January 14, 2005 7:30 pm
Oster Regent Theatre, Cedar Falls
Peter Schickele, composer-in-residence & narrator
Haydn – Symphony no. 60, 'Il distratto'
Ravel – Le Tombeau de Couperin
Schickele – Thurber's Dogs [1994]
Up close and personal with Peter Schickele
By George F. Day
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
January 17, 2005
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra continued the tradition of a winter concert recently at the Oster Regent Theatre, featuring a small ensemble in a chamber-style setting. About 30 players made up the orchestra, directed by Jason Weinberger. On the program was special guest Peter Schickele, the current WCFSO Music Alive composer-in-residence, who spoke about his own composition.
The music we heard was quite captivating, and instructive as well – a symphony from the 18th century, one from the early 20th century and a contemporary work so new that the composer himself was in the audience.
Haydn’s Symphony no. 60 came first. It was exciting and justified Jason Weinberger’s claim that it would be like ‘no other symphony we had ever heard.’ Its architecture was solidly formal, but within that structure was a variety of tempi and moods. Ravel’s fine ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ was written to pay homage to the medieval composer, but actually honors all earlier French composers. It’s a sparkling work, displaying Ravel’s feelings about certain aspects of nature, such as light, water and daybreak. It was simply overflowing with harmonies that made for a fresh, bright musical experience.
Schickele’s ‘Thurber’s Dogs’ was inspired by James Thurber’s line drawings with titles like ‘Dog and Butterfly,’ ‘He Goes with his Owner Into Bars,’ ‘Dog Asleep’ and so on. The drawings are whimsical, as is much, though not all, of the music. For ‘Dog at His Master’s Grave,’ the mood was very somber, with an amazing pipe organ-like dirge produced by an unusual combination of instruments.
Based on the richly diverse sounds and rhythms in his ‘Dogs’ piece, I believe Schickele is a great orchestrator. The work challenged the full chamber orchestra but under Maestro Weinberger’s alert and sensitive direction it played splendidly. Several oboe solos [at least one in each number] played by Tom Barry, were simply exquisite.
Note: All reviews are edited for length and spelling.