Sooke Philharmonic: 18 February, 2024
Hello, friends!
I am joining the Sooke Philharmonic for a couple of concerts this orchestra season. The first one is happening in about two weeks, so here I am to tell you all about it.
It's fun to play two different parts in two different orchestras- in my other orchestra, I play in the second violins and I'm up front leading the section. For this concert, I'm sitting at the back of the first violins. Those are two very different things to be doing, and the pleasures and challenges of each compliment each other nicely.
Here's what we'll be playing in Sooke:
Strauss Gypsy Baron Overture
This is the overture to an operetta that I had never heard of before. It feels weird to play something that has a racial slur in the title and I don't know what to do with that, personally, or as a part of society at large. Should we chuck this entire operetta in the dustbin (the title is just the tip of the iceberg here, as I am sure you can imagine)? Keep the music, take it out of context and rename this overture? Should I have declined to play this concert because this is in it? How do we engage with problematic art, as performers? Does this have redeeming qualities?
I am not the first person to be in a situation like this, and I will not be the last. You're welcome to come contemplate this situation, or enjoy some marches interspersed with waltzes, which is pretty much what you would be hearing.
Borodin in the Steppes of Central Asia
This evokes big landscapes, bigger skies, and wide open spaces. Come cross a sea of grass by horse with us. Picture yourself in a yurt, listening to Turkic folk songs. Hunt something with an eagle.
Incidentally, I'm convinced that I performed this in the last three years, but I can't find it in my newsletter archive anywhere.
Dvorak Symphony no.9 "From the New World"
This is one of my favorite symphonies. I'm far from alone here, and it's popular for a reason. The second and fourth movements are the most famous by far- but you'll recognize the whole thing if you listen to it. I'm having a blast playing these melodies, and hanging on for dear life in the third movement.
Dvorak moved to the United States in 1892, and wrote this in 1893; he was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to do it. He was an incessant listener. When he lived in and around Prague, he listened to Czech folk songs, trains, church music, and everything else that was there. Dvorak's move to the US was in order to become the director of the National Conservatory of Music. There, he met a Black student, Harry Burleigh, who introduced him to the African-American folk music of the time. Dvorak wanted to make Western classical music that was uniquely Czech by bringing in the sounds from that place, and he thought that a uniquely American style of Western classical music could be created by incorporating the music that was unique to the Americas. In his opinion, most important and unique music around him in the US was the music coming from Black and Indigenous people there. And so that music is what he wove into his 9th Symphony, and created one of the most popular and enduring works in this repertoire.
Parts of this symphony show up everywhere in our culture. I swear there are a few Motown string licks that got taken right from these pages (seems probable, given that Paul Riser as well as the Detroit Symphony strings would definitely have known these). So I think Dvorak was right - he made something that couldn't have come from any other place.
You can read more about this concert from the Sooke Philharmonic, and get your tickets here. If you're 18 years old or younger, your ticket is free!
Lastly, you may have noticed that this email is a little different from the last. That's because I have switched newsletter services to Buttondown- they've been very kind and helpful, so if you need a newsletter, I'd recommend them.
And as always, thanks for listening.