Vincent Persichetti: "Symphony For Band" (No. 6), Op. 69

Symphony For Band (No. 6), Op. 69

Adagio; Allegro
Adagio sostenuto
Allegretto
Vivace

Vincent Persichetti

Born: June 6, 1915, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Died: August 14, 1987, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Composed: 1956

Duration: 17 minutes

University of Maryland Wind Ensemble

"Strike Up The Bands"

Friday, March 10, 2017, 8:00 pm

Elsie & Marvin Dekelboum Concert Hall

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

The University of Maryland at College Park

Vincent Persichetti’s Symphony No. 6, For Band, Op. 69 was commissioned and premiered by Clark Mitze and the Washington University Band at the MENC Convention in St. Louis on April 16, 1956. According to the composer, it could have been titled “Symphony for Winds,” following, as it did, his Symphony No. 5, For Strings. Persichetti, however, did not wish to avoid the word “band,” which he felt no longer had the connotation of a poor quality of music. In the autumn 1964 Journal of Band Research, he wrote, “Band music is virtually the only kind of music in America today (outside the ‘pop’ field) which can be introduced, accepted, put to immediate and wide use, and become a staple of the literature in a short time.” According to Jeffrey Renshaw, “The Symphony for Band… was in many ways such a departure from the established concepts of band works that it influenced the attitudes of generations of composers.”

The four movements (Adagio allegro, Adagio sostenuto, Allegretto, and Vivace) have forms with traditional implications. The opening horn call and a following scale-wise passage in the slow introduction become the two principal themes (in reverse order) in the subsequent Allegro. The standard exposition, development, and recapitulation of sonata form are in the Allegro, although the traditional key relationships are not completely retained. The slow second movement is based on “Round Me Falls the Night,” from the composer’s Hymns and Responses for the Church Year. The third movement, in trio form, serves as the traditional dance movement and is followed by a finale in free rondo form, which draws thematic material from the preceding movements and concludes with a chord containing all 12 tones of the scale.

- Program Note from the University of Alabama at Birmingham

Additional Resources:

- Vincent Persichetti, Divertimento for Band, Op.42

- UMWO Blog Persichetti Symphony No. 6 Post (2010)

- UMWO Blog Persichetti Posts

- Persichetti Bio (Theodore Presser Co.)

- Persichetti Interview with Bruce Duffie, November, 1986