On Saturday night, Shriver Hall was packed with students, parents, professors and even the greater Baltimore community, all gathered to watch the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra’s annual March concert.
The auditorium was filled with excitement from the audience, eagerly anticipating the night’s music.
The concert began with the unveiling of a piece very recently composed by James Lee III, titled “Alas! Babylon’s Final Sunset.” This piece is part of a series of works by Dr. Lee that, according to him, “musically comment on the biblical Books of Daniel and Revelation.
This piece in particular attempts to recreate the picturesque images in chapter 18 of the Book of Revelation.
Dr. Lee’s compositions have recently gained widespread popularity among musicians. His work has been performed by groups ranging from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He is also currently teaching as an associate professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
The night continued with the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra’s powerful rendition of Ferde Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite.” Holding true to its name, this number was inspired by the Grand Canyon. According to Max Derrickson, Grofe was “profoundly inspired [by] the magnificence of colors, the colossal-ness, its roaring silence” and thus decided to try and compose a musical equivalent that captures the essence of the Grand Canyon.
The Hopkins Symphony Orchestra finished off the night with “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Russian composer, Modest Mussorgsky. “Pictures at an Exhibition,” also true to its name, is a piece that tries to evoke the images and emotions experienced while observing paintings of Russian artist Viktor Hartmann.
The individual pieces selected for the night contrasted one another but were still tied together by the thread of imagery. Each of the individual pieces selected created very strong, mental pictures. Lee’s piece is an attempt to recreate the scenes depicted in the Bible’s Book of Revelation; Grofe’s work is the captured essence of a landscape’s beauty; and Mussorgsky’s composition is the musical counterpart to the emotions evoked through paintings.
“The night was really all about imagery,” Conductor Jed Gaylin said. “The Grofe Grande Canyon Suite” [is] often considered a lighter work. . .and I wanted to put it with something equally imagistic but also serious so that the two would talk to each other. . .Lee’s music [is] also very much that way. . .very imagistic, very shimmery, very splashy orchestration.”
Conductor Gaylin also explained his philosophy on music and the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra’s performance.
“It’s such an incredible experience to share this [performance] with undergraduates studying about the humanities and music. . .To have the best example of what those humanistic studies are, come alive in sound, it’s incredible,” Gaylin said. “My feeling is, always after a Hopkins Symphony Orchestra concert, more or less accurate is not the main thing. [The main thing is] the feelings and emotions the music conveyed.”
Staying true to his word, the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra successfully brought its audience on an emotional journey through its music.
The next upcoming event for the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra is on Saturday, April 26. The concert will feature performances by the 2014 Hopkins Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition Winners: Conor Hammonds, on the tuba, and Alice Huang, on the violin. The symphony orchestra will also be performing Jean Sibelius’ En Saga, as well as Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.
So be sure to mark your calendars this April, and come to Shriver Hall at 8 p.m. to enjoy a night filled with powerful music and passionate energy.
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