Heitor Villa-Lobos Website

TSO concert thinks ‘Outside of the Bachs'

Program features four composers' works from 18th to 20th centuries

Music Director George Hanson will conduct the TSO's MasterWorks Chamber Orchestra for "Outside of the Bachs" this weekend.

Posted: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 4:00 am | Updated: 4:04 pm, Tue Nov 1, 2011.

By Chelsey Killebrew, Special to The Explorer

"Outside of the Bachs" will provide the Tucson Symphony Orchestra MasterWorks audience with a wide-ranging listening experience from the amazing J.S. Bach, as well as that of other composers' music based upon his works. A challenge is made to the supposed "orderliness" of classical music.

Presented by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance, the program takes place Friday, Nov. 4, beginning at 7 p.m. with a pre-concert chat with TSO conductor George Hansen and concert at 8 p.m., at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 7575 N. Paseo del Norte in Tucson.

Even J.S. Bach occasionally wrote to his own drummer. A display of melody in the Air from Suite No. 3 finally overshadows his often-noted skill in Baroque counterpoint.

Scheduled to open the Nov. 4 concert, this composition will stay in the mind and heart as only great music can.

Yet another Bach - C.P.E. (Carl Phillip Emmanuel, J.S.'s son) - brings an almost bewildering style to his Symphony No. 1. "Outside of the Bachs" is a good description of C.P.E.'s use of Baroque, Classical and even Romantic era treatment in this late life work.

Reinterpreting was Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos's method bringing the style of Brazilian music to European classical. The Bachianas brasilieras No. 9 is indeed "Outside of the Bachs," but as with all the others, No. 9 is written as an homage to the great genius of Johann Sebastian Bach.

"The Muse for Strings and Harpsichord" is part of a series called "The New Brandenburgs," in which six composers were commissioned to write works based on the distinctive orchestrations heard in Bach's Brandenburg Concerti.

Christoph Theofanidis' modern, but light and transparent "Outside of the Bachs" muse is baroque-like in harmony and rhythm as heard in the original concerti No. 3.

One of J.S. Bach's most popular works (early 1700s) laid unnoticed in the library of the Margrave of Brandenburg until rediscovery in the 19th century. It is speculated that No. 6 in B-Flat is the earliest of the six concerti.

Excellent seating for "Outside of the Bachs" and for the three remaining MasterWorks concerts is available by calling 797-3959, ext. 9.

Editor's note: TSO also will perform "Outside of the Bachs" at Catalina Foothills High School Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $50. To order tickets, visit www.tucsonsymphony.org.

If you go

What: TSO MasterWorks Concert Series

When: Nov. 4; 8 p.m. concert, 7 p.m. pre-concert chat

Where: St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 7575 N. Paseo del Norte

Tickets: Start at $40, with subscription discounts available

To purchase tickets, visit http://saaca.org/masterworksconcerts.html or call 797-3959, ext. 9

Napa Valley Symphony
"String Fever" - Sunday, November 6, 2011 - 3:00PM

Program: Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras #5; Wright - Twilight at Mt. Veeder; Elgar - Introduction & Allegro for Strings; Brahms - Symphony #1 in C minor, Op. 68

Alondra de la Parra