BSO Chamber Players
May. 11th, 2008 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariOther Kenjari and I spent a lovely afternoon at Jordan Hall for a program of contemporary music performed by the BSO Chamber Players.
Partita for Wind Quintet - Irving Fine
My only previous exposure to Fine was in the Boston Conservatory Women's Chorus, doing his settings of poems from Alice in Wonderland. And I did not like those pieces, so I wasn't expecting much from this work, either. The first two movements were animated, but ultimately too bland for my tastes. The last three movements were the best. The gigue had particularly interesting harmonies and good interplay between the theme and accompaniment.. The coda featured a really lovely melody.
For Aaron - Lukas Foss
Made up of short contrasting sections, this piece was tightly constructed and had an attractive neoclassical quality. Foss also did a wonderful job of getting a lot out of a very minimal use of percussion. The Aaron of the title is Aaron Copland, and the piece did sound a lot like Copland. It also had a lot of clever humor, almost as if Foss was gently ribbing Copland.
Zhuang Zhou's Dream - Osvaldo Golijov
This atmospheric piece had a very romantic feel. It was lush, melodic, and dark. Golijov made great use of the harp, too. However, I couldn't help but feel disappointed in it. It seemed somewhat pedestrian compared to the other Golijov works I know and love, almost as if he was just coasting on this one.
Plain Song, Fantastic Dances - Michael Gandolfi
This was the piece I had come to hear, and it did not disappoint - it was easily the best work on the program. It was lively and interesting all the way through. The string writing was amazing, especially in the sections where they were playing accompaniment to the winds. I especially liked the quotations from medieval music in the first movement and at the end of the last.
Partita for Wind Quintet - Irving Fine
My only previous exposure to Fine was in the Boston Conservatory Women's Chorus, doing his settings of poems from Alice in Wonderland. And I did not like those pieces, so I wasn't expecting much from this work, either. The first two movements were animated, but ultimately too bland for my tastes. The last three movements were the best. The gigue had particularly interesting harmonies and good interplay between the theme and accompaniment.. The coda featured a really lovely melody.
For Aaron - Lukas Foss
Made up of short contrasting sections, this piece was tightly constructed and had an attractive neoclassical quality. Foss also did a wonderful job of getting a lot out of a very minimal use of percussion. The Aaron of the title is Aaron Copland, and the piece did sound a lot like Copland. It also had a lot of clever humor, almost as if Foss was gently ribbing Copland.
Zhuang Zhou's Dream - Osvaldo Golijov
This atmospheric piece had a very romantic feel. It was lush, melodic, and dark. Golijov made great use of the harp, too. However, I couldn't help but feel disappointed in it. It seemed somewhat pedestrian compared to the other Golijov works I know and love, almost as if he was just coasting on this one.
Plain Song, Fantastic Dances - Michael Gandolfi
This was the piece I had come to hear, and it did not disappoint - it was easily the best work on the program. It was lively and interesting all the way through. The string writing was amazing, especially in the sections where they were playing accompaniment to the winds. I especially liked the quotations from medieval music in the first movement and at the end of the last.
