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Program notes - "Lullabies and Nocturnes" |
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A Note from the Artistic Director The genesis of tonight's concert was an observation by a friend who works for a children's advocacy group of the great demand young and expectant mothers have for recordings of lullabies, cradle songs, and works suitable for the putting of children to bed. As a mere intellectual exercise, I thought to myself, "What would a St. Martin's collection of such works look like." As I put together a potential program in my head, it began looking like a wonderful idea, and I decided to go ahead and do such a concert. In fact, it is our plan to record most of the works in the concert in the near future in order to have such a CD, perhaps for use by a children's advocacy group such as that which employs the friend I mentioned above. But, programming for a CD is very different from programming for a concert. In a concert the goal is variety and contrast; in a CD the goal is consistency and cohesiveness. In fact, the vast majority of CDs feature the work of a single composer, whereas concerts consisting of the work of a single composer have the danger of being too monochromatic and lacking in the variety necessary for keeping the audience's interest. In contrast, a good concert, featuring various composers, contrasting works, etc., are too lacking in focus to make a good CD. So the trick in this instance was trying to put together a roster of works that were as equally attractive as a concert as a recording. I'm not sure how far I have succeeded in this endeavor, as one criticism of this concert could be that it contains too many short works, and that the majority have slow tempos, quiet dynamics, and a gentle nature. But I hope that I have succeeded in finding enough variety that it will hold your interest from start to finish. In order to assist in setting a tone for the concert that is gentle and on the contemplative side (as befits a collection of lullabies and nocturnes), there will be an absolute minimum of talking during the concert, and I ask that you hold your applause until the conclusion of each titled section.
Thanks, and welcome to our Sixth Subscription Season! Timothy J. Krueger
© 2003 Timothy J. Krueger |