{"id":513,"date":"2019-03-27T20:32:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T03:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/musc326a\/?p=513"},"modified":"2019-03-27T20:39:50","modified_gmt":"2019-03-28T03:39:50","slug":"the-call-of-the-ocean-ubc-symphony-orchestra-march-15-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/musc326a\/2019\/03\/27\/the-call-of-the-ocean-ubc-symphony-orchestra-march-15-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"THE CALL OF THE \u201cOCEAN\u201d – UBC SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – MARCH 15, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tonight\u2019s programme at the Chan Centre was quite extraordinary. Conducted by the UBC symphony, two of the symphonies performed (A Northern Suite <\/i>and La Mer<\/i>) were inspired and centered on a universal theme – the Nature – that is, our nature, which nurtured, enamored us, and ultimately shaped our perceptions of the world. It was particularly an honor to attend the Canadian Premi\u00e8re of John Luther Adams\u2019 A Northern Suite.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Known as a composer whose passion and music was profoundly inspired by nature,\u00a0<\/span>John Luther Adam, a winner of Pulitzer prize for music, dedicated his life to the composition of music which shared a common theme of \u201cnature.\u201d Compared him to Mahler, one of the most talented composers of all time, Jason Victor Serinus of Classical Voice North America remarked, \u201cMahler may take us to the heavens, for example, but who else in the history of composition [except John Luther Adams] has so masterfully set us down in the middle of nature, and then enabled us to discover the divine in every sound?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, if Mahler claimed that his music was always a manifestation of the beauty of nature, Adams\u2019 music simply took us to the breathtaking scenes of untampered nature and primitivity. If Become Ocean<\/i> had won him a Pulitzer Prize, A Northern Suite<\/i> was a symphony work that reflected his life experience living in Alaska, and even appeared to be highly relatable to the Canadian audiences. Let\u2019s hear some of the titles of movements in this symphony – \u201cBlue Ice, Crystal Air,\u201d \u201cRivers of Ice,\u201d and \u201cValleys of Frozen Fire\u201d – at first glance I thought it was composed by a Canadian composer whose love for northern land was deep and sincere.<\/p>\n

However, although grown up in the suburbs of New York City and educated in California, John Luther Adams\u2019 passion for the icebound northern land was no less strong as any native-born Canadian. The trip to Alaska permanently bound him to the exploration of the beauty of nature, as he said, \u201cIn the summer of 1975, I made my first trip to Alaska. The sprawling distances, unbroken silences, and incredible qualities of light up here completely changed the course of my life and work.\u201d In fact, the experience of being a dedicated environmentalist influenced Adams\u2019 works in music profoundly and was reflected in the themes of nature that he explored.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Northern Suite<\/i> was an unconventional work of symphony. Unlike many of the classical pieces that we heard in class, this piece diverted drastically from the traditional structure symphony. It was structured around the motifs of nature: ice, mountain, forest, and fire, and applied the sonorities of the orchestral instruments to elaborate on the images of these natural themes. \u201cThe magic of music\u201d – it was my first impression after hearing the first movement \u201cBlue Ice, Crystal Air\u201d – in which Adams utilized string instruments to create a crisp and shimmering sound that alluded to the quality of ice. The second movement was especially fascinating that it only included a long and incessant rumble produced by percussion instruments. Although the sound lasted for around 10 minutes, the audience could hardly feel bored because of the ever-changing emotion and images that this simple sound delivered. It was magical that one could feel such complex emotions towards a single, homophonic sound – once I imagined I was standing on the top of mountains alone, with everything around me seemed so far away, and later I felt an accumulating fear and anxiety as I was traversing a dark valley in a high speed, hoping to see the light again. The third movement \u201cCloud Forest\u201d was the most mesmerizing of all – it brought us to the middle of a forest – we could even smell the moisture of wood.<\/p>\n

The last two movements were equally entertaining and even made us oblivious of the surroundings as we were in the embrace of nature and not in this congested music hall. One prominent feature of Adams\u2019 symphony was that it vividly reminded us of the beauty of nature and it could certainly be utilized in film or video scorings for this powerful function. After a marvelous journey to the Great Nature, A Northern Suite <\/i>won my heart, and it was indeed an honor to attend its premi\u00e8re in Canada. I would also continue to follow the music of this idiosyncratic environmentalist composer, John Luther Adams, for his dedication to nature deeply moved and inspired me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The initial allure of this concert, however, was Claude Debussy\u2019s La Mer<\/i>, which was arguably his most far-reaching symphony. Although Debussy was reluctant to name it a symphony, as he claimed that there was nothing to exploit in symphony after Beethoven, this masterwork became one of the most loved and widely performed symphonies of all times. As a huge fan of Debussy\u2019s music and his impressionism, I obtained a collection of vinyl records of his works, including La Mer<\/i>, which was one of my favorite symphonies. The full title of the work – La Mer: Trois Esquisses Symphonies <\/i>– referred to the theme of this work, the powerful evocation of three distinct scenes of the ocean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The structure of La Mer lasted for roughly 24 minutes in three movements could be found in here: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n