A Tale of Two Boroughs (12/9/23 and 12/16/23)

Caroling, caroling through no snow …

Saturday, 12/9, found me at Judson Memorial Church for their annual caroling sponsored by the West Village Chorale. This has been a hit or miss event over the past few years, and this year was no different. Organization inside the church hall was done pretty well. Outside, in Washington Square Park, not so much. My group had two leaders. When we got into the park, the first question was, “What do you want to sing?” Um, you’re the leaders. You should have a plan. They also tried to join another group who didn’t seem to want us. It was awkward. That was the minus. The plus was that on one of our (very few) stops, there was a little girl singing along with us. The group leaders invited her to join us. She did, and had a great time. Another little girl was invited to join us, as well. Hopefully we made a few Christmas memories for those little ones.

Saturday, 12/16, found me in Brooklyn. A caroling group associated with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Who knew they even existed? I didn’t, but now I do. Approximately 200(!) carolers broke up into four groups. The organizers said that turnout was so large probably because of the good weather. (No, this will not turn into a climate change rant, but …) My group was a small, four-part harmony group, though most of the singers were unison singers. Not a biggie. But when I attempted harmony, the unison singers seemed to lack confidence, so I stuck with unison for the most part. At our last stop of the afternoon, the owner of the place we were in front of brought out hot chocolate for us. A well-received bonus.

Will I try both again next year? Probably. Because I know going in that it’s hit or miss. And even if it’s a bit of a miss, I still get to go caroling in NYC again.

ConcertMeister

The Orchestra Now (11/19/23)

Woefully Late Again 

In my defense, I went to the airport at the butt-crack of dawn on 11/20/23 to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Ohio with my extended family. That said, here’s my report about this great concert I heard. 

The School for Scandal Overture (1931) – Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Death and Transfiguration (1890) – Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Symphony No. 4* (1853*) – Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

The Barber, at eight minutes, was a wonderful curtain-raiser (though there is no curtain at Symphony Space, where the concert was performed). I mostly know Barber from his edgy/modern works, but this was written when he was 21, so it was pretty much an early student work. It was tuneful and effective.

The Strauss was also an early work (he was in his mid to late 20s). This tone poem certainly hinted at some of his darker works that would appear later—though he could also sparkle, as he did in Der Rosenkavalier. It was interesting to hear this early work, with its weightiness.

The Schumann was a real piece of work on many levels. My concert mate asked me whether we had heard this orchestra play this piece before (we had not but we had heard a Schumann piece at a previous The Orchestra Now concert).

Here’s the deal about Schumann’s fourth symphony. It was really his second symphony*1841, but the critics pretty much skewered it. He removed it from publication and then reworked it as his fourth symphony*1853, which was much better received. My concert-mate and I agreed that we knew many of the themes and motifs of the reworked symphony. And we had a swell time at the concert.

A little late but worth the wait, I hope.

ConcertMeister