Sunday's (Dec. 2nd) Holiday Concert! (Part 1 of 2)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2nd ~ 4PM - TECHNY TOWERS/Divine Word Chapel

Part 1 (of two parts)

I assume you are all aware that the Northbrook Symphony is performing our
first-ever collaborative concert with the Northbrook Park District and the
Northbrook Community Choir, an organization founded 25 years ago by
choral director Susan Young.

This is an exciting opportunity for us, especially since we will be performing in
one of the area's most venerable spaces, the massive---and resplendent---
Techny Chapel on Waukegan Road. This venue is, from my standpoint,
ideal for presenting a concert that is both festive and solemn, as
befits the music of the season.

I understand that the acoustics are rather...ummm.....interesting...in that
the reverberation time is perhaps as much as 10 seconds (!) That's a
LOT of echo, folks!  We rehearsed last night (Monday) in the big Gym at
Maple Elementary School--orchestra seated on the floor, choir in the
bleachers---and it all worked out very well. So we are now prepared to meet
the challenges of performing in the "Big T" (Techny).  Should be
exciting.

ON THE PROGRAM-----

First, a selection of shorter Choral works, followed by the NSO playing
SIX (6) short works:

1.) The "Christmas Festival" by Leroy Anderson---well-known for his brilliant
Americana-style orchestral miniatures. I believe it was 1950 when, at the
height of his fame, he created this lovely fantasia on Christmas Carols that has
become a staple in every orchestra's holiday repertoire.

Most will regard this work as seasonal "fluff", but I find something profoundly
moving in it, since the carols and customs of Christmas...when treated with
the respect they deserve..embody the true goodness, joy, and warmth of the
human spirit. Honestly.

And wait 'til you hear Mr. Anderson combine "Jingle Bells" with "O, Come All
Ye Faithful" near the end of the piece; it is exhilarating.

2.), 3.) and 5.) --- Three Dances from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

Yes, believe it or not, I love the standard repertoire as well as the rare gems.
You really have to step back and reconsider the "Nutcracker" to appreciate its
true brilliance and beauty. Tchaikovsky was depressed and wracked with his
typical self-doubt when he finished this work; before we play, I think I'll quote his
letter to his brother Modeste, in which he totally trashed his just-completed ballet.
It's impossible to imagine how he could have misjudged his own masterpiece so
completely.

I love working on these familiar dances in order to project their astoundingly
imaginative character: the delicate, shimmery, wistful Sugar-Plum Fairy, the
sinuous, exotic allure of the Arabian Dance and the robust, foot-stomping
(not too fast in tempo!) of the Trepak---complete with THREE (3) tambourines!

4.) -- Alexander Glazunov - Marionettes from Scenes de Ballet

Many years ago, my wife and I were driving around the neighborhood in
Whiting, IN, enjoying the Christmas decorations, with Chicago's former
radio station WNIB on the car stereo. It was then that I first heard
a most delightful orchestral miniature, which seemed to capture
EXACTLY the magical, sparkly joy of the Christmas season; and even
though the work has nothing to do specifically with Christmas, I will always
associate it with that happy holiday listening experience.

Now you can hear it for yourself.  Glazunov was the heir-apparent to the
symphonic and ballet world in Russia which Tchaikovsky dominated. But
his music, successful as it was, is rarely heard outside of Russia. A few
years ago, I heard his gorgeous and thrilling ballet RAYMONDA, presented by
the Bolshoi Ballet at the Chicago Auditorium Theater-- and the name GLAZUNOV
was nowhere to be found in any of the ads or reviews!  That's ridiculous, since
Raymonda is definitely worthy to stand alongside Tchaikovsky's three big ballets;
it is filled with lovely, tuneful, robust and romantic music.

We will be hearing more of Glazunov's music at the NSO's regular concerts.
But for now, please come hear this charming, delightful little miniature, which
deserves to be included amidst our selection of Tchaikovsky's far more familiar
bob-bons.

5.) William Holcombe - The Festive Sounds of Hanukkah

This medley of familiar Hanukkah songs has become something of a staple
for orchestras in the past decade or so.  When I first heard it in concert, I decided
that I wanted to perform it as soon as I had a chance. It will serve as a "bookend"
to the Anderson Christmas Festival with which we began the program, since they
essentially follow the same model: a collection of traditional songs associated with
a sacred holiday observance. Though they can easily be regarded as pops "toss-offs",
I approach this work with a sense of reverence for the ancient traditions and customs
which are embodied in the songs themselves.

This arrangement, by the industrious Mr. Holcombe, is rather overblown in certain
ways; I spent many hours trimming down the orchestration, which was too thick
and "band-like" in many respects. In doing so, I think we have achieved a thing of
great beauty, which the NSO performs with the same sort of care they bring to
the typical symphonic masterworks.

The opening, march-like hymn Maoz Tsur is, as I understand it, an adaptation
of a Protestant hymn; it certainly has a sense of grandeur and solemnity about it.
The music becomes progressively faster and more dance-like in character, with
the familiar Dreidel songs (two of them) in Holcombe's colorful and exuberant
setting. There is also that unique Eastern-European sense of melancholy as the
work approaches its finale, which gradually leads to a majestic, bell-ringing return
of the Maoz Tsur hymn to close the work.

Exciting music, and a joy to present. I hope that you will come.

Larry R.

POST-CONCERT WRAP UP

Another thrilling program by the Northbrook Symphony; let me use this
public-media forum to salute all of our fine players and thank them for their
tireless work and fine playing. Individual instances of brilliant orchestral
playing are too numerous to mention!

It's interesting to note (as I have done numerous times in the past) how the NSO
can dash off a piece of music that is totally unfamiliar to the players when we first
rehearse it; in performance, the orchestra sounds as is they have been playing the
piece for years---the mark of a truly fabulous ensemble.

(FYI-- we hold three weeknight rehearsals of 2 hours, 15 minutes each,
          A separate rehearsal of the same length for our strings,
          And a final dress rehearsal before the concert; that's all)

ALSO interesting is the fact that these "potpourri" concerts are very challenging,
since you have to "change gears" stylistically from one work to the next. It's
especially tough in rehearsals, when we are getting accustomed to the music.
So, even though the total playing time of the music on this program was
around an hour, we absolutely filled our allotted rehearsal time working on
details and "concept".  That's why a NSO concert is NEVER dull or routine--
we really work hard to project the CHARACTER of the music---that which lies
beneath the surface of the notes themselves.


Here's my report on each of the SEVEN WORKS which you heard---

1.) A totally unfamiliar work was the opening Tchaikovsky Dance from the
Maid of Orleans, which was certainly worth all of the trouble it took to track
in order to play it today. We worked through it (rather quickly) in each of our
four full rehearsals. The rhythmic drive and the virtuosic main
theme that jumps all over the scale....all tossed off with brilliance and ease. We
worked on a few of the trickier passages, but spent most of our time adjusting
rhythms to produce the most exciting effect. I look forward to playing it again soon.

2.) Little to be added to the exquisite performance of the Dvorak Romance by
violinist Claire Bourg; what a lovely young lady and superb, sensitive performer;
a joy to work with her. I rehearsed with her only this past Thursday for an hour to
work through the piece (with me at the piano); her sound, her approach were
exactly right; again, I suggested some minor adjustments, most of them to
encourage that we linger a bit longer on certain phrases, or accentuate some of
Dvorak's dark, delicious harmonic progressions. The challenge was to find a nice,
flowing tempo (which Claire suggested) and then to combine it with the lovely
sense of nuance and phrasing which you heard so effectively conveyed. We
rehearsed only on Thursday night with soloist and orchestra together (I had
forgotten to rehearse this work with the woodwinds prior to Thursday---oops---
so the orchestra was ALSO playing its part together for the first time just 3 days
ago).

What you heard today was the result of much hard work, diligence, talent,
and sensitivity. The NSO always reacts to and interacts beautifully with our guest
soloists---and young Ms. Bourg---and Dvorak---brought out the best in of all of us.

3.) Yes, The Moldau of Smetana IS a great work; I thought our performance was
about as good as it gets. The orchestra's playing was simply magnificent, and I dare say
that we honored the composer's vision--- not only the pictorial aspects of the work,
but the true soul of the Bohemian nation in all of its glory; pretty bold claim on
my part---- but there you have it, nonetheless.

It's great to take a "warhorse" like this and work on it in detail; again, we didn't
spend much time rehearsing it, since most of the players knew it.  We took time
to work on and coordinate all of Smetana's marvelous "water" effects in the opening---
the flutes, clarinets, and the "rolling" wave-like string accompaniment; we also took
some time to accentuate and adjust the tempo and rhythm of the wonderful POLKA,
which I think sounded exactly the way the composer intended.  The moonlit
"water-sprite" ballet also took some major adjusting--- it sounds easy, but it's
full of little coordination and intonation challenges, and the big storm scene near
the end--which admittedly is full of faulty balances in the orchestral writing (poor
Smetana was losing his hearing at the time he wrote this) but, with minimal re-writes
from me, I think it sounded truly tempestuous.  I am proud of this performance.

4.) Bartok's charming Romanian Folk Dances were also wonderfully played;
some of our string players have performed this before but, despite its relative
simplicity, it STILL takes a lot of care to play in an idiomatic way.... you could almost
imagine the WORDS to these little songs being sung by the instruments-- the
chant-like, exotic piccolo solo in the 3rd dance, the wistful, gorgeous violin solo
in the 4th....all played by our orchestra with a lovely, atmospheric sense of color.

5.) Wasn't the Mlynarski MAZURKA a delightful work?  PROOF positive (again)
that the totally unfamiliar music we present is guaranteed to please!  The work
seems pretty straightforward, but it's LOADED with lots of little speed-ups and
slow-downs that have to be played in an idiomatic way.  Special thanks to
concertmaster Tom Yang, who re-worked a lot of the violin bowings, which
really increased the sense of STYLE...that special "sweep" and elegance that
is so essential in this work.  ANOTHER one that may turn up again before
very long.

6.) The Chopin MAZURKA was quite an event; I approached the orchestral
transcription cautiously, since the piano original is perfection in itself---and tampering
with it can only dilute its effect; the only reason I went ahead with it is because
I knew that the NSO would play it with exquisite care and nuance...as if it were
being improvised on the spot.  And they did. It took a couple playings in rehearsal
for me to get a feel for the music, since a conductor needs to be very aware of
the way an orchestra responds to a new work.  As we worked through it,
the little tempo adjustments and rhythmic accentuations-- the things the bring
the work to life in a real idiomatic way---began to emerge, as you heard today.
The mysterious, wistful, "remote" sound of the playing was exactly right.

In fact, I'll say here publicly what I've been saying for the past ten years--
the Northbrook Symphony plays with flexibility, nuance, sensitivity and variety
of tone color as well or better than any orchestra I have worked with; I
regard it as something we do uniquely well....and thus, I knew my
orchestration of Chopin's unearthly Mazurka would receive the best
possible performance under the NSO.

7.) The Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody--- a perfect example of how DIFFICULT
an orchestral transcription of a very free-wheeling, improvisatory PIANO original
can be.  Special thanks to Tom Yang for leading our violins and violas in all
of those "rhapsodic", flowery passages in the slow, soulful Lassan (opening).

There are SO many little stylistic quirks and flourishes that are necessary to
really bring this music to life---everybody expects to hear them, since the
work is so well-known; lots of little "lifts", accents, speed-ups, slow-downs--
EASY TO CONTROL if you are a solo pianist, DIFFICULT to control with
an orchestra of 75 players.  In fact, this work proved to be the most challenging..
and sometimes frustrating..in rehearsal, since it requires so many little
adjustments of rhythm and tempo. But, as I said to the orchestra in rehearsal---
we must perform this work with at least as much sense of STYLE as the
Tom & Jerry cartoon version...and, of course, we did.

I'm glad I made it through this one; very strenuous program (we rehearsed
through it from 1:30 to 3 pm prior to the concert---so the players really put
in a full day's work).

But to perform for such a wonderfully appreciative audience is a great pleasure
for us; it is really a joy to have an opportunity to play this great music for you.

Please continue to check in on this BLOG as the season progresses.

Thanks for reading!

Larry R

7.) Liszt ~ Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

The other "beloved" work on our Eastern European Folk Fest, and a great way to
close the program.

Few works in the entire classical repertoire are as immediately recognizable
as this one------yes, even I have to break down every now and then and play a
REAL, authentic war-horse!

Liszt's original was, of course, written for PIANO, and was orchestrated by
a well-known German musician of the day.  It's a very well-done transcription,
and very idiomatically adapts much of the specifically pianistic figuration to
the full orchestra.

It is VERY challenging to play this music---since it was conceived as a
SOLO PIANO work, and a very free-wheeling, improvisatory one at that. The
folk style of the Rhapsody automatically implies a great deal of "ABANDON"
in the rhtyhms, etc....easy enough for a solo pianist to do, but much more difficult to pull off with a GROUP of 75 players, who must all feel the
swing-and-sway of the music like one, gigantic GYPSY virtuoso.

The GYPSY element is actually rather questionable in its authenticity, since
Liszt was influenced by Gypsy-LIKE tunes that were actually GERMAN or
VIENNESE versions that "cultured" European society thought acceptable
for their listening pleasure.  For an idea of the REAL, unadulturated  GYPSY SOUND, listen carefully to the Bartok Romanian Dances that will
open the second half of our program (See No. 4 below on this blog).
But, authentic or not, this work is thrilling to play, and to listen to. Liszt
structures the work in the typical Rhapsody format-- a slow, passionate,
introduction (known as Lassan) , followed by the exhilarating, wild and
crazy Friska, which every Bugs Bunny, Tom & Jerry, and Woody Woodpecker
fan knows by heart.

Actually, the NSO has performed Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 subtitled
Carnival at Pesth, twice during my tenure; both times, the audience reaction was
ecstatic (we'll do it again sometime soon). But #2 is the one everyone
waits to hear, and I guarantee you we will not disappoint at Sunday's
performance!

I just realized that all four works on the second half of the program:
Bartok, Mlynarski, Chopin and Liszt--- were all ORIGINALLY composed
for piano and/or violin and piano--and orchestrated later by others (except for Bartok, who did his own).  So the evocative power and
color of the symphony orchestra will really be on display here in a most
unique and revealing way.

I look forward to seeing all of you at Sunday's concert--another
exciting, one-of-a-kind experience presented by the Northbrook Symphony!

Thanks for reading,

Larry R

6.) Chopin ~ Mazurka, op. 17, no. 4

Without a doubt, this is the most remarkable work on the program...and we're
only able to present it because I made the almost-sacrilegious decision to orchestrate
Chopin's piano original.

Chopin wrote about 50 Mazurkas for piano and this one stands out from the rest
in a most astounding way; it's like he was abducted by aliens the day he wrote
it, then returned to earth.

The Mazurka is, of course, a popular Polish dance...but Chopin's Mazurkas are
almost like fantasies for piano based on the style of the Mazurka; some of the
them are very high-spirited and could, in fact, be used for dancing. Others are
delicate, more intimate, etc...but this one is, as I've hinted, totally off-the-chart.

You will see why when you hear it; in fact, I'm not even going to attempt
to describe it, except to say that it exists in some shadowy, remote and
melancholy realm of the composer's soul. And the most astounding thing
about Chopin is the fact that he accomplished what he did almost
exclusively by using the PIANO----all of the amazing emotional depths
which he explored...the color, poetry, majesty, tenderness... which
revolutionized the concept of the keyboard's expressive capacity like no
other composer had dreamt of. And we in the orchestral world unfortunately
know so little of his true genius.

In transcribing this work for orchestra, I felt it was essential, above all,
NOT to "dress up" the piano original with showy instrumentation, but rather
to use only the combination of instruments which might evoke the essence
of the piece, so that the listener can clearly sense the power and imagination
of the Chopin's musical thought. I suppose we could just wheel a piano out
onstage and engage a pianist to play it for you (you'll be amazed at the
stark contrast with the Mlynarksi Mazurka that you will have just heard)...
but no, if it's going to be presented at one of our concerts, the orchestra itself
should play it.

I scored it for the most intimate, delicate complement of
instruments:  muted strings (using a string quartet for one passage), 2 flutes,
1 oboe, English Horn, 1 clarinet, 1 bassoon, and 3 muted french horns.
You will be the first audience to hear it in this version.

If I were to choose the three most revolutionary composers of the
19th-century, they would be Beethoven, Wagner....and Frederic Chopin,
a composer that we all know and admire for a handful of his most
popular, melodic pieces but who, in fact, blazed a trail of profoundly
original, influential musical thought.

And he did it all by using...almost exclusively.... the piano.

Thanks for reading.

Larry R

5.) Mlynarksi - Mazurka in G Major

Now we encounter the composer on the program who is totally unfamiliar to most
music lovers....but, as we often discover at the NSO, these unsung masters usually
produce immensely appealing music---at first hearing!  In fact, the Basque
Rapsodie by Gabriel Pierne on our September 30th French concert was the highlight
for some of the folks with whom I spoke.

AND SO IT MAY BE HERE, since the Mazurka by Emil Mlynarski is a totally delightful
work. Mlynarski was the founder of the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra, and also
conducted in Scotland during the early 20th-century. In fact......

Do you recall the impressive work by Elgar-- POLONIA----which we performed a year
ago, which Elgar had written to aid in the Polish relief effort in World War I?  Elgar
quoted several Polish songs, which a trio of ladies from Chicago's Lyra Ensemble
performed on our stage before we played the full work. WELL....it was Emil
Mlynarski who had approached Elgar with the idea of writing Polonia in the
first place. So we have plenty to thank him for.

Mlynarksi's MAZURKA is an early work, written for violin and piano; apparently
it is VERY well-known to young violinists, as one of the first "serious" works they
play as students. I first heard it in the summer of 2011; I play percussion in the
Whiting (IN) Festival Orchestra (a professional group made up of mostly Chicago
players), and the conductor programmed the orchestrated version as part of an
Eastern European salute; I immediately fell for it, and decided then and there
that I must program it ASAP.

Thus, you will be the first to hear it in the Northbrook area.

The Mazurka is a well-known Polish dance, very much like a fast waltz. Chopin
wrote many mazurkas for piano (hint......), and it figures prominently in Polish
folk culture. The orchestrated version we will use is by Lucien Cailliet, who served
for many years as arranger for the Philadelphia Orchestra, and did some pretty
heavy-duty orchestrating in Hollywood during the late 40's and 50's (check out
his credentials on IMDB). He also did a MASSIVE orchestration of Mussorgsky's
Pictures at an Exhibition in 1937 for Stokowski and the Philly Orch.

Cailliet's orchestration of Mlynarski's lovely Mazurka is also a tad MASSIVE....
so I took the liberty of thinning it out here and there.

But it is a WONDERFUL work......robust, bright, sweeping, joyous...the sort
of music that makes you glad to be alive. It evokes the magnificent, OLD-WORLD
elegance of Poland in a brilliant way.....and I am thrilled to be able to present it
as part of our tribute to Eastern European music.

However, it is followed on our program by a surprisingly different sort of
mazurka.......stay tuned!

Thanks for reading,

Larry