EVERGREEN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Masterworks Concert Series

Season Finale Concert – Evergreen Performance

ECO’s Masterworks Concert Series comes to a close with a bang!

The concert will begin with the world premiere of ECO music Director William Hill’s newest composition – his Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, featuring renowned pianist Jamie Shaak.

For the second half, ECO will continue our Beethoven symphonic cycle with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 in Eb Major – “Eroica”.

Get your tickets now and join us at 3pm on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at Rockland Community Church for the Evergreen performance of our 2023-2024 Masterworks Concert Series Season Finale!

ECO Music Director William Hill’s compositions have become a regular part of ECO’s seasons – many of our longtime audience members (and musicians!) eagerly anticipate the performance of his new works. This season is no exception – and he has pulled out all the stops with his newest composition. His Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra is a through-composed piano concerto that highlights all the hallmarks of his style. He has taken all of his favorite influences – from Stravinsky to modern Jazz – and blended them together in ways only he could accomplish.

Pianist Jamie Shaak will be joining ECO as soloist to perform the world premiere of this new work. Her concert hall appearances include the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Lincoln Center in New York City, and she has toured East Asia and India as a Musical Ambassador with the United States Information Service. Shaak has released two albums: The Sun is Love with soprano Michelle Areyzaga, performing original works by composer Gwyneth Walker’s “extravagantly scored accompaniments [that Shaak] dispatches with astonishing effortlessness” (NATS Journal); and The Romance of Spain (Cadenza Classics) with soprano Maria Lagios and guitarist Paul Henry.

Shaak has performed concertos with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Centennial Orchestra, The Waukegan Symphony, The Mercury Ensemble, the Arapahoe Philharmonic, and the Jefferson Symphony. She received a Bachelor’s degree from The Eastman School of Music with Dr. Nelita True; and her Masters degree from Juilliard, where she worked with John Browning as a Vladimir Horowitz scholar.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Op. 55 in Eb Major is one of the greatest classical masterworks of all-time. Nicknamed the “Eroica” (heroic) symphony, this work is widely considered to mark the beginning of Beethoven’s so-called “Middle Period” of his compositional output, as well as a landmark piece in the transition from the classical era to the romantic era. The “Middle Period” is marked by innovations and experimentations by Beethoven that pushed the boundaries of symphonic form, harmony, and – particularly with regards to this work – culturally-relevant content.

The “Eroica” symphony was completed in 1804 and premiered in April of 1805 in Vienna. Interestingly, many music historians and theory buffs believe this work was composed “back to front” – meaning the forth movement was composed first – as the theme of the fourth movement originates from Beethoven’s 12 Contredanses for Orchestra, WoO 14. In addition, the same theme was used for his Variations and Fugue for Piano in Eb Major, Op. 35, which are now known as the “Eroica Variations” as the theme is so well-known from the symphony.

Beethoven had originally dedicated this symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, believing he was a perfect embodiment of the democratic ideals that Beethoven held so dear. In fact, the work originally had the subtitle “Bonaparte”! However, after learning that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven retracted the dedication – a story that has become legendary in its telling by Beethoven’s secretary Ferdinand Ries:

I was the first to tell him the news that Bonaparte had declared himself Emperor, whereupon he broke into a rage and exclaimed, “So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of Man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!” Beethoven went to the table, seized the top of the title-page, tore it in half and threw it on the floor.

The published version of the score for the Symphony No. 3 includes the title: Sinfonia Eroica … composta per festeggiare il sovvenire di un grande Uomo (“Heroic Symphony, Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man”).

PROGRAM:

WILLIAM HILL

Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra

Featuring Jamie Shaak – Piano

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 3. Op. 55 in Eb Major – “Eroica”

I – Allegro con brio

II – Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

III – Scherzo: Allegro vivace

IV – Finale: Allegro molto