Indianapolis Concert Venues

Hi Everyone:

Went to Chicago to drop off the ISO xylophone bars for tuning (yes, the wood bars go out of tune) and visited with my ex-high school student Matt Decker, a junior at Roosevelt (a terrific music school). Sat in stage seating (just like the Hilbert Circle Theatre)...had not heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for many years.  What a great orchestra and great luck for me they performed the Shostakovich Symphony 11 we are playing next week. If you did not know, our talented assistant principal french horn Rick Graef's Dad plays for this great orchestra and sat first chair for the entire concert. Talent runs through Rick's family.

The CSO's hall is huge--high ceilings and the brass and percussion can play out without a concern for overall balance.

It is never too late to learn or enjoy other orchestras.  Indeed the Chicago Symphony is one of the world's best. But, I am fortunate to play for and you are fortunate to hear another world class orchestra = yep, our ISO.

After the concert I hung out with their timpani/percussion section and then took a cab to Stanleys by Lincoln West (great macaroni and cheese) and saw a student from my Butler University teaching days.  Shane is the drummer in a Pearl Jam Tribute band and they have played in 17 states -  and I had no earplugs. Shane is really a great rock 'n roll drummer.  Great time, knows the music well, and very tasty fills.  Yes, many of us in the ISO enjoy all styles of music!!

I hope you still enjoy my blog??!!!!  Here is another Top Ten listing of places the ISO has performed:

10.  Berrien Springs, Michigan (an Easter Sunday runout concert years ago)
  9.  Zurich, Switzerland
  8.  Oxford, Mississippi
  7.  Wabash, Indiana (Honeywell Center - we play there often)
  6.  Champaign-Urbana, Ill.  -- University of Illinois
  5.  Troy, New York -a very old (all wood) concert hall above a bank -- incredible acoustics!
  4.  Muncie, Indiana (Ball State University)
  3.  Richmond, Indiana (Earlham College)
  2.  Long Island, NY -- many venues
  1.  Lucas Oil Stadium -- before the recent Colts/Patriots game



A member of the audience recently asked me if the ISO has annual challeges and asked would we be fired or traded if we played in Carnegie Hall (Super Bowl) and did not achieve a "win" from a NY critic?? Great questions: professional orchestras do hot have a challenge or reseating process. If a critic did not like our playing in Carnegie Hall, on the very same night another critic might write a glowing review.   

That is it for now. So much to write and so little time.  

Best ~
PAUL BERNS

Fauré’s Requiem: La berceuse de mort *

Orchestras around the world perform Requiem masses quite regularly as part of their season.  Apart from orchestral works based on love, heroism or nature, the Requiem Mass seems to be one of the very few genres that concentrate on a particular event in a person’s life: death.  What intrigues us is how each composer utilizes the same liturgical texts from the mass proper but applies it differently in the music.

Without going into a history of each composer’s philosophies on life and death, consider for a moment the differences (and occasionally stark similarities) between three of the most well-known Requiem masses: Mozart, Verdi and Brahms.  Some may remember recent performances by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Symphonic Choir of the Mozart (January 2006), Verdi (June 2008) and Brahms (May 2007) Requiems, all of which have had modest success at the box office.  Perhaps we love the heart-wrenching climaxes of Mozart’s Lacrimosa (“Tears”), the fever-inducing bass drum blasts of Verdi’s frightening Dies Irae (“Day of Wrath”), or the dramatic urgency of Brahms’ Denn wir haben hier keine bleibende Statt (“For here we have no continuing place”).  While Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem (based on German texts from the Lutheran Bible, and not from the traditional Latin mass) is known for its compassion toward those whom are still living, other Requiems relish in the dramatic and formidable aspect of death.

The Requiem of Gabriel Fauré (pronounced “4-A”), on the other hand, is one of optimism, peace and humanity.

Fauré himself was a quiet, gentle and sincere man, and his Requiem portrays this beautifully.  It is written, not as a blatant reminder of death, but rather, as Fauré himself put it, “a joyful deliverance, an aspiration towards a happiness beyond the grave, rather than as a painful experience.”  As one who directed the music of countless funerals, Fauré wished to create something different.  His Requiem would soothe those who mourn, a gentle reminder that death is another part of life and should not be met with fear.

For those readers unfamiliar with the work, here’s what to listen for. 

Sanctus (Holy): A glorious and resounding movement featuring melodic lines by the violins interwoven with the vocal entrances.  (Note that this is the first movement which features the violins; only the lower strings were used in first two movements.)  Its rising climax “Hosanna in excelsis!” is triumphant, yielding a simple yet powerful declaration by the horns, accompanied by full orchestral accompaniment including organ.  This occurs at 1:50 in the following clip. 

Pie Jesu (Kind Lord Jesus): A beautifully simple movement for solo soprano and one of the most well-known in the repertory.  The premiere performance of the Requiem featured a boy soprano in this solo role, but only because women were not allowed to sing in the choir of that venue.  In subsequent performances, Fauré preferred a female soprano sing the role, due to its difficult breathing passages, long phrasing and difficult interval leaps.  This weekend this movement is sung by soprano and IU alumna Jacqueline Brecheen.  Listen here.  

Agnus Dei (Lamb of God): This movement features a very beautiful yet simple transition of tonality as the sopranos enter alone on the note “C” on the word “lux” (“light”), shifting the character into a hymn until its climax with full orchestra. (In this clip, begin listening around 2 minutes)

Libera Me Domine (Deliver Us, Lord):  This is the second of the two movements that feature the baritone solo (this weekend performed by Hugh Russell), and is perhaps the most somber of the Requiem.  It is also the movement that includes the ill-fated Dies Irae (Day of Wrath), which Fauré was hesitant to include, but was obliged by the local diocese.  Clearly announced by the sinister register of the horns, the Dies Irae is understandably dark but quite brief, but quickly rises itself up out of the depths with unison choir with a return of the main theme sung quietly by the choir. Listen here.  

In Paradisum (In Paradise): The final and most cherubic of the Requiem.  The organ provides a gentle lulling with accompanying muted strings, closing the Requiem into a peaceful serenity. Listen here.

Fauré was not a religious man, but seemed to have understood life’s journey in a very optimistic and simplistic manner.  Through his Requiem, he assures the listener that there is nothing to fear at the end of life, and that perhaps a more peaceful existence awaits us.


* I chose the French translation to honor Fauré’s gentle masterpiece, but also because “Lullaby of Death” in English sounds too depressing…

*****

Please join us this weekend to hear Fauré’s Requiem, along with Mahler’s Songs of the Wayfarer (featuring Hugh Russell) and Dvořák Symphony No. 7 ~ this Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 PM at the Hilbert Circle Theatre, featuring the ISO debut of Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen.

www.indianapolissymphony.org

That was the advice given to me by a friend upon hearing that I would be conducting in front of a live audience of 63,000 people tonight.  Another friend of mine (this one is also a conductor) joked “Don’t screw it up, or your career will be over.”  The ISO and I are hitting the road tonight to perform in what is for us a pretty unusual (but exciting!) venue – Lucas Oil Stadium, about a mile away from our home at the Hilbert Circle Theater.  We’ll be playing the national anthem before the Colts-Patriots game, which is the featured game on Sunday Night Football tonight nationwide.  Go Colts!  Unfortunately, SNF rarely shows the national anthem on their broadcast (they tend to opt for Faith Hill’s prerecorded rendition of the SNF theme song instead).  But we’re all psyched anyway to get to play for such an enormous and passionate live audience, and one that certainly includes many people who have never heard the ISO live before.  This is actually our second performance at Lucas Oil Stadium, though our first at a game – we also performed there in August 2008 as part of the opening ceremonies for the stadium.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite versions of the national anthem.  Glenn Donnellan, a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., made an electric “violin” out of a baseball bat, and wrote his own arrangement of the Star-Spangled Banner to play on it.  Enjoy, and see you at the game!