#Night changes instrumental full#
The full blown romanticism and rich melody of his variation suggests a revival of his music may be overdue. Once a major presence as a composer (who had two operas produced at the Met), music critic, author, commentator and broadcaster, Taylor is largely forgotten today. The big surprise is a large scale Andante by Deems Taylor. Roy Harris’ prairie Moderato and Paul Creston’s blues-infused Tranquillo also have their charms. A quiet, thematically memorable interlude from William Schuman and a bright, crackling Allegro by Walter Piston are samples of the craftsmanship of two of America’s finest composers. (The audience applauded Copland’s spirited turn.) Howard Hanson’s austere brass fanfares recall his large-scale symphonies. Aaron Copland contributed an “Allegro brilliante” that could easily have come from one of his ballet scores, so unmistakable is the music’s rousing American ethos. Goossens’ theme is an invigorating neo-classical romp. The result is a 25-minute patchwork that works for three quarters of the way. In 1944, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the British conductor Eugene Goossens commissioned ten composers to each write a variation on a theme he had composed. Jubilee Variations, the concert’s second work, is an authentic curio. It would be interesting to hear other works by Perry who projects a distinctive voice in this now oft-performed piece. Snappy brass and a violin solo of tonal warmth and agility by concertmaster Rosie Weiss highlighted a fine ensemble effort. His taut reading was fully alive to sudden changes of meter and dynamics. (Previous renditions were by the Miami Beach Music Festival Orchestra and the New World Symphony.)Ĭombining spiky harmonics and jumpy rhythms with arching lyricism, Perry’s work is the type of American music that Schwarz excels at. Astonishingly, this was the third local performance of Perry’s seven-minute score in less than five months.
While the specially commissioned art and pieces from the Lowe Art Museum’s permanent collection projected on a large screen proved eye-filling, it was the performances by the Frost Symphony Orchestra under Gerard Schwarz that really commanded attention.įresh from an excellent all-Mozart concert with the Palm Beach Symphony two nights earlier, Schwarz opened the program with Julia Perry’s Short Piece for Orchestra.
The University of Miami’s Frost School of Music joined in the Art Basel celebration and Miami Art Week with “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a multi-media presentation of the Mussorgsky-Ravel orchestral staple, Saturday night at downtown Miami’s Arsht Center. Gerard Schwarz conducted the Frost Symphony Orchestra at the Arsht Center Saturday night.