A simple arpeggio and a scale is all Mozart used as the building blocks for his first great symphony. Mozart was 17 years old when he wrote Symphony No. 25 in G Minor. Like all teenagers, he was “into” the newest and most rebellious trends. In 1773, the Goth, Heavy Metal music of the day was Sturm und Drang. According to Oxford Languages, Sturm und Drang is “characterized by the expression of emotional unrest and a rejection of neoclassical … norms.” How could any teenager resist? This symphony was used as the opening music for the film Amadeus. In a bow toward heavy metal, Mozart uses four horns, a huge number for an Eighteenth Century orchestra. https://youtu.be/Gn8CiKd1nR8
Bremerton West Sound Symphony is proud to present piano soloist Ruth Harvey in Felix Mendelssohn’s Capriccio Brilliant, Opus 22. This work was written in 1832, the year that Mendelssohn first met Frederic Chopin. This may account for the strange title which seems to be in both French and Italian. This delightful music is about Mendelssohn enjoying an outing with the orchestra rather than the usual ostentatious virtuosity which permeates most concertos. Ms. Harvey, who hails from a family of talented soloists, is a student of Dr. Irene Bowling. https://youtu.be/xxNz8bl0Dys?t=371
If you ever visited a large restaurant in Hungary or Romania, you might have experienced a Csardas. Described by Encyclopedia Britannica as, “a courting dance for couples, it begins with a slow section (lassu), followed by an exhilarating fast section (friss). The individual dancers carry themselves proudly and improvise on a simple fundamental step, their feet snapping inward and outward, the couples whirling. The music is often played by a (Rom or) Gypsy orchestra.” My Romanian Medley can be thought of as one long Csardas, made up of multiple tunes. The colorful costumes must be imagined but the fiddlers flailing away frantically, and the flutes and clarinets furious flying fingers will be presented here. https://youtu.be/jBG1-hvExvo
Our concert will begin with a selection of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, so I turn the remainder of these notes over to Chorale Director LeeAnne Campos.
Liebeslieder Walzer (Love Song Waltzes) were composed by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and published between 1869 and 1877. These charming melodies are set in ¾ time, as are all waltzes, and captivate the performers and audiences alike with their exuberant rhythms and tales of love. The lyrics come from Polydora, a collection of folk songs and love poems by Georg Friedrich Daumer, a German poet and philosopher. Brahms’s inspiration for the waltzes may have come from two sources: his great respect and admiration of Franz Schubert and Schubert’s Twenty Ländler, which are a collection of dances that Brahms edited for publication, and from the unfulfilled love of Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896), the wife of composer Robert Schumann. Clara Schumann was an acclaimed pianist and composer whose expert advice greatly influenced Brahms’s compositional choices. Of the eighteen waltzes, intended for informal musical evenings performed by a small group of musicians, eight will be performed by the Bremerton Symphony Chorale and brilliantly accompanied on one piano, four hands by Dr. Jieun Yun, the Chorale’s collaborative pianist, and Joann Richardson, official pianist of the Bremerton WestSound Symphony.
Wine & Wolfgang will be presented at two venues: Olympic College, Bremerton on Saturday, March 1, 7:30PM and at Gig Harbor Vintage Aero Museum on Sunday, March 2, 3:00pm. All seating is general. Tickets are $32 adults (21+) and $10 for young adults and youth (ages 20 and under). Wine, NA beverages, and light appetizers will be featured during a longer intermission. Tickets available HERE