in search of the music

[calimac]

I wandered down to Santa Cruz on Saturday, first going to the university library, where the parking situation has changed again, to get its contributions to tracking down some of the more elusive names on a composer project I'm working on. Frederick W. Warnke (1892-1938), how's that for an obscure composer? He was a Bay Area native whose work "A New Symphony in Olden Style" was played by the San Francisco Symphony in 1927.

Meandering down Pacific Avenue in search of dinner, I stopped at a restaurant storefront labeled simply "Chocolate" and was intrigued enough to venture in. Sure enough, most of the dishes on its menu incorporate chocolate. I had the chicken mole, more yuppie cuisine than Mexican. Interesting sauce, more bitter than most.

Then walked up the hill to take in this concert. Funny thing, I knew that Holy Cross Church, the venue, was the successor to the Spanish mission (after all, it and the city bear the same name), but though I spend much time in Santa Cruz, it had been so many years since I'd visited the replica mission next door that, despite the presence of a major street called Mission Street, which should have offered a clue, I'd had no idea where in town it was until I looked it up.

I'd jumped at the chance to review this one because it had a work by Peteris Vasks, a composer who's impressed the heck out of me on all previous encounters. This was not one of his more profound works, but the sound was wonderful, even when it got the weentsiest bit out of tune. After it was over, I heard someone behind me say, "It reminds me of that Czech composer." Oh really?, I wondered. What Czech composer might that be? The speaker continued, "The one who wrote the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs." Oh, I thought. Him. I turned around and said, "You're thinking of Henryk Górecki. He's Polish." Glad to have the casual ear's confirmation that Górecki (or at least some of Górecki - not all his work sounds like what you'd think) and Vasks are in the same ballpark - it's obvious to me, but it might seem different to other people - we had a little conversation about Eastern European mystic composers.

Now, if only I'd seen my pocket appointment/address book since I got home that evening, all would be well.

Comments

[khatru1339.livejournal.com]

I just had a great night at the symphony, as Marin Alsop conducted Bernstein's MASS. I had missed this back in the 1970s, when it was apparently at its greatest popularity, so I had no idea what to expect. Musical theater is also not my favorite genre (though you may recall that I liked that Harry Partch thing years ago).

Anyway, I loved it. The diverse types of music used in it flowed together very well, the cast of singers (led by Jubilant Sykes) was excellent, and the staging was outstanding -- first the logistics of getting everyone on and off the stage as needed, and second the direction of the performers. I know the Baltimore Symphony is going to release a cd of the piece, but I really wish it would record a DVD.

I picked up a couple extra programs, thinking you might want one. Let me know.

I saw the second of three performances here in Baltimore this weekend. Next weekend they're doing two in New York (one at Carnegie Hall, one at the United Palace Theater) and one in DC (at the Kennedy Center). I'm 2-for-2 with the BSO so far this season, as my September concert included Evelyn Glennie doing Michael Daugherty's UFO. I took my brother, a rock drummer, to his first classical concert, and he was just amazed at her percussion work. All the rock and jazz drummers he loves were pushed down a notch.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Whack! We would SO BE THERE if we were anywhere in your neighborhood. I have gotten B. to ride over the twisty mountain road to Santa Cruz, and to take BART to Oakland - things she otherwise would never do - to hear performances of Bernstein's Mass. It's her favorite modern choral work.

The Santa Cruz performance was when Alsop led the Cabrillo Festival about ten years ago. Really excellent rendition, raw and powerful, probably better than Michael Morgan's musically impeccable but overly polished rendition with the Oakland Symphony.

So sure, thanks for saving us the program; we'd like to take a look. You have our new address from last year? Since I don't think I have an e-mail for you, I'll just say I put it in a friends-locked post 10/23/07, which you can find on my LJ's Calendar page.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Got the Baltimore Bernstein Mass program; thanks! B. was reading it over dinner. Remarked on the story (which she hadn't heard) of Bernstein's father saying, "I didn't know my son would grow up to be Leonard Bernstein."