November Masterworks

With the world the way it is right now, I often find it hard to justify myself as a musician without making an effort to play an active role in our society outside of music. Classical music is guilty of letting the events of the world slip by if it doesn't immediately concern classical music, but this week the Knoxville Symphony is presenting a program I am very proud to be a part of.

The show starts with a concert overture by Charles Ives, entitled "Variations on America". It uses the tune "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and transforms this song we know into beautiful, yet sometimes a little ugly, sounds that, in my opinion, represent the varying opinions and cultures of America. My favorite variation puts the song into a Spanish setting, and even though it's a bit humorous, I think it fits well considering we we all went through last week.

The second piece is a work by African-American composer William Grant Still. If you don't know he was, I highly encourage you to do a little research on him, as he is the most important classical composer of color of our time. The piece we're performing is his first symphony, subtitled "Afro-American Symphony". The piece was meant to show classical artists that the traditions and culture of black America are as important as any other, and he takes jazz, blues, and folk themes and mashes them together in a symphony that is quite beautiful, and quite timeless.

Speaking of folk music, the concert also has a mandolin concerto. It was written and will be performed by Jeff Midkiff, and it plays on the folk sounds of the south with an overall sonority anyone could recognize. The piece does a great job of featuring all members of the orchestra, and toward the end has a nice duet between mandolin soloist and concert master, forcing him to play in more of a fiddle style. I'm very happy to have come across this piece and I think it will be the crowd favorite. 

The concert will conclude with Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring", which is performed quite regularly around the world. The music comes from a ballet that depicts a young couple starting a life in the wild wilderness, and sounds exactly like you might expect it - southern American. Aside from Copland's American heritage and pride for what we do as musicians here, he was gay, and it's important to acknowledge this type of diversity in classical music as well. 

​I really hope you can make it if you're in the Knoxville area this week. Visit knoxvillesymphony.com for more information on tickets - hope to see you there!!