Violinst to present all-Vivaldi concert

Courtesy Photo

WSU's Faculty Artist Series will present violinist and assistant professor John Harrison, featuring Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, in Wiedemann Hall.

Cellist Andrew Kolb, visiting assistant professor, and oboist Amy Goeser, assistant professor, also will perform Vivaldi selections. Thomas Grubb, instructor, will play harpsichord. The string orchestra will consist of WSU music faculty, graduate students and former graduate students of WSU and will be conducted by Robert Turizziani, music director of Seneca Chamber Orchestra in Charleston, W. Va.

Vivaldi’s "Four Seasons" is a set of four works written for violin solo, chamber orchestra and continuo. Each work is based on a sonnet written about a season, starting with spring, then summer, autumn and winter. "Four Seasons" is arguably Vivaldi’s most famous work; the first movement of spring is especially popular. If people haven’t heard it in the concert hall, they’ve surely heard it played in elevators, television ads or doctors’ offices.

Harrison said he was invited to perform the "Four Seasons" with Seneca Chamber Orchestra last spring.

"Although I had always enjoyed the music, it wasn’t until I studied the music as a performer that I began to appreciate the close integration between the poetry and the music," Harrison said. "Individual lines of the poetry are written precisely over specific measures of the piece. Vivaldi is not merely composing music to match the general atmosphere of the poetry. He literally represents the images of the poetry in the music. Thus, Vivaldi asks the solo violin to imitate bagpipes, birds, people sleeping, an animal being chased, a person slipping on ice or a hunting exposition. In fact, the violin is called to sound like just about everything but a violin."

Harrison said his unique interpretation is a balance between musicians who regard the modern instrument as an improvement over period ones, interpreting the music with little or no regard for what Vivaldi may have imagined, and those who believe the modern string sound is inappropriate and that the music should be heard as Vivaldi intended it on period instruments, consistent with the style of baroque times.

"I look to capture some of the rhythmic freedom and improvisational light, bouncy style associated with performers of baroque times," said Harrison. "With this I incorporate a baroque-influenced tone – one which may be more ringing and vocal if not quite as rich, thick or sustained as the modern violin tone."

Fall '99 was a busy season for Harrison. He traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, as part of Alea III, a Boston-based modern music group.

Harrison also traveled to Cleveland as part of another Boston-based modern music group, Phantom Arts. They recorded and performed works by members of the composition faculty at Cleveland State University.

Harrison traveled to Chicago twice. The first time, he brought the entire collection of violins from WSU’s Bloomfield collection to have them evaluated. He plans to have nine instruments restored so students can play them.

His second trip was with Wichita’s Robinson Middle School Orchestra to solo with them at a Midwest educators clinic.

Also during the fall, he soloed with the Hutchinson Symphony Orchestra, performing Sibelius’ violin concerto.

Tickets are $4 with discounts available; free to the WSU community. Call 978-3233 for reservations.