  |
|
May 24, 2007
|
New music, new life Not all music played by classical groups is written by dead people. Yes, Beethoven?s big, and he?s been decomposing for nearly two centuries now. Still, some of the most compelling performances you?ll find feature new music written by people like you and me?local folks who practice the art of committing music to paper. New music always brings a special excitement to a concert, but that?s not because it?s an unusual thing, at least around here. Thankfully, most groups in southern New Hampshire are willing to take a flier now and then with music that?s been freshly imagined. Just last week, the Manchester Choral Society performed not one but two new works by New Hampshire composers. Alas, I couldn?t attend, so there?s no review this week. But music director Dan Perkins should be commended for giving local composers a chance to hear their music performed. Not only does the inclusion of new music result in interesting concerts, but it helps keep so-called ?classical? music from becoming complete embalmed, so to speak, as an art form. It can?t all be in the past. In an age when symphony orchestras function largely on the fringe of popular culture, that?s more important than ever. Probably the most ambitious new music project this year was the Nashua Symphony?s excellent ?Ripple Effect? program, which took poetry from local high school students and then had composers set them to music in three new works premiered last March. In a way, this is classical music returning to its roots. Back in the day, when our friend Beethoven was churning out pieces, he wasn?t generally writing for posterity. He was fulfilling this or that commission for a piece of music, and hoping to get paid as soon as possible, and then moving quickly on to the next one. It?s only later that the world of classical music ossified into a museum of timeless masterpieces, yet inescapably from another time. But not entirely, at least not as long as local groups are willing to try new music. The latest new piece to be played by an area group is the Nashua Chamber Orchestra?s world premiere of a new concerto for an unusual instrument?the English horn, the mournful, lower-pitched cousin of the nasal oboe. But Robert Edward Smith?s newly written ?Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra,? with Cathy Macintyre as soloist, promises to bring the instrument out of its traditionally mournful rut. Smith, in notes about the three-movement work, described his aim of taking the instrument to new places. ?...the thought occurred to me that I was placing limits on what the instrument could do. That was like thinking a trumpet could play only fanfares, or a harp could play only arpeggios. I decided that it would be better to use the full range of the instrument and to compose music that was bright and playful, in addition to parts that were dark and wistful.? How does it sound? Only one way to find out, which is by attending one of the two performances by Nashua Chamber Orchestra, which are Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. at Collings Auditorium, Daniel Webster College, Nashua and Sunday, June 3 at 7 p.m. in Milford Town Hall (better acoustics!), Milford. Tickets are $15, with student/senior discounts. For info, visit nco-music.com or call 673-4100. As this week?s topic is new music, I figure I can be forgiven for tooting my own horn, so to speak, about an upcoming concert featuring new music by (drum roll, please) me. On Sunday, June 3, the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra will perform music from a suite for strings and piano taken from the score of Dangerous Crosswinds (2005), a New Hampshire-made feature film by local director Bill Millios for which I wrote the music. The program is one of those ?pops goes to the movies? concerts, and conductor Phil Lauriat thought it would be cool to feature music from a film that was set largely in the seacoast. The music starts at 3 p.m. at the Rochester Opera House in Rochester. Tickets are $15; for more information, visit portsmouthsymphony.org. And I have to say, from a composer?s standpoint, the best way to encourage more new music is to provide opportunities for it to be played. It?s not just a personal thrill, but it feeds to desire to do more and better. And that can?t help but invigorate the local music scene. |
5/3/2007 Musical know-how
|
Navigation
