It’s two great composers — one American, one Russian — featured together.
The Elgin Symphony Orchestra will present its “Copland and Tchaikovsky” concerts at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts as well as 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.
“I always think that a concert needs to have contrasting concepts and styles within,” said resident conductor Stephen Squires. “Both (Aaron) Copland and (Pyotr Ilyich) Tchaikovsky use a musical language that is very unique to themselves and interesting to hear in comparison.”
The program includes Copland’s “Billy the Kid Suite” and “Clarinet Concerto” as well as Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4.”
“At the end of the day, it may be interesting for the audience to notice what makes Russian music sound Russian and American music sound American,” he said.
The two composers certainly pose different challenges for the orchestra.
“I view the orchestra playing Copland as a chance to stretch and take some risks,” Squires said. “Copland’s music can be a challenge because of some extreme technical demands, and a balance must be struck between solving those demands and developing a convincing voice of interpretation.”
In the case of the Tchaikovsky, it’s an opposite challenge.
“Tchaikovsky, and in particular this symphony, is extremely familiar to the orchestra,” Squires said. “So the challenge is to help and allow the orchestra to find new nuances in it while retaining the comfort and ease akin to sitting down with an old friend who you love because you know everything about each other.”
The concert opens with the two Copland pieces.
“Copland had a very unique voice in American musical history in that he was able to capture both a sense of urban life and a sense of rural America,” Squires said. “‘Billy the Kid’ gives us a very picturesque treatment of the Wild West through one of our most colorful characters.”
Listen for the sound of the open prairie as well as a gunfight in front of the town saloon.
Switching gears, the other Copland piece conjures city life.
“The ‘Clarinet Concerto’ recreates some of the hustle and bustle of urban living through very animated and angular writing that has an essence of jazz in it,” Squires said.
Guest clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein will perform with the orchestra for this concerto, which was written in the late 1940s for Benny Goodman.
“(Fiterstein) has extensive experience, not only as a soloist in front of an orchestra, but in chamber music, new music and as an orchestral player,” Squires said. “Because the Copland ‘Clarinet Concerto’ is such an ensemble-driven piece — in much of it the soloist also needs to be a member of the ensemble and the orchestra is on equal footing instead of accompanying — his wide musical background made him an exceptionally strong choice as soloist.”
Wrapping up the concert is Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony.
“It is a work well known to most concert-goers,” Squires said. “A work that depicts the human experience with great emotion and passion.”
Jen Banowetz is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
Copland and Tchaikovsky
When/Where: 7:30 p.m. March 3 at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts as well as 7:30 p.m. March 4 and 2:30 p.m. March 5 at the Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin.
Tickets: $30-$65
Information: 847-888-4000 or go to www.elginsymphony.org
