 "Photo: Pittsburgh Post Gazette")
Usually, a front-row seat at a typical Erie Philharmonic concert at the Warner Theatre in Erie will cost the average patron around $50 for just one ticket. On Tuesday, Oct. 27 in the Cole Auditorium, the price of admission was fairly reasonable for a college student; front-row seats and all other sections were free. Members of the Erie Philharmonic performed chamber orchestra music under the direction of world-renowned music director and conductor, Daniel P. Meyer.
The Edinboro University Friends of Music, an organization that actively supports the Edinboro Music Department and helps with the creation and funding of various events and programs, organized the concert.
The concert began with "Shaker Loops," a piece composed by John Adams, one of the most popular and prolific composers of today.
According to Meyer, the Shakers, who lived during the 1700 and 1800s, inspired "Shaker Loops".
"The Shakers were a Protestant religious sect and were very simple people," he said.
Shakers would often dance and sing expressively during worship. Adams' composition reflected that exuberance with his repetitive loops and shaking of the strings.
Meyer advised that the piece shouldn't be listened to with Western ears.
"You may want to listen to it was an Asian perspective," he said. "It's fascinating. You have to give it time to let it give a hold of you."
Throughout "Shaker Loops," there was a gradual build. The shaking strings fell into a slight stir and would calm down again, gradually. The piece was all about subtle changes and was very additive. No quick, sudden movements were to be had.
There were serene moments during different movement changes. At one point, the violins began to whistle and flutter; it felt like the violin was sliding in and out of consciousness.
"Shaker Heights" was beautifully challenging. It was challenging to hear all of the layers, but the different tonal ranges and constant repetition really captured the Shaker religious movement as described by Meyer.
After the applause, Meyer asked the audience for some feedback on what they had heard. Audience members had many different impressions of the piece, and all seemed to be positive. Some just let the music wash over them while others listened carefully to hear the different rhythmic activity and shift changes in the piece. Some parts collided into each other and formed parallel lines.
Meyer then compared music to being similar to painting and sculpting in that artists and composers use many different palates and techniques to create a multidimensional work of art.
When the Erie Philharmonic was preparing themselves to play "Suite for Whippoorwill Road" by William P. Alexander, Meyer added woodwinds into the mix to enhance the color palette of the strings.
"'Suite for Whippoorwill Road' has different colors interjected throughout," said Meyer.
As the music played, the audience could really sense how the palette changed since the more traditional violins now answered to the woodwinds and this created a spooky, yet playful atmosphere. "Suite for Whippoorwill Road" contrasted greatly with "Shaker Loops" in that it was not a minimalist composition by any means.
In terms of its melodic lines moving in and out of the piece, it was more complex and lively. "Suite for Whippoorwill Road" was reminiscent to the rhythmic character of a country band march at some points. The piece was referential in that it forced the listener to determine what the song meant to them.
"Suite for Whippoorwill Road" was inspired by a collection of poems of the same name penned by Brett Rutherford, Edinboro alumnus and former editor of the Spectator in the late 1960s.
In Alexander's program notes, he states that the title of this particular song is more imaginative than the implied meaning of the music.
"Some of the poems in that collection do indeed seem to be reflected in some of the music, but others demand a 'poetic license.'" Alexander is a former music professor at Edinboro and the namesake of the new Music Center, which was named after him because of the permanent endowment he established for the Edinboro University Friends of Music.
As the song ended and the performers bowed, Alexander walked to the front of Cole Auditorium to shake the hand of Daniel Meyer. It was a touching, and somewhat "poetic" moment.
The Erie Philharmonic's near perfect performance was capped off with the famed orchestral suite "Appalachian Spring," composed by Aaron Copland. After receiving a $500 Coolidge Commission to write a ballet score for Martha Graham's dance company in 1943, Copland scored the piece to have a 13-member chamber orchestra since it was to be performed in the small theater of the Library of Congress in the following year. As the program stated, the version played last Tuesday evening by the Erie Philharmonic was Copland's favorite version:
"He noted the clarity found in it and the lack of voluptuous sonorities of the large orchestra."
Copland ended up receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Music for this composition and the Erie Philharmonic deserve equal fanfare for their exceptional rendition. The piano was played on top of the sharp strings prominently, and it gave the song a wonderfully rich texture that helped the performance have an understated and hushed impact.
Their performance was incredibly immaculate and highly evocative. It matched the transitional season Edinboro is in right now with the changing leaves and dropping temperatures. The Philharmonic beautifully captured the "distinctly American" sound often heard in many of Copland's works.
As Meyer stated before the evening began, "music is an art that needs to be breathed into in order for it to have life."
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