Classics in the Movies: Gallipoli (1981)

I went to see a movie in 1981 that has haunted me ever since. It was called Gallipoli, directed by a then "up and coming" director named Peter Weir. (Weir went on the direct many other popular films including  A Year of Living Dangerously, Witness, Dead Poets Society, Green Card, The Truman Show and Master and Commander. I lived in Omaha at the time, and I remember going to the Dundee Theater with my parents to see this movie that I had never heard of, and had no idea what or where Gallipoli was.
The reason I am writing about it here is Weir's use of classical music. Against a backdrop of the first world war, two young Australian men are coming of age (played by Mel Gibson and Mark Lee). Before becoming soldiers, they share a love of running.....one of my favorite things as well. The first part of the movie features some great running sequences.
The Gallipoli Campaign lasted from February 19, 1915 through January 9, 1916. The Gallipoli peninsula lies along the Dardanelles straits in what is now Turkey. The goal of the allies was to take Gallipoli and then capture Constantinople (Istanbul today). As with many battles in WWI, trench warfare ensued and both sides suffered horrendous casualties. The Allies ultimately failed to achieve their objective and the Ottoman forces celebrated what turned out to be their last major victory before the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
The final scene of the movie is a breathtakingly beautiful and sad convergence of running, the futility of trench warfare, and the senseless loss of young lives, all played out to the Adagio in G minor by Tomaso Albinoni in the background. Take a look.

If you have not heard Albinoni's Adagio in G minor, please take time to do so. It is one of the most beautiful pieces in the classical repertoire:

Artist's Profile: Jackson Thomas, Founder, Executive and Artistic Director of KC VITAs

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about seeing the Kansas City Symphony perform the 9th Symphony of Beethoven. Of the many things that stood out from that evening, it was the the 120 person strong chorus that really won me over. The human voice connects with emotions that instruments are not able to touch, which is one reason I have always loved choral music. A friend of mine who is a singer with a new local choral group reached out to me about KC VITAs (Thank you Gayle!), a choral group here in KC that came to life last year (2015). She connected me to the Founder, Executive and Artistic Director, Jackson Thomas, whom I sat down with recently to talk to. This amazing young man has created something very special here in Kansas City. They are preparing for their second set of concerts on August 5th and August 7th. Here is our conversation.
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TH  Who is Jackson Thomas?  Tell me a little about yourself.

JT  What a loaded question! (laughs) I grew up in Carrollton, Missouri, which is an hour and a half from here...northeast… a little town between Marshall and Chillicothe. I went to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (vocal performance major). I thought I wanted to be a professional opera singer, and that was the only thing I could do to be happy. While I was there I had roles in opera and musical theater, and then studied abroad in Berlin. I almost got a major in German because of that...I was two classes away but I wanted to make sure I took opera history! I moved back here after I finished…I have some family in the area. I took a year of preparation as I call it before Grad school. I realized half way through my junior year that choral music was where I was going. That was something that I just always went back to over and over and over and realized that if opera didn’t happen that I would be OK with that. I think lots of musicians go through similar things….you never know what it is. But I definitely know that I haven’t had more moving experiences than I have had being in front of an ensemble.

TH  How did you develop a love for singing?

JT  My family is incredibly musical. I don’t know of anybody in my immediate family who can’t sing. So they were always very supportive of that and wanted me to do it. I also played saxophone and was a drum major for several years. My teachers in school were a husband and wife team and they were really good about getting people where they needed to be. They saw talent in me and connected me with teachers. I started private vocal study at the University of Central Missouri with Dr. Roden. This groomed me for that next step of collegiate study.

TH  How old were you when you realized that you could sing?

JT  About 5^th grade. I knew before then that I could at least match pitch, but it was 5^th grade when I really began to sing.

TH  Was there any magical moment in your formative years where you realized that you loved music?

JT  What’s funny is I was waking up every day…I know this sounds cheesy…but I was always waking up with a song in my head. I didn’t think it was weird until I talked to other people and that didn’t happen. Early on I thought I wanted to be a teacher. I used to say, “I do not want to do opera…they can’t make me do it” until I went to my first opera at the Lyric and saw La boheme. I remember sitting in the audience and saying “that’s what I want to do”….(laughs).

TH  Did you study conducting in school?

JT  I did, and that was incredibly instrumental for me. Conducting was something that seemed to come very naturally to me and others said it was something I should consider doing. And it was in college that I started my first group.

TH  What brought you to KC after you graduated?

JT  I graduated in 2014. I have family in the area and I knew I wanted to move back here for a year before auditioning for Grad schools to study choral conducting. I started teaching and getting into several different choirs here and then I auditioned at seven universities all over the country for Grad school (that was insane!) I decided on KU, so I am now half way through that program working on a Master’s degree in choral conducting. I’m a full GTA (graduate teaching assistant) so I teach and last semester I conducted the Vocal Music Collegium, which is an early music ensemble. I also co-directed the KU Women’s Chorale and the Concert Choir. This year I will be the Director of the KU Men’s Glee Club, which has never happened to a Master’s student.

TH  Wow, that’s very cool.

JT  I am very excited about that for sure.

TH  How did KC VITAs start?

JT  During my first year back I knew I wanted to start a choir. A friend of mine and I were talking one night and I realized it was going to be harder than in Lincoln…there are so many choirs here already.

TH  Is Kansas City fertile ground for choirs? More than you realized perhaps?

JT  Oh yea….and I am still learning about groups that are here that I didn’t realize existed. Or that they have been around for so long. So some friends of mine that I sang with in AGO (American Guild of Organists. This is a national professional association serving the organ and choral music fields). agreed it seemed like Kansas City was missing something that focused on new music. I actually dabble in composing myself. I wouldn’t call myself something that I’m not, which is why I say I “dabble”.  But I was friends with a lot of composers at UNL and I realized that these new pieces they were writing were great, and nobody is performing them. So I knew I would have plenty of pieces to perform, and the three of us made a pact that we would work hard to make this happen. We just went with it and started asking people all around. We started in May of 2015. I put an ad out on Facebook for compositions too. And how big it got was an accident. I am pretty relentless...persistent (laughing) until they give me an answer. I had six people give me premieres of some sort, Four of them were world premieres. We ended up with 21 singers last year for our first performances. This year we have 28. Patrick Neas from the Kansas City Star wrote about us and I think that was a big reason we were so successful. We ended up having 400 people at our concert….and we only printed 200 programs! We got a standing ovation at the end. It was really exciting.

TH  What did this success tell you about the arts community in Kansas City?

JT  Not only are they supportive of music, but its filling a gap…there is a need. Afterwards we got together and realized that we need to make this more “real”. I was footing the bill for everything, and people aren’t going to donate to something that they don’t really know, so we looked into the 501(c) (3) which has been huge.

TH  What is your “title” for this organization?

JT  I am the Executive Director and Artistic Director….as well as the Founder. I also serve on the Board at this point.

TH  Tell me about the name…KC VITAs….where did that come from?

JT  KC stands for Kansas City….of course….VITAs stands for vibrating internal thyroarytenoids.

TH  What does that mean (laughing)..?

JT  That’s literally your vocal chords….the tissue that make up your vocal chords.

TH  That’s pretty creative…did you think of that?

JT  I did. I knew I didn’t want to be called some cheesy Italian name….I was really into vocal pedagogy at UNL…the science behind the voice, and I just thought that it fit in a few ways. It satisfied my nerdiness, but also VITA conveniently means “life” in a few languages… so new life…new music.

TH  How many scores did you receive from composers hoping to have their music performed?

JT  Last year, I put out a call for scores and received music from 15 people. This year, over 50 people submitted music….and that’s 50 different composers…some of them would send more than three compositions.

TH  That’s a lot to sort through!

JT  Indeed. And we are not just a chamber choir…not all of the submissions were choral works. Some were art songs. We are really a new vocal works organization, and our concerts are not going to have just choral works on them. They’ll have art songs too, and I will have other forms of vocal music as well.

TH  Art songs?

JT  Yes…it’s a fancy way to say just a song with voice and piano. Not an aria because it does not belong to a large work…just solo voice and piano.

TH  Will any of the composers be here for the concert?

JT  Several of them will be. We have composers from all over the country…Florida, South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. I would love to require all of them to be here (laughing)! So we have eight world premieres this year. What we really want to focus on is that we are giving young and rising composers a chance for their music to be performed and not charge them to do so. Other arts ensembles may also be willing to perform your works, but then you will get a bill!

TH  How often do you all rehearse?

JT  Once a week…Tuesday night for two hours…7-9 pm. I try to be very respectful of their time because I am very lucky to be in front of them. Last year we had five choral pieces, but this year we have nine.

TH  Where do you see VITAs going?

JT  Right now VITAs is a summer organization. I would love to see it go year round. I’d like to continue to have our showcase in the summer, but also do a Fall concert. Believe it or not, I have been given a lot of Christmas music! Out of that, I could make a great Christmas program.  And then in the Spring, perhaps do a large work.

TH  What are your interests outside of music?

JT  I make my own beer. Traveling and hiking are also huge interests of mine too. And if I had time, I also compose music. I also have 3 cats…Walter, Edith, and Bradley.

TH  OK, now the hard questions. I talk to a lot of musicians who tell me they don’t listen to much music. When they have free time, which is not often, they don’t want to listen to music….they want a break from it. Do you listen to music for enjoyment, outside of work?

JT  Oh my god, yes all the time.

TH  What’s on your playlist at the moment?

JT  I do a lot of exploring, but I’m into anything where I can hear a real voice. I really like Ben Rector. I listen to a lot of musical theater…probably way more than I want people to know about (laughing)..

TH  Do you have a favorite musical?

JT  My favorite musical is Cats. I played the lead role.

TH  Who is your favorite jazz singer of all time?

JT  That is a hard question.

TH  I always say Ella Fitzgerald.

JT  I was trying to be  more creative than that, but I was going to say Ella Fitzgerald (laughing)…

TH  I’m not surprised!

JT  I know it’s watered own, but I like Michael Buble a lot. If I could be a jazz singer, I think I would be happy. Nnenna Freelon is fantastic and I really enjoy her music too.

TH  What about classical music?

JT  Juan Diego Florez is my favorite tenor…hands down. I saw him in Berlin, and I think he’s awesome. I love Renee Fleming. Stephanie Blythe is wonderful. Deborah Voight…I really love her.

TH  What about classical composers?

JT  Rienberger….Joseph Rheinberger…wow. I think he’s totally underrated, especially in the choral world. His Mass for Double Chorus in E-Flat is…wow. Um…(thinking)..I know this sounds weird, but somebody I really like, at least in the sacred repertoire now, is Dan Forrest.  I am directing Requiem for the Living next year at St. Paul’s. I’m really moved by that. Moving backwards, Handel is my favorite composer.

TH  Will the upcoming KC VITAs concerts be recorded?

JT  Yes they will, and we will produce another CD from the live recordings.

TH  I can’t wait to hear it! I really appreciate you taking time to talk with me! Good luck on August 5th and 7th.

JT  You’re welcome! Thank you.

Here is a link to the KC VITAs website:

http://kcvitas.org/index.html

Reflections: Father's Day, KC Symphony, Beethoven, Fear, Joy, and taking time to look at what's right in front of me.

Last weekend the Kansas City Symphony gave their final concert of the season. The Beethoven 9th Symphony was on the program and I had been looking forward to it all year. I needed it. I needed it for my soul. I have been carrying some deep emotions for many months and I know that I need to deal with them. Hearing the Beethoven 9th performed in Helzberg Hall would surely be the therapy I needed.....it was.
The night before (Friday), my family took me to a Royals game. They surprised me with club level seats and a parking pass. And Friday nights at the K feature a fireworks display after the game. It was a great evening. It was wonderful to be with both of my sons and my wife.The Royals won the game resoundingly. Shortly after the game, the lights dimmed and the fireworks began. The darkness came alive with color and explosions. But I could not keep my eyes on the fireworks. I was sitting on the end of our row and we were all turned slightly to the right to see, which meant that I was looking right at Cheryl, Ethan and Jack's back. The colorful lights created a halo effect over them. Right there, in front of me, was my family. My greatest love. My greatest accomplishment in this life. My greatest joy....standing right there in front of me. I didn't watch the fireworks....I watched them. I gave thanks to God for them. I prayed that this moment would never end, though I knew it would.

The next night my mom and I went to the KC Symphony concert. Like I said, I had been looking forward to this since last Fall. The Beethoven 9th Symphony is such a transcendent work. I knew it was going to be awesome in the hands of Maestro Stern and this amazing group of musicians and singers. But first we were treated to another work of Beethoven, his Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Cantata for Chorus and Orchestra op. 112. I had not heard this before, but I knew of it. Several months ago, I heard Felix Mendelssohn's Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. It has become one of my "new favorites" for the time being. It is simply beautiful. And while reading about it, I learned that Beethoven had also written a work by the same name based on a poem by Goethe, but I had not taken the time to listen to it yet. How lucky to be able to hear it for the fist time with a choir of 120 voices as one thanks to the Kansas City Symphony Chorus, and the power of the KC Symphony. Next on the program was the second symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich. Again, this was new music to me. While I have heard most of his other symphonies, this is one I had never heard. Maestro Stern spoke briefly before it was played and explained to us how this piece is connected to the other works of the evening when on the surface it seemed so out of place. He spoke about humanity...humans trying to make sense of their world and to do something to make it better. After hearing this symphony, I totally got what he was saying. This very unusual symphony did fit right into the program. After the intermission, it was time for the 9th. Maestro Stern dedicated this performance to the victims and families of the Orlando massacre. His words were powerful and heartfelt. The performance was too. I noticed that the bass section had grown by one bass. (seven total) You can never have too much bass I've always said. Along with our cello section, our bottom end is a force to be reckoned with....so strong, rich and powerful.
My head was spinning at this point. 120 voices singing together as one is enough to blow the roof off of any hall. Beethoven's music...this music....seems to channel our very humanity through sound waves. My heart was in my throat. Tears of joy filled my eyes. And as the finale reached its crescendo, I looked to my left and saw my mother crying tears of joy...of life....and just like the night before, I found myself stepping outside of the moment, and I watched her and thought about everything she had done for me...given to me. And if that wasn't enough, she had mentioned right before the performance how much my dad would have loved this orchestra...this hall..and that she had dreams that he was conducting from above the suspended ceiling that hangs over the stage. My dad passed away in 2006, and as I have mentioned in this blog many times, he loved music..classical music, more than anyone I have ever known. I too could see him this evening and I know he loved what he was hearing.
So back to Friday night....to my oldest son Jack. As I watched him, now almost 20, tall, handsome and strong, I was still dealing with what happened on February 13th. I have decided to write about it as I process the emotions that still challenge me. He had knee surgery on February 6th. All went well and he was back at school on the 13th when he began to feel bad. Over the next several hours he began to struggle breathing. One of his friends took him to the emergency room where they discovered he had blood clots in his leg and both of his lungs. At 12:15 am, I jumped in the car and drove to St. Charles to be with him. Blood clots can be fatal...and often are. I felt so helpless as I raced across I-70 in the middle of the night. "Hold on Jack" I kept shouting out loud. When I arrived and found my way to his room, he was in bed with tubes and monitors attached to him. But he opened his eyes and saw me and I took his hand and told him I was here for him...that he was going to be OK. I told him how much I loved him. He was in the hospital for 3 days. Thankfully he got to the hospital in time to be given blood thinners. And thankfully, this was not his time to go. It was his time to live. I was so scared. I stayed with him the entire time he was in the hospital and brought him home when he was discharged.

The fear and emotion I felt that week are still with me. I know how fragile I am, how fragile we all are. But when it's our children who are sick or hurt, there is no preparing for the emotions that we face.
I knew that the Beethoven 9th performed live would help me deal with my emotions....that's what I meant when I said "I needed this." Beethoven is able to say things through his music that no one else can say. And humans playing his music in front of you is more powerful than anything that comes through a speaker at home or in your car. This is medicine that has to be in the same room with you as its administered.

Father's Day. My song for Steve (my dad).

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there. My dad passed away in 2006 after a long battle with diabetes and leukemia. The very first entry of this blog from February 2014 tells the story about my Dad (James Stephen Hazlett) and how he opened the door to classical music for me. For this I will always be grateful.
My dad was dull...at least that was the running joke in our family. He loved classical music, most of all Bruckner and Mahler. He owned more versions of each Bruckner and Mahler Symphony than anyone else on the planet I believe. I used to get on his case about why he did not listen to Bach or Vivaldi??? And how could he turn his back on Elvis, Sinatra and the Beatles? He wore the same clothes, the same watch and the same shoes throughout his life. We thought he was dull....but it was with respect and affection that we said this. He loved crew cuts, chopped steak, watches, Law and Order, Pizza Hut, Kung Pao Beef, Starbucks espresso, and Paris, France.
I deviated from my classical music path in my early teens...I discovered the Beatles, started playing the guitar, discovered jazz, started playing the upright bass and so on. I wanted to write songs and perform in public. I wrote this song shortly after he passed but never shared it with anyone except my mom and sister. But today I am sharing it with you.
Happy Father's day dad. I miss you always.

Classics in Commercials: My friend Stuart, Beethoven, and Android

I love to talk about classical music to anyone who will listen, and it's especially nice to meet new people who share a similar love of it. Stuart Gauld is one such person in my life. Last year, he and his wife Sarah started running in the Saturday morning running group I also run with (The Kansas City Track Club KCTC - Lee's Summit chapter). Over coffee one morning, after a run, our conversation somehow landed on music, and he told me that despite having no formal musical education, he loved classical music....especially vocal music..a la Luciano Pavarotti. Since then we regularly talk about music and share thoughts and suggestions with each other. Just yesterday he sent me a message asking if there was a particular recording/performance of the Beethoven Sonata no. 14 in C-sharp minor "Moonlight" that I liked the most. I had to think about it a bit because I don't think there is a pianist of note who hasn't recorded it...and there are many excellent interpretations. I suggested some new (Lang Lang, and Yuja Wang, and some old...Rudolph Firkusny, Van Cliburn, Vladamir Horowitz, Alfred Brendel, and Murray Perahia. There are many others of course, but I went with these.
Later in the evening, as I was watching my beloved KC Royals blow another lead late in the game, a commercial came on that featured the music of Beethoven...the 3rd movement of his Sonata no. 14! Small world for sure. It was a commercial for Android. It's called Monotune. Here it is:

There is also a "The Making of Monotune" that is interesting:

Ji Liu (born 1990) is the young pianist who stars in the commercial. I don't really care about the product per se...but it is very nice to see any company pick classical music as part of an ad campaign, so for that I do applaud Android.
Beethoven composed this Sonata in 1801. He did not call it the "Moonlight" Sonata. This term was given to the work by a music critic, Ludwig Rellstab (at least according to Wiki) in 1832. Given the feel and mood of the Sonata's very famous first movement, "Moonlight" certainly seems appropriate if you ask me. This ad features the third movement, "Presto agitato."

Classics in the Movies: Smoke (1995)

I have a hard time managing "time". Especially when I have more free time than I am accustomed to. I do much better when I am in a hurry and I have to move quickly from thing to thing to get it all done. Give me 6 free hours, and I start to think of all the things I could do, and I end up stressing out trying to fit them all in instead of enjoying the time in the first place. That happened to me again today (Sunday) when my wife had to spend the day officiating at a swim meet, and my son Ethan had to work. We had a busy Saturday working around the house, so I didn't have too much on my "honey-do" list for Sunday. But as Sunday unfolded, I became edgy and it got worse as the day went on. I just could not slow down and enjoy the day like I wanted to.
Towards the end of my day, as I scolded myself for letting a beautiful day go by without truly being in the moment and loving the gift of free time I had been given, I was suddenly blessed with a moment of clarity. I was standing at the counter in the kitchen having a cup of coffee, browsing through my playlist on Spotify and I glanced at some piano music of Shostakovich. At that moment I remembered a wonderful scene in a movie called Smoke from 1995 starring William Hurt and Harvey Keitel that uses this music. Keitel owns a small neighborhood tobacco shop in Brooklyn, and the lives of the neighbors who come in and out of the shop provide the stories for the movie. Hurt is a struggling writer who recently lost his wife. Keitel is an amateur photographer who takes a photo outside of this shop every day at the same exact time in the same exact spot...and has done so for 4000 consecutive days. This scene is brilliant for several reasons. Keitel's explanation of why his project is meaningful to him is very touching. As Hurst flips from page to page of the photo albums in rapid succession, Keitel tells him to slowdown...take time...really look at the pictures. The musical backdrop to this scene is the Prelude and Fugue in C major by Dimitri Shostakovich (1952). Have a look. (This clip from YouTube is in English but it does have Spanish subtitles).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdSqCQ8A3TY
The message of "slow down" is what I needed to hear on Sunday. Look at the things around you...really see them. Live each moment fully. The use of Shostakovitch is brilliant here.
Paul: "Slow down huh??
Auggie: "That's what I recommend."
Paul is rewarded with his patience in this scene too. Beautiful.

Reflections from the April 10th Kansas City Symphony Performance

May 15, 1934, From Charles Martin (Martin worked at a bindery that did some work for Charles Ives).
Dear Mr. Ives,
The writer mentioned to Mr. George Gershwin that we were doing some work for you, and he said he was very much interested in your compositions and would like to meet you. Mr. Gershwin lives at 134 E. 72nd Street, and his private telephone number is Butterfield 8-7797. The writer feels sure that he would be very glad if you would get in touch with him.
Yours very truly,
Charles Martin

In response, Charles Ives wrote these comments in free hand on the letter;
"Mr. Martin came in later in the year I think when we were at 164 (meaning 164 E. 74th Street, his home address) and said that he was sorry that I didn't call Gershwin...as G (Gershwin) said my music has been a help to him - had known it from several years back. Bill Verplank told me, shortly after I left the office, that Geo Gershwin telephoned. Bill answered for me-said Gershwin said he had gotten more out of my music than any other, especially new chords and new rhythms and that he wants to ask about more copies etc...and that it had been a great help to him."
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I was not able to attend the Saturday evening performance of the KC Symphony last weekend... my usual night...because I had made plans to go to my friend, guitarist John Svoboda's, house for an in-home performance by Truckstop Honeymoon. So I went to the Sunday afternoon performance instead. I bought a ticket in the choir loft, behind the stage. I really like sitting there as it offers such a unique perspective. I don't think the sound is bad there either, so it's a win if you ask me. The program was one that I had been looking forward to for quite awhile...Debussy, Gershwin, a world premiere by David Ludwig, and Ives. This concert was billed as a "World Tour from Gershwin to Debussy." My mom had been to the Saturday performance and raved about it. I also read Libby Hanssen's review of the Friday performance in the KC Star. (Please remember, I said in my very first entry of this journal that I am not a music critic, and I am not going to criticize the musicians or a critic for that matter.) She had good things to say about everything except the Ives.
Debussy is probably on my list of top five composers, and his "Iberia" is the second of three orchestral works from "Images". The orchestra created a wonderful wall of sound that washed over us. And inside this wall is the precise inner beat that keeps it all together. It was especially fun to watch Maestro Stern keep it all together.
The premiere of David Ludwig's Concerto for Orchestra was a treat. As Miles Davis said, classical music is "dead shit"....Well, Ludwig's concerto proves that classical music is still alive...fresh and new. His wife, Bella Hristova, wrestled this gator into submission and did so with amazing touch and soul. Her intonation was spot on and her sense or rhythm, a central element of the piece, was "right in the pocket", as our jazz friends would say. I thought is was a blast. And for you purists...I did not mind a bit that she had the music on a stand in front of her.
I started this entry with the letter above because I think the genius of this program was the Ives-Gershwin duality. Everyone knows Gershwin...and I think loves him....because, well, because he is Gershwin. As Ravel told him when Gershwin commented that he wanted to be like Ravel, "Why would you want to be a second rate Ravel when you are already a first rate Gershwin"..or something to that effect. Iconic. Fun. American. "An American in Paris" is always a treat. What an enduring staple of the repertoire it is. Three saxophones on stage pretty much guarantees a good time. Principal trumpet, Julian Kaplan, was sharp and precise. He is a clutch player that will be fixture, I predict, in the KCS for many years to come. And of course Noah Geller, concertmaster, played several solos beautifully. As for Stern, let me just say this...I was once on a flight from KCI to Atlanta. It was late in the day and we seemed to be the only airplane going anywhere. The pilot came on and said we were the only ones in line for take-off...here we go! He turned onto the runway and hit the gas without coming to a stop and we were immediately flying down the runway. Maestro Stern came out for the Gershwin, jumped up onto the podium and gave the downbeat in much the same way. Fun stuff.
So as recognizable and comfortable as Gershwin's music is, Ives' music lives in a different place. This was the piece, his Symphony no. 3, that I was looking forward to the most. And the piece I felt hit me the hardest on this particular afternoon. Hardcore classical music people recognize Ives' brilliance and importance as a uniquely important American composer, but I don't think most people feel that way. His music can be very challenging in terms of dissonance, form, tonality, meter and construction. I'll bet if you asked 100 composers to voice a C-major chord, Ives would find a way to do it unlike anyone else.You'd scratch your head thinking..."that kinda sounds like C-major...but why does it feel so different?". That's Ives. The first time I played "The Unanswered Question" (I am a violinist you may recall) I found I was fighting back tears. At that moment, the first reading of it, the opening chord...with strings playing a very high, soft G,..it's so delicate...so simple and beautiful. The first several bars are gorgeous. Then the trumpet enters and asks a question. I knew then and there that Ives was a composer I would appreciate and yet be challenged by, forever. And I felt like the KCS played it with energy, vigor and passion.
My Sunday was a treat. Wonderful music, incredible musicians, world class venue, and I will say the bar in the lobby makes a very good gin and tonic at intermission.