David Dalle
Thursday December 23rd, 2021 with David Dalle
From Darkness to Light: the annual winter solstice program with Sofia Gubaidulina.

Every year around the winter solstice we join a human heritage dating back millennia in the northern hemisphere, confronting the longest night with joyful, festive noise. I don't think contemporary humans can really understand the terror the long nights must have held for humans in Neolithic and earlier times, particularly for humans spreading into the northern hemisphere. The short days, long nights and impending winter was the most dangerous time of the year. Humanity did what it has always done, it makes noise, it dances, it performs rituals, it rages against the dying of the light. The celebration of Christmas is part of this lineage. I love creating a musical journey which echoes this ancient heritage. This year, the darkness is brought by Russian-Tatar composer Sofia Gubaidulina. Gubaidulina celebrated her 90th birthday this past October, and she still revels in creating dramatic and powerful sounds! We will hear two recent compositions which received their premiere recordings this past November. The first is "The Wrath of God", a ferocious work for a huge orchestra "its fury and despair being released in three vast wave-like crescendos that brighten only briefly." The second is "The Light of the End" which draws upon the tension between the physics of the natural overtone row and equal temperament, which has been the dominant temperament of European classical music since the 18th century. It is also for large orchestra but with more delicate moments, like the duet for solo horn and solo cello. The name refers to the light which comes at the very end, really spectacular music. As we transition fully to the light, we hear a short but gloriously joyful Bach Cantata. It features trumpets and timpani which, for Bach, was almost always used in a joyful, celebratory way. This work has some fascinating touches, such as the 4th movement which is in A minor, a tenor aria, the A minor of the movement is contrasted by the trumpets playing the unadorned chorale melody in C major. This is almost the light-to-darkness drama played out in miniature, with the C major trumpets winning.