MR. JAMES BARNES

James Charles Barnes was born on September 9, 1949, in Hobart, OK.  He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theory and composition from the University of Kansas in 1974 and 1975 and studied conducting privately with Zuohuang Chen.  Since 1977, he has been affiliated with the University of Kansas and is presently a member of the Theory-Composition faculty, teaching orchestration and composition courses. His numerous publications for concert band and orchestra are extensively performed in the United States, Europe, and the Pacific Basin. His works have been performed at Tanglewood, Boston Symphony Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

He is also a tubist and has performed with numerous professional organizations.  He has received many awards, grants and has written over 45 works for band, most notably Brookshire Suite, Centennial Celebration Overture, Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Nicolo Pagannini, Heatherwood Portrait, and Invocation and Toccata. In recent years, he has been commissioned to compose works for all five of the major military bands in Washington, DC.

SYMPHONY NO. 3

Third Symphony was commissioned only a few years ago by the United States Air Force Band. The four-movement work was inspired by the tragic death of the composer’s infant daughter. Progressing from despondency and despair in the first movement, to hope and trust in eternal life in the fourth, each movement develops around one or two central themes and some of the movements are linked to each other through blatant statements of principal themes or variations of it.

The opening is a slow and dark expression of pain, expressed through bitter-sounding chords and sharp contrast in styles. The main principle theme, a rhythmic figure in the tonality of C, is stated on the timpani. It is this theme that recurs in all the movements from time to time. This theme gives way to a passage for solo tuba, uncertain in its approach; this uncertainty is continued in the ensuing cor anglais solo. In between sections of eruptive music and a giant orchestral tutti, this uncertainty is further questioned by the flute and finally, towards the close of this movement, by the alto flute.

The second movement is a satirical view of the world, which Barnes thought, in his darkest times, was full of deception and merited contempt. Barnes chooses a dark F minor setting for his second movement Scherzo, abound with influences from Bela Bartok and Sergei Prokofiev. Here Barnes displays his skill in writing music in sections, from exhibiting the nervous and light-hearted nature of the double reeds to exploring the rich sonorities offered by the saxophones. Sarcasm and wit is the stuff Scherzos are usually made of, and the central rhythmic theme in this movement is actually derived from the timpani statement in the first movement.

The third movement, subtitled For Natalie, is a chorale, soft and passionate, depicting what the composer thought his life would have been had his daughter lived. This movement is a huge orchestral lament for the death of his beloved Natalie, who was still an infant when she died. Barnes injects his own personal experience in dealing with this loss throughout this whole movement. From feelings of despair to perhaps what could be seen as renewed hope in life…

The fourth movement, Finale, makes use of a Lutheran church hymn “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb,” which was sung at Natalie’s funeral. In this finale the composer suggests that there has been reconciliation and a rebirth of spirit and dedicates this movement to his son, who was born three days after the completion of the work. An exciting fanfare by the horns announces the start of the movement, later given a virtuositic treatment by the horns and flugelhorns and subsequently by the whole wind ensemble. Here the timpani statement is heard yet again, on the trumpets, but in a major key, adding to the hope and jubilation already abound in this movement. The symphony resolves to end on a C major tonality, giving a brilliant finish to this magnificent work.