Some of the biggest names in classical music include Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven and Bach, and they were all German or Austrian, said Stephen Blackwelder, director of the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra.
Orchestra conductors the world over continue to showcase these composers’ works — and though Blackwelder likes to present music by composers of other ethnic origins as well, he decided to promote the Germanic tradition at the Waukegan Orchestra’s final concert of the season May 20.
“Each season I try not to play too much (of the four major composers). But this year, I’m shamelessly promoting German music,” Blackwelder said.
“These are fantastic composers. It’s a matter of putting together the right mix that will be pleasing to the audience. We’ll do an overture, a concerto, the intermission and then end with a big symphony. In some ways that’s a very traditional concert,” he said.
The overture will be from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” followed by a French horn concerto written by Richard Strauss, and then Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in the second half.
Guest French horn soloist is Jamie Leff, who grew up in Buffalo Grove, is the second hornist in the Houston Ballet Orchestra, and also performs with the Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera, among others.
Her mother, Becky Leff, a French hornist with the Waukegan orchestra, will be performing while Jamie plays the concerto. In the audience, will be Jamie’s father, Dean Leff, a retired musician who once played tuba with the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra.
Blackwelder said French horn concertos are rarely performed with orchestras. “It takes real confidence in your technique and your musicality to feel comfortable playing a French horn solo with the orchestra,” he said. “It’s a very, very difficult instrument.”
Jamie Leff chose the Strauss concerto, which is one of the most popular, he said. “Richard Strauss wrote this concerto for his father. His father was the first horn in the Munich Court Orchestra and played for 45 years,” Blackwelder said. “Young Richard heard French horn music every day of his life while he was living at home. He also studied French horn to find out what the instrument could do.
“Once he was old enough to make this concerto a good piece, his dad had retired playing. So he chose one of his students to play the world premiere.”
As for the Brahms Symphony No. 1, it took him 23 years to write, Blackwelder said.
“He was nervous about trying to write a symphony. A symphony at that time was the most important artistic statement any musician could make.” Brahms was so in awe of Beethoven, the consummate symphony composer at the time, saying, “You can’t have any idea of what it’s always like to hear such a giant marching behind you.”
Brahms wrote four symphonies “that show complete mastery of the skill of composition,” Blackwelder said. “They are beautiful, and lush and adventuresome with chromatic harmony.”
“Any Brahms work for orchestra is a serious undertaking,” Blackwelder said. “He wrote difficult string parts. The string players are faced with the challenge of just learning the notes and hearing the complex ways the melodies interweave with each other.”
Parts for the wind players are also “very interesting with melodies and rhythmic patterns that intertwine,” Blackwelder said.
“Playing Brahms is challenging and really rewarding. The piece (Symphony No. 1) is so great. It’s worth us doing that.”
Waukegan Symphony Orchestra: The Germanic Tradition
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When: 4 p.m. May 20
Where: Orlin D. Trapp Auditorium, Waukegan High School, 2325 Brookside Ave., Waukegan
Tickets: $7-$15; ages 18 and under are free
Information: 847-360-4740; waukegansymphony.org
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.