Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season September-October 2015 | Page 24

{ program notes Robert Shafer, Artistic Director We are proud to present our 2015 -2016 SE A SON robert shafer, conductor bach CANTATA 118 br it t en CANTATA MISERICOR DIUM hay dn THERESA MASS Sunday, October 25, 2015 | 4:30 pm The City Choir of Washington The City Choir Chamber Orchestra THE HOLLY AND THE IVY music for chr ist m a s Sunday, December 13, 2015 | 4:30 pm The City Choir of Washington The City Choir Brass Ensemble tavener REQUIEM FR AGMENTS < a m er ic an pr e m ier e > handel MESSIAH PART III Sunday, April 10, 2016 | 4:30 pm The City Choir of Washington The City Choir Chamber Orchestra Performances will be held at the National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. the city choir of washington: a sound like no other. ALL TICKETS: $15-$50. Senior, student, and group discounts available. V I S I T CI T YC HOI R.ORG OR C A LL 571-206-8525. exploits the instrument’s upper range. With charming contributions from the high woodwinds, this music moves directly into the slow movement. Here the soloist introduces yet another melody — the most romantic of them all — played on the warm-toned G string and enhanced by rich double-stopping. This extended rhapsody closes in a high trill for the violin and a gently rising cadence for the woodwinds. Now we return to the first movement’s two themes: the Slavic first theme murmured by violas and the descending second in flute and oboe. In a delayed development section, the orchestra muses over both melodies; the violin eventually joins in, at first playfully, then in passionate double stops. Eventually, it floats off into a lengthy, virtuosic cadenza that completes the movement and paves the way for the finale. A pair of trumpets in dialogue with the soloist outlines the finale’s dashing, playful theme. And there are yet more engaging tunes to come as this folk-inspired rondo gives both soloist and orchestra plentiful opportunities to shine. Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, harp and strings. Matthew Kleiser ‘17 Symphony No. 6 in F Major, “Pastoral” Ludwig van Beethoven Born in Bonn, Germany, December 16, 1770; died in Vienna, Austria, March 26, 1827 Distinctive talents, boundless possibilities. Open House Sunday, October 18, 2015 11:00 a.m. 822 West Lake Avenue Baltimore, MD 21210 BOYSLATINMD.COM 22 O v ertur e | WWW. BSOMUSIC .ORG Beethoven spent most of his adult life as an urban man living in Vienna, but his heart belonged to the country. Even when he was confined to the city, he seldom missed a daily walk on the walls that then encircled Vienna and from which he could gaze off into the surrounding countryside. During the summers, he escaped town altogether and spent the warm months in outlying villages such as Heiligenstadt, Mödling, and Baden. Musical sketchbook in hand, he roamed the fields and woodlands from d ]ۈ