Last night we performed the first of our three concerts of Classical 8 – whose program is:<\/p>\n
James MacMillan<\/strong> – The Confession of Isobel Gowdie<\/em> (Oregon premiere) It wouldn’t have occurred to me without hearing Carlos mention it in his remarks before the performance, but the two pieces are<\/span> linked by the theme of witches. I think they could also be linked by the premise that they are just about as diametrically opposed as two pieces can be in terms of their aesthetic and their basic view of the world.<\/p>\n MacMillan presents a dark, brooding world, full of superstition, fear, and savagery. The piece is essentially a requiem and testimonial on behalf of a woman who confessed to being a witch under torture in 1662 Scotland. It both depicts the spiritual rapture of the tortured and the torturers as well as the brutality of the horrific acts inflicted upon the woman on behalf of the fearful, superstitious people with whom she shared her life in a small village, and the blessed relief of her death.<\/p>\n Opinion is divided in the orchestra about the merits of this piece. It is difficult, that is true. It’s also loud. Those two factors will often drive an orchestra member to dislike a piece regardless of its musical merits. I was very much taken with the piece when I first listened to a recording the week before we started rehearsals. There are some remarkable moments of sheer orchestral color that are breathtaking. Overall, I’d edit it down a few minutes in length, but it is a piece well worth hearing and exploring.<\/p>\n Mendelssohn, on the other hand, presents a magical world of mischievous spirits – both royal and lowbrow – full of myriad creatures, all imbued with a sense of wonder and whimsy.<\/p>\n If MacMillan presents the world of Beowulf<\/span>, Mendelssohn gives us Harry Potter<\/span>.<\/p>\n And that brings me to a question: must profundity always be linked to negative attributes? Can happy music be profound? I certainly think it can be equally sublime – but without an even minor cathartic moment, does the unchecked happiness equal too much musical dessert?<\/p>\n Thoughts welcome…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last night we performed the first of our three concerts of Classical 8 – whose program is: James MacMillan – The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (Oregon premiere) Felix Mendelssohn – Complete Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream It wouldn’t have occurred to me without hearing Carlos mention it in his remarks before the performance, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[148,115,269,2],"tags":[67,361,55,3666,3668,3662,62],"class_list":["post-676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-music","category-new-music","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-classical","tag-mendelssohn","tag-orchestra","tag-oregon","tag-oregon-symphony","tag-portland","tag-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-aU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":989,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/05\/23\/a-look-back-pt-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":676,"position":0},"title":"a look back, pt. 1","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought I'd start off next Monday by taking a retrospective at the 2007-2008 OSO season, both on stage and off. But for now, a list of the works we performed this season on the Classical Subscription and Inside the Score series. I'm always somewhat dumbfounded when I look through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":645,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/06\/practice-schmactice\/","url_meta":{"origin":676,"position":1},"title":"practice, schmactice","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The month of January holds some big programs for us here at the Oregon Symphony. This week we begin with rehearsals for next weekend's classical series 6 concerts under Resident conductor Gregory Vajda, which includes Bart\u00c3\u00b3k's complete score to his ballet-pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin, and Paul Dukas' Sorcerer's Apprentice. Next\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"woodshed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/woodshed-full_4m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14152,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/29\/oregon-bach-festival-report-part-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":676,"position":2},"title":"oregon bach festival report – part one","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On Tuesday night, the Oregon Bach Festival gave the first concert of\u00a0its\u00a0modern orchestra, the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra (there might be an additional 'festival' missing in there, but it bothers me, so I'm leaving\u00a0it out). It was a special concert, one of two that I can recall during my time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/macmillan_conducts.jpg?fit=270%2C270&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1258,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/10\/interesting-mediocre-horrible-or-simply-practical\/","url_meta":{"origin":676,"position":3},"title":"interesting, mediocre, horrible – or simply practical?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Stephen Marc Beaudoin takes a look at this year's OSO programming, and he doesn't like much of what he sees.\u00c2\u00a0 Here's a brief sample: The Oregon Symphony is playing fifteen Classical Series concerts this season. Five of the programs are terrible. I will hasten to add that an additional two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12763,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/07\/obf-passing-the-baton\/","url_meta":{"origin":676,"position":4},"title":"obf – passing the baton","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It was my final performance at the Oregon Bach Festival for 2013, and it was quite a historical event for the festival. This concert marked the symbolic 'passing of the baton' from founding Artistic Director Helmut Rilling to the Artistic Director Designate Matthew Halls. Rilling conducted a family affair first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13712,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/05\/08\/2014-2105-a-retrospective-part-two\/","url_meta":{"origin":676,"position":5},"title":"2014-2105: a retrospective, part two","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"And now, for the big list - the stuff I played with the Oregon Symphony this past season*. 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\n Felix Mendelssohn<\/strong> – Complete Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream<\/em><\/p>\n