Friday, February 29, 2008
Journal Santa Fe
Flowers may not be the central theme of the repertoire presented by Concordia Santa Fe on
Sunday, but conductor Robert Ambrose did try to find some ensemble music inspired by
botanicals when he put the program together.
"Flower Power" is a performance of challenging wind and percussion music performed by
three dozen professional New Mexico musicians and a few amateurs playing at a
professional level. The concert's closing number, "Lincolnshire Posy" by Percy Grainger, has
two movements that were not performed when the piece premiered in 1937 because they
were considered to be too difficult by the players, Ambrose said.
"All of the six movements have odd meters, which makes them hard to play," he added. "The
last movement has a fast, dramatic ending. Grainger has musicians pounding on every
possible percussion instrument."
Born in Australia, Grainger immigrated to England in the early 1900s and became interested
in folk songs of rural England. In 1906 he hiked around Britain, making field recordings of
these songs on Edison wax cylinders. "Lincolnshire Posy" has traditional folk tunes woven
throughout it.
Ambrose is particularly excited about "Petite Symphonie" by Charles Gounod, which he
describes as romantic music that feels much like a classical Beethoven symphony. "There's
no underlying chromaticism at all, even though the piece was written in the late 1800s," he
said.
Gounod was a French composer born in 1818 who wrote two symphonies during his lifetime.
The "Petite Symphonie" was written for French flutist Paul Taffanel and La Trompette, the
wind ensemble that Taffanel conducted.
Other works on the program are "Fanfare pour précéder 'La Péri' '' by Paul Dukas, "Contre
Qui Rose" by Morten Lauridsen, "The Danserye" by Tielman Susato, "Mother Earth" by
David Maslanka and "Elegy for a Young American" by Ronald LoPresti.
Each Concordia Santa Fe concert is conducted by a guest musician. Ambrose, who serves
on the faculty of Georgia State University as the director of wind studies and ensembles and
associate director of the School of Music, will make his Santa Feconducting debut. He
conducts the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, the Wind Orchestra and the University Chamber
Winds at Georgia State. Ensembles under his direction have performed at Carnegie Hall in
New York, Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver and at the Hatch Shell in Boston.
"I do a heavy amount of guest conducting," he said. "Concordia is a little different from many
of the other groups I conduct. There are a number of amateur wind bands around the
country but not many semi-professional wind ensembles like Concordia. What makes this
particular concert unusual is the amount of wind music on the program and its high degree of
difficulty."
Concordia Santa Fe made its debut performance last summer. Most of the musicians live in
Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Los Alamos, but a few travel to Santa Fe from communities as
far away as Farmington. Concordia Santa Fe's mission is to introduce the concept of a wind
ensemble as an exciting musical art form. "No one is getting paid while we establish
ourselves," said co-founder and flutist Kurt Carr, who was a professional freelance musician
in Washington, D.C., before moving to Santa Fe six years ago.
WHAT: "Flower Power": Concordia Santa Fe
WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: St. Francis Auditorium, New Mexico Museum of Art
HOW MUCH: Free admission, but donations are welcome; (505) 795-9979
'Flower Power' No Mere Walk in the Park
|
Concordia Santa Fe
"Harmony in the High Desert"
a 501(c)(3) charitable organization
"Harmony in the High Desert"
a 501(c)(3) charitable organization