Fort Massachusetts
(1998)
8:00 Wind Band Commissioned by the Drury High School Band, North Adams, MA Carl Jenkins, Music Director
Fort Massachusetts was written to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Drury High School Band.
An early part of the history of North Adams, Massachusetts, includes the historic Fort Massachusetts. The native American tribes, allied with France in the French and Indian War, were threatening the settlers of the Connecticut Valley, and used the Mohawk Trail as a route to wage war. Thus, in 1745, to protect themselves, settlers built Fort Massachusetts two miles west of North Adams and garrisoned it with thirty-eight soldiers. The French eventually prevailed in the siege of the Fort, and all of the fort-dwellers were sent to Canada as prisoners of war.
This fanfare paints the musical picture of the Fort Massachusetts. Initially one hears the sounds of early America – outdoor harmonies, the sparkle of sunlight on the river, the primeval forest, and the general sounds of the earliest Americans. Melodies are added onto the beginning harmonies to represent the influx of settlers and soldiers. The slower middle section represents the earliest Americans in a lyric reflective chant-like hymn, which gives way to the fifes and drums of the Colonials, all accompanied by a hymn (the alma mater of Drury High School!). The piece ends with a brief recapitulation of the opening material.
(1998)
8:00 Wind Band Commissioned by the Drury High School Band, North Adams, MA Carl Jenkins, Music Director
Fort Massachusetts was written to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Drury High School Band.
An early part of the history of North Adams, Massachusetts, includes the historic Fort Massachusetts. The native American tribes, allied with France in the French and Indian War, were threatening the settlers of the Connecticut Valley, and used the Mohawk Trail as a route to wage war. Thus, in 1745, to protect themselves, settlers built Fort Massachusetts two miles west of North Adams and garrisoned it with thirty-eight soldiers. The French eventually prevailed in the siege of the Fort, and all of the fort-dwellers were sent to Canada as prisoners of war.
This fanfare paints the musical picture of the Fort Massachusetts. Initially one hears the sounds of early America – outdoor harmonies, the sparkle of sunlight on the river, the primeval forest, and the general sounds of the earliest Americans. Melodies are added onto the beginning harmonies to represent the influx of settlers and soldiers. The slower middle section represents the earliest Americans in a lyric reflective chant-like hymn, which gives way to the fifes and drums of the Colonials, all accompanied by a hymn (the alma mater of Drury High School!). The piece ends with a brief recapitulation of the opening material.