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Oberlin College Community Strings to Perform Music of Elgar, Hindemith, Lutoslawski, and Mozart, on Thursday, May 4, 8:00 P.M. in Finney Chapel
Story by Michael Chipman
THE PROGRAM
Serenade for Strings, by Elgar
Trauermusik, by Hindemith
Folk Melodies, by Lutoslawski
Symphony No. 29, by Mozart
• Allegro moderato
• Andante
• Minuetto
"I love working with the Oberlin College Community Strings," says Philip Highfill, professor of accompanying and founder of the group. "They like to play, just for the sheer joy of making music. We have a couple of new community members - both doctors, including a new pediatrician in the cello section. His stand partner - a piano major who also plays cello - is coincidentally also his nephew! Another interesting connection is that this same pediatrician was once the stand partner of Joanne Erwin, our principal cellist, when they played together in an orchestra in Texas."
The Oberlin College Community Strings, a group founded in 1995 to create more performance opportunities for all serious musicians - from the College, area communities and the Conservatory - is now in its eleventh semester of performances. On Thursday, May 4, at 8:00 p.m. in Finney Chapel, the orchestra will perform music of Elgar, Hindemith, Lutoslawski, and Mozart. Highfill will conduct. This concert is free and open to the public.
The
first half of the concert will begin with Elgar's "Serenade
for Strings," which Highfill describes as "an early work for
which Elgar had a strong personal attachment. He composed it
for his wife, and is quoted as saying that of all his
compositions, this Serenade was his favorite. The piece
features the usual pastoral touches one hears in English
music of the turn of the last century. It is essentially a
lyric piece, very songful, with two moderately paced outer
movements, and a slow, intense, middle movement."
The program continues with Hindemith's "Trauermusik" (music of mourning) for viola and strings with guest violist Nicole Divall. "The 'Trauermusik' was written in one day for the funeral of King George V in 1936," explains Highfill. "The people in charge of the king's funeral wanted a piece composed especially for the service. Hindemith was in London so he was commissioned to write the piece, and also played the solo viola part. It is very short -- about seven minutes -- and is quite somber, with a fair amount of polyphony, as is typically the case with Hindemith. It has four short, connected movements, the last of which is a chorale."
Next on the program, Lutoslawski's "Folk Melodies" are "tonal but liberally spiced with dissonance," says Highfill. "The use of folk melodies was and is common in classical music -- folk music has been a fruitful source of inspiration for centuries."
After A short intermission, the Strings will perform Mozart's Symphony No. 29 in A major, with two oboes and two horns joining the group to fill out Mozart's instrumentation. "This is a great piece," says Highfill. "It is considered one of Mozart's first mature symphonic works because he experiments with form in ways that depart from the conventional framework he inherited from his predecessors. It has a sunny, joyful mood in general. The first movement has an almost Olympian serenity. And there are witty moments throughout, as is so often the case with Mozart. The minuet movement is particularly energetic and brisk, less sedate than many minuets. The last movement is brilliant and virtuosic for what players are called on to do. Throughout the symphony, the oboes and horns are called upon as soloists to carry the tune from time to time."
"The Community Strings," says Highfill, "is different from any other orchestra on campus in that it is only strings, and it is composed primarily of students from the College of Arts and Sciences, community members and a few Conservatory students who play strings as a second instrument. Also, like the College Community Winds and the Musical Union, our once-a-week rehearsal schedule is less concentrated than that of other Conservatory ensembles." Personnel changes often in College Community Strings, but Highfill says they are "getting more continuity in the group now. One cellist, graduating senior Charles Daum, is now in his ninth semester, which breaks the previous student record for this ensemble."
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