The music for "A Pomona Music Sampler," a CD enclosed with each print copy of the Winter 2001 issue of Pomona College Magazine, was selected by Pomona's Department of Music, in cooperation with our editorial staff. Our special thanks go to Joe Brennan, electronic technician, for his work in developing and mastering the CD and the MP3s; and Tom Flaherty, associate professor of music, for assembling the following program notes and performers lists, which are intended to provide historical and musical background on each of the performances.

To listen to samples of each piece online, click on the name of the song. You can also view a list of performers for each piece.

1. Torchbearers by Arthur D. Bissell (1858-1925), arranged by Ralph H. Lyman--Pomona College Glee Club, William Russell, conductor [2:43]. Lyman was choral conductor from 1917 to 1948. Russell held the post from 1951 to 1982. The Glee Club is Pomona's most selective choral ensemble, consisting of about 25 auditioned singers whose majors span the range of disciplines. List of performers

2. Primavera, by Everett S. Olive (1881-1955)--Pomona College Glee Club, Donna M. Di Grazia, conductor [3:38]. Primavera was composed by Music Professor Olive for the Women's Glee Club in the 1920s and has remained in the repertoire of campus ensembles ever since. Di Grazia has been choral conductor at Pomona since 1998. List of performers

3. My Love Dwelt in a Foreign Land (1889), by Edward Elgar (1857-1934)--Pomona College Choir, Donna M. Di Grazia, conductor [3:47]. The College Choir boasts a membership of 90-100 auditioned singers per semester. Their repertoire includes music from all historical periods, with a focus on large-scale choral masterworks. This six-part setting of a text by 19th-century Scottish writer Andrew Lang appeared in 1890, some nine years before Elgar's first major compositional triumph: the "Enigma" Variations. List of performers

4. Shadowplay (1981), by Karl Kohn (1926-)--Karl and Margaret Kohn, two piano [3:13]. Since 1950, composer/pianist now-Emeritus Professor Karl Kohn and his pianist wife Margaret Kohn have performed (and often premiered) some of the most important and demanding literature available for two pianos. In this short work one piano imitates the other's gestures in quick succession.

5. Gum-Suckers March (1916), by Percy Grainger (1882-1961)--Pomona College Band, Graydon Beeks, conductor [4:40]. There has been a band at Pomona since at least 1907, but it was not established on a permanent footing until the arrival in 1936 of William G. "Doc" Blanchard as director and Carl Arnold '38 as cornet soloist. Following a hiatus during World War II, the band has been conducted by Carl Arnold (1946-1947), Laurel Simpson (1947-1951), William F. Russell (1951-1983) and Graydon Beeks (1983-present). List of performers

6. Quartet for Viola, Cello and Digital Processor (1993), by Tom Flaherty (1950-)--Cynthia Fogg, viola; Tom Flaherty, cello [9:30]. Quartet was written in Pomona's electronic studio in 1993. Says Flaherty: "For the entire piece the viola is the principal voiceÑits output constantly delayed and transposed, down a whole step in one channel, up a half step in the other. When the delay pattern is overlaid with further live playing, several different tempi and meters emerge from the composite."

7. Dixit Dominus (1707) (first movement), by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)--Pomona College Glee Club, Donna M. Di Grazia, conductor [5:52]. Dixit Dominus, one of Handel's most inspired works, was composed in 1707, shortly after he arrived in Rome. The vocal soloists in this movement are all Pomona graduates: Margaret Hunter '00, Yilin Hsu '00 and Brendan Walsh, '00. Instrumentalists include Pomona Assistant Professor of Music Alfred Cramer (violin), Jane Chen '00 (violin) and Pomona instructor Cynthia Fogg (viola). List of performers

8. Allegro from Sonata #4 (1845), by Felix Mendelssohn--William Peterson, organ [4:18]. For over 80 years Pomona's facilities have included organs. In 1915 a 4-manual Moeller organ was built into Bridges Hall. Thatcher Music Building is home to three organs, including a 2-manual Moeller and a 10-rank Flentrop. This sonata was performed on the College's 3-manual Von Beckerath organ, located in Thatcher's Lyman Hall. In 2001, a 3-manual organ built by C.B. Fisk was installed in Bridges Hall of Music.

9. Sex Carmina Alcaei (1943), by Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975)--Gwendolyn Lytle soprano; February Ensemble, Eric Lindholm, conductor [7:41]. "O coronata di viola, divina dolce ridente Saffo" (O violet-haired, divine, sweetly smiling Sappho), begins this modern Italian composition, part of a cycle of songs Dallapiccola based on ancient Greek poems.

10. Poor Man Lazarus--Pomona College Gospel Choir, Kimasi L. Browne, conductor [1:33]. Pomona's newest choral ensemble sings this traditional gospel song in a spirited arrangement. The Gospel Choir is devoted to African American sacred music traditions. List of performers

11. Symphony #5 (1808), Allegro con brio (first movement), by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)--Pomona College Orchestra, Eric Lindholm, conductor [6:05]. The Pomona College Orchestra has a history dating back to the early part of the century. Each academic year, it involves between 40 and 50 Pomona students and faculty and offers four full programs of the orchestral repertoire, ranging from established masterworks to contemporary music. List of performers

12. Etudes #11, 1: Pour les arpèges composées, Pour les "cinq doigts," by Claude Debussy (1862-1918)--Genevieve Lee, piano [7:28]. In the tradition of the concert etude, Debussy's Douze Etudes were written to explore particular technical challenges in music meant for performance. These two explore rippling arpeggios over a wide range of the keyboard and various juxtapositions of "five-finger" hand positions, respectively.

13. Nostalgia in Times Square, by Charles Mingus (1922-1979)--Pomona College Jazz Ensemble, Bobby Bradford, director [2:51]. The history of the Pomona College Jazz Ensemble goes back to 1974, when Bradford was hired to coach a jazz ensemble and teach History of Jazz. Bradford, who helped pioneer the cool sound of West Coast jazz, has coached approximately eight students each year in the school's jazz combo. This piece was recorded during an April 2000 concert in Lyman Hall. List of performers

14. Prelude #24, 7, by Manuel Ponce (1882-1948)--Jack Sanders, guitar [2:22]. Mexican composer Manuel Ponce was prolific in many genres, but his close relationship with Andrés Segovia inspired some of his best-known pieces, including the 24 Preludes from which these pieces are taken.

15. Again,Again (2000), by Karl Kohn (1926-)--Karl and Margaret Kohn, piano four-hands [3:18]. "This short piece was composed as my musical souvenir card for Margaret Kohn on the occasion of our 50th wedding anniversary," says Kohn.

16. Alma Mater: Hail, Pomona, Hail, by Richard N. Loucks, Jr. '13 (1888-1990), arranged by William G. Blanchard--Pomona College Glee Club, Donna M. Di Grazia, conductor [1:10]. This piece was written by Loucks as a closing number for a minstrel show in the 1909-10 academic year. List of performers

17. Over the Years, by Ramsay L. Harris (1890-) arranged by William G. Blanchard and Ralph H. Lyman--Pomona College Glee Club, Jon Bailey, conductor [1:25]. Professor Harris wrote the words and music for "Over the Years" in 1926 for a college song contest. After joining the faculty in 1927 he rewrote the words to make it suitable as a Pomona College song. Bailey was choral conductor from 1982 to 1998. List of performers

18. Gending Gilak Penyuwud--Pomona College Gamelan, Nyoman Wenten, director [2:44]. This well-known Balinese piece typically concludes a concert. Pomona's Balinese Gamelan Ensemble was founded in 1994. The group consists of students, faculty and staff who each play a variety of instruments. The set of instruments heard in this performance (commissioned by Pomona College in 1995) is known as a gamelan gong kebyar. List of performers