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As Maestro Lawrence Kohl explains it, Global Gem is a chance at traveling to different countries - Russia, Austria, Italy, Latin America and United States - and at different times from the 18th century to very contemporary music. The program has also been composed as a way to experience very different approaches to musical composition: music creation through form, or through personal expression of feelings and reflections.
"The term 'global' refers to two perspectives presented side by side in this concert," says Kohl, "music by form - where music is built on a formal structure, and Mozart's beloved Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in that category. The other perspective is music looked through a personal lens, and Shostakovich's String Quartet #8 where the form evolves out of the composer's personal
reflection provides that second angle."
When the personal inspiration is leading the composition, Kohl says that the listener is going on a journey and entering in the musician's universe, as opposed to looking from the outside to a beautiful work of art, what classical music exemplifies. He adds that for the Shostakovich's mid-20th century piece, people are looking at a psychological piece and the listener is actually entering the musician's psyche. When it was created that quartet was dedicated "to the victims of fascism and the war," and it is believed to be one of the composer's most personal statement at a time that was very difficult for him. Kohl calls the Quartet #8 a fascinating piece.
The quartet will be followed by a Tango suite with works by Argentinian Astor Piazzolla and Jeremy Cohen, a Bay Area violinist and composer. Kohl says that the tango is marked by its rhythm, not by form, and that it is also an expression of the composer's psyche. Cohen wrote Tango Toscana during a trip to the Tuscany region of Italy. He said that the beauty and serenity of the Italian countryside surely inspired this Tango, and that he also wanted to incorporate tango techniques he had acquired during his nearly two years playing with an all Argentine Tango band in "Forever Tango" in the mid-1990s.
The concert will conclude with the Movement Symphony for Strings (a world premiere) by Los Angeles composer Christopher Caliendo. Kohl says that Caliendo's music is very expressive like a tango, and uses a classical structure, fusing both perspectives.
The southern California composer met with Kohl when he was doing his doctoral work there. Kohl's orchestra has premiered half a dozen of his pieces. Caliendo is also a film and prime time TV composer and he will be present at the Lafayette's concert. "We will have a reception after the concert where people can meet the composer and the musicians," said Kohl.
Global Gems will be presented at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. More information and tickets at www.pacificchamberorchestra.org.
Reach the reporter at:
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA