ASO offering a concert filled with diverse confections
ALBANY, N.Y. » In the arts, the expression “not being able to see the forest for the trees” is turned on its head during a pandemic. Now you tend to look at trees instead of forests.
Instead of huge entertainments, the focus has changed to smaller, more intimate events.
This is certainly true for the Albany Symphony Orchestra. Because of social distancing restrictions it has been impossible to bring the full orchestra together to perform, or even rehearse. This means absent from the ASO programming are large pieces performed by the full orchestra.
However, for David Alan Miller, the ASO’s conductor and Music Director, he sees a silver lining. He says he misses working with the full orchestra, but feels scaling down the orchestra is not synonymous with playing music that is less beautiful.
He points to Saturday night’s 7:30 concert, “Tchaikovsky Serenade,” which is a night of music performed only by stringed instruments, calling it a night filled with unique beauty. “You might call this a night filled with desserts. The program proves smaller does not mean inferior.”
To support that premise, Miller points to the evening’s featured piece, “Serenade for Strings.” He calls the piece, “My favorite Tchaikovsky of all time.”
He points out that it was written in the same period the composer created his famous “1812 Overture.” Miller explains that though created at about the same time, they are so different as to avoid comparison. “You might call “Serenade for Strings” the antithesis of ‘1812 Overture’,” he says.
He then adds, that to hear the piece performed by 19 of the ASO’s string musicians will be something that “will be long remembered by all who experience it.”
Miller uses “Serenade for Strings” to make the point that the pandemic solution of using smaller ensembles offers audiences an opportunity to discover great music that might be overlooked. He says, “The masters never considered their chamber pieces lesser than those they wrote for larger orchestras.” It’s his opinion that even though the great masters tended to focus on their large public pieces, much of their most creative, experimental work was composed for individual instruments, string quartets, and smaller ensembles.
Saturday’s ASO concert suggests that theory is true today. Included on the program is the timeless “Andante Festivo” by Jean Sibelius. But alongside the two classics are three other string pieces by three contemporary composers who experiment and take risks with their compositions for smaller ensembles.
“Lyrics for Strings” is by George Walker, a composer who Miller calls “sadly neglected.” “Banner” is by Jessie Montgomery and “Enr’acte” by Caroline Shaw. Miller refers to both women as composers “in their ascendancy.”
Arguably, the most unique piece is “Banner.” It was inspired by the 200th anniversary of the creation of the Star- Spangled Banner. Miller calls Montgomery “a ridiculously good composer” and describes “Banner” as “a declamatory, strong piece that is not bombastic.”
He believes pairing Shaw’s gentle piece with the bolder “Banner” is a way to create a variety of emotion by using pieces with contrasting strengths. Shaw is a vocalist, violinist and composer. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Music Composition in 2013 and Miller calls her work “extraordinarily heartfelt.”
Perhaps the sleeper on the program is Walker’s “Lyric for Strings.” It was originally titled “Lament,” as it was written as a tribute to the death of his grandmother – who escaped slavery as a younger woman.
Walker, who passed away in 2018, was in 1996, the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Despite working in an era that permitted overt racial discrimination, Walker was the first Black instrumentalist to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Amongst other groundbreaking firsts, the pianist was the first Black musician to sign with the prestigious booking agency National Concert Artists and the first Black musician to perform at Town Hall in Manhattan.
There is little doubt that his musical legacy is depreciated by the racism of the time in which he lived.
With that in mind, this program is a subtle exercise in diversity. Along with the classical greats, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, on the program there are two living composers, both women. Among the five composers, two are persons of color.
When pointed out to Miller, he indicated pride at the diversity within the program. However, he refused to take credit for anything more than organizing a charming night of music.
“I defy anyone to identify the race or gender of the person who writes a beautiful piece of music. Music is good simply because it’s good. The reason people are going to love this concert is because it is filled with beautiful music.”
“Tchaikovsky Serenade” 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Streamed live from Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga Springs. A preconcert talk is at 7 p.m.; a live Q& A will be held after the concert. For availability go to albanysymphony.com or call (518) 694-3300.