Remembering Daniel Pearl

 – a Celebration in Music

Friday, April 30, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

Lakeland Baptist Church, Lewisville  (Directions)

Adults $25, Seniors (60+) $20, Students $10

Families $60 no matter how large the family.

Special UNT student and faculty rate: $5

Co-sponsored by Duane and Judi Johnson

Co-sponsored by Friends of the Symphony

The Combined choirs of the LISD high schools - Lewisville, Hebron, The Colony, Marcus, Flower Mound

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings

(Pezzo, Waltz, Elegy, Finale)

   - Intermission -

Benjamin Britten: Simply Symphony: 3rd Movement (Sentimental Sarabande)
 

Timothy Brown: There are Stars Whose Radiance is Visible on Earth

(The Texas premiere of a work for chorus and chamber orchestra commissioned by the Daniel Pearl Foundation.)
 

The Daniel Pearl Foundation
The Daniel Pearl Foundation was formed in memory of journalist Daniel Pearl to further the ideals that inspired Daniel's life and work. The foundation's mission is to promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and innovative communications.

'There are Stars Whose Radiance is Visible on Earth' - composer's notes

"Daniel Pearl was dedicated to the Jeffersonian ideals of freedom and equality and saw America as a beacon of hope for the rest of the World. We envision this new choral work to reach out to the entire world to express the oneness of mankind and the victory of humanity over brutality "

Dr. Judea Pearl, President of the Daniel Pearl Foundation

The first movement of “There are Stars Whose Radiance is Visible on Earth” begins with a simple statement of a "four part chorale" that sets the tone and mood for the rest of the three movements of the choral work.

The text of the first movement, “Lord, May it Never End,” is from the writings of Hannah Senesh, an inspirational figure that inspired me due to the many parallels of her short life and the life of the journalist, Daniel Pearl. 

Hannah Senesh, diarist, poet, playwright

and parachutist in the Jewish resistance

under the British Armed Forces during

World War II was born and died in

Budapest, Hungary.

The first movement is a powerful portrayal of the strength of the goodness found in mankind . “A victory of humanity over brutality”. The first movement has an immediate impact with a fullness of dynamic ranges and energetic moments pushing the music continually forward in it’s representation of “a cry from the darkness”

The second movement, an "Alleluia," is solemn, and reflective of it’s initial use in the ancient Greek Liturgy of St. James. It’s “chant like” opening gradually builds to a tremendous climax towards the end of the movement in both dynamics and harmonic development.

The movement uses an " A cappella" setting and serves as a decisive dividing point between the first and final movement. The "Alleluia" or Hebrew word "Halleluya" text can be used interchangeably to suit both traditional Jewish and Christian performance practice. The overall message of thanksgiving, joy, and triumph is interwoven throughout this movement as a vocal tapestry.

The static monophonic beginnings of the third movement “Of Thine Impenetrable Spirit,”reflects the story and struggle of the titan “Prometheus” found in Greek mythology. The text is from the third verse of the poem “Prometheus” by the English poet, Lord Byron.

The movement slowly builds from the opening moments of the movement to a triumphant restatement in fullness of intensity in both the charal and orchestral parts. The concluding section features a violin solo introducing a theme of hope and purity .

The violin continues as if following the process from afar, yet having an important role of leading the choir and orchestra to the final statement of the opening chorale which was first presented in the opening of the first movement.

Timothy Brown, composer (2009)
 

Timothy Brown
Timothy Brown’s music has been influenced greatly by the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone and also by the composer Luciano Berio. His music is noted for it’s “immediate emotional impact” and it’s roots in the neo-romantic style. His traditional formal structural elements are embedded in his wide array of compositions which includes orchestral, ballet, and chamber works and specifically music written for the piano and pedagogical purposes.

He did his undergraduate studies at Bowling Green State University and received his masters degree from the University of North Texas where he studied piano with Adam Wodnicki, and music composition with Newel Kay Brown. He later was a recipient of a research fellowship from the Royal Holloway, University of London where he did his post-graduate studies in music composition and orchestration studying with the English composer, Brian Lock. He later continued his research at the well known “Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia” in Rome, Italy.

His numerous credits as a composer include the first prize at the “Alienor International Harpsichord Competition “ for his harpsichord solo “Suite Espanola”. (Centaur records). He leads a very active career as an exclusive composer for the FJH Music Co. in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with over one hundred compositions now in print.

His works are frequently performed throughout North America and Europe and at numerous international venues such as “The World Piano Pedagogy Conference,” the “Festival Internacional de Musica de Tecla Espanola” and the MTNA national convention. His music has been performed by concert artist Elaine Funaro on National Public Radio , and most recently at the Spoleto Music Festival, and the Library of Congress Concert Series in Washington D.C.

His numerous commissions include the 2007 Hattiesburg composer festival and also a commissioned work by the concert pianist, Helen Marlais. Other commissions include an article by “Clavier Magazine” for his piano solo“ Once Upon a Time” edited by Denes Agay and a recent commission by the Dallas Ballet Foundation to write the orchestral score for the Ballet “The Happy Prince” based on a short story by Oscar Wilde. Mr Brown is currently a fine arts specialist for the Dallas Public Schools and serves on the advisory board of the “Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts” in Dallas, Texas.

Timothy Brown is published by the FJH Music Company Inc.
 

Serenade for Strings, Op. 48

Peter I. Tchaikovsky

Among the most charming of Tchaikovsky’s compositions is his Serenade for Strings, composed in 1880.  Tchaikovsky confided to his publisher that this work took the form of a serenade by accident.  When he made preliminary sketches he envisioned it as something between a symphony and a string quartet.  Its final form was an inspiration that delights all his admirers.  Despite his tendency to underestimate even his best works, Tchaikovsky seems to have had a fondness for this score.  “I wish with all my heart that you could hear my Serenade properly performed,” he wrote to Mme. Von Meck in 1881 . . . . “The first movement is my homage to Mozart.  It is intended to be an imitation of his style, and I should be delighted if I thought I had in any way approached my model.”

I.  Piece in Form of a Sonatina:  Andante non troppo; Allegro moderato.  The main body of this movement is lively and energetic with a strongly rhythmic first theme and a lightly skipping second theme for contrast.

II. Waltz:  Moderato, tempo di valse.  The graceful, lilting melody of this Waltz is one of the most popular and most charming in all of Tchaikovsky.  He had an especial flair and so loved the Viennese waltz style that the melody is hard to forget.

III. Elegy: Larghetto elegacio.  The wistful mood of the opening contrasts with a livelier middle section.  For the return of the opening music the entire orchestra plays with mutes, producing a delicately veiled tone.

IV. Finale: Andante; Allegro conspirito.  The slow introduction is based on a Russian folk tune, a Volga "hauling song".  There is a bustling main theme that is related to the slow introduction to the first movement, which also returns toward the end in its original form.  The conclusion comes with another brilliant outburst of the bustling main theme. 

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Born on May 7, 1840 in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia

Died On November 6, 1893 in St. Petersburg, Russia

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, probably the most famous of all Russian composers, was the son of a mine inspector.  He started piano studies at age five and soon showed remarkable gifts.  He attended law school in St. Petersburg, and, while studying law and government, he took music lessons, including composing. 

At age nineteen he took a job as a bureau clerk, a job which he hated.  By this time he was totally absorbed by music, and he began to study music in earnest at the relatively late age of twenty-one.  His progress in music was rapid, however.  After graduating from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he became a professor of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory and became a very prolific composer: a symphony, an opera, a tone poem – and by the age of thirty – his first great orchestral work, Romeo and Juliet.

 In 1877 he acquired a wealthy benefactress, Nadezhda von Meck, with whom he had a curious relationship – they corresponded but never met in person.  Madame von Meck gave him an annuity that allowed him to leave the conservatory and devote himself totally to composition; fourteen years later, he was deeply hurt when she cut off the stipend and stopped writing to him. 

During these years Tchaikovsky achieved success conducting his own works throughout Europe (and the United States in 1893), but he always remained a spiritually troubled man.  In 1893, nine days after conducting the premiere of his Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique) – which ends unconventionally with a slow, despairing finale – he died at the age of fifty-three.

Tchaikovsky’s music is extremely tuneful, colorfully scored, and filled with emotional fervor directed to the heart rather than the head.  In 19^th Century Russian music Tchaikovsky stands alone.  He did not fall under the influence of Brahms nor Wagner, but greatly admired the French music of Bizet and Saint-Saens. 

He had a lifelong passion for Mozart, and many passages in Tchaikovsky’s music are as delicately detailed and colored as works by Bizet and Mozart.  In addition to his orchestral master-pieces he is noted for the success of his operas, ballets and songs.