Lindenwood University Spring Music Series, 2022

SPR ING MUS I C SER I ES — 2022 4 | 5 SCARBOROUGH FAIR This fiery setting of the well-known folk song starts quietly, then builds to a heart-pounding finish. This arrangement makes up the final movement of Three Folk Song Settings for Band by Andrew Boysen. The final movement, Scarborough Fair, concludes the suite with a rousing setting of this well-known folk song, and includes references to the previous two movements. Three Folk Song Settings for Band was commissioned by Russ Kramer and the Mason City (Iowa) High School Symphonic Band and was premiered in 2007. BENEDICTION Benediction features flowing melodies and counter lines in a rich, peaceful, chorale-like setting. It was originally scored for tuba quartet. BLAZE OF GLORY Blaze of Glory was commissioned by the Southwestern Oklahoma Band Directors Association for their 2003 Honor Band. The work was written as an overture in a style influenced by the cowboy and pioneer spirit of the frontiersmen who settled the area. SYMPHONY NO. 1, THE LORD OF THE RINGS V. HOBBITS Johan de Meij’s first symphony The Lord of the Rings is based on the trilogy of that name by J.R.R. Tolkien. This book has fascinated many millions of readers since its publication in 1955. The symphony consists of five separate movements, each illustrating a personage or an important episode from the book. V. HOBBITS The fifth movement expresses the carefree and optimistic character of the Hobbits in a happy folk dance; the hymn that follows emanates the determination and noblesse of the hobbit folk. The symphony does not end on an exuberant note, but is concluded peacefully and resigned, in keeping with the symbolic mood of the last chapter, The Grey Havens, in which Frodo and Gandalf sail away in a white ship and disappear slowly beyond the horizon.