A Yin-Yang Concert of Opposites at Concord Chamber Orchestra

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Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt

“I was looking for opposites, like ‘happiness and anger,’” says Concord Chamber Orchestra Music Director Jamin Hoffman. “It was just a coincidence that ‘Hardanger’ contains ‘anger.’” That may sound cryptic, but it’s actually a perfect example of the quite commonly serendipitous way we classical music lovers discover “new” music, though it may actually be decades—or even centuries—old.

The theme for Concord Chamber Orchestra’s 2019-’20 season has been “Yin // Yang,” and each of its concert programs has featured musical opposites. CCO’s next concert, “North // South,” includes music from and about different parts of the European continent; specifically, the densely forested north, with its long, cold winters and the sunny south with its warm summers.

But when setting out, Hoffman thought about opposites of mood rather than location; hence the initially sought-after dichotomy of happiness and anger. A search for the latter led him to find Hardanger—a district in the western part of Norway. This then led to his discovery of an exceedingly obscure Norwegian composer, Geirr Tveitt (1908-’81), and his Hundred Folktunes from Hardanger, Op. 151, which Tveitt organized into several orchestral suites.

“We are doing six selections from the First Suite of Tveitt’s Folktunes from Hardanger: ‘Be Ye Most Heartily Welcome,’ ‘O Please Preserve Me from My Sweetheart,’ ‘Consecration of the New Beer,’ ‘Norwegian Peasant Harp,’ ‘The Goodness of God’ and ‘The Last Farewell,’” says Hoffman. “I think Tveitt is a master of orchestration, and I love the colors he gets out of the orchestra. It was a real treat to find these pieces, and I think they will be a real treat for the audience, as well.”

The north is also represented on the program by the Karelia Overture, Op. 10, by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), the first movement of the composer’s famous Karelia Suite, bringing to your mind’s eye a reindeer-drawn sleighride through a pristine, snow-blanketed Finnish landscape.

Central Europe (in a much earlier time) comes to the fore by way of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467, which he completed in 1785. The work achieved modern fame by way of pop music and film. Its second movement—a gently flowing andante—was featured in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan; as a result, the concerto has become widely known as the “Elvira Madigan Concerto.” Also, Neil Diamond’s 1972 hit, “Song Sung Blue,” is based on a theme from this same movement.

The soloist for the concerto is the winner of CCO’s 2016 Concerto Competition, Gregory Hartmann. He will have graduated with two master’s degrees (piano and music theory) from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music by the concert date. He’s won prizes in piano, concerto and composing competitions throughout the past several years around the U.S. Hartmann will surely be in his element here, as he counts Mozart as his favorite composer.

Mediterranean warmth is represented by one of the most brilliantly orchestrated pieces by a composer renowned for such, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. This is his Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34—a five-movement orchestral suite based on Spanish folk melodies the Russian composer penned in 1887. The composer (whom I adore) would not be happy with my complimenting his orchestration, however.

“The opinion formed by both critics and the public that the Capriccio is a magnificently orchestrated piece is wrong,” Rimsky-Korsakov wrote in his autobiography. “[It] is a brilliant composition for orchestra. The change of timbres, felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns, brief cadenzas for solo instruments, rhythms, etc., constitute the very essence of the composition, not its garb or orchestration. Spanish themes furnished me with rich material for putting in use multiform orchestral effects.”

Responding to the composer’s obvious annoyance, Hoffman says, “I don’t know why he would be so quick to diminish the importance of the orchestration for this piece. I think it is a brilliant piece of music that is also brilliantly orchestrated. There is no doubt that the Spanish/Arabic influences provide good solid bones for the piece that will almost stand up to any kind of handling! When I think about the piece or sing it to myself ‘in my head,’ I often find myself melding it with other similar pieces, like Rodrigo’s guitar concertos. It’s a wonderful evocation of the bright, sunny Spanish coast, which (I believe) inspired Rimsky-Korsakov to write it in the first place (while on duty in the Russian navy).”

Concord Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1975 and is comprised of an all-volunteer, non-paid group of approximately 50 musicians from a variety of professions and backgrounds. Its repertoire is chosen to provide concertgoers with both familiar and unfamiliar works; their upcoming concert certainly fits their musical mission.

“The players in the CCO are doctors, lawyers, teachers, medical researchers, psychologists, realtors, gardeners, engineers and people retired from those fields, as well as students working towards careers as yet unnamed,” says Hoffman. “What unites us all is a love of music and a commitment to bringing the best performance we can to our audiences.”

The Concord Chamber Orchestra’s North // South concert takes place at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 11 at St. Sebastian Parish, 5400 W. Washington Blvd. For tickets and more information, call 414-750-4404 or visit the orchestra’s website at concordorchestra.org.