“Sweet Simplicity” is a deceptive title for the season finale of the San Juan Symphony at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
A bittersweet lullaby by an American composer opens the program and a cheeky symphony by a very young Brit closes. In between, there’s an intensely moving prayer for peace and a luscious pair of dances. With four works so rich in tone, texture and expressiveness, it must have been a challenge to come up with an umbrella title.
But that’s what Conductor and Music Director Thomas Heuser has done.
“This program has music for all audiences and promises to be a soothing and uplifting end to the season,” Heuser said.
William Grant Still’s lullaby, “Mother and Child,” serves as an unusual overture. Still (1878–1975) has been called the Dean of African American composers. He attended the Oberlin Conservatory and served in World War I before a circuitous career in music. In 1943, he composed a “Suite for Violin and Piano” with each of three sections inspired by a work of visual art. A spare, almost abstract drawing apparently inspired Still to compose his lullaby.
If you go
WHAT: San Juan Symphony, “Sweet Simplicity,” final concert of 35th season, Conductor and Music Director Thomas Heuser. Works by Still, Garrop, Debussy and Britten. A high-definition recording with a live pre-concert talk.
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Online at www.sanjuansymphony.org/live.
TICKETS: Digital access.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.sanjuansymphony.org or call 382-9753.
Violinist Lauren Avery, symphony concertmistress, has the music for the complete suite, Heuser said. But only the middle movement had been arranged for string orchestra.
“This simple lullaby is heartfelt and charming, but it also contains striking contrasts and melancholy moods,” Heuser said.
A 1904 musical mirage from Impressionism’s Parisian heyday will follow. Debussy’s “Sacred and Profane Dances” will feature harpist Anne Eisfeller.
“I proposed the Debussy to Anne, and she gladly accepted,” Heuser said. “The harp participates so beautifully with the string orchestra; their resonant qualities complement each other.”
The work was commissioned by a prominent musical instrument firm, Pleyel, to introduce its new chromatic double harp. The massive instrument soon fell out of favor but not Debussy’s gorgeous pair of dances.
After intermission, the orchestra will perform American composer Stacy Garrop’s traditional Hebrew prayer “Lo Yisa Goy.”
“When researching music for string orchestra, I found that Garrop had transcribed her original vocal work for string orchestra and recorded it during the 2020 pandemic,” Heuser said. “The music is a fervent prayer for peace, intoned by the strings with intensity. It features melodies drawn from the Jewish tradition and is a sublime and gorgeous piece of music.”
Garrop’s piece is based on the Biblical text Micah: 4:3-4: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,” and “none shall make them afraid.” The tune is known to every choir singer and is intoned by the cantorial voice of the viola in the string orchestra arrangement, performed by Cory McBride.
The final and longest work on the program is Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony.” Composed when he was 20 and based on tunes he created in earlier childhood, the four-movement work is anything but simple.
“Eight melodic fragments are beautifully woven into the music,” Heuser said. “The highly technical string symphony finds its simplicity in Britten’s ability to capture the listener immediately and intuitively. He quotes his own childhood melodies as a starting point for a work overflowing with delightful musical treasures.”
Britten’s four sections give away the composer’s intentions: “Boisterous Bourrée,” “Playful Pizzicato,” “Sentimental Saraband” and “Frolicsome Finale.”
Heuser will broadcast a pre-concert talk live at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The concert will follow and remain available for a few weeks for on-demand viewing.
“We feel very grateful to have accomplished so much during a pandemic year,” Heuser said. “The support of the community has been extraordinary.”
So has the music.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
