Naumburg Orchestral Concerts Presents: The Knights

And what a night it was on Tuesday in Central Park. Truly beautiful weather and a wonderful orchestral concert (also broadcast live on WQXR–105.9FM).

The program:
Duet (1993), Steve Reich (1936–); Airs and Dances, Henry Purcell (1659–1695); Concerto Grosso (2012), Matt Herskowitz; La Création du Monde, Op. 81a (1922–23), Darius Milhaud (1892–1974).

After intermission, we heard:
Quiet City (1941), Aaron Copland (1900–1990) and Symphony No. 8, “Le Soir” (1761), Joseph Haydn (1732–1809).

The program was certainly eclectic! The Reich was pretty much what I expected—repetitive short figures in the two solo violin parts above some drone-like playing from the other strings. It was like accompaniment from all strings with some very pretty sounds. I didn’t particularly get a strong feeling of the overall structure. Airs and Dances had a bit more structure yet was still fairly segmented. Of note, this was an outdoor concert, so it was interesting, if a little disconcerting, to see the long, clothespin-like devices used to hold the sheets of the score in place. It was also interesting to see the musicians who weren’t playing at particular times assisting those who were. This orchestra is a major team effort.

Mr. Herskowitz’ work was a world premiere, commissioned for these concerts. Scored for string quartet, flute, French horn and piano, this was a true chamber work (though premiered in a very large chamber) of four through-composed movements filled with jazz riffs and everyone getting a chance to “wail” (in the composer’s parlance). All of the solos, except for Mr. Herskowitz’ at the piano, were written out; his was improvised. This was an effective work, and it’s not very often that I get to say I heard a world premiere. The first half finished with La Création du Monde. Unfortunately, with the amount of time setting up for the piece and the fact that it opens so quietly, it took a while for the audience to settle in and listen. I’m listening and thinking, “I’ve heard this before.” Indeed! See below*. This version was scored for string quartet and piano*; as a result, the similarities between the jazz touches and George Gershwin’s “French” jazz writing were very apparent.

Ah, the Copland. It began with that open, transparent sound that you just know is Copland. After adding the solo trumpet, the writing becomes a bit fuller. We still have that Copland sound with solo English horn and more solo trumpet writing. Both soloists were admirable (with just a touch of a trumpet bobble). Still, it’s a joy to hear a piece like this live, after knowing it only from the radio or a CD.

The Haydn was unabashedly classical. Four movements—Allegro molto, Andante in C major, Menuetto & Trio, La tempesta: Presto. The first was lively, with some very impressive flute writing and playing. Opening theme, repeat, exposition, sort of repeat, opening theme, repeat. It’s called classical for a reason.

The Andante was slower and incorporated the classical forms again. The Menuetto was, indeed, dance-like with a 3/4 rhythm; the contrasting trio section seemed to me to be stretching the boundaries of the classical style, as it highlighted the string bass quite a bit in the entire section; this was followed by a repeat of the Menuetto themes. The last movement was likened to an evening storm, when the piece was introduced to us. It was more like a summer shower (that we avoided, fortunately), and ended the evening with a flourish.

A very enjoyable concert on a truly enjoyable evening.

ConcertMeister

*This piece sounded familiar to me because I heard it earlier in the season at the Wall to Wall Gertrude Stein’s Paris extravaganza. Here’s a repeat of my ConcertMeister post re. La Création du Monde.

The Milhaud orchestra was composed of a string quartet, saxophone, two flutes, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, two trumpets, trombone, piano and two percussionists. [Quite different from the string quartet and piano version I heard 7/24/12.]