JULY 5, 2:30 P.M.
by Ruth Wilson
Lecturer in Horn, Sonoma State University
The 5th concert of WASBE 2011, superbly performed by the 69-member Philharmonic Winds of Singapore conducted by Leonard Tan, took place on Tuesday afternoon in the large concert hall of Chiayi’s cultural center. It was a well-chosen program of diverse pieces, and each piece would have sufficed as the featured moment on any other program. Clearly the Singapore group rose to this daunting challenge five times over.
Percy Grainger’s Marching Song of Democracy, commemorating the 50th year since his passing
Maestro Tan followed Grainger’s instruction to play the Song of Democracy “with an athletic, out-of-door spirit,” eliciting a sturdy forward motion right from the start. Written in 1948 and originally planned for voices, the piece’s melodic motives meander and intertwine in true Grainger fashion. From where I was sitting - fairly front and center - the acoustic of the hall emphasized the higher overtones, especially percussion. Surprisingly, it was hard to hear the low woodwinds, trumpets and trombones - who were pretty much facing straight out.
Krakatoa, a tone poem by the Singaporean composer Wong Kah Chun commissioned by Philharmonic Winds in 2010 for its 10th anniversary
This colorful piece depicts the devastating 1883 volcano off the coast of Java. Opening with big riffs in the horns, the fast introduction settles into a lush section featuring an offstage English horn solo. Building thunder in the percussion, chromatic woodwind runs and ascending an horn line signals the imminent eruption. At the moment of disaster, a siren screams above the band’s highest decibel level. Full of the blockbuster scoring standbys – brass pyramids, sfp crescendos, horn rips and the like, it’s a work with great excitement that was performed with unfailing energy from conductor and musicians alike.
John Mackey’s trombone concerto, Harvest, for solo trombone and orchestral winds, brass and percussion
Played with outstanding panache by Ko-ichiro Yamamoto, former trombonist with New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Harvest is a Dionysian romp with a solemn twist: before the spring blossoms make possible the autumn harvest, the grapevine must be pruned back and survive the harsh winter. The three movements are played without a break.
Over ominous percussion riffs and pedal tones, the trombone (Dionysius) intones a series of long tones summoning his followers. The band builds through call and response into a ritualistic frenzy. A quiet section in minor, high and pianissimo in the solo trombone, depicts the stillness of winter. The closing section - mostly in 7/8 with occasional 4/4 – is jazzy and boisterous ending on a final high blast. Mr. Yamamoto’s performance shined through all the pyrotechnics and was greeted with thunderous applause.
Adam Gorb’s 2008 work, Farewell, scored for double wind ensembles, guest conducted by Timothy Reynish
This was a wonderfully interesting performance on many levels. First, the thrill of hearing (and seeing) it by the inimitable Timothy Reynish, the conductor who knows it better than anyone, having led its premiere with the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales. Add to that the now-established fact of the Singapore Winds as a world-class ensemble and the presence of the composer in the audience. Wow.
Farewell’s untraditional scoring gives pause. To the conductor’s left sit a “disparate and anguished” band consisting of clarinets, saxes, trumpets, trombones, tubas, piano and harsh sounding percussion. To the right, a “calming and introspective” assemblage of flutes, oboes, bass clarinet, bassoons, horns and gentle sounding percussion. The piece begins with solo clarinet, standing, playing a sorrowful doina (lament from klezmer tradition). The trombone and soon the rest of the left-hand band joins in. The next section starts with oboe and flute solos of a more comforting nature, accompanied by the right-hand group. The left and right sides each take turns playing until eventually they join in one glorious sustained chord. The reconciliation that follows, when players from both groups play in unison, is heartrending. The piece ends with clarinet and oboe, the leaders of the opposing camps, standing and playing together over a tritone pedal. The title, according to the program note, is a reference to Haydn’s Farewell Symphony, whereby the musicians leave the stage one by one. I actually didn’t read that until later and I found the work to be effective on a deeper level.
World premiere. Spanish composer Luis Serrano Alarcon’s Marco Polo, the Cathay Years, a programmatic depiction of Marco Polo in the court of Kublai Khan from the book Il Milione. Composed for symphonic winds plus indigenous Eastern instruments (qudi- also calleddizi, erhu, soprano, alto and bass suona, sheng and Chinese percussion), performed by soloists from the Ding Yi Music Company, a Chinese chamber ensemble based in Singapore.
I loved everything about this bold and enchanting new work. Constructed somewhat in the manner of a concerto grosso, it begins with ‘Summer in Chandu’ introduced by the flutelike qudi. The next section is a story about wizards who can raise glasses without touching them, told through the erhu, a simple bowed string instrument with a sweetly expressive, violinistic timbre. The wind orchestra supports and develops the motivic material in a seamless wash of brilliant tone colors.
The second movement, ‘Kublai’ depicts the ceremonial formality of the court of the Mongol emperor of China, in whose service Marco Polo spent 17 years. Khan is expressed by the three suonos (very goat-ish sounding and shaped liked oboes with large, flared bells). Later on the sheng (a mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting essentially of vertical pipes) is featured.
The third movement, ‘Two Towers of Mien’ is all about bells, from small finger bells played by the (resting) winds and brass to a suspended, two-dimensional bell cut-out that spins on a string after being struck, producing a spooky reverb. The bells, combined with blowing sounds and women’s voices depict the bell-covered domes of the towers.
The fourth movement, ‘Tsagaan Sar’ (white moon) depicts the celebrations after the first new moon that follows the winter solstice, and opens with great percussive fanfare. The band of Chinese instruments plays the main theme written in Shang mode symbolizing the color white. A wonderful orchestral effect occurs when this theme is taken up by the clarinets and saxes. Themes from previous movements return and the work comes to a brilliant close.
This imaginative and exotic piece masterfully depicts the meeting of East with West through ancient and modern instruments. The Cathay Years is the second installment in a planned Marco Polo trilogy. Bravo to Luis Serrano Alarcon, Leonard Tan, the Singapore Philharmonic Winds, and the financial forces that made the commission possible. They have given the music world a gem of a piece.
