NEC Instrumental Graduate Student Conductors: Plog, Mahler, Fauré
NEC’s conducting students have ascended to some of the world’s most auspicious podiums, and here is your chance to see and hear them as they begin their careers.
Weizhe Bai '24 MM and Rachel Brake '24 MM, students of William Drury, conduct their colleagues tonight.
This is an in-person event with a private stream available to the NEC community here: https://necmusic.edu/live.
- Weizhe Bai '24 MM, conductor
- Rachel Brake '24 MM, conductor
- William Drury, studio teacher
Anthony Plog | Music for Brass Octet
Allegro vivace
Very slowly
Theme and variationsProgram note
Written in 1987, Plog’s Music for Brass Octet is now a staple of the brass repertoire. Recalling the antiphonal music of Giovanni Gabrielli, Plog divides four trumpets and four trombones into two separate choirs of two trumpets and two trombones. Each of the three movements highlights a unique characteristic of the brass instruments’ sound and capabilities.
The first movement emphasizes rhythmic precision. It is in ternary form and the trumpets of choir I introduce the A theme while the choir II trumpets play the B theme. As theme B develops in the trombones of both choirs, trumpets recall motifs of theme A until it returns in its entirety in both choirs at the conclusion of the movement.
The second movement blends the timbres of the two choirs with unisons, dissonances, and colorful chords, evoking the sound of an organ. Like the preceding movement, it is in ternary form, providing structural cohesion for both performers and listeners. A lyrical theme A is introduced by the first trumpet of choir II, answered by the second trumpet, and then carried between the instrument groups within their respective choirs. This thematic grouping according to instruments contrasts with the first and third movements where choirs respond antiphonally.
The third movement is a theme and variations based on a characteristic brass fanfare introduced by choir II. Variation I is passed between the instrument groups of each choir until they play in unison before variation II. Here, four trombones carry this triple meter variation while the trumpets layer the fanfare above them. Variation III transitions back to duple meter and utilizes a compositional technique called hocket where a complete melody is pieced together in a musical game of “catch” where notes are tossed between two or more instruments. Variation IV recalls the rhythms of theme I in the first movement and again groups the instruments according to their separate choirs. The work concludes with a flourish in the trumpets to a final triumphant C major chord with an added D for color.
– Rachel BrakePersonnel
Trumpet
Matthew Dao
Alexandra Richmond
Justin Park
Ko Te Chen
Trombone
Becca Bertekap
Devin Drinan
Bass Trombone
David Paligora
Shin TanakaArtists- Rachel Brake '24 MM, conductor
Gustav Mahler | from Symphony No. 4
ed. for soprano and chamber orchestra by Klaus Simon
I. Bedächtig, nicht eilen
IV. Sehr behaglich
Zhengying Yan, sopranoPersonnel
Violin
David Carreon
Yeji Lim
Viola
Dylan Cohen
Cello
Isaac Pagano-Toub
Bass
Dennis McIntyre
Flute
Yechan Min
Oboe
Corinne Foley
Bassoon
Abigail Heyrich
Percussion
Ross Jarrell
Rohan Zakharia
Keyboard
Lingbo Ma, harmonium
Boyuan Chen, pianoArtists- Weizhe Bai '24 MM, conductor
Gabriel Fauré | Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande, op. 80
Prélude
Fileuse
Sicilienne
Mort de MélisandeProgram note
Fauré composed his Pelléas et MélisandeSuite in 1898 as incidental music to Maurice Maeterlinck’s play Pelléas et Mélisande. The project was directed by English actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell who originally asked Claude Debussy to repurpose music from the first edition of the opera he composed in 1895 based on the same play. After years of little compositional progress, Debussy finally refused Campbell’s offer and she then turned to Fauré.
Now with less than two months before the first scheduled performance, Fauré worked with his former student, Charles Koechlin, who efficiently orchestrated his drafts. Each movement is in cyclic form where themes are introduced and return throughout the piece in separate movements. This effective use of motifs like the voice of Mélisande illustrated by the flute provides symmetry to the work without being overly repetitive.
The first movement serves as a prelude to Act I with a slow introduction in the strings. As the winds gradually join, the anguish of forbidden love is portrayed by dynamic swells and fluid tempo changes. The strings return to the beginning phrase at the end of the section as if recalling a distant memory.
The second movement begins with triplets in the violins, creating an image of Mélisande at her spinning wheel. A duet between the oboe and bassoon carries her thoughts while she works when suddenly the tone darkens as violas and second violins carry the triplets. The funeral motif from the fourth movement is played by the clarinet and horn in a low register, foreshadowing the death of Mélisande. The first violins assume the triplets again and the movement concludes with a sustained and serene G major chord in the upper winds.
The third movement is a sicilienne, a triple meter dance characterized by the dotted eighth and sixteenth note rhythm first presented in the flute and later carried by the violins and upper woodwinds. In the middle of the dance, Pelléas’ voice enters in the solo cello and a conversation takes place between flute, clarinet, cello, and horn solos. The section then comes full circle, ending how it began as the flute completes the melody one last time.
The fourth and final movement portrays the death of Mélisande. The upper woodwinds that once represented the young woman’s innocence now play a rhythmic heartbeat in their lower tessituras. A lyrical line of mourning people around Mélisande’s death bed is played by the violins. As more instruments join, the mourning continues among the heartbeat motif. The dynamic grows and tempo quickens as if Mélisande might resume a normal pulse when suddenly, hope fades. The heartbeat stops and the mourners’ motif is all that remains as the flute softly carries Mélisande’s spirit heavenward.
– Rachel BrakePersonnel
Violin 1
Ravani Loushy Kay
David Carreon
Yeji Lim
Isabella Sun
Audrey Weizer
Violin 2
Sofia Skoldberg
Ava Kenney
Minkyung Kang
HyoJeong Hwang
Viola
Man To Kwong
Ru-Yao Van der Ploeg
John Turner
Cello
Jonathan Fuller
Isaac Pagano-Toub
Eric Schindler
Bass
Luke Tsuchiya
Lawrence Hall
Flute
Anna Ridenour
Sadie Goodman
Oboe
Kelley Osterberg
Kian Hirayama
Clarinet
Evan Chu
Adlemi A. Zambrano
Bassoon
Evan Judson
Zoe Beck
French horn
Elijah Barclift
Mattias Bengtsson
Xiaoran Xu
Trumpet
Matthew Dao
Justin Park
Timpani
Doyeon Kim
Harp
Jingtong ZhangArtists- Rachel Brake '24 MM, conductor
Personnel
Violin 1
David Carreon +
Ravani Loushy Kay
Yeji Lim
Isabella Sun
Audrey Weizer
Violin 2
Yeji Lim +
Sofia Skoldberg
Ava Kenney
Minkyung Kang
HyoJeong Hwang
Viola
Dylan Cohen +
Man To Kwong
Ru-Yao Van der Ploeg
John Turner
Cello
Isaac Pagano-Toub +
Jonathan Fuller
Eric Schindler
Bass
Dennis McIntyre +
Luke Tsuchiya
Lawrence Hall
Flute
Sadie Goodman
Yechan Min ‡
Anna Ridenour §
Oboe
Corinne Foley ‡
Kian Hirayama
Kelley Osterberg §
Clarinet
Evan Chu ‡
Adlemi A. Zambrano
Bassoon
Zoe Beck
Abigail Heyrich ‡
Evan Judson §
French horn
Elijah Barclift §
Mattias Bengtsson
Mauricio Martinez ‡
Xiaoran Xu
Trumpet
Ko Te Chen
Matthew Dao *§
Justin Park
Alexandra Richmond
Trombone
Becca Bertekap *
Devin Drinan
Bass Trombone
David Paligora *+
Shin Tanaka
Timpani
Doyeon Kim
Percussion
Ross Jarrell ‡
Rohan Zakharia
Harp
Jingtong Zhang
Harmonium
Lingbo Ma
Piano
Boyuan Chen
Principal players
* Plog
‡ Mahler
+ Mahler strings
§ Fauré