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University Daily Kansan
Arts/Entertainment
Thursday, Jan. 30, 1986
Tunes spice menu in band's concert
By Leslie Hirschbach Staff writer
The KU Symphonic band's winter concert won't be like a typical meat and potatoes meal. Robert Foster, director of bands, said he was planning a menu of tunes with the variety of a seven course dinner.
People, especially students, like variety. Foster said.
"When you sit down to a meal, you don't order just seven steaks. You order a lot of different things," he said. Foster's band will play six musical selections with sounds that vary from classical to eastern European influence. The program even contains a march.
Hayes said his euphonium, which is similar to a baritone, looked pretty ordinary sitting next to one of the special instruments. It's a water gong, a large tub of water played with a gong.
Greg Hayes, Plano, Texas, junior,
said that the songs were diverse, but
that the sounds were probably even
more diverse.
Foster said the concert was the symphonic band's first really big event of the semester. It begins at 8 p.m. today in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall. No admission will be charged.
This year the symphonic band's performance is part of the southwest regional convention of the College Band Directors National Association, National Band Association and Kansas Bandmasters Association.
The evening program also features the Emporia State University Wind Ensemble. It will play the first part of the concert.
In addition, two renow guest conductors have been invited. Donald Hunsberger of the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, N.Y., will conduct "Jack Tar," a John Philip Sousa march
W. Francis McBeth of Ouachita
Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Ark., will conduct "Beowulf," a piece he adapted from an eight century English epic poem.
Foster said one of the most unusual pieces in the concert was "A Foobarsti Tryplych," written by David Holsinger when on the staff of the university of Kansas Bands.
The name "Fobarati" was formed from the surnames of the directors of KU's three performing wind bands. Foster's name is the first portion of the word. The surnames of James Barnes, director of the University Band, and Thomas Stidham, director of the Concert Band, form the other parts.
In the tryplych, the mystical armies of the Omnipresent Otserf (Foster's name scrambled) prepare for the final battle of the great holy war.
The mystical army is the KU marching band on a Saturday football game day, Foster said.
Holsinger included a cat of latin-sounding words, like "doe-mee-nah" that are more like pig-latin because they mean absolutely nothing and are only intended to sound mysterious, Foster said.
"A Fobarsti Tryplych" was first performed in the school of 1880 by the KU Symphonic Band on its Florida concert tour.
Katie Cooper, Leavenworth junior, who plays French Horn, said her favorite piece of the concert was Paul Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphism."
method of pronouns
Hindenh wrote the piece in 1943 for a symphony orchestra. In 1960, it was transcribed for concert band.
Other pieces in the concert include "Sokol Fanfare," a brass fanfare written by Leo Janacek for the Sokol Gymnastic Festival in Prague in 1926.
Another piece on the concert is Joaquin Rodrigo's "Adagio." Rodrigo was a blind Spanish composer, who's work originally was written for wind orchestra.
Jay Jackson, Burlington, N.C., graduate student, plays the water gong, a special instrument for a musical selection, "A Fobarist Trychnak." The name "Fobaristi" was formed from the surnames of three KU band directors, Robert Foster, James Barnes and Thomas Stedham.
Mark Mohler/KANSAN
Above, Robert E. Foster, director of the KU Symphonica Band, prompts one of the instrumental sections during a recent rehearsal. Bottom, from right to left, clarinetists Kathi Pettijohn, Topeka sophomore, Susan Fortner, Naperville, III., junior, Barbie Givens, Lawrence freshman, and Stacey Mullett, Winfield freshman, practice attentively in preparation for the band's winter concert.
Dickens' stories spur theatrical adventure
By Grant W. Butler
great Expectations, adapted from the stories of Charles Dickens, performed by the Guthrie Theater as part of the 1986 University Arts Festival. 7 p.m. Sunday in Crafton-Prayer Theatre. Tickets $6 and $5 for KU students; $12 and $10 for general public; $11 and $9 for senior citizens and other students.
"They're such rip-snorting adventures," said Darrie Lawrence, who plays Miss Havisham, in the Guthrie
The richness of Charles Dickens' characters and abrupt plot changes make the recent stage adaptations of his stories a success, a lead actress in the Guthrie Theater said Monday.
Theater presentation of "Great Exertations."
"There are so many dramatic twists and turns. There's nothing static about it. There is always an adventure around every corner."
Barbara Feld, who adapted "Great Expectations" for theater, said Tuesday that the recent success of stage productions of Dickens' stories came naturally. She also has written adaptations of Dicken's "Nicolas Nickley" and "A Christmas Carol."
"Dickens had a small stage in his house, and he acted everything out," she said. "He had a hugely theatrical family."
People have more interest in stage adaptations of books, she said, because they are rediscovering the novel as something very interesting.
Dickens' story, which first appeared in serialized newspaper form in 1860, centers on the growth of Pip. an orphan, who receives financial assistance from an unknown person.
In the course of the play, Pip, portrayed by Tim Wahmer, meets the bizarre Miss Havisham. Her thoughts constantly dwell on a lover who deserted her on their wedding day 20 years before, and she still keeps the rotten wedding cake in her home.
Lawrence said, 'She's a bitter, eccentric, manipulative and obsessed woman who has dedicated her life to revengeing herself against men.
"She's a woman out of our general experience. She's really more of a monster."
Feld said that while "Great Expectations" was an easy story to adapt for the stage, she wished the play could have been six hours long instead of three because there would be more richness in the characters.
Denny Spence, company manager for the production, said that from a production standpoint, the hardest thing about a touring company
"We're often in a theater for only one night," he said, "so we have to make sure that the show works in the best way."
was adjusting to the different stage specifications. He said some stages had large wings and some had almost none at all.
Lawrence said, it could be difficult to adjust to the different theaters. It is common for the company to play one night in a 500 seat theater and the next in a 1,000 seat hall.
The play is performed primarily on one set with the changes in furniture transforming it into a pier, a mansion, a garden and a blacksmith's
shop. Props, such as the decaying wedding cake, are moved on and off, and costumes, music and lighting help to set the tone for each scene.
Most of the actors in the production portrait two or three characters. Spence said. Because of this, many of the actors make six costume changes during a performance.
Feld said Dickens' stories forced people to re-evaluate what they wanted from life.
"He's saying something about the true nature of gentility and class," she said. "He had a lot of guilt when he wrote the book because he had jus left his wife for another woman."
Suspense wrenches gut, enhances wry wit in 'Z'
By Leslie Wohlwend Skyrms Special to the Kansan
Z. directed by Constantin Costa-Gavras, written by Costa-Gavras and Jorge Seme-Vasilikos, the novel by Vassilis Vasilikos. 7:30 p.m. on telenovil in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Ratod R, 127 min./color.
Constantin Costa-Gavras' film, "Z," is manipulative, is French dubbed into English and is unashamedly political.
If any part of that description sets off warning signals, relax. "Z" is also two hours of gut wrenching suspense that rivals the best of the '80s action-adventure hits.
Review
The cast includes such notable actors as Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Irene Papas. It is difficult to determine the quality of the acting because of the dubbing. But even though the dubbing is distracting, it's not fatal to the film.
Costa-Gavras achieves this delicate balance by simultaneously staying true to his grizzly story of a crumbling government and injecting it with whi-bang cinema techniques and humor.
"Z" is based on a real incident, the assassination of Gregorios Lambrakis, a Greek university professor, in Salonika in May 1963. Lambrakis' murder was engineered by members of a fascist underground organization. It was supported and covered up by members of the democratic Greek government.
The professor, a proponent of world peace, was ostensibly hit by a car as he left a peace rally, and Greek police hastened to rule the death an accident.
The film shows how the professor really died.
Since the story is true, and the events surrounding the professor's
death are heinous and sensational, the film had exciting qualities before Costa-Gavras even wrote a word or began directing.
Costa-Gavras heightens the inherent tension in the story by using dizzying editing, a pulsing Greek score by Mikis Theodorakis and images left over from American gangster melodramas. Costa-Gavras has no qualms about manipulating his audience, but he does it so smoothly and quickly that it doesn't have time to think about it.
Although Costa-Gavras calls "Z" an adventure film against a system, he also borrows from the horror genre, and particularly from Alfred Hitchcock with his use of humor to heighten tension. Like Hitchcock, Costa-Gavras uses comedy to give the audience's synapses a rest.
From the opening moments, when Costa-Gavras coyly tells us that "any similarity to actual persons or events is not coincidental, it's intentional" to the absurd explanation of the film's title at the end, we know we are in the hands of a wry wit.
"Z" is a gory film. Gosta-Gavras, however, is too savvy a filmmaker to dull the horrific impact of the beatings by throwing in too many too often. He uses short comedy scenes to ease the tension before he throws in another shocker.
Despite the humor, Costa-Gavras stays true to the tragic essence of the story. He resists the temptation of tacking on a Hollywood happy ending. The film ends so abruptly after the carefully structured middle, but Costa-Gavras maintains his political integrity throughout the movie.
The audience who wants to see a political treatise against fascism will find the film rewarding if not classic.
Bands join to record album
By Monique O'Donnell
Staff writer
A conglomeration of sounds spanning the musical spectrum will infiltrate Lawrence when area bands perform a benefit concert for their first "compilation album."
Each band has a different style but that's what Lawrence is all about, said promoter Bill Rich. The main idea behind putting out the album is to draw more attention to the Lawrence music scene and get exposure for the bands.
Six bands featured on the album will perform at 9 p.m. tomorrow at the Outhouse, four miles east of Massachusetts Street on 15th Street. Proceeds from the concert will go toward production of the album which will cost $4,000 to $6,000. Rich said.
About 10 Lawrence bands and five bands from out of town will be featured on the album produced through Redline productions, Fresh Sounds and KJHK-FM, Rich said. The album will be available at Lawrence stores in March.
The diversity of music among the bands is immense. For example, Rabbit Scat plays surf music, an instrumental takeoff on early 1960s California surf songs. On the other hand, the music from Bromonts Cocktail
On the other hand, the music from Bromptons Cocktail
is best defined as loud and raw, Rob Fitzgerald, a band-member said.
Matt Kesler, member of the Pedal Jets, said their songs had themes concerning alienation, depression, death and sex. But generally the music was upbeat and fun for dancing, he said.
"It's like nothing you've ever heard before," he said.
"It's raw on purpose; you can call it gritty, grungy, power cord kind of stuff."
Bands must submit a master tape of their music to Rich and Kevin Gasser, co-owners of Redline Productions. The two will put together a recording of the bands' songs, and the record will be pressed in Cincinnati.
Micronotz member Steve Eddy said, "Profit is not realy a motive. Publicity is the main benefit for all of us."
Kesler said that band members could not rely on playing in area bars and clubs on weekends to make money and that the Pedal Jets were planning to tour for about a year starting in February.
Other bands which possibly will be featured on the album include the Bulows, Homestead Grays, Boxes of Love, Yard Apes, Lions and Dogs, Thumbs, Bum Kon, Near Death Experience, Psychic Archie, Iguanas and Duh-Ta-Duh-Ta-Duh.
Musician composed inspiration
January 31 might never become a national holiday, but it should give people in the music department something to celebrate.
Tomorrow marks the 189th anniversary of the birth of one of the, oh surely among the top 10, greatest composers, Franz Peter Schubert.
With music, however, he was much more impressive, never at a loss for beautiful, romantic melodies. He wrote at least nine symphonies, 42 piano sonatas, 15 string quartets, 17 operatic works, seven masses, a lot more chamber music and more than 600 songs. Yes, 600! He wrote about 1,000 works in all.
He wasn't outstanding in appearance. He was short, chubby and homely. With financial matters, he had a 16-year-old's knowledge of bookkeepering.
And he only lived for 31 years, four less than Mozart.
Imagine if 31 was the cutoff age for all great composers. What would we have?
We would have no Beethoven or
Evan Walter Staff columnist
Brahms, the symphonists. No Bach the master of fugue and form. No Wagnerian music dramas. No Tchaikovsky. No 12-tonality. No Rite of Spring.
Not just in music, but in any field,
most people at the age of 31 are still
beginning — and Schubert was
"adulcer!"
level of development in the art of music.
By his 17th year, Schubert was writing complex symphonies and masses, and had reached a mature
Schubert was born in 1797 in Himmelpfortgrund, a suburb of Vienna, during the age of the "Biedermeier," the cultivation of all the fine arts. His father, Franz Theodor Schubert, was a schoolmaster.
Michael Holzer and Antonio Salieri, two of the most prominent teachers in Vienna, reported were overwhelmed with the youth's ability. Only ignorant Theodor couldn't see his son as a composer and got him a job as a schoolmaster.
He died in 1828, possibly of syphilis.
After a couple of years of dissatisfaction with his job, which was the only one he ever had, Schubert quit and spent the rest of his life as the vagabond of Vienna, writing music more often and easier than most people write letters. Never enjoy ing wealth or fame, Schubert always was cheerful and lovable, even when he saw his health quickly deteriorating.
Schubert stands as a reminder of how lazy and unprolific most of us are. His accomplishments should inspire others to work harder.
Snapshots
KU cast to perform stories by Kipling
Three of Rudyard Kipling's tales for children will come to life on the stage at the University of Kansas this weekend when the KU Theatre for Young People presents "Just So Stories."
the performance is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre. Tickets cost $2.50.
Aurand Harris, a children's playwright, adapted Kiplinger's "Just So Stories," and wrote stage versions of "The Cat Who Walked By Himself," "How the Camel Got His Hump" and "How the First Letter Was Written."
Musicians visit KU for Piano Day, Fest
High school musicians from the Midwest will gather at the University of Kansas on Saturday for the 1986 Piano Day and the fourth annual High School-University String Festival.
Piano students may audition for a piano scholarship during the day. Faculty also will give miniclasses for individual students. Students attending the String Festival will join the University Symphony Orchestra for an informal afternoon concert.
Photography lecture offered at Spencer
Van Deren Coke, director of photography at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, will lecture on "Recent Trends in Photography" at 8 p.m. tonight in the auditorium of the Spencer Museum of Art.
Coke, an influential figure in modern photography, will give his lecture on both European and American photographers.