Marin Symphony, Rob Kapilow, Chrysopylae, May 2012

Fresh. Local. Music.

59th Season | Maestro Alasdair Neale’s 10th Anniversary

Rob Kapilow

Photo: Peter Schaaf

Featured Composer | Rob Kapilow | Chrysopylae / Golden Gate Opus | Concert No. 5

FEATURED COMPOSER, ROB KAPILOW

Rob’s journey creating Chrysopylae

(kris·sop´·i·lee) the Marin Symphony’s

Golden Gate Opus commission,

began in 2011 — inspired by history,

sound and community.


The Bridge By John Van der Zee

“ At about two o’clock the wind that rises in the Gate almost

every afternoon began blowing through the great harp of

towers, suspenders and cables. In the absence of the usual

steady burr of automobile traffic, another sound could be

heard, and it brought the shuffling and larking of the crowd to

a momentary halt.

A man shouted for quiet and, holding up his hand,

urges the people around him to listen. The hush spread.

SF Chronicle, on the day following the pedestrian opening, Thursday May 27,1937

”Featured Composer | Rob Kapilow | Chrysopylae / Golden Gate Opus | Concert No. 5

The Bridge By John Van der Zee

‘Away down deep’ reported the Chronicle.’ there is a deep

roar, like the bass notes of a piano. High up in the wires is a

shrill sound that some gigantic violincello might produce. From

the towers came ‘a deep organ-like note, a series of different

tones, changing, deepening, rising.’

‘They all blended into a splendid diapason, these different

sounds, and those still crowds stood awe-stricken by one of

the strangest symphonies the ear of man has ever heard.’

SF Chronicle, on the day following the pedestrian opening, Thursday May 27,1937


FEATURED COMPOSER, ROB KAPILOW

In Spring 2011, Rob Kapilow was

commissioned by The Marin Symphony

to compose Golden Gate Opus, a piece

for orchestra, chorus and recorded

natural sound to celebrate the Bridge’s

75th anniversary in 2012. Golden Gate

Opus collaborations have taken the

form of community meetings, intimate

conversations, radio call-in shows,

Facebook feedback and site visits to take

in the complete essence of the Bay Area,

the Golden Passage and naturally, the

Golden Gate Bridge itself.


Youth from Marin City — 2011Rob began the year-long process of reaching out to people to create the original piece with

us. His inspiration is drawn from experiences with people from all walks of life.

Photo: Stuart Lirette


2011

“ I met with generous specialists at

several organizations including

the California Historical Society,

Prelinger Library, the San

Francisco Bay Area Television

Archives and the Marin County

Library–California Collection

to name a few.



2011

“ I’m coming there with a clean

slate. I have no idea what it will

eventually sound like. But a new

piece of music should engage

an entire community, so every

meeting I have with every person

is the symphony to me.



Chrysopylae

“ We have partnered with Native Tribal groups, have

had intimate meetings with families whose loved ones

have taken their life on the Golden Gate Bridge, we met

with a Tugboat Captain, historians, youth of all ages,

musicians and the retirement community. We heard

from sailors as they took us on a magical journey under

the bridge on the historic 1891 Alma and of course we

engaged the force that keeps the Golden Gate Bridge

in tip top shape…the bridge workers of all facets

including painters, carpenters, welders and engineers!

Rob Kapilow


International High School, San Francisco — 2011The musical experience Rob created reflects the shape and sound of being here.



Smith Ranch — Retirement Community — 2011The input composer Rob Kapilow received is ultimately the inspiration for the

Golden Gate Opus.



Marin School of the Arts, Novato — 2011First visit, before Chrysopylae was composed.



Marin School of the Arts, Novato — March, 2012Return visit, after Chrysopylae was created.

Photo: Peter Rodgers


KDFC studio — Fred Newman, Rob Kapilow and Maestro Alasdair NealeMarch 2012, ‘State of the Arts’ interview with Jeff Freymann-Weyr.



Rob Kapilow and Alasdair NealeMarch 2012 — appearing at a special Yale outreach event at the San Francisco Conservatory

of Music. Rob Kapilow and Maestro Neale are connected to Yale and the SF Conservatory.



2012 — reTUrn VisiT

“ A year ago, I was commissioned

by the Marin Symphony to write

a symphony commemorating the

75th anniversary of the Golden

Gate Bridge. Having no idea

where to start, I began by meeting

groups of people from all walks of

life throughout the Bay Area and

asking for their ideas.




“ We all know what the Golden

Gate Bridge looks like, so

I asked people what they

thought it might sound like.

And I have to say, I was

stunned by the variety,

imagination, and brilliance

of people’s answers and

began my work from those

conversations.


California Historical Society, San Francisco



“ Now the piece is done, getting

ready to be premiered by the

orchestra and chorus in May,

I am returning to the Bay

Area to share how I turned

a community’s thoughts into

music, presenting excerpts,

and giving attendees a chance

to tell me what they think

about the whole process.


SF Bay Model,Suasalito



“ Once I realized the

sounds of the Golden

Gate Bridge would be at

the heart of the piece, I

brought Fred Newman,

the brilliant sound-effects

guy from A Prairie Home

Companion, into the project

to collaborate with me and

his contribution has been

amazing.


SF Bay Model,Suasalito



“ I welcome the opportunity

to see and hear what an

area-wide conversation

helped create, talk about

music, sound, composition,

collaboration, and creativity,

and learn from Fred how to

bark like a dog! I look forward

to a stimulating, free-wheeling

conversation as our Golden

Gate Bridge journey continues.


Marin Center Auditorium, San Rafael


prograM noTes

“ U.S. Army officer John C. Fremont gave the name “Golden Gate” to the entrance of San Francisco Bay in his “Geographical Memoir” submitted to the U.S. Senate on June 5, 1848. Fremont wrote that the three mile strait that marked the entrance to the bay, was called “Chrysopylae (Golden Gate)” on his map, much like that of “the harbor of Byzantium (Constantinople) was called Chrysoceras (Golden Horn).” The Greek word, Chrysopylae, literally means a golden gateway or passageway, and the idea of celebrating this extraordinary meeting of earth, water and sky—this natural, golden passageway—as well as the bridge itself, was the central idea behind the movement.

Movement I — CHRYSOPYLAE (kris·sop´·i·lee)


prograM noTes

It begins with a recorded voice of Joseph Strauss, Chief Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge project, floating over an imaginary, nature-filled Garden of Eden that impressionistically suggests the pre-historic, pre-European contact period through use of the native Ohlone and Miwok words for earth, water, sky, salmon, abalone, live oak, tule grass, and redwood; the names of the principal Indian tribes of the area; and the sounds and music that might have been part of this world. The successive periods of contact are suggested as these same elements are translated into Spanish and then English.

Movement I — CHRYSOPYLAE (kris·sop´·i·lee)

”


prograM noTes

“ “Belief: Suspended (Building)” refers to the bridge as a belief in possibility, suspended, as it were, over the waters of the bay. It evokes, in multiple ways, the period of the building of the bridge—over astonishingly strong protests and open disbelief in the era of The Great Depression. The movement begins with the sound of alarm bells, explosions, and pile drivers, reflecting what contemporary observers claimed was a staggering assault of violent noise that accompanied the bridge construction as it progressed from 1933-1937.

Movement II — Belief: Suspended (Building)


prograM noTes

Fragments of the period waltz, “There’s a Silver Moon on the Golden Gate,” the official song of the opening of the bridge, waft in and out like a radio signal. The twelve-tone row of the first section represents the 12 workers who fell through the safety net when scaffolding broke on February 17, 1937. The noisy, rivet-by-rivet rise of the towers and spinning of cables bring an optimism and a triumph of the “spirit of yes over no,” culminating in the exuberance of the opening-day celebrations on May 28, 1937. At the end of the movement, we simply gaze in awe at the remarkable and improbable new bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world—for the next quarter of a century.

Movement II — Belief: Suspended (Building)

”


prograM noTes

“ Acknowledging the history of suicides that have shadowed the bridge, this movement uses words directly drawn from suicide notes and the words of surviving family members, concluding with a blessing for the victims using the ancient Latin words from the Requiem Mass, “Requiem aeternam, dona eis domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis’ (Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.)

Movement III — Here is Where I Go

”


prograM noTes

“ The Finale brings us back to earth through the sounds of modern life on the bridge with the choral words “Earth and water and sky,” the English words for the original Ohlone and Miwok used in the opening. The recurring refrain, “a passageway, a Golden passageway, Chrysopylae” is interspersed with text drawn wholly from the actual physical facts of the bridge itself.

Movement IV — How Long


prograM noTes

How long . . . is the Bridge? 4,200 feet . . . “How long . . . will your bridge survive?” asks an imagined recording of Michael O’ Shaughnessy, San Francisco’s Chief Engineer, of Joseph Strauss, Chief Engineer of the Bridge, in an exchange pulled, word-for-word, from newspaper archives . . . . Strauss answers, “Forever,” to which O’Shaughnessy replies, “How long is forever?” This piece was the end result of an enormous amount of research in newspaper, radio, television and film archives, and historical special collections.

Movement IV — How Long

”


FEATURED COMPOSER, ROB KAPILOWMarch 2012 — Marin Symphony Chorus rehearsal.



FEATURED COMPOSER, ROB KAPILOWMarch 2012 — technical session at the Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium.



HISTORY IN THE MAKINGCynthia Newport of Illume Productions is filming the creation of the

Golden Gate Opus for a documentary film.

Beethoven and the BridgePROGRAM 5Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 3pm (world premiere)Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 7:30pm

Alasdair Neale, conductorFeaturing the Marin Symphony Chorus

Kapilow Chrysopylae (kris-sop΄-i-lee), Golden Gate Opus

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

Ronit Widmann-Levy, soprano Julie Anne Miller, mezzo soprano Brian Thorsett, tenor Eugene Brancoveanu, bass

Tickets: 415.499.6800 www.marinsymphony.orgConcerts made possible by LVP Marin Realtors, Bank of Marin, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation. Guest artist sponsored by Steve & Christina Fox.

AlasdairNeale

Photo: Matthew Washburn

FredNewman

Fresh. Local. Music.

Photo: Peter Schaaf

RobKapilow

Marin Symphony, Rob Kapilow, Chrysopylae, May 2012

Entertainment & Humor

Transcript of Marin Symphony, Rob Kapilow, Chrysopylae, May 2012