By Riley Eisenbeil
Staff Writer
For its first concert of the semester, the College’s Orchestra presented “Seasons of Love,” a concert loosely centered around Valentine’s Day. Under the direction of professor Uli Speth, the orchestra performed selections from Gustav Holst’s Orchestral Suite “The Planets,” as well as Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5.
The concert took place on Friday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mildred & Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall. Attendees filled nearly all of the available seats in the hall, indicating a high level of interest and turnout for the event.
“Tonight’s program is tremendously difficult, it’s really challenging,” Speth said during his introduction. “I am absolutely proud to be standing in front of this orchestra, they have been doing such wonderful work putting this together.”
To start off the night, the orchestra performed the first two movements of Holst’s “The Planets,” titled “Mars” and “Venus.” Though most of the night was centered around love, “Mars, the Bringer of War” created a stark contrast with its angry and suspenseful tone.
Dean of the School of the Arts and Communication Pamela Barnett loved the show, describing it as “big, bold and noisy.”
While the timpani, percussion and harp kept the suspense going throughout the piece with a variety of sounds, the violinists added to the melody using a technique known as col legno — creating a unique and percussive sound by striking the violin strings with the wooden part of the bow.
Speth described this movement as “some of the most menacing and angry music ever.”
The next movement of Holst’s was titled, “Venus, the Bringer of Peace.” It began with a horn solo, soon joined by various woodwinds, signifying an angelic sense of relief. The two movements in tandem told a story of havoc and the peace that inevitably follows.
During a brief pause, the orchestra reset the stage and fit in some last minute practice before transitioning into two movements from Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5. Both movements had a positive, upbeat feeling.
“The third movement, that in itself to me, is Sibelius writing a love letter which I know nowadays is an almost lost art,” Speth said. “We don’t know that for sure, but he totally is.”
The orchestra, which consists of students from all different majors, began rehearsing for the concert during the last few weeks of the fall semester and has devoted many hours since preparing for this performance.
“It was extremely rewarding to see how we have improved as a group since our first rehearsal,” Tronolone said. “I found it very fulfilling to share what we practiced throughout the semester with others.”
As a whole, the concert offered a captivating mix of classical compositions and thematic exploration, resonating with the audience and highlighting the orchestra’s skillset. Though there are many compositions that could have fit the theme of love, Speth explained that there are a few things he takes into consideration when narrowing down which specific pieces would be played.
“I look a lot at instrumentation and what’s there for the students to play. I can’t select something that half of the orchestra can’t play for half the program,” Speth explained. “Also, in undergraduate years, I think [students] have to be exposed to the classics. I try not to repeat the same composer too much to get around the symphonic repertoire as much as we can.”
The College’s Orchestra will be performing again on Friday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mildred & Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall. For more information, visit the College’s Center for the Arts website.
