Highlights of the classical music calendar include the Allentown Band at the Hellertown Heritage Day \u201cAmerica250\u201d celebration and the Allentown Symphony Orchestra performing Gustav Mahler\u2019s first symphony.<\/p>\n
The Allentown Symphony Orchestra presents \u201c To Hell and Back!: Mahler\u2019s 1st Symphony,\u201d 7:30 p.m. May 16 and 2 p.m. May 17, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo open this concert, I chose a piece by Grazyna Bacewicz, which is the third work the orchestra has performed by this composer,\u201d says Diane Wittry, Allentown Symphony Orchestra (ASO) Artistic Director and Conductor, adding, \u201cIt\u2019s fun, exciting and sounds a little like circus music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bacewicz wrote her high-energy \u201cOverture\u201d in 1943 during the Nazi Germany occupation of Warsaw, Poland. She wrote the work in defiance and as a message of hope and victory for the Allied Forces.<\/p>\n
French horn guest soloist Erik Ralske and the ASO perform Richard Strauss\u2019 virtuosic \u201cHorn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 11,\u201d a work described as a \u201cyouthful yet mature\u201d masterpiece.<\/p>\n
Although the concerto written by Strauss was dedicated to his father, an internationally-renowned horn virtuoso, his father never performed the work publicly, complaining that it was too difficult and had \u201ctoo many high notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
After intermission, the ASO performs the famous four-movement \u201cSymphony No. 1 \u2018Titan\u2019\u201d by German composer Gustav Mahler.<\/p>\n
Says Wittry, \u201cThe first segment is a tone poem with a storyline \u2018Spring without end\u2019 along with country folk dancing described as a joyous dance. Mahler later removed the storyline.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe third movement was called \u2018Human Comedy\u2019 and you can hear \u2018Frere Jacques.\u2019 This movement is very much a parody inspired by an artistic work depicting forest animals carrying a hunter to a funeral.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe final movement, \u2018Inferno to Paradise,\u2019 ends the journey with triumphal music, much like a chorale. It entails a showdown between hell and heaven which ends in glorious triumph with eight dynamic French horn players standing on stage. One could say that Mahler was a bit theatrical.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you can hear Mahler, the sheer amount of sound and energy elicits excitement in the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this work was presented, think about the time period and what other composers were writing. People weren\u2019t prepared for it,\u201d Wittry says.<\/p>\n
Erik Ralske is principal horn player of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2010. Prior to that, he was a member of the New York Philharmonic for 17 seasons.<\/p>\n
Ralske is a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music and Mannes College The New School for Music. He received Bachelors and Masters from The Juilliard School and has been a faculty member there since 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Hell and Back!: Mahler\u2019s 1st Symphony,\u201d Allentown Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. May 16; 2 p.m. May 17, Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown. Free tickets for those 21 and under. Tickets: at the box office: 610-432-6715; https:\/\/millersymphonyhall.org<\/p>\n
The Allentown Band performs the \u201cHellertown Heritage Day Concert,\u201d 3:30 p.m. May 16, Heller-Wagner Grist Mill, Hellertown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are really pleased to be part of Hellertown Heritage Day performing American music appropriate to celebrate America on this 250th anniversary year,\u201d says Allentown Band Conductor Ronald Demkee.<\/p>\n
The concert opens with \u201cCommando March\u201d (1943) by Samuel Barber, who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.<\/p>\n
Barber, who composed for the band while stationed at the Technical Training Command, Atlantic City, N.J., described the work as representing a \u201cnew kind of soldier, one who did not march in straight lines\u201d but \u201cstruck in stealth with speed, disappearing as quickly as he came.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next are John Williams\u2019 \u201cLiberty Fanfare\u201d (1986), commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty, and Clare Grundman\u2019s \u201cConcord Overture,\u201d commissioned by The President\u2019s Own\u201d Marine Band, which incorporates traditional tunes \u201cYankee Doodle,\u201d \u201cThe White Cockade\u201d and William Billings\u2019 \u201cAmerica.\u201d<\/p>\n
Composer Frank Ticheli described his setting of \u201cShenandoah\u201d as a work \u201cinspired by the freedom and beauty of the folk melody and by the natural images evoked by the words, especially the image of a river.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Richard Rodgers and Robert Russell Bennet arrangement of selections from the World War II documentary television series \u201cVictory at Sea\u201d highlights several themes, including \u201cSong of the High Seas,\u201d \u201cBeneath the Southern Cross\u201d and \u201cThe Guadalcanal March.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concert selections include the Frank Erickson arrangement of songs from the 1969 Broadway musical \u201c1776,\u201d Morton Gould\u2019s \u201cYankee Doodle,\u201d Meredith Willson\u2019s \u201c76 Trombones\u201d and Claudio Grafulla\u2019s \u201cWashington Grays.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program closes with an \u201cArmed Forces Salute\u201d and John Philip Sousa\u2019s \u201cThe Stars and Stripes Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Says Demkee, \u201cIt\u2019s a joy to be part of an event that brings people together and to celebrate the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHellertown Heritage Day Concert,\u201d Allentown Band, 3:30 p.m. May 16, Heller-Wagner Grist Mill, 150 W. Walnut St., Hellertown. Free. No tickets required. Information: https:\/\/hellertownhistoricalsociety.org\/event-list\/heritage-day-2026\/<\/p>\n
\u201cClassical View\u201d is a column about classical music concerts, conductors and performers. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus Editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOErik Ralske<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Highlights of the classical music calendar include the Allentown Band at the Hellertown Heritage Day \u201cAmerica250\u201d celebration and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-194113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}