The 10:10 to 1920
The 10:10 to 1920 surveys music from 1900 to 1919. It includes:
The Invincible Eagle by John Philip Sousa
Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin
Hey! There! by James Reese Europe
When the Saints Go Marching In by Traditional
Title: The 10:10 to 1920
Composers: John Philip Sousa, Scott Joplin, James Reese Europe, and Traditional. Arranged by Tim Berens
Description: The 10:10 to 1920 is a survey of musical styles that led up to the 1920’s. It includes a Sousa march, a Joplin rag, a one step march by James Reese Europe, and When the Saints Go Marching In. The listener feels the grooves loosen up and hears the harmonies evolve as we move from Sousa to the Jazz Age.
The piece is tied together by a train theme. A steam whistle sound in the winds acts as a transition from composer to composer. Our arranger took a deep dive into train steam whistles, learned about their acoustical properties, then mapped the overtones of one particularly beautiful steam whistle onto the wind section. The harmony is an oddly voiced 13th chord, that includes all notes in the scale, root, third, fifth, flat seventh, ninth, 11th, and 13th. There is no fundamental. The seventh is the lowest note in the chord.
Next our arranger learned the meaning of train whistle signals, and in this arrangement you hear three different signals, releasing steam brakes and proceeding, crossing, and warning to people and animals. He made sure they are the right signals, so as to not upset Sheldon Cooper.
This piece is a great way to start a Pops concert.
Instrumentation: 2222/4331/Timp+2/Drum Set/Banjo/Piano/Strings
Length: 5:00
Rental Fee: $300.00 first performance. $100.00 per subsequent performance.
Video and Audio by
The Ohio Valley Symphony
Tim Berens, Conductor