Greenwich Village Orchestra Newsletter - June, 2006

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Jun 3, 2006, 1:41:10 PM6/3/06

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The Greenwich Village Orchestra e-Newsletter - May/June, 2006

CONCERT TOMORROW, JUNE 4 AT 3PM
See below for details!

This newsletter will regularly bring you insights into the music-making
and activities of the GVO. In this issue, we discuss the upcoming
“Shakespearean" concert on Sunday, June 4, 2006 at 3:00PM
at Washington Irving High School and Thursday, June 8, 2006 at 6PM at Gramercy Park.

For more information, log onto our website at www.gvo.org
<http://www.gvo.org/>.

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, follow the link at the bottom
of this page.

This month's program includes:

William Walton - Suite from Henry V
Sergei Prokofiev - Suite from Romeo and Juliet
Felix Mendelssohn - Nocturne and Wedding March from A Midsummer
Night's Dream
Leonard Bernstein - Suite from West Side Story

ANNOUNCING OUR 2006-2007 CONCERT SEASON!!!!

Our 2006-2007 Concert Season has been announced and it is one of our most exciting seasons
to-date! We welcome Sheryl Staples, Associate Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, to the
GVO stage in October performing the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, and in November Steve Weiser, Principal
Timpanist of the Reading Symphony, will join our Principal Timpanist Gerard Gordon performing the
Glass Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra at NYU’s Skirball Hall.

Visit http://www.gvo.org/2006season.html for more information and to purchase tickets.

Program Notes

By Helen-Jean Arthur and Michael Dunn

"O For a Muse of Fire!" wrote Shakespeare as the first stirring words in
"Henry V." He could have been invoking the muse for himself, for the words
and characters Shakespeare created have stirred audiences and motivated
musicians to compose sublime works inspired by his very same muse.

Shakespeare must have had genuine concerns when embarking on the project of
writing a play about Henry. Chorus is the character who introduced the play
to the audience in the circular shaped Globe Theatre, which he calls the
"wooden O." He warns that the scope of Henry's many battle scenes and
changes of venue can not possibly be staged without the cooperation of the
audience's imagination. Chorus sets the scene: two mighty monarchies,
France and England, are about to engage in mortal combat.

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!" cries Henry, as he
gears his men into battle mode before his victory at Harfleur. "Cry, God
for Harry! England and Saint George!"

Sir William Walton was engaged to write the music for Sir Laurence Olivier's
epic film "Henry V," and because of its genesis as "movie music" it was
denigrated as "second rate." However, subsequent hearings have recently
placed it in the mainstream as an eloquent tone poem. We hear the trumpet
sound, and then horses' hoofs of the French troops advance to repel English
invaders. The English troops under Henry's command are fearfully
outnumbered, but they are unencumbered by traditional strategy used by the
French, and advance on foot carrying the newest weaponry, the long bow.
These bows are six feet high and capable of hurling arrows hundreds of feet.
The French are mired in mud; their horses weighed down under heavy armor.
Listen for the galloping of the horses, the whoosh of the bowstring as the
English let fly thousands of arrows into the midst of the floundering French
cavalry. The battle rages, 5,000 Frenchmen die, and the English lose 500.
A sorrowful rendition of a French folksong is heard as the clamor of battle
subsides.

The next music was written to accompany the scene of the death of Falstaff.
Falstaff had been the droll drinking companion of Henry before he became
king. He was dismissed from favor by the now earnest warrior king, and died
of a broken heart. The Falstaff of old was the favorite character of Queen
Elizabeth. She commissioned Shakespeare to write a play about Falstaff in
love. The idea appealed to many a musician as well, and the well known
"Greensleeves" may have had its origin in his honor. In Elizabethan times,
a young swain would have interchangeable sleeves of different colors that
tied on to his jerkin, and green was the color of being in love. Vaughan
Williams incorporated it, in modern times, into his opera, "Falstaff in
Love," and we know it as his "Fantasia on Greensleeves."

In spite of the Queen's command, Shakespeare seems to have doubted the
premise of Falstaff ever being sincerely in love. Rather than making him a
lover, he created him as a down and out would-be seducer of wealthy women.
"The Merry Wives of Windsor" effortlessly catch on to his clumsy suit, and
the rest of the play follows their exploits as they punish and humiliate
him.

A change of mood now, as we continue with an array of make-believe and all
too human inhabitants in a magical forest near Athens. Mendelssohn was only
17 when he embarked on "A Midsummer Night's Dream," but it was another 17
before he finished it. Oberon, king of the fairies, has quarreled with his
queen, Titania, and sends his faithful sprite, Puck, off to fetch a magic
flower. The essence of this flower, when squeezed into the eye of an
unsuspecting sleeping victim, will cause terrific mischief, for upon
awakening, the victim will fall in love with the first object he sees. Of
course Puck gets things all wrong, and causes strife among two sets of young
lovers as well as causing Titania to fall in love with Bottom, who has been
changed into a donkey - well, the plot is pretty complicated - but all is
set right by Mendelssohn's beautiful "Nocturne" or night-music, and by the
rousing "Wedding March" that every body knows.

Shakespeare in another temper altogether is known for his greatest of all
tragic romances, "Romeo and Juliet." "Two households, both alike in
dignity, in fair Verona where we set our scene" introduces the play.
Although the play doesn't delve into politics, Italian city-states at this
time actually were torn by the strife between the Guelphs and the
Ghilbertines, one loyal to the Emperor, the other to the Pope. Polarization
meant utter ostracization between the two factions. Intermarriage would
have been impossible. That these two young lovers found a way to actually
marry and love for even a single night defied all odds. Such a love was
doomed from the start, and the Prokofiev score vividly wends its way from
the majestic courtly dance where they first see each other to the final
scene where Romeo comes to Juliet's tomb after a tragic series of
misunderstandings.

Leonard Bernstein loved this story, and in the early 1950's began work on an
updated version, that today we know as "West Side Story." What with his
conducting and piano soloist commitments, the venture took ten years to
complete, in fact, the first two workshops had to be completely re-cast
because the actors got too old. Finally it was produced on Broadway in
1961, and remains at the top of that eminent composer's achievements. The
orchestral medley we hear today recalls those gorgeous songs and dances that
move us to tears.

Musical Chairs

The Greenwich Village Orchestra is launching its first ever Musical Chairs
program. We are looking for sponsors to support each and every musical chair
in the orchestra. All the funds generated through this campaign will be used
exclusively for direct expenses of our musicians such as sheet music rental
and purchase, equipment maintenance, rehearsal and concert hall rental.

The level of sponsorship depends on the musical chair in question:

Music Director's Podium

$1,000

Concertmaster's Chair

$500

Principal Chairs

$400

All other Chairs

$200

Your support and participation in the Musical Chairs program will make it
possible for the GVO to continue to provide our musicians with an
increasingly exciting music-making environment. This program allows us to
use our other limited financial resources to obtain leading guest artists
and offer complimentary tickets to those who may never experience a live
symphony orchestra performance on stage. Your contribution towards ensuring
a successful Musical Chairs program will help us achieve our mission of
providing great music at affordable prices. We are dedicated to serving
Lower Manhattan as a vital cultural and educational resource.

<http://www.gvo.org/musicalchairs.html> Click Here if you are interested in
participating in our Musical Chairs program

We greatly appreciate any help you can give us.

A Special "Thank You"

The Greenwich Village Orchestra would like to thank all the sponsors for our
The Beat Goes On fund raiser. The Orchestra purchased a beautiful set of
Adams timpani which we debuted on our "Delightful" concert, March 20, 2005.

Next Concert: Concerts in the Park @ Union Square Park
Wednesday, June 28, 2006, 6:00PM
Tickets: FREE

Location :
Union Square Park
New York City

For more information:
- <http://www.gvo.org/> Greenwich Village Orchestra
- <http://www.gvo.org/bios/byahr.html> Maestro Barbara Yahr