Copeland, Vivaldi and exciting new artists highlight thrilling night at Fox Valley Symphony
Last Saturday night, I attended the very lovely, interesting and enjoyable concert of the Fox Valley Symphony. The concert could have been called “From Antonio Vivaldi to Aaron Copeland,” and it showed how the music of eighteenth-century immigrants to the English colonies developed over time to become one of the bases of contemporary American concert music.
The colonists brought with them the music they knew, and it became the music of Appalachia that we know as bluegrass and a gospel among other forms. They in turn have been used by American composers to create uniquely American concert music. The beginning of the process was represented by Vivaldi’s well-known violin concerto “Spring,” which was beautifully played by the Fox Valley Symphony’s violinist Danielle Simandl together with a small chamber orchestra that was also made up of musicians of the Fox Valley Symphony. They did more than justice to Vivaldi’s music, and the audience applauded enthusiastically.
Maestro Sütterlin then led the orchestra in performing “Appalachian Ayre” by Mason Bates and “Strum” by Jessie Montgomery to show how the Appalachian mountain music that developed out of European music is being used by today’s composers as a basis of modern concert music. Both pieces were beautiful, exciting and fun, and the audience’s applause showed that they (and I) thoroughly enjoyed them.
Maestro Sütterlin also included two lovely pieces by young American composers of non-european immigrant backgrounds to show the ways that our musical tradition is being enriched by their contributions. One of the pieces, which had been commissioned for this concert, was by the Victor Rangel, a Mexican American composer from Texas. The other piece, called “Moon Bunny,” was by Nicky Sohn, a Korean American composer from California. These pieces too were beautiful and exciting. Maestro Sütterlin always includes music by living composers, and I love the fact that whenever I attend a Fox Valley Symphony concert, I get to hear something that I have never heard before along with pieces that I love.
The orchestra’s exploration of American music ended with Aaron Copeland’s “Appalachian Spring.” It is a well-known piece, and it was beautifully played by the orchestra. It provided a fitting end to this very interesting exploration of one aspect of the American musical tradition.
If you do not attend the Fox Valley Symphony’s concerts, you are missing out on some of the best music in the Valley. The orchestra has several more concerts coming up this spring, and I hope I will see you there.
