The Augustana Symphony Orchestra will tell stories through their upcoming performance. On Feb. 14 in Centennial Hall, the group will perform a repertoire that includes “The Protecting Veil,” “Pavane for a Dead Princess” and “Mother Goose Suite.”
The Symphony Orchestra is constructed out of instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, timpani, percussion and the harp. Henry Weberpal, a junior at Augustana, is the second chair cellist for this performance. His majors are music education and cello performance.
Weberpal said he enjoys playing “Mother Goose Suite” the most in this concert.
“Each movement has a wide variety of character and motion, especially the last movement,” Weberpal said. “What makes it so enjoyable is how each movement has a bit more room to be it’s own fun ‘story’, as insinuated by the Mother Goose portion of the title.”
“We’ve been working on this since right after Christmas,” said Daniel Culver, music director and conductor of the concert.
This concert came at a difficult time for some students.
“Trying to prepare not only this concert, but to be able to also be ready for juries and recitals,” Weberpal explained. “It’s particularly stressful when I’m trying to get a piece down for all the performance majors recitals as well as orchestral pieces, which means I live, eat and sleep in the practice room.”
But, Weberpal said the concerts are fun, and he also enjoys the rehearsals.
“The best part of rehearsals is though we may not have a large number of pieces, and the ones we have may be longer, Dr. Culver makes sure that rehearsals are still fun for the players, and everyone enjoys getting to be together making music,” Weberpal said.
Those who are not as musically inclined may not understand the beauty of the music. Weberpal offers some advice.
In the John Tavener piece, ‘The Protecting Veil,’ there is a long cello solo played by Dr. Ehrlich and interjections from two other cellos that portrays medieval music in a recurring theme that is fascinating to listen for and be able to recognize again and again,” Weberpal said.
If there is one thing that Culver wants people to take from this concert it’s musical fulfillment.
“I would never tell anyone to listen to music a certain way,” Culver said. “It is important that people find their own way to listen to the pieces.”
“I am so privileged to work with such wonderful people in the orchestra,” Culver said. “It truly completes my life.”