At the conclusion of the concert. Notice only "traditional" instruments were used in the Scottish Symphony - not even a harp.
Program
To See the Sky: an exegesis for orchestra (2023) by Joel Thompson (b. 1988).
Trombone Concerto: Three Muses in Video Game (2021) by Tan Dun (b. 1957).
Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, Scottish (1840-42) by Mendelssohn (1809-47).
I don't know who "estimates" how long a concert is, but 1:30 minutes is way off the mark. The three pieces along add to 80 minutes, throw in a 20- to 30-minute intermission and we are close to two hours. The concert concluded at 9:24 pm.
It is difficult to understand how these three pieces fit together as a program. Joel Thompson is in his 30s, still in school (getting a doctorate at Yale). And I suppose he is known among a lot of people in the music composition world, but not much beyond that. Tan, on the other hand, became internationally known with the music for the movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon," that was 2000. His history of composition started way before that. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, was from the early nineteenth century, and his two "Scottish" compositions are part of the standard repertoire in the classical music world.
So, per my new way of thinking about performances, this concert had little chance of being a great one (again, I can name only a handful great concerts I have witnessed). That said, the overall experience was tremendously satisfying.
With modern composers I have to use my left brain, as their compositions usually call for analysis rather than enjoyment. The satisfaction is being able to "understand" the work in some way. Joel Thompson certainly didn't make it easy by naming the work after a line in a song "Sometimes you have to gaze into a well to see the sky." The logic of this escapes me, but he further explains his desire to expand beyond trauma as a Black man in this country (paraphrasing him, correctly, I hope). Whether this work is a reflection of that, I am not sure, but he used "rhythms of his youth" with the conviction that it doesn't make the music Jazz (again a paraphrase). I would agree that was indeed the case, and would opine that his music was accessible. I can't quite put a label on it, but I am still puzzled how the movements can be described as I. Sometimes ... II ... you have to gaze into a well ... III ... to see the sky.
Tan's Trombone Concerto is similarly mysteriously titled. The Program Notes contains a description of what he meant by a "muse" in a video game. His intention in writing this was to attract young people to this genre, and he claims "through this piece I reached a lot of young people." The three muses are muse of bili, muse of xiqin, and muse of sheng, three ancient Chinese musical instruments depicted in some Dunhuang cave paintings. One could argue if the sounds were anything like these instruments, but I am hard pressed to associate what I heard with a video game. My experience with video games is very limited, of course.
In all that discussion, one may forget this is a trombone concerto. We heard Alessi recently, and this concerto also asked the trombonist to do amazing things. One of those days I will learn about the trombone and its capabilities, but tonight's performance seemed to use only a limited number of techniques. Yes, it is amazing such a bulky instrument can sound so agile, and how much practice it takes to get the intonation just right, at such a high speed, but that seemed to be it. I do wonder how often a trombonist gets to be a soloist twice in a year.
The bottom line is that - to my surprise - I found the Thompson piece more enjoyable than Tan's.
Mendelssohn wrote the Fingal Cave Overture soon after he visited Scotland, and the Scottish Symphony about 10 years later. At 40 minutes it is quite long, and one wonders occasionally if all those repeats are needed. Overall, however, it is a delightful piece to listen to, especially when performed by a competent orchestra. While it probably is not program music, one can easily associate with what one might expect to feel while visiting Scotland (stretching a bit here). Scotland has its dark and stormy days, I thought there was not enough of that. The four movements are (I) Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato; (II) Vivace non troppo; (III) Adagio; and (IV) Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro maestoso assai. The program says the movements are played without pause, but there were clear pauses in today's performance. I don't think it mattered one way or another.
Since the concert lasted about two hours, we missed the 9:38 pm train by a few minutes, and intead took the 10:23 pm train home.
Joel Thompson at the conclusion of his piece.
Joseph Alessi after performing Tan Dun's Trombone concerto.
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