Great Deals for Great. Live. Music.

If you still haven't purchased your season tickets for our upcoming season of Great. Live. Music., this is your last guarantee to get seating preferences as our single tickets go on sale July 15th! All new subscribers will be invited to our exclusive Afterglow event on September 26th at Hill Auditorium to celebrate the kick-off of our latest season. Call 734/994-4801 for more information and don't forget to visit our website, www.a2so.com!

Local area college students can receive half-off on tickets in sections A-D. To find out if your school qualifies, give us a call and don't wait- tickets are sure to go fast!

This is sure to be our greatest season yet and we hope to share the gift of music with all of you!

Stay in Touch With Your A2SO!

Summer is in full swing and the A2SO is busy preparing for its upcoming season of Great. Live. Music.! While we prep, there are tons of ways to stay in touch and find out exactly what is happening with your A2SO as well as any special events that may be occuring. If you are interested in purchasing season tickets, visit us online at www.a2so.com or give us a call at 734/994-4801.

Are you a Facebook or Twitter user? You can find us on both social networking sites where we will provide you with up-to-date information you can't find anywhere else! The A2SO can also be found on Youtube and iTunes and is a perfect fix for those anxiously awaiting our upcoming season to begin. We hope to see all of you in the fall for what is sure to be our greatest season to date!

A2SO Fans Applaud Previous Season of Celebration, Await the Arrival of Great. Live. Music.

Summertime in Ann Arbor is truly something to behold. Not only is it a time to head outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, but it is also the perfect time to look back and reflect. As the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra prepares for its upcoming season of Great. Live. Music., fans have flocked to Facebook, Twitter, and our website to tell us their favorite moments of the past Season of Celebration as well as their excitement for this fall's season premiere.

The A2SO's Mozart Birthday Bash, a record breaking concert this past January at Hill Auditorium, was a popular favorite among audience members. Not surprising, the Season of Celebration finale concert (sold out!), Musical Portraits, was also cherished by fans of the symphony.

A ton of internet buzz came in from fans who attended our David Archuleta Christmas from the Heart program back in November at Hill Auditorium. David Santiago Gonzalez took to Facebook to tell us, "the David Archuleta concert was fantastic! I am from Texas and made a trip to see David sing with the A2SO! It was super awesome!" A2SO Twitter follower, VFerrll, noted, "the Christmas concert with David Archuleta was my favorite concert, and I hope it will be an annual event!"

With the excitement of our Season of Celebration still radiating in the city of Ann Arbor and beyond, the season premiere of our next season of Great. Live. Music. is rapidly approaching. Made in Michigan, a celebration of listening local, celebrates the 75th birthday of the Bentley Historical Library and kicks off the season of incredible performances as a special Sunday concert in Hill Auditorium on September 26th at 4:00 PM!

If you are interested in purchasing tickets to one of our great concerts or becoming a seasonal subscriber, visit us online at www.a2so.com or call our office at 734/994-4801. Don't forget to become a fan on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on everything that is happening with the A2SO!

Side-By-Side Concert This Thursday, May 20

The ability of music to inspire is an astonishing thing. Countless generations have felt the power and emotion of music as listeners, and performers have constantly reinvented the melodies heard around the world. As a fixture of Ann Arbor musical and artistic culture, the A2SO has touched the lives of audiences of all ages. This Thursday, the symphony will not only inspire young musicians at its Side-By-Side Concert, but also foster the remarkable talents of younger generations. Join us for this wonderful event, Thursday May 20, 2010 at the Jane Tasch Performing Arts Theater at 7:15 PM. Tickets are available for $10 at the Pinckney Community Schools central office and Busch's. Tickets are also available at the door.

The Navigator 6th Grade Orchestra opens the show with a solo repertoire followed by an A2SO and Pathfinder combined repertoire (Brahms Symphony No. 2, 4th mvt. and Pirates of the Caribbean arrangement). The A2so will also play a solo repertoire (Dvorak Symphony No. 9, 1st mvt. and Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture) and will be joined to play another combined repertoire by the High School Orchestra (Ravel Pavanne for a Dead Princess and Saint-Saens Bacchanale).

Since its beginning, the Side-by-Side Concert has inspired countless young musicians as they join professional orchestra members for a night of incredible music. This is a night of music not to be missed- we hope to see you there!

Visit us online at www.a2so.com, follow us on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook! For information on tickets and season subscriptions, call 734/994-4801.

Great. Live. Music.

“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”

- Ludwig van Beethoven.

“Music Rocks!”

– Student at Whitmore Lake Elementary School while participating in an A2SO Education event.

“Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks, and invents.” Like so many others, Beethoven once passionately struggled to express, in words, exactly what makes great music. The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra will perform some of the greatest classical music in the repertoire in its 2010-2011 Season, Great. Live. Music. After a wildly successful Season of Celebration, the A2SO continues with incredible momentum, predicting significant ticket sales and popularity for the greatest season of live music to date.

In his 11th season, Maestro Arie Lipsky celebrates Michigan, flirts with the romance of famous Russian pieces, and proves why Beethoven, Mozart, and Mahler truly are great composers. Celebrating the universal power and emotions of classical music, Great. Live. Music. also features works by Bolcom, Grieg, Bach, and Dvořák, performed in the best way possible: LIVE.

Joining the A2SO on stage this season are some of the greatest soloists of our time. Michigan’s own William Bolcom and Joan Morris, the incredible duo heralded by the Chicago Sun Times as “the best thing to happen to American popular song since the invention of sheet music,” will grace the stage of Hill Auditorium at the remarkable season premiere, Made In Michigan. The 2008 Gilmore Young Artist Award winner, pianist Adam Golka, joins the symphony for the Beethoven Festival on October 23rd. Roman Rabinovich, winner of the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, leads the A2SO in a vibrant journey through Russian music, and University of Michigan Professor of Harpsichord Ed Parmentier, A2SO Associate Concertmaster Kathryn Votapek, and A2SO Principal Flutist Penelope Fischer heat things up at Strings on Fire on November 13th. U-M Professor of Violin Yehonatan Berick and U-M Professor of Viola Rebecca Albers light up the stage at the Mozart Birthday Bash in January. U-M Professor of Voice Melody Racine wows us in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 in a triumphant close to the season.

The season premiere, Made In Michigan, will be presented as a special Sunday concert at 4 PM at Hill Auditorium, while the remaining classical series concerts will take place at the historic Michigan Theater on Saturdays at 8 PM, with pre-concert lectures highlighting each evening’s music from 7-7:30 PM. The Benard L. Maas Foundation Family Concert Series will also be presented at the Michigan Theater on Sundays at 4 PM and the traditional Sing Along with Santa, a favorite among Ann Arbor area youngsters, will be presented at the Bethlehem UCC on Saturday, December 11th at 4 PM.

Made In Michigan, 9/26. Listen locally to the A2SO, the ranks of Hill’s Frieze organ built in Detroit, and the wealth of great musical talent Michigan offers at a joint concert celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Bentley Historical Library. This concert is steeped in Michigan roots, culture, and traditions. Made In Michigan showcases William Albright’s delightful Sleight of Hand Rag, an outstanding piece from within the Bentley’s collections. Ann Arbor treasured composer William Bolcom, singer Joan Morris, organist Steven Ball, and flute virtuoso Amy Porter bring their talents to the stage, and Michael Daugherty’s Trail of Tears receives its Michigan premiere.

Beethoven Festival, 10/23. The soaring beauty of ballet music in the Prometheus Overture opens this evening with the symphony and the great master Ludwig van Beethoven. Revel in the audience favorite Piano Concerto No. 4, rich with melodic layers of complexity. Winner of the 2008 Gilmore Young Artist Prize and the 2009 Max I. Allen Classical Fellowship Award for the American Pianist Association, Adam Golka brings precision and finesse to the keyboard. As deafening silence began closing in on Beethoven, he continued to compose magnificent works like his Symphony No. 2. The evening concludes with that memorable symphony full of grace, wit, and lyrical melodies. This concert is sponsored by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Transplant Center.

Strings On Fire, 11/13. The beauty and warmth of A2SO strings create an evening of live musical magic. Elegant and expressive, playful and intimate, this is a concerto “as much fun to play as it is to listen to,” says violin soloist Kathryn Votapek. “Brandenburg No. 5 shows Bach at his most content, a delightful, relaxed conversation among the three soloists and orchestra,” adds master harpsichordist Ed Parmentier. Savor the warm, luscious melodies of Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings and be wrapped in the soulful melodies and dancing tunes of Grieg’s Holberg Suite. This concert is sponsored by the Ray & Eleanor Cross Foundation.

Mozart Birthday Bash, 1/22. For Mozart’s 255th birthday, the A2SO plays dazzling examples of Mozart’s genius and creativity, opening with the rollicking Wind Serenade. As a combination of concerto and symphony, the Sinfonia Concertante is one of the great duets in the repertoire, featuring U-M faculty members Yehonatan Berick, violin, and Rebecca Albers, viola. Enjoy one of the first examples of trumpet and percussion use in a classical symphony with the “Linz” Symphony. Composed, copied, rehearsed, and performed by Mozart in just one weekend while being hosted in the town of Linz, Austria. The symphony swirls with the finesse and charm that is uniquely Mozart. This concert is sponsored by the Carl and Isabelle Brauer Fund.

Russian Romance, 3/12. The A2SO brings the romance of great Russian music to Ann Arbor with a tour de force concert program. The orchestra takes off faster and faster as the unrelenting dance rhythms of Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila Overture provide a festive start to an evening full of must-hear selections. Back by audience demand, pianist Roman Rabinovich performs a giant in the repertoire, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. This listening experience is guaranteed to warm up your March evening with lush, lyrical, and poignant melodies. Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, conceived to honor the greatness of the human spirit, rounds out a lovely evening of live Russian music.

Mahler’s Third, 4/30. The A2SO’s season of Great. Live. Music. concludes with the magnificence, expression, and passionate drama of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. A unique work in six movements, based on the work of various poets, the symphony explores what flowers in a meadow, animals in the woods, voices of angels, and the innocence of children may tell us about life and love. The pure voices of the Ann Arbor Youth Chorale and the UMS Choral Union Women’s Chorus join the warm, rich voice of soprano Melody Racine bringing poetry to life in the thrilling, triumphant conclusion. A true masterpiece, this concert is co-sponsored by Bank of Ann Arbor with support from A. Michael and Remedios Montalbo Young.

Complementing the great classical series concerts are remarkable symphonic classics for the whole family. The Benard L. Maas Foundation Family Concert Series presents a collection of great musical pieces designed to entertain everyone from the tiniest tots to the most experienced listeners.

Peter and the Wolf, 11/14. The opening family concert of the season is a double-feature. Prokofiev’s playful classic delights, inspires, and connects with the child in all of us. The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra tells the story of Peter with the strings, flighty bird songs played by flutes, sneaking cats represented by oboe melodies, and the great wolf played by three powerful French horns. Come hear the orchestra tell this wonderful story.
The second part of the concert feature’s Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Britten’s variations on a theme come to life from high to low, brass to strings, percussion to woodwinds in this well known work. A variety of moods, tones, and colors are shown through a simple theme that leads to a majestic, full orchestral finish. A celebrity narrator guides the symphonic journey.

Sea to Shining Sea, 3/13. Celebrating the beauty of the world around us, the A2SO plays symphonic classics that explore the wonder and awe of the Earth and its resources. The program includes Beethoven’s magnificent Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” and features selections from Chambers, Grieg, Handel, Debussy, and Vivaldi. For any one who has ever admired the magnificence of our planet, this is a concert not to be missed! This concert is sponsored by Toyota.

To order season subscriptions, call 734/994-4801; mail 220 E. Huron Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104; fax 734/994-3949; email a2so@a2so.com; online at www.a2so.com. First time subscribers buy one season subscription and get one free! Now is the time to take the opportunity to enjoy all the incredible performances of the A2SO for a discounted price!

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is a premier regional orchestra that offers live, symphonic music for all ages. The A²SO touches the lives of over 76,000 people annually from tiny tots to seasoned citizens in venues ranging from the Michigan Theater to Hill Auditorium, to schools in the five-county area, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dexter District Libraries and senior centers. For concert or education programming information, contact the A2SO at 220 E. Huron, Suite 470, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, or phone 734/994-4801, or a2so@a2so.com.

Musical Portraits Program Notes

Program Notes for Musical Portraits

April 24th, Michigan Theater at 8 PM
Copyright 2010 Edward Yadzinsky

Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9
Hector Berlioz

French composer and conductor

Born December 11, 1803; La Côte-Saint-André,

FranceDied March 8, 1869; Paris, France

Hector Berlioz was a man for all Romantic seasons. To be sure, the age was well underway when he arrived on the scene, but it was he who added savoir faire and glamor to the mode. Moreover he insisted that music was always up to something – that it always had a story line of some kind peering through the veils of rhythm and tone.

To this Berlioz was eternally true. Through his catalog of original scores, one will search in vain for a single title that does not represent a literary or real-world association of some kind. Furthermore, it is often noted that the composer had a passion for English novels, Shakespearean plays, English poetry and English actresses (he later married one). So we are hardly surprised to discover a few character-roles among his scores – e.g.,; Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Ophelia, Hamlet, etc. Beyond Shakespeare are captions from Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas Moore, Benvenuto Cellini, Vergil, Victor Hugo, etc., including an American who did most of his writing in up-state New York – James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851).

Throughout history, ideas borrowed, shared or stolen have been the DNA of the arts, and the Roman Carnival Overture of 1838 is a splendid example. Searching for a rich libretto for a new opera, Berlioz was captivated by the celebrated autobiography of the great Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. In its own right, Cellini’s account remains one of the greatest examples of literature from the Italian High Renaissance. Oddly, the entertaining saga was not translated into French until well into the 19th century, at the perfect moment to impress the young and irreverent Berlioz, who was smitten by the tale of Cellini’s mad-cap life and times.

What a story! Hollywood has never invented a more picturesque nor picaresque character than the real-life Cellini. But the 1838 opera that bore his name never became a real success, in part because the libretto failed to capture the artistic spirit and dash of its celebrated hero.

In the original score, a late carnival scene in Renaissance Rome was tone-painted by Berlioz with his usual gift for florid and flinty orchestral color. As a musical melange, the composer borrowed the zesty carnival effects and plied them with Cellini’s love song from Act I. Voila: Le Carnaval Romain, (Roman Carnival Overture). Some years later Berlioz provided his own appraisal of the music: “...I cannot help recognizing in it a variety of ideas, an impetuous verve, and a brilliance of musical coloring....”

After a spectacular introduction, the beautiful music of Cellini’s love song is heard from a plaintive English Horn. It provides an early retreat in advance of the gusty celebration to follow. Stand by for all manner of orchestral luster, bellicose statements from the brass, jet-stream flares from the violins, soaring woodwinds, pointed percussion and a whirlwind of à la madness counterpoint. Magnifique..!

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Op. 77
Johannes Brahms

German composer and pianist

Born 1833; Hamburg, Germany

Died 1897; Vienna, Austria

Opus 77 was written in 1878 while Brahms took a long summer holiday at Pörtschach on the edge of Lake Wörth in Alpine Carinthia. The tone of his letters during that time is reflective of the bright mood of the concerto itself: “Here melodies flow so easily and freely that one has to be careful not to trample any of them underfoot.” Opus 77 was completed just months after his second symphony, a detail which affords a clue to the grand orchestral architecture of the score. The concerto is dedicated to Brahm’s friend Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), the great Austrio-Hungarian violinist who also received major dedications from Robert Schumann and Antonin Dvorak.It is sometimes said that the Mount Everest of violin concertos is “The Beethoven” (in the vernacular of classical musicians). But if that is true, “The Brahms” has to be the Matterhorn. Yet, for all its daunting power, Opus 77 has a bearing so graceful that it seems borrowed from the harp strings of Orpheus.

The first movement opens with the majesty of a great mountain expanse presenting a fully symphonic ambiance before the solo violin enters, shepherd-like, with a tune of beguiling simplicity. But this is far from innocent music, about which the spectacular cadenza leaves no doubt.For sheer loveliness, a pastoral oboe pipes its charm at the beginning of the Adagio. This lyrical moment was just too much for another of Brahms’ contemporaries, the great Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate who refused to perform the concerto, remarking: “Do you think I would be so tasteless as to stand on the stage holding my violin while the oboe plays the only melody in the whole piece?” Throughout his life, Brahms carried a musical quiver full of gypsy arrows. They can be heard whistling past our ears in many guises, some more subtle than others. But there is nothing oblique about the trajectory of the third movement – here we have a Hungarian-styled rondo which cavorts from a folk-like dance to an impulsive march with gaiety and high-wire pyrotechnics from the soloist. Wunderbar..!

Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Russian composer

Born March 9, 1839; Karevo

Died March 16, 1881; St. Petersburg

Mussorgsky’s original set of ten musical images was composed for solo piano as a homage to the memory of the Russian architect and painter Victor A. Hartmann, who had been one of the composer’s closest friends. Deeply distressed by Hartmann’s passing (in 1874 at the age of 39), and after attending a memorial gallery exhibit of the artist’s works, Mussorgsky conceived the idea of a sonic exhibition via the gallery walls of a concert hall.

Included in the scheme are several promenades, spaced quite naturally as one might walk into a large exhibit room and progress from one tableau to the next. Mussorgsky’s settings are a literal series of mini-tone poems representing the specific Hartmann sketches and watercolors which had been displayed in the exhibit. The original canvases are purportedly destroyed in a fire. However, reproduced in black and white, the images can be seen in the journal Musical Quarterly (Volume 125, 1939) in an excellent essay by Alfred Frankenstein.

Although Mussorgsky’s ori-ginal setting for piano had gained considerable popularity, the brilliant orchestral transcription in 1922 by Maurice Ravel catapulted the music into the high-currency limelight. It has ever since been one of the most performed orchestral show-pieces in the symphonic repertoire.

Pictures at an Exhibition
Maurice Ravel

French composer and pianist

Born March 7, 1875; Ciboure

Died December 28, 1937; Paris

As a “walk-by” reference for the musical pictures, Mussorgsky’s use of the variable Promenade serves to escort the viewer/listener from one canvas to the next. Gnomus is a comical but grotesquely carved nutcracker, a favorite icon in Eastern Europe; The Old Castle was a Hartmann watercolor of a chateau in the Middle Ages, here portrayed by a lyrical and plaintive alto saxophone; Tuileries represents children playing hide and seek in the well-known Parisian gardens situated between the Louvre and the Champs-Élysée; Bydlo depicts a scene from the ancient village of Sandomierz, showing a cart with over-size wooden wheels drawn by two oxen, lyrically represented by a mournful, high tuba; Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks conjures Hartmann’s sketch for a children’s ballet scene where canaries are gleefully trying to hatch; Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle represent two old Jewish gentlemen who meet in the street, one rich and pompous in furs, the other humbled in tatters; for Marketplace at Limoges, Mussorgsky wrote that the music represents French “bavardes” (gossips) chatting about Monsieur’s lost cow, Madame’s false teeth, and Monsieur’s big nose; Catacombs: Roman Sepulchre is an evocation of the open, public vaults of Paris, with skeletons revealed by light from a leering lantern; about Cum mortuis in lingua mortua “With the dead, in the language of the dead,” Mussorgsky noted that “...the skulls glow under the soft light”; The Hut of Baba Yaga, is a witch in Russian folklore who terrified children from her hut built on chicken legs; The Great Gate of Kiev is a sonic caption of Hartmann’s design (never built) for a commemorative, Russian-styled Arc de Triomphe. Immense and imposing, Mussorgsky noted the work was composed as a hymn of gratitude.

Only 241 tickets remain.

www.a2so.com

734/994-4801

American Celebration Program Notes

Michigan Theater, Saturday, March 13, 2010, 8:00 PM
copyright 2010, Edward Yadzinsky

Concerto in F
George Gershwin
Born September 26, 1898; Brooklyn, New York
Died July 11, 1937; Hollywood

On the heels of Gershwin’s spectacular success with Rhapsody in Blue came a storm of requests from the highest places in the musical world. Among them was a commission by the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch to compose a "proper concerto" for the piano – which was both a compliment to Gershwin’s potential but also a sly reference to the Rhapsody as a kind of "pops" showpiece.
Agreeing to accept the challenge Gershwin later wrote:
"Many persons had thought that the Rhapsody was only a happy accident. Well, I wanted to show that there was plenty more where that had come from. I made up my mind to do a piece of ‘absolute’ music. The Rhapsody, as its title implied, was a blues impression. The Concerto would be unrelated to any program. And that is exactly how I wrote it. I learned a great deal from that experience, particularly in the handling of instruments in combination."
The first movement of the Concerto in F is quick and pulsating, representing the young, enthusiastic spirit of American life with a Charleston motif. Later, a second theme is introduced by the piano. The second movement has a poetic nocturnal atmosphere which has come to be referred to as the American blues, but in a purer form than that in which they are usually treated. The final movement reverts to the style of the first. It is an orgy of rhythms, starting violently and keeping the same pace throughout.
Scored in 1925, for a robust 20th-century orchestra, the Concerto in F begins with the great timpani strokes which so often opened the curtains in Manhattan’s theater district (in fact Gershwin once thought to title the piece A New York Concerto). From that point on we are in for a Broadway feast of great tunes, sassy rhythms and mad-cap colors – teasing and tempting, at once replete with optimism and lush nostalgia. The second movement begins with some of the loveliest blues ever dreamed, heard in the solo trumpet over a sustained clarinet choir before the piano strides onto the scene, adding whimsy to the Impressionist tableau, which then turns brazen and boisterous before a reflecting close. Gershwin’s brief description of the final movement barely hints at the caprice of virtuoso mischief at hand – for soloist and orchestra alike – a frenzy of jazz and pizzazz to the Nth degree.
As an aside, the great pianist Artur Rubinstein once advised a New York music critic who complained about the easy popularity of jazz compared to the classics: "Kind sir, there are but two kinds of music – good and bad, and Gershwin makes me cry."
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Seattle Slew: Derby Dressage
William Bolcom
Born 1938; Seattle, Washington

A native of Seattle, Washington, William Bolcom concluded his formal study of composition with Darius Milhaud and Olivier Messiaen in Paris. In addition to his current position as professor emeritus of composition at the University of Michigan, Bolcom has been distinguished with many important awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Music, two Koussevitzky Foundation Awards, two Guggenheim Fellowships, several Rockefeller Foundation Awards and NEA Grants, the Marc Blitzstein Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, the Michigan Council for the Arts Award, and the Governor’s Arts Award from the State of Michigan. Bolcom was named 2007 Composer of the Year, and was honored with multiple Grammy Awards for his Songs of Innocence and Experience.
Commissions have included the Carnegie Hall Centennial, New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philhamonic and the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Composed in 1977, Bolcom’s ballet Seattle Slew was conceived by Kent Stowell of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. A protégé of George Balanchine, Stowell was quick to realize an entertaining link between a popular icon and dance theater. 1977 was also the year in which the great race horse Seattle Slew won the elusive Triple Crown.
From the ballet score, Bolcom derived a concert suite of three orchestral pieces. The first of them, Derby Dressage, opens our A2SO concert this evening. About the music, Bolcom remarks:
"Writing simple and formally predictable music is as hard as the opposite. All the dance pieces incorporate tango and ragtime elements in mixture. Each has a set-dance quality; I wanted to see how far I could go with the regular phrase structure of these dances. I had to find a sort of series of celebratory pieces that would evoke the posed atmosphere of a racetrack – the orderedness, the old-fashioned atmosphere – thus the 16-measure tango, gavottes and rag dances."
Bolcom’s cryptic metaphor "Forequarter Time" is a delightful play on words. The composer deals a coy hand indeed with the nuance of Derby Dressage – part tango and part down-low jazz from the cabarets of the 1920s. The pace and swagger of the score is perfect for modern ballet theater. And the music surely provided plenty of time and space for colorful dancing and amusing reference for listeners. We note the strutting accent from the tuba, escorting droll woodwinds out for a stroll, swinging from major harmonies to sassy blue-notes on the fly, complete with an upright, clanky piano.
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Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, op. 95
"From the New World" Antonin Dvorak
Born September 8, 1841; Nelahozeves, Bohemia
Died May 1, 1904; Prague, Czechoslovakia

A mainstay of the symphonic repertoire, Dvorak’s New World Symphony of 1893 is a work which binds wide ethnic contrasts into a broad and universal statement about the heart and hearth of one’s homeland.
Influenced initially by Beethoven and Schubert, and later by Wagner and Liszt, the Bohemian Dvorak was able to combine his deep interest in folk idioms into the vernacular of 19th century Romanticism. By the early 1890s the composer’s reputation stretched across the whole of the European continent. Brahms was a close acquaintance, Tchaikovsky a dear friend. Dvorak even received an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University. In 1892 he accepted an offer to become the first Director of the new National Conservatory of Music which was about to open in New York City. While residing here in the United States he was able to spend the summer months in the little Czech community of Spillville, Iowa. Those travels into the heartland of the New World enabled him to experience several prime examples of indigenous American folk music, especially Afro-American spirituals and the rhythmic/melodic expressions of Native American tribes. Moreover, Dvorak was well acquainted with American literature, including Longfellow’s Hiawatha, and was also knowledgeable about the folk music of the American frontier, including familiarity with the popular melodies and lyrics of Stephen Foster. It is widely believed that all of this played a formative role in his New World Symphony, a work that seems to meld myriad ethnic identities into a common, pan-cultural musical statement. The symphony was completed in 1893 in New York City, the metropolis which itself had become the cultural ladle for our great American melting pot.
The New World Symphony overall maintains an evocative spirit through all four movements – especially within the languid nostalgia of the second. Its famous Largo features a haunting melody from the English horn which, in turn, is resonated with increasing depth in the choir of orchestral strings. Graphic momentum is achieved in the colorful tableaus of the first, third and fourth movements. Unmistakable throughout is Dvorak’s indelible gypsy touch, a masterful use of the orchestral palette, sharp and crisp rhythmic pointing and the gentle hues of heartache. Forward this email to a friend

American Celebration
March 13, 2010
Michigan Theater
8:00 PM
Pre-Concert Lecture at 7:00 PM
Tickets from $6 to $49
Great Seats Still Available

734/994-4801
www.a2so.com