Melynda Kiring, Vocalist/Actress

 

Symphony No. 1: New Day Rising
[notes by the composer, Steven Reineke]

The title plays a dual roll in describing the day that the city was destroyed as well as the rebuilding that occurred following the destruction. Each day brings with it new challenges. It is scored in four movements:

I. “City of Gold”

The work begins with an ominous and foreboding introduction that signifies the danger beneath the Earth and the destruction that will soon ensue. This fades into a glorious picture of San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. It is a vibrant, colorful place. We hear the sounds of ragtime and trolley cars. The city is bustling with life and commerce.

II. “Nocturne”

The second movement depicts the city on the evening of April 17th, 1906. The frenetic pace of the day has given way to a more peaceful, relaxed atmosphere. The people of San Francisco are blissfully unaware of what is to come in the ensuing hours. Strains of the aria “I Try Not to Own That I Tremble” from Bizet’s “Carmen” are wafting through the streets. This movement is segue attacca into the third movement.

III. “And the Earth Trembled”

The third movement begins in the early morning hours of April 18th, 1906. The city sleeps and is unprepared for the tragedy to come. Suddenly the fault line rips and the Earth begins to tear apart. Devastation and destruction ensues as the city turns to chaos caused by tremors and aftershocks of the earthquake. An odd-metered march develops that signifies the soldiers marching in to take control of the city as it burns in the aftermath of the quake.

IV. “New Day Rising”

The final movement depicts the rebuilding of shattered lives and restoring of civilization. It begins in peaceful sadness then grows from despair into restored faith and renewed hope. On the Sunday following the great earthquake, a minister gathered his flock for an impromptu church service on a grassy knoll in Golden Gate Park. Beside the minister stood a young man with a battered cornet. His melody drew hundreds of refugees of all denominations and creeds. They repeated in solemn voice “Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee; leave, oh, leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.” After the glorious and majestic finale, the coda ends quietly with the final unresolved chord signifying the danger that still lurks beneath the Earth. It can and will strike again someday.

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Piet Swerts (b. 1960) was trained for a musical career in his native land, Belgium. He is a working pianist and conductor as well as a composer and teacher. Swerts has had a long association with the University of Leuven as a faculty member. He lists among his compositions an opera, oratorio, music for television, material for orchestras, chamber ensembles, band, choral groups, and various kinds of solos: voice, piano, organ, guitar, violin, cello, bassoon and saxophone. As composer, he has won numerous prizes including the 1993 Grand Prix Internationale Reine Elisabeth.

Wings
[notes by the composer, Piet Swerts]

This is a soaring piano concerto in three movements: a large opening movement featuring virtuosic displays by the pianist, a slow, true romance for a middle movement, and a more brilliant last movement. You can see the concerto as three sound landscapes through which you seem to float.

Wings also represents the collective name for everything that has to do with keyboard instruments (the Dutch word for wing also means grand piano). This reflects the composer's love for the piano, organ, harpsichord, harmonium, celesta, and synthesizer. And, last but not least, it is also a wink at the family name of the commissioner of this piece, Professor Arthur Vleugels (whose last name is the Dutch word for wings).

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Maxime Aulio was born in Chartres, France in 1980. He began his studies of organ at a young age but soon took an interest in percussion and harpsichord. For a number of years, he studied horn at the Conservatoire National de Réligion in Toulouse, France. During the summer of 1999, he began his first work for concert band, Prophéties. One year later, he wrote Gulliver’s Travels, a suite in four movements for concert band.

Aulio is a self-taught and versatile composer. His published works include Arachnophbie (2000) for saxophone quartet, Il Signore Fagotto (2002) for bassoon; Bilbon le Hobbit (2002) for horn; Montségur, La Tragédie Cathare (2003) for trombone; Les Trois Mousquetaires (2003) for tuba quartet.

As seasoned travelers know, Auilio’s birthplace – Chartres, France – is home to one of the world’s most famous Gothic cathedrals. Young Aulio was doubtless influenced by this religious and architectural marvel built on a site that goes back to Druid times. Musically, it references the mythical church rising from the waters in Debussy’s “Engulfed Cathedral” (La cathédrale engloutie, 1909). One critic has said that Chartres “outlined new principles which would inspire all the great architects of the 13th century.” Let us hope such inspiration also compels Maxime Aulio, a vibrant 21 st Century composer.

Whispering Wind (Les Murmures du Vent)
Maxime Aulio, Composer

This is a short, evocative work from twenty-six year old composer Maxime Aulio. From sanctuary harmonies the piece grows to a fanfare, then slips into North African melodies that seem to waft across the Sahara. One hears water music and perhaps a caravan on the Silk Road. At the end hints of the American Plains are heard. But of course, the wind knows no bounds, traveling wherever and carrying whatever it will. The Wind Symphony is honored to be performing the U. S. debut of this work.

In discussing the work, the publisher quotes Claude Debussy “Don’t listen to anyone’s advice, but listen to the lessons of the wind passing and telling the history of the world.”

The publisher’s notes continue: “Since the dawn of time, the wind has played an important role in all civilizations. Worshipped as deity, ‘mastermind’ of poetry, driving force, or heaven’s messenger, the wind took on the most varied shapes according to the era and people. The ways of the wind are not known beforehand; they tell us a thousand stories coming from far off lands. The whispers of the winds are the translucent paths of the soul, the colors of ephemera, the poetry of sounds. In Claude Debussy’s time, music listened to the voice of nature, and imagination found it primary rights again. Each instrument seemed to become synonymous with impressions and suggestions. The shape of musical development became musical envelopment, and it is clearly this very French sensitivity – which Debussy conveyed better then anyone – that also defines Maxime Aulio’s work Whispering Wind with its suspended atmospheres, vaporous lines, and luminous colors. The wind caresses the canvas, suggests and simply evokes yet with dazzling precision. The wind is a nomadic voice that wanders into our inner world for a long time.”

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Bronislaw Kaper (1902-1983) was an extremely prolific Hollywood composer from the Marx Brothers era until the late 1960s.

Kaper was born in Poland and trained at the Warsaw Conservatory of Music and then in Berlin . He then worked as a composer in London and Paris and scored some German sound films. With Hitler coming to power in 1935, Kaper escaped to Hollywood .

In collaboration with Walter Jurman and lyricist Gus Kahn, he wrote “ San Francisco ”, plus songs for A Night At the Opera, Mutiny On The Bounty, Escapade, and A Day At The Races.

Kaper wrote some 20 songs for various movies and completely scored over 3 dozen (!) films. In 1945 he adapted Chopin's music for the Broadway show Polonaise, collaborating with Bob Russell, Herbert Stothart and Hector Villa-Lobos.

San Francisco

“San Francisco” is an original song, written for the 1936 movie of the same name. It stars Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy.

Gable, a Barbary Coast gambling club owner, is in financial and political trouble. MacDonald plays a singer who takes a badly needed job to work in Gable’s club. After many plot twists and romantic turns, she sings “San Francisco” and saves Gable from ruin. This is the high point of the film, until The Big One, which conveniently waits for the song to end.

San Francisco – the film – was nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Writing and Director. It actually won for Best Sound Recording. Special effects are remarkable considering the film was made 70 years ago. Story has it that during the film’s premiere in The City, the earthquake scenes were so frightening, some members of the audience ran from the theater.

The song “ San Francisco ” was designated an official City song in 1984.

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