There may have been no Homecoming football game for last weekend’s Homecoming Festival, but plenty of other activities were available to students, locals and alumni. Notably, the Wooster Symphony Orchestra, featuring the Scot Pipe Band, kicked off the weekend on Friday, Oct. 8 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in McGaw Chapel. As the Symphony Orchestra’s conductor, Eric Benjamin, said, “[the concert] is a great start” to the weekend.
The concert started with a few acknowledgements of errors in the program handed out, with the first two songs in reverse order.
Despite this minor error, the concert was a wonderful success musically. The very talented Symphonic Orchestra played a lovely set. Benjamin’s enthusiastic commentaries added meaning to the songs and the energetized the mood of the concert.
Beginning with “Four Scottish Dances,” Benjamin stressed his enjoyment of Scottish music, citing it as a wonderful theme to follow for the performance. The piece was no disappointment.
Each separate movement had its own tone and personality, which was an enjoyable, eclectic mix. While the first movement had its own aggressive, booming nature to garner interest, the second movement had a softer tone, which continued into the third piece, which had a sweet melody. By the fourth piece, the loud, catchy sound returned.†The four different pieces recieved well-deserved applause.
With the beginning of the second piece, “Orkney Wedding and Sunrise,” Benjamin offered some history about the composer, Peter Maxwell Davies. As Benjamin described, Maxwell Davies “was a crazy, wild, modern composer, notorious in London for leading ëFires of London,’ a musical group known for their hair-raising pieces.” He continued to describe that Maxwell, after moving to do work in the Orkney Islands, composed this piece about his experiences there. Benjamin describes this as “[Maxwell’s views] on the sense of community” as “Maxwell Davies became a part of the island community.” This piece was certainly as hair-raising as promised. By the end of the song the whole floor of McGaw was vibrating.
The third piece, “The Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave),” was composed by the multitalented Felix Mendelsohhn.† Benjamin explained the composer’s personal history with many different art forms: Mendelsohhn had to decide whether to be a painter, writer, or musician. This piece reflects his many talents as the piece was written about the Scottish landscape, taking his creative mind into consideration. As Benjamin noted, “[the audience] should close their eyes for this one and listen through their ears.”
The piece had a melody that smoothly transposed between soft, soothing music and a loud, booming piece. In addition, Mendelssohn’s piece followed a more classical tradition than the other three pieces.
Finally, the concert ended on a high note with “Marches and Airs,” which is commonly performed at events by the College of Wooster’s own Scot Pipe Band.
The performers marched in uniform to join the musicians of the Symphony Orchestra. Hearing our school’s staple song performed alongside the Orchestra was a refreshing change. Before beginning “Marches and Airs,” Benjamin and the Orchestra performers announced the season’s next concert, Saturday, Dec. 4.
If this performance was any indication of the future for this season’s Symphony Orchestra, the next concert’s prospects are extremely promising and rewarding.