Pride month had a classical music sound last weekend as the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra performed “Prisms,” closing out its 29th season.
Yes, other classical music ensembles in Minnesota feature musicians from queer communities, but MPO is unique in that it has as part of its mission to create “increased visibility for the musical talents of the GLBTA community.” The orchestra was founded in 1993 by Kevin Ford, who died of HIV-AIDS two years later.
With music director Brian Dowdy conducting, the orchestra performed three works, including a world premiere the orchestra had co-commissioned. The 65-member orchestra played the challenging program with gusto.
The concert opened with a 1990 piece by Michael Abels, known for composing the score for the films “Get Out” and “Us.” The piece, “Global Warming,” references climate change and also observes a “warming” of international relations happening at the time the composer wrote it, according to the program notes. Abels wrote the piece soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall when the Cold War appeared to be over.
The work began with a sense of unease. A clicking sound, referencing cicadas, suggested a dystopian desert landscape. A riveting solo performed by concertmaster Catherine Himmerich was trailed by a companion melody performed by principal cellist Kristin Snow. Abels brought in sounds from musical traditions around the world— including Irish folk music and music from Southwest Asia. The cross-cultural communion of sounds found a book-end toward the end of the piece with a similar dissonant violin tune heard in the beginning. The piece created a sense of disquietude.
Secondly, the orchestra played the world premiere of Mary Kouyoumdjian’s “Walking with Ghosts,” featuring guest bass clarinet player Jeff Anderle. It continued the ominous feeling of the first piece, with rolling cellos and bursts of sound by the brass instruments. Anderle began his solo by playing long sustained notes, full of pauses. Underneath him, jarring eruptions of brass notes rumbled.
At times, the bass clarinet solo would became more melodic. Then just as suddenly, it would veer into screeching, then lull back into a looming, loping line. Throughout, Anderle proved virtuosic in the different sounds he could draw out of his instrument. Kouyoumdjian’s composition increased in cacophony toward the end, hurling toward a climactic conclusion.
After intermission, MPO tackled the four movements of Florence Price’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor. A Black composer writing music in the first half of the twentieth century, Price’s talents went underrecognized during her lifetime. Many of her works, including the 4th symphony, were nearly lost until they were discovered in 2009.
At once robust, melodic, and filled with the sounds of American vernacular— including nods to African American spirituals, hymns and jazz music— Symphony No. 4 sounded like America.
Price referenced the spiritual “Wade in the Water” in the first movement, after a fanfare beginning. She also employed call and response, creating a lush tapestry of sound. The second movement, meanwhile, sounded like a hymn. With an overarching ethereal harp, the music was pastoral and soul-filling. From there, the “Juba Dance” movement added a syncopated flavor, complete with groovy bass line. The last movement, Scherzo, featured both an exuberance and a growing tension. Even as it swelled with triumph, an undercurrent of unease lingered.
The orchestra made clear how the work is an essential entry into the canon of American classical music.
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June 05, 2022 at 10:21PM
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Review: Pride month has classical sound as MN Philharmonic Orchestra performs ‘Prisms’ - St. Paul Pioneer Press
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