Author Archives: Gavin Groshel

“An American Elegy”: The Perfect Tribute

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Program notes from Frank Ticheli’s “An American Elegy” 1999

In April of 1999, the nation stood still as they witnessed the tragedy that was the Columbine High School Massacre. Everyone experienced a collective feeling of anger, sorrow, and grief as they watched the news in horror. Throughout the country, people could not comprehend what they had seen, and many wanted to do whatever they could to help Columbine High School. One of these groups was the University of Colorado’s Alpha Iota Chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, a nationwide fraternity for college band members. The Alpha Iota Chapter decided to reach out to world-renowned band composer Frank Ticheli to commission a piece in honor of all those affected by that tragic day.

Frank Ticheli was honored when he was approached by the chapter and knew that he needed to write something special to commemorate those who lost their lives. Ticheli in his program notes describes how the main melody of the work came to him in a dream. Once he had the main melody, the rest of the work came together in around two weeks. Ticheli continues to describe the work in his program notes, saying,

An American Elegy is, above all, an expression of hope. It was composed in memory of those who lost their lives at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and to honor the survivors. It is offered as a tribute to their great strength and courage in the face of terrible tragedy.

Ticheli uses multiple pages at the beginning of the score to go into detail about each section of the work. He gives specific directions on how different sections of the piece should feel, as well as the emotions he wanted to portray while writing the piece.

All of the emotion that was put into this work becomes very apparent with just one listen of the piece. The music never tries to make a statement, which has become a theme in more recent memorial pieces, especially those about school shootings. The music focuses solely on being a memorial for all those who lost their lives, and in my opinion, does so to near perfection. The piece slowly builds up, seemingly going through every stage of grief in just 10 short minutes. The piece finally reaches its climax at around 7:00 minutes in, using the brass to play the Columbine alma matter. After this fanfare moment from the brass, the instrumentation completely dies out, leaving just an offstage trumpet solo that rings over the venue. This moment is the emotional heart of the work and portrays so much emotion without ever even needing to see the soloist.

Overall, this piece is one of the most influential pieces in all of the wind-band literature and is a beautiful tribute to those who lost so much. I want to leave this post off with one final quote from the program notes, as I feel it perfectly encapsulates the importance of this work.

I hope the work can also serve as one reminder of how fragile and precious life is and how intimately connected we all are as human beings.

Frank Ticheli, An American Elegy, Manhatten Beach Music, 1999

Louis Armstrong’s All Star Tours and the Straw That Broke the Camels Back

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A man in a suit plays a trumpet while standing on a rock near the Sphinx and pyramids in the background. A seated woman in a dress and headscarf watches him, smiling. The setting is an ancient archaeological site.

Louis Armstrong playing for his wife in front of the pyramids of Giza, 1961

Louis Armstrong was truly a cross-generational talent. Even today, Armstrong is one of the few household names in the jazz industry. Known as a pioneer of jazz, he was famous all over the world during the peak of his fame, even during some of the most conflicting times in the 20th century. He first grew in popularity in the 1920s with his Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings, afterward continuing as a soloist, a band leader, and even acting in movies. Armstrong was instrumental in the introduction of the swing band era into the jazz and popular music scene.

Because of his worldwide success, Armstrong was asked to go on tours as an ambassador for the United States with his band known as the “All-Stars.” Armstrong was one of many ambassadors who were asked to travel across the world by the US government, as the US wanted to use these jazz musicians to raise its public perception after it had been hurt by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Other musicians who went on these ambassador tours include Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, and more.

As part of these ambassador tours, Armstrong was asked to visit the Soviet Union in 1957. He originally planned to go on this tour, but after the National Guard refused entry to the 9 black students in Little Rock, Armstrong backed out of the tour in protest of the United States government. After he canceled the tour, Armstrong went on record to condemn the US government for their actions. These statements were recounted by Larry Lubenow, the journalist who broke the story 50 years ago.

“Well, he said that as far as he was concerned, Ike and the government could go to hell. And he sang his version of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ to me with very dirty lyrics – oh, say can you mothers – M-F – see by the M-F early light? He was very mad,”

These comments made the front papers of newspapers all over the country and were very significant to Armstrong’s career. For the majority of his career, he had been considered a sellout and an “Uncle Tom” by many of his black peers. He would often remain silent on racial and social issues, and many also believed that he played a “white-washed” form of jazz to appeal to his audiences. Many musicians, such as Miles Davis, even compared his performances to minstrelsy.

Many believe that Armstrong speaking out was the final straw that pushed Eisenhower to make a federal order allowing the students to enter Little Rock’s school. I believe that Louis Armstrong using his power to cancel his tour shows just how powerful individual voices can be. Although he was just one man who rarely involved himself in politics, he still was a driving force in the effort to desegregate schools.

“Remembering Louis Armstrong’s Little Rock Protest.” NPR, NPR, 22 Sept. 2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14620516#:~:text=In%20September%201957%2C%20Louis%20Armstrong%20cancelled%20his%20tour%20of%20the,integrate%20Central%20High%20School%20there.

“Louis Armstrong in Egypt.” The American Mosaic: The African American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2024, africanamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1463453. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024

“Fables of Faubus”: How One Artist Used His Music To Challenge a Governor

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Arkansas governor Orval Faubus holds up a sign against racial segregation in schools.

Charles Mingus was a very influential Jazz musician during the Civil Rights Movement. He was a string bassist and band leader raised in California. Mingus began playing music at a young age and worked with many great classical and jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong and H. Rheinshagan, the principal bassist for the New York Philharmonic. Mingus eventually moved to New York where he specialized in avant-garde and bebop music and played with greats such as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.

Mingus was known for often being overtly political with his pieces, with one of his most important political pieces being titled “Fables of Faubus.”

The song was written in response to 9 young black girls being barred from entering school in Little Rock, Arkansas by protesters and the national guard. These students were supposed to be the first-ever African American students to attend a desegregated school after the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools in America were illegal in 1954. The students were ordered by a federal judge to start attending Little Rock Central High School immediately, but the girls were repeatedly denied entry. This caused national outrage that eventually led to Eisenhower making an order to send the army to accompany the students to school roughly a month later. Even after the students were allowed into school, public outrage still remained towards many politicians involved, specifically Governor Orval Faubus and President Eisenhower.

“Fables of Faubus” was written as a direct call-out to these politicians, especially Orval Faubus. The song was originally recorded in 1959, but remastered to include new lyrics in 1960. These lyrics referred to politicians of the time as Nazis, Fascists, and members of the Ku Klux Klan. The chorus of the song is also a direct call-out to Faubus, saying,

“Name me someone who’s ridiculous, Dannie, ‘Governor Faubus! ‘Why is he so sick and ridiculous? He won’t permit us in his schools! Then he’s a fool!”

The song is still considered a standard in jazz today, and will forever be memorialized as proof of the politcal power of music.

“The Little Rock Nine.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 6 Sept. 2018, nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/little-rock-nine.

“Orval Faubus Holds Sign Opposing Racial Integration.” The American Mosaic: The African American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2024, africanamerican2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/2155121. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024