Legends, Spirits and Stars | Oct 13, 2018
Legends, Spirits and Stars | Oct 13, 2018
Performance at 7:30pm | Informance with Jim Miller and artist Skip Wallen at 6:45pm
Wayne Wildman, Music Director
Our season opens with a program in celebration of the completion of the Spirit of the Rivers project. Lawrence University trumpet professor John Daniel is featured in Trumpeting the Stone, a musical portrait of the Oneida—“the Standing Stone People”—and their resilient culture. Including a pulse-pounding evocation of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, John Harmon’s Crazy Horse: A Symphony is colorful, moving and uplifting; a masterpiece of formal clarity, brilliant orchestration and deeply felt emotion.
Don’t miss the “Informance” by Jim Miller at 6:45pm
Learn a bit of background about the pieces to be performed with local music historian Jim Miller. Meet the sculptor of “The Spirit of the Rivers” project, R.T. “Skip” Wallen. Please join us for this informal, pre-concert lecture in the Mertens-Kadow room.
Sponsored by:
The Tom & Virginia Bare Charitable Fund of the Lakeshore Community Foundation
Dr. Joseph E. & Rhonda Trader
Mark Miller
The Evening’s Program
Second Suite (Indian) for Orchestra, Opus 48—Edward MacDowell (1860–1908)
III. In War-time
Dirge
Trumpeting The Stone— Brent Michael Davids
John Daniel, trumpet
TTS Vocal Ensemble, Dr. Linda Jacobs, director
Interval
Crazy Horse— John Harmon
I. Youth: The Journey Begins
II. The Deepening
III. Little Bighorn: June 25, 1876
IV. “My Lands Are Where My Dead Lie Buried”
MSO Season of Stargazing Opens October 13
by Ann Grote-Pirrung
The Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra opens its 2018-2019 “Stargazing” season on Saturday, October 13 with “Legends, Spirits and Stars,” a concert that not only pays homage to the area’s original Native American inhabitants, but also to the newly dedicated bronze Spirit of the Rivers statues located on Lake Michigan’s shores between Manitowoc and Two Rivers.
“Spirit of the Rivers—quite an outstanding group of statues showing a band of Woodland Indians with their canoes doing their portage–was just recently dedicated, and we wanted to have some recognition of this happening in our community, so we have a concert of Native American-themed music,” explained Wayne Wildman, music director of the MSO.
Three pieces of music comprise this concert, with the first one being two movements of a suite composed by American composer Edward MacDowell. “This is the second suite for orchestra which is sometimes called “The Indian Suite,” Wildman said.
Wildman said that MacDowell, who lived in the late 19th century, is the first American composer to garner respect from the European music community. “However, if you are expecting a piece of music which is tremendously American and has all these interesting Native American themes, you’re going to be very disappointed, because that’s not this piece,” he said.
What it is, however, is very, very European, with influences of Wagner and other strong European composers. “The story of Native American people, the idea he had in his mind of Native American people, regardless whether that had much to do with reality or not, provided stimulus to his poetic imagination, and that is the thing of value that we take out of this piece,” Wildman said. “I am interested in his poetic and musical sensibilities, because that is a universal thing.”
In their next offering Wildman said they change gears completely with a concerto by Brent Michael Davids, a contemporary Native American composer, born in Madison, Wis., and currently living in the Midwest. Wildman describes Davids as a virtuoso performer on Native American flutes, many of which he makes himself.
This concerto, written for trumpet and orchestra, is entitled “Trumpeting the Stone,” and is based on traditional Oneida melodies. Wildman explained that the Oneida people are sometimes referred to as the Standing Stone People, and in some ways this piece encapsulates certain important aspects of Oneida culture.
“For example, in the Oneida community they have a tradition of brass band music. And at one point there is a variation for a brass band out of the orchestra with a trumpet playing a sort of wild and crazy descant over the top of this,” Wildman said.
Wildman also noted that the Oneida people have their own hymnal and there will be a short choral presentation of 16 bars of an Oneida hymn. Wildman said the singers are painstakingly and phonetically learning the Oneida language to give authenticity to the music.
Taking center stage on the trumpet will be MSO principal trumpet and Lawrence University trumpet professor, John Daniel. “This is really a virtuosic trumpet part and we’re so lucky to have Professor Daniel,” Wildman said.
Wildman terms this music as “really exciting. Brent Michael Davids is completely imbued in Native American culture, yet at the same time he has a complete command of all the resources of the modern orchestra. He is a wonderful orchestrator and writes fabulous melodies,” he said. “To me this music is completely fascinating. I’m overwhelmed by the piece.”
The second half of the program is the “Crazy Horse Symphony,” by John Harmon, a former professor of music at Lawrence University, and also the founding member of Matrix, a well-known, world-famous jazz group. “So what we have is a symphony that has been composed by a master jazz musician. However, this is not what I would call a piece of jazz,” Wildman said, as it does not feature the traditional jazz elements including improvisation. “This is a piece of music that is completely notated for the orchestra for all the instruments all the way through.”
The symphony uses many traditional aspects of modern classical music combined with the rhythms and sounds of Native American culture. “There are things in this piece which will definitely say to the audience ‘this is a Native American theme,’” Wildman said. “You will hear certain rhythms and certain melodic turns of phrase and then there are certain other things in it that will sound very contemporary and very American.”
According to Wildman, this piece is really Harmon’s very personal synthesis of a very wide range of musical culture. “It’s really a great piece. I think that people are just going to adore this piece of music. You won’t be able to get this music out of your head for a long time.”
Harmon, who lives in Winneconne, is still actively composing and performing music, and very likely will be attending the concert.
Wildman said that the entire concert, performed as a tribute to the Spirit of the Rivers, is something completely new for the Manitowoc Symphony Orchestra. “It’s really a new departure for use, something that we haven’t tried before,” Wildman said.
As usual, an informance with Jim Miller, will be held prior to the concert at 6:45 in the Kadow Room of the Capitol Civic Centre.
“Legends, Spirits and Stars” will be held on Saturday, October 13 at the Capitol Civic Centre in Manitowoc. Tickets are available at the box office, located at 913 S. Eighth St., in Manitowoc, by calling 920-683-2184 or online at www.cccshows.org.