September 15, 2007 - Opening Night
Kirke Mechem (b. 1925) is a prolific composer with a catalogue of over 250 works. He enjoys an
international presence, as ASCAP recently registered concert
performances of his music in 42 countries. Born and raised in Kansas
and educated at Stanford and Harvard Universities, Mechem conducted and
taught at Stanford, and served as composer-in-residence for several
years at the University of San Francisco. In writing about his composition The Jayhawk (Magic Bird Overture), he says:
The Jayhawk is a mythical bird which has come to be identified with Kansas and Kansans. Most of his legendary adventures are practical jokes, but he has been depicted as a martial guardian of the range with miraculous qualities of transformation and disguise.
The Jayhawk is the adopted symbol of the University of Kansas athletic teams, who at moments of dire peril are rallied by one of the best known college yells, "Rock-chalk, Jay-hawk, K.-U." This cheer forms the basis of the overture's introduction. The Kansas state song, "Home on the Range," also makes a brief appearance, although it is mockingly distorted by this most irreverent of birds.
Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances is a suite in three movements. Completed in 1940, it is his last composition. Originally scored for two pianos, it is usually heard in the orchestral version, remarkable for its use of the alto saxophone as a solo instrument. The Dances combine energetic rhythmic sections, reminiscent of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, with some of the composer's lushest melodies. The composition includes several quotations from Rachmaninoff's other works, and can be regarded as a summing-up of his entire career as a composer. Listen to the Opening of First Movement ... End of final movement.
October 12, 2007 - Bolero
Berlioz didn’t particularly like his Overture to Rob Roy, describing it as “long and diffuse.” But, at just over 13 minutes, it serves as a good opener for this concert. It opens with a robust theme in the horns that eventually involves the other brass and strings. This is contrasted by a plaintive and beautiful middle section. The piece invites listeners into the hall giving a brief spotlight to virtually every section (save percussion) and offers listeners a rare and wonderful pairing of harp and English horn.
Jokingly referred to as “the world’s longest crescendo,” Maurice Ravel’s Bolero majestically builds on two themes. Starting softly in the flute, we eventually hear a solo double-reed. Later, we hear the melody with a bit of swagger from the alto saxophone. It builds and builds, and then the large orchestra lets loose. Big fun!
November 16, 2007 - Taste of Italy
Dance of the Hours is a ballet from the opera La Gioconda composed by Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886). The piece was used in Walt Disney’s 1940 animated film Fantasia as well as other works, TV shows, commercials, etc. The most familiar segment of the piece formed the basis for the hit song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" by Allan Sherman. Another familiar segment reminds one of a cartoonesque chase. It’s a fun and frolicking opening to the second half of the concert.
The Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90, commonly known as the Italian, is an orchestral symphony written by German composer Felix Mendelssohn. The piece is in four movements. The joyful first movement, in sonata form, is followed by an impression in D minor of a religious procession the composer witnessed in Naples. The third movement is a minuet and trio, while the final movement (which is in the minor key throughout) incorporates dance figurations from the Roman saltarello and the Neapolitan tarantella.
January 19, 2008 - We Have a Dream
Listen to Raymond Harvey's previews
(production courtesy WMUK 102.1FM)
Sowande - African Suite
Schwantner - New Morning for the World
Strauss - Death & Transfiguration
Fela Sowande's African Suite from 1944 presents a blend of traditional and popular music from the continent in a European orchestral setting. The opening movement, “Joyful Day,” is a setting of a melody by the Ghanaian composer Ephrain Amu. The second movement, “Nostalgia,” is an original reminiscence by Sowande. “Lullaby” is based on a folk melody Sowande reportedly heard just before leaving Nigeria in 1934. Sowande turned again to the work of Ephrain Amu for the theme of the movement “Onipe.” The finale, “Akinla,” comes from the dance-hall style known as “Highlife” – a bouncy West African translation of colonial military and dance tunes.
Featured on NPR’s Performance Today, on January 19, 2004, Joseph Schwantner's New Morning for the World (Daybreak of Freedom), set to texts from speeches and writings by Dr. King. The piece has been described as "by turns luminous, tragic, heroic and visionary -- as varied as the words it honors. Listen as Vernon Jordan narrates a bold excerpt from the work and a more reflective excerpt.
February 15, 2008 - The Legend of Faust
Listen to Raymond Harvey's previews
(production courtesy WMUK 102.1FM)
Faust movement
Gretchen movement
Mephistopheles movement
The "Faust" Symphony, while it is a prominent illustration of program music, is unique in this respect, that it is not a program of scenes or situations, but a series of delineations of character. Liszt himself styles the three movements of the symphony "Charakterbilder" ("Character-pictures"), and has named them for the three leading dramatis personae in Goethe's poem -- Faust, Gretchen, and Mephistopheles. He gives us no further program.
The opening movement is five motifs that reveal Faust, a complex dreamer with a thirst for truth and knowledge. Richard Pohl, a critic and close friend of Liszt, titled the motifs “Passion”, “Pride”, “Longing”, “Triumph” and “Love”. Gretchen’s theme comprises the second movement of the work. The closing movement represents Mephistopheles (Satan) who, unable to create anything of his own, takes the Faust themes from the first movement and distorts and transforms them. Chorus and tenor soloist bring the work to its masterful conclusion.
April 18, 2008 - The Planets
Listen to Raymond Harvey's previews
(production courtesy WMUK 102.1FM)
Three Overtures
The Planets - part one
The Planets - part two
The Planets Op. 32 is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Notable for its elaborate score for large orchestra with some unusual instruments, The Planets is the most-performed composition by an English composer. The elaborate score of The Planets produces unusual, complex sounds by using some unusual instruments and multiples of instruments in the large orchestra (like Mahler's Sixth of 1906), such as: 3 oboes, 3 bassoons, 2 piccolos, 2 harps, bass oboe, 2 timpani players, glockenspiel, celesta, xylophone, tubular bells, and organ. Holst had been influenced by Stravinsky, who used 4 oboes and 4 bassoons in his Rite of Spring (1912-1913) and by Schoenberg's 1909 composition titled "Five Pieces for Orchestra".
"Mars" has been an inspiration in many popular movie scores (e.g., Gladiator, Star Wars, Apocalypse Now). The ethereal last movement, "Neptune," was the first piece of music to have a fade-out ending.
more to come... |
