If the opening piece were the signature for the evening, this would have been a wowzer of a concert! Shostakovich offers so many short pieces that can be easily reworked for winds, while Donald Hunsberger is a first-rate arranger. So the rambunctious Galop aroused the audience with enough sonic energy to push us front-of-the-auditorium listeners to the back wall. If I raved about the Russian National Orchestra and its dynamic range a few weeks back, this wind ensemble had similar power and range. How nice it is to hear pppp in the same piece that has ffff!
Conductor William Berz is no shirker from the difficult frontiers of music. The following Symphony in four movements was anything but a crowd pleaser. The second movement, for instance, titled "Fabrikmusik" (factory music) might have represented an East German machine shop before rapprochement. "Blatts und Splatts" noises this, with none of the essential connective sonic material necessary to make it music.
When Carnegie Hall was "redone," musicians complained that they couldn't hear each other. That tells you that a conductor is not enough by himself to guarantee a musical performance. Musicians need to hear the ensemble and be part of it. In Hawkinson's work, there were so many rests between short squeaks and squawks that an instrumentalist on one side of the stage could hardly connect to what was going on the other side. The third movement, "Japanese Dirge" was further from Japan than Madama Butterfly. The "American Wake" closing movement said all it needed to say when it was but a quarter completed. Since Scott R. Hawkinson has written beautiful music--hear his Heaven's Gate on Mark MCD-2002 with the Rutgers University Wind Ensemble as example, and compare with the Charles Wourinen Windfall on the same disc for what may have prompted this Symphony--I hope I can consider this to be a mere academic aside to his career.
Thank heavens for program note annotators (from whom we reviews often crib a bit to fill out our reviews). In this case, I needed same to make any sense of that Symphony. The piece that followed, however, gave no problem.
"Too many notes" was the comment of one royal patron to Mozart (according to playwright Peter Shaffer). to which Amadeus queried as to which ones he should discard. Well, David R. Holsinger's Kansas City Dances may seem to have too many notes, but there are none that don't belong there. The three movements are programmatic a jazzy evocation of activity in the historic Muelbach Hotel (long since demolished), a sporty off-beat Harry Truman before his presidency, and a Cattleman's hoedown. "Wow" and "Cool" were comments overheard at the end of the performance.
The work is a concerto for tuba, and Mason Gross faculty member Scott Mendoker, a true wizard of the instrument, sailed through it at a blindingly fast tempo. With a high tessitura, the fingering was not easy--too many notes for most players--and his breath control was a marvel. Mendoker's tuba was the only brass instrument on stage as the ensemble was reduced to piccolo, flute, four clarinets and four saxophones with two bassoons and a battery of percussion. Notable throughout the concert was Erik Lynch at the marimba, xylophone, chimes and similar items. Mendoker has recorded with the Czech Philharmonic; look for his work on the Summit label.
After intermission it was fun and games with two ingratiating pieces that didn't challenge the audience as much as had the front part of the concert. Riegger's Dance Rhythms focuses on rhythmic structure more than melody giving it a foot-tapping quality. H. Owen Reed's tripartite Mexican Fiesta was another programmatic piece. The "Prelude" and "Aztec Dance" reveal Mexicans readying for the fiesta and the entrance of Aztec-costumed dancers. Mass opens with the church bells. It's like "Three Blind Mice" in a diminished chord format, sounding like a chorale with some awesomely precise massive chordal interjections. "Carnival" itself hints of Chadwick's Symphonic Sketches (an orchestral work that should be done in wind arrangement!) leading to a very humorous "La Negra" by a mariachi-style band. Yes, it was very good fun, particularly with an ensemble that blended so beautifully and with absolute rhythmic precision.
Hats off to this student ensemble that plays with precision, even the most rhythmically difficult structures. This is a Rolls Royce of wind ensembles under conductor Berz's leadership. Precision without sacrificing passion is his evident contribution to these inspired, hard working students.
