his Wednesday's orchestral performance was of the University Orchestra conducted by Paul Biss. As is customary, the first piece on the program was an overture. But this was not just any run-of-the-mill overture: this was Felix Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" (also known as the "Hebrides Overture") a brooding, picturesque view of the Scottish isles.
As any string player will testify, playing Mendelssohn is a rigorous exercise for the fingers and the eyes. Yet the string section, which consisted mostly of freshmen, performed the piece with a tremendous degree of precision without losing any feeling. In fact, the orchestra used such a degree of feeling that the listener was virtually swept into the mystifying atmosphere created by such a skillful performance of the overture.
The second piece was the world-famous Symphony No. 8 by Franz Schubert, "Unfinished Symphony." (Although it originally was finished, two of the four movements were lost on the way to the publishers.) The orchestra executed this piece on a level with many professional orchestras. The dynamics in particular were impressive. The softs were heartfelt and the louds were fiery. And the woodwind section deserves much recognition. Solos on the flute, oboe, and bassoon were particularly admirable.
And the final piece was an interesting one, "Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2." This piece was devoid of most of the cacophony present in other twentieth-century music, but lacked structure and organization. It was nevertheless pleasant listening, almost Mahlerian in character, with traces of Brahms and Rimsky-Korsakov. The string section again made a name for itself, but not in the flying, speedy manner of the Mendelssohn. The strings here ebbed and flowed with a beauty that can only be described as "touching." Also, the brass section, pushed into the background in the first two pieces, finally shone. The French horns and trumpets in particular showed that they too could move an audience with their talent.
Although slight disturbance was caused by the whining of an infant (fortunately no cell phones, though), another successful concert can be lauded to IU's orchestras. Listeners are encouraged to attend these free weekly performances of some of the nation's finest musicians.
