Eltham High School Symphonic Band, Conducted by Rick Keenan. Recorded at Mid Year Concert on Monday 20 May 2024.
Themes from Green Bushes - Percy Grainger arr. Larry Daehn
Themes from Green Bushes is subtitled “Passacaglia on an English Folksong.” Of this work, originally written between 1905 and 1906, Percy A. Grainger wrote:
Among country-side folksongs in England, Green Bushes was one of the best known of folksongs -- and well it deserved to be, with its raciness, its fresh grace, its manly clear-cut lines. Green Bushes strikes me as being a typical dance, a type of song come down to us from the time when sung melodies, rather than instrumental music, held countryside dancers together. It seems to breathe that lovely passion for the dance that swept like a fire over Europe in the Middle Ages -- seems brimful of all the youthful joy and tender romance that so naturally seek an outlet in dancing.
Larry D. Daehn used excerpts from Grainger’s 1921 score to create this setting. Grainger’s original sources for this composition were 1) a folksong collected by Cecil Sharp, from the singing of Mrs. Louie Hooper of Hambridge, Somerset, and 2) the singing of Mr. Joseph Leaning at Brigg, Lincolnshire, collected by Grainger on August 7, 1906. Grainger collected ten different versions of Green Bushes (or Lost Lady Found or The Three Gypsies) during his folksong collecting career, and used one of them as the final movement of his Lincolnshire Posy in 1937.
Eltham High School Symphonic Band
Eltham High School is a large high school on the urban rural fringe of north eastern Melbourne. The school’s primary focus has always been to enhance student outcomes through the provision of high quality teaching and learning strategies.
The Music Program at Eltham High School is internationally renowned for its excellence and is recognised as one of the finest school Instrumental Music Programs in Australia. The Symphonic Band is the most senior of four wind ensembles at the School.
Over many years the band has built a prestigious reputation both locally and internationally. Highlights include performing at the Midwest Clinic in 1997 and 2014.
In 2014 they toured the USA. As part of this tour they had the opportunity to work with some of the world’s greatest composers and educators, as well as performing in concerts with the United States Air Force Band and the Brooklyn Wind Symphony. The Band also presented at the Midwest Clinic assisting Dr. Ingrid Martin & Jodie Blackshaw with their repertoire and education clinics.
In December 2017 they toured Japan. As part of this tour they had the opportunity to work with some great ensembles, composers and educators; including members of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Osaka University of Music, Shinonoi High School, Hirokazu Fukushima and Mr Manabu Inoue.
The Symphonic Band have been fortunate to work with many great Conductors and Composers over the years, including Frank Ticheli, Prof. Mark Camphouse, Dr. John Lynch, Dr. Steven Davis, Dr. Stephen Peterson, Dr. Nicholas Enrico Williams and Dr. Dale Lonis just to name a few.
Through their repertoire, the Symphonic Band reflects on life and sources of inspiration. For many their inspiration is family, friends, life experiences and each other. Each year Eltham High School commissions various composers to write for the ensemble, to add to the depth of Australian repertoire. The thought provoking themes of the repertoire that these gifted composers have provided the ensemble ensure that their musical journey is rich and connected to the young musician’s lives.
In the last 80 Years Eltham High School has established a tradition through its strong commitment to the areas of:
• Inspiring through excellence
• Creativity
• Individuality
• Social Justice.
Eltham High School is a school with high expectations where you feel safe to be yourself and challenged to think critically, to work independently and in teams, to show leadership and to achieve success along many pathways.
We believe that the “Deeds that Count” are:
• Respect
• Integrity
• Respect for diversity
• Environmental and social responsibility.