Nov. 04, 2009 - Issue #733: Broke

The Classical Score

G8 Concert

Fast cars: They're not just for rock 'n' roll

A door slams. A taxi takes off. It weaves through traffic, even dashing into an opposing lane. The passengers’ hearts pound. They wonder if they will arrive at their destination.

This isn’t a scene from a movie; this was an event that inspired a piece for composer and Canadian Guitar Quartet member, Patrick Roux.

Philip Candelaria, one of the Quartet's members, relates what happened when the group was to play its first-ever concert in Buenos Aires. The two cabs transporting the members to the concert hall zipped through traffic, showing off for the tourists. Unimpressed, the musicians wondered if they were going to make it, Candelaria recalls.

"We thought they were crazy," he jokes.

This experience inspired Roux’s piece, "En las calles de Buenos Aires," which the Canadian Guitar Quartet and Salzburg Guitar Quartet will play together at their upcoming G8 concert.

"Patrick likes to base his music on stories and things that have happened, images that have occurred to us on the road, so he wrote this piece," Candelaria says. "It definitely starts off very brisk, fast-paced—in fact, you can hear the cab door shut as the people get in at the very beginning of the piece, and then it just takes off."

For these guitarists, taking this cab ride was actually riskier and more difficult than, say, forming a successful cross-continental octet. When the Canadian and Salzburg Quartets met for the first time in Austria, only days before performing together, they were anxious to see how they’d work together.

"We were a little nervous about that aspect—we’re flying quite a ways, we’ve got a couple of days to see how we gel as a group, we’ve got a brand new repertoire and works commissioned and so we were all very anxious to get right to rehearsal," Candelaria recalls.

Fortunately, melding the two groups was easier than they’d anticipated. Candelaria attributes this success to several factors, one of which is a common outlook among all eight musicians.

"Musically, we all see the same way," he says. V

Fri, Nov 6 (8 pm)
Canadian Guitar Quartet and Salzburg Guitar Quartet
Convocation Hall, University of Alberta $25 – $30

For highlights of the week's classical music performances, see The Classical Score online at vueweekly.com. Email events to classical@vueweekly.com. 

 

Sat, Nov 7 (2 pm)
The WindRose Trio
Edmonton Moravian Church, (Admission by Donation)

The trio will play Eugène Bozza's “Suite Breve en Trio,” Mozart's “Divertissement #5,” Rudolf Maros' “Serenata” and Elliott Carter's “8 etudes and a Fantasy.”

Sat, Nov 7 (8 pm)
Ensemble Mujirushi
SMASH THE MAINSTREAM preview concert
Knoppers Hall, King’s University College, ($5 – $10)

Before this group heads off to Europe for a tour, we get a preview concert. It’s a multimedia feast of dance, music and video. I bet it’s even better than DDR.

Sat, Nov 7 (8 pm)
I Coristi Chamber Choir
Autumn Landscapes
First Presbyterian Church, ($12 – $20)

This choir’s first concert of the season is named after that same season—autumn. The autumnal theme runs through the choir’s pieces, which include “Four Part-Songs” by Gustav Holst and “Four Slovak Folk Songs” by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. And no, Pluto wasn’t a planet in Holst’s day, either.

Sat, Nov 7 (7:30 pm)
Mill Creek Colliery Band
A Tribute in Brass
McDougall United Church, ($14 – $18)

These players will move their brass as they present a diverse repertoire ranging from a Hungarian Dance by Brahms to “Yellow Submarine,” as in “we all live in a yellow submarine.” Edmonton composer Dr Malcolm Forsyth will premiere a new arrangement, “Suite of Dances from ‘Terpsichore.’”

Sat, Nov 7 (7:30 pm)
Kokopelli and Òran
Odyssey
McClure United Church, ($13 – $16)

Time, travel and remembrance. These are all themes that these choirs will explore in their first show of the season.

Sun, Nov 8 (3:00 pm)
Kimberly Marshall
Convocation Hall, University of Alberta, ($15)

Organist Kimberly Marshall is the Director of the Arizona State University School of Music. Playing on the “king of instruments,” she will deliver a show of music that was in the service of kings.

Sun, Nov 8 (7:30 pm)
Edmonton Recital Society’s Brass Gala
Muttart Hall, Alberta College, ($35 – $40)

This concert will bring many current and former Edmontonians together, among them trumpeter Jens Lindemann. He will perform with his wife, pianist Jennifer Snow.

Wed, Nov 11 (7:30 pm)
John McDermott and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
Lest We Forget
Winspear Centre, ($20 – $69)

Remembrance Day can take many forms; music honouring Canada’s past and current soldiers plays an important role in this remembrance. This ESO concert salutes Canadian men and women who have served, or are serving, in the military, and the sacrifices they have made.

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