Sacred Trees and Beethoven's 8th at the National Arts Centre

Summary: In the third Ovation Series concert of the NAC’s 40th Anniversary season, conductor Douglas Boyd leads the National Arts Centre Orchestra in a program entitled Sacred Trees in Southam Hall on Wednesday November 18 and Thursday November 19 at 8 p.m.

In the third Ovation Series concert of the NAC’s 40^th Anniversary season, conductor Douglas Boyd leads the National Arts Centre Orchestra – and soloist Christopher Millard, principal bassoon – in a program entitled Sacred Trees in Southam Hall onWednesday November 18 and Thursday November 19 at 8 p.m.

The program for the evening includes:

CORELLI Concerto Grosso in F major
TIPPETT Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli
JOHN WILLIAMS The Five Sacred Trees
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8

John Williams – yes, that John Williams, composer of magical film scores -- writes vivid and engaging concert music, too. The Five Sacred Trees(1995) -- a concerto composed of five movements, each representing a tree from ancient Celtic mythology -- features the NAC Orchestra’s principal bassoon, Christopher Millard. Millard has a personal connection to the Williams concerto. He says, “….throughout the work, the bassoon embodies the traditions and plaintive voice of the Irish pipes and our ancestors’ relationship to the mysteries of the forest. Playing this music somehow connects me to the old maple tree from which my bassoon was made, to its roots and to the generations of ancient peoples who danced and sang on the soil from which it grew. As the tenderness and longing of the final movement comes to an end, I know you will have shared with me a powerful contemplation on the ineffable depth of our relationship with nature.”

Audiences will also hear the doubly pleasing results when one composer inspires another, as in the pairing of Michael Tippett’s effervescentFantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli (written in 1953 to mark the 300^th anniversary of Corelli’s birth) with Arcangelo Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, written over 250 years earlier. Conductor Douglas Boyd says, “Tonight’s program offers one of the glories of the English string repertoire – Tippett’s Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli. It's a work that looks back in time to the inspiration of Corelli and the Concerto Grosso -- look out for the dialogue between the two orchestras split either side of the stage and the musical conversations between them and the concertante soloists. We also perform the original, sparkling Corelli Concerto Grosso on which Tippett based his variations so the listener can perhaps understand and enjoy both genres better.”

The evening culminates in Beethoven’s lighthearted, witty Eighth Symphony. The shortest of all his symphonies, it is as if the composer takes a gigantic symphony and compresses it into a musical "black hole" of energy. He looks back and pays homage to all the musical styles that came before him -- modal harmonies, many bows to the Classical era and, especially, to Haydn. Beethoven’s power, energy and mastery pervade the symphony, which never betrays the despair and sorrow that engulfed his life at the time he composed it.

The NAC Orchestra performs Sacred Trees in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Wednesday November 18 and Thursday November 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $19, $29, $39.50, $50, $60, $70 and $87.50 for adults and $10.75, $15.75, $21, $26.25, $31.25, $36.25, and $45 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s website www.nac-cna.ca.

Subject to availability, full-time students (aged 13-29) with valid Live Rush™ membership may buy up to 2 tickets per performance at the discount price of $11 per ticket. Tickets are available online (www.nac-cna.ca) or at the NAC box office from 10 a.m. on the day before the performance until 6 p.m. on the day of the show or 2 hours before a matinee. Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices to all NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances; to reserve your seats, call Julie Laroche at 613-947-7000, ext. 634 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.

For additional information, visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca

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