Skidmore Orchestra to present music for dancing

The Skidmore Orchestra will perform Borodin's "Polovstian Dances," Debussy's "Danse Sacre et Profane," and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite No. 1 in a concert scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in the Arthur Zankel Music Center.  Anthony Holland will direct.

Borodin was particularly stirred by Russia's Asian heritage and used the story of the 12th-century campaign of the Russian Prince Igor against the nomadic Asian tribe of the Polovtsi for his opera, Prince Igor. "Polovstian Dances," from Prince Igor, includes four dances that flow into each other in a dazzling succession building in intensity, speed, and excitement. The first, prefaced by coiling woodwind, is a well-known melody from its use in the Broadway musical Kismet! The second is a vigorous orchestral dance, based on the woodwind opening, its thematic repetitions tracing an arching climax. After a brief hiatus, a terrifically noisy third section lifts the roof. The dying clamor is supplanted by the almost manic dotted rhythm of the final, and longest, section. The pulse does not slacken through a reprise of the first section, before the dotted rhythms take over again to build up to that resplendent final cavalcade.

Debussy loved to experiment with music and was considered a revolutionary because of his unorthodox harmonies and sense of musical form. The "Danse Sacre" with its pastel transparency, modal harmonies, and aura of antiquity mark it as being related to the opera. It begins with a quiet but stately unison melody to which the harp responds with a theme of arpeggiated chords. Thereafter, the harp and strings meander peacefully through land scapes of parallel harmonies quite typical of Debussy, pausing here and there to refer back to the initial themes. The "Danse Profane" is written in a pronounced triple meter, which gives this movement a much more stable foundation. "Danse Sacre et Profane" will feature soloist Elizabeth Huntley on harp.

Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite No. 1 is universally popular and perfect for celebrating the holiday season. The piece has been instrumental in sparking a love of music in many children and appeals to the child in all of us. Tchaikovsky's miraculous blend of toytown tunes and wrapping-paper orchestration conjures the same enchantment as Christmas morning. The movements include the Miniature Overture, March, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Trepak, Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance, Dance of the Mirlitons, and Waltz of the Flowers.

The Skidmore orchestra is a semi-professional orchestra made up of Skidmore students and top players from several regional professional orchestras, including the Albany Symphony, Berkshire Symphony, Schenectady Symphony and Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra.

Admission for the Dec. 8 orchestra concert is free for Skidmore students, $7 general admission, $5 seniors, and $3 non-Skidmore students. For advance reservations click here  or call the Zankel box office (518) 580-8381 for more information. The Zankel Music Center is wheelchair accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired. For more information, please visit  www.skidmore.edu/zankel.