Bach and Brass and More
By Michael Pearl and Randy Harriman

Pro Música Concert
M5–Mexican Brass
Sun, Sep 27, 5pm (reception)
St. Paul’s Church 
Cardo 6
80 pesos

After their sell-out concert a year ago, Mexican Brass returns to San Miguel for one concert only at St. Paul’s church, presented by Pro Música.

Since last fall the group has gone from strength to strength, winning plaudits wherever they play. Their latest triumph was a recently completed 20-concert tour of California. The ensemble’s growing success is reflected in their name change from “Metales de Morelia” to “Mexican Brass.”

What will they be playing? The music in the first half of the program was written by J.S. Bach in the 1720s. And get this—for once you can switch on your cell phones and use your video games during the performance. How come? Well, one of the pieces is Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor which features extensively as a ringtone and on the soundtrack of many famous movies, games and rock music hits.

Another of Bach’s well-known works, Fugue in G Minor, as well as two other works that began life as instrumental compositions—the Orchestral Suite No. 2 and the Contrapunctus No. 3 will be presented. That last piece is really a fugue, but Bach preferred the Latin word to distinguish the genre from that of other composers as he was writing a book called The Art of Fugue.

The other works by Bach are based on his sacred choral music. The Cantata No. 147 depicts Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth when she was pregnant with Jesus; better known as Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, and the BWV (Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis) 243 Magnificat, depicting Elizabeth pregnant with John (the Baptist). Finally, Cantata No. 56 portrays a scripturally based nautical theme, alluding to one’s voyage through life. When it is sung, the final words are “Come brother of sleep…loosen my small boat’s rudder and bring me safely to port.”

Speaking of port, by this point you may feel in need of bodily, if not spiritual, refreshment. Well, ask and ye shall receive. Pro Música is inviting the whole audience to a free opening-of-the-season wine and botanas reception after the performance. These occasions are tremendously popular, and with ticket prices for the concert from 80 pesos, buy early to avoid disappointment. Chihuahua! Gerónimo! How does Pro Música do it!

Ah, Gerónimo; well, Gerónimo Giménez, actually. He was the nineteenth-century Spanish composer who invented the famous Zarzuela, a form of comic operetta, the genre in which Plácido Domingo got his start and which now thrives in Mexico. We will be hearing his La Boda (The Marriage) de Luis Alonso, one of his best-known works.

As famous in the twentieth century as was Bach in the eighteenth , is music by Michael Kamen. Famous? Kamen, a New Yorker, was trained classically at The Juilliard School and became a fixture on the Hollywood music scene, working with Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Roger Daltrey and David Bowie. His film music includes the scores for The Dead Zone, Brazil and the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series. Kamen was nominated for two Academy Awards, won three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Emmy. The M5 will play his Quintet for Brass, the last piece he wrote before his death in 2003.

Kerry Turner, born in San Antonio in 1960, started writing music at age 10 and won the San Antonio Music Society Composition Competition the next year. Turner joined the American Horn Quartet in 1985 and started composing works for brass ensembles. His tone poem The Casbah of Tetouan was conceived during a visit to Morocco, when Turner got lost in the souk. I heard M5 play it earlier this year and think you will love its exotic sound and intriguing instrumentation.

Here is Turner’s description of his odyssey:

“The Casbah was a labyrinth of tunnels and passageways, lined with vendors and shops the size of walk-in closets. Anything could be had, including copperware, sacks of spices and grains, and silk. Street butchers displayed slaughtered lambs, goats and pigs, and a snake charmer with his cobra unnerved the unwary passersby. Somewhere around the urine-treated leather goods things began to swim before my eyes. After I informed the guide that I was ill, a young boy was sent to escort me to a quiet place. The boy knew every secret passage and shortcut in the Casbah. He led me through ever tinier streets and tunnels, across nomad camps and even through a kitchen! We sailed through the back door of a mosque and out the other side. Finally we entered a large, dark and cool house, which seemed to be some sort of palace. The boy led me to a back room and laid me down upon a bed of large pillows. I passed out. I awoke thoroughly disoriented. The first things I saw were six elaborately cloaked elderly men, wildly discussi
ng in Arabic what could possibly be wrong with me. I heard exotic music and aromatic food assailed my senses. After closer observation I discovered I was in a fancy restaurant, being entertained by a belly dancer. Somehow my wife and brother found me and we resumed our inspection of Tetouan. I still felt lightheaded and rather doped by the “therapeutic” tea and my impressions of the city were somewhat hallucinogenic.”

Michael Pearl is President of Pro Música. For details of all concerts, go to www.promúsicasma.com.