Symphony Preview: It must be something to do with spring

This weekend (April 1-3) the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) celebrates the change of the seasons with music of Copland, Honegger, and Saint-Saëns—although only one of the three works on the program explicitly refers to anything meteorological.

L-R: Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber,
Gian-Carol Menotti, 1945
Photo by Victor Kraft

The title notwithstanding, that work is not the one that opens the program: the 1970 suite from Aaron Copland's 1944 ballet “Appalachian Spring.” Copland composed the score in response to a commission from legendary dancer/choreographer Martha Graham and the talented amateur pianist-turned-arts patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge for an as as-yet unnamed ballet. Indeed, his original working title was simply “Ballet for Martha” because, at the time, all he knew was that he was writing a ballet for Ms. Graham.

"I was really putting Martha Graham to music,” he would later recall. “I had seen her dancing so many times, and I had a sense of her personality as a creative office. I had—really in front of my mind I wasn't thinking about the Appalachians or even spring. So that I had no title for it. It was a ballet for Martha, was actually the subtitle that I had. "

The ballet didn't get its official title until shortly before the premiere, when Ms. Graham suggested “Appalachian Spring” based on lines from the Hart Crane poem "The Dance":

O Appalachian Spring! I gained the ledge; Steep, inaccessible smile that eastward bends And northward reaches in that violet wedge Of Adirondacks!

So the "spring" is more a reference to the aquatic feature than to the season, although since the poem overall is about the coming of spring it would not be too much of a stretch to see it as a reference to both.

Dating from a time in Copland's career when he was trying to write in a more popular and accessible style, the score for “Appalachian Spring” is direct and uncomplicated in its appeal. That is only fitting, since the ballet scenario is equally straightforward, telling the simple story of a young couple in rural Pennsylvania starting their life together and building their home with the help of their neighbors and the local preacher.

Although the ballet was originally scored for a small ensemble of 13 players, Copland created a suite scored for full orchestra in 1945, followed by a full orchestra version of the complete score in 1954. The suite you’ll hear this weekend, prepared and premiered by Copland in 1970, brings us full circle by returning to the 13 instruments of the original

Arthur Honegger in 1928
By Agence de presse Meurisse -
Bibliothèque nationale de France,
Public Domain, Link

The next work on the program is the one that’s explicitly seasonal: Arthur Honegger’s “Pastorale d’été” (“Summer pastoral”). Composed in and inspired by a 1920 summer vacation in the Swiss Alps, it powerfully evokes the misty languor of a mountain sunrise, complete with shimmering strings, avian twittering from the flute, and a long, sensuous melodic line from the horn and oboe. Things become more lively about halfway through in a section marked "vif et gai" (lively and cheerful), with a woodwind tune that could be a kind of Swiss version of the traditional Morris Dance, and finally the sun breaks through in full orchestral glory. Apparently you can only dance for so long at that altitude, though, as the iridescent atmosphere of the opening soon returns and the work ends with a contented sigh in the strings.

The first page of the score for “Pastorale d’été” bears a quote from “Aube” by the surrealist poet Arthur Rimbaud: “J'ai embrassé l'aube d’été” (“I kissed the summer’s dawn”). As capsule descriptions go, it’s not half bad. In his comments in the program notes, SLSO Music Director Stéphane Denève describes the work as “tender, charming, and impressionistic… If you close your eyes, Honegger’s sun delicately warms you.” Listen to this performance by the Lusanne Chamber Orchestra and see if you don't agree.

The concerts conclude with a work that needs little introduction: Saint-Saëns's witty 1886 suite “La Carnaval des animaux” (“The Carnival of the Animals”). The composer wrote the piece primarily for the private amusement of his musical friends and explicitly banned its public performance during his lifetime, afraid that it might eclipse his more serious work in popularity.  

Glass aarmonica at The Franklin Institute

Subsequent history has apparently proved him correct. Ogden Nash wrote comic verses to accompany each of its fourteen movements for a 1949 recording by Andre Kostelanetz, a tradition that has become popular during the intervening decades, especially at “family friendly” concerts. His rhymes also show up in an abridged (ten movements) and rearranged 1976 cartoon version of the work, “Bugs and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals,” with an orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Originally scored for an eleven-player ensemble that included two pianos, xylophone, and glass harmonica  (a once-trendy instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin), “Carnival of the Animals” is usually heard in a full orchestra arrangement, so it should be fun to see it done live with the original instrumentation.

Players of the glass harmonica are rare these days, so I expect a glockenspiel or other more mainstream instrument will stand in for it (I have a recording where a regular harmonica was used, which is almost as odd). That said, you can hear a bit of “Aquarium,” the movement for which the glass harmonica was intended, performed on what looks like a historical reproduction of an original instrument on (where else?) YouTube.

The Essentials: Stéphane Denève conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, with pianists Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung, in music by Copland, Honegger, and Saint-Saëns Thursday at 7:30 pm and Friday and Saturday at 11 am, April 1-3, at Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center. Only 300 tickets will be sold for each performance and strict health protocols will be in place. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

Review: Up close and personal with St. Louis Symphony string players as the digital concert series continues

The pandemic forced the St. Louis Symphony to cancel its regular season but for one brief shining moment last fall they were able to present chamber music concerts in Powell Hall by operating at less than 3% capacity and instituting strict health measures. The experiment had to be called off in November when COVID-19 cases began to rise again, but not before a large number of concerts were presented and recorded in HD audio and video. The symphony is now offering six of those recordings for on-demand streaming through May 22nd.

L-R: Xiaoxiao Qiang, Andrea Jarrett,
Jennifer Humphreys, Jonathan Chu in "Strum"

The second concert in the digital series offers Mendelssohn’s Octet along with shorter works for string quartet by a pair of contemporary women of color: Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum” and three movements from Gabriela Lena Frank’s "Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout"

The result is a high-energy hour of music with videography that gets you up close and personal with the performers—something you can’t get at a live concert in Powell Hall. And it’s a big benefit with small-ensemble pieces like these.

The concert begins with the bubbling exuberance of Montgomery’s "Strum". Employing a wide variety of techniques, the string players pluck, strum, and bow in ways that call to mind everything from Appalachian folk tunes to guitar rock. As performed by violinists Xiaoxiao Qiang and Andrea Jarrett, violist Jonathan Chu, and cellist Jennifer Humphreys, it dances its way merrily and expertly off the stage and into your heart.

L-R: Jessica Cheng, Asako Kuboki,
Andrew Francois, Alvin McCall in "Leyendas"

Next are the selections from Frank’s "Leyendas". Each movement is a mini tone poem reflecting some aspect of Peruvian history or culture. "Chasqui" represents Incan messenger runners with rapid runs and pizzicati suggesting fleet-footed speed. "Toyos" uses gliding melodic lines interspersed with plucked strings to evoke the Andean panpipe. And "Coqueteos" pays homage to the guitar-strumming Peruvian troubadours known as romanceros with grand, sweeping gestures that suggest with the open sensuality of the Argentinian tango.

This time the quartet consists of violinists Jessica Cheng and Asako Kuboki, violist Andrew Francois, and cellist Alvin McCall. Fine players all, they bring out all of the many moods of this music.

The concert closes with Mendelssohn's Octet, written when the composer was only 16 and nearly half-way through his life. Although only around 30 minutes long, it's music of symphonic proportions.

The Mendelssohn Octet

The two string quartets from the first half of the concert combine here to deliver a dynamic and well-balanced performance that allows solo lines to be plainly heard while still projecting all the required power in the large ensemble moments.

Special applause is due Xiaoxiao Qiang in her performance of the difficult first violin part. You can hear the power of her playing and see her commitment to the music in her many close-up shots.

I saw and reviewed this concert for KDHX last October.  Revisiting it now with HD video and surround sound, I found myself thoroughly impressed by the results.

Indeed, in some ways the video format actually improves the experience by providing a sense of intimacy that wasn’t available in the vastness of Powell Hall. Brief introductions to each of the works by, respectively violinist Andrea Jarrett, cellist Alvin McCall, and violinist Jessica Cheng add personal notes and are both interesting and informative.

The video runs just over one hour and is available through February 27th. More information is available at the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Review: The SLSO chamber music festival continues with virtuoso performances of Schubert and Caroline Shaw

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's (SLSO) chamber music festival kicked off its second and final week on Wednesday, November 5th, with a sharply contrasting pair of works: Caroline Shaw's "Ent'racte" (first performed in 2011) and almost all of Schubert's 1824 Octet, first performed in 1827.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

The reason we're not hearing all of the Schubert work is that it's very big, ambitious, and can take an hour or more in its complete form. Since concerts in this series are designed to run around an hour, the SLSO opted to drop one of the six movements to make room for the Shaw piece.

Given the quality of Wednesday night's performance, I doubt that mattered to anyone.

Make no mistake, the Schubert Octet is a work of symphonic proportions that makes major demands on most of its players, especially the first violinist, clarinetist, a horn. Violinist Alison Harney and clarinetist Tzuying Huang sang Schubert's melodies with gratifying soul and skill, both in their solos and their many duets. Victoria Knudtson had a few issues with the horn part, mostly in the first movement, but more than made up for them with some perfect solo passages, including a tricky and very exposed one in the second movement.

L-R: Alison Harney, Angie Smart
Jennifer Humphreys, Christian Tantillo

Cellist Jennifer Humphreys displayed a smooth, sonorous tone in the Andante - variations movement and there was fine work as well by second violinist Angie Smart, Jennifer Humphrey on viola and Andrew Gott on bassoon. Ronald Moberly provided a solid foundation on double bass, and also appeared to be cuing the other musicians at the start of each movement from his highly visible position in the center of the ensemble.

The entire group sounded just fine, in short, and made a strong impression when they all played together, especially in the more energetic first and last movements, with their dramatic introductions.

The evening opened with the Shaw "Ent'racte," which is essentially a virtuoso study in just how much sonic variety a person can get out of a string quartet. There are some eerie harmonics, creative use of pizzicato and, at one point, something that sounded rather like an amiable conversation among a quartet of cats. It asks a lot from the players, but the quartet of violinists Alison Harney and Angie Smart, violist Christian Tantillo, and cellist Jennifer Humphreys were more than an equal for the challenges of this fascinating twists and turns of this music. It's gets a lot of mileage out of a short theme that, to my ears, called to mind the work of 16th-century British composer Thomas Tallis. That gave it a kind of timeless quality—both ancient and modern at the same time.

The SLSO's chamber music festival continues through this Sunday, November 8th, at Powell Hall in Grand Center. Audience size for all these concerts is limited to 150 for each performance and tickets can only be purchased by calling the SLSO box office at 314-534-1700. Only two tickets can be purchased per household. Information on the SLSOs COVID-19 safety protocols is available at the orchestra's web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Sympony Preview: Star Chamber, Pt. 3

Last week the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) announced a series of six chamber music concerts for late October and early November. Each concert will be offered twice in rotating repertory through November 8. This is the last of three articles on the series (there's far too much music to cram into just one).

Saturday, October 31, at 11 am and Sunday, November 8, at 3:00 pm bring us two dance-themed works by contemporary composers and one by an established master that's so energetic you might at least want to tap your toes.

Jessie Montgomery
Photo by Jiyang Chen

The concerts open with "Strum," for string quartet, by Jessie Montgomery, a violinist and composer whose colorful "Starburst" was the first piece to be played on the stage at Powell when it re-opened on October 15th. The composer says the title refers to "an upward and downward (back and forth) pizzicato stroke" for the strings that mimics the sound of a strummed guitar. "Drawing on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement," she writes, "the piece has a kind of narrative that begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration."

You can hear that right from the start in the Catalyst Quartet's recording, with Ms. Montgomery herself on second violin. Given her participation, we can probably regard that as the definitive performance. It certainly rocks and sings with virtuosity and spirit.

Up next are three of the six movements of "Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout" for string quartet by Gabriela Lena Frank, Composer-in-Residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra, founder of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, and a graduate of my alma mater, Rice University. Ms. Frank's background is one of ethnic diversity, as her biography clearly attests:

Born in Berkeley, California (September, 1972), to a mother of mixed Peruvian/Chinese ancestry and a father of Lithuanian/Jewish descent, Frank explores her multicultural heritage most ardently through her compositions. Inspired by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank is something of a musical anthropologist. She has traveled extensively throughout South America and her pieces often reflect and refract her studies of Latin American folklore, incorporating poetry, mythology, and native musical styles into a western classical framework that is uniquely her own.

The Peruvian side of her background is on display in the selections from "Leyendas," described at the composer's web site. The links I have provided with each selection will take you to online performances of them.

Gabriela Lena Frank
Photo by Mariah Tauger

"Chasqui," a portrait of "a legendary figure from the Inca period, the chasqui runner, who sprinted great distances to deliver messages between towns separated from one another by the Andean peaks," races along with light, rapid-fire pizzicati. "Toyos" uses long, gliding melodic lines to depict "one of the most recognizable instruments of the Andes, the panpipe." And "Coqueteos" evokes "a flirtatious love song sung by gallant men known as romanceros" with grand, sweeping gestures that dance and glide with the open sensuality of tango dancers. Listening to that one might fog up your glasses.

The final work on the program needs little in the way of introduction. It's Mendelssohn's Octet, written when the composer was only 16 and nearly half-way through his life (he died at the age of 39). It's popular enough to have almost certainly caught your ear at some point, but if you want a detailed breakdown there's a good one at the San Francisco Symphony web site. For the purposes of this article, I'll just note that every one of its four movements is, as the old Robert Palmer song goes, "simply irresistible." I think you'll find that time flies during its half-hour length as quickly as the music does in the famous Scherzo third movement. There's a peppy performance complete with synchronized score (yes, I'm very partial to those) at YouTube.

Performers for these concerts are violinists Xiaoxiao Qiang, Jessica Cheng, Andrea Jarrett, and Asako Kuboki; violists Jonathan Chu and Andrew Francois; and cellists Jennifer Humphreys and Alvin McCall.

Sunday, November 1, at 3 pm and Saturday, November 7, at 11 am it's a lively, witty, and whimsical program of music for wind quintet by Jacques Ibert, Samuel Barber, György Ligeti, and Valerie Coleman.

Jacques Ibert's "Trois pièces brèves" (Three Short Pieces) kick things off with a bracing dose of joie de vivre (French for the thing Auntie Mame had in abundance). Although originally performed in 1930 as part of Maurice  Constantin-Weyer's "Le  Stratagème  des  roués" (a French translation of George Farquhar's Restoration comedy "The Beaux's Stratagem") this is, as Tim Munro writes in the SLSO program notes, "a glass of French champagne... Short, tart, with an edge of sweetness." Treat yourself to a glass whilst listening to this 2014 performance by the Philharmonic Five.

Next, turn the clock back a couple of months for Barber's "Summer Music," op. 81. The result of a 1953 commission from the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, the piece was designed, in the words of the composer, "to be evocative of summer -- summer meaning languid, not killing mosquitoes." Barber worked closely with the musicians who premiered the work in 1956, resulting in music that showcases every one of the five performers at one point or another. Listen to a 2015 performance by the Carl Nielsen Quintet with a cool drink at hand.

"Languid" would not be a word you'd use to describe Ligeti's "Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet." Alexander Carpenter at allmusic.com calls this "cool but insistent music." I'd add "spiky" because of the occasional nose-thumbing bits of dissonance and (with the exception of the Lamentoso second movement) lively and virtuosic, as you can hear in this performance with synchronized score at YouTube.

Valerie Coleman

Valerie Coleman's "Tzigane," which winds up the program, is pretty lively stuff as well. A former flutist with the Imani Winds and recipient of the 2020 Classical Woman of the Year award by my favorite radio program, "Performance Today," Ms. Coleman has written extensively for wind ensembles. The composer describes "Tzigane" as "a high-charged, passionate journey through Eastern Europe, by way of the Romani." I'd say that about covers it, as this performance by the Imani Winds (from their 2016 album "Startin' Somethin'") demonstrates.

Performers for these concerts are Ann Choomack on flute, Cally Banham on oboe, Tzuying Huang on clarinet (a change from her usual instrument, the bass clarinet), Andrew Cuneo on bassoon, and Julie Thayer on horn.

Audience size for all these concerts will be limited to 150 for each performance, and tickets can only be purchased by calling the SLSO box office at 314-534-1700. Only two tickets can be purchased per household. Information on the SLSO's COVID-19 safety protocols is available at the orchestra's web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Preview: In memoriam

This weekend (Thursday through Saturday, October 22-24), Stèphane Denève conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) in a concert of chamber works by Richard Strauss, contemporary Japanese composer Takashi Yoshimatsu, and Antonín Dvořák. It's a program that, in the words of Maestro Denève, "connects to our current world: there is a lot of anxiety, sadness, and division, and this music gives comfort to heal our souls. The complete orchestra appears, but not together—the strings play first, then winds."

Richard Strauss at age 74,
photographed in his garden at his country home
at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 1938
en.wikipedia.org

In that sense, it's rather like the way most of us are living now: physically distanced in our own social "pods," not quite together but not entirely apart.

The concerts open with a pair of works for strings that, although composed over fifty years apart in completely different parts of the world, will be played together as a single unit. The result is a lovely hybrid that touches both the mind and the heart.

The first work is Strauss's "Metamorphosen" for 23 solo strings, first performed in 1946 but written largely between August 1944 and April 12, 1945—a time period that coincided with the ignominious collapse of Hitler's "Thousand-Year Reich." The music is a nearly half-hour lament for the destruction Germany brought upon itself and particularly for the bombing of the National Theatre—the home of the Bavarian State Opera, Orchestra, and Ballet—by the allies in 1943. Beginning with a slow, ascending sigh in the lower strings (violas, cellos, and double basses), the work unfolds over the next 26 minutes or so in a series of hopeful, romantic climaxes that always fall back into an undercurrent of lamentation, like the pleasant memories returning in the moments before death that you hear in Strauss's "Death and Transfiguration" from nearly 60 years earlier. Towards the end, the composer quotes the Marche Funebre from Beethoven's "Eroica" (accompanied by the words “IN MEMORIAM!” in the printed score) before fading to a quiet, resigned conclusion.

If you want to get acquainted with it in advance, there's a recording on YouTube by Antoni Wit and the Staatskapelle Weimar with a synchronized display of the score—very useful for a work with as much counterpoint as this one.

Takashi Yoshimatsu

The quiet conclusion would normally be followed by applause, but in these concerts those final notes will be followed without pause by the gentle opening chords of Yoshimatsu's "And the Birds Are Still..." from 1998. Born in 1953, Takashi Yoshimatsu turned his back on serialism and other "avant garde" techniques, when those forms of modernism were dominant forces in music, and is now, according to his biography at Naxos Records, "regarded as the standard-bearer of Neo-Romanticism in Japan." Birds and their songs are an important source of musical and personal inspiration for Mr. Yoshimatsu, and you can hear that sense of airborne serenity in this work. On his web site, the composer writes that the work "came from an image of birds gathered around a dead comrade" and while that provides a link back to the Strauss's lamentation, the sonic world of "And the Birds Are Still..." is uplifting and soothing rather than funereal.

That makes it a perfect companion for the "Metamorphosen." "In his piece," observes Mr. Denève,"the sound of birdsong gives hope. The world has known many wars, many tragic events, but birds have sung all along." As someone who has been known to take comfort in the sounds of the many songsters attracted to our back garden (which my wife has made very bird friendly by her choice of plants and water features), I couldn't agree more.

But don't take my word for it. You can hear a performance of "And the Birds Are Still..." with a synchronized display of the score on YouTube. It's a lovely thing and well worth getting acquainted with in advance.

Antonín Dvořák, 1882 - This image comes from
Gallica Digital Library  and is available
under the digital ID btv1b8417521d,
Public Domain

To conclude the concert, the strings will clear the stage to make room for ten of the SLSOs wind players (two each of oboes and clarinets, two bassoons, a contrabassoon, and three horns), who will regale us with Dvořák's D-minor Serenade, Op. 44. Composed in only two weeks in January of 1878 (the first movement was completed in one day) just as the 37-year-old composer's career was taking off thanks to a helpful boost from Brahms, the Serenade is, its opening key not withstanding, a warmly cheerful piece. Dvořák was inspired to write it after hearing a Vienna Philharmonic performance of Mozart's Serenade No. 10, K. 371/370a, and while Mozart's influence is clearly audible, especially at the beginning of the Andante con moto third movement, the music is still quintessentially Dvořák.

What does that mean?  Well, the Moderato quasi marcia first movement is a jaunty march to which the minor key imparts an air of mock pomposity. It's like the village band dressing up in deliberately silly costumes and marching through the town square to kick off a festival. The Menuetto second movement is an obvious tip of the hat to Wolfgang Amadeus, but the opening section is more of a Czech sousedská than a minuet, and the zippy central section is obviously a whirling furiant of the sort that pops up often in Dvořák's music. The Andante con moto third movement opens with a tune so similar to the beginning of Mozart's Serenade that it comes close to imitation, but the dramatic central trio is typical of the unexpected sturm und drang that we hear in many of the Czech master's slow movements (the eighth and ninth symphonies are good examples). The finale wraps it all up with a lively polka-like dance with a recapitulation of the opening march that leads to a big, happy finish.

Originally composed for winds alone, the Serenade later got additional parts for double bass and cello (presumably to add more "bottom" to the sound), but this week we'll get the original version without strings. I expect that contrabassoon will give us all the bass notes we need.

The Essentials: Stéphane Denève conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in the second of a series of special chamber orchestra concerts this Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm with an additional performance on Friday at 11 am,  October 22-24. The program, which will run about an hour with no intermission, consists of Richard Strauss's "Metamorphosen" for 23 Solo Strings, TrV 290; Takashi Yoshimatsu's "And birds are still...," op. 72; and Antonín Dvořák's Serenade in D minor, op. 44. Audience size will be limited to 100 for each performance and tickets can only be purchased by calling the SLSO box office at 314-534-1700. Only two tickets can be purchased per household.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Preview: Heroics and starbursts

This weekend (Thursday through Sunday, October 15-18), Music Director Stéphane Denève and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) return to Powell Hall for the first time since the SARS-Cov-19 pandemic broke in March. For the audience, the experience will, as I noted in an earlier article, be a radical change from what used to be considered "normal." One of the two works on the abbreviated program, though, will be familiar.

Beethoven in 1803
Painted by Christian Horneman

That work is the Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, known as the "Eroica." First performed on April 7, 1805, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, the work was a radical departure from Beethoven's earlier compositions. Ironically for such a striking and ultimately triumphant work, that departure had its origins in a "dark night of the soul" brought on the composer's increasing deafness and tinnitus. I caused Beethoven to engage in a re-evaluation of his life, described in an 1802 document now known as the "Heiligenstadt Testament."

The "Testament," as most classical fans will recall, was a letter Beethoven wrote to his brothers Carl and Johann at the town of Heiligenstadt (now part of Vienna) in which he told of his despair over his hearing loss and his struggles with thoughts of suicide. The letter was never delivered (it was found among his papers after his death in 1827) and seems, in retrospect, to have acted as a kind of catharsis for the composer. Before the "Testament" he was a composer/pianist. Afterwards, he would be exclusively a composer.

But not just any early 19th-century composer. He would be Beethoven. Specifically, he would be the Beethoven we now often think of, in somewhat hyperbolic terms, as a heaven-storming, tormented genius. He would be the spark that ignited the Romantic movement in music. It's an attitude towards music that waned in the early 20th century in the face of dogged attacks by serialists and others who seemed to regard music as more of a mathematical exercise than an effort in communication, but it never really died. Indeed, the first work on this weekend's program sounds unquestionably Romantic to my ears.

But I digress.

The important point is that the Symphony No. 3 marked the beginning of the emergence of Beethoven's unique compositional voice. His first two symphonies were clearly in the mold of Haydn and Mozart. But with the "Eroica," as Paul Munro writes in his program notes, "his music decisively shifted to a bold, strange new direction."

You can hear that boldness in the first two big E-flat major chords. They're almost like a pair of gauntlets thrown down to challenge established notions of what a symphony should be, and they set the pattern for not only the first movement, but for the rest of the symphony as well. Indeed as Christopher H. Gibbs writes in an essay for NPR, "[t]he motivic, metric, and harmonic surprises continue throughout this movement of such extraordinary length, unprecedented for its time."

The bold drama continues with the heroic funeral march of the second movement, the restless energy of the third movement scherzo, and the towering finale-a set of elaborate variations followed by a powerful coda. It clocks in at around fifty minutes, which no doubt seemed absurdly excessive to audiences accustomed to symphonies half that length. "One early critic," writes Welsh musicologist David Wyn Morris, "described it as 'a very long-drawn-out daring and wild fantasia' which, at least, reveals a response to its emotive power."

The finale is also a classic example of musical recycling. The theme that serves as the basis for the variations was originally part of a set of twelve "Contredanses" Beethoven wrote between 1791 and 1802. It seems to have been a favorite of his, popping up again in (among other places) his score for the 1802 ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus." Composer and writer Derek Strahan has suggested that Beethoven saw it as a "hero" theme. It certainly becomes heroic in the course of the final movement of the "Eroica."

Violinist and composer
Jessie Montgomery

One aspect of this weekend's "Eroica" that will sound different to many listeners, by the way, will be the size of the orchestra. Physical distancing requirements limit the number of musicians that can be on the stage at any one time, so this "Eroica" will be performed by an ensemble of 40. Modern orchestras typically are much larger, but as Maestro Denève point out in this week's program notes, "when the ‘Eroica’ was premiered, it was in a very small hall, with a very small orchestra." So this is a chance to hear the work is much the way the composer's contemporaries would have heard it.

The concerts will open with a piece that, although composed back in 2012, will probably be unfamiliar to most of you since this is its first local performance. It's "Starburst" by contemporary violinist and composer Jessie Montgomery. Originally composed for a nine-piece string ensemble (and first performed in the format by the Sphinx Virtuosi in Miami in 2012), it was later expanded by Jannina Norpoth into the chamber orchestra version we'll hear this week.

The composer describes "Starburst" as "a play on imagery of rapidly changing musical colors. Exploding gestures are juxtaposed with gentle fleeting melodies in an attempt to create a multidimensional soundscape." Now that I've had the chance to listen to it a few times, I'd describe it as a sparkling and thoroughly delightful sonic explosion that calls to mind musical depictions of fireworks by composers like Stravinsky and Debussy while still speaking in a sonic voice that is entirely Ms. Montgomery's own. It's "program music" in the best Romantic tradition and great fun. I look forward to hearing what the SLSO players do with it this week.

If you want to sample it yourself in advance, there's a recording of it by the chamber ensemble The Knights on YouTube that's hard to beat. The recording was produced entirely on line last month (September 20th) and includes a lively and informative post-performance chat with the composer and Knights violinist Christina Courtin, who is also a co-producer of the video.

The Essentials: Stéphane Denève conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in the first of two special chamber orchestra concerts this Thursday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, Friday at 11 am, and Sunday at 3 pm, October 15-18. The program, which will run about an hour with no intermission, consists of Jessie Montgomery's "Starburst" and Beethoven's Symphony No 3 ("Eroica"). Audience size will be limited to 100 for each performance and tickets can only be purchased by calling the SLSO box office at 314-534-1700. Only two tickets can be purchased per household.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra makes a cautious return to Powell Hall

Powell Symphony Hall went dark in mid-March due to the rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, but the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) quickly found multiple ways to stay in touch with its audience during the hiatus via its web site, its YouTube channel, rebroadcasts of previous SLSO concerts on St. Louis Public Radio, the monthly “Night at the Symphony”  series of concert highlights on Nine Network television, and the “SLSO Soundbites” podcast at Classic 107.3.

Stéphane Denève

Now, however, the orchestra is preparing to open Powell Hall for live concerts once again for a special two-concert series under the baton of SLSO Music Director Stéphane Denève. The experience, however, will be very different from what it was in the days before COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, had (as this is being written) killed over 214,000 Americans and infected at least 7.7 million, per the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Working with a team of infectious disease specialists from Washington University, the SLSO developed a plan to insure the safety of both audiences and SLSO staff. You can find a complete rundown on the many upgrades and changes the SLSO has made to Powell at the SLSO Stories site, but perhaps the most obvious ones from your standpoint as an audience member will be the size of the house and the changes in the concert format.

For the two concerts in the fall series, which take place October 15-18 and October 22-24, the maximum audience size is limited to 100—less than 3% of Powell’s 2600-seat capacity. That means you and your concert companions will have nearly an entire row or dress circle box to yourselves and you won’t need to step over anyone to get to your seats. City health officials have actually approved a maximum of 300 seats, but the SLSO has elected to start with a more conservative approach.

The orchestra will be smaller as well. For the October 15-18 program, for example, there will be total of 40 players for Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony (around the size of a typical orchestra back in Ludwig’s day) and only 26 for the opening work (and the only other piece on the program), Jessie Mongomery’s “Starburst.” They’ll still take up the entire stage, though, because of physical distancing protocols. I’m not sure how that will affect the overall sound, but as I’ll be there opening night, I’ll give you a full report in my review.

Violinist and composer
Jessie Montgomery

The programs will be shorter as well. The “Eroica” runs around 45 minutes and “Starburst” clocks in at less than 5, resulting in a concert that will run only around an hour with no intermission.  There will be no concessions and no mingling in the lobby before the concert. Audience members will enter through separate doors, depending on where they’re sitting, and parties will be kept at least six feet apart both entering and leaving.

Needless to say, masks are mandatory, as are temperature checks. There will also be plenty of hand sanitizer stations, should you forget to bring your own.

In an effort to accommodate as many music lovers as possible, the symphony is presenting four performances of each program instead of the usual two or three: Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 11 am, and Sundays at 3 pm. For these two special concerts, tickets are available only by calling the SLSO box office at 314-534-1700. The SLSO hopes to resume its regular season in January, but no formal announcement has been made and tickets are not yet available.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of December 9, 2019

Two big annual holiday concerts take place at Powell Hall this week, along with chamber music just down the block at the Sheldon.

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The Bach Society Christmas Candlelight Concert

The Bach Society of St. Louis presents the annual Christmas Candlelight Concert on Tuesday, December 10, at 7:30 PM. “A St. Louis Christmas tradition, the Christmas Candlelight Concert is sure to leave you feeling merry and bright. Plan to join us for Poulenc's Gloria with soprano soloist Michele Kennedy, the beloved candlelight processional, and even the “12 Days of Christmas” with a special appearance by The St. Louis Children's Choirs and Webster University Chamber Singers. Come experience a night filled with Christmas cheer to kick off your holiday season!" The performance takes place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: www.bachsociety.org

The Chamber Music Society of St. Louis presents The British Are Coming on Monday and Tuesday, December 9 and 10, at 7:30 pm. "Enjoy some British charm, courtesy of Holst and Purcell, and a 'London' trio by honorary Brit Franz Joseph Haydn." Performances take place at the Sheldon, 3648 Washington in Grand Center. For more information: chambermusicstl.org.

The New Music Circle presents Fred Frith on Saturday, December 14, at 8 pm. "Renowned and exploratory British guitarist / composer Fred Frith is an icon of avant-garde music, employing a rare musical intelligence, accompanied by an omnipresent sense of humor." The performance takes place at Joe's Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury. For more information: newmusiccircle.org.

The Mercy Holiday Celebration

Stuart Malina conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra along with the Holiday Festival Chorus and soloist Rachel Potter in the Mercy Holiday Celebration Friday through Sunday at 2 and 7:30 pm, December 13-15. "Check laughter and cheer off your holiday list at the Mercy Holiday Celebration with the SLSO. Enjoy your favorite holiday classics performed by the SLSO and Holiday Festival Chorus, plus a special visit from Santa Claus himself. This unforgettable experience will put you in the holiday spirit and show you why thousands of St. Louis residents make this concert an annual tradition." The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Department of Music at Washington University presents a Winds Division Recital on Monday and Tuesday, December 9 and 10, at 3 pm. The concerts take place in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information: music.wustl.edu/events.

The Department of Music at Washington University presents a Flute Choir concert on Monday, December 9, at 7:30 pm. The event takes place in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information: music.wustl.edu/events.

The Department of Music at Washington University presents a Messiah Sing-Along on Sunday, December 15, at 3 pm. "Join the choirs of Washington University in singing the Christmas portion of G.F. Handel's 'Messiah.' Bring your own score or borrow one at the door!" The event takes place at Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus. For more information: music.wustl.edu/events.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of October 14, 2019

This week: chamber music, the return of Denève, and a classical cabaret.

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The Chamber Music Society of St. Louis
at the Sheldon

The Chamber Music Society of St. Louis presents No Place Like Home on Monday and Tuesday, October 14 and 15, at 7:30 pm. "Exploring music by American composers which includes works by Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, William Bolcom plus the "American" string quartet by Antonin Dvorák. Performances take place at the Sheldon, 3648 Washington in Grand Center. For more information: chambermusicstl.org.

Karen Gomyo
Photo courtesy of the SLSO

Stéphane Denève conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra along with violin soloist Karen Gomyo in Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, a suite from Poulenc's ballet Les Biches, and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm October 18-20. "Stéphane Denève leads a concert of "desert island" music. Rachmaninoff's final orchestral work celebrates a life well-lived with joyful dances, heartbreaking melodies and orchestral brilliance. Poulenc's ballet fizzes like popped champagne, while Karen Gomyo, an 'artist of rare command, brilliance and intensity,' (Chicago Tribune) breathes pure musical sunlight into Prokofiev's concerto." Performances take place at Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Women's HOPE Chorale of St. Louis (WHCSTL) presents A Classical Cabaret on Saturday, October 19 at 7:30 pm. Professional singers from the Chorale will perform a variety of selections from opera arias to Broadway show tunes. The performance takes place at the Kranzberg Arts Center Studio, 501 N. Grand in Grand Center. Tickets to the event, which is a fundraiser for the organization, are available online at Metrotix in advance as well as at the box office beginning at 6:30 pm the night of the event. For more information: www.womenshopechoralestl.org.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of August 14, 2017

Sara Sitzer

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The Gesher Music Festival presents Beyond the Trenches on Thursday, August 17 at 7:30 p.m. "In our third annual partnership with the Missouri History Museum, Gesher explores music from the World War I era. From America to Europe, the homefront to the trenches, you'll learn the stories behind the music from Gesher Artistic Director Sara Sitzer and hear live performances by the talented Gesher artists! Come early and view the World War I: Missouri and The Great War exhibit in the atrium just outside of the auditorium at the Museum. Free, no reservations." The event takes place at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. For more information: www.geshermusicfestival.org.

The Gesher Music Festival presents Prayer for Peace on Saturday, August 19 at 7:30 p.m. "Art and music can tell the stories of war and conflict, but they can also shed rays of hope for a more peaceful future. PRAYER FOR PEACE highlights works by composers who have created beauty despite current events, and offers a chance for reflection and peace even in today's tumultuous world. " The event takes place at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information: www.geshermusicfestival.org.

The Gesher Music Festival presents Transcending Borders on Sunday, August 20 at 3 p.m. "Gesher is the Hebrew word for bridge, which couldn't be more fitting for this program of works by Israeli and Palestinian composers. Join us as we use the power of music to build bridges and facilitate conversation between cultures and nations." The event takes place at the JCCA, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. For more information: www.geshermusicfestival.org.

Sangeetha presents a South Indian (Carnatic) style vocal concert on Saturday, August 26, at 7 p.m. The featured performer is "Ms Vidya Anand, an accomplished musician and teacher based in St. Louis for more than fifteen years. She has performed in many concerts and has also trained many students some of whom have reached the level of singing on their own in solo concert performances. Ms. Anand will be accompanied by Mr. Shiva Sankalp of Columbia, MO, on the violin and Mr. Ram Lakshmanan, another St. Louis based artist, on the mridangam". The concert takes place at the Midwest Conservatory of Music, 15977 Clayton Road. For more information: sangeetha.org.