{"id":47850,"date":"2017-09-26T18:24:31","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T22:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=47850"},"modified":"2017-09-27T07:01:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T11:01:14","slug":"zero-in-alexina-louie-at-the-confluence-of-canadas-150-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/09\/26\/zero-in-alexina-louie-at-the-confluence-of-canadas-150-celebrations\/","title":{"rendered":"ZERO IN | Alexina Louie At The Confluence Of Canada\u2019s 150 Celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Alexina Louie (Photo: Bo Huang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s 2017, and musical intonations of \u201ctrue patriot love\u201d are ringing across the country as Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary of confederation.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and Montreal Symphony Orchestra looked to mark the occasion in a big way, and approached composer Alexina Louie with a commission for a large-scale work to spotlight their three concertmasters. What resulted is her Triple Concerto for Three Violins and Orchestra. <\/em>It will be performed on a tri-city tour: first in Toronto on September 27 and 28, then Ottawa on October 3, before finishing in Montreal on March 14 and 15. Conductors Peter Oundjian, Alexander Shelley and Kent Nagano will take turns performing the work with their respective orchestras, and Louie promises that each performance will take on a life of its own.<\/p>\n

Louie is well-acquainted with the star trio who will be premiering the work. \u201cAll three of them are fantastic violinists,\u201d the composer effuses of the TSO\u2019s Jonathan Crow, the NACO\u2019s Yosuke Kawasaki, and the MSO\u2019s Andrew Wan.<\/p>\n

A fixture for decades in the nation\u2019s music history textbooks, Alexina Louie is a proud Canadian who was happy to add to the orchestras\u2019 sesquicentenary contribution. \u201cThe 150th means a lot to me, because I care a lot about this country, especially after having lived somewhere else,\u201d a reference to her years spent studying and teaching in the United States in the \u201870s. \u201cWhen I came back to Canada, I really wanted to contribute to the culture here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hailing from Vancouver, Louie attended graduate school at the University of California, San Diego, and she remained in California for a decade. \u201cOnce I started teaching in Los Angeles, I really got to understand the differentiation of classes there \u2014 the vibe between people who have money and people who don\u2019t, it really got to me after a while. The culture is more aggressive, I would say \u2014 the whole time I was there, I felt like a fish out of water.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Triple Concerto<\/em>\u2019s structure is novel: the piece consists of two outer movements, contrasted against a slow inner section. \u201cIt is NOT in three movements,\u201d Louie insists. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t enough time to write a full second movement, so I call it an \u2018interlude\u2019 because it\u2019s very short.\u201d Fast passages dovetail into intricate textures, especially in the opening and closing movements. \u201cWhen you\u2019re asked to write a concerto for three concertmasters, I think it\u2019s a chance for them to show off their technique. That should be fun \u2014 I hope they think it\u2019s fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

It the piece\u2019s earlier stages, Louie workshopped the piece with Crow and Wan in Toronto. The concertmasters\u2019 perspective was invaluable to her conception of the piece, and she made alterations to its sound balance between solo and orchestral textures.<\/p>\n

Modelled after the classic theme-and-variations form, the musical subject circulates freely among different groups in the ensemble \u2013 at times, it\u2019s heard in unison among the soloists, sometimes it is\u00a0taken up by an individual with the other two violinists in a supportive role, and at other times it is passed onto the orchestra. But fashioning a piece for three prominent violinists comes with inherent logistical challenges. \u201cI had to keep thinking if this was equitable \u2014 are they each getting their moment? You don\u2019t want to bury the three guys if you have them work that hard!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan
Jonathan Crow, Yosuke Kawasaki and Andrew Wan rehearse the Triple Concerto in Ottawa. (Photo: David Kawai)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Across her musical output, Louie strives to create an evocative sound world, whether the medium is pianistic, orchestral, or for a chamber group. In this Triple Concerto<\/em>, colourful Italian terms such as espressivo, sospirando, <\/em>and scintillante <\/em>permeate the score. Louie revels in the Triple Concerto<\/em>\u2019s moments of calm: \u201cSlow sections are very important to me, because they\u2019re very intimate. Sospirando <\/em>sets the tone: longing<\/em>.\u201d This sentiment is often evoked in the piece by woodwinds over falling phrases.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the slow interlude, the three violinists just hit it \u2014 they play a motoric section with a lot of energy. And that motoric energy suddenly shifts into a passage that is played on the vibraphone, the glockenspiel, and the harp. Those form the core of the piece. It\u2019s almost bell-like, repetitive. It\u2019s a fast passage that needs to resonate. Over that resonant sound are the three violins \u2014 mostly in unison \u2014 playing a melody that soars over the percussion and harp. And the whole orchestra joins into the big finale.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated listener, Louie recommends an open approach to the passing sounds and motoric activity, and also to watch for the intricate relationship between the solo violinists. \u201cThis piece is in one continuum \u2014 it\u2019s one big arc from the beginning to the end; it doesn\u2019t come to a stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does her Triple Concerto for Three Violins and Orchestra <\/em>go by another name? Louie dismisses the notion after a moment of thought. \u201cI\u2019ve been calling it that for a long time, because that\u2019s what it is, a triple concerto. It tells you a lot about the piece, and it\u2019s going to be full of energy.\u201d The tour will be a fitting tribute to Canada \u2014 and four of its powerhouses in classical music.<\/p>\n

+++<\/p>\n

Hear the world premiere of Alexina Louie’s\u00a0Triple Concerto for Three Violins and Orchestra, <\/em>on Sept. 27 & 28 at 8 p.m. \u2014 Roy Thomson Hall. Full details here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/i>
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews before anyone else finds out? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a>\u00a0or <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a> for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We caught up with composer Alexina Louie ahead of the world premiere of her Triple Concerto with members of the TSO, NACO and MSO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":47858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6439,18,36,4557,60,63],"tags":[231],"yst_prominent_words":[10216,10210,11013,6715,7261,11006,11017,11015,7680,10214,6613,6826,10218,10211,11005,11007,9159,10228,9960,11012],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/09\/Alexina-Louie-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-crM","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47850"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47861,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47850\/revisions\/47861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47850"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=47850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}