Michael Daugherty: NIAGARA FALLS for symphonic band - Dallas Winds conducted by Jerry Junkin

Michael Daugherty (b. 1954) composer
Niagara Falls (1997) for symphonic band
Dallas Winds
Jerry Junkin, conductor
October 13, 1998 | Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, TX, USA
Publisher: Peermusic Classical
For more info go to michaeldaughertycomposer.com
To purchase or rent music go to www.peermusicclassical.com
See Michael Daugherty and his music featured in the 2007 PBS documentary “Niagara Falls,” narrated by Star Trek actress Mariette Hartley, here: www.pbs.org/video/wned-tv-documentaries-niagara-falls/
PROGRAM NOTE
Niagara Falls (1997) was commissioned by the University of Michigan Symphonic Band in honor of its One Hundredth Anniversary and is dedicated to its conductor H. Robert Reynolds. The work was premiered by that ensemble on October 4, 1997 at ‘Band-O-Rama,’ conducted by H. Robert Reynolds at Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The composer writes:
“Niagara Falls, a gateway between Canada and the United States, is a mecca for honeymooners and tourists who come to visit one of the most scenic waterfalls in the world. The Niagara River also generates electricity for towns on both sides of the border, where visitors are lured into haunted houses, motels, wax museums, candy stores, and tourist traps, as well as countless stores that sell 'Niagara Falls' postcards, T-shirts, and souvenirs.
This composition is another souvenir, inspired by my many trips to Niagara Falls. It is a ten-minute musical ride over the Niagara River with an occasional stop at a haunted house or wax museum along the way. Its principal musical motive is a haunting chromatic phrase of four tones corresponding to the syllables of Niagara Falls, and repeated in increasingly gothic proportions. A pulsing rhythm in the timpani and lower brass creates an undercurrent of energy to give an electric charge to the second motive, introduced in musical canons by the upper brass. The saxophones and clarinets introduce another level of counterpoint, in a bluesy riff with a film noir edge. My composition is a meditation on the American Sublime.”
GRAMMY Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1954. He has achieved international recognition as one of the ten most performed American composers of concert music, according to the League of American Orchestras. His orchestral music, recorded by Naxos over the last two decades, has received six GRAMMY awards, including Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2011 and 2017.