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International Solo Concert #3
By Dean | August 6, 2008
Paul: Sitting here at the third solo concert at the international Symposium, I am excited. The caliber of choirs playing at these concerts really is superb. I expect nothing less from this concert.
Dean: The first piece was performed by the Handbell Ringers of Japan Team Three(Japan) under the direction of Jun-ichi Ozawa. They performed Valse Les Adieux by Karen Lakey Buckwalter. The group started out very softly. What a way to pull the audience into your performance. I am finding more and more that when groups really work on their dynamics, their performances are so much better. Wonderful phrasing. The music flows between all the ringers. I get the sense of the music flowing out from this group. Again, I am wowed by the precision of the Japanese groups. Great opener for this concert.
Paul: Phrasing contour is exquisite, the rise and fall of the running 8th note melody is amazing. As one line of 8ths falls off the end of the phrase another line picks up creating a perfect overlapping contour to the 2 phrases. Valse is a standard Buckwalter piece and I understand why it has stood the test of time. The way this group is playing it, really makes it a piece full of challenge and true musical moments. The ending a-section is played so delicately that I am holding my breath because I don’t want to shatter the moment. This ending reminds me of Tchaikovsky, strong chord and then 8th notes falling away. Exquisite is the only word I can think of to describe how this piece was played.
Dean: The second piece was performed by The Magic of Bronze(USA) under the direction of Blanche Marie Lewis. They performed Selection from “Scenes from Childhood” by Robert Schumann transcribed by Blanche Mare Lewis. They are joined by the Rollins College Flute Choir. The interplay between the flutes and the bells is wonderful. The second movement was a little bass heavy. There is a camera crew here from the local PBS station filming their performance. I wonder how distracting that would be to have a camera and lights shining on you while you were trying to perform. The fourth movement uses chimes. I really like how the chimes blend with the flute. There is now something coming through the room’s PA system. Someone is talking and we can hear it. With all those distractions, this group really played well.
Paul: Here is a song that was written for handbells and flute choir, there are 6 flutists. What a great idea! I really enjoy the way the lower flute notes blend with the mellow sound of the battery bells. They are performing 4 movements from this Schumann work. As is typical with Schumann’s music, it is very contrapuntal and the arranger (who is also the director) has the flute choir and Handbells going back and forth with the contrapuntal phrases. This piece has a very Orchestral feel to it, where you hear many things going on at once in the different voices of the ensemble. Yikes, during the 3rd movement, which is slow and legato, the flutes are having some intonation problems.
Dean: The third piece was performed by the Kobe YMCA Bell Choir(Japan) under the direction of Nozomu Abe. They played Otemo-yan a Japanese folk song arranged by Nozomu Abe. The wonderful thing about being at this event is the international influence on the music. We are hearing pieces that we would never have found anywhere else. The director/arranger has done a wonderful job of using the alternate techniques to bring out the flavor of the music. Table Land Damp!
Paul: a very simple Japanese folk song arranged for handbells. If there is one thing that I really enjoy about this symposium it’s the ability to hear folksongs from other cultures done on bells. I’m being distracted by the speaker bleed over from Distinctly Teen in the next room. I wish I could focus more on what is being played here. Song ends with a gyro, head nod and table land damp!
Dean: The fourth piece was performed by the Jubilant Ringers(USA) under the direction of Marlene Anderson. They performed O Little Town of Bethlehem by Michael Helman. This arrangement of the piece uses handchimes on the melody. I really like this arrangement. The flowing accompaniment is dynamically softer then the melody, even when it was on chimes. This is something many groups never achieve. Its great to hear a young group of ringers with this much control.
Paul: It’s Christmas in August and man, do we need some cooler weather down here! This is the first group of young people from the US that I have seen perform. They are doing a wonderful job of playing together and making the melody more prominent than the accompaniment patterns. It’s very smooth and legato as is the style of many of Michael Helman’s pieces. Dynamics are also quite good for a group of young people. What a great experience for these young people.
Dean: The fifth piece was performed by the Kanto Gakuin Handbell Choir(Japan) under the direction of Seiichi Takasu. They performed So-Lan-Bushi a Japanese folk song arranged bye Kazuko OkaMoto. This is the first Japanese group that I have seen move around while they were playing. You can see and feel the music. There are only 9 ringers and they are playing what appears to be 5 octaves of bells. Once again, seeing the precision and control over the instrument that the Japanese have, is eye opening. I have seen many groups in the US and they can all learn something from the Japanese groups.
Paul: Next on the concert is another Japanese folk song. Song begins with mallets rolls on the bass bells, chime grace notes in the battery and trills in the treble bells. A musical picture is being painted with this opening. It’s fun to watch the Japanese groups and see how much they get in to the music and ringing. Even though it doesn’t show on their faces, the music and their bodies really paint the picture of the music. After a rollicking statement of the folksong, we step into a slower lyrical section of the song where all the bells are in constant motion. This in turn crescendo’s into a bombastic part with amazing differences in dynamics…loud, then soft, then loud, then a gradual crescendo! Wow. The mastery of the instrument really amazes me.
Dean: The last piece was performed by the Moorings Ringers under the direction of Richard Crofts. They performed Festive Celebration by Arnold B. Sherman. What a great piece to end a concert on. This one also includes a solo flute. This sounds like a fun piece to play.
Paul: a piece for flute and bells. It was funny to watch one of the bass ringers walk behind the other one and place a bell on the table for him, only to have that ringer move it back into the other guy’s setup, and then he immediately walked it right back over and put it back. What a delightful piece.
That concludes the third solo concert.
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