|
|
|
|
 |
|
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TO PRESENT FALL PERFORMANCE |
|
|
|
|
October 18, 2011
GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Grove City College Symphony Orchestra will present its fall concert on Friday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m. in Ketler Auditorium of the Pew Fine Arts Center on campus. The concert will include several works by prominent composers such as Mikhail Glinka and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, as well as Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony.” Doors open at 7:30 p.m.; the concert is free and open to the public.
Schubert’s “Symphony No. 8” is referred to as the “Unfinished Symphony” because Schubert stopped writing it after completing only two movements. The work combines the form expected from a Classical time period symphony with the passion and dynamic contrast expected from a Romantic time period composer. The symphony opens with the haunting melody of basses and cellos and builds to the climax of the entire orchestra before retreating to an unfinished second movement that ends with only the strings.
The College Chamber Orchestra will also perform Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony,” a collection of simple melodies arranged for string orchestra. Britten’s skill with compositional technique showcases the various abilities of stringed instruments including an entire movement of pizzicato playing.
The concert will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s “Marche Slave,” written in 1876 as a focal point of a Red Cross concert to raise funds for Russian support of wounded Serbian soldiers who were at war with the Ottoman Empire. The work is programmatic in that it creates an emotional response to the events surrounding the war. The work begins grimly focusing on the demise of the Serbian army, but then quickly changes to a more positive theme revealing the Russians’ support. The third theme reiterates the Serbian cry for help and ends with an inspiring rendition of “God Save the Tsar,” played by the entire orchestra.
The Grove City College Orchestras will be conducted by Jeffrey Tedford ’00, the newest member of the Music and Fine Arts Department. Tedford comes to Grove City College from Williamsport, Pa., where he served as music director and conductor of the Williamsport Chamber Choir & Orchestra and also the director of Orchestras and Strolling Strings at Williamsport Area High School, an orchestra program that involved more than 150 players and 3 orchestras on a daily basis.
Tedford is an Eastern Division String Orchestra representative for the National Association for Music Education, a position he has held since 2010. In this position, he works with string teachers from around the country for advocacy and higher standards for string education.
| |
|
|
|
|
Print Page
