[Africa:
Piano Music of William Grant Still;
Denver Oldham, piano;
Koch International Classics 3-7084-2H1]
The Oakland Public Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra
announces
its Fourth Season under the director of Dr. Sandra I. Noriega.The OPC
Symphony Orchestra offers Bay Area musicians the unique opportunity to
perform the rarely heard works of African-American, and other ethnically
under-represented composers, in addition to standard repertoire.
Concert - Sunday, August 4th, at 4 PM.
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church - Barnett Hall - 3534 Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610
To hear recordings of the concert repertoire and download available sheet music, please go to:
Tuscaloosa Tango
Winner
of the 2010 Alabama Orchestra Association Composition Competition, by
local Bay Area composer, Daniel Leo Simpson. Simpson is described as an
American Composer with a flair for creating "contagious" and engaging
music, and specializes in unusual, interesting and dynamic works of
every genre. From concerti and symphonies to commercials and film music,
he is distinguishing himself as unique in his field.
Tuscaloosa Tango is written in the form of a DOUBLE fugue - very interesting!
Capriccio Espagñol
by
Russian composer, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who initially planned this
piece as a fantasy for violin and orchestra but eventually decided on a
purely orchestral scoring. Korsakov possessed an exceptional knowledge
of the characteristics and capabilities of different instruments, and Capriccio Espagñol
strongly supports his reputation as a master orchestrator.
Rimsky-Korsakov notes this aspect of the work in his autobiography:
"According to my plan, the Capriccio was to glitter with dazzling orchestral color, and clearly I was not mistaken."
Lenox Avenue
by
William Grant Still was originally performed as a CBS radio broadcast
in 1936, and presents a splendid panorama of life in 1930's Harlem. It
was composed as a set of musical vignettes depicting scenes and episodes
one might run into on the central street of New York's Harlem, Lenox
Avenue. Critics described the work as colorful, graphic, insinuating, a
thrilling experience, and exceptionally praiseworthy.An October 31, 1937
review in the Los Angeles Times by Isabel Morse Jones states, "Life
moves fast on the Lenox Avenue of William Grant Still. There is more
real Negro character in it than in all of Porgy and Bess... as it pictures a street in Harlem that is almost human in its personal characteristics."
Incantation and Dance
for
Oboe and Piano by William Grant Still. A professional oboist himself,
enthralled with the beauty of the human voice, his music permeates with
fluid lyricism. In this work, the melody appears as a reflective piano
solo, and the oboe proves the perfect instrument to nurture and develop
its introspective qualities. Though the tempo picks up in the Dance, the mood remains as somber as it is beautiful.
Old California
by
William Grant Still is a symphonic tone poem, that holds thematic charm
by mingling Indian, Spanish and religious motifs, depicting their
influence on the historical development of California as a meeting place
of racial cultures. Critic Richard Saunders of the Hollywood
Citizen-News, 1941, calls it "a work of strong melodic appeal,
magnificently orchestrated, worth a permanent place in orchestral
repertory." A prolonged ovation was accorded William Grant Still after a
fine, initial presentation of this work.
For more information, please contact
Artistic Director Sandra I Noriega at:
or call 510-239-9783
[William Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which
features a comprehensive Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de
Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com
Recordings, sheet music and books of William Grant Still are
available at www.WilliamGrantStill.com,
which is operated by the composer's daughter Judith Anne Still] 
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