First Concert of the 75th Season

Appalachian Spring was the result of a collaboration among Martha Graham, the queen of Modern Dance, the composer Aaron Copland, and the artist Isamu Noguchi. It became perhaps the best-known "American ballet." Graham claimed to have devised the choreography before the music was written, and that Copland had taken his cues from her choreography. Several people have questioned the plausibility of that. For most of Graham's dances, she worked with music already written, and not by Copland. Apparently, they did work very closely together, and doubtless Copland adapted his ideas to hers, but this was their only collaboration. On the other hand, she worked for a long time with the artist Isamu Noguchi, and on many other ballets. One might conclude that artists found it easier to work with her than composers did.

Copland became famous as a composer of demonstrably American music. Usually, he was associated with rural scenes, as in Rodeo, Billy the Kid, The Red Pony, and Appalachian Spring, but he was actually a city person, and much of his music has a world-weary urban quality.

His most popular composition is Appalachian Spring. A note on the score lays out the "program." A soon-to-be-married couple experiences the ups and downs of emotion expected in such a situation. Their neighbors advise them; a revivalist preacher provides them with a jaundiced view of human relationships, but, at the end, they are strong in their devotion to each other. Martha Grahma's choreography was almost the polar opposite of traditional classical ballet. While the latter is "air-borne" and stylized, Graham's was earth-bound and more natural. People stayed pretty much on the floor, rolling and crawling. The set by Isamu Noguchi was in the "constructivist" style: extremely sparse, requiring the audience members to exercise their imaginations.

Gary Deavel graduated from Manchester College in 1952, got his Master's degree from the Sherwood Music School in 1956, and his Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in 1970. He taught piano and organ at Manchester College for many years, and was Chair of the Music Department for much of that time. Gary is fondly remembered not only as a serious scholar (he is a specialist in the music of Benjamin Britten), but as one who gave great service to the community, was active in promoting inter-departmental teaching, and who had a great sense of humor, often displayed in his collaboration with Pat Helman (wife of former college President A. Blair Helman) in their annual comic musical productions. Gary continues to compose in his retirement in Michigan.

Dr. Deavel has provided the following notes on his Manchester Variations.

In 1977, Patricia Helman wrote the words and I the music for the college song, "Manchester Fair." In these variations I have used six motives from that song. They appear in various melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic disguises -- some more transparent than others. Their order is frequently rearranged. Only in the finale do they unmask and conform to their original shape and order.

The work is comprised of an introduction and five variations. The "Introduction" is in a moderately slow temp and presents the three principal motives and their mirror images. The first variation is a quick "March." The woodwinds are features, backed by drum and triangle. The second variation is an "Elegy." The oboe solo at the outset is derived from the principal motive, but cast in a medieval mode (Phrygian). The third variation features frequently changing meters and is called "Dance." The string motive heard at the beginning and end of the variation is taken from the bass line of the first phrase of the song. The fourth variation is called "Ballad." The bassoon plays a mirror version of the principal motive decorated by an obligato line in the violins. The resulting duet features open fourths and fifths -- intervals frequently prominent in country music. The fifth variation of "Finale" begins in a gigue rhythm. The woodwinds, brass and strings each have the gigue figure in turn. The full orchestra concludes with a complete statement of "Manchester Fair." There is a brief coda with references to the "Fight Song" (oboe), "Alma Mater" (flute) and "Manchester Fair" (clarinet).

Manchester Variations was commissioned by the Manchester Symphony Society in 1985 and is dedicated to Robert Jones (conductor at that time) and the Manchester Symphony Orchestra.

If you find this music familiar, perhaps you remember Wings of Dreams, played a few years ago by the Manchester Symphony Orchestra. Sato is a California-based composer of film music. He was born in Hamamatsu, Japan. He has a Master of Music degree in conducting, and a Bachelor of Music in Media and Commercial Writing from California State University. He also has a degree in Cinema from Santa Monica College. Much of his music is choral, and it has been described as full of rich and colorful harmony. It is certainly true that his orchestration is rich and melodious, although the melodies are usually not sustained, betraying his association with film music. He has also done a lot of composing for video games, a rapidly-growing genre.

Orchestration is his strong suit, and he offers to teach students over the Internet. He has received so many letters asking how he goes about orchestrating his melodies that he decided to write a book on orchestration. He is actually posting it, bit by bit, on the Web, and walks one through all the stages, from the basic melody, played on the piano, to the simple harmony on the left hand, through the change from piano to flute for the theme, and to other instruments for the harmony, and finally through the variations. Sato seems to be a very engaging man.