Walla Walla Symphony
 

Autumn Prelude sponsored by Banner Bank

Guest artist sponsored by Providence St. Mary Medical Center

Tuesday, October 13, 2009, 7:30 p.m.,
Cordiner Hall, Whitman College Campus  ► Get a map and directions

Rossini—William Tell Overture  

Learn more about Gioachino Rossini
 Listen to a music sample

The overture to the opera William Tell, especially its high-energy finale, is a very familiar work composed by Gioachino Rossini. There has been repeated use (and sometimes parody) of this overture in the popular media, most famously for being the theme music for the Lone Ranger radio and television shows, and it is quoted by Dmitri Shostakovich in his Symphony No. 15. William Tell was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement, although he continued to compose cantatas, sacred music, and secular vocal music.

The overture is written in four parts, each seguéing into the next:

- from Wikipedia

Chopin—Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor

with Alexander Bernstein, pianist

Learn more about Chopin
Listen to this piece

Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, was composed in 1830, before he had finished his formal education — he was around 20 years old. It was first performed on March 17, 1830, in Warsaw, Poland, with the composer as soloist. It was the second of his piano concertos to be published (after the Piano Concerto No. 1), and so was designated as "No. 2," although it was written first.

The work contains the three movements typical of instrumental concertos of the period:

  1. Maestoso
  2. Larghetto
  3. Allegro vivace

In the finale, the violins are at one point instructed to play col legno (with the wood of the bow). The main theme of the final movement, as introduced by the piano, is classic Chopin - a delicate and yearningly poignant melody reminiscent of some of his mazurkas.
- from Wikipedia

Learn more about the soloist:

►Alexander Bernstein, pianist - Alexander is currently studying with Stephen Drury of the New England Conservatory. The 20-year-old San Francisco native began piano lessons at age 7, later moving to Walla Walla, Washington where he studied for nine years in the studio of Professor Debra Richter, director of the Piano Preparatory Division at Walla Walla College. Upon admission to Harvard, Alexander began studying piano performance with Patricia Zander of the New England Conservatory until her death in 2008.

In 1999, at age 10, Alexander made his symphonic debut with the Oregon East Symphony. Since then, Alexander has performed with orchestras throughout the Pacific Northwest including the Walla Walla and Spokane Symphonies.

Alexander has enjoyed multiple masterclasses with distinguished artists including Leon Fleisher, Gilbert Kalish, Alberto Portugheis, and the late John Browning. During the summer of 2004, Alexander was accepted to the Aspen Music Festival and School and studied with John Nauman.

Beyond performing standard repertoire, Alexander is an avid devotee of new music, studying works of Berio, Ligeti, and Cage, among many others. Last summer he remained in Boston to study with Stephen Drury and attend the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at New England Conservatory.

Alexander has won prizes in several competitions including the Northwest Chopin Competition, MusicFest Northwest Young Artist Competition, Washington State Music Educators Competition, and the Oregon East Young Artist Competition.

Alexander also enjoys playing jazz piano, and has participated in the All-Northwest and All-Washington State Jazz Bands. In 2006, he organized a jazz combo that took First Prize at the International Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.

Schumann—Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major

Learn more about Schumann
Listen to a music sample

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major "Rhenish", opus 97 was written by Robert Schumann in late 1850. It was premiered on February 6, 1851 in Düsseldorf under the direction of the composer. The symphony soon became known as the "Rhenish" although the nickname wasn't Schumann's. In this symphony, perhaps Schumann's brightest and most optimistic symphonic work, Schumann strove to write a work that would have a broad public appeal. He wrote to his biographer, Wilhelm von Wasielewski, that he wanted "popular elements" to dominate this work. Indeed, the symphony's tunefulness and folk-like character helped it to win a warm public and critical reception and the "Rhenish" soon became one of Schumann's greatest successes.

Unusual for its time, the Symphony is constructed in five movements. However, Schumann was quick to assure his publisher that the symphony would not be bulky and heavy as a result of the extra movement. In fact, the relative brevity of the third and fourth movements serve to create the illusion of one larger slow movement. The movements for the symphony are as follows:

The symphony opens with a powerful statement in E flat major, a syncopated, fanfare-like theme that is seventeen bars long. The second movement has a more rustic character with its ländler and minuet-like themes. The lyrical third movement serves as an intermezzo between the scherzo and the fourth movement. The fourth movement was said to be inspired by newspaper reports that Schumann read dealing with the elevation of Cologne's Archbishop Geissel to the rank of cardinal. The original title of this movement was In the Character of the Accompaniment to a Solemn Ceremony. The fifth and final movement brings us back to the buoyant mood of the first movement and closes out in radiant splendor.
- from Wikipedia

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