University of Virginia Library

University
Concert Band

I have been an admirer of Joel
Lazar's efforts in the music
department since his arrival here a
year of so ago. This admiration
arose from a concert in Cabell and
following that at Albemarle High
School. The concert band is now
about twice as big, and so is their
sound, but there has not been a loss
of quality, which is remarkably
high. What one has is an inspired
conductor with quality musicians.
Nothing could be better.

Dimitri Shostakovich's Festive
Overture, Opus 96 opened the
concert with a lot of whiz-bang
which is frequently associated with
that composer, but it allowed the
audience to quickly identify the
quality of each of the band
sections. This piece alone showed
some of the more vigorous
musicianship seen in these parts for
some time. Each of the sections
responded to Mr. Lazar's clear and
precise tempi with flair.

Sluggish

Bedrich Smetana's The High
Castle from the cycle My
Fatherland followed, and this
represented, in parts, the only
sluggish part of the evening. Some
of the quiet passages were not
totally sustained, but this is
difficult music indeed, especially
for a concert band which cannot
fall back on heavy string sections.

Serge Prokofiev's Athletic
Festival March and Gustav Holst's
Second Suite in F sustained the
elan of the Shostakovich piece, all
leading to the final selection, Paul
Hindemith's Symphony in B flat
(1951). This was the great success
of the evening, as ambitious as it is;
the band brought it across with
depth of feeling surprising for the
musical exposure of most of its
members.

The concert proved beyond
doubt that the University now has
an outstanding group of musicians
under very able leadership indeed.
It is going to be hard to top this
concert, but I am betting the band
does it.

A rain-soaked audience was
delightfully surprised, but the
wonderful part of it all is that the
University now has a group from
which we hope to hear more than
two concerts a year, all right in our
own yard.