California Composer Dr. Robert W. Parker Receives Commission from Yale University
Karen Kahler
April 10, 2008
The Yale Concert Band opened its final performance of the 2007–08 season on April 5 with new music by California composer Dr. Robert W. Parker. Parker´s Sicut Incipiat is the first work to be commissioned by the recently established Robert J. Flanagan Yale Bands Commissioning Endowment.
The Flanagan Endowment, directed to the commissioning and premiering of music for concert band, was established to "ensure that the Yale Band´s exemplary and long-standing tradition of commissioning the worlds´ greatest composers will remain an active and important part of the program in perpetuity."
Director of Bands Dr. Thomas C. Duffy wanted the first piece commissioned in this new series to be one that would have great impact on both the Yale Band and the Yale community, and he wished to select a composer who could create a new piece that would become a part of Yale´s annual commencement music. To that end, Duffy chose Parker—a Yale Band and School of Music alumnus whom Duffy describes as "a modern-day Ralph Vaughan Williams"—for the inaugural commission.
Parker traveled to New Haven to attend the premiere of his work, held at Yale University´s famed Woolsey Hall. His composition shared the bill with works by Milhaud and Stravinsky. Parker also performed with the band as a guest percussionist.
The Yale Band´s next performance of Sicut Incipiat will be in May 2008, at Yale's 307th commencement.
In his introductory notes to "Sicut Incipiat," Parker writes: "'Commencement' seems an oddly named event; it is, after all, the end of a very significant journey. I have 'commenced' four times...and when you get that diploma and walk away with your degree in hand, all you hear is the rattling of your footsteps, and all you can think about is that IT, whatever 'it' was, is completely, and irrevocably over—it´s as 'over' as 'over' gets. And yet, we call this occasion 'commencement.' Perhaps, as Lao Tzu told us so many centuries ago, it is because ending creates beginning. Without the terrible finality of this conclusion, there can be no glorious and hopeful...commencement. And so, this is a march for commencement. Sicut Incipiat: ´Thus, let it begin.´ We stand not in the shadow of the past, but in its light. We celebrate what we have accomplished, but more importantly, we put our eyes upon the horizon, and in hope and triumph...we march forward."
Parker is a faculty member and alumnus of Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada Flintridge, California, where he has been the organist for commencement ceremonies since 1973. The school will present the premiere of his Elizabeth´s Farewell, a tone poem inspired by Arthur Miller´s The Crucible, at its annual spring concert on April 23. Parker is also a singer and composer for Oneonta Congregational Church in South Pasadena.
To hear a recording of the premiere of Sicut Incipiat, visit www.robertparkermusic.com.
The Flanagan Endowment, directed to the commissioning and premiering of music for concert band, was established to "ensure that the Yale Band´s exemplary and long-standing tradition of commissioning the worlds´ greatest composers will remain an active and important part of the program in perpetuity."
Director of Bands Dr. Thomas C. Duffy wanted the first piece commissioned in this new series to be one that would have great impact on both the Yale Band and the Yale community, and he wished to select a composer who could create a new piece that would become a part of Yale´s annual commencement music. To that end, Duffy chose Parker—a Yale Band and School of Music alumnus whom Duffy describes as "a modern-day Ralph Vaughan Williams"—for the inaugural commission.
Parker traveled to New Haven to attend the premiere of his work, held at Yale University´s famed Woolsey Hall. His composition shared the bill with works by Milhaud and Stravinsky. Parker also performed with the band as a guest percussionist.
The Yale Band´s next performance of Sicut Incipiat will be in May 2008, at Yale's 307th commencement.
In his introductory notes to "Sicut Incipiat," Parker writes: "'Commencement' seems an oddly named event; it is, after all, the end of a very significant journey. I have 'commenced' four times...and when you get that diploma and walk away with your degree in hand, all you hear is the rattling of your footsteps, and all you can think about is that IT, whatever 'it' was, is completely, and irrevocably over—it´s as 'over' as 'over' gets. And yet, we call this occasion 'commencement.' Perhaps, as Lao Tzu told us so many centuries ago, it is because ending creates beginning. Without the terrible finality of this conclusion, there can be no glorious and hopeful...commencement. And so, this is a march for commencement. Sicut Incipiat: ´Thus, let it begin.´ We stand not in the shadow of the past, but in its light. We celebrate what we have accomplished, but more importantly, we put our eyes upon the horizon, and in hope and triumph...we march forward."
Parker is a faculty member and alumnus of Flintridge Preparatory School in La Cañada Flintridge, California, where he has been the organist for commencement ceremonies since 1973. The school will present the premiere of his Elizabeth´s Farewell, a tone poem inspired by Arthur Miller´s The Crucible, at its annual spring concert on April 23. Parker is also a singer and composer for Oneonta Congregational Church in South Pasadena.
To hear a recording of the premiere of Sicut Incipiat, visit www.robertparkermusic.com.