Loudoun Symphony Notes |
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| Family Concert 2009 | Issue 7 |
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Mark Your Calendar! Massenet: March of the Princesses Williams: Selections from “Hook” Sullivan: Pirates of Penzance Overture Stravinsky: Ronde des Princesses Ravel: Beauty and the Beast Ricketts: Pirates of the Caribbean PIRATES? PRINCESSES? At 4 p.m. on February 21st? A Saturday afternoon? Or on the 28th if it snows? YIPES! Never fear those pirates, Newsletter Reader, all is well. Well, it's better than well, actually, for our Free February Family Concert features sparkling tapping-toe music about (and for) "Pirates and Princesses," with a performance by members of the Loudoun Ballet Company to add even more fun. Costumes are encouraged for young concert-goers, and for older ones too: brigands who long for bravado and swag, and regal ladies who miss hoop skirts in the castle. And to kick off the festivities, the Friends of the Loudoun Sympnony will be offering a pre-concert reception including Princess Punch and Pirate Cookies, plus a gift-raffle! (Don O'Brien) Pirates of Penn's Ants??! Penzance is a real place in England Sir Arthur Sullivan (known as "Sir" because he was Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1883) wrote the music to the comic opera "The Pirates Of Penzance;" William Schwenck Gilbert, his friend, wrote the words. They created a world of soft-hearted pirates, a zany Major General and his family of flirtatious daughters, a blue-suited officer with a barely passible posse of policemen, and Frederic, our Pirate hero, who turns out to be "a little boy of 5." Silly, sunny, romantic and adventure-filled, the Overture, which we will perform, has all the musical richness of this famous and funny stage work, and has a life of its own because of its energy and up-tempo spirit. Moreover, for young listeners, it can help bridge the gap between contemporary music and that of another age. And it was written by a man who would soon be a Knight, no less! Oh, yes, about Penzance: this sea port town is in the Cornwall area of England. Cornwall, at the southwestern-most tip of England, was long a home of pirates and smugglers because of the rocky cliffs and many hidden coves. Pirates would set up fake lighthouses to lure ships onto the rocks and then go out and steal the cargo. In fact, pirates are often characterized as saying "Arrrrr" because that's the way folks actually pronounce their R's in Cornwall. Don't miss our Free Family Concert, matey! (Don O'Brien) Attention all Princesses! French composer Maurice Ravel wrote a suite about Mother Goose. In his musical telling of a few of the many stories Mrs. Goose knew, he told the one about Beauty and the Beast. And while Ravel's musical story is a lot different from the Disney movie you may have seen, it still tells of a pretty girl, named Beauty, who meets an ugly beast named...wait for it...Beast. She says hello to him and he is shocked, for no one had ever spoken to him before. They become friends after she says to him that it is not how a person looks, but what is within the heart and mind that counts. This is still true. And the music? Glorious. All princesses love it, to be sure, and many pirates have found it of great interest. And by the way, Maurice wrote this piece for children to play on the piano. Imagine that! What will you think? Maurice Ravel, as he grew old, became very sad, saying: “I have left nothing.... I have not said what I wanted to say. Alas, I am not one of the great composers!” He actually told his seven-year-old friend Jeanne Leleu that he would die “an old fogey.” We know he was very wrong in this, for just about everything he ever wrote is still performed. "Bolero," "Mother Goose," "Daphnis et Chloe," and 60 or so more. Find one, listen. You'll quickly see why Ravel is, without doubt, one of the great composers! (Don O'Brien) Did you know?
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Maestro Selected For International Organization LSO's own Maestro Mark Allen McCoy has just been selected to join the International Music Center of America (IMCA). IMCA was established in 1985 to promote professional classical music, in part by arranging international cooperation and assisting in the management of its members' careers. Mark was nominated by a soloist he performed with and subsequently issued an invitation to join. Membership in this prestigious organization will likely increase Mark's opportunities for guest conducting gigs. Mark is currently featured on IMCA's homepage (www.imca.us). The link will take you to Mark's site, www.markallenmccoy.com, which if you haven't already visited, is a great place to read about Mark and sample some of the works he has conducted. Congratulations to Maestro McCoy on this great honor! (Vicki Rundquist) ---------------*--------------- Be instrumental! Forward a copy of this Newsletter to friends and family. ---------------*--------------- Pirates and Princesses often ask: What is a ballet? Ballet (pronounced bal-lay) is just another kind of dancing. It's usually done to a formal set of steps and body-movements described and written on paper, much like music is described and written on paper. Ballet can help us understand the music being played. Or think of it this way: ballet adds to the music by showing us ideas and thoughts the composer had while writing--things like flowers opening, rain falling, happiness and fun...or scary moments in a forest, too. You get the idea. You might think of ballet as a kind of visible poetry, not one with words that often rhyme as you listen, but one with rhythms you can see as you listen. So, as a special feature of our Free Family Concert, we've set-up a brief ballet segment to the music of the Russian composer, Igor Stravinsky. Igor, who died in 1971, wrote symphonies, chamber music, operas, and more. We've chosen the "Round Dance of the Princesses" section from his ballet called "The Firebird." The dancers will be following the dance movements written on paper by Michel Fokine, an associate of Mr. Stravinsky. The section you'll see and hear is all too brief for many listeners, for the familiar, melodic and gentle pacing of the piece invites our attention right away. Then, as it fades off into the silence of an afternoon, we seem to want it to start all over again! (That's always the way with music we learn to love, isn't it.) But this time, as you watch dancers from the Loudoun Ballet Company perform and interpret Stravinsky's beautiful music, you'll have a new understanding of this little part of a full-fledged ballet that has made listeners (and watchers) happy since 1910. We are very proud to have these outstanding dancers with us for this moment in time, and you just might find it more fun than you had ever thought. Ballet! Imagine that! (Don O'Brien) There's More??
---------------*--------------- Please note that the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra has no connection, financial or otherwise, with any of the Web sites or other outside resources mentioned in this Newsletter. They are suggested only to help you discover additional information. ---------------*--------------- View Previous Issues of "Notes" Issue 1, March 2008 Issue 2, April 2008 Issue 3, May 2008 Issue 4, Summer 2008 Issue 5, Fall 2008 Issue 6, Winter 2008 ---------------*--------------- Loudoun Symphony Notes, copyright 2009. All rights reserved. |