Sunday's (Dec. 2nd) Holiday Concert! (Part 1 of 2)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2nd ~ 4PM - TECHNY TOWERS/Divine Word Chapel

Part 1 (of two parts)

I assume you are all aware that the Northbrook Symphony is performing our
first-ever collaborative concert with the Northbrook Park District and the
Northbrook Community Choir, an organization founded 25 years ago by
choral director Susan Young.

This is an exciting opportunity for us, especially since we will be performing in
one of the area's most venerable spaces, the massive---and resplendent---
Techny Chapel on Waukegan Road. This venue is, from my standpoint,
ideal for presenting a concert that is both festive and solemn, as
befits the music of the season.

I understand that the acoustics are rather...ummm.....interesting...in that
the reverberation time is perhaps as much as 10 seconds (!) That's a
LOT of echo, folks!  We rehearsed last night (Monday) in the big Gym at
Maple Elementary School--orchestra seated on the floor, choir in the
bleachers---and it all worked out very well. So we are now prepared to meet
the challenges of performing in the "Big T" (Techny).  Should be
exciting.

ON THE PROGRAM-----

First, a selection of shorter Choral works, followed by the NSO playing
SIX (6) short works:

1.) The "Christmas Festival" by Leroy Anderson---well-known for his brilliant
Americana-style orchestral miniatures. I believe it was 1950 when, at the
height of his fame, he created this lovely fantasia on Christmas Carols that has
become a staple in every orchestra's holiday repertoire.

Most will regard this work as seasonal "fluff", but I find something profoundly
moving in it, since the carols and customs of Christmas...when treated with
the respect they deserve..embody the true goodness, joy, and warmth of the
human spirit. Honestly.

And wait 'til you hear Mr. Anderson combine "Jingle Bells" with "O, Come All
Ye Faithful" near the end of the piece; it is exhilarating.

2.), 3.) and 5.) --- Three Dances from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

Yes, believe it or not, I love the standard repertoire as well as the rare gems.
You really have to step back and reconsider the "Nutcracker" to appreciate its
true brilliance and beauty. Tchaikovsky was depressed and wracked with his
typical self-doubt when he finished this work; before we play, I think I'll quote his
letter to his brother Modeste, in which he totally trashed his just-completed ballet.
It's impossible to imagine how he could have misjudged his own masterpiece so
completely.

I love working on these familiar dances in order to project their astoundingly
imaginative character: the delicate, shimmery, wistful Sugar-Plum Fairy, the
sinuous, exotic allure of the Arabian Dance and the robust, foot-stomping
(not too fast in tempo!) of the Trepak---complete with THREE (3) tambourines!

4.) -- Alexander Glazunov - Marionettes from Scenes de Ballet

Many years ago, my wife and I were driving around the neighborhood in
Whiting, IN, enjoying the Christmas decorations, with Chicago's former
radio station WNIB on the car stereo. It was then that I first heard
a most delightful orchestral miniature, which seemed to capture
EXACTLY the magical, sparkly joy of the Christmas season; and even
though the work has nothing to do specifically with Christmas, I will always
associate it with that happy holiday listening experience.

Now you can hear it for yourself.  Glazunov was the heir-apparent to the
symphonic and ballet world in Russia which Tchaikovsky dominated. But
his music, successful as it was, is rarely heard outside of Russia. A few
years ago, I heard his gorgeous and thrilling ballet RAYMONDA, presented by
the Bolshoi Ballet at the Chicago Auditorium Theater-- and the name GLAZUNOV
was nowhere to be found in any of the ads or reviews!  That's ridiculous, since
Raymonda is definitely worthy to stand alongside Tchaikovsky's three big ballets;
it is filled with lovely, tuneful, robust and romantic music.

We will be hearing more of Glazunov's music at the NSO's regular concerts.
But for now, please come hear this charming, delightful little miniature, which
deserves to be included amidst our selection of Tchaikovsky's far more familiar
bob-bons.

5.) William Holcombe - The Festive Sounds of Hanukkah

This medley of familiar Hanukkah songs has become something of a staple
for orchestras in the past decade or so.  When I first heard it in concert, I decided
that I wanted to perform it as soon as I had a chance. It will serve as a "bookend"
to the Anderson Christmas Festival with which we began the program, since they
essentially follow the same model: a collection of traditional songs associated with
a sacred holiday observance. Though they can easily be regarded as pops "toss-offs",
I approach this work with a sense of reverence for the ancient traditions and customs
which are embodied in the songs themselves.

This arrangement, by the industrious Mr. Holcombe, is rather overblown in certain
ways; I spent many hours trimming down the orchestration, which was too thick
and "band-like" in many respects. In doing so, I think we have achieved a thing of
great beauty, which the NSO performs with the same sort of care they bring to
the typical symphonic masterworks.

The opening, march-like hymn Maoz Tsur is, as I understand it, an adaptation
of a Protestant hymn; it certainly has a sense of grandeur and solemnity about it.
The music becomes progressively faster and more dance-like in character, with
the familiar Dreidel songs (two of them) in Holcombe's colorful and exuberant
setting. There is also that unique Eastern-European sense of melancholy as the
work approaches its finale, which gradually leads to a majestic, bell-ringing return
of the Maoz Tsur hymn to close the work.

Exciting music, and a joy to present. I hope that you will come.

Larry R.