Music both beautiful and bright

When the ethereal curtain at Hilldale Church rises on TBSO’s second Classical Plus concert next week, the dedication of this series to Mozart continues.

Themed Tears and Joy, the evening promises through the music of Mozart and others inspired by him to stir those finer edges of human emotion seemingly opposite but often one and the same.

When Haydn was 23, Mozart hadn’t yet been born.

When Haydn was 59, Mozart was already dead.

Recently The Source met with a pair of musicians featured on the program, performing Haydn’s Concerto for 2 Horns in E flat major. Ahead of the interview, and having listened to excerpts of the concerto at home, this reporter imagined a summer’s day of big blue sky and two figures moving in a huge meadow of waving tall grass.

The taller, an adult or perhaps older sibling, strides purposefully toward an unknown destination on the horizon; the smaller figure is a child running and skipping in tangents and circles, to and away, disappearing and re-emerging like a constant happy burst of energy.
Damian Rivers-Moore, one of the two French horns in TBSO’s rendition of Haydn’s concerto, described what it’s like to perform his virtuosic part.

“Well, I haven’t actually put that specific story to it,” he smiled, “but certainly it’s inescapable not to think of the meadows of Europe, and the hunt: hunters with their horns, calls back and forth, little snippets of the chase; definitely a jovial hunting atmosphere.”
He glanced over at Jannelle Wiebe, the other voice and counterpart in this music.

“It’s lovely,” he continued. “I think Jannelle and I have established a bond as horn players in this orchestra: another interesting relationship in life, this musical one. It’s fun to work together on a concerto like this, the going back and forth, because as second horn, this time I get to be a little more of a soloist than normal. I get to have my say, then pass it off again to Jannelle.”

A light laugh from Jannelle; and a pause as she considered when asked why she chose the French horn, so mellow sounding, in the first place.

“I started on piano, didn’t like it; didn’t practice much and my parents always had to force me. Then Grade 7 came around and my school started a band program. They gave me a choice between flute, clarinet and horn. I picked horn because I remember watching Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner and hearing that awesome soundtrack at the beginning of the movie; I’m not going to sing it for you just now.”

She laughed again, and charmingly joked “and I remember with the arrangement of homerooms at my school, all the cute guys were in the brass class, so that’s where I went.”

Back on a serious note now, the evening’s program includes a piece by contemporary American composer Richard Danielpour entitled Lacrimae Beati, which translates as Tears of the Blessed One.

The composer’s story around his inspiration, accidentally discovering Mozart’s mass grave (1791) and an unforgettable flight from Vienna to Berlin (2009), is absolutely compelling; read about it online by searching the title of the piece.

Both tears and joy flow at Hilldale Church on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The music begins at 8 p.m. Arrive a little early for best seats.