DAVID HATTNER’S APRIL PYP PLAYLIST

Posted on April 2, 2018

PYP Musical Director David Hattner shares what’s currently on his playlist. Revamp your own playlist with selections from our PYP Playlist on Twitter on #MusicMonday.

March 28, 2018 marked the 99th anniversary of the birth of one of the central figures in the history of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. It is no exaggeration to say that there would be no Portland Youth Philharmonic without Jacob Avshalomov. Having played in the orchestra under Jacques Gershkovitch, Jacob Avshalomov learned in person how excellent the orchestra was and discovered its inner workings. This, combined with his remarkable personality, musicianship and erudition made him the ideal choice to become the 2nd conductor of the orchestra.

Mr. A (as he was known to his thousands of students) was the bridge to the modern era for the Portland Junior Symphony. An organization that started before there was jet airplane travel, national radio networks or reliable long-distance telephone needed to modernize, and Mr. A was there for all of it. After a quarter century at the helm, the name of the organization became Portland Youth Philharmonic. Retiring after 41 season, Mr. A brought the orchestra to the world through broadcasts and tours, while launching the careers of many successful professionals, both inside and outside the profession of music.

To pay tribute to him, I thought it would be appropriate to look at what is posted on YouTube which relates to Mr. A as composer or conductor.

Jacob Avshalomov’s beginnings are fascinating. His father, composer Aaron Avshalomov, emigrated from Siberia to China. Aaron Avshalomov was fascinated by Chinese music and aspired to combine Chinese musical materials with western instruments. One of his most successful efforts is the tone-poem Peking Hutungs. When I conducted it in 2011, Mr. A suggested updating the title to Beijing Hutungs. His presence in the audience was a great honor for all of us.

Choral music was at the center of Mr. A’s live as both conductor and composer. Each season, he conducted a major choral work. His compositional career was also dedicated to choral music. Here is a fine example:

Promoting the music of contemporary composer was important throughout Mr. A’s tenure with PYP. In the 1950s, the orchestra commissioned several outstanding composers to create music not only for the Junior Symphony, but for other young orchestras. It was hoped that these works would introduce young musicians everywhere to the modern vocabulary of classical music without being out of reach technically. One of the finest of these pieces was by William Bergsma. The orchestra performed Chameleon Variations on several occasions under Mr. A and I myself conducted it 2012. This performance was recorded for the CRI label shortly after the world premiere.

Towards the end of his tenure, Mr. A made a recording of music by Oregon Composers. Among those chosen was alumnus Kevin Walczyk, who wrote a terrific suite for orchestra.

To conclude this playlist, another Oregon composer is appropriate. Ernest Bloch was born in Switzerland, but he only owned one home in his lifetime. That was at Agate Beach. He was a great admirer of Jacques Gershkovitch, as a letter in our archives attests. I also have Gershkovitch’s score to Bloch’s Concerto Grosso #1, which annotations by the composer in red pen. In 1976, Mr. A and the orchestra recorded two works for CRI. One was the magnificent Symphony for Trombone and orchestra, with guest soloist Howard Prince. A complex, difficult work, this fine performance attests to the consistency of the orchestra in its long history.

Stay tuned,

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