatory idea expressed in massed sonorities. Next, a broad melodic line is introduced and supported by powerful rhythmic figurations. This is followed by a cantabile section. These materials are developed and expanded, and the piece closes with the opening statements brought back in a more dramatic presentation.

Canzona was commissioned by Edwin Franko Goldman through The League of Composers, and was premiered by the Eastman Wind Ensemble, Frederick Fennell conducting, in New York on 15 June 1951.

-Program Note by Peter Mennin

English Folk Song Suite is a standard work for bands from one of the most significant composers of the early 20th century. Fortunately, the piece is playable by a wide range of performers: high school bands, honor bands, community ensembles, and secondary or primary college ensembles. As with other wind band works by this composer, the ensemble must approach articulations with lightness and buoyancy because thick scoring can lead to undue heaviness. Conductors should note a strong oboe or cornet is required for the exposed solo in the second movement. Additionally, a moderate amount of repetition in the work will require performers to capitalize upon all expressive opportunities to maintain musical interest throughout.

-Program Note from Great Music for Wind Band

Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
Befitting a person of his status and popularity, Sousa received awards and recognition from numerous organizations including colleges, Indian tribes and Masonic and service organizations. Sousa’s nephew sponsored him for membership in the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Washington, D.C. in April 1922. He was named honorary director of the Almas Temple Shrine Band and was asked to compose this march which he dedicated to the organization. The following year, during the Shriners’ national convention, Sousa led a massed band of 6,200 Shriners in Washington, D.C.’s Griffith Stadium.

In 1923, Sousa recorded this march with his band on the Victor label. Although the Sousa Band made more than 1,770 recordings, Sousa led only three recording sessions. An early opponent of what he called “canned music," Sousa objected to the poor sound quality of early recordings, the promotion of recorded performances over live music, and the dearth of royalties paid to composers by the recording companies.

- Program Note by Russ Girsberger