Faculty Concert 2/2
By Jared Fairfield, Staff Writer
On February 2nd, the Osher School of Music presented a faculty concert series, with Dr. Will Kinne conducting Igor Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds (1923). The concert also included the world premiere of Octet composed by Dr. Daniel Sonenberg, and the premier of Moving Past composed by Dr. Hans Indigo Spencer. The concert included Krysia Tripp on flute; Thomas Parchman on clarinet; Wren Saunders on bassoon; Katie Noe on bassoon; Alan Kaschub on Trumpet; Ryan Noe on trumpet; Brian Diehl on trombone; and Marc Manduca on bass trombone.
Stravinsky said that “The Octet began with a dream, in which I saw myself in a small room surrounded by a small group of instrumentalists playing some attractive music…I awoke from this little concert in a state of great delight and anticipation and the next morning began to compose.” The piece was met with some confusion and controversy during its world premiere in Paris, as it was a radical departure from Stravinsky’s previously established style.
I was able to reach out to Dr. Sonenberg and ask him about the process of composing his Octet, for which he drew inspiration directly from studying Stravinsky: “…for me the process was to familiarize myself with the Stravinsky piece a bit, and then to do my best to put it completely out of my head. Especially with a composer like Stravinsky, who has such an outsized musical personality, there’s a danger of being overwhelmed by it.” Despite trying to put Stravinsky out of his head, Dr. Sonenberg still felt his influence, as the grouping of instruments used in Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds is unusual: “…even though I tried to forget about him, there are aspects to the ensemble itself that really call forth a very Stravinskian sound, and I think my piece has more Stravinksy-ish stuff than many of my other pieces.”
I didn’t hear back from Prof. Spencer, but the program notes from him tell of what he was trying to accomplish with Moving Past: “…my aim is to extend to you a musical energy field born of the things we collectively been through over the last few years… and are working to move past.” Prof. Spencer goes on to write “I believe our world has fundamentally changed since 2020, both individuals and as a world culture. At its heart, each movement of ‘Moving Past’ comes from a place of wanting to authentically share a musical energy fields inspired by each of these ideas.” The ideas are the names of each of the four movements of Moving Past: “Isolation – Connection,” “The Gradual Burdening of Shoulders,” “Thoughtfulness – Reflection on Changing,” and “Forgiveness – Discovery.”