Lewis & Clark Department of Music Presents
The Lewis & Clark Orchestra
Lance Inouye, Conductor
Saturday 28 February | 7:30 pm
Agnes Flanagan Chapel, Portland, Oregon

 

Claude Debussy (1862—1918)

 

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Leonard Bernstein (1918—1990)

 

Candide is a musical operetta in two acts, with a story derived from Voltaire's work of the same title. While the libretto went through multiple revisions (all with varying amounts of success), the music was a triumph from the moment the show first opened. Candide was very dear to Bernstein's heart, and he spent much of his life and energy trying to revitalize it, arranging the overture for a full orchestra in 1989, only one year before his death. While the show itself never gained the popularity of some of his other works (most notably West Side Story, which was written at the same time as Candide and premiered only a year afterwards in 1957), the overture became a feature of American orchestral music and has been performed across the world. In the overture, popular melodies from Candide, such as "Battle Songs" and "Glitter and be Gay" among others, are woven into the texture amidst brass fanfares and cymbal crashes. Energetic rhythms are superimposed upon a constantly changing meter to allow the overture to float organically between melodies, eventually pushing the overture to its dramatic closing.

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George Walker (b. 1922)

 

In the words of the composer: "Written in 1946, this work was premiered that year under the title Lament by the student orchestra of the Curtis Institute of Music conducted by Seymour Lipkin in a radio concert. In the following year it received its public premiere by the National Gallery Orchestra conducted by Richard Bales as part of an annual American music festival in Washington. The work, which lasts approximately six minutes, carries the dedication "To my grandmother." This work was completed after the death of the composer's grandmother. He was a graduate student at the Curtis Institute of Music at that time. After a brief introduction, the principal theme is stated by the first violins with imitations appearing in the other instruments. The linear nature of the material alternates with static moments of harmony. After the second of two climaxes, the work concludes with reposeful cadences that were presented earlier."

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Edward Elgar (1857—1934)

 

At the conclusion of the First World War, the whole world, Europe especially, was shrouded with grief and despair in the wake of an unprecedented tragedy. At the conclusion of the war, there were around 36 million casualties worldwide with Britain, Elgar's proud home, suffering around 1 million of them. The solemn reflection present in the Cello Concerto can be contrasted with the Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 (1901), which has established itself as the quintessential song of commencement ceremonies in the United States. In the cello concerto, gone is the excitement and ceremony, leaving the listener with a simple, barely harmonized theme that functions almost as a question. This quiet theme acts as a reflection of the complex emotions that Elgar and Europeans in general were feeling. While premiering in London to a mediocre reception, the piece truly came to light 60 years after it was written with a recording by cellist Jacqueline du Pré, whose treatment of this piece earned her a place among the great virtuosos of history. Unfortunately, du Pré contracted Multiple Sclerosis and died at the age of 42, adding another layer of sadness and frustration to the beauty of the piece.

Click for full description.Nicholas Krieg is a sophomore Economics major at Lewis & Clark College who has been playing cello since 4th grade. Nicholas has worked with various orches-tras in the States and London. Playing as part of the cello section in Midwest Young Artists, Illinois Music Education Association, Oxford Cello School, Stone-leigh Youth Orchestra, Royal College of Music, Bromley Symphony Orchestra and London Schools Symphony Orchestra - also touring to Hawaii, Poland, South England, and France - Nicholas has made his personal stamp on multiple different organizations and communities across the world. Starting with the Elgar four years ago with cello teacher Alice McVeigh, Nicholas has truly shown us how professional young musicians are becoming. It is hard to believe that a young man can play with such maturity, personal style and romanticism. Nicho-las tells us, "The Elgar is an extremely difficult yet beautiful piece of music to play. Besides the notes, rhythms and basics, the style of this specific piece in its entirety is complicated. Elgar wrote this piece in southern England during the time where artillery fire would have interrupted his afternoon tea. Recreating that atmosphere in a musical medium and bringing those emotions to the audience through my playing has proven to be challenging, but extremely rewarding." Nicholas is currently working with David Eby and is currently focusing on further developing his personal characteristic and style of playing.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1875-1937)

 

Mozart's "Haffner" Symphony No. 35 was written at the request of his father to be part of a celebration for Sigmund Haffner, a childhood friend of Mozart's who was being raised to a position of nobility. Although Mozart did have a habit of procrastinating (famously writing the overture to his opera Don Giovanni the morning of the premier), in this instance he was justified in complaining of how little time he had. He was simultaneously about to open another opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio (K.384) and getting married to Constanze Weber on August 4, 1782, much to his father's displeasure. A few months after Haffner's ennoblement, Mozart requested that his father return the symphony, as he was planning to rework it and present it at an upcoming concert. Upon receipt of his symphony, Mozart increased the instrumentation and made some other minor structural changes to make the symphony more suitable for a concert setting. When the symphony was premiered by Mozart in Vienna, it was very well received and was published in both Vienna and Paris during Mozart's life. While the symphony was originally written as background music at a party, it certainly would have gained the attention of the audience with its exciting first movement and his careful development of a single theme to provide the thematic material for the whole movement (a testament of Joseph Haydn, his teacher). While the more subdued second and third movements could ease the listener back to the party, but the fourth and final movement brings back the excitement of the first, aided by Mozart's instruction that it go "as fast as possible."

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Five channels of audio and two cameras were used to produce this recording.

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