Austin Civic Wind Ensemble — Fall 2026
Program Notes
The Eighth Candle
Steve Reisteter (b. 1957)
Subtitled "Prayer and Dance for Hanukkah," this 1997 work opens with a solemn hymn before breaking into an exuberant dance of celebration. Remarkably, every theme is original. Reisteter composed his own Hebraic-sounding melodies rather than borrowing folk songs. The results were convincing enough that Jewish band directors wrote to ask where he had found the authentic tunes. He had invented them.
Variations on a French Carol
Matthew Saunders
Inspired by a chance encounter during a trip to Saxony: at St. Wolfgang Church in the small town of Schneeberg, Saunders heard Belgian organist Jozef Sluys perform Marcel Dupré's magnificent Variations sur un noël (1922), which is built on the same French carol theme.
That recital became the main impetus for this work. The eight variations range from somber to sarcastic to triumphant, treating the concert band in the manner of an organ with blended timbres, octave doublings, and all.
Minor Alterations No. 2: Carols from the Dark Side
David Lovrien (b. 1963)
A game of holiday hide-and-seek. Lovrien takes familiar Christmas carols and transposes them into minor keys, then disguises, layers, and morphs them further until they're almost unrecognizable; well, almost. From an ominous opening to a frenzied Nutcracker finale, this is the shadow version of the holiday songbook. Listen carefully: you know these tunes.
Russian Christmas Music
Alfred Reed (1921–2005)
One of the great works in the wind band repertoire, composed in eleven days in 1944 by a 23-year-old Army arranger commissioned to write something Russian for a wartime concert in Denver. Reed drew on a 16th-century Russian Christmas carol and the chant traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church to create four connected movements: Children's Carol, Antiphonal Chant, Village Song, and Cathedral Chorus. Each one builds toward a thundering, luminous conclusion.
Der Traum des Oenghus (The Dream of Oenghus)
Rolf Rudin (b. 1961)
From Irish legend: Prince Oenghus dreams each night of a girl who plays a flute — and
vanishes before he can reach her. Rudin's two-part tone poem doesn't retell the story so much as inhabit its atmospheres: the first movement is nocturnal and otherworldly, suspended in longing; the second turns fierce and driven as the prince pursues her across the waking world. ACWE performed Part I in 2019; tonight we play both.
A Rhapsody on Christmas Carols
Claude T. Smith (1932–1987)
Commissioned by the United States Marine Band, this medley of beloved carols — including O Come, Emmanuel; We Three Kings; Joy to the World; and Angels We Have Heard on High, is anything but a simple sing-along arrangement. In the spirit of Britten's Young Person's
Guide, each carol is given to a different section of the band, turning the familiar into a
showcase of instrumental color and Smith's unmistakable voice as a composer.
Spanish Dance
Andrew Wainwright (b. 1963)
Not all Christmas music comes from Northern Europe. Ríu Ríu Chíu is a 16th-century Spanish villancico, a carol in the dance tradition, and Wainwright's arrangement captures its rhythmic energy and warmth with flair. The piece builds to a whirlwind climax that has made it a crowd favorite with bands around the world since its premiere at a British brass band championship in 2010.
Greensleeves Variants
Robert E. Foster
One of England's most enduring melodies — known at Christmas as What Child Is This? gets a symphonic workout in Foster's expansive set of variations. Opening with a bold brass fanfare, the work moves through contrasting episodes that explore the full tonal spectrum of the modern wind band. By turns stately, lyrical, and brilliant, it makes a fitting close to an evening
that has found new life in old music throughout.