Program Notes

Con Sabor Español

Lewis J. Buckley, composer

Lewis J. Buckley served as conductor and music director of the United States Coast Guard Band (New London, CT) for 29 years, and now continues his Boston musical activities as Music Director of the Metropolitan Wind Symphony. When auditions were held to choose Captain Buckley’s successor as Conductor, U. S. Coast Guard Band, part of the conducting audition was a sight-reading session. As most of the candidates were members of the Coast Guard Band, it was virtually impossible to find anything in the Band Library that was unknown to all of them; so Captain Buckley wrote a short, original piece for the audition, then titled Conducting Exercise. Into this piece, Captain Buckley put many of the knotty little conducting problems he had had to learn to deal with over the years, including mixed meter, tempo changes, instrumental cadenzas and fermatas in difficult places. Though written as an exercise, the Band members liked the piece, so Captain Buckley expanded it into a concert work. Thus was born Con Sabor Español (With a Spanish Flavor). It has since been performed widely, to the delight of audiences and players alike.

—Lewis J. Buckley

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