Bio And Program Notes For Clifton Williams 25714i

Bio on Clifton Williams Clifton Williams was an American composer, conductor, theorist, and music educator born in Arkansas in 1923. Growing up, Williams began learning French horn and piano, and began to stand out as a musician as early as high school, where his classmates voted him most outstanding in artistry, talent, and versatility. He attended Louisiana State University for his Bachelor’s of Music (received 1947), where he studied under Helen Gunderson, and the Eastman School of Music for his Masters degree (received 1949), studying under Bernard Rogers and Howard Hanson. While at Eastman, Williams’ career path was set towards composing for the wind ensemble genre, counseled by Hanson, a veteran orchestral composer, that his compositions for wind band would garner larger audiences, not to mention a larger amount and wider range of ensembles that would be able to perform his works. His first major compositional breakthrough occurred in 1956, as his concert band piece entitled “Fanfare and Allegro” won the inaugural American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Composition Prize. He would also go on to win the award the following year, with the work entitled “Symphonic Suite” winning critical acclaim. As a sidenote, in 1958 he entered his piece “Symphonic Essays,” though he withdrew the work the day before the winner was to be announced after indications pointed to his victory; Williams stated himself that winning a new competition a third consecutive year would discourage other contemporary composers. With these successes, Williams’ works quickly moved to the forefront of contemporary wind literature. Immediately after graduating, Williams accepted a post in the composition department at the University of Texas. In 1966, he relocated to Miami to become the Chair of the Theory and Composition department at the University of Miami. He would stay at UM until his ing in 1976. Some of his most notable students include W. Francis McBeth, John Barnes Chance, and UConn’s own Dr. Kenneth Fuchs.

Program Notes Caccia and Chorale

Clifton Williams

The two title words of this piece are borrowed from the Italian language because of their allegorical significance. The first Caccia, means hunt or chase, and is intended to reflect the preoccupation of most people in the world with a constant pursuit of materialism. The Chorale is, by contrast, an urgent and insistent plea for greater humanity, a return to religious or ethical concepts. Caccia and Chorale, published in 1973 just before his ing three years later, is very much in the signature of Clifton Williams; however, the futility of the Caccia and its ultimate exhaustion into the Chorale bring us yet another dimension of this composer. As the Caccia continues its relentless pursuit of greater heights of frenzy, at times utilizing multiple time signatures simultaneously, it is finally interrupted by a morse code figure, which persists over the sustained block chords of what signals the chase as Dr.

Williams describes it. The material found in the Chorale represents some of the most powerful emotional music to come from William’s pen; not only in volume, but in the tension-maintaining harmonic structure which is as dramatic as any fortissimo climax found in any of his music. The music leaves one with a somewhat unresolved, restless feeling, although the final pianissimo chord makes every attempt to negate this through its musical consonance. (James D. Wayne)