For your listening pleasure, a taste of ‘Americana’
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| The Redlands Symphony celebrates America on May 31. |
The Redlands Symphony will close its 2007-2008 season with what one might refer to as music everyone knows and loves.
“Americana” is the title of this final concert to be performed in the University of Redlands Memorial Chapel on Saturday, May 31, at 8 p.m. The performance will feature the works of five well-known composers, four of whom were American.
Born in Danbury, Connecticut, Charles Ives wrote “Variations on America” when he was only 17. Listeners will immediately recognize the theme as they recite the lyrics silently to themselves.
Ives was one of this country's most loved composers, yet his primary occupation was not musical composition but rather insurance.
If ever there were notes that made an audience shift in its seats in joyful anticipation of what was about to follow, it would be the soulful cry of the lone clarinet introducing George Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue.”
Originally written for piano and jazz band, the work was premiered in 1924 by Paul Whiteman and his band, with Gershwin himself at the keyboard. Today's adaptation for piano and symphony orchestra is among this country's most popular works.
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Redlands Symphony Maestro Jon Robertson himself will be the featured soloist for this great American classic.
Australian born John Carmichael may be best known in this country for his “Phoenix Concerto for Flute and Orchestra.” This piece was premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 1980, then introduced in the United States at the Hollywood Bowl a few months later.
By any measure one cares to use, “Westside Story” is a winner-take-all musical: 10 Oscars including Best Picture of the Year, the New York Film Critics Award for Best Picture of the Year, a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack, the Writers Guild of America's award for Best Written Musical, and three Golden Globe Awards, among others.
This modern-day version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, with music by one of the best loved American composers Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by American lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim, opened on the Broadway stage in 1957.
The Redlands Symphony will perform four symphonic dances from the famous musical.
To hear Aaron Copeland's “Rodeo” is to want to put on a pair of jeans, slip into some cowboy boots and start knee slapping and hand clapping in time with the music. That would not be an unreasonable response. After all, one of “Rodeo's” sections is titled “Hoe Down,” and at its heart the entire work could be described as a “cowboy ballet.”
Often referred to as “the Dean of American Composers,” Copeland is also known for his “Fanfare for the Common Man, A Lincoln Portrait,” and several film scores, including John Steinbeck's “Of Mice and Men” and “Red Pony” and Thornton Wilder's “Our Town.” Two of his film scores earned him the coveted Oscar.
Tickets for Americana may be puchased by calling the Redlands Symphony office at (909) 748-8018.
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