November 30, 2007

Purdue Symphony Orchestra concert to include 'Firebird'

"The Firebird," written by Igor Stravinsky for the Russian Ballet - along with another piece written for the ballet and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Sinfonia Concertante" for violin and viola - will be featured on the orchestra's program at the Long Center, located at 111 N. Sixth St. in Lafayette. Admission is free.

Symphony Orchestra conductor Andrew King said "The Firebird" is unlike anything the Purdue Bands has programmed before. He said he selected the concert's pieces for variety, both in music and in the make-up of the orchestra.

The orchestra's brass and percussion sections will start things off with "Fanfare" from Paul Dukas' 1912 ballet "La Peri (The Fairy)." It begins with a short ceremonial fanfare featuring a flourish of brass.

Next, a new set of musicians will take the stage – the orchestra's strings plus two oboes and two horns – to perform Mozart. Violinist Sharry Spicknall and violist Amy Brandfonbrener, frequent performers with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra and adjunct faculty members in Purdue's band and orchestra department, will serve as guest soloists.

Mozart was just 23 when he composed his version of "Sonfonia Concertante," which the orchestra will perform.

For the concert's second half, the full 100-member orchestra will come together to perform Stravinsky's 1919 "Firebird Suite," the most popular of his three concert versions of the piece.

Stravinsky based his ballet on Russian folk tales of a magical glowing bird that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor, King said.

"'Firebird' is unique musically because Stravinsky employs so many diverse musical elements and brings them together in interesting ways," he said. "He's not creating new techniques but taking techniques and using them in new and interesting ways. That's one reason he's considered such a prominent composer."

Audiences don't have to know the ballet's story to delineate its characters in Stravinsky's music, King said.

"Themes for all the humans and good characters are diatonic, built on western scales," he said. "The magical characters are chromatic, and the evil magical characters are very dissonant."

King said one of the highlights is the "Infernal Dance of Kastchei" where the Firebird comes to rescue the prince and causes the evil King Kastchei to dance until he collapses.

"Themes introduced in the dance are considered to be the first examples of primitivism in classical music," he said. "His driving rhythms have been imitated a lot since then."

The 1919 "Firebird Suite" being performed by the orchestra also includes two popular movements that weren't included in the original concert suite, "Lullaby" and "Finale."

The Purdue Symphony Orchestra's next performance will take place March 2 in the Long Center. For information on all Purdue Bands & Orchestra events, visit https://www.purdue.edu

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Source: Kathy Matter, Purdue Bands public relations director, (765) 496-6785, kcmatter@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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