Memphis Symphony's 'In Other Words' speaks to past, present
Pay close heed to Thomas Wilkins' first Memphis concert, for it has a message.
Wilkins — one of three announced candidates to replace David Loebel as conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra — leads tonight's chamber music concert with a program titled "In Other Words."
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"It's a look at how more recent composers look back at older composers or styles to reference or synthesize their styles," Wilkins said in a recent telephone interview.
The Paul and Linnea Bert Fridays on the Town Series concert begins with Beethoven and ends with Haydn as the two classical music anchors.
In between are works by Stravinsky, Hindemith and Antheil that cherish the past by drawing inspiration from what's been done before.
"One of the things that describes the Stravinsky suites is the idea of writing music that looks back to the classical period and writing music for smaller ensembles," Wilkins said. "Stravinsky did it out of necessity because there was a war going on and he didn't have access to a great number of musicians. Hindemith did it out of a pure interest in writing chamber music."
As for the Antheil Jazz Symphony, the less well-known work composed in 1925 reflected the composer's love of jazz. "George Antheil was a big jazz fan, especially the music of W.C. Handy," Wilkins says. "There is some Handy and there's a reference to Gershwin, there's a little Gene Krupa. It was his hope not to write a jazz piece but to take elements of jazz and synthesize them into his classical composition."
By connecting works to previous composers or styles, Wilkins seeks to demonstrate "a unity across genres and across musical styles. The fact that Stravinsky could look back to Mozart for inspiration; the fact that Antheil, a classical composer, would look to the likes of W. C. "Handy, and even the fact that we're still listening to Haydn and Beethoven — all this music is as contemporary as anything else in our lives."
Memphis Symphony Orchestra's 'In Other Words'
MSO's Paul and Linnea Bert Fridays on the Town chamber music series event featuring guest conductor Thomas Wilkins. Today at 8 p.m. at Buckman Performing and Fine Arts Center, 60 Perkins Ext. Tickets: $45. Call 537-2525 or go to memphissymphony.org.
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