DEAR FRIENDS

ProMusica will conclude our subscription season with, perhaps, one of the most thrilling and important programs in our institution’s history. These concerts are built around the theme of three centuries of musical masterpieces from around the world (19th, 20th, and 21st!). The centerpiece of the weekend will be the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Compadrazgo, a Double Concerto for Cello, Piano, and Chamber Orchestra. This work was written for, and will be performed by, David Finckel and Wu Han, who have emerged as one of the most popular chamber music duos on the musical scene today. In recent years they have gained “rock star status” in the world of classical music. Garnering superlatives among presenters, public and press, their success has placed them in the top rank of international musicians. David Finckel and Wu Han have been the subject of numerous feature stories around the globe in publications such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Billboard and BBC Music magazines, London's Time Out Magazine, and Tokyo's Ongaku-no-Tomo. On television, they have appeared on NBC Nightly News, A&E Breakfast with the Arts, CNN's Turner Entertainment Report and European Business News.

Gabriela Frank has gained similar accolades, hailed by many as one of the rising super stars of "the next generation of American composers." She regularly draws on and incorporates Latino/Latin American mythology, archeology, art, poetry, and folk music into western classical forms, reflecting her Peruvian-Jewish-Chinese heritage. This is how she has described her new concerto:

The word compadrazgo refers to a quintessentially Latin American idea: It signifies a special kind of camaraderie such as the bond between godparent and godchild or the friendliness between neighbors who might borrow sugar from one another. In composing this double concerto for cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, I found this spirit particularly well-suited for exploring the camaraderie between the soloists as well as between soloists and orchestra.

The first movement, “Compadrazgo” is a spirited romp in sonata-allegro form that plays with motifs characteristic of the folk music of the Andean mountains of Perú and Bolivia. The second movement, “Scherzo para Sipán”, is in homage to the windy northern plains of Perú made famous by the discovery of an ancient Moche royal tomb for El Señor de Sipan (Lord of Sipan). The third movement, “Adagio para Amantaní” is in homage to the island of Amantaní that I visited in the summer of 2006. Situated in the middle of Lake Titicaca between Perú and Bolivia, the island is both beautiful and barren, and its inhabitants absolutely depend on their relationships of compadrazgo in order to survive the cold and arid climate. This movement also serves as an extended cadenza for the soloists as it is written only for the duo. The final movement, “T’inku” is inspired by an oddly violent form of compadrazgo where people from two different communities ritualistically engage in a fight. Stemming from pre-Colombian beliefs where young men fought to the death, sacrificing themselves so that their villages would receive a good harvest or a season free from illness, the combative spirit of the “t’inku” actually results in people coming together for a common good.

Aaron Copland’s Pulitzer Prize-winning ballet score of 1942, "Appalachian Spring”, opens our program. This breathtaking American classic captures the essence of our great country, one of endless possibilities. Few scholars, or music lovers, believe that when Copland began composing his ballet that he could have foreseen that it would become one of the most inspiring and symbolic works of the century. In an interview with NPR music commentator Fred Calland (recalled on their website), Copland said, “The fate of pieces is really rather curious…you can’t always figure out in advance exactly what’s going to happen to them.” While Copland was aware that the ballet would deal with pioneering American themes, his working title was simply, “Ballet for Martha.”

Dancer Martha Graham had been commissioned to choreograph the ballet and danced the leading role. Copland readily admitted that the pastoral beauty of Appalachia wasn’t on his mind when he wrote the score: “I gave voice to that region without knowing I was giving voice to it.” Graham chose the title afte Copland had written much of the score, though he said that her dance style must have evoked Appalachia. The music and dance were perfect complements; together they reflect youthful aspiration in the American heartland.

An emotional highpoint of the score is a melody based on a traditional Shaker song, “Simple Gifts.” Throughout the work, Copland brilliantly weaves melodies that evoke simplicity and the “earnest but good-natured piety” of Shaker culture.

Music critics were in awe of Copland’s ability to capture a vast emotional world within the limits of the 13-piece orchestration prescribed by the original score (which, in turn, was dictated by the size of the Coolidge Auditorium orchestra pit at the Library of Congress, site of the ballet's premiere). With some strings, a few woodwinds and piano he achieves remarkable effects.

While ProMusica has offered Appalachian Spring several times in the past, this will be our first performance in the original 13-instrument version.

Igor Stravinsky achieved similar effects with small forces in his remarkable Ragtime for eleven instruments. Written in 1918, while the composer was in Switzerland, the work offers a brief instrumental snapshot of the American-inspired, piano-related genre that was sweeping Europe at the time of the First World War.

Concluding our program is another masterpiece, this one from the 19th century, which was also written by one of the world’s great composer’s for a country other than his homeland. Franz Joseph Haydn’s towering Symphony No. 104 is title “London”. Named, of course, for that great city . . . Haydn was invited to present his music in England late in his career.

All of us at ProMusica are incredibly excited to be sharing all of this memorable music with you! On Saturday evening we will be honoring the memory of Ray Hanley, who served as the Executive Director of the Greater Columbus Arts Council from 1985 to 2006. Compadrazgo was commissioned for the ProMusica by long-time friends Loann Crane, Barbara Fergus, and Barbara Trueman with support from the National Endowment for the Arts in celebration of the life and work of Ray Hanley.

On Sunday, in addition to our evening concert, we will be recording Compadrazgo for our next commercial CD.

On Saturday you will also find ProMusica performing at COSI, as part of our Family Day festivities, in a program entitled “The Thrill of the Orchestra,” based on a work of the same name by American composer Russell Peck.

Tell your friends about all of these events. Remember to share in our Casual Conversation one hour prior to each subscription concert.

Make sure that you already have your tickets for our season-ending Gala, with world renowned Celtic fiddler Eileen Ivers.

Exciting things are happening at ProMusica! Come share in the excitement!!

We look forward to all of these great concerts, and so appreciate your being a part of all that is ProMusica.

Cheers,

Timothy Russell
Music Director