October Harvest: Youthful Tchaikovsky in a “Sweeeet” Program
Yo! In the lingo of the era, this October’s PSO program is “awesome,” “sweet,” and will “rock!” In another time, this might have been called a hip concert, a cool program, or “right on.”
Don’t be surprised if you hear these words being used freely during intermission and afterward at the PSO concert October 19th. It’s a concert featuring a rich recipe of popular culture and high art, the youthful and traditional, and Tchaikovsky. This concert is the musical equivalent of going to an innovative restaurant that conjures up inspiring new twists on comfort food.
But wait. This is mostly an all-Tchaikovsky program. How is this possible? Well, first of all the opening work is a little-known overture by Tchaikovsky written when he was only 26 years old (about the same age as our youthful soloist on the concert Charles Yang). Tchaikovsky was asked to write the overture for the first visit to Moscow of the Tsarevich (the future Tsar Alexander III) after his marriage to the Princess of Denmark. To commemorate the occasion, Tchaikovsky took two very popular melodies, the Russian and Danish National Anthems and combined them throughout the piece to symbolize the union of the two countries through the marriage. You will recognize the Russian melody from the more famous 1812 Overture. To add to the energy of the piece, the Central Illinois Youth Symphony, expertly prepared by its conductor Dr. Glenn Block, will join the PSO for the opening work. I always love these collaborations because it’s a great example of how youthful exuberance and professional experience can complement one another in a way I wish the world would more often emulate.
After the overture, we feature a guest artist the Boston Globe called “A Classical Violinist with Rock-Star Charisma” – Charles Yang. This youthful, hip, and extremely talented violinist and musician will join the PSO in Tchaikovsky’s famous Violin Concerto in D Major, written when the composer was still under 40. It is one of the most famous, exciting, and technically challenging concerti of the entire solo repertoire. Tchaikovsky wrote it during a period of recovery from depression. While composing, he said: “From the day I began to write it [a] favorable mood has not left me. In such a spiritual state composition loses all aspect of work — it is a continuous delight.”
Tchaikovsky loved to borrow melodies from popular culture and often used folk melodies and hymns that were easily recognizable by his audiences. His familiarity with the idiom became so keen that listeners often assume many of his melodies are folk-derived when they are originally his. This is the case in his Violin Concerto. I was recently asked by a music enthusiast as to the origin of the “folk-melody” in the second movement of the concerto. My reply: “Tchaikovsky”.
Now a word about Charles Yang: he has performed as a soloist with orchestras and in recitals in the United States, Europe, Brazil, Russia, China, and Taiwan, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. On June 9th of 2005, the Mayor of Austin, TX (his home town) presented Mr. Yang with his own‚ “Charles Yang Day.” Mr. Yang has been a frequent guest on the Emmy Award winning PBS show From the Top, and has also been heard on National Public Radio in Washington, DC and Boston. That’s the classical side of Charles.
After he shows off his virtuosity in the Tchaikovsky, you get to hear the “YIN” of Mr. Yang. He possesses amazing improvisational crossover abilities as a violinist, vocalist, and guitarist that have led him to performances with a variety of artists in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Forbidden City in Beijing among others. His recent engagements include a concert at the United Nations, an appearance with ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro at the Fifth EG Conference in Monterey, California (a conference of leading creative innovators), a performance with Guitarhero and Rockband creator, Eran Egozy at The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, a duet with renowned dancer Marcelo Gomes at the Joyce theater and as soloist with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. He has recently returned from a series of concerts and master classes in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His career has been followed by various news media including The New York Times, The New York Post, Playbill, The Boston Globe, Fortissimo, the Austin-American Statesman, Shenzhen Daily, The Strad, Dallas Daily, Cincinnati Enquirer, and Juilliard Journal. Mr. Yang is featured in Nick Rome’s new book, Driven as well as discovery channel’s Curiosity. If you want to be inspired, go to Charles’s website at http://www.charlesyangmusic.com.
In the spirit of Tchaikovsky, the PSO commissioned a special short violin concerto to open the second half of the concert. It is entitled: “Covers – A Concerto for Popular Culture and Orchestra” by Armand Ranjbaran and Charles Yang. It takes three popular songs from our culture and uses them as the basis for three short violin concerto movements. Fantasy-like in their expression, the three movements are based on the Eagles’ Hotel California, the Beatles Blackbird, and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. What’s more, Armand and Charles will be in town all week doing outreach and educational activities and Charles will even do a set with local singer/songwriter Jared Bartman at Kelleher’s on Thursday evening October 17th.
The concert ends with Tchaikovsky’s rousing Symphony #2, known as The Little Russian, which back then meant the Ukraine, because he used many well-known Ukrainian folk melodies throughout the composition. Written when he was merely 32, this work is so evocative of that country that it vividly brings up the images and the landscapes in my memory from the times I conducted in Ukraine. It is like a cold Russian winter (Key of C Minor) emerging into a beautiful Russian Spring (C Major). If you’d like to listen to some of the symphony, click here (Tchaikovsky Symphony #2). If you’d like to hear some of the folk tunes in their original forms, try the links below. The hall you will see in The Crane is a hall in Kiev in which I actually performed.
So, we have on this concert the expressions of a youthful Tchaikovsky, the youthful exuberance of the CIYS, the youthful virtuosity and innovation of Charles Yang and Armand Ranjbaran, favorite songs of our culture, and the great PSO – 116 years young! It’s Cool Man!
I hope you will join us at the PSO for this very special concert, and all season, as we celebrate music in all of its forms and genres. And, that you find a little bit of yourself in every work we perform.
Warmly,
George Stelluto, Music Director of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra
