Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: http://read.jwpepper.com/i/111823
Program Notes Showdown! was commissioned by the 2011 Western Kansas Orchestra Festival and was premiered under the composer���s baton in October of that year. A highly programmatic work, Showdown begins with a nervous clamor of two chords followed by a diminished chord arpeggiated figure that represents two gunfighters circling each other on a dusty street in 1870���s Kansas. The introduction gives way to an accelerando into the first theme, punctuated by a sixteenth note obbligato rhythm. The first violins and violas introduce the first theme at measure 23 and is reiterated by the violas and cellos before the second theme is presented at measure 47. Here, in classic TV-Western style, the first violins give a dramatic representation of the gunfighters staring each other down before pistols are drawn. The middle section, marked Celebratory, is a fast waltz, representing cheering townsfolk as they celebrate the victory of the ���white hat.��� But is it really a victory? Chromatic alterations, beginning at measure 75, tells us that something���s not quite right, and by the time the diminished arpeggios are heard once again, it can mean only one thing: the ���black hat��� is back! The two main themes are presented again but this time lead to a coda in the parallel major, signifying the defeat of the bad guy as our illustrious hero rides into the sunset! About the Composer Jeffrey S. Bishop is currently the director of orchestras and division coordinator of fine arts at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas,a suburb of Kansas City. He is a member of the Music Educators National Conference, the American String Teachers Association, the American Composers Forum, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Jeffrey has presented sessions at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and the American String Teachers Association National Convention. He is in demand as a clinician, conductor, and composer across the country. His articles have appeared in the first three volumes of the GIA Publication Teaching Orchestra through Performance, the Instrumentalist magazine, and Orchestra News. Mr. Bishop���s compositions for string orchestra, full orchestra, concert band, and choir have been commissioned and performed in the United States, Mexico, and throughout Europe. The recipient of the 1997 National School Orchestra Association Composition Contest Award with his Symphony for Strings No. 1, He has appeared as a conductor/clinician for regional and state orchestras in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, and Oregon. Jeffrey is currently completing coursework toward a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction (Music Education Cognate) at Kansas State University.