OttawaHerald.com -- Community News. Community Connections.

	Franklin County, Kansas, USA

2009-11-07

2009-11-04

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Thursday, July 02, 2009 12:04 PM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Dan and Trish Shannon, Ottawa, listen as Ottawa City Band performs Tuesday evening in City Park near the corner of Fifth and Main streets in Ottawa. The band will be performing Saturday before the fireworks display in Forest Park, 518 W. Forest St., Ottawa.

Holiday getting musical salute

By BRIAN WILLIAMS, Herald Staff Writer

Before the pops and booms of fireworks, the sounds of flutes and trombones will be heard Saturday at two area Independence Day celebrations.

Ottawa’s City Band will play at 8 p.m. at Forest Park, 518 W. Forest St., Ottawa, before the fireworks are set off at dusk.

As part of Garnett’s July 4th Libertyfest, the Garnett Area Community Band will perform at 8 p.m. on the lawn south of the Optimist Building at the North Lake.

“Stirring marches and songs will be led by Jeff Russell to celebrate the birthday of our nation,” Jerry Lou Robinson, Garnett Area Community Band member, said in an e-mail.

Patriotic music is popular for many reasons, a Kansas State University music professor says.

“Many factors make patriotic music appealing: memorable melodies, catchy and often repetitive rhythms, the emotional content of the lyrics, and, to a lesser extent, the occasion for which the music was written,” Kansas State University’s Craig Parker, associate professor of music, said.

Cathy Sutton, who’s been a member of City Band since 1980, said the band always receives the most requests for John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Parker, an expert on Sousa, the American patriotic music composer known as the “March King,” said local tastes mirror those globally.

“The most recognizable piece of American music around the world is John Philip Sousa’s ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever,’ which was composed in 1896-97 as an instrumental piece. It was played by his own professional concert band that toured America and the world for 40 years,” Parker said. “The lyrics for this march were added long after it became popular as an instrumental work.

“When American orchestras tour internationally, they invariably play ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’ as an encore to a symphonic concert, as the National Symphony Orchestra did a few weeks ago during a tour of China,” he said.

“Whether it is performed by the Boston Pops or the local community band, it is always a favorite,” Robinson said.

As a trombone player, Sutton says it’s her favorite to play.

“You stand up and play it as loud as you can.”

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

Holiday getting musical salute

By BRIAN WILLIAMS, Herald Staff Writer

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article | Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.

E-mail this story to a friend | Print this article |
Enjoy the convenience of home delivery of The Ottawa Herald.