Sunday, December 4th, 2011
Cordier Auditorium
Scott Humphries, Conductor
Overture to Miracle on 34th Street |
Bruce Broughton arr. Johnnie Vinson |
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Shepherd's Pipe Carol | John Rutter | |||
Myn Lyking | R. R. Terry | |||
Katy Dunlap, mezzo-soprano | ||||
Sans Day Carol | John Rutter | |||
Christmas Day | Gustav Holst | |||
Daniel Myers-Bowman, baritone; Kyle Leffel, bass Nikki Glassley, soprano; Cassie Whitaker, soprano Jeremy Walters, tenor; Alex Drew, baritone Courtney Mensing, mezzo-soprano |
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Christmas Singalong | John Finnegan | |||
Manchester College A Cappella Choir Debra Lynn, conductor |
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Intermission | ||||
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 | Sergei Rachmaninoff | |||
I. Moderato |
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Simon Mulligan, piano | ||||
Encore: The Christmas Song |
Mel Tormé and Bob Wells arr. Simon Mulligan |
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Simon Mulligan, piano solo | ||||
Program Notes by James R. C. Adams |
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Overture to Miracle on 34th Street |
Bruce Broughton (b. 1945) |
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Bruce Broughton was born in Los Angeles, California, and has written music for films, television, and video games, the latest musical genre. He is not only a prolific composer, but is very active in such musical organizations as ASCAP, where he is a member of the Board of Directors, Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, former Governor of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and others. Currently, he is a lecturer at the Advanced Film Music Studies, University of California. He has won many awards and nominations. He has ten Emmy Awards and thirteen nominations, and one Academy Award nomination for Silverado, a Clint Eastwood film. You might have heard his music in such films as Lost in Space, Tombstone, The Rescuers Down Under, and Bambi II, as well as the overture to Miracle on 34th Street. He has composed the opening credits for TV series such as JAG, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Dinosaurs, as well as the complete score for How the West was Won. His first orchestral score for a video game was for Heart of Darkness. He has also written concert music, including several concertos and chamber works. |
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Shepherd's Pipe Carol |
John Rutter (b. 1945) |
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Myn Lyking |
Sir Richard Runciman Terry (1865-1938) |
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Sans Day Carol |
John Rutter (b. 1945) |
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Rutter wrote this variant of an early Cornish carol while he was still an undergraduate. It is his version of The Holly and the Ivy, a traditional carol from Cornwall. "Sans Day" actually means "Saint's Day," and must be a local, Cornish dialectal version. |
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Christmas Day |
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) |
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His most popular compositions are The Planets, an orchestral suite of astrological content (or which there are over forty recordings available), and two suites for band, still popular for demonstrations of the quality of audio systems. His music is mostly late Romantic, but some of it has clearly Neo-Classical characteristics (A Fugal Overture). Christmas Day is a fantasy making use of several familiar carols . . . and some not so familiar. |
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Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 |
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) |
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The charge that his music was morbid and pessimistic is not without foundation. There is something very Russian about Rachmaninoff's tendency toward melancholy, and from early childhood, he was concerned with issues of the sad and the happy. He lost two sisters before he was twelve, which did little to alleviate his sense of tragedy. Although he was capable of the most sublime of melodies, there is almost always a disturbing undercurrent - a sense of foreboding in his music. He died in California, shortly after attaining American citizenship. The second piano concerto was the first major work to be successful after he recovered from a nervous breakdown caused, in part, by the failure of his first symphony (owing largely to a poor performance). He was so demoralized by this failure that he wrote nothing of consequence until after submitting himself to the treatment of a Dr. Dahl, who introduced Rachmaninov to the notion of auto-suggestion. This led to the popular fallacy that the concerto was written under hypnosis. Though his confidence was restored by his treatment, he was shaken by the adverse criticism of an acquaintance, almost on the eve of the premiere of the work. At issue was the first theme of the first movement, which Rachmaninoff feared would be thought of as merely an introduction. After much agonizing, he let the work stand as it was, and it went on to be his most popular concerto. While it is true that Rachmaninoff was of a mournful nature, he did have a ready wit. He was a superb pianist who had little patience with performers who seemed ill-prepared. Once, he was performing a piano-violin concert in New York, with the renowned Fritz Kreisler, who suddenly lost his place and whispered to Rachmaninoff, "Where are we?" Without missing a beat, Rachmaninoff replied, "Carnegie Hall." I. Moderato. The movement begins dramatically, with eight chords of the piano going from pianissimo to fortissimo, leading to the first subject (which we are NOT to mistake for a mere introduction!). Many will be familiar with the second subject, which was long ago used as a popular song in a film, beginning, "I will give you music..." II. Adagio sostenuto. The slow movement has another melody which will be recognized by some of the younger members of the audience as the theme used a few years ago by a pop-rock star who declined to credit Rachmaninoff. This star shall remain nameless. III. Allegro scherzando. The principal theme of the finale is the best known of all. As a popular song, it became known as "Full Moon and Empty Arms." Of particular note is the fugato section with successive entries by horn and trumpet, and the beautiful integration of those entries with the piano part. The second part of the principal theme acts as a unifying device by being closely related to the second theme of the first movement. A critic has said (remarking on what he took to be lack of structure) that this concerto is little more than a series of romantic songs. But what singing! |
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Manchester Symphony Orchestra Personnel |
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Violin I Dessie Arnold, Concertmaster Lois Clond Bill Klickman Rachel Nowak +^ Colleen Patrick Austin Ubelhor +^ Liisa Wiljer Violin II Joyce Dubach * Martha Barker Emily Grant ^^ Tyler Krempasky + Linda Kummernuss Alyssa Loos +^ Paula Merriman Tom Naragon ^^ Viola Naida MacDermid * Kelsey Airgood +^ Benjamin Crim +^ Julie Sadler Margaret Sklenar Loughlin Wylie +^ Cello Robert Lynn * Najah Monroe +^ Timothy Spahr Bass Darrel Fiene * Katie Huddleston +^ Jess Gaze Piccolo Kathy Urbani * Flute Kathy Urbani * Kathy Davis |
Oboe George Donner * Nyssa Tierny Clarinet Lila D. Hammer * Mark W. Huntington Sarah Leininger +^ Bassoon Erich Zummack * Elena Bohlander +^ Horn John Morse * Christen Adler ** Carol Campos +^ Kristen Hoffman +^ Kelly Weeks +^ Trumpet Steven Hammer * Dennis Ulrey Trombone Jon Hartman * Larry Dockter Andrew Suhre Tuba Laban Wenger + Timpani Dave Robbins * Percussion Dave Robbins * Timothy Johnson + Katie Lowther + Christopher Teeters + * Denotes principal + Denotes MC student ^ Denotes Keister Scholarship recipient ^^ Denotes Manchester High School student ** Denotes assistant principal |
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Manchester A Cappella Choir Personnel |
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Soprano I Caitlin Kessler Ashlea Koehl Jessica Lewis Holly Rittenhouse * Cassie Whitaker Soprano II Nicole Glassley Emily Goins Emilie Hunt Haleigh Mann Sheila Prather Erika Reffit Darcy Robins * Tenor I Wallace Butts * Andrew Miller David Myrick Adam Ousley Tenor II Raymond Jackson Joshua Huffer Jeremy Walters * Kahler Willits * denotes section leader |
Alto I Katy Dunlap Kelli Iler * Angelina Jung Chris Minter RaeAnne Schoeffler Hanna Slagal Carrie Waits Alto II Melissa Byler Ashley Dobrzykowski Kaylee Hawley * Aimee Hoffbauer Miriam Zielinski Bass I Brock Ireland Daniel Myers-Bowman * Jeremiah Sanders Chris Teeters Bass II Tarek Al-Zoughbi Alex Drew * Dylan Hiner Tyler Howe David Dicken Kyle Leffel * Directors Debra Lynn, conductor Alan Chambers, rehearsal pianist |
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![]() Mulligan's first compact disc was recorded under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin, leading to a seven-year collaboration and friendship, culminating in what was to be Lord Menuhini's final concert at the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf. He has since made over twenty recordings for compact disc, including the solo album "Piano" for Sony Classical featuring his own arrangements, compositions, and adaptations for piano and orchestra which has garnered international acclaim and been featured in various television, radio, and internet campaigns. Other recording highlights include a disc of Beethoven sonatas for Sony Masterworks, the Martinu Sonatas and Triple Concerto, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Rozsa's Spellbound Concerto, the Chopin Nocturnes, and the premiere disc "The Piano Music of Alexis Weissenberg" for Nimbus, which included spontaneous improvisations recorded in the presence of the composer. His recording of Ned Rorem's Piano Concerto No. 2 with José Serebrier and the Royal National Scottish Orchestra for Naxos was Gramophone magazine's "Editor's Choice." As a chamber musician, Mulligan collaborates with many notable artists. He first began touring with cellist Lynn Harrell while a student at London's Royal Academy of Music, and has also given numerous worldwide recital tours with Joshua Bell and Michael Collins, including performances at every major international venue as well as the Grammy Awards, for Her Majesty The Queen and the Royal Family, and President Barack Obama. In other fields, Simon has supported artists as varied as Branford Marsalis, Van Morrison, Sting, Dame Shirley Bassey, and Liza Minnelli. In addition he has recently begun a series of concerts with award-winning broadcaster and journalist John Suchet about the life of Beethoven. Alongside an extensive solo repertoire and over fifty concertos, Mulligan is a devotee of contemporary music and has given first performances of works by Hans Werner Henze, James MacMillan, Tobias Picker, Alexis Weissenberg, Mark Anthony Turnage and Paul Moravec (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music). Mulligan's passion for composition, arranging, and improvisation has led to articles in numerous music publications, including Downbeat, JazzTimes, International Pianist, and Gramophone magazines. His collaboration on several projects with Michael Kamen features him as soloist on Decca's The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms with the BBC Symphony under Slatkin, and on HBO's award-winning television series Band of Brothers. As a jazz pianist, Mulligan continues to lead several of his own groups, performing at festivals throughout the UK, Europe, Shanghai and the Americas. His jazz quartet album, Playlist, features all-original compositions. A Music Scholar at St. Paul's School, London, Mulligan studied under Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music and Jaques Rouvier in Paris; he also studied Beethoven at the personal invitation of Alfred Brendel. He won a scholarship to the International Piano Academy on Italy's Lake Como and was one of the youngest recipients to be awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music for his musical achievements. He additionally counts among his mentors Charles Rosen and Murray Perahia. |