Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center
1200 10th Avenue South
Birmingham\, AL 35205
Alys Stephens Performin
g Arts Center
1200 10th Avenue South
Birmingham\, AL 35205
Each registrant will receive one voucher r
edeemable for two tickets to any of the weekend's performances. Vouchers s
hould be picked up in the administration office of O'Neal Library prior to
Wednesday\, November 5th. If tickets are not retrieved before 6 pm on Wed
nesday\, November 5th\, they will default to the next person on the waitin
g list.
If you have questions\, contact Matt Layne at 205-445-1141 or
\;mlayne@oneallibrary.org
Leah Bardugo&rsquo\;s short story&n bsp\;When Water Sang Fire \;tells the story of Ulla\, a mermaid from t he invented northern kingdom \;Fjerde. For anyone familiar with Bardug o&rsquo\;s popular &ldquo\;Grishaverse&rdquo\;\, particularly the \;Sh adow and Bone \;series (also a major Netflix show)\, Ulla is the siste r of the Darkling. But that&rsquo\;s not important for this story.
\nBardugo&rsquo\;s mermaids possess magical powers derived from their singi ng. Their songs act like spells\, capable of conjuring storms\, creating o bjects\, or even transforming the mermaids into humans.
\nUlla doesn &rsquo\;t look like the other mermaids&mdash\;her skin is gray and dull\, and she&rsquo\;s treated as an outcast. But Ulla is powerful\, and when sh e is paired with Sygny\, a beautiful and popular girl\, in spell practice\ , their combined talents prove to be extremely potent. The girls form an u nexpected bond and become best friends.
\nTogether\, Ulla and Signy demonstrate their abilities to the court by conjuring flowers&mdash\;a hig hly advanced magic since it involves creating life. But the song that brin gs forth such a powerful magic is odd\, unlike anything the others have he ard before. They are impressed\, but also afraid.
\nFollowing their performance\, the prince invites them to travel to the human lands with hi m\, but it turns out he wants to use their powers to become the next king. Ulla is ultimately betrayed by a love-struck Sygny\, who is enticed by th e prince&rsquo\;s promise of marriage. Enraged by her friend\, she conjure s a great storm\, destroying much of the land. When she finally recedes ba ck to the sea\, she dwells in dark caves\, trapped in her rage.
\nTh is is where our musical tale begins. In the depths of the ocean\, Ulla sto rms\, waiting for &ldquo\;the lonely\, the ambitious\, the clever\, the fr ail\, for all those willing to strike a bargain. She never waits long.&rdq uo\;
\nReinkemeyer&rsquo\;s piece is less like a narrative and more like a painting\, offering a portrait of the scorned sea witch&mdash\;her anger and her pain.
\nLike Ulla and Sygny&rsquo\;s song\, the sounds Reinkemeyer renders from the orchestra are odd. The music slides and crea ks\, grotesque and eerie\, like the odd creatures at the bottom of the oce an. Restlessly\, Ulla paces around her cave\, unable to let go of her ange r.
\nNeither Bardugo or Reinkemeyer offer any hint at possible redem ption for Ulla\; only empathy for the path that led to her circumstances. The piece is dedicated &ldquo\;with hope and gratitude for women who sing truth\, though the world rains fire upon them.&rdquo\;
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\nViolin Concerto in D Major (1878)
\nJohannes Br ahms (1833-1897)
\nRun time: Approx. 45 min
\n\;
\nLooking back on history&rsquo\;s great musicians\, it&rsquo\;s easy to see them as abstract\, isolated figures. But they were ordinary people\, many of whom knew each other&mdash\;particularly in 19th-century Germany\, whi ch practically overflowed with artistic talent. Among the great stars of t his era was violinist Joseph Joachim\, who was perhaps the most well-conne cted musician of the day. Schumann\, Dvorak\, and Bruch all wrote concerti for him\; he performed Beethoven&rsquo\;s Violin Concerto with Mendelssoh n conducting. And it was none other than Robert and Clara Schumann who fir st introduced him to Johannes Brahms.
\nAt just 20 and 22 years old\ , Brahms and Joachim formed a fast friendship\, one that would last the re st of their lives. At the heart of their bond was a wholehearted agreement on what they believed music should be. Both abhorred the flash and excess that was quickly taking hold of German romanticism. The grandeur of Wagne r and the showmanship of performers like Liszt were\, in their eyes\, self -aggrandizing\, robbing music of its substance. Instead\, they approached music with great seriousness and reverence for the discipline and traditio ns of classical writing.
\nThe concerto that Brahms ultimately wrote for Joachim feels like an ode to both their friendship and to their share d vision. At its core\, it&rsquo\;s a very traditional concerto\, possibly modeled on Beethoven&rsquo\;s (it&rsquo\;s even in the same key)\, and in fused with Brahms&rsquo\;s characteristic symphonic depth and warmth.
\ nAs with many of Brahms&rsquo\;s concerti\, the orchestra takes an extr emely active role. There are passages\, particularly the tender opening of the second movement\, where the solo violin remains silent for a long per iod. Often\, the principal melodic lines are carried by the orchestra whil e the solo violin floats above\, &ldquo\;providing commentary\,&rdquo\; as violinist James Ehnes describes it.
\nJoachim was quite involved in writing the piece\, offering many suggestions which Brahms accepted\, and even composing the first movement&rsquo\;s cadenza\, which many of today& rsquo\;s violinists still play.
\nToday\, the work stands as one of the most frequently performed violin concertos. Still\, perhaps more poten tly\, it remains a tangible remnant of the loving friendship and shared ar tistry between two of history&rsquo\;s great musicians&mdash\;a love lette r to the violin\, full of all the emotion\, reverence\, and joy that they believed music ought to have.
\nIt may be of interest that Joachim a nd Brahms lived long enough to make some of the earliest recordings\, incl uding one in which they perform Brahms&rsquo\; \;Hungarian Dances \;together. The recording\, though badly degraded\, even captures a few se conds of Brahms speaking before the music begins. It can be found on YouTu be.
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\n\;
\nSymphony No. 2 in D Major (190 2)
\nJean Sibelius (1868-1957)
\nRun Time: Approx. 45 min.
\n\;
\n&ldquo\;I love the mysterious sounds of the fields an d forests\, water and mountains&hellip\; it pleases me greatly to be calle d a poet of nature\, for nature has truly been the book of books for me.&r dquo\;
\n&mdash\;Jean Sibelius
\n\;
\nJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer living at a time when Finland was still under Russ ian rule. His importance to the Finnish people is difficult to overstate: not only is he regarded as the nation&rsquo\;s greatest composer\, but his music has also been credited with helping to forge and sustain a strong c ultural identity as the Grand Duchy of Finland resisted persistent attempt s at Russification. His works roused deep feelings of patriotism\, and it& rsquo\;s not an exaggeration to say that his music played a role in Finlan d&rsquo\;s successful campaign for independence. Today\, Sibelius is a nat ional icon. He has appeared on several markkaa (Finnish currency)\, and in 2015 was featured on a commemorative Euro. The country&rsquo\;s foremost music school proudly bears the name Sibelius-Akatemia.
\nSibelius al so played a defining role in developing the symphonic sound that we&rsquo\ ;ve come to think of as distinctly Nordic. But ask any musician about Sibe lius\, and the first word you will likely hear is \;nature. \;The outdoors was his most beloved sanctuary\, and his music feels inseparable from it\, just as Finnish identity and culture is intrinsically linked to the nation&rsquo\;s unique geography. Perhaps conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy captured it best when he said that Sibelius&rsquo\;s evocation of nature is &ldquo\;not superficial. It&rsquo\;s not a depiction of nature. It is w hat we are and what surrounds us. It&rsquo\;s our existence. It&rsquo\;s i n our hearts and minds.&rdquo\;
\nThis feels exactly right. Many wor ks conjure the mood of a pastoral scene or a great tempest\, but with Sibe lius\, you&rsquo\;re not merely glimpsing a picture of the natural world\; you are in it. The flight of birds. The sparkle of the sun on the snow. T he frantic swish of rushing water. The hush as the world seems to still wh en the sun hangs low in the sky. These scenes emerge from his scores with remarkable vividness\, and I believe that he achieves this feat of musical cinema in a few distinct ways.
\nStructure \;
\nSibelius largely eschews the traditional forms of Western European art music. Yes\, this symphony follows the familiar four-movement structure\, but inside e ach movement the music builds episodically: themes appear first as fragmen ts and gradually coalesce\, rather than arriving fully formed. This may se em like an overly technical point\, but whether we know it or not\, we exp ect music to follow certain patterns\, with themes recurring in the usual places. Sibelius largely ignores those expectations and lets his music unf old organically. The result is a sense of spontaneity that mirrors the exp erience of observing nature\, perhaps sitting on a bench watching the clou ds drift by.
\nMoments of pause
\nMost music born of the Weste rn Classical tradition is highly concerned with motion&mdash\;it&rsquo\;s always going somewhere or leading to something\, every note economical and purposeful. Sibelius\, by contrast\, allows for moments of pause. He ling ers in sonorities that are simply beautiful\, when for an instant the cloc k no longer ticks. Isn&rsquo\;t this what it&rsquo\;s like to gaze out at a breathtaking landscape? For a moment\, time ceases to matter.
\nTe xture
\nSibelius&rsquo\;s orchestration is full of multi-layered tex ture. Rather than a single melody supported by accompaniment\, he builds o rchestral landscapes in layers of unique characters. A flute might hold a glittering trill over smooth strings\, which in turn glide under stately b rass&mdash\;like chattering birds flying over a placid lake. Distinct melo dies fit together but maintain their independence\, creating dynamic and m ultidimensional scenes.
\nEphemeral Beauty \;
\nThroughout his works\, Sibelius offers some of the most exquisitely beautiful moment s in music\, but often they do not return. While Sibelius does revisit mat erial\, it&rsquo\;s never quite the same. Like a breathtaking scene in nat ure\, such moments are fleeting. This can be exceptionally frustrating\, b ut it also renders these radiant moments quite precious. When you are stru ck by something truly beautiful in this music\, you mustn&rsquo\;t take it for granted&mdash\;you might not hear it again.
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\n& ndash\;Notes by Valerie Sly\, 2025
\nhttps://emmetoneal.libnet.info/eve nt/14747970 URL;VALUE=URI:https://emmetoneal.libnet.info/event/14747970 ATTACH:https://static.libnet.info/images/events/emmetoneal/ASO_Tickets.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR