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Violist plays Bach's unaccompanied Chaconne
Two premieres at a Katrina benefit
Sunday, September 25, 2005
By Paul M. Somers

New Jersey Youth Symphony, Ken Selden (conductor), Diana Charos Reilly (flute), Tanya Solomon and Scott Slapin (violas). Britten: Sentimental Sarabande from Simple Symphony; Scott Slapin: Nocturne in Memory of Richard Lane; Lane: Three Duos for Flute and Viola; J. S. Bach: Chaconne from Partita no. 2 for unaccompanied violin, played on viola; Christine Woodbury: Lullaby (premiere); Patrick Neher: Canons and Dances (premiere); Bach: Brandenburg Concerto no. 6. Church of the Redeemer, Morristown.

The first concert of the new season by the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS) was a benefit for the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Greater New Orleans Youth Symphony. Giving away your art for those in need is certainly an idea which should be encouraged, especially among the young who are just coming out of the adolescent stage of self-involvement.

This concert had a specific focus, for the adult violist Scott Slapin and his wife Tanya Solomon were the guest artists. He is an alumnus of the NJYS, but he is also a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic, an orchestra which has been scattered around the nation as refugees from the disaster. So when the organization wanted to do something to assist the efforts to keep the two Louisiana enesembles functioning it was most effective to have Mr. Slapin and Ms. Solomon front and center. Front and center they were - twice during the program playing viola duos including the concertino parts of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 6.

The concert itself would have drawn this writer's interest even without being a worthy benefit. How often is an audience presented with a concert mixing string orchestra, duos, and even a solo? Moving from the full NJYS string section to two duos down to solo during the first half was like looking through a zoom lens drawing tighter and tighter on the subject of "string playing."

For most it was Slapin's intense solo performance of the incomparable "Chaconne" from Bach's second Partita for unaccompanied violin which was the highlight of the evening. Slapin played it on the viola (he is apparently the first person to record the unaccompanied violin music of Bach on viola) with such power and finesse that only a dyed-in-the-wool violin fan could have objected. Indeed, heresy though it may be, this listener found it to have greater majesty than the original with all those low tones resounding through the Church of the Redeemer's acoustic. Fans of the unaccompanied cello suites loved it.

Unlike many benefit concerts which program conservatively in order to appeal to the most people, this event featured two premieres and two other modern works. The first of the premieres was Madison High School senior Christine Woodbury's Lullaby for string orchestra. It begins with the open strings of a solo viola (she is a violist), turns that pattern into a motive, introduces a sweet melody with *lydian mode intimations, and eventually stretches it all in a sure handed development which achieves a climax followed by silence. Then the simple tuning-up motive begins again and leads to a relaxed conclusion. If the general outline is that of Barber's famous Adagio (the climactic silence was the most obvious congruency), it was anything but a slavish imitation. This was the composer's first piece
without the coaching of a composition teacher, and it was most gratifying to said teacher (this writer) to see that the technical aspects worked on over the years had paid off in such a secure personal statement.

The other live premiere was Patrick Neher's Canons and Dances for viola duo (the "live distinction is important because it has already been recorded by Solomon and Slapin). Mr. Neher is a double bass teacher on the faculty of the University of Arizona. His contribution proved to be a well-made and exciting work featuring passages of great technical demand, met at the highest level by Solomon and Slapin. The *canon section was intriguing to follow, for the canon subjects are complex but transparent to the attentive ear. The dances, while they had large and obvious dynamic changes, lacked the small nuances which would have relieved the long stretches of dynamic sameness.

Over the year since New Jersey composer Richard Lane's untimely death last fall, he has been honored through various concerts and memorial music. Certainly the Nocturne in Memory of Richard Lane by Slapin, who studied composition with him, is one of the more touching of the homages. Very much in the spirit of Lane's serious side, it is a work of accessible melody yet never saccharine, demanding for the performer yet never gratuitously showy. The spirited and humorous side of Lane, a witty comedian in some of his music, was presented in three duos for flute and viola. Strong, incisive counterpoint drove the first piece, lovely lyricism the second, and energy the third. And yes, it is true that the second movement ends on a chord needing but not receiving resolution.

This was a benefit concert which aided those close to home as well, for it gave the young players a sense of reaching out into the wider world, a sure knowledge that their art is not about something private but about community. They learned that the community includes folks who are far away that they have never met, folks who also pick up their instruments to bring classical music to the world.

Bravo to the staff members of the NJYS, all of whom volunteered their time and energy to bring off the concert. This includes conductor Ken Selden, flutist Reilly, and cellist Cynthia Longley. The latter played the cello solos in the Brandenburg with clarity and taste while not sitting out front with the violists, a self-effacing attitude which kept the focus on Louisiana in the persons of Solomon and Slapin.