A Spooky Season in the Music City Continues:
Ghosts! An Evening of Chilling Beauty from NCMS
This past weekend I had the great opportunity to attend the Nashville Chamber Music Society’s most recent concert. Themed appropriately for October and Halloween, the “Ghosts” themed concert was a lovely evening event. The program included three well programmed pieces: William Bolcom’s Graceful Ghost Rag, Beethoven’s “Ghost” Piano Trio Op. 70, No.1, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor Op. 67. All three pieces have some eerie element either in one of the movements or across the entire piece. Before discussing the music, I want to mention the venue. The performance was held at the Wightman Chapel at the Scarritt Bennett Center near Vanderbilt in Nashville. At first, I was concerned with the acoustics of the chapel, the walls were brick and stone with some hard wood behind the performers. I thought this would be a detriment to the performance, but I was pleasantly surprised that the chapel actually helped the performance. The reverb off the hard walls actually made the music sound even more ghastly than expected. It felt even more like a Halloween themed performance because of this and elevated the concert to new heights.
The first selection of the concert was William Bolcom’s Graceful Ghost Rag. Written in 1970, it is the first of three “Ghost Rags” he composed. Bolcom was heavily influenced by the ragtime music of the early 20th century and its composers such as Scott Joplin. All of Bolcom’s “Ghost Rags” combine the rhythms and melodies of ragtime with more classical instrumentation and arrangement. This specific arrangement was for piano and violin, focusing on the soaring lyricism possible with the violin. Throughout the piece there was an advanced counterpoint between the piano and violin that was very impressive to witness between violinist Sarah Page and pianist Brendan Jacklin. The melodies would switch between the right hand on the piano and the violin while the left hand of the piano maintained the leaping bass part most commonly associated with ragtime. The piece was slower than most ragtime I am familiar with but was the intention of the composition, embracing Joplin’s belief that slower ragtime is better ragtime. This slower tempo definitely contributed to the ghostly feel of the piece. Overall, it was a great opener to this spooky concert.
The second selection was Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D Major Op. 70 No.1 which is often simply referred to as Ghost. A first-time listener may be confused during the first movement, as it is a sonata form with joyous motifs in a major key. This is because the piece draws its name from the second movement. Odd scoring and a terribly slow tempo give this movement that eerie feeling the concert was programmed for. Musicologists have argued over what the influence of the second movement was with some attributing it to Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Regardless of the influence, the second movement sounded terrific during the concert.
The bizarre interplay between instruments was well executed and by far the highlight of the movement. In the first movement I really enjoyed the conversation between the Violin and Cello. The music was almost decipherable as a language just from listening. The third and final movement is humorous and full of even more interchanges between instruments. The lead line shifts between instruments suddenly and quick, shocking key changes are sprinkled throughout the movement. An excellent addition to the program, very on theme. All three voices blended well in the church and no single voice was overpowering, something that can be difficult in small chamber ensembles. I was very pleased with the performance of this piece.
The final selection is a famous piece, Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67. This trio is not the kind of “spooky” that one might associate with the previous two pieces. It is eerie still but for much deeper reasons. Shostakovich’s career was often put into jeopardy due to the Stalin controlled critics of the Soviet Union. Many musicologists consider his works to have hidden criticisms of Stalin and the Soviet Union inlaid into the music. Written in 1943, the height of World War 2 and in a time where Stalin was gaining more power, this trio was no different and perhaps one of his more outspoken criticisms. The first movement begins with the cello playing only harmonics, giving a faint high pitch that resonated beautifully throughout the church. Cellist Danielle Blumhardt put on a masterclass on playing harmonics during these passages. The second movement is a scherzo with a very fast waltz-like section in the middle of the movement. This section would surprise any first-time listener and definitely be a welcome change from the other music heard during the program.
The third and fourth movements run without pause and make up what are probably the most popular parts of this piece. Before finishing these final two movements Shostakovich was shocked by the death of longtime colleague and friend Ivan Sollertinsky. His death drove Shostakovich into fits of depression, during which he claimed he may never compose again. Fortunately for us music enjoyers, Shostakovich powered through and completed this work and many others following. The final movements together are called a “Dance of Death” and feature several Jewish melodies, perhaps as a statement against their terrible treatment across Europe during the time. The piece opens with a passacaglia, a kind of musical form where there is a repeated phrase and melodies are built upon this repetition. You could feel the stiff air as Brendan Jacklin opened the passacaglia with the somber chords that make up the repetition. The piece grows and grows as the weight of death lingers in the music. Beautifully executed by the performers, this was the most wonderful part of the performance. I was enthralled by how carefully each note seemed to simply appear and waft away into the air.
The entire concert was a blessing to attend; I thoroughly enjoyed all the selections. The environment of the old church hall had an excellent added effect and corresponded directly to the execution of the “ghastly” music. The performers were aware of the significance of some of the music being performed and it showed greatly in their playing. The programming was lively and strong thematically. This was my first Nashville Chamber Music Society performance, and I’m already looking forward to attending more. Their programming is constantly fun and interesting with a variety of performers to offer their takes on the repertoire. Bravo, Nashville Chamber Music Society!
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My name is Brennan Wagner, I am currently a Music Industry student at Middle Tennessee State University and planning on pursuing Musicology in graduate school. I am from Nashville and have been playing saxophone for almost 10 years and love attending local concerts of all genres.
