David Dzubay's "Ra"

Synopsis

OK, if you say "band music," most people think "marching bands—sporting events." So if someone tells you there is a band work titled "Ra"—you might automatically respond: "sis-boom-ba." But that's not at all what composer David Dzubay had in mind. He was thinking of RA, the ancient Egyptian sun god.

A major figure in Egyptian mythology, the sun god Ra was born anew each day and journeyed across the sky doing battle with his chief enemy, a serpent named Apep, usually emerging victorious, though on stormy days or during an eclipse, the Egyptians believed that Apep had won and swallowed up the sun god.

David Dzubay's band composition named "Ra" is, as he describes it, "a rather aggressive depiction of an imagined ritual of sun worship, perhaps celebrating the daily battles of Ra and Apep," with the sections of the work alternating as if following the precise dictates of some grand and ancient ceremony.

Originally written for orchestra, Dzubay arranged his piece for concert band, and in this incarnation, it won an annual competition for new bands works. Ra was first performed by the Indiana University Symphonic Band, led by Ray Cramer at the College Band Directors' National Convention in Minneapolis on today's date in 2003. Both the venue and the performers selected for that premiere must have seemed particularly gratifying to Dzubay, since he was born in Minneapolis and received his doctorate in music at Indiana University.

Music Played in Today's Program

David Dzubay (b. 1964) Ra University of North Texas Wind Symphony, Eugene Corporon, cond. Klavier 11137

On This Day

Births

• 1902 - British composer Sir William Walton, in Oldham;

• 1936 - British composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, in Broadstairs;

Deaths

• 1697 - German composer and organist Nicolaus Bruhns, age c. 32, in Husum;

• 1888 - French composer Charles-Henri Alkan, age 75, in Paris;

• 1911 - French composer and organist Alexandre (Felix) Guilmant, age 74, in Meudon;

• 1924 - British composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, age 71, in London;

• 2001 - American jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet, age 80, in New York;

Premieres

• 1795 - possible premiere of Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb, in Vienna, with the composer as soloist; This concerto was written and premiered before Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, which was, however, published first;

• 1806 - Beethoven: "Leonore" Overture No. 3, as part of the second, revised version of the opera "Fidelio," at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna;

• 1836 - Wagner: opera "Das Liebesverbot" (The Ban on Love), in Magdeburg at the Stadttheater; Wagner's libretto is based on Shakespeare's play "Measure for Measure";

• 1874 - Dvorak: Symphony No. 3 in Eb, in Prague;

• 1879 - Tchaikovsky: opera "Eugene Onegin," in Moscow at the Malïy (Small) Theater (Julian date: Mar. 17);

• 1882 - Glazunov: Symphony No. 1, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Mar. 17);

• 1892 - Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 1 (first movement only), in Moscow, Vasily Safanov conducting and with the composer as soloist (Julian date: Mar. 17);

• 1911 - Chadwick: "Suite Symphonique," by the Philadelphia Orchestra, with the composer conducting;

• 2000 - Bright Sheng: String Quartet No. 4, in Richmond, Va., by the Shanghai String Quartet;

Others

• 1871 - Royal Albert Hall is formally opened in London by Queen Victoria.