ISSUE 2
MAY 2021
Welcome to Alabama Symphony Orchestra Musician’s May Newsletter!
Alabama's Only Major League Team:
ALABAMA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
In Alabama we are passionate sports fans. The obvious passions lie with Alabama and Auburn football. Look a little deeper and you’ll see dedicated fans at Birmingham Barons and Montgomery Biscuits games. But who doesn’t secretly wish for a Major League team to call their own whether it be NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL? Well guess what, Alabama does have a Major League institution and that’s your Alabama Symphony Orchestra!
The Alabama Symphony Orchestra is the only full-time professional orchestra in the state of Alabama and is also an International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) orchestra. In music, ICSOM is analogous to MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL; it is the big leagues for orchestras. The New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra are all members of the ICSOM orchestras. While the ASO is not as large as the aforementioned orchestras (53 musicians compared to 100+ musicians), its reputation is known around the country and internationally. Because of its reputation, the ASO has drawn in first class soloists such as Yo Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham and Lang Lang. Other famous non-classical artists have also performed with the ASO including Bryce Dessner (of The National fame), Steve Vai, Chris Thile, Bela Fleck, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles amongst many others. In 2011, the ASO won The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) award for Adventurous Programming, and also received the John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music. In 2012, the ASO was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall as part of the prestigious Spring for Music Festival.
As sports teams are based in cities and metropolitan areas, your Alabama Symphony Orchestra is based in Birmingham. Interestingly enough, some cities have professional sports teams and do not have an ICSOM orchestra. Out of all the cities that have an MLB team, 3 do not have an ICSOM orchestra. New Orleans has the Saints (NFL) and the Pelicans (NBA) yet they do not have an ICSOM orchestra. Memphis has the Grizzlies (NBA) but no ICSOM orchestra. Oklahoma City has the Thunder (NBA) but no ICSOM orchestra. Las Vegas has the bright lights and the Raiders (NFL) but no ICSOM orchestra! You get the point. All of the cities mentioned above would love to have one as a point of civic pride just like their major league team. How fortunate Birmingham is to have something that these similar sized cities do not! When we zoom out of cities, we can see entire states without a major league (ICSOM) orchestra: South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and that’s just the south. All told, there are 22 states that don’t have an ICSOM orchestra. That means that Alabama is one of only 28 states that does have an ICSOM orchestra and one of only 4 states in the southeast.
Like most professional athletes, musicians start studying their instruments from a young age. Many string players start as early as the age of 4. Woodwind and brass players might start a little later in a school band but regardless, every person who wins a job with an ICSOM orchestra has spent countless hours working on their craft. Just as the University of Alabama and Auburn University recruit only the best high school athletes for their football programs, so do the best music schools in the country.
The Juilliard School, The Cleveland Institute of Music, Curtis Institute of Music and Peabody Conservatory are just some of the top music schools in the country. They recruit and usually offer large scholarships or sometimes full rides to get the best musicians. Every musician at these schools wants one thing: to win a job with a major league orchestra, even if it means not finishing their degree. This is analogous to athletes at the U of A and Auburn declaring early for the draft. Unlike professional sports where you have drafts, orchestral auditions are all done behind a screen, thus making the process objective and as fair as possible. For one opening in the ASO, there might be as many as 70 people flying to Birmingham from all over just to win a job in a big league orchestra.Also, just like any major league team, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra has a diverse team with members from around the world. The ASO’s American members are joined by musicians from 8 other countries: Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Japan, Korea, Moldova, Romania and Taiwan. The last two Music Director (conductor) searches resulted in Justin Brown (UK) and current music director, Carlos Izcaray (Venezuela).
Can you imagine a professional sports team playing a game without practice? No team achieves greatness without talent and extensive practice both as a group and individually. While the ASO performs nearly every week with different concert programs during the season (often different programs simultaneously), what the audience doesn’t see (literally) are the hours of two distinct activities: rehearsals and practice. We now need to make the distinction between rehearsal and practice. People often think that musicians just show up for rehearsals and play the music. This is a common misconception and couldn’t be further from the truth. Hours and hours are spent at home practicing for that first rehearsal. After the first rehearsal adjustments are made based on how the rehearsal went, and more practicing is done at home. The next rehearsal comes, and this process repeats itself. And in between rehearsals there is the relentless practice to stay in shape and elevate the level of playing. This is analogous to a batter taking extra time in the cage, a guard on a basketball team working on shooting in between games, a football player working in the weight room and so on and so forth. Music is definitely one of those jobs that you take home with you.
Just as important as it is to perform great concerts, it is also very important for the orchestra to be a part of the community and the state as a whole. Every major league sport has its charities and foundations (NBA Cares, National Football League Foundation etc.). Whether it’s performing for Covid-19 patients and children at UAB Children’s Hospital or going into schools to perform for thousands of children every year, or playing at important events in the state such as the visit by the Dalai Lama, the ASO has a mission to make music accessible to every person in our state and keep Alabama proud!
To reiterate, Alabama is so fortunate to have a world class, major league orchestra in their state. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra always strives to play at the highest level and enriches our communities by providing music and education to all. Now that’s a win for everyone!
RETURNING TO THE STAGE:
My Experience Performing Again After a Year of Cancelled Concerts
By Kathleen Costello
As of February 22, 2021, nearly 12 months had passed since my last public performance. Like all collective trauma events throughout history, most of us remember exactly what we were doing on the day that the country, and in many respects the whole world, shut down. I was with my fellow Alabama Symphony Orchestra colleagues, rehearsing for performances of Segei Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet, truly relishing the idea of getting to perform this incredible work in its complete form. If any of us had guessed that it would take this long to get back to our art form, we wouldn’t have believed it. And if we had, we would have been crushed by the knowledge of this unsettling reality.
The pandemic presented many complicated problems to solve for the performing arts. Among the most complicated, was the specific challenges of including wind players on the stage. Little was known about the way the aerosols spread and traveled while playing these instruments, and some instruments appeared to be more threatening than others. Meanwhile, disturbing stories began popping up in the news of debilitating and prolonged respiratory complications for certain individuals recovering from Covid-19; many of us wind players began to imagine what this might do to our careers if we were to suffer such a fate.
As a result, it wasn’t until the final week in February that I was able to join with four of my colleagues to rehearse and perform music again. Many times I had imagined what it would be like to get back these first baby steps towards normalcy for orchestra life, but all that mental rehearsal failed to prepare me for all the emotions that would come up in the weeks preceding and following this experience. Like all of us in the performing industry, it occurred to me that I had been performing regularly back to my pre-teen years. Some of my string player friends started learning so young that they don’t remember life without an instrument to practice! Throw us all into a year without live perfomance, and all the emotional baggage we managed to accumulate over that time seems logical — predictable even.
The repertoire for the concert (to be pre-recorded and later streamed) was solidified just shy of a month ahead of the performance dates. Mozart’s beautiful and timeless Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, and Francis Poulenc’s quirky and playful Sonata for Two Clarinets fit the bill for creative programming while adhering to a tricky web of Covid-19 safety protocols. As I eagerly got to work on learning this repertoire, the first thing I became aware of was how hungry I was for this specific kind of effort; the breaking down of a large work into manageable sections and phrases, making the hundreds of small decisions that would need to be thoughtfully placed back into the whole. Imagining the sounds and harmonies that will be created by the other instruments as I work on my own part, enriched through careful study and listening to great recordings. Even the inevitable frustration of a less-than-great practice session felt welcome — like a grouchy but beloved older relative coming over for a long overdue visit.
The second noticeable effect this pending performance caused was periodic waves of insecurity and anxiety. One benefit of a full season orchestra schedule provides for those of us that are prone to bouts of stage fright, is a constant opportunity to perform, giving us plenty of practice and exposure to the thing we fear. For me, confidence is built through the regularity of doing it — a constant reminder that I can, because I am doing it. I found myself grappling with all kinds of barely rational questions:
What if I had no longer had the endurance to get through the program? What if I sound totally different (ie: worse) in a space that is not my small studio? What if I didn’t remember how to play with others?
Most of these fears were put to rest when I heard those first harmonious tones, of bows on strings choreographed in their movement, making music. The joy, beauty, and comforting familiarity of it quelled my fears, and an intense feeling of gratitude replaced them. Any rising doubts as to why I had ever chosen to become a performer in the first place vanished, and in an instant I was all in, heart, body, and mind.
I think it’s important to emphasize that my work on the clarinet never ceased during this long stretch. Like athletes, musicians can’t afford to let their skills slip if they intend to return to the stage. Most of us are keenly aware that the amount of time we take away from our instruments represents a fraction of the time needed to make our way back to the same place. So I forged on, dutifully getting my clarinet out everyday, diligently playing my scales and practicing etudes, usually to the same four walls and (literal) captive listeners. But playing in a studio, or dining room, no matter how lovely the aesthetic or how enthusiastic and supportive our family or pets, is not the same as playing for an audience.
This is perhaps the most important thing that I learned through this process and the preceding months of the pandemic — just how fundamental the relationship between performer and audience is to making music. The proverb of the tree falling in the woods became an apt analogy for the existential crisis many of us found ourselves in: Could we still call ourselves musicians if we had no audience to play for? I have come to believe that music can be many things and serve many purposes, but one of its most primal and urgent roles is that of communication. In times of collective strife and suffering, music’s unique communicative power can be a healing salve. It can transcend barriers discourse cannot, and can be a reminder of the humanity we all share. In many ways the Covid-19 pandemic left us without this all-important community ritual to shelter in, at a time when it would have been incredibly helpful.
Fortunately for all of us, the music is returning, slowly but surely. If you haven’t already done so, check out one of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra concerts that are now streaming regularly from the ASO website. I very much look forward to seeing all of you, our audience, at a concert when we are fully back live and in person!
Kevin Kozak, Second Horn
CENTER STAGE
One of the longest-serving musicians in the Alabama Symphony, second horn Kevin Kozak joined the orchestra in 1981 and has since been an asset to the community as a performer, teacher, and mentor.
Originally from Old Tappan, New Jersey – a rural town on the outskirts of New York City – Kevin grew up in a home with a deep and profound love for music of all kinds. While none of his immediate family members were professional musicians, his father was an amateur drummer who instilled in Kevin and his siblings a great appreciation and wealth of knowledge in music. Their home was always filled with music playing – not passively in the background, but rather for intently listening and learning an eclectic mix of genres. “You’d walk into the house and it could be Louis Armstrong or Shostakovich playing, or Verdi, or Gene Krupa,” Kevin says.
While his formal musical studies began with piano lessons at the age of 5, Kozak didn’t approach the horn until much later, with the opportunity to play in his high school band. He remembers, “all I knew is that I wanted to play a brass instrument, and the band director said we needed horns. I remembered hearing a brass quintet play at my school years before, and I loved the sound of the horn.”
Kevin studied music education at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), and decided after graduation to pursue further studies in performance. “It started gnawing away at me around junior year of college that as much as I appreciated teaching, I really wanted to play,” Kevin recalls. He went on to earn his master’s in music performance at the Manhattan School of Music, and after a year of post-graduation freelancing in New York City, made the big move down south and has called Birmingham home ever since.
One of Kevin’s favorite things about living in Birmingham is the kindness of the people living here. Speaking of his experience with southern hospitality, he says “the southern way is very helpful and very compassionate. I really like the warmth of the people here.” He recalls an experience immediately following a bad storm, when strong winds had knocked a tree over onto his car and driveway. Within minutes of the storm ending, neighbors showed up with power tools ready to help. Additionally, Kevin and his wife Sophie enjoy Birmingham’s restaurant scene, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and Railroad Park, and have recently rediscovered the hiking trails at Red Mountain Park.
When describing what he loves most about orchestral music, Kozak likens the greatest orchestral works to some of the most well-known pieces of fine art, but notes their differences in how we continue to interact with them.
With visual art, “the communication with whomever takes that art in is always going to be different from individual to individual, but the art does not change. That’s not the case with music.” Kevin describes music as more of a living art form: “Music, on the other hand is never the same twice. It lives in the moment, changing as it is communicated through the very variable emotional landscape of each performer. It lives through the composer, the performer and the audience.” He sees live performance as a way to bring these musical masterpieces back to life while also collaborating with our audience.
Hard-pressed to pick just one Alabama Symphony concert as his favorite, his prevailing feeling is simple: “how could I be much more lucky than this?” Kevin expresses great admiration for his ASO colleagues, and how the musical values, focus, and discipline we share help us to make each other better musicians. “We’re each a part of something that is much larger than any of us,” he says. He likens the experience of a great orchestral performance to a triple-play in baseball; precise technique, split-second decision making, and fluently interpreting your teammates subtle signals are all essential in both situations. Often on stage, “there’s an underlying current, and there are incredibly subtle cues that we’re constantly reading: at what point the bow hits the string, or the keys go down, or what fraction of a second transpires between the breath and the attack.” The feeling, in a word: “magic.”
Outside of music, Kevin can be found woodworking in his home workshop. Born out of necessity, his woodworking hobby began as a way to make home repairs, and he has since learned how to build furniture, decorative boxes, toys, and even conductors’ batons.
“I started off buying a cheap little table saw, and I was amazed at what I could do with it,” he recalls. “You could take a board and shave off the thinness of an onion skin.” Kevin likens the need for precision in woodworking to what we do as musicians: “the care and fine details that we put into our music definitely permeates my woodworking.” Aside from woodworking, he’s an avid reader, nature-lover, and loves to spend time hiking and traveling. His other musical pursuits include directing one of the choirs at his church, St. Peter the Apostle in Hoover. Kevin has actively taught music throughout the Birmingham area for decades, teaching french horn as well as music appreciation and symphonic literature.
For new or prospective concertgoers, Kevin gives this simple advice: “just give it a chance.” Best said in his own words: “You don’t need to be an expert, and you don’t need to be educated in music. You can appreciate a lot of wonderful art just by looking at it and learning from it. People don’t need to be afraid or reluctant to give it a chance. It’s not elitist – it’s available to everybody; you can go to any museum in the world and look at the greatest art there is and nobody asks for your educational credentials. The same goes for classical music. You get from it what you bring to it.”
Kevin lives in Homewood with his wife Sophie and their golden retriever Chloe. They have two grown sons, with families of their own now, and music is vitally important to them as well, one son being a professional singer-songwriter. In both homes music is ever-present, and deeply valued. That love has carried into yet another generation, with their two little grandchildren, who love to sing and dance.
Symphony Volunteer Council
SPOTLIGHT 180º
Our May edition of Spotlight 180 honors our marvelous Symphony Volunteer Council. Started in 1955 as the Junior Women’s Committee, in 1993 it joined with the Men’s Committee (est. 1979) to form the Symphony Volunteer Council we know and love today. With more than 300 members, the SVC is our largest volunteer organization and is dedicated to supporting the orchestra and promoting symphonic music and music education throughout the state of Alabama. With its motto being “Helping to Insure a Bright and Successful Future for the ASO” they have taken on such monumental projects as the Decorators’ Show House and the Lois Pickard Music Scholarship Competition.
The Decorators’ Show House began in 1976 and is one of the biggest fundraisers for the ASO, having raised more than $5 million. Each home requires a full year of preparation and for many of the volunteers this is a full-time job. Once opened, the Decorators’ Show House utilizes over 100 volunteers daily. The Lois Pickard Music Scholarship Competition began in 1998 and is named for the founding member of the SVC.
Since its inception, this competition has awarded over $160,000 in scholarships to talented young musicians with the hopes that they will continue on to become members of a professional, world-class orchestra like the Alabama Symphony.
The SVC has endowed two chairs in the Alabama Symphony – Principal Clarinet and Principal Horn, held by Kathleen Costello and David Pandolfi, respectively. They also serve in a myriad of other ways, from providing transportation and hospitality for guest artists and conductors, acting as ushers for our education concerts, to lending a hand at the ASO office. Last, but certainly not least, they provide orchestra luncheons twice a year to the musicians and staff, complete with home-baked cookies and desserts, something we always look forward to with relish.
To the many members of the Symphony Volunteer Council, thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for your tireless dedication to the ASO and its musicians. Without you, the music would truly not be possible. Stay safe and well, and we will visit with you over a plate of cookies soon!
UPCOMING CONCERTS
Streaming May 7 – 16
Grieg’s Holberg Suite
Streaming May 21 – 30
Mozart & Saint-Georges
Streaming June 4 – 13
Grieg’s Holberg Suite
Streaming May 21 – 30
Mozart & Saint-Georges
Streaming June 4 – 13
Holberg Suite, Op. 40, by Edvard Grieg
Grieg composed his five movement “Holberg Suite” in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ludvig Holberg, an early founder of modern Danish and Norwegian literature. Also called “From Holberg’s Time,” the piece is subtitled “Suite in the Olden Style.” It was built with the harmonic and structural framework of dance-suites from the early 1700’s, yielding a musical experience that feels grounded in the familiar baroque. Even so, Grieg incorporates the rich, lush sound of expertly orchestrated strings, bringing the piece back into focus for listeners with ears tuned to music from the romantic era.
The prelude opens with a galloping rhythmic undercurrent that continues throughout much of the movement. As the dynamic of this galloping motif subsides, a simple, delicate melody emerges in the violins and celli. Between the use of falling “perfect fifths” in the melody and the persistent galloping rhythm, Grieg evokes imagery of Norway’s expansive, beautiful landscape.
The second movement, a “Sarabande,” begins with a hopeful subject in the violins. Grieg then employs the use of a cello trio to deliver a mournful melody, one that ends in defeat, quiet and sorrowful. Like a supportive friend perhaps, the violins respond in solidarity, matching the celli’s hushed tone, but confidently return to their pre-established optimism. After another back and forth, the violins guide the movement to its end, rising in energy with passion before receding to peaceful contentment.
The Gavotte dances joyously. It is vibrant, yet simple. Next is the more distraught fourth movement, “Air,” marked “Andante religioso.” The final movement, the “Rigaudon” is another lively dance, filled with energy and excitement imparted by the fiddle-like melodies in the solo violin and viola. The middle section is slower and more impassioned, strikingly contrasted with the rest of the movement. The piece ends with a return to the folk-like fiddling from the movement’s opening.
Symphony 44, “Trauer”, by Franz Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn finished writing his 44th Symphony in E minor, nicknamed the “Trauer” or “Mourning” Symphony, in 1772. The piece is in four movements: Allegro con brio, Menuetto e trio: Allegretto, Adagio, and Finale: Presto. The first movement is fraught with nervous energy, and vacillates between moments of concerned contemplation and anxious soliloquy. Following the Allegro is the haunting “Menuetto,” a dance in triple meter but set in E minor. Supposedly, Haydn mentioned his desire to have the third movement, the Adagio, played at his funeral, which led to the nickname of the piece.
The exciting finale begins with an orchestral unison, much like the opening of the first movement. After establishing the primary subject, Haydn adds a brooding counterpoint that steadily pulls the music towards its own development. The movement is a masterclass in compositional poise; it is dense with contrapuntal infrastructure, yet never lingers for too long on a single musical idea, keeping the listener captivated and enthralled until the very end.
Symphony No. 29 in A major (K.201/186a), by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born into a musical family in 1756 in Salzburg, and is perhaps one of the most well-known composers of all time. His fame is well deserved from the perspective of both quality and quantity; in his short life of 35 years he composed over 600 works, 41 symphonies among them. While a 29th symphony by its sheer existence is evidence of Mozart’s prolific output, this work is considered one of his early symphonies — perhaps because it was written in 1774 when Mozart was all of 18 years old.
The piece is scored for a spare 2 oboes, 2 horns, and strings, and begins with a distinctive octave drop and return in the aforementioned key of A major. The first movement, marked Allegro Moderato, continues in a spirited mood and unfolds in sonata form. Although the perpetual rhythmic figures support the driving energy in this movement, Mozart’s thoughtful part writing for all the string sections suggests maturation in his writing. The oboes and horns are used mostly as a coloration of the sound in this movement. The following Andante movement picks up in an elegant and regal style, with muted strings, and again winds used sparingly until the end of the movement when the melodic material gets passed to the oboe. The energy picks up again with a Minuetto: Allegro-Trio for the third movement, characterized by dotted rhythms and sudden dynamic shifts. Mozart makes an unusual choice with his final movement, and writes this Allegro con Spirito finale in sonata form as well. The movement charmingly combines the elegance and energy of earlier movements, and brings the whole work to a satisfying close.
Symphony No. 2 in D major, by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges holds the distinct title of being the first classical composer of known African descent. Born in 1745 in Guadeloupe, he was taken to France by his father at the age of seven to be educated there in a boarding school. His story becomes even more interesting and impressive as he emerges from his education not only as a virtuoso violinist and budding composer, but also a master swordsman. By the age of 17 he was one of the best swordsmen in France, earning him a knighthood (hence the title chevalier). Despite the discrimination he suffered because of his mixed race, Chevalier de Saint-Georges rose in the society ranks and was a consummate example of class and gentility. In 1773 he was appointed concertmaster and conductor of a popular Paris orchestra, and wowed the Paris elite with his talents as performer and composer alike.
His Symphony No. 2 in D major reflects the classical trends and styles of the time, and brings to mind the music of Mozart and Haydn. In fact this work was penned in the same year as the companion piece on this program, Mozart’s 29th symphony. Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ second symphony is also scored for 2 oboes, 2 horns, and strings, and elapses in three movements. The piece is identical to the overture music for his comic opera L’Amant Anonyme, and recordings can be found under both titles.
Spark, by Alexander Mansour (Sound Investment World Premiere)
Spark was composed in January 2021 for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Carlos Izcaray. It is a response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and a reflection on the current state of transition as our world becomes increasingly vaccinated. The piece tries many times to express a heroic/elegiac theme, but is interrupted and discouraged repeatedly. By the end of the work, the music is confident in going forth, expressing its tune fully and unapologetically. Spark aims to bring the listener joy and comfort during these challenging times. I am immensely grateful to Maestro Izcaray and Dr. Donald Crockett for their mentorship and inspiration.
Drift, by Martin Kennedy (Sound Investment World Premiere)
Drift came about as the result of an image that entered my mind of a moth traveling upwards through an endless sky, carving out a sinuous and wayward path in defiance of gravity or reason. The moth’s action struck me as audacious yet forlorn, like a boat untethered, drifting out to sea. In my mind, the moth drifted out of view and I can’t say for certain whether it reached a wondrous destination or simply flew on forever, past the vanishing point.
Mayumi Masri
MUSICIAN'S PLAYLIST
Playlist
Radiohead: Pyramid Song | Album- Amnesiac (2001)
Queens of the Stone Age: Domesticated Animals | Album- Villains (2017)
Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in C | Album- Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky- The Mono Years 1952-1955
This might look like an unusual playlist, but I love all 3 of these selections because of one common factor: they all have offbeat and quirky rhythms that will make your head spin.
Radiohead, an English rock band that started in 1985, is famous for their experimental approach to rock music that ultimately became known as “alternative”. Radiohead was nominated for numerous awards and won 6 Grammy awards. Pyramid Song was influenced by the song “Freedom” by Charles Mingus of jazz fame. The first time I heard Pyramid Song, I immediately felt drawn in to the cyclic, trance-like feeling of the syncopated rhythm. It reminded me of Sufi dancing (which I was fortunate to have seen in person in Cairo, Egypt). While the rhythm sounds complicated, it’s actually a regular 4/4 meter with two dotted quarter notes, quarter note tied to another quarter note, followed by two more dotted quarter notes. It’s the tied quarter notes that makes the rhythm unsettling and makes one feel lopsided.
Queens of the Stone Age is a band that started in 1996 in Palm Desert, CA. Their music is so unique and funky that it immediately became one of our family’s favorites. Whether we are in the car for a road trip or grilling a meal at home, Queens of the Stone Age is always playing on our bluetooth speaker. Domesticated Animals is easily my favorite song by them. The beginning of the song starts with a vamp-like intro in a regular 4/4 meter. Suddenly everything drops out and a solo electric guitar starts playing in the most complicated meter. It’s mostly a 7/8 meter, meaning that each bar is missing part of the last beat, but then every once in a while, a regular 4/4 bar is added and you just feel completely tripped up. I can’t tell you how many times I had to listen to it before I could even figure out what was going on. Other than the rhythm, the song is very melodic, and I could easily see it transcribed into an orchestral version. It exudes a lot of positive energy (with a sense of dread) and is a great selection for getting energized.
Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony in C was composed between 1938 and 1940. The first two movements were composed in Europe and the 3rd and 4th movements were composed in the United States. The symphony was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1940. Symphony in C was composed in the neoclassical style, which means that it is not overly romantic or dissonant, and uses formal structures from the past. My favorite movement is the 3rd movement; it is very whimsical and playful and also has a lot of difficult rhythms. While the entire piece is very difficult, the final movement is the epitome of testing the human barriers of technique and speed. This recording is really special because Stravinsky himself is conducting!
Seghesio Family Vineyards
Sonoma County Zinfandel 2018
With this eclectic playlist of selections that have complicated rhythms, it is nice to pair a wine that is very extracted, has bold flavors and elements of spiciness. Seghesio Family Vineyards 2018 Sonoma County Zinfandel perfectly fits this bill. As the rhythm of the music keeps you on your toes, so does the surprising amount of flavors that dance on your tongue while drinking this lovely zinfandel. Just like the haunting, cyclic melody of the Pyramid Song stays with you, so does the long finish of this wine. Made in both French and American oak barrels, this combination parallels Stravinsky composing his Symphony in C (having written half the piece in Europe and the other half in America). Perfect for picnics, pizza or barbecue, this zinfandel gives you a mouthful of blackberry and vanilla with hints of dried sage and white pepper. Cheers!
Cream Cheese Spread for Fruit
RECIPE
SYMPHONIC SWEETS
Diane Rossmeisl, long-time volunteer and friend of the ASO, first served this simple yet delicious spread to the orchestra at a lunch provided by the Symphony Volunteer Council over 20 years ago. She was kind enough to share the recipe of her now famous spread and has since been making appearances at countless gatherings and celebrations.
Cream Cheese Spread for Fruit
8 oz cream cheese, softened
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 oz Heath Bits o’ Brickle® (in baking aisle next to chips)
sliced apples (soak in pineapple juice to keep from browning)
Blend cream cheese, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir in toffee chips. Serve with sliced apples or your favorite fruit. You will want to at least double this recipe for larger gatherings. Enjoy!
Lulu “Tilly” Scholefield
PET OF THE MONTH
Lulu “Tilly” Scholefield
May’s Pet of the Month is Lulu “Tilly” Scholefield. Named after the titular character from Berg’s opera, who followed a downward spiral from well-kept mistress to “lady of the night.” Lulu has broken character and landed on delicate feet in the home of newest ASO bass player, Nick Scholefield. Adopted in 2019, shortly after Nick winning the job here in Birmingham, Lulu found her forever home (3rd time’s the charm!), despite her initial misgivings involving the size of a double bass and its propensity to sound like Dory speaking whale in “Finding Nemo.” Lulu and Nick love to take walks in the parks of downtown Birmingham, where Lulu spends the majority of her time trying to convince every squirrel and bird she comes across that they should be BFFs. Although no small critter has yet to accept her friend request, she continues to try with the good-natured, indomitable spirit for which we all know and love her. So to Nick and Lulu, two of the newest members of the ASO family, we say welcome to Birmingham!
JOKE
"What do you say to the percussionist playing the triangle in the orchestra? Thank you for every ting!"
Do you have any special memories of the ASO and its musicians to share?
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