University Symphony Orchestra Old Tunes in New Bottles

Transcription

1 University Symphony Orchestra Old Tunes in New Bottles Tuesday, October 10, 2017, at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center

2 Pacific Lutheran University School of Arts and Communication / Department of Music presents University Symphony Orchestra Old Tunes in New Bottles Huw Edwards, conductor Anna Jensen, double bass Tuesday, October 10, 2017, at 8pm Lagerquist Concert Hall, Mary Baker Russell Music Center Welcome to Lagerquist Concert Hall. Please disable the audible signal on all watches, pagers and cellular phones for the duration of the concert. Use of cameras, recording equipment and all digital devices is not permitted in the concert hall. PROGRAM Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg... Richard Wagner ( ) A Shropshire Lad, Rhapsody for Orchestra... George Butterworth ( ) Moderato, molto tranquillo Poco animato Largamente Méditation Hébraïque, for Bass and String Orchestra... Ernest Bloch ( ) Moderato Allegro Tempo I Anna Jensen, double bass INTERMISSION Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, op. 107 ( Reformation )...Felix Mendelssohn ( ) Andante Allegro con fuoco Allegro vivace Andante Chorale: Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott! Andante con moto Allegro maestoso

3 Program Notes Richard Wagner first sketched ideas for an opera on the German tale of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1845, though it was not until 1860 that he began in earnest on this epic stage work. Between the years Wagner was in exile from Germany spending a good deal of time Paris and the regal C-major music for The Masters came to him while traveling from Venice to Vienna. All opera is sung but the gratifying and marvelous appeal about this particular opera is it focuses on the art of singing, the importance of singing and how poetry and music combine into an unforgettable and mesmerizing synthesis. The Mastersingers is Wagner s only comedy though it is far from a frolicsome rib-tickler and it is one of the finest-crafted pieces in the entire repertory. It is different from Wagner s other music dramas, like The Ring or Parsifal (with their emphasis on gods, dwarfs, mythology, and ancient legends) as the characters are very human in an identifiable domestic setting. Having said that, Wagner does treat the opera s central character, Hans Sachs, like a god as the community worships him for his wisdom and loyalty to Holy German Art. (The Act III music praising Sachs concludes this Prelude.) The softer, more chromatic music portrays the love of Eva and Walther, and the Prelude contains many passing references to Walther s famous Prize Song, as well as satirical fragments portraying the curmudgeonly town clerk, Beckmesser. There is a magical moment after the central climax when Wagner telescopes and superimposes the three principal themes all at once, before the brasses and cymbals carry the Prelude to its grandiose conclusion. Having attended the Royal College of Music in London as an organ scholar where he assisted Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams with their research into English folk music George Butterworth returned to his native Northeast England. A meticulous craftsman, Butterworth only produced a handful of works, including a song-cycle A Shropshire Lad after the tragic, eerily-prophetic war poems by A.E. Housman in The following year Butterworth produced this ravishing and evocative Rhapsody for Orchestra, which utilizes several themes from his Housman songs, especially Loveliest of Trees and Grief. This ten-minute piece illustrates the influence of Sibelius, Elgar and Vaughan Williams who dedicated his Second Symphony to the young Butterworth. It is painfully ironic that Butterworth was drawn to Housman s regret-filled poetry, as he enlisted in the Durham Light Infantry and was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 when only 31. Butterworth destroyed many of his manuscripts before going to the front and he predicted the unlikeliness of his return from the Great War. At the close of A Shropshire Lad Butterworth quotes a theme from one of his Housman settings, With rue my heart is laden, for golden friends I had, as if he knew this work would constitute his own epitaph. As Kenneth Loveland remarks, Nothing could be further from the agony of war than this music it sings back to the tranquil landscape from which it grew. The Méditation Hébraïque by Ernest Bloch was originally written for cello and piano in 1924, but this evening we hear it transcribed for double-bass and string orchestra. The piece opens with a long recitative for the soloist before a theme (Moderato) is shared with the orchestra. An agitated middle section (Allegro deciso) allows the orchestra their full voice, before the soloist returns and transports us back to the slumberous and meditative music which opened this short but potent work. Although Felix Mendelssohn came from a famous Jewish family he received a Christian baptism and upbringing. Like Bach before him a composer he did much to champion Mendelssohn was a devout Lutheran marked the tercentenary of the Augsburg Confession and Mendelssohn was understandably inspired by this pious and august occasion to compose a celebratory Symphony. Although it became the Fifth in order of publication (op. 107), the Reformation is actually Mendelssohn s second in chronological sequence. The Reformation Symphony was not written to order but was composed in when Mendelssohn returned to Germany from his musically-fruitful travels around Great Britain. For political and religious reasons the celebrations did not take place in 1830 and the Symphony had to wait until 1832 for its first performance. The work did not draw much blood at the première; it was divorced by two years from the circumstances it was celebrating but it was also viewed as being backward and lackluster when compared to Mendelssohn s other symphonic works from this period. The Reformation Symphony opens with a solemn introduction appropriate to the commemoration that provided the work s catalyst. At the end of the introduction the strings play the Catholic Dresden Amen (which Wagner was to use and idealize as the Grail Motif in his ultimate work, Parsifal). The Allegro con fuoco reverts to the Stygian darkness of the opening, the music becoming more turbulent as blocks of competing sonorities are pitted against each other. A Sturm und Drang intensity infuses the busy string scales, around which fragments of earlier cells are traced by the winds. At the end of the development, the Dresden Amen makes a sudden and stunning appearance. A Scherzo (B-flat major) is placed second, a delightful movement that reportedly suggests the joy of the Protestant people. The deft, filigree writing and passages of corporate mirth recalls Mendelssohn s incidental music for A Midsummer Night s Dream. The G major trio section is even more rustic the oboe duet and teasing cross-rhythms sound like a Bavarian yodel dance, in keeping with the Symphony s Augsburgian roots. The Andante is very brief indeed, a song without words in G minor that allows some romantic reflection after the energy and rhythmic drive of the first two movements. It links directly to the finale, which opens with the flute intoning Luther s chorale Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott ( A mighty fortress is our God ). It should be remembered that at this time, Mendelssohn was reviving Bach s works with proselytizing zeal, including the St. Matthew Passion, which he conducted and rescued from obscurity in 1829 and he knew Bach s Cantata No. 80 based on the same Lutheran chorale. After an earthy transition in the strings, the Ein feste Burg theme is passed among the winds. The music surges and accelerates into D major for the finale proper, another sonata-form structure which balances the first movement in style and length. Luther s hymn is soon developed into a fugal texture, which is interspersed with a lighter second theme in a dotted-rhythm. Elements of both themes are combined and the work ends the chorale in full cry the orchestra epitomizing the defiant exultation of the Protestant congregations in gracious celebration. Program Comments Copyright 2017 by Huw Edwards

4 About the Conductor Huw Edwards, conductor, is now in his 15 th Season as Music Director of the Olympia Symphony which coincides with the Orchestra s 65 th anniversary year. There has been a continued sense of excitement in Olympia about Huw s tenure and he is credited with greatly improving the quality of the Orchestra, selecting challenging yet rewarding programs and being very active in the community. Huw is also an adjunct professor at South Puget Sound Community College where he teaches music appreciation classes and presents music history classes at the South Sound Senior Center. Mr. Edwards was the Music Director of the Portland Columbia Symphony in Oregon from ; in June 2012 was immediately named the Orchestra s Conductor Emeritus and Principal Guest Conductor. From Mr. Edwards was Music Director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras, and a faculty member at the Marrowstone Music Festival from Mr. Edwards moved to Seattle after seven wonderful seasons ( ) as Music Director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic in Oregon. Active as a guest conductor and clinician, Mr. Edwards has performed with the Oregon Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Eugene Symphony, Yakima Symphony and has worked with the symphony orchestras of Dallas and Memphis, as well as with ensembles in Illinois, New York, Idaho, Vermont, Utah, Minnesota, Oregon, Nebraska, Washington, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, and throughout the United Kingdom. Recent guest engagements have included Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers, the Symphony Orchestra at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, the Junior Washington All-State Orchestra in Spokane, and he has served as the conductor of the Stradivari Academy Orchestra at the University of Portland the past four summers. Huw will be the conducting instructor at the lauded Birch Bay String Teachers Workshop in Bellingham in August, and was an adjudicator at the WMEA State competition in Ellensburg last April. Born in Wales, Great Britain, Mr. Edwards holds degrees from the University of Surrey in England and Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Mr. Edwards was also a lecturer at Northwestern University and a Doctoral candidate ( ). Mr. Edwards has been active as a conductor since the age of 17 when he was appointed Music Director of the Maidstone G&S Society in England a post he held for six years and came to the United States in His principal teachers have been Simon Johnson and Barry Wordsworth (London), Anshel Brusilow and Eduardo Mata (Dallas), and Victor Yampolsky (Chicago). About the Artist Anna Jensen, double bass, teaches, performs, and leads clinics throughout the Pacific Northwest. Dr. Jensen received her MM and DMA degrees in double bass performance at the University of Michigan where she studied with Dr. Diana Gannett and was a graduate student instructor. She received her BM from Central Washington University. She has been the recipient of the Mildred Tuttle Fellowship, the Farrell Merit Scholarship-Grant, and was awarded the Presser Scholarship. Dr. Jensen is the assistant principal bassist of the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, the principal bassist of the Tacoma Opera Orchestra, the principal bassist of the Vashon Opera Orchestra, and regularly performs with orchestras across the region. She has performed with the Second City Chamber Music Series, the Icicle Creek Chamber Music Festival, the Kairos Music Festival and Lyceum, the Rackham Chamber Music Series, and the All Rivers at Once contemporary music series. Dr. Jensen has been the featured soloist with the Evergreen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lake Chelan Bach Festival Orchestra, the Wenatchee Symphony Orchestra, and the Tacoma Young Artists Orchestra. Her interest in contemporary music has brought about numerous new chamber music works for the double bass and she has presented the world premieres of these works. Dr. Jensen has won the Spokane Allied Arts Young Artist Competition, the Helen Snelling Crowe Competition, and was a finalist in the American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition. In addition to performing, Dr. Jensen is deeply involved in arts education. She is currently the education specialist for both the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association and the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. During the summer, she is the festival manager for the Evergreen Music Festival and has taught at The Marrowstone Music Festival, The Hammond Ashley Double Bass Workshop, and The Icicle Creek Summer Symphony Program. In addition to her position at Pacific Lutheran University, Dr. Jensen teaches double bass and music theory at the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association and maintains a large private studio. Her double bass students have placed in the top three at the state level numerous times and frequently win concerto competitions across the region. Prior to teaching at PLU, Dr. Jensen taught at Bowling Green State University.

5 University Symphony Orchestra Huw Edwards, conductor Flute/Piccolo Katherine Nakasone* Meagan Gaskill Eri Yeomans Oboe/English Horn Marissa Dallaire* Kayleigh Peterson Clarinet/Bass Clarinet Karsten Hendrickson* Daniel Aliment Bassoon Thomas J. Mallos* Dylan Cummins French Horn Alex Justice* Benjamin Johnson Sophie Apgar Kyle Hurd Trumpet Kyle Doughton* Devin Morris Georgia Eastlake Trombone/Tuba Quinn Vicars* Abigail Dean Andrew Ringle Ben Woodbury Timpani/Percussion Eric Zabala* Orion Schomber Josh Hansel Harp Alec Sjöholm Violin I Sarah Swift* Kate Schneider Hannah Peña-Ruiz Kailee Shiraishi Alexander Johnson Cherish Scheidhauer Jeeny Chung Jacob Mizrahi Erika Query Kristina Inghram Hyunjin Kim Julie Chu Mark Jasinski Violin II Hannah Gorham* Carl Johnson Nicholas Templeton Brennan LaBrie Bryn Benson Leah Foster-Koth Erika Niemoller Megan LeDuc Hannah Jeffries Noelle Green Viola Sophie Robinson* Phyllis Jenkins Annika Thach Alyssa Selfridge Ethan Warwick Elias Santiago Sarah Moore Cello Kaitlynn Turner* Kyle Siemers Darren Williams Steven Moncado Alec Sjöholm Bass Adam Masucci* Tomick Necessary James Waltz Emily Fields Note: string players rotate chairs each concert and violins rotate between sections throughout the year. * Principal or Co-principal Community Member Steven Moncado, Orchestra Librarian Karsten Hendrickson, Logistics Manager

6 Fall Events at Pacific Lutheran University ALL MUSIC EVENTS ARE IN MARY BAKER RUSSELL MUSIC CENTER, LAGERQUIST CONCERT HALL UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SEPTEMBER 7 Thursday, 3:40pm The Fourth Wall Ensemble Interactive Hybrid Arts Workshop 8 Friday, 3:40pm Artist Series: The Fourth Wall Ensemble 16 Saturday, 5:30pm Artist Series: Erik Steighner, Saxophone and Megan Grady, Clarinet 17 Sunday, 3pm Richard D. Moe Organ Recital Series: Yuko Sakiyama, Organist Tickets: $17 general admission; $10 seniors, PLU alumni, and military; $5 PLU community, students & 18 and under 23 Saturday, 8pm Artist Series: Rebecca Ford, Trombone and Jason Gilliam, Trombone 26 Sunday, 8pm Artist Series: Jennifer Rhyne, Flute; Jeanne Case, Viola; and Catherine Case, Harp. Jennie Lee Hansen Recital Hall 28 Thursday, 7:30pm National Lutheran Choir, free admission 29 Friday, 8pm Regency Series: Regency Jazz Ensemble 30 Saturday, 5pm Music Education Summit concert, free admission OCTOBER 4 Wednesday, 10:30am Marine Corps Jazz Orchestra Masterclass. Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center, free admission 4 Wednesday, 8pm University Jazz Ensemble and Marine Corps Jazz Orchestra. Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center, free admission 7 Saturday, 8pm Regency Series: Regency Voices 8 Sunday, 5pm Regency Series: Lyric Brass Quintet 10 Tuesday, 8pm University Symphony Orchestra 13 Friday, 3pm Orchestra Festival concert, free admission 15 Sunday, 3pm University Wind Ensemble 15 Sunday, 8pm Regency Series: Regency String Quartet. Jennie Lee Hansen Recital Hall 17 Tuesday and 18 Wednesday, 8pm Choral Concert 22 Sunday, 3pm Richard D. Moe Organ Recital Series: Dana Robinson and Paul Tegels, Duo Organists. Tickets: $17 general admission; $10 seniors, PLU alumni, and military; $5 PLU community, students & 18 and under 25 Wednesday, 8pm PLUtonic/HERmonic. Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center, free admission 26 Thursday, 8pm Voice Recital: Students of Cyndia Sieden, free admission NOVEMBER 3 Friday, 3:40pm Regency Series: Camas Wind Quintet. Jennie Lee Hansen Recital Hall 6 Monday, 8pm University Symphony Orchestra 12 Sunday, 3pm Choral Union. Tickets: $17 general admission; $10 seniors, PLU alumni, and military; $5 PLU community, students & 18 and under 15 Wednesday, 8pm Steel Pan and Percussion Ensembles, free admission 16 Thursday, 8pm Keyboard Students, free admission NOVEMBER, Cont. 17 Friday, 3:40pm Prima Trio Masterclass, free admission 17 Friday, 5:30pm Artist Series: Prima Trio 17 Friday, 8pm University Jazz Ensemble. Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center 18 Saturday, 3pm Woodwind Students, free admission 18 Saturday, 4:30pm Brass Students, free admission 19 Sunday, 3pm University Wind Ensemble 19 Sunday, 8pm Guitar Orchestra and Ensemble, free admission 28 Tuesday, 5pm Saxophone Quartets and Jazz Combos, AUC Cave, free admission 28 Tuesday, 8pm Harp Ensemble. Jennie Lee Hansen Recital Hall, free admission DECEMBER A PLU CHRISTMAS, Gloria! Tickets go on sale Wednesday, November 1 Saturday, December 2, at 8pm - Lagerquist Concert Hall Sunday, December 3, at 3pm - Lagerquist Concert Hall Monday, December 4, at 7:30pm - Benaroya Hall, Seattle Friday, December 8, at 8pm - Lagerquist Concert Hall Saturday, December 9, at 8pm - Lagerquist Concert Hall 1 Friday, 8pm Sounds of Christmas, featuring the University Singers and University Men s Chorus 2 Saturday, 12pm Sølvvinden Flute Ensemble, free admission 5 Tuesday, 8pm String Kaleidoscope, free admission 6 Wednesday, 8pm University Concert Band, free admission 7 Thursday, 8pm Piano Ensemble, free admission 10 Sunday, 2pm Composers Forum, free admission 10 Sunday, 4pm Songwriters Workshop. Jennie Lee Hansen Recital Hall, free admission JANUARY 6 Saturday, 5 and 6:30pm Northwest High School Honor Band, free admission 20 Saturday, 4pm Northwest Honor Jazz Band. Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center, free admission Thursday-Saturday, 7:30pm; and 28 Sunday, 3pm Henry Purcell s Dido and Aeneas. Eastvold Auditorium, Karen Hille Phillips Center. Tickets: $17 general admission; $10 seniors, PLU alumni, and military; $5 PLU community, students & 18 and under 28 Sunday, 5pm Northwest Honor Orchestra for Strings, free admission To Order Tickets: On Line: On Campus: PLU Concierge Desk (253/ ) At the Concert: Lobby Desk in Mary Baker Russell Music Center CONCERTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE All ticket sales are final - no refunds MUSIC EVENT TICKET PRICES: $10 GENERAL; $5 SENIOR CITIZENS (60+). MILITARY & PLU ALUMS; FREE TO PLU COMMUNITY, STUDENTS & 18 AND UNDER UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. CONCERTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND SOME CONCERTS MAY BE ADDED AFTER PUBLICATION. (updated September 27, 2017)