May marks the final month of the semester, and the final band concerts come with it. The Platteville Chorale, an adult community choir, performed vocal music before a combined song with the band. The Platteville Symphony Band then finished the concert with instrumental music.
Directed by Greg Dennis, the chorale began with “Alleluia, Glorious is Thy Name.” “I Shall Not Grieve” then “My Funny Valentine” followed. Henry Purcell’s “Let Us Dance, Let Us Sing!” was performed, with the concert finishing with “Bashana Haba’a” and finally “I Sing the Body Electric.”
The combined song, John Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen” from the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” featured vocal backings from the choir while various instrumentations played through the piece. The symphony band, directed by Dr. Aaron Cooley, began their part with Bach’s “Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor,” a 15-minute, two-section dramatic piece that was originally written for organ, transcribed by Donald Hunsberger. “Pageant,” written by Vincent Persichetti, features two sections. It starts with soft, slow melodies before moving into a more booming song fitting for a pageant.
Cooley introduced Julie Giroux’s “Riften Wed” by explaining the concept of the game “Skyrim,” which the piece is based off, as well as informing the audience that he had originally pronounced it as “Skee-rim” mistakenly, much to the dismay of his young band members. Following the love ballad, “Variations on a Korean Folk Song” written by John Barnes Chance, an initial melody and subsequent variations of the same tune were featured.
To finish the concert, the band played Gustav Holst’s “Jupiter,” which is one movement from “The Planets,” a seven-movement suite based off the planets. Written over 100 years ago, Pluto still isn’t included. To explain his song choices, Cooley explained that “Tonight’s concert was all music that was inspired by composers who really elevated their reputation of the concert band. All these selections had pushed the envelope as far as repertoire that had been written for music for band throughout the last hundred years.”