Spain

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. His father was a wool merchant. Originally he seemed destined to follow in his father?s footsteps and thus sailed the oceans to countries as far apart as Iceland and Guinea. In 1476 his ship was sunk during a battle off the coast of Portugal. Columbus saved his own life by swimming to shore. In 1484 he conceived the idea of sailing to the Indies vi…

Spain is a country like no other. Its scenic beauty colorful history and bold arts and literature are unique and legendary. In this overture Carmine Pastore skilfully portrays this timeless region of many contrasts with the widely-varied orchestration portraying many of the opposing and unique qualities of the concert band.

Variations on a melody by Adriaen Valerius (1575-1625)-Dutch composer artist and poet Adriaen Valerius is mostly remembered today for his collection of 79 songs for voice and lute or cittern published posthumously in 1626. Philip Sparke has taken one melody from this collection that tells of the War of Independence with Spain. The beautiful slow melody is followed by a series of lively variation…