“Ghoultide Scarols” — Halloween Music That’s Scary But Not Too Scary.

On Saturday, October 28, 2017, at 7:30 PM, in the auditorium of Fairfax High School, Fairfax VA, Virginia’s City Of Fairfax Band (Robert Pouliot music director) presents “Music Of The Ghoultide Season,” a concert featuring music by Bach, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Camille Saint-Saëns, and guest vocalists (The Fairfax Ghoultide Scarolers) singing Thomas Pavlechko’s Ghoultide Scarols, yuletide carols and Christmas tunes redone in minor keys with semi-scary Halloween-themed lyrics.

Toccata & Fugue in D Minor (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750). In 1708, the 23-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach began a 7-year term as court organist in Weimar. It was the start of one of his most productive periods. Unlike the stiff, formal image suggested by painted portraits from Bach’s maturity, the young Bach was a fiery musician. He created wildly energetic music that showed off his formidable performing talent on the organ keys and pedals. From that period came Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, a piece full of barely restrained passion and power. (Remember, the organ is a wind instrument.) The first publication of the piece was in 1833, due in large part to the efforts of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), who performed the piece in an acclaimed concert in 1840. Familiarity with the piece grew in the second half of the 19th century thanks to piano virtuoso Carl Tausig (1841-1871), but it was not until the 20th century that the popularity of the D Minor Toccata & Fugue rose beyond Bach’s other organ compositions. Toccata & Fugue was featured in Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940). Eventually the piece came to be regarded as the most famous work in all organ repertoire. Beyond Disney, the piece found a home in late-night horror movies. Its trademark opening has inspired a number of sound-alikes. Few can hear it without thinking of Frankenstein and Dracula, at least briefly.

Selections From Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1948 – ). Since 1910, the story of the Phantom of the Opera has fascinated readers even though the critics rolled their eyes. Starting with its first thumbs-down review, the story has sparked the imagination of readers, writers, producers, and composers alike, spawning nine theatrical versions, some 18 movies, a dozen-plus novels, lots of short-stories, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s fantastically successful 1988 Broadway musical, all based on the original plot and characters by Gaston Leroux (1868-1927). Debate rages over whether a real Phantom of the Opera ever existed. Even so, some people say the Phantom of the Opera changed their lives. The Broadway show’s haunting music has supernatural staying power. The selections include “Think of Me,” Angel of Music,” The Phantom of the Opera,” “All I Ask of You,” “The Point of No Return,” and “The Music of the Night.” The concert band arrangement is by Warren Barker (1923-2006).

The Deserted Ballroom (Morton Gould, 1913-1996). Summer is gone. The vacation resort is locked up tight for the season. The chilly winds of autumn swirl outside, a foretaste of winter. The ballroom is shuttered and deserted, dark as a tomb. But is it quiet as a tomb? Well, not just exactly. When nobody’s around to see, the spooks and spirits throw their own Halloween ball. What does it sound like when dancing goblins and gremlins kick up their heels? Morton Gould’s Deserted Ballroom can give us a pretty good idea.

Danse Macabre (Camille Saint-Saëns, 1835-1921). Camille Saint-Saëns began learning piano at age 2½ and memorized all the Beethoven piano sonatas by age 10. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848, studying organ and composition. He was hailed by Hector Berlioz as one of the great hopes of French music, and gained a reputation as a piano and organ virtuoso. In his music, Saint-Saëns elevated style, wit, and elegance above all other qualities, believing that excessive emotional expression is distasteful. He was a master of orchestration whose compositions are characterized by distinctive melodic invention and a strong overall sense of proportion and refinement. According to Saint-Saëns, the artist “who does not feel entirely satisfied with elegant lines, harmonious colors, or a fine series of chords, does not understand art.” Danse Macabre (1874) is the most popular of the Saint-Saëns tone poems. The idea comes from a poem of the same title by Henri Cazalis (1840-1909): Zig, zig, zig! Death in grim rhythm beats with a bony hand upon the graves. Death at the hour of midnight plays a waltz, zig, zig, zig, upon his weirdly tuned fiddle. The night is dark and the wintry winds are sighing; moans of the dead are heard through the linden trees. Through the darkness the white skeletons dart, leaping and dancing in their spectral shrouds. Zig, zig, zig! Each ghost is gaily dancing; the bones are cracking rhythmically on the tombstones. Then suddenly the dance is at an end. The cock has crowed! Dawn interrupts the Dance of Death! At the start of the piece, 12 strokes of the clock are heard upon the harp. The opening of the graves is suggested by mysterious octaves in the bass instruments. Death tunes his fiddle (saxophones), zig, zig, zig. The Dance of Death reaches a climax with the xylophone suggesting the rhythm of the bones on tombstones. The interruption of the rooster’s crow is sounded by the oboe. Soft, agitated chords sound as the ghosts scurry back to their graves. The concert band transcription is by Mark H. Hindsley (1905-1999).

October (Eric Whitacre, 1970 – ). Eric Whitacre is one of the most frequently performed composers of his generation. He studied composition at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the Juilliard School. His choral works and band pieces have rapidly become accepted in the repertoire due to their strong appeal for audiences and performers alike. In addition to writing music, Whitacre tours the world as a conductor of his own works. He is also known for his Virtual Choir projects, bringing together individual voices from around the globe via internet into an online choir. In March 2016, he was appointed Los Angeles Master Chorale’s first Artist-in-Residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. October was commissioned by a consortium of Nebraska bands. It is dedicated to Brian Anderson, who arranged the commission. Eric Whitacre wrote his own program note for the concert piece: October is my favorite month. Something about the crisp autumn air and the subtle change in light always make me a little sentimental, and as I started to sketch I felt that same quiet beauty in the writing. The simple, pastoral melodies and subsequent harmonies are inspired by the great English Romantics (Vaughan Williams, Elgar), as I felt that this style was also perfectly suited to capture the natural and pastoral soul of the season. I’m quite happy with the end result, especially because I feel there just isn’t enough lush, beautiful music written for winds. October was premiered on May 14th, 2000, and is dedicated to Brian Anderson, the man who brought it all together.

Ghoultide Scarols. In generations gone by, Halloween (a contraction of All Hallows’ Eve) was a celebration opening the 3-day observance of Allhallowtide, the season in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints, martyrs, and all the faithful who have passed away. In colonial America, Anglicans in the South and Catholics in Maryland recognized All Hallow’s Eve in their church calendars, while in New England the Puritans were opposed to all church holiday celebrations, including Halloween and even Christmas. With large-scale Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century, Halloween became a major holiday in North America and was gradually assimilated into mainstream society. By 1910 or so, Halloween was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial, and religious backgrounds. By the late 20th century, thanks in large measure to Hollywood & the entertainment industry (with heavy support from the candy and snack companies that make trick or treat goodies), Halloween in America had lost virtually all its original religious connotations, and instead taken on a pretend-scary mood of mock-fright. An solemn church holiday became more of an occasion for fun. To get in on the frivolity, Church organist, hymn composer, and conductor Thomas Pavlechko made a heavy break with tradition in rewriting and rearranging a dozen favorite Christmas songs and carols in minor keys, adding Halloween flavored lyrics, and packaging the whole extravaganza as Ghoultide Scarols.