Buzzing Reed- Classical Music & Clarinet Culture

This update covers the Columbus Symphony events of the past few weeks, along with a preview of an exciting upcoming concert with conductor George Manahan.

Over the past few weeks we played several short educational concerts in various Columbus elementary schools.

Yesterday we played at West Broad Elementary. At each concert Peter Stafford Wilson, who conducts all these concerts, asks the children to name the “families” of instruments after pieces featuring them. In most schools, the kids had trouble answering correctly, but at West Broad, they nailed all the answers. Kudos to the teachers at W Broad Elementary!

This week we play another set of educational concerts in the Ohio Theater for Columbus children. The kids always seem to love coming to the ultra-fancy Ohio Theater to see the Symphony.

I remember going to see the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center while in Middle School. It was one of my first introductions to the symphony. I remember learning about the radical style of Berlioz through hearing parts of his Symphonie Fantastique. Did that experience help prompt my decision to become a musician? Yes.

Last week we played Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin along with his G Major Piano Concerto and Brahms 1st Symphony, in the Palace Theater. Guest artist Christopher O’Riley served double duty as soloist and conductor.

I liked O’Riley’s idea of having members of the orchestra make a few comments about the piece we were about to play. It helped the audience connect a face and a personality to the music they were about to hear. I hope we do more of that.

By his own admission he had never conducted an orchestra. Not only did that take guts to admit, it took even more guts to do! He fared well in general, with some help from us. But that’s what it’s about, isn’t it? I think we play better as an orchestra when we have to rely on our best musical instincts, our internal rhythm, and our (remarkably vast) combined experience. Together we pulled it off. O’Riley is certainly an amiable guy, an earnest musician and accomplished pianist.

On May 29 and 30 we perform an all Beethoven concert with conductor George Manahan. I remember his stellar performance of Stravinsky’s Petrouchka here several years ago. Not only did he piece together the notoriously fragmented score into a cohesive whole in the performance, but he conducted in both a three and four pattern beat simultaneously in one spot!

Manahan is primarily known for his successful and seasoned leadership at the New York City Opera. In my opinion, that’s a terrific foundation for dramatic and vivid interpretations of symphonic music.

I look forward to playing the mind-blowing music of Beethoven (including his 5th symphony) with such a seasoned artist.

In his eleventh season as Music Director of New York City Opera, the wide-ranging and versatile George Manahan has had an esteemed career embracing everything from opera to the concert stage, the traditional to the contemporary. He has been hailed for his leadership at City Opera, where he “gets from his players the kind of heartfelt involvement unthinkable in the City Opera orchestra pit 20 years ago…these musicians operate with such consistent energy and involvement.” (New York Times)
George Manahan has distinguished himself throughout the world as one of… more the foremost conductors of our time, and is especially known in the opera world for his musical guidance of diverse productions including productions of ‘La faniculla del West’, ‘Daphne’, ‘Ermione’, ‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’, ‘Cendrillon’, ‘Die tote Stadt’. He has also toured Japan with NYCO’s production of ‘Little Women’.

Mr. Manahan’s guest appearances include the symphonies of Atlanta, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and New Jersey, where he served as acting Music Director for four seasons.

Clarinetist Scott Locke has released a commendable recorded collection of music for solo clarinet spanning nearly the entire 20th century.

The earliest composition on the CD is Stravinsky’s canonical 1918 Three Pieces, which along with Willson Osborn’s well known 1958 Rhapsody (originally for bassoon), are the only works familiar to me.

The CD jacket states the Stravinsky was recorded live. Locke’s performance and interpretation was impressively natural and effortless. In fact throughout the CD, Dr. Locke rises to all technical and musical challenges with aplomb. His big, chunky sound never interfered when lightness and sparkle were needed.

The title composition, Celestial Dreamscape (1997) by Deborah Kavasch and two other works, Canyon Music (2000) by John Steffa and Stanos 1 (1993) by Kristine H. Burns, were written for Dr. Locke.

I enjoyed getting to know the two contrasting movements of Kavasch’s meditative Celestial Dreamscape, which seemed to have an appealing combination of technical challenge, including some cool sounding multi-phonics, and musical depth.

The slow first movement (“a stillness of moonlight”), along with several other pieces on the CD) attests to the seminal and prevailing influence of Olivier Messiaen’s Abyss of the Birds from Quartet for the End of Time. The second, much faster movement (“a sparkle of starlight”) states a jagged theme of sorts, then develops it recognizably.

The three movements of John Steffa’s Canyon Music stuck less well with me. The electronic accompaniment sounds like music from Dr. Who. (If you don’t know Dr. Who, Google it. If you do, you know what I mean) Perhaps with some strobe lights and Daleks running around…

Raga Music (1956) by John Mayer, also recorded from live performances, is unknown to me. The nine very short movements (some only 26 seconds) may have Indian names, but stylistically they are jazz and Messiaen influenced. Though they do not break any new ground in music (even for the 50s), they are worth considering to add accessible variety to a recital. I wonder if these recordings were taken from different performances in different halls, since the acoustics sound markedly different in several of them.

Kristine Burns’ Atanos 1, has what sounds like a piano accompaniment, but no, it’s “Disklavier”. This is serious “plink plank plonk” music, and sounds like a devil to perform; and I might add, enticing and funky enough to consider playing. My question to Scott: what ARE those high notes, and what kind of reed plays them?! Do reeds come in strength #6?

Reversible Jackets (1987) for flute and clarinet by Dan Welcher, features the only other live person (Stephanie Rea, flute) playing (impressively) on this otherwise solo CD. Written as a wedding present for friends, this playful duet in canon is pleasant and well constructed. Within the fairly serious second movement (honeymoon over?) Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is briefly quoted, and the music ends with a smile.

Scott Locke, with a Doctor of Arts from Ball State University, also studied at U. of Southern California with Mitchell Lurie. He has performed solo and chamber music in and around Washington DC, and at the University of Georgia, Arkansas State University, Illinois State University, Middle Tennessee State University, Perdue University, Anderson University and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Locke also performed on a concert tour of France and has soloed with the Indianapolis Symphony as a Vistas in Performance winner.

Currently he is Associate Professor of Clarinet at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, and is principal clarinet in the Paducah Symphony Orchestra.

If you want to buy a copy of his CD, you can buy it on Amazon.com. For questions about the music or for parts, you can contact him directly at scott.locke@murraystate.edu.