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Oberlin Orchestra to Perform Music of Bach and Tchaikovsky on Friday, November 5, 9 P.M., in Finney Chapel; Dean Robert Dodson to Perform with Faculty and Students with a Focus on Mentoring
Story by Michael
Chipman
Photos by Ramon Owens
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THE PROGRAM Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, BWV 1049 • Allegro Michel Debost, flute BRIEF PAUSE Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 • Andante - Allegro con anima
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The Oberlin Orchestra will add a quite a flourish for the
upcoming Gala Capital Campaign Kick-off Weekend on Friday,
November, 9 p.m., in Finney Chapel. The program will open
with a performance of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
featuring Michel Debost and Kathleen Chastain, flute;
Gregory Fulkerson, Kuan-Chen Lu and Ming Goh, violin; Marko
Dreher, viola; Robert Dodson, cello; Dan Rubin, bass; and
Lisa Goode Crawford, harpsichord.
Following a brief pause, the Oberlin Orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 5, directed by Paul Polivnick, director of orchestras. "Creating a program like this is one of the joys of conducting," says Polivnick. "Bach and Tchaikovsky are a terrific combination. Texturally they are very unlike each other. The Bach has only nine people onstage and Tchaikovsky has a gargantuan 85-member orchestra. It's a striking contrast. As a conductor I get to explore and perform such varied and wonderful music, from Bach to Tchaikovsky to Mahler -- it's very fulfilling work."
Polivnick says he and faculty members Gregory Fulkerson, professor of violin, Kathleen Chastain, teacher of flute and chamber music, and Michel Debost, professor of flute, planned this concert with the theme of "mentoring" as part of the capital campaign Kick-off Weekend. "I thought it would be a good idea to have faculty members perform the solo parts of the Brandenburg Fourth Concerto, so the faculty coached the piece and will perform it with a small ensemble of students."
The Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
"You can place this symphony right in the center of the symphonic repertoire," says Polivnick. "It is a prime example of the mainstream Romantic symphony. I think of Tchaikovsky as a Russian Brahms. His style also hearkens back to Mozart, whom he always tried to emulate.
"The
opening theme appears in all four movements. It comes back
before the climax in a major key, which is a common Baroque
device. All four movements are in contrasting styles,
typical of the sonata form. The first movement has a driving
tempo and victorious, rhythmic style, reminiscent of
Beethoven's 7th Symphony. The second, slow movement has one
of the most famous, and beautiful, horn solos ever composed.
The third movement is a slow waltz, straight out of the
waltz period when Johann Strauss was at his prime in Vienna.
The last movement is a wild dance -- fiery, stormy, exciting
-- the final battle against all foes to ultimate
victory."
Polivnick describes the Tchaikovsky 5th symphony as 'performers' music.' "You can study scores and books about the scores, and you can imagine what you will do in the performance, and you can plan for rehearsals, but it's only when you get with live musicians and deal with the acoustics of the hall and the temperament and personalities of the musicians, that it all makes sense.
"For example, in the score, there is a spot where it calls for an immediate slowing of tempo. In my mind I had thought it needed a preparation, so I worked and worked through it to figure out a way to approach it more slowly, but when I rehearsed with the orchestra, it worked itself out in a completely different way."
He adds, "The full realization of a concept is not possible until you're 'dancing with your partner.' As in dancing, you can read books about it all you want but until you get with the partner and can physically react to them, it's not dancing. That is very similar to the rehearsal process. It's been fun to explore that relationship with the orchestra in Tchaikovsky."
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