CBA SYMPHONY & CHORUS OFFICIAL PROGRAM Gretchen Zook, Erik Eisenmann, Peter Maltese, David Coronna, Michael Poulos, and Andrew Pigott perform at Winter Wonderfest 14 | CBA SYMPHONY & CHORUS calls for two), the idea of giving the central narrative role to the chorus, and the prominent use of insistent rhythms. But where Stravinsky achieves a certain complexity of style and idea, Orff keeps his music stripped to its bones. In Carmina burana he avoids complicated rhythm and harmony (several numbers subsist on a steady diet of two chords), and eschews polyphony altogether. His melodies are plain and syllabic. Occasionally a single driving rhythmic pattern alone keeps the music going. (Imagine the courage it must have taken to write a pit-band oom-pah accompaniment in 1935.) Despite the spartan recipe, Orff succeeds brilliantly because of his flair for dramatic pacing, his ear for dazzling and seductive color, the energy of his rhythms, and, perhaps above all, the number of catchy tunes he composed. <strong>The</strong> result is a highly charged, expressive work of undeniable power and immediacy—claims that can be made for few pieces of serious music written in our century. Orff begins and ends with the wheel of fate—a massive chorus that slowly turns, building in speed and volume as it goes. In between these two pillars, he writes three large chapters. <strong>The</strong> first celebrates springtime in a series of songs and dances. <strong>The</strong> dance music is for orchestra alone; the vocal pieces are scored for baritone solo and various combinations of full chorus and small choir, often singing in alternation. <strong>The</strong> second section moves indoors to iN MeMOriAM evelyn Meine (1926 to February 24, 2011), long time Coordinator of Education and Outreach for the <strong>Chicago</strong> Symphony Orchestra. Evelyn was key in the creation of the CBASO. In the spring of 1986 it was Evelyn Meine, at the suggestion of Margaret Hillis, David Katz’s boss at the Elgin Symphony, who first got the young conductor together with a handful of <strong>Chicago</strong> lawyers looking to start an orchestra. David Katz writes: “Talk about a Citizen Musician Initiative! Evelyn somehow knew that I might have the right combination of personality and musical skill to guide and grow an ensemble of attorneys and judges. I am delighted that our silver anniversary concert will be held in the building where she herself championed music for so many years.” John Burke. Noted <strong>Chicago</strong> recording engineer and friend to the <strong>Chicago</strong> community of opera singers, John recorded many of the leading professional <strong>Chicago</strong> music ensembles and most of the concerts of the <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Bar</strong> <strong>Association</strong> Symphony Orchestra. He is remembered in the wonderful recordings he made and the careers he fostered. William Warfield. Acclaimed throughout the world as one of the great vocal artists of our time, Warfield was a star in every field open to a singer’s art. He is best known to the world as Joe, the dockhand in the movie version of the musical showboat, singing “Ol’ Man River.” He sang the role of Porgy in George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. He recorded Messiah with Leonard Bernstein and won a GRAMMY award for his recording of Copland’s Lincoln Portrait. In 1998 he reprised his role reading the words of that great Illinois lawyer in the Daley Center Plaza accompanied by the <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Bar</strong> <strong>Association</strong> Symphony Orchestra. hon. Bernard S. Neistein. State Sen. Bernie Neistein was one of the first violinists to join the CBASO. He graduated from DePaul Law School at the age of 19. He played a 17th century Amati violin on the floor of the Senate. He obtained the CBASO’s first actual conductor’s podium, and always called David Katz “teacher.” He was 87 when he passed away in 2003. the tavern—the exclusive province of male voices and the temple of food and drink. (<strong>The</strong> saga of the roasted swan, sung by a wailing tenor, is a marvel of exotic color.) In the sensuous music of the third section, set in the courts of love, we hear the solo soprano and the voices of children for the first time. Almost all of these nine pieces are scored for different vocal forces, and the final sequence of numbers is swift and dramatic. From a rowdy, swinging chorus (no. 20, for split choirs), Orff turns to the soprano, who is lost in thought as she vacillates between chastity and physical love (a measured monologue, set in the soprano’s lowest range). Encouraged by the baritone and choruses, she makes her choice, suddenly soaring to the highest reaches of the soprano voice. <strong>The</strong> music erupts in a magnificent hymn of praise (“Noble Venus, hail”), and the circle starts again, as the wheel of fate spins around. Phillip Huscher is the program annotator for the <strong>Chicago</strong> Symphony Orchestra. Program comments copyright © 1995 by <strong>The</strong> <strong>Chicago</strong> Symphony Orchestra <strong>Association</strong>. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.
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