February 19, 2011 – Winter Romance

February 19 – 7:30pm

February 19, 2011 – The warm harmonies of the string sections will dominate the “Winter Romance” concert by the Maple City Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, February 19, at 7:30 p.m.  Conducted by Brian Mast, the free, one-hour program will be performed in Sauder Hall at Goshen College.

The highlight of the program will be a performance by soloist Rebecca Hovan of the “Suite in A Minor for Flute and Strings” by G. P. Telemann (1681-1767).  Hovan will play five dance-like movements from this orchestral suite, a musical form that was the forerunner to the symphony as we know it.

“This is a real treat for me,” said Hovan, “since I have never played it with strings and continuo as Telemann originally intended.  I love the piece for its dramatic beginning and end and the more light-hearted, lilting middle section.”

Hovan, who teaches flute at Goshen College and Indiana University South Bend, is co- author of three “Blocki Flute Method Books” and, as former chair of the Pedagogy Committee of the National Flute Association, helped prepare a number of its publications. She has presented numerous pedagogy workshops for the NFA, colleges and universities, and flute festivals throughout the United States, and she is a Conn-Selmer Artist for Avanti Flutes and Galway Spirit Flutes.

The major work on the program will be “Symphony No. 49” (1768) by Joseph Haydn, for string orchestra with oboes, bassoon and horns.  Its popular name “The Passion” suits its somber opening and minor key, but the name probably derives from 1790 when the symphony was performed during Holy Week in the Northern German city of Schwerin.

Other evidence suggests that the tone of the symphony may, instead, be Haydn’s reflection on a Quaker figure in a popular comedy of 1764 who, although he was an earnest person, was also “good-humored, good-natured, or waggish.”

The program will open with the “Canon in D Major” by Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) for three sections of strings with cello continuo.  Although Pachelbel was a prolific and renowned composer contemporary with Bach, most of his work has been lost.

The Canon was first published in 1919 and first recorded in 1940.  It has since become one of the most popular pieces of classical music, now known as “Pachelbel’s Canon,” frequently played at weddings and on orchestral programs.

The orchestra will perform the final concert of its 2010-11 season on Saturday, May 7.

The Maple City Chamber Orchestra, with 45 members, relies on individual and corporate financial contributions in order to present four free concerts each year.  It was founded in 1996 by Goshen native Michael Ruhling, now associate professor of Fine Arts/Music at the Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology. The orchestra offers an e-mail newsletter, through its website www.mcco-online.org.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 at 9:13 pm and is filed under 2010 - 2011 Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.