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The Akron Symphony Bass Ensemble, featuring Brian Del Bianco, Tom Flowers, Ann Gilbert, Henry Samuels, Sue Yelanjian and Ole Latham, present Sousa’s The Liberty Bell March.

Sousa was inspired to compose the piece after seeing a painting of the Liberty Bell while in Chicago. He then received a letter from his wife detailing how their son had marched in a parade in Philadelphia honoring the Liberty Bell. That confirmed for Sousa that his new march would be titled The Liberty Bell.

Akron Symphony Orchestra’s Heidi Aufdenkamp Peck, along with a special guest accompanist, shares a short sample of the Clarinet Polka.

Julie Myers King, a cellist with the Akron Symphony Orchestra, has been spending time working on a project she calls Me, Myself and Bach. Here Julie performs the Gigue from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1, a piece notable for its beauty and warmth.

Erica Snowden-Rodriguez, Principal Cellist of the Akron Symphony Orchestra, is joined by Gomez as Erica performs on a Venezuelan cuatro. The cuatro is a family of Latin American string instruments found in Central and South America, Puerto Rico and other parts of the West Indies, derived from the Spanish guitar.

Bass player Brian Del Bianco performs a short solo work by composer Domenico Dragonetti. The piece is based on Arcangelo Corelli’s Trio Sonata in D minor, and is a transcription of the bass line from the Allegro movement of Corelli’s sonata, but on electric bass.

Dragonetti was an Italian double bass virtuoso (possibly Europe’s only double bass virtuoso) and composer. In 1799, he met Beethoven in Vienna and there are some who believe Dragonetti’s influence on Beethoven can be heard in his Fifth Symphony. (Source: Classic FM) Dragonetti’s custom-made double bass, which has three strings instead of four, can be seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

A little closer to home, the strings on Brian’s bass guitar are made by SIT Strings in Akron.

To celebrate Independence Day 1879, American composer Dudley Buck wrote the work for which he is best known today. To mark the bicentennial of Francis Scott Key’s penning of the lyrics to The Star-Spangled Banner, the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Akron Symphony Chorus performed an entire evening of music commemorating that event in a concert that began with Buck’s overture.

They were joined by members of the Gospel Meets Symphony Choir, Miller South’s ‘Rising Stars’ Choir, and community members assembled for the occasion, dubbed the ‘One City’ Choir.

The tune of The Star-Spangled Banner weaves its way in and out of this exuberant work, making a final appearance in one last grand declamation, here in a sing-along with an audience brought to their feet by this rousing music.

Festival Overture on the American National Air
Dudley S. Buck (1839–1909)

Akron Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Wilkins, conductor
Akron Symphony Chorus
Maria Sensi Sellner, Chorus Director
Members of the Gospel Meets Symphony Choir
ASO’s ‘One City’ Choir
Miller South ‘Rising Stars’ Choir
Members of the Opening Night Audience

This performance, which was recorded on September 13, 2014, at E.J. Thomas Hall.

Molly Jones, a cellist with the Akron Symphony Orchestra, performs the Gigue from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3, a piece notable for showing off the emotional depths available on a cello.

Dianna Joiner (violin) and Patrick Miller (viola) perform Schubert’s Erlkönig. Schubert composed the piece in 1815 and based it on a 1782 poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which has its roots in a Scandinavian folktale.

Goethe’s poem – very appropriate for Halloween – tells the story of a boy and his father riding home on horseback. The boy is frightened when he is courted by the Erl-King, a powerful and creepy supernatural being. The father, however, cannot see or hear the creature and tells the boy that his imagination is playing tricks on him.

The boy grows increasingly terrified by what he hears from the Erl-King, but his father tells him it only the sights and sounds of nature on a dark and stormy night. When the Erl-King eventually seizes the boy, the father spurs on his horse, but when he arrives home his son is dead.

The following translation into English of Goethe’s poem is courtesy of britannica.com (https://tinyurl.com/yyxzfxjj):

Who’s riding so late, in the night and wind? It is the father with his child. He grasps the boy in his arm. He holds him securely; he keeps him warm.

My son, why do you hide your face so fearfully? “Father, don’t you see the Erl-King there? The Erl-King with his crown and train?” My son, it’s a streak of mist.

‘You delightful child, come with me! I’ll play wonderful games with you. Colourful flowers grow on the shore. My mother has many fine things.’

“My father, my father, don’t you hear What the Erl-King said to me?” Be calm, stay calm, my son; The wind is stirring the dry leaves.

‘Fine boy, will you come with me? My daughters will wait on you nicely. My daughters will lead the evening dancing And rock and dance and sing to you.’

“My father, my father, don’t you see The Erl-King’s daughters in that gloomy place?” My son, my son, I see it indeed; The old willow gleaming so gray.

‘I love you, I delight in your beautiful shape; And if you are not willing, I shall use force.’ “My father, my father, he has seized me! Erl-King is injuring me!”

The father blanched; he rode swiftly. He held the moaning child in his arms. With great trouble, he reached the courtyard. In his arms, the child was dead.

Akron Symphony Orchestra violinst Pablo Sanchez-Pazos performs Bach’s Chaconne from Partita No. 2. The complete Chaconne is one of the longest and most challenging solo pieces ever composed for the violin. The performance was part of the Fox 8 Virtual Jukebox series.