t
Page 6-Sunday, October 15, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Orchestra not quite up to pair
_q~qqq
By MARK JOHANSSON
It would be unfair not to list a few
of the generally good points about the
presentation before attempting to
University Philharnionia
Friday, October 13, 1978
Hilt udirnhin
5 nphony No. 0 in Umajor
("Lndon")................Joseph Haydn
Symphony N0.3 in C minor, Op. 78
("Organ-t......_... ..Camille Saint-Saens
,Mainly, the choice of program gave
the listeners an opportunity to hear two
pleasing and familiar symponies in one,
short concert. Both symphonies can be
considered the greatest music written
by the respective composers, who are
separated in time by nearly a century.
Symphony No. 104 in D major ("Lon-
don") by Joseph Haydn is one of a set of
twelve he composed for the
cosmopolitan audiences in London,
beginning in 1790, thus they are named
the "London" symphonies. To write the
twelve, Haydn used everything he had
learned in his previous forty years of
composition, bringing all of his familiar
elements together on a grander scale.
In the Symphony No. 104, the use of a
criticize the University Philharmonia's
performance Friday night in Hill
Auditorium.
VIEWPOINT LECTURES
JONATHOAN KOZOL
eeQn Education"
Progressive Educator & Author-His last book The Night Is
Durk and I am Far from Home deals with how the school
system effectively indoctrinates its students. His new book,
The Children of the Revolution wil be released this October.
WED. OCT. 18
8 p.m.--Rackham Aud.
$1:00 General Admission
Tickets now available in the Mich. Union
folksong melody in the Finale eviden-
ced his broad desire to please both the
ordinary music lover and the expert.
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78
("Organ") by Camille Saint-Saens is
one of his most famous works and cer-
tainly his most ambitious. "With it," he
said, "I have given all I could give ...
What I did I could not achieve again." It
was written for the London Philhar-
monic and the composer himselfcon-
ducted the premier.
FOR THEIR FIRST concert, the
Philharmonia's playing made en-
joyable listening, but technically the
performance was defective and awk-
ward, especially the portion after in-
termission.
The Haydn Symphony was the most
satisfying of the two works as the en-
semble made few mistakes. A careful
and precise playing of the somber, four-
note theme of the Adagio by the strings
and tympani provided the suspense to
prepare the audience for the next sec-
tion.
The following Allegro was played
with exacting intonation and tempo,
and asolid, confident sound resulted.
The woodwinds played their exposed
section with a clear and well-matched
sound, and the horn and string ex-
change of the six-note figure was
rhythmic and sure.
IN THE ANDANTE, the attacks were
elegantly soft and smooth, although
some string pitch problems and a violin
entered prematurely. Despite the bad
tempo of the trumpet, the rest of the
brass and the woodwinds blended well
with the strings. By the end of the
movement, the conductor gave up on
keeping any sort of strict time and was
either letting the tempo drag, or trying
to give us some kind of unsuccessful in-
terpretation.
In both the Menuet and Finale, the
sound improved along with the sense of
tempo, although by the end, the brass
were behind again. With all of the notes,
the Finale was grand and stirring,
primarily due to a careful use of
dynamics.
Do a Tree
a Favor:*
Recycle
The conductor let the overall sound
become fluid and at times quite legato,
instead of bringing out the simple
classical beauty of the piece. Several
reasons other than the conductor's in-
tention may have accounted for this
less than crisp sound, however. The
fairly large orchestra, including seven
basses, and the tone and phrasing of the
first violins may have been contributed
to an otherwise acceptable performan-
ce.
NEXT (AFTER intermission), came
the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. The
strings began the yearning, plaintive
Adagio beautifully and gave a good
crescendo. The agitated Allegro
Moderato was played confidently (but
the brass were assuredly losing the
tempo) with great surges of sound
swelling into tympani rolls.
During the short development, the
two-note fragment of the theme tossed
around by various sections of the or-
chestra was played precisely and with
accurate tempo, as was the cello and
bass pizzicato at the Allegro's con-
clusion.
The serene, yet moving theme of the
Adagio was played with an emotionally
beautiful and warm tone by the violins,
violas and celos, while the organ gave
support through slow chord
progressions. During the second
playing of this theme, by clarinet, horn
and trombone accompanied by divided
strings, the sound was probably the
best achieved in the Saint-Saens.
WHEN THE VIOLINS attempted the
difficult arabesque variations of the
theme, many bad notes were heard and
intonation and tone slipped con-
siderably. We almost forgot these
mistakes, during the final theme
repetition, however, where the soaring,
ethereal string melody was accom-
panied by the organ, which then added
very low 32' pedal stops, making the
floor and seats vibrate.
The Allegro moderato was given a
fast, energetic tempo while being
repeated by the upper string sections,
but during the movement's concluding
chords the brass sounded some wrong
notes. In the following Presto, the
strings lost much of their intonation and
tone, some of which they never
regained.
The Maestoso was awesome enough
just because of the volume, but the
tempo of the development seemed to be
not of the conductor's choosing (who
chose it I couldn't tell) and the group
gradually lost momentum. Obvious
mistakes were made by the wind in-
strumentsand still everyone managed
to get to the Coda, which was undoub-
tedly more tumultous than planned.
Soon, the organ soloist was ignoring
his page turner and frantically swatting
at his score while descending the C
major scale in pedal octaves. The or-
chestra tried to keep any kind of tempo,
and the tympani made a faulty entran-
ce so the soloist could play the final
chord several beats early.
I WZ
I-v'
Il
Vi
p
Iiw
I
I
i
L
S
w .
String bands make
for a magical Ark.
By STEVE HOOK
Amid the hoopla and excitement
surrounding the likes of a Billy Joel
concert and a Michigan State football
game, another celebration of sorts took
place at the Ark over this past weekend
a celebration of string music.
Hosting the Fennig's All-Star String
Band on Thursday night, and the Long
Haul String Band Friday and Saturday,
the Ark provided an education in this
type of music, through the contrasts
and similarities these bands displayed,
in addition to presenting three evenings
of enjoyable entertainment.
DESPITE AN absence of electricity,
due to a fallen power line, Fennig's All-
Star String Band cheerfully went on
anyway Thursday night. Microphones
and amplifiers gone, the rooms lit by a
pair of lanterns, an unexpected sense of
magic prevailed in the Ark before the
band even appeared. As they wove their
way through their first pieces, it was
obvious to the enraptured audience that
they were in the right place at the right
time. A quick span of the dimly lit faces
revealed unanimous expressions of joy
and happiness.
"I'm kinda glad there is no power,"
revealed Bill Spence, the band's leader
and hammered dulcimer wizard. Both
other members of the trio obviously
concurred, seeming relieved by the
sudden simplicity. George Wilson, fid-
dler and banjo player, and Toby Fink;
playing the piano, agreed between sets
that this type of music is perhaps better
off without the bright lights and am-
plification. "It seems so much more in-
timate," Fink explained.
Performing a collection of English,
Irish, and Canadian fiddle tunes, as
well as traditional and contemporary
"Jarrett's Solo Concerts: The word incredible is an understatement here..."
DOWNBEA T
"Jarrett transcends jazz or any other pigeonhole; he has redefined the role of the
piano in contemporary music . .." LEONARD FEA THER, IA TIMES
Orchestra $9 - 8; Balcony 95 - 85- 750
Tickets available at: FORD AUDITORIUM BOX OFFICE and all J. LHUDSON Ticket
Centers. Mail orders, send certified check or money order to:
Civic Center Ticket Service
20 E. Jefferson, Detroit, Mich 48226
o.lcftudc 'SeU (1addressed. sh~Lh14' 'ft In i
Yc
cur Daily
GfLIVERSITY c5MUSICALC8OCIETY presents
American foll and country songs, Fen-
nig's All-Star String Band displayed the
tightness and togetherness that has
made them popular attractions at folk
festivals and coffeehouses nationwide.
Their ability to combine free-flowing
improvisations within the traditional
melodies presented seemed most im-
pressive about this New England-based
group.
AND WHEN Percy Danforth, a 79-
year-old bones player, and frequent
folk-festival performer, was called to
the stage to everyone's surprise but his
own, the enchanting quality this
evening possessed seemed to intensify.
This was, needless to say, one of the
Ark in recent days.
Friday night it was all Kenny Hall
and his Long Haul String Band.
Although the magic that prevailed the
night before was noticably absent, the
performance was exceptional.
KENNY HALL is a well-known man-
dolinist and fiddler. Blind since birth,
the 54-year-old musician is a primary
influence on old-time string music. A
mandolin player since he was 12-years-
old, it's no woner why he is referred to
as the "Bill Monroe of old-time man-
dolin."
Along with fellow mandolinist Terry
Barrett, guitar and mandolin player
John Greene, and Marta Hall on bodra
(a sort of Irish tom-tom), this band per-
formed a wide spectrum of cowboy
songs, ballads, jigs, reels, square dance
and waltz tunes, comic vovals, as well
as dance music from Ireland, Portugal,
Italy and French-Canada.
Most impressive were the many in-
strumentals. Although the vocal tunes
were entertaining, whimsical, and
warmly received, Hall's rasping voice
seemed to struggle in competing with
the string instruments around him. The
same- thing occurred when Greene
displayed his vocal talents, as he
seemed poorly matched with the music
accompanying him. All members
seemed most comfortable concei-
trating their efforts on their respective
instrumental talents. This band also I
seemed tolack the visual character and
charm that Fennig's All-Stars
displayed the night before. 4
YET, DESPITE these relatively
minor problems, Kenny Hall and com-
pany provided top-notch string music of
the highest calibre. A feeling of awe and
respect prevailed as the audience
stared open-mouthed at this
phenomenal entertainer.
Based in Fresno, California, the Long
Haul Band has been together for just
two years; they can look forward to a
bright future.
It was the kind of weekend one would
expect from the Ark, a special, magical
weekend which will be remembered
happily by all who were there to share
the experience.
ManOf
LuMancha.
A MUSKET PRESENTATION
----.---------------- ---- -
TICKET ORDER FORM
Circle date tickets desi d:
Cic/ dtetcktsdeird $4.5 SOcenter orchestra and balcony
November 2, 3, 4, 8. 9. 10 at 8 p.m. $4.00-side orchestra and balcony
November 5 at 2 p.m.4- ic et ra alo
Novemuber I 1 at 2 p.m. and 9 p.mI. - tickets (a $ , ror a total of $
Name
Phone
Address
City State Zip
Mail order with stamped, self-addressed envelope and check payable to UAC-
MUSKET, 530 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
Phone 763-1107 for further information.
INTERNATIONAL U
-INTERNATIONAL
L) - Tuesday, Oct<
T1.H---21ST
OCTOBER
1978
ober 17
Friday, Oct. 20
EXCURSION
Detroit Inst. of Art and
Science Center
Contact International
Center for details.
Departure. . . 12 noon-764-9310
DINNER . . . (international) AT
BETHLEHEM CHURCH OF CHRIST:
ANN ARBOR-call Ecumenical Cam-
pur Center-662-5529 for reserva-
tions.
Saturday, Oct. 21
Saturday. Oct. 14
PARTY. . . (International)
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL EVE
PARTY
8:00 PM Alice Lloyd Hall;
Admission: Student/Staff ID and $1
SYMPOSIUM
MIDDLE EAST-PEACE OR WAR?....
Speakers: Prof. A. Mendel.
Prof. R. Tanter.
7:30 PM RACKHAM AMPHITHEATRE
Wednesday, Oct. 18
SYMPOSIUM