We are pleased to announce our upcoming concert
A Spring Concert
Strauss
~ Blue Danube Waltz
~ Tritsch Tratsch Polka
Ravel
~ Pavane pour une Infante Defunte
Saint-Saens
~ Rondo and Capriccioso
With Soloist Ashlyn Olson
Ashlyn Olsen
Ashlyn Olson, 20, is currently a senior at Boston University majoring in string performance. Hailing from Connecticut, she began her music studies at the age of 4 studying with Yuri Mazurkevich, Leonid Sigal, Brunhilda Mayftaraj, Peter Sacco, and Dr. Laurel Thurman.
Ashlyn’s orchestra credits include the Boston University Symphony, Boston University Chamber Orchestra and Opera Orchestras, Boston Civic Symphony, Thayer Symphony Orchestra, University of Connecticut Symphony Orchestra and the Connecticut Youth Symphony and the Seven Hills Symphony. She has spent her summers attending The Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
In 2008, Ashlyn received the outstanding senior award from the Connecticut Youth Symphony. At Boston University, Ashlyn was named a Presser Scholar, which is awarded yearly to one student in honor of academic and musical achievements.
Ashlyn Olson is graduating with honors from Boston University in May 2012 with a degree in string performance. She plans to pursue her Master of Music degree in violin performance at DePaul University in Chicago in the fall. She will be joining the violin studio of Professor Ilya Kaler.
Program Notes
– Mark Zarrow, 2012
was composed by Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), “Strauss the younger,” in 1866. Premiered in Vienna on February 15, 1867, it’s perhaps the greatest waltz written at the height of the genre’s popularity. Even though the initial response to it was tepid, today it’s one of the best-known of all waltzes. At the traditional New Year’s Day concert from Vienna’s Musikverein, which is broadcast worldwide, it’s often used as the encore. It also featured prominently in the docking scene in “2001, A Space Odyssey.”
provides a high-spirited up-tempo contrast to On the Beautiful Blue Danube. There are many theories about the origin and meaning of the title, but no definitive answer. Some have interpreted “tritsch tratsch” to mean “chit-chat” or gossip, which was a passion of the Viennese. It might have been a reference to a burlesque, “Der Tritsch-tratsch,” which premiered in 1833 and was still in the Viennese stage repertoire. Or it might refer to Strauss’s first wife’s poodle, which was named Tritsch-tratsch. Whatever the answer, the work remains a lighthearted crowd-pleaser with no deeper meaning.
was written in 1899 by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) while he was a student at the Paris Conservatory. It was originally for solo piano, but he orchestrated it in 1910. Ravel was evasive and coy about the composition’s title and its meaning, once claiming that he merely loved how it sounded. Nevertheless, he dedicated the piece to his patron, the American-born Princesse de Polignac. “Pavane” was the name given to a slow, stately, processional dance that was popular in European courts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Ravel’s Pavane is modeled on that style.
was written in 1863 by Camille Saint-Saens (1935-1921) for the world-famous violinist Pablo de Sarasate. Like Maurice Ravel, Saint-Saens was strongly drawn to Spanish harmonies and rhythms. A mini violin concerto, Capriccioso is a showcase for virtuoso playing in the romantic style. Sarasate, like many of his day’s virtuosi of the violin and other instruments, often relied on his own compositional talents to showcase his playing. Among his most famous pieces was Zigeunerweisen or “Gypsy Airs.” The Seven Hills Symphony featured “Gypsy Airs,” arranged for cello, at its 2010 spring concert with Sarah Shredder as soloist.
