ECCO – East Coast Chamber Orchestra
St. Paul’s Suite, Op. 29, No. 2 (1922) – I. Jig: Vivace; II. Ostinato: Presto;
III. Intermezzo: Andante con moto; IV. Finale (The Dargason): Allegro –
Gustav Holst (1874–1934)
String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110 (1960) –I. Largo; II. Allegro molto; III. Allegretto; IV. Largo; V. Largo – Dimitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Chorale No. 22: Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Holberg Suite, Op. 40 (1884) – I. Praeludium (Allegro vivace); II Sarabande (Andante); III. Gavotte (Allegretto); IV. Air (Andante religioso); V. Rigaudon (Allegro con brio) – Edvard Greig (1843–1907)
Chorale No. 34: Erbarm’ dich mein, o Herre Gott – J.S. Bach
Rounds (1944) – I. Allegro molto vivace; II. Adagio; III. Allegro vigoroso –
David Diamond (1915–2005)
Another Naumburg season (the 112th!) completed. And I attended all five concerts. ECCO is a collective, with no set leader, and performs without a conductor, though usually the first violinist, who changes from piece to piece, is nominally in charge. This particular concert was all strings, all the time, and the players stood for each piece (cellists excepted).The first movement of the Holst was brisk and dance-like, very pleasant with a mix of dynamic ranges and jumpy-versus-smooth phrases. There was a rush to the end, with a slight slowdown before the very end. The second movement had running rhythmic phrases with jaunty tunes above them, yet it still had a gentle quality. The third opened with pizzicato strings plus a violin solo overlaying it. It was slow but not sad, then picked up in energy similar to the first movement jig. It had nice contrast all the way around with themes that seemed to be a mix of Slavic and Oriental/Asian. The finale was based on folk songs, including Greensleeves, and was a brisk and just plain fun mix of a rondo and theme and variations.
The Shostakovich was interesting, especially since it was played by the entire orchestra and not by a quartet. In doing a little bit of reading, I found that the work has been transcribed for string orchestra, but it wasn’t credited as such in the program. Curious, to me at least. The first movement was slow and purposely sad, veering close to being bleak. The second (they all seemed to blend together) was rhythmic, leading into a folk tune section. The third was jaunty, if subdued, reminding me of a Slavic dance. We next had a slightly mournful drone with dashes of a louder outburst and then a return to a slightly bleak feel. This led to a movement that was somber and somewhat calm—but with a hint of promise?
The Bach chorale was really just filler—a four-part song scored for orchestra. It was mostly calm to begin with and stayed that way that way through to the end. If anything, it should have been played between the first two works.
The Greig was similar to the Holst (and other Vivaldi pieces) written for girls’ schools as performance pieces. The first movement was energetic, with lovely themes that reminded me of Dvorák string writing. It not only sounded fun, it looked like ECCO was having fun playing it. The second movement was slower, gentler, straightforward, and pleasant. The third was dance-like, very formal, and structured, but in a good way. The contrasting middle section was more relaxed before returning to the rigid, formal beginning. The next movement was slower, both sedate and contemplative, tugging slightly at the heartstrings. The fifth movement was brighter in tempo, with some fun phrase endings thrown in. A contrasting section seemed like a bit of filler, echoing earlier themes before leading back to the main theme and a bang-up ending.
I hesitate to say this, but the second Bach chorale was pretty much the same as the first, with a few rhythmic/phrasing variations. At least it was centered in the second half.
The first movement of the Diamond had a modern approach—an open ‘American’ sound in a brisk tempo but with real tunes to be heard and enjoyed. Once again, the movements seemed to blend together. The second was calm and pretty but not quite compelling. It was pleasant enough. Just. A lively fugal section began the third movement, though it left me wanting something different. I’m not quite sure what. Overall, a great program by a superb orchestra under solid collective management. I hope to be around for many more Naumburg seasons.
ConcertMeister
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