By Kathryn Olsen
At Alpine’s Timberline Middle School, the Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra finishes its 2020-21 season this weekend with Beethoven at 251 with Jenny Oaks Baker and Family. The program led by director John Pew features music that many people will recognize, but is so full of energy that it is impossible to experience it without a sense of exhilaration. This excitement is shared by audience and ensemble alike, as the previous four concerts of this season have been held virtually or with limited capacity, but this performance had the option of full capacity seating.
The program opens with Ludwig von Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C Major, with featured soloists Jenny Oaks Baker as well as Hannah Baker and Sarah Baker. This 1808 masterpiece is the only of Beethoven’s concerti to feature multiple soloists and is a constantly-moving series of conversations, whether between soloists and conductor, solosists and orchestra, or even among the soloists themselves. It begins with a dizzying and teasing movement that has each of the featured performers seeming to make a point followed by a counterargument or a consensus. The second movement relies heavily on the interchange between orchestra and the cellist and it is that musician who leads the ensemble into the rollicking third movement that seems to have a single theme, but several dances woven into it.
Oaks Baker, who has been nominated for a Grammy for her solo work, leads the trio with the hand of a teacher, matching bowing styles and melodic interpretation with each of the other performers so that they follow her lead. At other times, she resorts to understated arpeggios. While her performance is certainly virtuosic, she is skilled in performing with intuitive balance and attention to the flow of the musical conversations.
Hannah is often required to be the most independent in her performance, as the piano part embellishes the rising and falling tensions in the string sections. At 18, she has a commanding presence and steady technique that is well-suited to the piano soloist’s role in driving the main themes to a satisfactory conclusion.
Sarah demonstrates musical comprehension and sympathy upon which each movement of the concerto hinges. This is true as she is the first to join the orchestra in the first movement, but she palsy the most vital role in carrying the second movement. If this were an opera rather than a concerto, the second movement would be a famous aria. Oaks Baker has expressed interest in playing a double concerto with Sarah in the coming seasons and there is no doubt that she is up to the challenge.
The second half of the program is the famous Symphony No. 7 in A Major. The first movement is reminiscent of the composer’s fifth symphony, where the rhythms and harmonies are relatively simple, but build on each other to create complexity. The symphony itself is often remembered for its a minor allegretto movement, which was first used in film in 1934. The march of the lower strings that yields to a ballad-like melody for the violas Beethoven intersperses this climbing exchange with peaceful sections in triplets while the woodwinds soar above the complex rhythms . It is the third movement where the orchestra emerges into bolder expressions. The strings often draw the most attention, but the skilled brass are sustaining notes between fanfares in the background of what is reported to be an adaptation of a pilgrim’s hymn. The fourth movement’s theme is borrowed from his 1812-13 Twelve Irish Songs and recalls the lyric of “Save Me From the Grave and Wise” to “welcome folly and adventure.”
The orchestra itself contains skilled musicians who proudly come into prominence when the music calls for them, but under the direction of Pew, they excel at responding to each other. Pew’s decade at the helm of this orchestra is evident both in his skillful direction and the trust that the orchestra exhibits when following his tempo changes or responding immediately to a dynamic-changing hand gesture.
There is just one performance left, but this all-Beethoven program will certainly whet the musical appetite for the 2021-22 season in the fall. Welcome your chance for an adventure before the hiatus before the season ends. The concert will also be available through streaming.
Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra Presents Beethoven at 251 with Jenny Oaks Baker and Family
Timberline Middle School, 500 W Canyon Crest Rd, Alpine, UT 84004
May 7-8, 2020, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $9-12
Contact: (801) 210-2466
www.thetso.org
TImpanogos Symphony Orchestra Facebook Page
Beethoven at 251 with Jenny Oaks Baker and Family Facebook Event
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