Dan Allcott Conductor
Also Sprach Zarathustra Richard Strauss
Introduction from 2001 a Space Odyssey
“Tara Theme” from Gone With the Wind Max Steiner
Themes from 007 John Barry
Symphony no. 25 in G W. A. Mozart
1. Allegro con brio
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik W. A. Mozart
1. Allegro
Spiderman (2002) Danny Elfman
Singin’ in the Rain Nacio Herb Brown
Intermission
Star Trek Through the Years Alexander Courage
arr. Calvin Custer
Suite from Jaws John Williams
Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission Ennio Morricone
Three Pieces from Schindler’s List John Williams
1.Theme from “Schindler’s List”
2.Jewish Town
3.Remembrances
Stefan Petrescu Soloist
Raiders March from Raiders of the Lost Ark John Williams
Dan Allcott
For over 25 years, Dan Allcott has been conducting daring collaborations, outstanding symphonic concerts, and leading opera and ballet productions with international stars.
Music Director of both the Oak Ridge Symphony and the Bryan Symphony orchestras in Tennessee, Allcott regularly conducts Tennessee’s finest musicians (members of the Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga Symphonies) in concerts lauded by critics and enthusiastically enjoyed by audiences. He has conducted the Dallas Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Danish Radio Orchestra, and has a continuing relationship as a guest conductor with Asheville Lyric Opera, where he most recently led performances of Tosca and Marriage of Figaro, and Barber of Seville. In 2013, Allcott became Artistic Advisor and Summer conductor with Eastport Strings in Maine. Allcott serves on the faculty of Tennessee Tech in Cookeville where he is Director of Orchestras and Cello studies
In 2012-13 he helped celebrate the Bryan Symphony Orchestra’s 50th anniversary in a season bookended by performances of Beethoven’s 9th symphony and Puccini’s Tosca. He has led world premieres by Tennessee composers Stefan Freund, Rachel DeVore Fogarty, and Greg Danner, and was a commissioner of the League of American Orchestra’s initial “Made in America” project, giving the Tennessee premier of a work by Joan Tower. His programming regularly spans a 400 year period from Monteverdi to Elena Ruehr, and he is an engaging public speaker.
Allcott served as Music Director and Principal Conductor for Atlanta Ballet from 2000-2010 during which time he led over 250 performances with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. In addition to traditional ballet scores, he led musical collaborations with the Indigo Girls, the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Choir, the Red Clay Ramblers, the Michael O’Neal Singers, Atlanta Boy Choir, and the Atlanta Youth Choirs. Atlanta Ballet has performed Mr. Allcott’s own arrangements of Carmen and Shed Your Skin.
Dan Allcott
Bryan Symphony, Music Director
Oak Ridge Symphony, Music Director
Eastport Strings, Artistic Advisor
Tennessee Tech, Professor of Music
http://danallcott.wix.com/danallcott
Program Notes
By Matt Ward
Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra)
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) was a German composer unrelated to the famous Waltz King, Johann Strauss II (1824-1899) who was Austrian. Richard Strauss was an admirer of Richard Wagner, the great opera innovator, and emulated some of his hero’s style. The tone poem, Thus Spake Zarathustra, was inspired by a philosophical novel of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. A singular feature of the novel Zarathustra is first presented in its prologue . . . the designation of human beings as a transition between apes and the “Übermensch” (in English, either the “overman” or “superman”; or, superhuman. Perhaps, this is why the producers of 2001 Space Odyssey chose Strauss’ tone poem as the opening music of their film since it began with pre-human hominids showing the first signs of reasoning, then cleverly segueing into the Übermensch . . . the “supermen” of the future . . . the ones clever enough to put man into space.
Tara’s Theme
Again, we have an influence by Richard Wagner. One of Wagner’s innovations in opera was called the Leitmotif. This is a short, distinctive musical passage, either a melodic or rhythmic theme out of which longer passages may be developed. In Wagner’s operas, it became the theme of each major character, place, or even emotion. It could be subtly woven into the musical score and cause the listener to subconsciously start thinking of that subject even before it appeared in the scene. A relatively modern example would be the double bass’ lowest two notes F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E played as eighth notes which were used by John Williams as the “shark” theme in his score for the movie Jaws. The movie Gone With the Wind used the same technique each time the plantation, Tara, was the subject. As a local comment that old-timers of Murfreesboro might remember, Tara’s theme was arranged by band director, Joseph T. Smith, for MTSU’s marching band and used for many years as the theme song during the crowning of the homecoming queen. If that’s more information than you needed, think about it later, after all . . . “Tomorrow IS another day.”
Symphony No. 25 in G minor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote this symphony when he was only 17 years old. It was supposedly completed in only two days after the completion of his Symphony No. 24, although this remains unsubstantiated. The movements in most classical symphonies are designated by the tempo and mood of the movement. “Allegro con brio” asks the performers to go “lively” (typically interpreted as “fast” with “con brio” which literally means “with noise” which is usually interpreted to mean “with spirit”. Its first movement was used as the opening music in Miloš Forman’s film Amadeus.
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Imagine you’re walking into a magnificent ballroom. A crystal chandelier hangs above waiters passing out champagne while a string quartet plays. What do you imagine they are playing? Often it’s going to be Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. It was a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble, written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello with optional double bass but today is more often performed as an arrangement for string orchestra. The German title means “a little serenade”, though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as “a little night music.” It has been used in numerous movies such as Batman, Alien, Nikita, There’s Something About Mary, Ace Ventura, and G.I. Jane.
Spiderman
Danny Elfman is both an orchestral composer and a rocker. Though he frequently uses others to orchestrate his compositions for film, he is far more familiar with the instruments than the typical rock band musician. His background in the pop music culture has influenced his sometimes “funky” music style in films such as Spiderman, Alice in Wonderland, Edward Sissorhands, Good Will Hunting, Men in Black, Batman, Beetlejuice, and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure just to name a few of his better-known movie contributions.
Singin’ in the Rain
American pop composer Nacio Herb Brown wrote for movie musicals from the late ’20s into the early ’50s, including the earliest films with soundtracks. Born in New Mexico in 1896 and raised in Los Angeles, Brown learned to play piano at a young age and, after graduating from U.C.L.A., toured as an accompanist. His first hit was Coral Sea (1920), with only a handful more until 1929 when, at the very beginning of “talkies” and soundtrack recording, Brown wrote hit songs for four different films. He became the top movie musical composer of this time, writing numerous hits over the next two decades, including Singin’ in the Rain (1929), Temptation (1933), All I Do Is Dream of You (1934), You Are My Lucky Star (1935), Good Morning (1939), and You Stepped Out of a Dream (1941). Brown’s chief collaborator was lyricist Arthur Freed, the lyricist for Singin’ in the Rain.
Star Trek Through the Years
There have been so many soundtracks for Star Trek that naming the composer could be very confusing. I counted 17 composers through all the TV series and cinematic movie sequels (so far). Jerry Goldsmith has done the most in the full-length movies, but the original composer of the most well-known themes of Star Trek penned for the original TV series begun back in 1966 were by American composer Alexander Courage (1919-2008). Arranger, Calvin Custer, has put together this medley of them. To be sure, these immediately recognizable themes were repeated in the many movie soundtracks that followed (with appropriate royalties paid to the original composer. The music evokes the many aspects of Star Trek; inspirational, romantic, heroic, pomp and fanfare.
Gabriel’s Oboe (from The Mission)
“Gabriel’s Oboe” is the main theme for the 1986 film The Mission directed by Roland Joffé. The theme was written by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, and has since been arranged and performed several times by artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Holly Gornik, and Brynjar Hoff, among others. The theme has been called “unforgettable” and a “celebrated oboe melody”. Vocalist Sarah Brightman begged Morricone to allow her to put lyrics to the theme to create her own song, Nella Fantasia. In 2010, Morricone encouraged soprano Hayley Westenra to write English lyrics for Gabriel’s Oboe in her album Paradiso.
Three Pieces from Schindler’s List
Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark)
John Williams (1932 – ) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. With a career spanning over six decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history, including those of the Star Wars series, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, the first two Home Alone films, the first two Jurassic Park films, Schindler’s List, and the first three Harry Potter films. Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but three of his feature films.