Why I love Pageant (…Because I didn’t at first)
As far as core repertoire goes, most directors would agree that First Suite in Eb and Second Suite in F by Holst, Lincolnshire Posy by Grainger, and Folk Song Suite by Vaughan Williams make the list. Beyond that, the debate to me does get interesting. Everyone has their personal favorite among the significant pieces for the wind ensemble and concert band, and all opinions are certainly valid. If such a top 10 list of pieces exists, I would include Pageant by Vincent Persichetti. If you would have told me twenty years age that I would have such deep respect, admiration, and love for Pageant, I would not have believed you. But I do love Pageant…and I didn’t at first.
The first time I heard Pageant was in 1997 at a PMEA District Band Festival. I never encountered the work in high school or undergraduate. I had some knowledge of Divertimento by Persichetti, but Pageant? No reference, connection, and certainly not understanding. It was essentially taking a walk in the forest with no idea how big, connected, or beautiful the forest was. I saw the trees. I did not appreciate the forest. I walked away from that festival thinking the band played it well enough, but I just wasn’t sure what to think or (more importantly) feel about the work. I definitely was not sure I liked it.
A few years later at an honor band festival, I had a really nice visit with Mark Camphouse. He challenged me to learn one new piece from the established repertoire every year I taught. I started with Toccata by Frescobaldi. Successive years of study found me becoming familiar with Symphonic Dance No.3 “Fiesta” by Clifton Williams, Children’s March by Grainger, and Variations on a Korean Folk Song by Chance. But Pageant was always there among the pieces I would consider. I perused different recordings from a variety of college and university ensembles. I checked with some colleagues, and Pageant was not being programmed frequently. I still was not sure that I liked it, but knew that the path in front of me made it necessary for me to learn it. As I have walked with the piece, shared with ensembles, and continued listening to it I have grown to appreciate it more and more. It is amazing how spending quality time and really listening to what someone has to say makes you appreciate that person all the more. I would suggest that a great piece of music will continually do that for a musician.
The opening motive played by horn in measure one foreshadows unique aspects melodically and harmonically. That simple pattern (Bb – F – C) returns, is altered so that the contour is preserved, hints at use of a pentatonic scale, and opens the sound canvas for tonalities to be pushed together in the second half. The first half of Pageant has moments of warmth, longing, sorrow, surety, and serene delight. The orchestration is so beautiful, placing many instruments in a range where the richness of their individual timbre can be displayed. Although timpani are absent, bass drum fills that void by being felt through the canvas rather than heard playing with the ensemble. Though the full power of an ensemble playing is never brought to the listener, the audience can appreciate how individual and group colors are displayed through intimate chamber-like moments.
The second half of Pageant is a lesson for any ensemble in the concept of playing so that you can hear, not so that you are heard. The frequent use of polychords that Persichetti employs make it necessary to strive for balance and sensitivity as chords are sounded across multiple sections. Similar to the opening motif that is spun out to becomes a cohesive glue in the first half, Persichetti begins an important second half motif in the snare drum. The response by the upper woodwinds in measure is not the initial statement (m. 77-80), but rather an answer to what the snare drum sets out underneath horns and tuba (m. 73-76).
There is more delightful contrast in how a Pageant can be perceived when one considers both halves of this symphonic tone poem. The first half encourages us to slow down and savor the intimate and subtle beauty found in the sound canvas. It is one of the reasons I love teaching music – one can appreciate splendor without rushing ahead to the next moment. During the second half, the audience (and ensemble) finds themselves thrust into grand procession that closely resembles a parade full of exciting moments. The major themes in the second half find time to be featured by themselves, and yet in some ways work better when they are played together at distinct moments (measure 244 & measure 280). As a tuba player, I love the the “B” theme, because if you have not noticed we tubas do not always get the melody. Even with two major themes dominating the second half of the work (the “A” theme found at measure 186 & the “B” theme found at measure 101), Persichetti finds moments to bring the contour of the opening motif back to give the work a cohesiveness that is sublime.
Pageant draws to a close with a brilliant, albeit not complex, brass fanfare (m. 289). The urgency in the half notes (half-notes!) should not be understated or undersold. They lead the audience to the most complex chord in the work (m. 294). On one hand it is tension-filled as every note tries to desperately find its place in the harmonic hierarchy. But as I stated earlier, the piece teaches the ensemble to play so they can hear, not so they are heard. As the arrival of the last chord (a polychord to end them all) is ushered in by the brass, audience and ensemble alike are reminded that our individual voices have a place in society. Sometimes that voice has to exist in harmony and at the same time in contrast with others. The final chord is a reminder that people can and should disagree with grace, balance and perspective.
My observations above are certainly not groundbreaking. I am not convinced any of them will change the band world or alter the perception of the work held by others in the upper echelon of the band and wind ensemble universe. These observations are simply what I learned from studying Pageant. I learned that I do not like it. I love it.
