NEC Symphony + David Loebel: Mussorgsky, Jennings, Simon

Modest Mussorgsky | Introduction from Khovanshchina (Dawn on the Moskva River)

Program note

The calm serenity of the Introduction to Mussorgsky’s opera Khovanshchina belies the opera’s turbulent plot. It takes its title—which translates to “The Khovansky Affair”—from Ivan Khovansky, a seventeenth century prince who led the opposition to Peter the Great’s ascension to the throne. With its basis in Russian history, Khovanshchina followed in the footsteps of Mussorgsky’s better-known historical opera, Boris Godunov.
        Begun in 1872 as Mussorgsky’s homage to the bicentennial of Peter the Great’s birth, the opera remained unfinished at the composer’s death. Rimsky-Korsakov created the first performing edition, and it is in his orchestration that the Prelude is heard this evening.
- David Loebel

Jesse R. Jennings '25 DMA | Five Miniatures from Greenwich Village (2020)

World premiere

Fourth Street Station
Minetta Street
Bleecker
Sullivan Street
Washington Square

Program note

Five Miniatures from Greenwich Village is my love letter to the Village. Each movement provides a brief glimpse into a different part of the area. The first movement (“Fourth Street Station”) evokes the energy and craziness of the subway stop at W 4th St. Small fragments of music jolt between one another abruptly and depict the random sights and sounds of the station. The atmosphere becomes tranquil and fluid in the next movement (“Minetta Street”), which represents an afternoon walk through a little street which, although jammed in the middle of a busy area, is somehow rather quiet and empty. The central movement (“Bleecker”) brings with it a nocturnal mood, and the sounds of the city mingle together into a unified tapestry. Against this backdrop is set an improvisatory trumpet solo which reflects the internal monologue of a lone night owl. The music becomes more cinematic in the fourth movement (“Sullivan Street”), and a romantic scene takes place between a couple dining at a table on the sidewalk. A nocturnal air again dominates in the fifth movement (“Washington Square”), where many disparate scenes and visuals are encountered as one walks from one side of the park to the other. Fragments from the previous three movements appear like people trying to talk over one another, and a dialogue occurs between the timpani, mallets, and harp. The noises start softly, come to a climax at the fountain in the middle of the square, then taper off on the other side of the park.
- Jesse R. Jennings

Carlos Simon | The Block (2018)

Program note

The Block is a short orchestral study based on the late visual art of Romare Bearden. Most of Bearden’s work reflects African American culture in urban cities as well as the rural American south. Although Bearden was born in Charlotte, NC, he spent his most of his life in Harlem, New York. With its vibrant artistic community, this piece aims to highlight the rich energy and joyous sceneries that Harlem expressed as it was the hotbed for African American culture.
        The Block is composed of six paintings that highlight different buildings (church, barbershop, nightclub, etc.) in Harlem on one block. Bearden’s paintings incorporate various mediums including watercolors, graphite, and metallic papers. In the same way, this musical piece explores various musical textures which highlight the vibrant scenery and energy that a block on Harlem or any urban city exhibits.
- Carlos Simon

Modest Mussorgsky | Pictures at an Exhibition

orchestrated by Sergei Gorchakov

Introduction: Promenade
     Gnomus
Promenade
     Il vecchio castello
Promenade
     Tuileries
     Bydlo
Promenade
     Ballet of the Chicks in their Shells
     Samuel Goldenberg and the Schmuyle
Promenade
     Marketplace at Limoges
     Catacombae, sepulchrum romanum
     Con mortuis in lingua mortua
     Hut on Fowl's Legs
     Great Gate of Kiev

Program note

Maurice Ravel’s is by far the best-known orchestration of Mussorgsky’s piano work Pictures at an Exhibition, but it is not the only one. In fact, there are over twenty other orchestrations, three of which predate Ravel’s. Of the many adaptations for forces other than symphony orchestra, two enjoyed notable popularity in the 1970s: Isao Tomita’s arrangement for Moog synthesizer and a version for rock band by Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
        Soviet-era composer Sergei Gorchakov’s orchestration dates from 1954. Like several other such arrangements, Gorchakov’s corrects various errors found in Ravel’s version due to the latter’s reliance on Rimsky-Korsakov’s sanitized edition of Mussorgsky’s original. Gorchakov also restores the “Promenade” movement between “Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle” and “Limoges” that Ravel omitted.
        Although Gorchakov’s skill as an orchestrator certainly cannot approach Ravel’s in terms of subtlety, brilliance and imaginative combinations of instrumental colors, his version is notable for its dark, massive sonorities and authentically Russian character.
- David Loebel

NEC Symphony

First Violin
Yirou Zhang
Joseph Zamoyta
Abby Reed
Minkyung Kang
Ryan Tully
Yeji Hwang
Audrey Weizer
William Kinney
Tara Hagle
Ashley Tsai
Ravani Loushy Kay
Emma Servadio
Eleanor Markey

Second Violin
Sofia Skoldberg
Jeremiah Jung
Joanna Peters
Aidan Daniels
HyoJeong Hwang
Ian Johnson
Kevin Kang
Tzu-Ya Huang
Isabella Sun
Maxwell Fairman
Ava Kenney
Kearston Gonzales

Viola
Pharida Tangtongchit
Rita Hughes Söderbaum
Charlie Picone
Nina Dawallu
Harry Graham
John Turner
Haobo Bi
Dylan Cohen
QingHong He
Jiashu Yin
Yu-Heng Wang
Jessi Kaufman

Cello
Alex Aranzabal
Amelia Allen
Phoebe Chen
Mina Kim
Yue Mao
Austin Topper
Angela Sun
Ching-yu Tseng
Nahar Eliaz
Li-An Yu
Zanipolo Lewis
Ari Freed
Eric Schindler

Bass
Alyssa Peterson
Isabel Atkinson
Brian Choy
Dennis McIntyre
Lawrence Hall

Flute
Sadie Goodman §  
Amelia Kazazian ‡^
Anna Ridenour  
JouYing Ting
Nina Tsai *

Piccolo
Anna Ridenour ‡
JouYing Ting §

Oboe
Yuhsi Chang *
Rebecca Mack ‡^  
Victoria Solis Alvarado §

English horn
Yuhsi Chang

Clarinet
Sarah Cho *§
Evan Chu ‡^    
Itay Dayan

Saxophone
Zeyi Tian

Bass Clarinet
Hyunwoo Chun

Bassoon
Daniel Arakaki ‡^
Yerin Choi
Zilong Huang *  
Erik Paul §

Contrabassoon
Daniel Arakaki

French horn
Elijah Barclift §
Mattias Bengtsson  
Mauricio Martinez *
Xiaoran Xu ‡^  

Trumpet
Maxwell DeForest § 
Sebastián Haros  
Alexandra Richmond
Cody York ‡^  

Trombone
Becca Bertekap   
Devin Drinan ^   
Alex Russell §

Bass Trombone
Jason Sato §
Shin Tanaka ^

Tuba
Masaru Lin
Hayden Silvester ^§

Timpani
Ngaieng Lai §
Rohan Zakharia ‡^   
Mingcheng Zhou *  

Percussion
Isabella Butler ‡^
Eli Geruschat
Mark Larrivee  
Rohan Zakharia *   
Mingcheng Zhou

Harp
Jingtong Zhang

Celeste
Taewan Gu ^
Kevin Takeda
 

Principal players
* Mussorgsky Khovanschina
‡ Jennings
^ Simon
§ Mussorgsky Pictures