String Orchestra
o f
t h e
r o c k i e s
ANNIVERSARY
SEASON
Saturday, Novemver 15, 2014
7:30 pm, UM Music Recital Hall
tonight’s SOR players
Violins
Margaret Baldridge
Colleen Hunter
Megan Karls
Loy Marks
Madeleine Mckelvey
Mary Papoulis
Sam Parks
Rachel Petite
Violas
Jennifer Smith
Lisa Shull
Amy Letson
Celli
Fern Glass Boyd
Thad Suits
Christine Sopko
Bass
Don Beller
2014-2015
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string bling: sor concert favorites Saturday, November 15, 2014
from the artistic director
Dear Friends,
Don’t be surprised if you have visions of diamonds dancing in your head during the
first piece on our program tonight ~ you might recognize Karl Jenkins’ Palladio music
from those famous DeBeers “Diamond” commercials of the mid-1990’s. And therein lies
the inspiration behind “String Bling” ~ a collection of “jewels” from the great string
orchestra repertoire. Tonight, we will not only be making musical associations with
diamond commercials, but with Broadway musicals (This is My Beloved from Kismet,
taken from Borodin’s beautiful Nocturne from his String Quartet No. 2), Transylvanian
gypsy music (Bartók’s inspiration for his Romanian folk dances), and…….beef
commercials! Conjure up a sizzling steak as you listen to Copland’s famous Hoedown ~
it’s what’s for dinner!
A special “shout out” to our young visitors tonight: the 2014 All-Star orchestra
students who are participating in the UM 2014 All-Star High School Festival. We hope
you enjoy our sparkling musical program tonight; we have certainly enjoyed preparing
it for you. And we wish you great success with your musical pursuits.

 
Musically yours,
Fern Glass Boyd
music is a
gift for all
mankind

missoulian.com
Every minute. Every day.
proud to sponsor the String
Orchestra of the Rockies.
Saturday, November 15, 2014 string bling: sor concert favorites
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program notes
Karl Jenkins, born in Wales, was the
son of the local organist and choirmaster.
He began his studies at Cardiff University
and then made his way to the Royal
Academy of Music. Jenkins’ influences
cover a wide range of different cultures
and styles. His Armed Man (1999) is
a popular new work that this writer
recently performed. Palladio was written
in 1995 and is a three-movement concerto
grosso inspired by the sixteenth-century
Italian architect Andrea Palladio whose
work embodies to Jenkins the Renaissance
celebration of harmony and order. It offers
a synthesis of styles ranging from baroque
to contemporary in one piece. The baroque
or neo-baroque is the language of the first
movement, the one that many will have
heard in the TV commercial for diamonds.
It is striking how effectively Jenkins
recreates the sound of the baroque while
still adding something new and personal
to what could be an exercise in imitation.
The second movement, Cantus Insolitus, is
something else entirely. Jenkins continues
to use rhythmic repetitions of shorter
notes, ostinati, but the violin solo that
soars above the accompaniment and
the harmony that supports the melody
is mysterious and romantic in a much
more contemporary, popular music way.
In the final movement, we seem to be
hearing something out of the baroque
again, at least at first. Jenkins is much
more interested in texture though, and
lets his chord progressions evolve slowly
as minimalist composers do. Static
harmony is used to great effect as in the
first movement to build up to climatic
saturation. As new sections of the music
are introduced, the drama and excitement
keeps mounting. Karl Jenkins himself
wrote the following: “Two of Palladio’s
hallmarks are mathematical harmony and
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architectural elements borrowed from
classical antiquity, a philosophy which
I feel reflects my own approach to
composition.”
Alexander Borodin was a love child:
his father, a Georgian noble, had dallied
with a 24-year-old Russian woman. His
father had him registered as the son of one
of his serfs, Porfiry Borodin, and provided
for his welfare and education. Alexander
studied medicine and pursued a career in
chemistry, achieving some renown, while
taking piano lessons on the side. At the
age of 29, he began composition lessons
with Balakirev, and at 30, married a
woman who was a pianist. Music remained
his avocation, but his accomplishments
in this regard will be remembered long
past any consideration of a paper on
aldehydes. Borodin had his first symphony
performed under the direction of Balakirev
soon after commencing studies. A second
symphony was to wait until much later
due to his fascination with the Prince Igor
saga. This opera is viewed as Borodin’s
masterpiece and contains the Polovetsian
Dances that are often excerpted in concert
performances. Borodin allied himself
with a group of Russian composers who
called themselves “The Five” or “The
Mighty Handful,” who were dedicated to
producing music with specifically Russian
content. But Borodin was his own man as
he showed with his philanthropic efforts,
as well as his musical composition. He
was a champion of opportunities for
women, founding the School of Medicine
for Women in St. Petersburg. Musically, he
walked his own way in writing two string
quartets; the rest of his “Handful” were not
fans of this sort of traditionalism. Borodin
also played the cello so it is fitting that in
the Nocturne the cello has the first word.
string bling: sor concert favorites Saturday, November 15, 2014
program notes
It is a limpid, long-spun melody backed by
hushed and lush chording. After the cello
finishes, the first violin repeats the melody
in a much higher register. When the violin
concludes there is a change in the weather
and a new motive is announced, built upon
an upward scale followed by sequentially
descending trill ornaments. This theme is
more agitated and contrasts well with the
almost indolent quality of the opening.
The agitation is abetted by a syncopated
accompaniment, mostly from the viola, but
all of the voices have their turn with the
lead. Finally, the viola announces a return
to the main theme. At first the cello and
violin pair in canon, as if in a pas de deux.
Later, the first and second violins do the
same. A small bit of the theme is passed
around as the movement rises up, as if to
heaven, to its close.
Béla Bartók, from a young age,
developed a strong sense of nationalism,
rejecting the tendency of Hungarian
intellectuals at the time to view Germany
as the center of culture. He deplored the
“Hungarian” works by composers such as
Lizst and Brahms. No doubt Bartók would
have put Monti’s Czardas in an even lower
reach of the Inferno. He concluded that
these composers were more influenced by
café musicians than by the “pure” music
of the countryside. At age 22, he began
the first of many expeditions to the small
villages and byways of Hungary to collect
on wax cylinder the songs of the peasantry
much as Alan Lomax did in America. The
Romanian Folk Dances are arrangements
of dance tunes that were collected in
Romania. They were composed originally
for piano in 1915 and arranged two years
later for orchestra.
The opening Stick Dance is full of hearty
gusto. Two fast notes at the beginning of
the measure are a signal stylistic trait. The
Sash Dance is coy and playful. Dance on
One Spot is full of keening mystery. The
melody, taken by the solo violin, features
plentiful use of mordents and the interval
of the augmented second. The Hornpipe
Dance is the slowest of the set. It is an aria
for the solo violin. Here the melody plays
with the two couples of C sharp-A and B
flat-D in quick succession. The Romanian
Polka must have been fun for the feet. The
phrases are three bars long with two bars
in triple meter followed by one in duple
meter. The finale is really two dances of
the same title, Maruntel, which go together
with only a tiny pause. They are purely
exuberant fiddling at its best.
Edvard Grieg was born in Norway
in 1843. The city of Bergen was the
birthplace of three Norwegian giants of the
arts: Ludwig Holberg; Ole Bull, Paganini’s
rival; and Edvard Grieg. Holberg’s comedies
earned him the title of the “Moliere
of the North.” In 1884, a committee
turned to Grieg to compose a tribute for
Holberg’s 200th birthday. The “Holberg”
Suite is set in the eighteenth-century
musical language of its subject’s time.
The collection of dance-titled movements
follows the pattern of the French Suite.
Pulsating rhythms of the Praeludium give
evidence of Grieg’s idiomatic knowledge of
the strings, cultivated by studies in string
quartet composition with Carl Reinecke.
The Sarabande offers a simple, beautifully
harmonized melody with an orchestration
favoring the lower strings. The Gavotte and
Musette connect without a pause. Each of
the themes in the Gavotte is announced
first by the second violins and violas
softly and then repeated louder by the
full group. The Musette has a syncopated
accompaniment, with the accent always
Saturday, November 15, 2014 string bling: sor concert favorites
5
program notes
coming just before the next downbeat.
The Air is a full-blown romantic “andante
religioso” and features the celli again
prominently. In the final Rigaudon, two
Norwegian fiddlers are depicted in a duet
for the solo violin and viola.
Aaron Copland was an American
composer, composition teacher, writer, and
later in his career a conductor of his own
and other American music. Instrumental
in forging a distinctly American style of
composition, in his later years he was
often referred to as “the Dean of American
Composers” and is best known to the public
for the works he wrote in the 1930s and
1940s in a deliberately accessible style
often referred to as Populist and which the
composer labeled his “vernacular” style.
The Ballet Rodeo, from which the popular
Hoedown is excerpted, was premiered by
the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1942
with choreography by Agnes de Mille. The
work was a bit of a launching pad for
Ms. de Mille, who up to that point had
toiled somewhat in obscurity. Her choice
of Copland for the music was based on
a favorable impression of his score for
Billy the Kid. At first Copland was not
keen for another “cowboy ballet,” but
de Mille convinced him that this would
be a departure. The premiere, at which
de Mille also danced the lead role of the
Cowgirl, was a huge success. Rodgers and
Hammerstein, who were in attendance,
were so impressed that they requested that
she work with them on their upcoming
show Oklahoma. The score of Rodeo was
unusual for Copland in that although he
often referred to an imagined American
musical vernacular, he rarely used actual
quotes. In this case, with de Mille having
been given so much creative control,
she had already found several tunes that
she wanted him to use before he even
began work on the score. After the great
acclaim that followed the ballet’s opening
run at the Metropolitan Opera House and
subsequent tour, Copland created a suite
for orchestra titled Four Dance Episodes
from Rodeo. This too was a hit, starting
with a Boston Pops performance in 1943.
The Suite’s four sections are titled Buckaroo
Holiday, Corral Nocturne, Saturday Night
Waltz, and Hoedown, making a rough
parallel to the symphonic four-movement
form. In Hoedown, the main tune that
springs up after the jangling opening
is “Bonaparte’s Retreat.” After several
iterations, instead of reaching a climax,
a new tune, “McLeod’s Reel,” is taken
up by different solo instruments. Finally,
the “Bonaparte’s Retreat” music returns,
leading to a blazing ending.
Missoula’s Premier Vocal Ensemble
presents:
Wonderful Peace
with special guests
The University of Montana Chamber Chorale
Friday, December 5

7:30 p.m.
St. Anthony Parish
www.Dolcecanto.info
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string bling: sor concert favorites Saturday, November 15, 2014
Acknowledgments
Concert Sponsors
BlueSky Farms
DA Davidson
Langel & Associates, P.C.
Missoula Pediatric Dentistry, PLLC
Missoulian
UM School of Music
US Bank
Floral Arrangements
Bitterroot Flowers
Guest Artist
Accommodations
DoubleTree by Hilton – Missoula
Holiday Inn – Downtown Missoula
Housing for SOR Players
Bob & Mary Ann Albee
Jeff & Sarah Buszmann
Frank & Jacquelyn Monroe
Herbert Swick
John & Susan Talbot
PROUD SPONSOR OF
THE STRING ORCHESTRA
OF THE ROCKIES
283 W.Front St., Ste. 101 | Missoula, MT
(406) 543-8244 | (800) 332-1615
D.A. Davidson & Co. member SIPC
Players Luncheons
Market on Front
Noodle Express
Ticket Sales
GrizTix
Graphic Design
Adam Potts, Missoulian
Recording Services
The Recording Center
Tuning Services
Stickney Piano Service
Stage Manager
Sam Carl
Intermission Refreshments
Julie Kahl
umt.edu/theatredance
UPCOMING SHOWS
Charles Dickens’
A Christmas Carol
ADAPTED BY JERE
LEE HODGIN
MONTANA THEATRE
NOVEMBER 25, 29-30, DECEMBER 2-6, 2014
MONTANA REPERTORY
THEATRE PRESENTS
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S
The Great Gatsby
LEVY
ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE BY SIMON
MONTANA THEATRE
JANUARY 24, 29-31, FEBRUARY 5, 7, 2015
Saturday, November 15, 2014 string bling: sor concert favorites
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String Orchestra
o f
t h e
Saturday, november 15, 2014
7:30pm, UM Music Recital Hall
r o c k i e s
This evening’s concert is dedicated to SOR
Orchestra Sponsors Pat & Jeff Aresty.
The SOR is grateful for their very generous
and ongoing support.
Aaron Copland’s Hoedown this evening is
dedicated to Faith & Walter Pickton.
PROGRAM
Allegretto from Palladio, for string orchestra�������������������Karl Jenkins
[from The “Diamond” commercial]
(b. 1944)
Nocturne, [from String Quartet No. 2]����������������� Alexander Borodin
arr. for string orchestra by Malcolm Sargent
(1833-1887)
Romanian Folk Dances��������������������������������������������������Béla Bartók
arr. for string orchestra by Arthur Willner
(1881-1945)
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
Jocul Cu Bata
Braul
Pe Loc
Buciumeana
Poarga Romaneasca
Maruntel
Maruntel
Intermission
“Holberg” Suite (Suite in Old Style), op. 40�������������������Edvard Grieg
Praeludium: Allegro vivace
(1843-1907)
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Sarabande: Andante
Gavotte: Allegretto; Musette
Air: Andante religioso
Rigaudon: Allegro con brio
Hoedown from “Rodeo”������������������������������������������� Aaron Copland
(1900-1990)
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string bling: sor concert favorites Saturday, November 15, 2014