2008 Woodie Awards
Ethel the Aardvark Goes Quantity Surveying...or is it another Orchestral Concert!?!
Jenny Dean
Issue date: 3/16/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Saturday was witness to yet another praise-worthy performance out of Colby's musical body. Arranged by Jonathan Hallstrom, the concert was imbued with such a variety of music as to appeal to all members of the family. The night launched off with Stravinsky's concertino for 12 instruments. A saucy little number, the concertino is seven minutes of rhythmic intensity amidst a variety of tempi (the latter naturally varying for expression's sake rather than lack of expertise). Various melodic lines were punctuated with brassy staccatos, and the piece was topped off by a number of expressive solos, including a short, but rich and earthy violin cadenza.
The second piece on the program was a step even farther in the way of avant-garde. Sofia Gubaidulina's Concordanza combined somewhat shocking use of percussion- including various unconventional uses of wind instruments and a fair amount of oral percussion reminiscent of beat-boxing-as well as string overtones, and the often melodious strums of harp. The piece featured a great deal of percussion in general, including the marimba, high-hat and gong, and the scoring seemed to demand a high degree of precision. Without negativity, per se, it seems fair to say that the piece was strange. One might say "shocking"-that is, there were probably more than two polite smiles playing about the lips of the peanut gallery in the Chapel that night. However, for every offended listener, there was no doubt one equally delighted, and, indubitably, the taste of this reviewing audience member is simply behind her times-evidently far behind, given that the piece was published in 1971; said reviewer is simply lost somewhere, shouting: "times...oh, times, whither have thee wandered." Hallstrom pointed out that though this was the only piece on the program not tied to the cultural-Mecca of Paris in some respect, Sofia would surely appreciate being somehow connected with the city.
Following these notably progressive pieces, the concert took on a more traditional air with a rendition of Ibert's Capriccio. This piece toys about between prancing rhythmical riffs contrasted by those of a more contemplative, melodic nature. It was a spirited performance, and allowed the audience to respire if they had received a bit of a shock. On the other hand, it posed the viewer with the struggle of tearing her ears from the late 20th century, exploratory, stick-it-to the Soviets location, and situating them in the early 20th century, melodic, witty, expressive one-this, of course, implies that Sofia lacked in both wit and expression, which is certainly not the case; she was evidently a formidable artist, simply quite disparate from Ibert. In music, a medium often termed miraculously universal, there seem to be a range of dialects.
The second half continued the concert with a zealous performance of Haydn's Symphony #84. This features a number of coordinated soli's and tirades of call and response. Though again airing on the side of familiar, the piece was yet rousing in its own right, and the wood-wind soli's were a particular gem. The performances that night were overall executed with a great deal of spirit and focus. Though not for the faint of ear, the concert's notably robust audience-in more ways than one-suffered no casualties, and were not only enlightened, but surely delighted by their musical experience.
The second piece on the program was a step even farther in the way of avant-garde. Sofia Gubaidulina's Concordanza combined somewhat shocking use of percussion- including various unconventional uses of wind instruments and a fair amount of oral percussion reminiscent of beat-boxing-as well as string overtones, and the often melodious strums of harp. The piece featured a great deal of percussion in general, including the marimba, high-hat and gong, and the scoring seemed to demand a high degree of precision. Without negativity, per se, it seems fair to say that the piece was strange. One might say "shocking"-that is, there were probably more than two polite smiles playing about the lips of the peanut gallery in the Chapel that night. However, for every offended listener, there was no doubt one equally delighted, and, indubitably, the taste of this reviewing audience member is simply behind her times-evidently far behind, given that the piece was published in 1971; said reviewer is simply lost somewhere, shouting: "times...oh, times, whither have thee wandered." Hallstrom pointed out that though this was the only piece on the program not tied to the cultural-Mecca of Paris in some respect, Sofia would surely appreciate being somehow connected with the city.
Following these notably progressive pieces, the concert took on a more traditional air with a rendition of Ibert's Capriccio. This piece toys about between prancing rhythmical riffs contrasted by those of a more contemplative, melodic nature. It was a spirited performance, and allowed the audience to respire if they had received a bit of a shock. On the other hand, it posed the viewer with the struggle of tearing her ears from the late 20th century, exploratory, stick-it-to the Soviets location, and situating them in the early 20th century, melodic, witty, expressive one-this, of course, implies that Sofia lacked in both wit and expression, which is certainly not the case; she was evidently a formidable artist, simply quite disparate from Ibert. In music, a medium often termed miraculously universal, there seem to be a range of dialects.
The second half continued the concert with a zealous performance of Haydn's Symphony #84. This features a number of coordinated soli's and tirades of call and response. Though again airing on the side of familiar, the piece was yet rousing in its own right, and the wood-wind soli's were a particular gem. The performances that night were overall executed with a great deal of spirit and focus. Though not for the faint of ear, the concert's notably robust audience-in more ways than one-suffered no casualties, and were not only enlightened, but surely delighted by their musical experience.
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