Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Music written by a Mississippi State faculty member in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh will have its debut during a Friday [Jan. 27] concert.
Clifton D. "Cliff" Taylor, associate director of bands, composed the piece that will be performed by the MSU Wind Ensemble, the premier instrumental group of the campus band program.
The free 7:30 p.m. concert in the McComas Hall main theater is one of a series taking place this week as part of the annual MSU Honor Band Clinic. Sharing the conductor's baton with Taylor during the evening will be colleagues Craig Aarhus, associate director of bands, and Chris Turner of Greenwood, S.C., band graduate student assistant.
Taylor said he was inspired to develop the composition after his wife Charlotte had participated last summer in the Social Studies Teachers' Institute. Held at the university, the program involved Civil War scholars and included a concert featuring a nationally recognized musician playing Civil War tunes.
Cliff Taylor said the "Battle of Shiloh Hill" was among songs performed by historian, composer and multi-instrumentalist Bobby Horton.
"Charlotte whispered between numbers that the Shiloh 150th anniversary was approaching in 2012 and that I should write a piece about the battle," Taylor said.
"As a composer, I am always looking for new ideas for pieces, and Charlotte has supplied many good ideas for me," he observed, adding that he took the opportunity to meet Horton after the program had concluded.
"He learned I was a college band director and I learned he had played trumpet in the Florida State band," Taylor recalled. "We hit it off immediately, and he and I started talking about the idea for the piece right then."
Titled "Our Hearts, Our Arms, Our Lives," Taylor's composition is an arrangement of three war-period tunes, including "The Battle of Shiloh Hill," "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" and "Cheer Boys Cheer."
"I heard 'Battle of Shiloh Hill' at Bobby's concert, and he gave me a copy of the words and melody," Taylor said. "I have a copy of the actual sheet music to 'The Drummer Boy of Shiloh' in a book of Civil War music.
"Since both of these tunes are slow and mournful in character, I asked Bobby for help in identifying a contrasting song that would fit the piece," Taylor continued. "He suggested 'Cheer Boys Cheer,' which is a war song of Southern Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan's Raiders."
Taylor said his piece is among a variety being featured during the Friday concert.
In addition, the wind ensemble will perform "Three Notes from Japan," "Hostrauser's March" and "Of Sailors and Whales." The latter is a programmatic piece inspired by scenes from the novel Moby Dick, among others.
For more information, contact Taylor at 662-325-7749 or ct278@msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see www.msstate.edu.