Overture Magazine - 2018-19 Season BSO_Overture_JanFeb_19 | Page 17

B A LT I M O R E C H O R A L A R T S P R E S E N T S
LITTLE MATCH GIRL
SUNDAY, FEB 10, 2019 AT 3 PM | Falvey Hall, Brown Center at MICA
This a cappella performance of the
Baltimore Choral Arts Chamber
Singers recounts Hans Christian
Andersen’s Little Match Girl in this
unique, multi-sensory mash-up
with MICA!
J. S. Bach –
Four Chorales from
St. Matthew Passion
Stephen Chatman –
How Sweet and Fair
David Lang –
the little match girl passion
is called ‘Tristan’; the garden…is called
‘Isolde.’ This garden is full of light and
shade, of plants and new flowers, of brightly
colored and melodious birds. … Time flows
on forgotten, the lovers are outside time, let’s
not wake them…” Now we finally hear the
“Love” theme in full bloom, surrounded by
piano and woodwind birdsong.
Turangalîla 2: The piano enters to
awaken the lovers. Now death intervenes
with music of harrowing drama. It
begins fairly quietly, but the middle
section turns violent, inspired by reading
Edgar Allen Poe’s gothic horror story
The Pit and the Pendulum.
Developpement de l’amour:
The last “Love” movement is described
by Messiaen as a development section,
both musically and symbolically, for
the whole symphony. All the recurring
themes return here, but the most
prominent is the “Love” theme. Three
times it breaks through the texture in
longer and larger “explosions” (Messiaen).
Turangalîla 3: This is the quietest
and least threatening of the “Turangalîla”
movements. A clarinet, supported by
chiming percussion and whispering ondes,
introduces the winding, mysterious theme,
which is treated to a series of variations
layered over intricate rhythmic patterns.
The variations finish, and the movement
abruptly fades out.
Finale: The Finale is an exuberant
celebration that Messiaen instructed
should be played “with great joy.” The
most conventional in form of the ten
movements, it is essentially a sonata form
with two themes. Though it is completely
disguised by its rhythm and fast tempo,
the second theme is actually the “Love”
theme. However, later in the movement
it makes a glorious and unambiguous
reappearance in a slower tempo as all of
this vast orchestra’s instruments join in
proclaiming its triumph.
Tickets: $41, General Admission
There will be a post-concert Choral
Conversation inside Falvey Hall.
Doors will open early for a student art
gallery viewing and hot chocolate reception.
Call 410.523.7070 or visit www.BaltimoreChoralArts.org
ANTHONY BLAKE CLARK
Music Director
c
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u
M
Making
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at Howard County’s
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Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two
oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet,
three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets,
piccolo trumpet, cornet, three trombones, tuba,
celesta, percussion and strings.
9000 Fathers Legacy
Ellicott City, MD 21042
410-465-2005 | www.MillersGrant.org
Notes by Janet E. Bedell, © 2019

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