BY STEVEN MARK / smark@staradvertiser.com
The words “banjo” and “symphony” haven’t often appeared in the same sentence, but if there’s anyone who can bring them together, it’s Bela Fleck, who’s taken the instrument beyond the bluegrass and folk realm to new heights in the music world.
HAWAI’I SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAFeaturing Bela Fleck and guest conductor Michael Stern» Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall, 777 Ward Ave. |
Fleck will perform his 2010 concerto, “The Imposter,” with the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra this weekend. It’s just the latest step in a journey that Fleck has taken outside the traditional banjo repertoire.
Fleck’s work started with elastic interpretations of banjo stylings, then took off in 2001 with “Perpetual Motion,” a Grammy-winning album featuring classical compositions transcribed for banjo.
“(‘The Imposter’) is the kind of piece I wanted to see that really didn’t exist in the repertoire,” he wrote in an email. “I wanted a piece in which I could show off the banjo’s unique strengths and show that it had a place in the orchestra setting — as an equal.”
Fleck’s varied musical tastes show up in the concerto. He cites Bela Bartok (the composer for whom he is named) and Brahms as two composers he listened to when he worked on it. “I’ve always loved Bach, Chopin and Beethoven, so they must be in there too,” he said. “Gershwin is embedded in my unconscious mind as well.”
The piece has been performed by two of the “Big Five” U.S. orchestras, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Fleck recorded it with the Nashville Symphony, which commissioned the work, on the classical label Deutsche Grammophon.
“Each time I’ve played it, I’ve found a few things to improve, both in the banjo parts and in the orchestration.” he said.
Fleck’s interest in banjo was inspired by “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” from the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies,” but he’s ranged far beyond that familiar tune to explore the instrument’s unique colors and sounds.
“The banjo has its own reverb built into it, so a great instrument will ring and create beautiful overtones,” he said. “Banjo also has a very strong percussive component, so it’s important for banjoists to have a strong sense of time.”
Guest conductor Michael Stern, the son of the great violinist Isaac Stern, has never heard Fleck’s concerto in its entirety before, but is looking forward to being part of its continued evolution.
“I love collaborating with great soloists, because you get much more back than you give,” Stern said. “But you have to give. You have to give the soloist something off of which to play.”
Noting the importance that Dec. 7 has here, Stern has programmed works by two other American composers: Aaron Copland’s “Symphony No. 3″ and Stephen Hartke’s “Pacific Rim,” a piece melding Asian music with Latin rhythms and harmonies.
Hartke “does the whole thing in nine minutes,” Stern said. “The sound world is so different than the banjo, and so different from the Copland, and yet it’s totally American.”
Copland’s 1946 work is known for its fourth-movement “Fanfare for the Common Man” theme, but Stern said it has even more significance as an exemple of a distinct American musical style, paralleling developments in visual arts. “Composers were working diligently to find an American voice,” Stern said. “This piece is the apex of that. It’s also a magnificent piece. It is a serious piece, but it’s also declamatory and uplifting in its affirmation of American optimism.”