by
Lyn Bronson
Adela Peňa & John Larry Granger
Not all of our youth today are totally absorbed with
pop culture, text messaging and the latest teen fads. The proof of this
was evident yesterday afternoon in Sunset Center Theater as Youth Music
Monterey presented an impressive concert entitled “Festival of Light and
Sound” under the direction of conductor John Larry Granger. Before a
huge capacity audience of enthusiastic family members, friends and
supporters, we heard music making on a very high level. Comparing the
Youth Orchestra and Honors Orchestra of fifteen years ago to the present
ensembles shows remarkable growth, not only in the orchestras
themselves, but also in the local school programs from which most of
these young musicians receive their earliest instruction.
The Youth Orchestra began the afternoon concert with
some ambitious fare consisting of the traditional Hungarian
Rákóczy March, Saint-Saëns
Marche Militaire Française,
Alfven’s Swedish Rhapsody and
Festique by Daniels. Impressive ensemble playing and studious
attention to musical details marked these performances, and the final
selection by Daniels took the young musicians over the top to earn a
well deserved and enthusiastic round of applause.
Something new this year was the Honor Brass Ensemble
of Monterey County, a smaller ensemble, which performed rarely heard
works by Gabrieli, Pezel
and one piece, a Sonata from Die
Bankelsangerlieder, by that
ubiquitous composer of early music, ”Anonymous.”
The three pieces we heard were
surprisingly difficult in that they were involved with complex rhythmic
patterns and thorny contrapuntal interplay between the instruments. The
final work was the most successful of the three and received the most
applause.
The concert ended with three selections performed by
the Honors Orchestra, and it was impressive. As we listen to the Honors
Orchestra we are always reminded that these near professional young
musicians a few years ago were like the much younger players heard in
the first half of the program. We were also hearing playing that would
give credit to many a college or community orchestra, and every year
that we hear the dedicated young musicians of Youth Music Monterey we
recognize a steady and continuing growth of musical and technical
mastery that bodes well for the future of symphonic music in the United
States today.
On this occasion we heard the world premiere of the
first movement of Stephen Tosh’s Symphony No. 2. Tosh has long been well
known in our community for his talents as a pianist, arranger and
composer and has written several symphonies. Speaking from the stage
before the performance he told us that he retains a special fondness for
his Symphony No. 2 for it reminds him of the profoundly moving
experience of seeing for the first time the glorious scenic rolling
hills of the coastal mountain range of central California near Paso
Robles.
Because of his explanation that this work has strong
emotional associations for him, we tended to hear this first movement as
a kind of tone poem, but it turned out to be something more universal,
for what we heard was an orchestra movement that could be heard entirely
on its own, without any association of time or place, and still be quite
meaningful. Tosh does not seem to be influenced by some of the late 20th-century
musical experiments, most of which unfortunately went nowhere, and thus
we didn’t hear in this piece any violent ugliness, boring minimalism or
obvious eclecticism. Tosh demonstrated in this work a fine skill of
writing idiomatically for orchestra, and an even greater skill of
drawing us into his music and into his world and holding our attention
throughout. The beginning of his symphony was characterized by long
musical lines displaying an irresistible lilt and charm, where for
several minutes there was not a single rest to interrupt the flow of
this sensuous music. Eventually the movement developed more rhythmic
contrast, some fine woodwind writing and ended with a brief but
effective coda.
A real treat for the audience followed Tosh’s symphony
as violinist Adela Peňa appeared with the orchestra as soloist in the
first movement of the Bruch Violin Concerto in G minor. A distinguished
violinist with an illustrious career (and with strong ties to our
community as a former pupil of Rochelle Walton), she wowed us with her
big romantic tone and lots of romantic expression.
As a role model for the aspiring
young string players of the orchestra, she made a powerful impression.
The concert ended with a bit of Latin fluff,
Teotlalli from
Estampes
Mexicanas by Elizondo. This
piece had it all – Latin rhythms, maracas, nice percussion, and it was
brief and to the point. Kudos to
Maestro Granger, the wonderful young musicians and the magnificent
support this effort is receiving from the community.
