FOUR MARYLAND SONGS for Solo Voice and Band by JACK STAMP (USA, 1954)

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Norwegian composer and organist Egil Hovland

Four Maryland Songs, by American composer, conductor and pedagogue Jack Stamp is our Composition of the Week.

Four Maryland Songs was written in between 1995 and 2000. This collection of songs for soprano voice and band celebrates Maryland’s heritage by setting four diverse poems to music.

The music has a duration of around 10 minutes, and it is scored for soprano and band, using a standard setting.

“Four Maryland Songs was commissioned by the University of Maryland chapters of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma (the honorary band service fraternity and sorority). The commission was to honor Director of Bands John Wakefield’s thirty years on the College Park campus. After discussions with Professor Wakefield, I decided to write a work based on poetry about Maryland and feature a soprano soloist with wind ensemble. The poetry, a majority of which was found in the collection Maryland in Prose and Poetry, is as diverse as the music which accompanies it. “At the Edge of the Choptank River,” by J.P. Gelletly, is very rhythmic to accentuate the consistent, pounding shore. However, Gelletly brings religious symbolism into the text and the music adjusts accordingly. “A Maryland Road,” by W.C. Thurston, is somewhat pastoral, and is reminiscent of the music of Aaron Copland or, at least, has a distinct “American” flavor. “On Chesapeake Shores: A Fisherman's Sonnet,” by Albert Dawling, is a humorous look at the “after-life” with or without fishing. The music is rhythmic, earthy, polytonal, and folk-like. There is a brief “tongue-in-cheek” quote of the state song in the translation. “The Sires of Seventy-Six,” by John N. Mc Juton, is the most serious of the four movements. The text deals with our forefathers and their strife for independence. Between verses there is a serious quote of “Maryland, My Maryland” (which I learned as a fourth grader and can still remember the words).” Program Notes by Jack Stamp

Dr. Jack E. Stamp received his Bachelor of Science in Music Education Degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), a Master’s in Percussion Performance from East Carolina University (ECU), and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Conducting from Michigan State University, where he studied with Eugene Corporon. Dr. Stamp’s primary composition teachers have been Robert Washburn and Fisher Tull, though he was strongly influenced by his music theory teachers at IUP and ECU. Recent studies include work with noted American composers David Diamond, Joan Tower, and Richard Danielpour.

“Recently serving as International Composer in Association to the world-renowned Grimethorpe Colliery Brass Band (2019-2023), I have a lifetime of musical pursuits and experiences prior to this appointment. After a distinguished twenty-five-year appointment at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) serving as Professor of Music and Director of Band Studies, department chair, conducting the Wind Ensemble and teaching graduate conducting, I retired from full-time employment in 2015. During my tenure, I was awarded the title of University Professor, the highest honor bestowed upon a professor. Other honors include being named as a Distinguished Alumnus of IUP; induction into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association; Citation of Excellence from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association; and the Orpheus Award from the Zeta Tau Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha for service to music. Once attaining emeritus status from IUP, subsequent years were spent as visiting professor of music at Luther College and serving as adjunct faculty at the University of WI-River Falls.

Upon receiving an undergraduate degree in Music Education from IUP and a Master in Percussion Performance from East Carolina University, my teaching career began in the public schools of North Carolina. This was followed by a Director of Bands at Campbell University, a small private institution. While there, I served as chair of the Division of Fine Arts, enjoyed a year’s appointment as conductor of the Duke University Wind Symphony, and led the Triangle British Brass Band to a national championship in 1989. I was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in wind conducting from Michigan State University where I studied with Eugene Corporon.

Interspersed with my formal education, I pursued composition studies with American composers Robert Washburn, Fisher Tull, Evan Copley, David Diamond, Joan Tower, and Richard Danielpour. My compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading military and university bands throughout the United States.

Recent projects include commissions and premieres by the North Texas Wind Symphony, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Uptown Brass (brass quintet of the Minnesota Orchestra), and the Barcelona Clarinet Players.”

From composer’s website

Other works for winds include:

• Gavorkna Fanfare (1991)

• Pastime (1999)

• Cloudsplitter Fanfare (2000)

• No brief candle, for solo voice, choir, and band (2019)

• Capriccio, for Solo clarinet and band (2023)