The definition of the term “chamber
orchestra” was imbued on me at a young age. The works of Bach,
Corelli, Haydn and Beethoven, performed with more intimate forces,
came across totally differently than with the “all hands on deck”
crew.
In the Baroque, pretty much all they
had was chamber orchestras, but as venues and instrumentation grew more
grandiose and hyfalutin', people began to miss the olden days when
there were soirees in CHAMBERS that essentially had no bad seats.
Beethoven, Brahms, Grieg, Copland, and Richard Strauss recognized the
potential in these musical textures and connectivity, and have
composed music just for our Sunday afternoon chamber series this season!. If they only
knew...
Leading off on September 28th,
Beethoven brings it all home (well, most of it) with an overture and a symphony. The Coriolan Overture and his 4th
symphony will sandwich an appearance by UT's Cello Professor, Wesley
Baldwin, in Luigi Boccherini's iconic Cello Concerto. Some people
ask, “did Beethoven even write a 4th Symphony?” but
there it is, sandwiched in between the Rasumovsky Quartets and the
Violin Concerto in the catalogue. Dr. Baldwin's colleague and our
Resident Conductor, Jim Fellenbaum, will conduct.
Speaking of quartets, the KSO Principal
String Quartet's usual April concert will happen in November this
season, on the 2nd. We will be presenting Shostakovich's
8th Quartet and Beethoven's epic Op. 132 Quartet. I hate
it when people refer to Shostakovich as “Shosty.” He deserves a
more dignified nickname, like Rostropovich has; Slava. To me
“Shosty” conjures up images of Shasta soda, or the “Mister
Softee” ice cream truck that used to compete with Good Humor when I
was growing up. It was soft ice cream, compared to the ice cream bars
that Good Humor sold. (Sells?) ANYway, there is nothing sugar-coated
about Shostakovich 8, and this much-revered late Beethoven quartet is
so different a work from his 4th Symphony that you won't
believe it's the same composer. Venezuelan composer Efrain Amaya's
Angélica
will be the perfect palate-cleanser.
First thing back from the holidays will
be our January 11th Orchestra
Soloists concert, with concertos by Stamitz (trumpet) and Mozart
(bassoon). New fellers Chase Hawkins (trumpet)
and Aaron Apaza (bassoon)
will lead the charge. On the second half, EVERYone
will get a solo in Strauss's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Suite, a quirky and beloved 20th -century
neo-Baroque work which has become a hallmark of the chamber orchestra
repertoire. It's pronounced “boor-zhwah zhon-tee-yum,” and was
last performed here in April 1995, when Phil Hansen was our principal
cellist. Way too long ago.
Although March 1st isn't
technically a spring date, James Fellenbaum and the KSCO's offering
of Copland's Suite from Appalachian Spring
will make it so at the Bijou. Starting with Grieg's Holberg
Suite and weaving through music
of Honneger and Webern, this is as varied a chamber orchestra concert
as one
could imagine. What's more, the Go! Contemporary Dance
Works will be adding their talents in the Copland, augmenting the
springtime ambiance.
Lucas
Richman's final appearance with us at the Bijou Theatre will be May
3. The
program features three
luxurious works whose scope and sentiment suits
the Bijou-- and the
occasion-- perfectly.
American Composer William
Schuman's Symphony for Strings
dates from the year before Appalachian
Spring
but comes from quite a different place. The strings will then get a
rare break and Richard Strauss' Serenade
for 13 Winds
will finish up the first half. A
word has been coined for the skill required to produce such beautiful
music for winds: it's called “bandstration.” Like orchestration,
but with a band. The grand finale, and another long-awaited return,
will be Brahms' First Serenade for Orchestra. It's pretty much a
six-movement Brahms Symphony, and if you're like me, you know there
ain't no such thing as too much Brahms.
This is a star-studded Chamber series, and I Can't Wait! Please join us! All concerts start at 2:30 at the Bijou Theatre.
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