Tribute to Dr. Marn Luther King
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Sunday, January 19, 2014 – Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College Monday, January 20, 2014 – Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center Tribute to Dr. Mar n Luther King, Jr. Chicago Sinfonie a Mei-Ann Chen, Music Director and Conductor Paul Freeman, Music Director Emeritus and Founder Overture to La Forza del DesƟ no (The Force of Des ny)..............................................Giuseppe Verdi Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-fl at Major, op. 11.......................................................….......Richard Strauss I. Allegro II. Andante III. Rondo Nicole Cash, horn PAUSE (10 min.) Mountain Top..........................….............................................................................................JacobTV Jaap Drupsteen, videographer Roosevelt University CCPA Conservatory Chorus ● Cheryl Frazes Hill, Director of Choral Ac vi es INTERMISSION Revival, a Fantasy on Six Spirituals................................................................................Morton Gould Every Praise (is to our God).....................................................Hezekiah Walker & John David Bra on Arranged by Steward Wilson ● Strings by Wille a Greene-Johnson Ph.D Herald “Chip” Johnson, soloist Turning Around For Me………....................................................................................Vashawn Mitchell Arranged by Wille a Greene-Johnson Ph.D Dr. Wille a Greene-Johnson, conductor ● Travis Newsome, soloist Hallelujah, You’re Worthy To Be Praised.......................................................Judith Chris e McAllister Arranged by Carol Cymbala ● Orchestrated by Jason Michael Webb Herald “Chip” Johnson, conductor ● Zita Adamopoulos, soloist “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from The Sound of Music......................................Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II ● Arranged by Ed Lojeski Apostolic Church of God Sanctuary Choir ● Herald “Chip” Johnson, Minister of Music Lead Concert Sponsor Season Sponsor Media Sponsors Please hold your applause for a brief silence a er each work to help everyone enjoy every note of the performance. Chicago Sinfonietta Program Book 5 Program Notes Notes (continued) es ny, and its close cousin fate, have long informed the contours of the Chicago mixing genres and eff ects in a way that, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “make many a hip-hop Sinfonie a. It was a chance mee ng between Sinfonie a founder Dr. Paul Freeman and ar st look sedate.” DDr. Mar n Luther King, Jr. in early 1968 that, nearly 20 years later, inspired the Maestro What’s a contemporary Dutch composer doing on a program honoring MLK, you might to found this orchestra. He created an organiza on dedicated to diversity and the development ask. Perhaps it’s best to use JacobTV’s own words: “As a Dutch boy growing up in the 60s, I of musicians and composers that might otherwise be neglected by the ingrained pa erns of remember him very well because the media in Holland reported about him regularly. Mountain segrega on and discrimina on that s ll haunt the United States. These are, of course, the very Top is a meless speech in which King calls for unity and nonviolent protest, while challenging same forces that Dr. King challenged. Looking back, it seems as though it has to be more than the United States to live up to its ideals. It is also very moving how he predicted his own death. mere coincidence that Dr. Freeman’s successor, Mei-Ann Chen, owes much to three ci es that My composi on is based on the drama c last speech of Dr. Mar n Luther King Jr. a few hours fi gure strongly in Dr. King’s story: Atlanta, where he was born; Chicago, where he did some of before his assassina on in Memphis.” his most important work; and Memphis, where he met the end of his earthly life through an Mountain Top was commissioned by Dutch Na onal broadcas ng company NTR with assassin’s bullet. fi nancial support fro the Performing Arts Fund NL. The world premiere by Nederlands We address des ny directly with the brass fanfare of the night’s opener, the overture to an Kamerkoor and Radio Philharmonie conducted by O o Tausk took place May 31, 2008 at the opera by the great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. La Forza del DesƟ no, wri en in 1861 during Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Mountain Top is scored for sampler, percussion, mixed choir and an especially prolifi c me in the composer’s life, translates to “the force of des ny” in English. video. The video, controlled by the sampler, is performed “live” as it displays the words of Dr. Its placement at the beginning of this concert hints at the forces of des ny at work in the life of King’s prophe c speech. The musical structure func ons as a cantata, with Dr. King’s recorded Dr. King that will become explicit later in the program. It’s worth no ng that Verdi was poli cally voice as the singer and the choir and percussion responding to it. The words are chopped up, engaged in Italian issues and did not work in an isolated, rarifi ed world separate from humanity. repeated, stretched out and otherwise modifi ed to drama c eff ect. More from the composer’s The subject material of La Forza resonates with contemporary audiences as it tells a tale of notes: “King’s passionate speech is characterized by a rich melodic intona on, a great source of lovers des ned not to be together because of prejudice, class struggle and the cycle of violence. musical inspira on for me, apart from the words themselves. I digitally sampled the words and A er a ponderous brass opening, the overture se les into a pa ern of serenity alterna ng sentences, analyzed pitch and dura on, and then wrote it down in authen c musical nota on, with short passages of drama c intensity and the occasional return of the horns’ clarion call. At using this as the leitmo f for my composi on. So, all melody, harmony and rhythms…come from one point, the cellos & bass rumble ominously while the violins and violas counterpoint with a the original speech.” light but fi rm forward mo on. Eventually, the tension dissipates as brass, percussion and strings join together s rringly, propelling the piece to its triumphant conclusion. It seems to say that, even knowing the perils that you’ll face, you have no choice but to move forward. The horn and other brass instruments have a s rring quality. Their use in fanfares and marches a ests to the power to inspire. The father of German composer Richard Strauss was principal horn in the Munich Court Orchestra, and that early exposure to the power of the instrument surely led to its extensive use in many of the younger Strauss’s works, including the anthemic Also sprach Zarathustra and tonight’s selec on, his Horn Concerto No. 1. Born in the mid nineteenth century, Strauss’s career spanned both the late Roman c and early Modern periods in classical music. There is some tension there between the old and the new. Strauss’s father detested the radical new style of Wagner’s operas. As a young man, Strauss followed his lead, staying with the conserva ve mindset of his father’s genera on. Later in life, he would come to regret this ini al rejec on of Wagner and embrace new ways of thinking. His fi rst horn concerto was wri en at the age of 18, when he was s ll very much under his father’s infl uence. This concerto is in the three movements tradi onal to European concertos, with the fi rst two linked. The solo instrument comes in almost immediately: a er just one resonant chord from the orchestra, the horn jumps right in with a heroic fanfare. There is a triumphant quality to the concerto, as the horn solos over swelling strings. In the context of this concert, it carries the confi dence of Dr. King as he pressed forward with the knowledge that America could give up its entrenched ways and embrace the new. This brings us to the centerpiece of the concert and some radical music making of our own. The Dutch composer Jacob Ter Veldhuis goes by the nom de plume JacobTV. He describes himself as an avant-pop composer. His early career lies not in the rarifi ed air of academia, but as a rock musician. However, when he began to seriously compose full- me, he was quickly awarded the Composi on Prize of the Netherlands. His work is o en mul media in nature, 6 Chicago Sinfonietta Program Book Chicago Sinfonietta Program Book 7 Notes (continued) Notes (continued) That leaves the prophe c words of the speech itself, as Dr. King seems to confront his prodigy, playing the piano and composing by age four. His parents were strongly suppor ve des ny head on. of their young son and helped to get his fi rst work both performed and published when he We’ve got some diffi cult days ahead was s ll only six years old. Gould took such songs as Ezekiel Saw the Wheel, Joshua Fought the But it really doesn’t ma er with me now BaƩ le of Jericho, and Were You There?, arranging them into an orchestral suite called Revival, a Because I’ve been to the mountain top// Fantasy on Six Spirituals. This work was a favorite of Maestro Freeman and the Sinfonie a has Like anybody I would like to live a long life performed it numerous mes. A er the bracing modernity of JacobTV, the comfor ng embrace Longevity has its place of these familiar favorites transi ons both the orchestra and audience to the evening’s climax But I’m not concerned about that now// and the return of one of the Sinfonie a’s most enduring and cherished collabora ons. I just want to do God’s will. The spiritual tradi on didn’t end at some indefi nable me in the past.