San Francisco Classical Voice

February 26, 1999

The Oakland East Bay Symphony presented a virtual primer on the early 20th-century musical language at its Friday performance in the Paramount Theatre. The orchestra performed works as gentle as Barber's Serenade for Strings and as playful as Copland's Clarinet Concerto, and employed forces as large as full orchestra and chorus for Poulenc's Gloria and as small as 15 players for Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1.

But while diversity was an important part of the programming, I was more impressed by the thread of common musical language between all the works. None is tonal in the traditional sense, even though the Poulenc is often referred to as "in G" and the Schoenberg as "in E." Yet we as listeners can now easily anticipate harmonic direction and melodic contour, and even predict which note of a complex chord is most likely to resolve. It becomes clearer with each passing year that there was, in fact, a common practice among many early 20th-century Western composers.

The Music Director, Michael Morgan, produced from the Oakland East Bay Symphony all the elasticity of style and tone that one could ask of any orchestra in the country. But the orchestra was most at home with the program's final work, Poulenc's Gloria (1959). Joined by Magen Solomon's meticulously rehearsed 90-plus-member Oakland Symphony Chorus, the orchestra often sounded like a huge organ--its warm, rich brass section providing the foundations, and the woodwinds bringing out the colorful upper partials. Soprano Nicolle Foland brought her darkest tone qualities to her solos. This interpretive decision, along with her elegant legato and perfect intonation, was helpful in showing that this is one of Poulenc's less frivolous pieces.

This is not to say that the Gloria is a somber piece; quite the opposite. But for a composer known for writing light and humorous works, it is worth noting that passages of that character in the Gloria are balanced by complex chords and poignant phrases that give the work depth.

The Poulenc was immediately preceded by Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony (1906). Though the oldest work on the program, the Schoenberg demanded most from audience and players. It makes more use of quartal harmony (chords built on fourths, rather than thirds) than any of the other works, and its tertiary chords and progressions are highly complex. Yet the audience clearly appreciated this intensely emotional work. This was due not only to the fact that we are now familiar with this musical language, but also to the fine performance by the orchestra's principal winds and guest string players, led by Terrie Baune, one of the Bay Area's finest new-music violinists.

The concert began with Barber's famous Adagio for Strings, its quiet pathos making it an unusual opening for a program. In fact, since many in the audience were still taking their seats as the program began, Morgan repeated the work after intermission. Barber's Adagio is known for its rich-sounding harmonies created by simple counterpoint, but most familiarly as performed by huge orchestras on recordings produced with too much artificial reverberation. It was a joy to hear this work played by a normal-sized string section creating transparent tone quality and unexaggerated gestures. Barber himself came to dislike this piece, in large part because of the overblown performances it often received. This was a performance I believe he would have enjoyed.

Copland's Clarinet Concerto makes use of the same harmonic tools as the other works on the program, primarily complex tertiary chords and quartal harmony. Scored for piano, harp, and strings, the work's first movement is typified by Copland's "wide-open" sound and long melodic lines. Despite occasional intonation problems, soloist Jon Manasse was impressive with his rich tone and beautifully shaped phrasing. In the extended solo that separates the two movements, and throughout the second movement, Manasse showed another side, bringing great style and virtuosity to the jazz-inspired sections.

(Ronald Caltabiano is a composer living in San Francisco and teaching at San Francisco State University.)

©1999 Ronald Caltabiano, all rights reserved