By Daniel Buckwalter
Youth was served on Oct. 20 at the venerable Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon, and there was much to cheer about when the Oregon Wind Symphony and Oregon Wind Ensemble played a concert titled Cruel Moon.
It was the opening night of the season for both groups, part of the vast network of ensembles and performance groups at the university’s School of Music and Dance.
There were a couple rough-around-the-edges moments to the evening, true, but it was heartwarming to have the college students remind everyone in the mostly full hall of the joy of performing on stage in front of family and friends.
For those students who choose the grind of building a music career after college, there will be a time when they will have to buckle down and keep their eyes on the prize of work; for now, the enjoyment of simply being in the moment is, it appears, enough. The camaraderie among the student musicians was real, as were the hugs and selfie ops in the balcony area with family and friends during intermission.
Still, there was music to be performed, and there were noteworthy performances.
The Oregon Wind Symphony had the first half of the program to itself, playing five short pieces with rotating conductors, instructors at the UO School of Music and Dance. By far the most lyrical and compelling piece was This Cruel Moon, composed by John Mackey in 2017.
It’s an adaptation of the middle movement of Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band. The full symphony tells the tale of Greek hero Odysseus and his journey home following his victory in the Trojan War.
In this adaptation, Mackey explores the seven-year romance of Odysseus and Calypso, the daughter of Oceanus and a nymph on the mythical island of Ogygia. Calypso finds Odysseus washed up, near death, on the shore where she lives alone. She nurses him back to health and they fall in love.
Until the day when Odysseus remembers he has a wife and a son, and he now wishes to return home. Calypso, heartbroken, promises him immortality if he stays, but Odysseus insists upon leaving. So Calypso unravels the tapestry of love she has created for Odysseus and makes a sail with it to be put on a raft, stocked with bread and wine. She summons a gentle and steady wind. He sails home, not looking back. She is shattered.
It’s a beautiful love story that the Oregon Wind symphony, led by Micah Laird in this instance, handled with great care.
The Oregon Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dennis Llinás, took over the second half of the concert, and its highlight was the finale of the program, the four-movement Feste Romane by Ottorino Respighi.
Feste Romane is a complex cinematic piece that features brass fanfares, moody sections, chimes and bells to capture the peals of church bells resounding in Rome, celebratory dancing, an organ grinder and more.
Anyone who is even a half-beat off in this piece is noted immediately and, happily, the Oregon Wind Ensemble nailed everything from start to finish.
It was a wonderful way to end a solid night of music, and I would encourage one and all to make time for the Oregon Wind Symphony and Oregon Wind Ensemble at Beall Hall this season.
