The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: This weekend, the Madison Symphony Orchestra celebrates the legacy and works of Leonard Bernstein
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming weekend, Leonard Bernstein (below, in a photo by Jack Mitchell) will be remembered, honored and celebrated by his friend and Madison Symphony Orchestra music director John DeMain in a “Remembering Lenny” concert that explores Bernstein’s musical contributions as an American composer and conductor.
Original works by Bernstein will be performed by the MSO on the first half of the concert. The MSO starts with the Overture to Candide, then moves on to On The Town, and, finally, performs his Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety,” featuring Van Cliburn Competition bronze medal winner and UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor.
The second half of the program features Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, the last work that Bernstein (1918-1990) ever conducted during a concert at the summer Tanglewood Festival of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Performances will be held in Overture Hall, 201 State Street, on this Friday night, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m.; this Saturday night, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m.; and this Sunday afternoon, Nov. 11, at 2:30 p.m. Ticket information is below.
Says DeMain (below, in a photo by Greg Anderson): “To have my 25th anniversary with the MSO coincide with the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth is special for me personally because of the unique opportunities I had to work with this great American musician.”
DeMain, who premiered Bernstein’s opera “A Quiet Place” in Houston, adds: “The first half of the concert celebrates Lenny the composer, culminating in the first performance by the MSO of his second symphony, The Age of Anxiety, which has a dazzling and at times jazzy part for the piano, and carries with it, still, a timely social statement. Christopher Taylor (below), a Madison favorite with whom I have often enjoyed collaborating, will perform the challenging and exciting piano part.”
DeMain describes the final work in the program: “The second half of the concert pays tribute to Lenny the conductor, and his life-long love of Beethoven. Since the Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, was the last piece Lenny conducted, I thought it would be the perfect way to celebrate Lenny and his great contribution to American musical life.” (NOTE: You can hear Bernstein conduct the famous second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 during his last public performance, just two months before he died, in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Here is some more background:
Bernstein’s operetta Candide is based on the 1759 novella by French philosopher Voltaire. The well-known Overture is quick-paced, with a feverish excitement that begins from the first breath of sound. Many of the meters are in seven beats, or of other non-traditional types, and quickly change. Each player of the ensemble is required to perform with simultaneously the utmost virtuosity and togetherness.
On the Town is a dance-centric musical scored by Leonard Bernstein based on Jerome Robbins’ idea for the 1944 ballet “Fancy Free.” The story depicts three American sailors on a 24-hour shore leave in New York City during wartime, where each man meets and quickly connects with the woman of their dreams. The musical is the source of the ubiquitously popular show tune New York, New York.
The Age of Anxiety was composed between 1948 and 1949, and is inspired by a poem of the same name by W.H. Auden (below). The 80-page poem follows four lonely strangers who meet in a wartime New York bar and spend the evening ruminating on their lives and the human condition. Subtitled “a baroque eclogue” (a pastoral poem in dialogue form), the characters speak mostly in long soliloquies of alliterative tetrameter, with little distinction among the individual voices.
Composed from 1811–1812, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 premiered with Beethoven (below) himself conducting in Vienna on December 8, 1813 at a charity concert for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau.
The symphony’s dance elements, vitality and sense of celebration are conveyed principally through rhythm. It is not the melodies that are so striking and memorable as the general sense of forward movement.
The Overture lobby opens 90 minutes prior to each concert. One hour before each performance, Randal Swiggum (below) will lead a 30-minute Prelude Discussion in Overture Hall to enhance concertgoers’ understanding and listening experience. It is free to ticket holders.
The MSO recommends that concert attendees arrive EARLY for each performance to make sure they have time to pass through Overture Center’s security stations, and so they can experience the Prelude Discussion.
Program notes for the concerts are available online. Go to: http://bit.ly/nov2018programnotes
Tickets can be purchased in the following ways:
- Single Tickets are $18-$93 each and are on sale now at: https://madisonsymphony.org/bernstein\through the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street, or by calling the Box Office at (608) 258-4141. Fees apply to online/phone sales.
- Groups of 10 or more can save 25% by calling the MSO office at (608) 257-3734. For more information, visit, https://www.madisonsymphony.org/groups.
- Student rush tickets can be purchased in person on the day of the concert at the Overture Center Box Office at 201 State Street. Students must show a valid student ID and can receive up to two $15 or $20 tickets. More information is at: https://www.madisonsymphony.org/studentrush
- Seniors age 62 and up receive 20% savings on advance and day-of-concert ticket purchases in select areas of the hall.
- Subscribers to 5 or more symphony subscription concerts can save up to 50% off single ticket prices. More information is available about the season at: https://madisonsymphony.org/18-19
- Flex-Ticket booklets of 10 vouchers for 2018-19 symphony subscription concerts are available. Learn more at: https://madisonsymphony.org/flex
Discounted seats are subject to availability, and discounts may not be combined.
Find more information at madisonsymphony.org
The Presenting Sponsor for the November concerts is Steinhauer Charitable Trust. Underwriting for Christopher Taylor is provided by Sharon Stark, “to Peter Livingston with love.” Major funding is provided by: Stephen D. Morton, The Gialamas Company, Inc., Myrna Larson, Madison Symphony Orchestra League, and Nancy Mohs. Additional funding is provided by Robert Benjamin and John Fields, Godfrey & Kahn, S.C., and Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Tags: #AgeofAnxiety, #AmericanComposer, #Americanconductor, #AmericanMusician, #AQuietPlace, #BattleofHanau, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonSymphony, #BoxOffice, #BrassSection, #CandideOpera, #CharityConcert, #ChristopherTaylor, #FacebookPost, #FirstPerformance, #GialamasCompany, #Godfrey&Kahn, #HoustonTexas, #JazzMusic, #JeromeRobbins, #JohnDeMain, #LastPerformance, #LeonardBernstein, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #NationalEndowmentfortheArts, #NewYorkCity, #NewYorkNewYork, #OntheTown, #OriginalWork, #OvertureCenter, #OvertureHall, #OverturetoCandide, #PastoralPoem, #PercussionSection, #PreludeDiscussion, #ProgramNotes, #RandalSwiggum, #SeasonSubscriber, #SeniorCitizen, #ShowTune, #SociallyRelevant, #SocialRelevance, #SocialStatement, #StateOfWisconsin, #StringSection, #StudentID, #StudentRush, #SubscriptionConcert, #TanglewoodFestival, #TheCliburn, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #ViennaAustria, #W.H.Auden, #WarTime, #WindSection, #WisconsinArtsBoard, #WithLove, #WorldPremiere, #WorldWarII, #YouTubevideo, A Quiet Place, admission, Age of Anxiety, American, American musician, anniversary, Arts, Ausria, Austria, ballet, Baroque, Battle of Hanau, Beethoven, birth, blog, Boston, box office, brass section, breath, bronze medal, Candide, celebration, centennial, charity, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, composer, Concert, dance, death, dialog, dialogue, died, discount, dream, Eclogue, explore, Facebook, first performance, France, French, Gialamas Company, hear, honor, Houston, ID, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, jazzy, Jerome Robbins, John DeMain, last, Lenny, Leonard Bernstein, life, live, lives, lobby, lonely, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, meger, melody, Mohs, Music, musical, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, New York, New York City, novella, On the Town, online, opera, Operetta, Orchestra, original, Overture, Overture Center, Overture Center for the Arts, Overture Hall, pastoral, percussion section, performance, philosopher, Pianist, Piano, poem, poet, Poetry, post, posting, Prelude Discussion, premiere, professor, program notes, Randal Swiggum, remember, rhythm, sailor, season subscriber, security, see, senior, senior citizen, share, show tune, social relevance, socially relevant, soldiers, soliloquy, Sound, sponsor, stranger, string section, Student, student rush, subscriber, subscription concert, symphony, Tanglewood Festival, Texas, The Cliburn, ticket, togetherness, underwriting, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Veteran, veterans, Vienna, Viola, Violin, virtuosity, vitality, voice, Voltaire, wartme, wind section, winner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Arts Board, woman, work, world premiere, World War II, wounded, YouTube
Classical music: UW oboist Aaron Hill performs world premieres and little known composers in a FREE recital Sunday afternoon
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
This is Homecoming weekend at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and it is busy on many counts, including several classical music concerts in the city on Sunday afternoon.
But one of the more intriguing is a FREE recital at 3 p.m. in Mills Hall by UW-Madison Professor Aaron Hill (below), who teaches oboe and also performs in the Wingra Woodwind Quintet.
Hill will be joined by collaborative pianist Daniel Fung (below), who is also a vocal coach at the Mead Witter School of Music at the UW-Madison.
Particularly noteworthy is the number of world premieres and relatively unknown contemporary composers on the program.
Here is the program:
“Poem,” for oboe and piano (1953) by Marina Dranishnikova (1929-1994, below). (You can hear it in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Oboe Sonata (1947) by Jean Coulthard (1908-2000)
- Gently Flowing
- Sicilienne
- Allegro
Intermission
* Soliloquies (2013) by Andre Myers (b. 1973)
- To be or not to be
- There’s Rosemary, that’s for remembrance
- In the Month of May
- Spring Discourse
* world premiere performance
* After Manchester (2017) Aaron Hill and Michael Slon (b. 1982 and 1970, respectively) * world premiere performance
Four Personalities (2007) Alyssa Morris (b. 1984)
- Yellow
- White
- Blue
- Red
Here are some program notes by Aaron Hill:
“This program highlights five different ways to program previously unfamiliar music, as explained below.
“Poem” by Marina Dranishnikova came to me through our local community. Oliver Cardona, currently a junior music major at UW-Madison, initially brought it to my attention. The work was discovered and edited by my predecessor, Professor Marc Fink (below), during his travels in Russia.
I first heard the Oboe Sonata by Jean Coulthard (below) at the 2017 International Double Reed Society conference at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.
Charles Hamann, the principal oboist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, edited and recorded it as part of a large project to bring international attention to masterpieces by Canadian composers.
Andre Myers (below) attended the University of Michigan with me and we first became acquainted when I performed one of his orchestral works. His beautiful writing for English horn started our friendship and 15 years later, he wrote his Soliloquies for me.
The first two are based on famous scenes from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” The third is based on a poem by Minnesota’s first poet laureate, Robert Bly, which will be read aloud from the stage. The final movement is inspired by a dream vision he had of centaurs playing in a meadow.
“After Manchester” was originally a free improvisation I recorded and posted to social media in the wake of the terror attack at Ariana Grande’s concert on June 4, 2017.
Later in the summer, Professor Michael Slon (below), the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Virginia, transcribed my improvisation and wrote a piano part to transform it into a piece of chamber music. The work was completed just days before the violent events in Charlottesville.
Professor Alyssa Morris (below) currently teaches oboe at Kansas State University and her compositions have become widely performed as standard literature for oboists in recent years.
She wrote “Four Personalities” to perform in her own undergraduate recital at Brigham Young University and I first heard it while searching for oboe music on YouTube. The piece is based on the Hartmann Personality Test.
In her words, the colors correspond to the following types:
Yellow: Yellow is fun-loving. The joy that comes from doing something just for the sake of doing it is what motivates and drives yellow.
White: White is a peacekeeper. White is kind, adaptable, and a good listener. Though motivated by peace, white struggles with indecisiveness.
Blue: Blue brings great gifts of service, loyalty, sincerity, and thoughtfulness. Intimacy, creating relationships, and having purpose is what motivates and drives blue.
Red: Motivated by power. Red is aggressive and assertive. Red is visionary, confident, and proactive.
Tags: Aaron Hill, adapt, afternoon, aggressive, allegro, aloud, Andre Myers, Appleton, Ariana Grande, Arts, assertive, beautiful, beauty, blue, Brigham Young University, busy, Canada, Canadian, centaur], Chamber music, Charlottesville, city, Classical music, colors, community, composer, Composition, Concert, confident, Creation, Daniel Fung, discourse, dream, England, English horn, famous, flowing, Folger Shakespeare Library, friend, friendship, fun, fun-loving, gentle, Hamlet, Hartmann Personality Test, Homecoming, improvisation, improvise, internaitonal, International Double Reed Society, intimacy, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Coulthard, Joy, Kansas, Kansas State University, laureate, Lawrence University, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, listener, Love, loving, loyalty, Madison, Manchester, Marc Fink, Marina Dranishnikova, masterpiece, May, Mead Witter School of Music, meadow, media, Michael Slon, Michigan, Minnesota, motivation, Music, National Arts Centre Orchestra, New Music, notes, Oboe, Orchestra, orchestral, Ottawa, peace, personality, personality type, Piano, poem, poet, Poet laureate, Poetry, power, premiere, proactive, professor, program notes, purpose, read, recent, recital, red, relationship, Robert Bly, Russia, scene, service, Shakespeare, Sicilienne, sincerity, social media, soliloquy, Sonata, Spring, stage, summer, Sunday, teach, terror, terrorist, terrorist attack, thought, thoughtfulness, transcribe, transcription, travel, type, UK, undergraduate, United Kingdom, United States, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, video, violence, Virginia, vision, visionary, white, Wingra Woodwind Quintet, Wisconsin, world, world premiere, years, yellow, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | samanthacrownoversbc… on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Ronnie on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
 | Polly Kuelbs on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
| welltemperedear on How do post-pandemic concert a… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 