Nearly a century and a half after his premature death Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky [1839-1881] remains a singular voice in music history. This year’s WCFSO Youth Concerts will approach his unique piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition as a window into his musical world and as a vehicle for thinking about connections between hearing and seeing. In addition to learning about the substance of Mussorgsky’s piece [with a special focus on instrumentation and the orchestra] students will be encouraged to closely examine the rich sensory relationship between aural and visual.
Beethoven’s Famous Notes → Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony
Listening guide for the 2011 WCFSO Youth Concerts
Ludwig van Beethoven [1770-1827] is a towering presence in the history of western music, a fact which needs no further validation than these four notes:
Perhaps the most famous musical motif of all time, this stark and foreboding opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony begins a journey through one of the most inventive and intense works in the entire repertoire. This year’s WCFSO Youth Concerts will take a unique in-depth look at a piece that was nearly sabotaged at its premiere by its own novelty and difficulty but grew in stature over time to become a paradigm of its genre and one of the most widely known pieces of music. In addition to learning about the musical substance of Beethoven’s Fifth, students will be introduced to broader ideas connected to the composer’s work, including his place in the development of the symphonic tradition, the concept of artistic inspiration, and the world of Vienna during the transition between the classical and romantic periods.
Aaron Copland [1900-1990] is widely viewed as America’s most recognizable and influential composer. With his unique ability to absorb and transform a range of diverse musical styles into a perennially new yet recognizable American sound, Copland is emblematic of this country’s enterprising and inclusive spirit during its global ascendancy during the first half of the twentieth centiry. The genres in which he excelled also include the key media forms that defined this country during that period, including radio and film, and the narrative aspects of his music draw heavily on themes from American history and our national mythology.
Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky [1840-1893] is one of the most beloved composers of the symphonic tradition, a contemporary point of view which belies the great struggles he faced in his own life and music. This year’s WCFSO Youth Concerts will take a unique in-depth look at one of the composer’s most important, and frequently misunderstood, pieces – the Fourth Symphony. In addition to learning about the history and musical substance of the Fourth students will be introduced to broader ideas connected to Tchaikovsky’s work, including an overview of the symphonic tradition and orchestras in general and the world of Russia in the late 19th century.
Antonín Dvořák [1841-1904] was a pioneering figure in the history of European music. His compositions reflected a unique blend of two distinct elements – art music [what we now generally call ‘classical’ music] and Czech folk song. Understanding the work of Dvořák means moving beyond pure musical study to incorporate concepts such as nationality and homeland.
No two art forms share as close a connection as music and dance. This year’s WCFSO Youth Concerts will explore this connection through an array of dance music spanning almost 300 years. From the stately cadences of Bach’s dance-inspired Orchestral Suite to the graceful sweep of Johann Strauss Jr.’s Blue Danube waltz to the radio-era rhythms of American Leroy Anderson and Cuban Ernesto Lecuona, our program will get students minds – and feet – moving to the beat!
This year’s WCFSO Youth Concerts will be directed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [aka Jason Weinberger, in full 18th-century dress]. Mozart has, through a loophole in the time-space continuum, arrived in the present day to share his music with young people everywhere. He will talk about his own remarkable experiences as a kid, explain the influences on his composing, lead a tour of his own masterpieces and even explore some of the music he has missed in the two centuries since his own time.
