John Barnes Chance (1932-1972) was born in Texas, where he
played percussion in high school. His early interest in music
led him to the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his
bachelor's and master's degrees, studying composition with Clifton
Williams. The early part of his career saw him playing
timpani with the Austin Symphony, and later playing percussion with the
Fourth and Eighth U.S. Army Bands during the Korean War. Upon
his discharge, he received a grant from the Ford Foundation's Young
Composers Project, leading to his placement as resident composer in the
Greensboro, North Carolina public schools. Here he produced
seven works for school ensembles, including his classic Incantation and
Dance. He went on to become a professor at the
University of
Kentucky after winning the American Bandmasters Association's Ostwald
award for his Variations
on a Korean Folk Song. Chance was
accidentally electrocuted in his backyard in Lexington, Kentucky at age
39, bringing his promising career to an early, tragic end.
Chance wrote Blue Lake
Overture in 1971 for the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in
Michigan. The outer sections of the piece feature rhythmic
intensity brought about by Chance's free use of both 3- and 2-eighth
note groups in 4/4. While this often produces a 3+3+2 pattern which
matches the length of the 4/4 bar, more often the note groupings defy
that meter altogether, spilling over barlines and creating moments that
sound like 5/8, 9/8, and even unknown hybrid meters. The
middle section settles into a circusy waltz with wandering tonality.
Every section of the band gets a soli in this rhythmic thrill
ride.
Blue Lake Overture is a much loved but not much played piece. Program notes and reviews of the piece abound. The highlights:
banddirector.com program notes and analysis.
Listing of a John Barnes Chance CD on Amazon.com with an extensive customer review at the bottom that is required reading.
Also, here's John Barnes Chance's wikipedia bio.
For extra fun, here is the website of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp for which this piece was composed.
This is the only performance of Blue Lake Overture on YouTube. Thank goodness it's a good one! This is a high school band from Florida. They go quite a bit faster than necessary, but it's quite exciting that way!
Back to CUWE Resource Main Page
Back
to Columbia University Wind Ensemble