Chamber Music

CHAMBER MUSIC UNPLUGGED

Friday, November 30, 2012

Carols With The Consort


This concert will be a mix of some very familiar carols with traditional holiday selections and at least one selection that may be new to your ears.  The centerpiece of the concert is American Composer Daniel Pinkham's "Christmas Cantata" (Sinfonia Sacra) for Chorus and Double Brass Choir.  Composed in an early Baroque style, but used contemporary harmonies, it features outer movements that are exciting and an inner movement that is very reflective.  The brass are used in various ways to support the choir, play antiphonally and as a unit.  This work balances very well with the early Baroque selection by Jan Pieters Sweelinck "Hodie Christus Natus Est" which will be performed by five part choir and brass quintet. 

We are planning to give the regional premiere of Portland, Oregon composer Bryan Johanson's "O Magnum Mysterium".  This will feature the choir alone in a selection that focuses on the "mystery" of this text.  The brass will be featured alone on a selection by Giovanni Gabrieli.  Other selections include "Silent Night", "The First Nowell",Biebl's "Ave Maria", "Verbum caro factum est", "Jingle Bells" and we will conclude with our annual carol sing-along led by the brass and choir together.

I look forward to seeing our family of friends again this season.  Please join us for this exciting combination of these two groups Madrigali et al. with the Omaha Consort.  We are so very excited to share with you that we are giving the concert twice in one day.

Matt Harden
Director
Madrigali et al

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Give the gift of music

Just in time for Christmas... the best stocking stuffer you will ever find. We have gift cards that can be exchanged for four tickets to any concert in the 2012 /2013 series for only $50...a huge 40% saving! The tickets can be used in any combination...one at a time, two at a time or all four for one special concert, at any of our concerts from January 2013 until the end of the series in June. This is the opportunity to get friends and family to the Omaha Consort productions and let them experience music up close and personal.
The gift cards can be bought from our web site www.OmahaConsort.org. (just click on tickets in the menu) or at the door at any of our concerts.

Monday, November 12, 2012

And here we go...



If you missed our first concert, than you missed a marvelous show. Madrigali et al sang madrigals by the huge carved fireplace in the entrance hall in the Joslyn Castle while we sipped the wine provided by Diana from Morning, Noon and Night. Jason spilled his wine during his pre-concert talk in front of the whole audience. For this concert, the musicians stood to play, all dressed in black…with one of them wearing cowboy boots and a Western shirt with mother-of-pearl buttons. I’d offer prizes for guessing which one, but it’s a no-brainer.
Mark your calendars for the next show on December 8th. Come in good voice as always we end our Christmas show with carol singing to the sound of brass.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Blown Away

Omaha Consort on KMTV's Morning Blend

Should take you to the Omaha Consort on Morning Blend, Channel 3, this morning. And a sneak preview of the music. I don't think I've seen the musicians looking so relaxed and enjoying themselves so much. Jason is wearing new boots especially for the show.
Cut and paste the link if necessary.

See you on Thursday.

TWEETFEST! #OmahaConsort @OmahaConsort

We are trying something NEW at our season opener on Thursday; We are hosting a TWEETFEST at #OmahaConsort!  Watch the #OmahaConsort trend from 6:00 - 8:30pm on Thursday for the play-by-play, some photos - possibly video - and maybe even a bit of VIP gossip.  Join us, add to the conversation @OmahaConsort and help us attract and entertain our Twitter fans!  Please tag all posts #OmahaConsort.

Kindness please, we are using our wings for the first time this Thursday.  ;)

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Harmoniemusik 101

Harmoniemusik is so much fun!  Composed for wind band, these works are often obscure masterpieces by recognized masters.  This week will feature such works by Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart.  18th century European courts saw a transition in how musicians were employed, thus how music was composed.  

Having a standing orchestra has always been expensive.  Good musicians cost money and employing many means paying much.  The established string orchestra eventually invited the wind section, or harmonie section, into its roster for harmonic support.  After some time, in order to save money in a shrinking economy, it became necessary to reduce expenditures and many court orchestras were cut down.  In the end, it was the harmonie section that remained.

Though Haydn had fantastic court orchestra at his disposal of about 16 musicians at the Court of Esterhazy he brought with him a style of windband music that he first established at his previous post for Count Morzin in Vienna.  Count Morzin employed a small orchestra, which included a fantastic wind sextet (pairs of oboes, bassoons, and two amazing horn players).  Haydn composed incredible music for this band of winds.  This is music sans strings with only the harmonie winds, harmoniemusik!

This week's Omaha Consort concert will feature two harmonie works by Haydn.  One was composed while employed by Count Morzin and another while enjoying his new post with Esterhazy's legendary wind players.  Also on the program is an early work by Beethoven for oboe, bassoon, and three horns.  The second movement is a miracle featuring beautifully long phrases that display the lyrical power that's possible with windband.  The program concludes with Mozart's 14th Divertimento for wind sextet.  This was composed while Mozart was still employed in his home town, Salzburg, by Archbishop Colloredo.  It is composed in a style known as hautboistenmusik, music that features pairs of oboes, bassoons, and horns with the principal oboist carrying most of the virtuosic melodic material.  

Our oboist, Alexandra Rock, is sounding great this week in rehearsals and will blow you away on Thursday, November 8 @ Joslyn Castle; 7p.  Doors open at 6p, pre-concert talk at 6:30p.  Come experience these amazing works at arms-length distance with our fantastic musicians:

Alexandra Rock, oboe
Robert Jenkins, oboe
James Compton, bassoon
Bill Ritchie, bass
Ross Snyder, horn
Larry Siegler, horn
and myself, Jason DeWater, horn and MC.

I look forward to seeing our family of friends again this season.  Please join us and see for yourself how the Omaha Consort thrills an audience.  It's music in the proper glass, as always, and I can't wait to see all of you at "Harmoniemusik 101".