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AMHERST – Lorraine Alice Hamilton of Amherst, New Hampshire, Beach Haven, New Jersey and Rancho Mirage, California died June 14, 2020 from pancreatic cancer at her home in California. She was 73 years old and a participant in the trial of a new cancer drug at NYU Langone in New York City since April 2019. She hoped that results from the trial would improve care for other patients who develop this cancer. She was with her family when she died and was
Arts
The Nashua Chamber Orchestra invites you to Mozart and Friends, the final concert of the current season, June 3rd and 4th. David Feltner, Music Director, will perform as viola soloist in the premiere of his new work, From the Depths. The program also includes Five Woodland Sketches by Edward MacDowell, and Mozart’s Symphony No. 39.
PERFORMANCES
SATURDAY JUNE 3, 7:30 PM
Nashua Community College, 505 Amherst St., Judd Gregg Hall
SUNDAY JUNE 4, 7:30 PM
Milford Town Hall, 1 Union Square on the Milford Oval
Tickets can be purchased at the door, or online at the web site: www.nco-music.org Prices are $20, adults; $15, seniors and college students; students under 18, free.
On-line only: Buy 2 tickets, get up to 2 more, half price.
David Feltner started composing at a young age and won several awards for his works while still in high school. He has written in a wide range of styles and genres, for ensembles spanning from solo viola to full symphony orchestra. As a conductor, he has been acclaimed by The Boston Globe for leading performances of “profound expressivity”. He has served as Associate Conductor and Chorus Master for Boston Lyric Opera, and Cover Conductor for Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops. In addition to leading the NCO for the past 17 seasons, he is Music Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Boston, and was recently appointed conductor of the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra.
A scant week before the NCO’s scheduled March, 2020 concert, the shut-down was imposed and the pandemic swept away all musical performances and in-person events of every kind. As it dragged on with no end in sight, everyone experienced radical life changes. For performing musicians, in addition to their loss of livelihood, there was a particular agony of the loss of self-identity. To cope with his anguish, Maestro David Feltner turned to improvising on his viola. As he played, he began to hear the timbres of other instruments painting sounds of despair, a primal scream, wailing; the motive of a half step rising and falling. A cohesive work began to take shape. After a considerable time, the title From the Depths suggested itself. In the composer’s words: “The meaning is two-fold, referring to both the innermost space where feelings reside and a rising up—from the depths of despair to a brighter place …” “My wish is that everyone who goes on this musical ‘journey’ will arrive at that sense of peace in their own lives.”
Nashua Chamber Orchestra 2023 June 3 and 4 Concert
Edward MacDowell (1860—1908) was an American composer, pianist and teacher who studied in Europe and was encouraged by Franz Liszt. He settled in Boston in 1888, and later taught at Columbia University. Deriving inspiration from the contemplation of nature, MacDowell’s impulse to compose was heightened when he and his wife, Marion, purchased Hillcrest Farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire as their summer home, in 1896. Marion encouraged Edward to recover
a piece he had discarded. That piece grew into Woodland Sketches, Opus 51, his poetic depiction of his experiences in nature around the Farm, and the emotions they engendered. Originally written for piano, the Sketches were later arranged for chamber orchestra by Charles Woodhouse. The NCO will perform nos. 6—10: To A Water-Lily, From Uncle Remus, A Deserted Farm, By A Meadow Brook, and Told at Sunset. These colorful tone paintings are charming vignettes evoked by the composer’s spontaneous emotions.
It is hard to fathom the breathtaking genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the kaleidoscopic scope of his soaring talent: piano sonatas (starting at age 6) and concertos, chamber music, symphonies, operas, and his deeply moving Requiem. His photographic-audio memory enabled him to listen to a
composition once, then inscribe it just as he heard it, with all the parts intact. Recognizing his young son’s musical gift, his father Leopold toured the royal courts of Europe with his wunderkind prodigy. Despite his short life (1756—1791) beset by financial difficulties, Mozart left over 600 works, each one stamped with the inexhaustible spring of his creative genius. His good friend Haydn said of Mozart: “Posterity will not see such a talent again in a hundred years.”
Symphony No. 39 (1788) is the first of Mozart’s last three symphonies. This is one of his few symphonies that uses clarinets but no oboes. The majestic Adagio introduction leads into the cheerful Allegro with its song-like first theme, followed by a catchy, rhythmic second theme, which returns to conclude the first movement. The second movement Andante is characterized by rolling dotted rhythms. The Menuetto-Allegretto is a vigorous yet graceful triple meter minuet-and-trio form. The Finale is based on a playful, folk-like rondo theme, and has the energetic flow of a rushing brook.
