PDF - The United States Army Band

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The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” 

Colonel Thomas Rotondi, Jr., Leader and Commander 

Command Sergeant Major Debra L. McGarity, Enlisted Leader 

Firebird 

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AND OTHER 20 

The U.S. Army Concert Band 

TH Firebird 

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AND OTHER 20 CENTURY MASTERPIECES 

TH CENTURY MASTERPIECES

Firebird 

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AND OTHER 20 TH AND OTHER 20 CENTURY MASTERPIECES 

TH CENTURY MASTERPIECES 

Pomp and Circumstance, op. 39, no. 1 . . . . . . . . . Edward Elgar 

trans. M. Retford 





The Firebird Suite (1919) . . . . . . . . . . . . Igor Stravinsky 

Introduction 

L’oiseau de feu et sa danse 

Variation de l’oiseau de feu 

Ronde des princesses 

Danse infernale du roi kastchei 

Berceuse 

Finale 

trans. Randy Earles 

ed. Frederick Fennell 

The Pines of Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ottorino Respighi 

arr. Lawrence Odom 

The Pines of the Villa Borghese 

The Pines Near a Catacomb 

The Pines of the Janiculum 

The Pines of the Appian Way

col thomas rotondi, jr. 

conducting 

Colonel Thomas Rotondi, Jr., is the eighth Leader 

and Commander of The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s 

Own.” Originally from Chicago Heights, Illinois, Col. 

Rotondi holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Millikin 

University, Decatur, Illinois, and a Master of Business Administration 

in Management degree from Golden Gate 

University, San Francisco, California. While at Millikin 

University, Col. Rotondi was active in Phi Mu Alpha, the 

men’s professional music fraternity, and was selected for 

Pi Kappa Lambda Honorary Music Fraternity. 

Col. Rotondi joined the U.S. Army as a trumpet player in 

December of 1977. He received his commission in July of 

1982 through Officer Candidate School, where he was 

an honor graduate. His previous assignments include 

Commander, Enlisted Student Company, and Director 

of Evaluation and Standardization, Armed Forces 

School of Music, Norfolk, Virginia; Executive Officer, 

U.S. Continental Army Band, Fort Monroe, Virginia; 

Staff Band Officer, Forces Command, Fort McPherson, 

Georgia; staff conductor and administrative intern, Fort 

Worth Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth, Texas (this 

assignment made possible through the Army’s “Training 

with Industry” program); Commander/Conductor, U.S. 

Continental Army Band, Fort Monroe, Virginia; Deputy 

Commander, U.S. Military Academy Band, West Point, 

New York; Commander/Conductor, U.S. Army, Europe, 

Band and Chorus, Heidelberg, Germany; and Commander/Conductor 

of the U.S. Military Academy Band at 

West Point, New York. 

Col. Rotondi has studied conducting with John Giordano, 

Conductor Emeritus of the Fort Worth Symphony 

Orchestra, and with Eiji Oue, Music Director of the Barcelona 

Symphony Orchestra. He has twice attended the 

Conductor’s Seminar at the Tanglewood Music Center 

(summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) 

where the faculty included Seiji Ozawa, Maurice Abravanel, 

and Gustav Meier. 

His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, the 

Meritorious Service Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, 

the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf 

Clusters, and the Army Achievement Medal with one 

Oak Leaf Cluster.

Program Notes 

pomp and circumstance, 

op. 39 

Edward Elgar (1857-1934) 

March no. 1 

March no. 2 

March no. 4 

Sir Edward Elgar’s famous suite of concert marches 

entitled Pomp and Circumstance is a musical testament 

to the composer’s love of British pageantry. The first 

march dates from 1901 and first gained notoriety when 

the composer arranged the trio tune with lyrics as Land 

of Hope and Glory, and it was used in the 1902 coronation 

of King Edward VII. Renowned in the United States 

as a popular graduation processional, the march was 

first heard in this setting during a 1905 Yale University 

ceremony at which Elgar received an honorary doctorate. 

The second march was composed and premiered 

along with the first, and even with its minor tonality it 

is simple and light-hearted, and offers an entertaining 

mix of English civility and raucous horn calls. The fourth 

march was written in 1907, and, similar in style to the 

first march, features both ceremonial fanfare and a 

flowing trio melody that celebrates British patriotism. 

the firebird suite (1919) 

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) 

Introduction 





Berceuse 

Finale 

Sergei Diaghilev, the well-known impresario of the Ballet 

Russes, was solely responsible for the early fame of 

Igor Stravinsky. He hired the then unknown 28 year-old 

composer to write the music for his 1910 production of 

The Firebird, and it proved to be an instant success. The 

two men collaborated again almost immediately on two 

more projects – Petrouchka and the iconic Rite of Spring, 

both which paved the way for Stravinsky’s international 

acclaim. 

The ballet relates the story of Prince Ivan Tsarevich 

capturing the Firebird – a magical creature that is half 

bird and half woman – in the garden of the evil King 

Kastchei. The Firebird bargains for her freedom, and 

when she is released she gives the Prince one of her 

magic feathers, which he later employs to escape the 

clutches of Kastchei. The Firebird then tells him the 

secret of the King’s immortality—which the Prince uses

to kill Kastchei and free his imprisoned young maidens. 

As this happens, the ugly castle turns into a beautiful 

palace, and the Prince takes the most beautiful maiden 

to be his bride. 

It was not until 1919 that Stravinsky extracted the 

popular symphonic suite from the original 45 minute 

ballet score. This reorchestrated version received its 

premier that same year in Geneva, and was given its 

American premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1921 with Walter 

Damrosch conducting. 

the pines of rome 

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) 




The Pines of the Appian Way 

Ottorino Respighi’s fame as a composer is largely derived 

from his trilogy of tone poems inspired by Roman 

sites. Set in four movements and dating from 1924, The 

Pines of Rome is the most well known of the three. The 

work depicts four Roman landscapes at different times 

of day, and has as a unifying feature the stately pine 

trees that are as much a part of Rome as the ruins and 

the resident stray cats. The opening movement depicts 

children at play among the pines of the Villa Borghese; 

the second section explores the pines near a catacomb, 

the scene complete with a recurring chant melody that 

dominates the texture. In the composer’s words, a chant 

of martyrs “rises from the depths, re-echoes silently, like 

a hymn, and then dies away.” The third section features 

a prominent piano solo and the call of a nightingale that 

evokes the eerie midnight scene at the Janiculum – the 

site of an ancient temple to Janus. The finale is one of 

the most dazzling moments of twentieth-century music 

– The Pines of the Appian Way describes the approach of 

the Roman Legions marching in full regalia. Their signal 

trumpets announce their arrival at the outskirts of the 

Eternal City, while a blazing morning sun reflects off a 

thousand polished shields in a brilliant display. 

Notes by SFC Regena Swanson

conductor 

COL Thomas Rotondi, Jr., Chicago Heights, IL 

flute 

MSG Andrea L. Artley, St. Charles, IL 

SFC Kendra B. Craven, Sturgeon Bay, WI 

SSG Robert E. Aughtry, Gaffney, SC 

SSG Elizabeth D. McGinness, Richardson, TX 

piccolo 

MSG Barbara A. Vigil, Garland, TX 

oboe 

MSG Robert D. Huffman, Alexandria, VA 

SFC Lorrie A. Brown, Fort Huachuca, AZ 

SSG Amanda P. Jury, Belmont, MA 

english horn 

SSG Meredeth Rouse, Boston, MA 

e flat clarinet 

SFC Leesa S. Voth, Jonestown, TX 

SFC Julie M. Berry, Long Beach, CA 

b flat clarinet 

CSM Debra L. McGarity, Covington, VA 

MSG Dennis P. McFarland, Chapel Hill, NC 

MSG Dennis Strawley, Aston, PA 

SFC Lane S. Shioji, El Paso, TX 

SFC Sylvia M. Stanton, Akron, OH 

SFC Phillip L. Dennis, Belvidere, IL 

SFC Donald E. Hoffman, Northumberland, PA 

SFC Charles B. Morrow, Westfield, NC 

SSG Adam S. Ebert, Plainview, NY 

SSG Aubrey Lafosse, Kingwood, TX 

SSG Jennifer Lissak, Williamsville, NY 

SSG Aaron D. Scott, Pittsburgh, PA 

bass clarinet 

SSG Jeanna Nelson, Babylon, NY 

SSG Martin H. Gold, Sarasota, FL 

bassoon 

SGM David W. Brundage, Woodbridge, VA 

SFC Max Wharton, Grafton, OH 

SSG Dean G. Woods, Dalton, GA 

Concert 

THE U.S. ARMY 

Band

saxophone 

SGM Rick N. Parrell, Fairfax, VA 

SFC Steven S. Ticknor, Topeka, KS 

SSG Scott H. Weinhold, Albany, NY 

SSG Cesar Eli Gonzalez, Rio Grande City, TX 

SSG Michael M. Vance, Woodland, WA 

trumpet 

SGM Woodrow R. English, Coldwater, MI 

SGM Charles L. Seipp, Akron, IA 

MSG Tammy J. Leverone, Richmond, KY 

MSG Gil Hoffer, Indianapolis, IN 

SFC Terry Bingham, Fairfax, VA 

SFC Kenneth W. McGee, Stafford, VA 

SFC Troy A. McKay, Richmond, MO 

SSG Jesse Tubb, South Lake Tahoe, CA 

french horn 

MSG Joseph G. Lovinsky, Miami, FL 

SFC Robert P. Craven, Manchester, NH 

SSG Aaron K. Cockson, Foley, AL 

SSG Brooke B. Eberly, Baton Rouge, LA 

SSG Brian Anderson, Columbia, SC 

SSG Shane K. Clare, Dallas, TX 

euphonium 

MSG Donald J. Palmire, Jr., Penney Farms, FL 

MSG D. Patrick Morris, Philadelphia, PA 

SSG Adam R. Lessard, Athens, GA 

trombone 

MSG Jerry J. Amoury, Leawood, KS 

MSG Darryl R. Buning, Grand Rapids, MI 

MSG Michael A. Parnell, Topeka, KS 

SFC James L. Fantz, Crosby, TX 

SSG Samuel B. Woodhead, Northport, ME 

tuba 

SFC David T. Brown, Nashville, TN 

SFC Jonathan W. Voth, Hutchinson, KS 

SFC Thomas L. Bratten, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 

SSG David C. Kirven, Paris, TX 

string bass 

MSG Michael A. McReynolds, St. Louis, MO 

SSG Eric J. Seay, Oak Ridge, TN 

percussion 

MSG Timothy J. Huesgen, Pontiac, MI 

MSG Jay C. Brown, York, PA 

SFC Glen D. Gurnard, Cashmere, WA 

SFC Harold F. Summey, Jr., Newport News, VA 

SFC Mario H. Ramsey, Pendleton, SC 

timpani 

SFC Julie Angelis, Worcester, MA 

piano 

SFC Raffi J. Kasparian, Los Angeles, CA 

soprano vocalist 

SFC Leigh Ann Hinton, Troy, NY

Concert 

THE U.S. ARMY 

Band 

Providing a musical backdrop for many of the 

country’s most notable events, The United States 

Army Concert Band has a worldwide reputation for 

extraordinary musicianship. 

Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Concert 

Band has performed in such respected venues as 

Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy 

Center, and the Hollywood Bowl. The ensemble often 

appears at national and international music events, 

and regularly performs for the Texas Bandmasters 

Association, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, 

the Music Educators National Conference, and the 

American Bandmasters Association. 

The musicians of the Concert Band have been 

trained at the nation’s most prestigious universities 

and conservatories. They perform with the versatility 

and skill necessary to execute the band’s vast 

repertoire, and often appear in small ensembles or 

as soloists. 

In an effort to promote international goodwill, 

the 65-piece traditional concert band has performed 

joint concerts with the Soviet Army, the Russian Navy, 

and the Ukrainian Navy bands, and has performed 

for military tattoos in Scotland, Sweden, Holland, 

Norway, Australia, Canada, and Japan. 

The U.S. Army Concert Band performs to a home 

audience in Brucker Hall, located on historic Fort 

Myer in Arlington, Virginia. Through live broadcasts, 

all concerts and recitals can be heard worldwide via 

www.usarmyband.com.

The United States Army Concert Band 

Credits 

LEADER AND COMMANDER 

COL Thomas Rotondi, Jr. 

ENLISTED LEADER 

CSM Debra L. McGarity 

GROUP LEADER 

SGM Charles L. Seipp 

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER 

LTC John C. Clanton 

PRODUCER 

SGM Paul A. Murtha 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Ms. Marge Pauls, for use of her original Firebird artwork 

For more information about The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” visit us on the web at www.usarmyband.com 

Recorded at the 

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center 

Alexandria, Virginia | February 2010 

RECORDING & MASTERING ENGINEER 

MSG Craig R. Lauinger 

ASSISTANT RECORDING ENGINEER 

MSG John W. Glasgow 

LIBRARY 

SGM Kim S. Newlen 

STAGING 

MSG Kenneth T. Brown 

SSG Mark Nixon 

PROGRAM NOTES 

SFC Regena L. Swanson 

GRAPHIC DESIGN & LAYOUT 

SSG Judith L. Havrilla

1. Pomp and Circumstance, op. 39, no. 1 (6:37) 



4. The Firebird Suite (1919) (22:39) 

Introduction 





Berceuse 

Finale 

5. The Pines of Rome (21:31) 




Firebird 

The Pines of the Appian Way 

the 

AND OTHER 20 TH AND OTHER 20 CENTURY MASTERPIECES 

TH CENTURY MASTERPIECES 

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PDF - The United States Army Band

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