Hi friends!
Here are some more thoughts on summer repertoire for ICO. The second concert will be in 3 short days
and perhaps many of the parents that read this will be in attendance for the
concert. We had a great rehearsal today
and will certainly be ready to give a great performance on Friday.
We will open our
performance with the Overture to the Messiah by Handel. This is the original Messiah Overture and we
are using the Schirmer edition. I like
that edition because the Grave section is written with the appropriate double
dotted rhythms and it is otherwise very predictable for those of us that have
played this work in any variety of settings.
In the Grave section students learn hooked bowing and really have to
listen to the ensemble along with subdividing to keep the passage rhythmically
clean. The Allegro is a fugue and each
section must count independently and demonstrate a marcato style throughout. This is a great piece and teaching tool for
young orchestras.
Next, we are doing Fantasy
on American Sailing Songs, by Clare Grundman, Arr Longfield. This is a medley of popular sailing songs
that is very accessible for young orchestras.
Students play in a variety of keys and time signatures and there are
plenty of opportunities for teaching ensemble, rhythm, and interaction between
sections.
Our reall challenge
piece for this concert is the Minuet from Petite Suite, by Debussy/Arr.
Osentowski (Pub FJH). This is a grade V adaptation
of the famous work for 4 hands piano.
This is a real contrast to much of the repertoire that I have programmed
over the years for this type of group.
It is very lyrical, requires extremely close listening across the
ensemble, and includes of very tricky violin parts. The key to this one working well is every section
having full awareness of their respective roll in the work from measure to
measure, phrase to phrase. (Isn’t that
always the case?!) But, really, this one is a challenge and it is a new piece
for me as well. I am looking forward to
using this as the centerpiece to our program.
We will finish our
program with a bang with Choreograpy, by Norman Dello Joio, Mvt 3. This is a classic and oft-used string
orchestra piece that was commissioned and written in the 1970’2 by the American
String Teachers Association. This is a
fast and furious finale to the work. I
asked the kids what emotions come to mind as they play it and received answers
including: angry, determined, important, and anxious, among others. This will be a fun and exciting way to end our
program.
We look forward to
performing this program on July 11 at 7:00 in Corson Auditorium on the
Interlochen campus!
Peace.
Scott
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