Today is Memorial Day 2016, originally called Decoration Day because people placed flowers on the graves of soldiers who had died or been killed.
But as Decoration Day turned into Memorial Day to honor all military personnel, including the living, the holiday has also become the occasion for marches and parades, for picnics and start-of-summer celebrations.
What music would you play to best honor the occasion and those who served, were wounded or fell?
It is inarguable: Modern wars have drafted or conscripted or forced civilians into action, and not just into the military.
The Ear does not think that honoring civilians who were injured or fell in the wars detracts from honoring veterans and the members of the military who did so.
Maybe civilians should even have their own day to mark and honor their sacrifices?
No new classical music group generated more great buzz last year than The Willy Street Chamber Players. And that enthusiasm was shared by The Ear, who can’t recall hearing anyone or anything being negative about the group’s inaugural season.
Here is a link to one rave review, written by John W. Barker for this blog, that focused on astounding performance of the famous Octet by Felix Mendelssohn and a Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach:
A friend of The Ear who plays with the Willy Street Chamber Players (below) sends the following word:
Newcomers to the Madison classical music scene, the critically acclaimed group The Willy Street Chamber Players, will be returning to the stage for a second season this July.
The group will perform four concerts at Immanuel Lutheran Church (below), 1021 Spaight St., and season tickets are available now.
The season will also include works that will be new to many Madison audience members.
Guest artists include violinist Suzanne Beia (below top) of the UW-Madison’s Pro Arte Quartet, the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; clarinetist Joe Morris (below middle), who is leaving the Madison Symphony Orchestra; and UW-Madison graduate student pianist Thomas Kasdorf (below bottom).
New this season will be a performance given in partnership with the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on the evening of Friday, July 22, 2016.
That’s when the Willy Street Chamber Players will present the monumental work, “Black Angels,” composed by George Crumb (below) for electric string quartet, in what promises to be an unforgettable performance.
Written in response to the Vietnam War, this avant-garde work requires players to amplify their instruments, speak with their mouths, perform with extended techniques, play on crystal glasses and more. (You can hear Part 1 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
In the meantime, you can hear the group live on Wisconsin Public Radio‘s Midday Show with Norman Gilliland (below) on this Thursday, April 21, at noon. This special broadcast will be performed in front of a live studio audience in celebration of the Midday Show’s 25th anniversary.