On November 17, CYSO Symphony Orchestra will take the stage at Orchestra Hall and bring three beloved pieces to life: Dmitri Shostakovich’s epic Symphony No. 10, Op. 93 in E minor (1953), Samuel Barber’s vibrant Overture to The School for Scandal, Op. 5 (1931), and Jessie Montgomery’s stirring Hymn for Everyone (2021). Music Director Allen Tinkham has been working closely with Symphony Orchestra students to connect with the emotional depth of each piece, master technical skills, and foster greater camaraderie and confidence in their performances. We spoke with Allen about these three pieces and the preparation process for the upcoming concert.
What are the main emotional, musical, or narrative experiences you want the audience to have?
As Jessie Montgomery’s title Hymn for Everyone suggests, there is something for everyone in this concert program. Hymn for Everyone is lush and beautiful from beginning to end, and it is lovely to play because its lines are so vocal: the players get to sing through their instruments. The theme that ends the piece has these uplifting skips that feel aspirational in a way that is uniquely American.
Barber’s Overture to the School for Scandal is a firecracker of a piece; my favorite thing about it is that he wrote it as a student at the Curtis Institute, when he was not much older than many of our students. Barber went on to become one of the greatest of our American composers; it is no secret that I have a deep love and appreciation for all of his works, which are often quite difficult to play let alone by a youth orchestra.
Like the Montgomery, Barber’s Overture to the School for Scandal is lush and beautiful, but it is also fast-paced. Much of the Barber is built in a nine-beat structure…three times three. Three has a kind of roundness that two does not, and three times three is even rounder. It is the difference between two and three dimensions. It’s an intricate rhythmic structure; this is why it is difficult to play but also unabashedly cheerful.
Jessie Montgomery is already considered one of our great American composers, and this is her second work that our Symphony Orchestra has performed in recent years. Hymn for Everyone was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Riccardo Muti conducting in 2022; it has already had dozens of performances. If there is anything in the orchestra world that is a contemporary hit right now, this is it! The first melody in Hymn for Everyone is a deceptively simple major key chorale theme, but it deepens as it is differently harmonized. Shostakovich also starts his Tenth Symphony with a simple theme, slowly adding layers. The works could not be more different though: the Tenth Symphony is about fear and resistance, and Hymn for Everyone is a big, warm hug.
Shostakovich’s story was one of perseverance: he created and even innovated in a repressive, authoritarian environment where he knew anything too complicated or weird might have him sent to the Gulag. For much of his life, he hid his creative identity beneath an accessible veneer, but the Tenth Symphony is the first work he wrote out from under the thumb of Stalin, and the second movement is even a portrait of Stalin.
There is also a connection between the Barber and Shostakovich for how the rhythmic structure develops organically. Despite the first movement being one of the longest movements in history, it is in three throughout! In addition to the rhythmic structure, what is so remarkable is how the entire symphony evolves from just a few notes based on his name: in German DSCH are the notes D, E-flat, C, B-natural. It is ultimate defiance.
The Tenth Symphony is about fear and resistance, and Hymn for Everyone is a big, warm hug.
How are you preparing for the concert together with the students of Symphony Orchestra?
CYSO is our students. Our students are our legacy and why we are able to do the things we do. That said, it takes a lot of work to put things together especially as the music is always new to our students. In rehearsals, we break things down so that everyone understands what everyone else is doing and how their part fits into the whole. It’s practice of technical difficulties but also exploration of the work.
Our goal is to listen deeply to know the music deeply.At CYSO, the music we study is for a myriad of educational goals: appropriate difficulty befitting the technical level of the orchestra; a variety of musical styles across the core repertoire; historical and contemporary social context including exposing our students to new music and underrepresented composers; and finally, consideration for individual and collective strengths and growth.
Our goal in all our orchestras is to confirm, challenge, and compel by presenting the end of our journey of personal excellence through music. Yet it is the journey––the rehearsals––that are the heart of what we do at CYSO in every orchestra regardless of skill or age. It is a journey together where we are all learning compassion, curiosity, confidence, collaboration, and courage.
Tickets for CYSO Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall are on sale now. Grab your seats and join us for an unforgettable night.
