New Haven Symphony Orchestra music director candidate James Blachly went out of his way during Sunday’s concert at Southern Connecticut State University to invite the audience closer: to himself, to the performers, and to the music.
Prior to the performance of “Soul Force,” a screen above the orchestra displayed a video introduction from composer Jessie Montgomery, who talked a bit about the work’s origin and artistic goals.
In introducing William Levi Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony”, Blachly ran through a segment where he talked the audience through some of the motifs and spiritual melodies that appear in the work. He then turned it over to members of the orchestra to play some of their favorite passages — and in some cases to display some of their individual personalities and senses of humor.
This worked well for members of the audience. Elliott Mallin, a blues musician, thought the concert — one of four in recent months to be led by candidates looking to replace the soon-to-resign Alisdair Neale as the symphony’s music director — was “transcendent”, and appreciated getting a guide to the piece ahead of time. Lesley Frame and Jim Stacey both agreed that the educational aspects of both pieces’ introductions helped them to give context to each work. According to Stacey: “Very stimulating”; in Frame’s words: “I was squirming in my seat.”
Adam Matlock photo
At Sunday's concert.
That was due to the intensity of the music in Montgomery’s “Soul Force.” A single drum kit was isolated behind a sound enclosure next to the cellos and basses, while four other percussionists in the usual place behind the first violins shared a huge array of instruments. Some moments leaned heavily on the drum kit and the low strings to create a jazzy groove, while another spot used tuba and trombones to create a bass vamp while horns navigated extended, jazzy harmonies.
The composer’s use of groove, of drumkit, of vamps, is in reference to Black American pop forms like R&B, according to her introduction. Works written to evoke these styles can challenge classical ensembles of varying sizes. It’s worth noting the NHSO handled this comfortably, while still bringing out the masterful orchestration that makes “Soul Force” an exciting contribution to the symphonic canon.
In one breathtaking moment, a single wind and multiple strings played the same note, and the strings slowly bent their notes out of tune to make the sound seem to grow wider, a reference to the microtonal inflections of various African American vocal traditions. The piece built toward an ecstatic conclusion in Bb major which felt transformative and hopeful in the face of the clear musical tension the work builds early on.
In an informal poll of the audience, Blachly announced that only five in attendance had heard William Levi Dawson’s “Negro Folk Symphony” before — and only three members of the orchestra had previously played the work. That meant everyone else in the orchestra was playing it for the first time on Sunday’s performance.
“Well, we rehearsed it,” Blachly clarified.
It was also the NHSO’s first ever performance of the work — perhaps explaining Blachly’s eagerness to explore sections of it with listeners prior to the performance. Dawson’s use of melodies from Black Spirituals — which he termed “Negro Folk” — was not always immediately transparent, in part because of Dawson’s formal mastery. Many of the melodic motifs can appear in almost unrecognizable forms as each movement progresses, but this results in a vigorous use of the entire orchestra as ideas are passed around and transposed, which is quite invigorating in a live setting. Especially engaging was Dawson’s use of polyrhythms, which the orchestra conveyed with clarity.
The slower second movement broke the orchestra down into more chamber-like groupings — again, showing Dawson’s skill at orchestration while delivering more direct quotes from the source material, even as the orchestra brought in uneasy, sometimes bitonal harmonies around them. The triumphant conclusion of the work, demonstrated in small part during the introduction, made new sense amid the context of the momentum generated throughout the third and final movement.
After a short intermission, the concert concluded with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. The work was given a disastrous premiere during the composer’s lifetime due to issues with music preparation, but conditions were much more favorable in Lyman Hall for soloist Simone Porter, who seemed to float along to the music that introduced the piece. When her entrance finally arrived, Porter’s violin sang, adding just a touch of vibrato to passing, color notes that conveyed a sense of joy with the details. When the movement reached the astonishing cadenza, Porter navigated through a series of chords with effortless balance and intonation. The orchestra rejoined her with some almost imperceptible pizzicato string chords, but grew the momentum and tension rapidly until the conclusion barely a minute later.
Things slowed down a bit for the work’s second movement, which allowed Porter to demonstrate the weight of her playing with some solo passages that celebrated the violin’s low register. The third movement flowed seamlessly out of the end of the second, bringing a “hunting call” theme that added some tremendous momentum, driven by the orchestra’s precision in supporting the solo part.
Lisa Brandes, a Westville resident, weighed in at the end of the concert: “I liked the programming, and the engagement with the audience — it was educational, but not so formal…I felt like I had a connection to the performers, and understood their role a little better — it wasn’t ‘just a bassoon’ anymore.”
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra will conclude its 2022 – 23 series on Friday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m., with music by Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Helen Hagan. For tickets and more information, visit: http://newhavensymphony.org.
Nice article, Adam!!!!