The Bryan Symphony Orchestra at TTU thanks

Upper Cumberland Otolaryngology Clinic
Charles E. Jordan III, M.D.
Bronn Rayne, M.D.
Thomas L. Lawrence, M.D.
Scott H. Keith, M.D.
and
Heritage Ford-Lincoln Mercury
1115 East Spring Street

for sponsoring the April 18 concert

• Piano duo, Catherine and Herman Godes, featured on April 18 concert
• A year of growth and change
• Thank you for ticket donations
• Putnam students guests of Arts Council and Orchestra
• Concert preview lecture
• THE CONDUCTOR'S NOTES
• Renew season tickets at the April 18 concert
• Excerpts from a contest winner's letter...

Please note...
There will be NO Preview Luncheon on Friday, April 16

Piano duo, Catherine and Herman Godes, featured on April 18 concert

Two years of military service followed by four years of incarceration by the Nazies kept Godes away from the piano. Four years of nightmarish experiences at German Concentration Camps saw Godes lose his parents by brutal execution, lose his only brother while fighting on the front. But he emerged from the ordeal miraculously alive in 1945 when he was liberated by the U. S. troops barely escaping execution himself.

Six months after liberation, he was appearing successfully as a soloist with orchestras and within a few years established himself as a sought-after pianist in Germany, as well as in other European countries. Unsatisfactory status as a displaced person, however, prompted him to seek emigration, and in 1950, he settled in the U.S.A. In 1960, he accepted an offer of Artist-in-Residence at West Virginia University, and upon retiring from WVU, Godes moved to Cookeville when his wife, Catherine, accepted the position as Director of Piano Studies at Tech.

A native of New York City, Catherine Godes began her piano studies at the age of four with Dutch pianist Mehta Barber. She laster went to West Virginia University to study with renowned pianist Herman Godes, who was Artist-in-Residence from 1960 to 1988. As a result of their marriage in 1973, she became a resident of that state where she received both undergraduate and graduate degrees from West Virginia University. She later received the Doctorate in Musical Arts and Performance.

Two years on the faculty of Fairmont State College were followed by the appointment to direct the Community Music Program of West Virginia University. She quickly established herself as a prominent soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, and as a duo-pianist with her husband. The pair traveled throughout the country, as well as making several tapes for PBS television.

In 1993, she accepted an appointment from Tennessee Tech to become Director of Piano Studies. She is co-founder of the Takolas Trio, a resident ensemble for soprano, clarinet and piano. Catherine is President of the local chapter of the Tennessee Music Teachers Association and state chair of adult and college auditions. She continues her intensive activities as performer, teacher, administrator and clinician in Tennessee as well as out-of-state.

A year of growth and change

The past year has seen anenormous amount of change for the orchestra. Two separate organizations, the Board of Directors and the Guild, merged, forming the Bryan Symphony Orchestra Association, to continue the promotion and realization of a great orchestra, of which we can all be extremely proud.

I, for one, have been highly impressed by the amount of time, dedication, and support I have seen from both individuals and businesses. A big "thank you" and pat-on-the-back go out to all those who have given so freely. It has been a terrific year of growth and learning for all of us.

Now we look towards the future. There are so many exciting ideas and projects being considered and discussed, and we want your input. From education to outreach to fun social events. . . we want to do it all! But we can't do it alone.

Even if you can only spare your time and talents in short quantity, we want and need your help. As I write this, there are plans in the works for major events next fall. And even though it takes a lot of hard work, we intend on making it fun, also.

So feel free to call me at 372-8616 with questions, suggestions. . . anything at all! I look forward to hearing from you, and even more so to working with you. Have a great summer!

Jan Tate, Volunteer Coordinator
Bryan Symphony Orchestra Association

Thank you for ticket donations

Putnam students guests of Arts Council and Orchestra

• Algood - Megan Bilbrey
• Baxter - Sampson Martin
• Cane Creek - Andy Macke
• Capshaw - Dave Mattson
• Jere Whitson - Jordon Fletcher
• Northeast - Erin McKinney
• Park View - Kayla Kelly
• Sycamore - Andrew Byrne
• Uffleman - Katie Smith

Concert preview lecture

THE CONDUCTOR'S NOTES

When Berlioz toured Russia, he conducted his works and introduced the modern orchestra to musicians interested in new trends. His radical approach to phrasing, avoiding symmetry in favor of the unexpected, corresponded with many of the nuances of the Russian language.

His colorful orchestrations led Russian composers to reinvent their music language to feature instrumental combinations as an element just as important as form, motivic unity, or harmonic design had been to a previous generation. Indeed it is impossible to think of, say, Rimsky-Korsakov without his Berlioz-inspired orchestrations.

Mussorgsky was equally smitten, and his nationalistic impulses looked to Russian culture for inspiration. From history, language, and folk traditions, Mussorgsky created high art which eschewed the central European aesthetic for a more rough-hewn result. Often his music was corrected by Rimsky-Korsakov, who saw Mussorgsky's genius, but felt his most characteristic passage showed a crudity which did not belong in art. Ironically, those very passages are the most interesting to many modern listeners. They point to a grounded reality behind the art. There is a certain unassuming veracity in Mussorgsky which one finds only rarely in art.

Of course Mussorgsky wrote Pictures at an Exhibition for piano. It was composed after the death of his artist friend, Victor Hartmann. Choosing to honor his friend by, as he said it, drawing in music the sketches by Hartmann, the composer represents several works by the artist, and between these representations, he includes himself as an active part of the work - the Promenade movements forming an unfolding story of Mussorgsky's psyche as he walks through the exhibition - now full of pride; now startled by a sketch, at other moments brooding on the totality of loss encompassed by death. Ultimately, the promenades enter the picture movements as Mussorgsky identifies more and more with the artist and his journey toward and even through death. The work concludes in pure light, all the more glaring because of the darkness which has at times preceded it.

Ravel orchestrated Mussorgsky's masterpiece for the Boston Symphony as part of a series of commissions honoring an important anniversary season of the orchestra. The orchestration has since become an acknowledged masterpiece in its own right - each page bearing the imprint of Ravel's fantastic imagination for color.

Sandwiched between these delights is Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos to be performed by Herman and Cathy Godes. I can think of no better work to both complement and contrast with its surrounding pieces. The Poulenc mixes elegance and charm with never overstated wit. It is the music of a cosmopolitan composer with something to say and all the facility in the world with which to say it.

See you there!

John Dodson

Renew season tickets at the April 18 concert

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Bryan Symphony Orchestra
Office: Room 355 372-6088
Bryan Fine Arts Building
e-mail address: jlundy@tntech.edu
Janet Lundy, Executive Director and Co-editor of Notes and Notices
with Carolyn Whitson

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