Asheville Performance
March 07, 2010 08:00 PM Filed in: Performance
Works by Martini, J.S. Bach, John Cheetham, and W.C. Handy, as well as three Chinese folk songs arranged by the SMBQ. The program will feature three ragtimes by Joe Green which have been arranged by Mario Gaetano for solo xylophone and brass quintet.
Program Notes from Mario Gaetano:
Although the roots of ragtime music go back to the 1880s, a new type of ragtime music emerged in the 1920s that was much faster in tempo, more technical and programmatic: this new style became known as “novelty ragtime” and it became a perfect vehicle for an instrument that had recently been engineered to a remarkably high standard of quality in the Chicago area – the xylophone.
During the 1920s the xylophone as a solo instrument reached its peak in popularity. Virtuoso xylophonists were heard regularly on radio broadcasts, phonograph records, with dance and concert bands. The greatest xylophonist to emerge from this era, by far, was George Hamilton Green, who recorded hundreds of LPs and had over 500 musical compositions to his credit, including transcriptions of classical pieces and original music.
Dr. Gaetano has chosen three works from this “golden age of the xylophone,” and arranged them especially for himself to perform with the SMBQ. The xylophone Dr. Gaetano will be performing on is a rare vintage xylophone manufactured by the Deagan Co. in Chicago in 1915, and may have actually been used on many recordings from this era.
Program Notes from Mario Gaetano:
Although the roots of ragtime music go back to the 1880s, a new type of ragtime music emerged in the 1920s that was much faster in tempo, more technical and programmatic: this new style became known as “novelty ragtime” and it became a perfect vehicle for an instrument that had recently been engineered to a remarkably high standard of quality in the Chicago area – the xylophone.
During the 1920s the xylophone as a solo instrument reached its peak in popularity. Virtuoso xylophonists were heard regularly on radio broadcasts, phonograph records, with dance and concert bands. The greatest xylophonist to emerge from this era, by far, was George Hamilton Green, who recorded hundreds of LPs and had over 500 musical compositions to his credit, including transcriptions of classical pieces and original music.
Dr. Gaetano has chosen three works from this “golden age of the xylophone,” and arranged them especially for himself to perform with the SMBQ. The xylophone Dr. Gaetano will be performing on is a rare vintage xylophone manufactured by the Deagan Co. in Chicago in 1915, and may have actually been used on many recordings from this era.