Program Notes

     A Smithtown Celebration was commissioned by the Smithtown Community Band (Smithtown, NY) in celebration of the town's 350th anniversary. Smithtown, NY was founded by English immigrant Richard "Bull" Smythe in 1665. Smythe owned land that bordered the town of Huntington, NY and there were many disputes as to where the borders actually were. There is an old legend that Richard would ride his bull around the perimeters of his township to enforce where he felt the appropriate borders existed. To commemorate Smythe, a statue of his bull was commissioned in 1903 by Lawrence Smith Butler, a descendant of Richard, and on May 10, 1941, the fourteen-foot, the five-ton sculpture was on display in the town for all to see.
 

     While writing this work, I thought about Smithtown's history, the legend of the bull, and what the town has become today. A Smithtown Celebration opens with a heroic fanfare, which then transitions into an exciting ride through the town. To symbolize the bull, there is a percussion part written for an anvil or brake drum. This instrument is used throughout the piece. In the middle of the work lies an adagio section. There are many parks and wildlife preserves in Smithtown, NY that provide beautiful picturesque scenes along the Nesaquake River and the Long Island Sound. In this section, a solo flute and English horn (cued in the alto saxophone part) are used to depict these stunning sights. In the final section, the excitement resumes as the first themes are layered in a recapitulation.

Sources:
Harris, Brad. A historical perspective on Smithtown. [cited Feb 20 2015]. Available from www.smithtown350foundation.org.
 

Town of Smithtown.The statue of whisper the bull. [cited Feb 20 2015]. Available from www.smithtownny.gov.

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From the Publisher:

Featuring a powerful brass fanfare and plenty of woodwind soloists, A Smithtown Celebration is the perfect evocation of the rich history and picturesque scenery throughout Long Island."