February 2, 1970
The N. C. Essay
Page 2
Orchestra Lacks Vigor
Last Friday, January 16, the
JAGGER AT ALTAMONT: .. dressed in
h'isdemon.'ioj Prinoe of Darkness gctrb^
singing his homage to Luoifer^ while
twenty feet away a man is beaten
to death. "
"Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed
my name/but what's puzzlin' you is the
nature of my game" -Sympathy For The
DeviZ/Rotling Stones
We live in a troubled world.
We war with other nations, we war
with each other. In such times, free
rock and roll concerts may not seem
to be very significant events. But
they were, my friend, they were.
Those few precious hours, so
much a part of the total rock ex
perience, proved that we could live,
work, share, and love together.
Woodstock was our most dramatic mo
ment. It made real, at least momen
tarily, our valiant visiorts of the
"American Dream." But now that has
become one more bizarre nightmare.
I wasn't at the free Rolling
Stones concert in Altamont, Cali
fornia a few days before Christmas.
Thus, my reporting is not first
hand, but the result of what I've
seen, read, and heard. And, there
are so many versions of what happ
ened, it seems certain that no
truly factual account will ever
appear.
But some facts are very real.
One man was killed, murdered.
Several people were beaten and in
jured. The vibrations were in
credibly tense, certainly not the
rule for such occassions and cer
tainly not in the tradition of the
best we remember about Woodstock.
The crowd at Altamont has been de
picted as a gloomy, negative lot
who expected an "instant Woodstock"
to happen. They simply were not
willing to work for it.
The circumstances were not the
best. The concert was haphazardly
planned. It's location and even it's
reality were not announced until a
day before the event. Thus, a lack
of adequate preparation and security.
Last Friday, January 16, the
NCSA Orchestra under John luele gave
its second concert of the season,
in the main auditorium filled by an
unusually large audience including
many students.
A rather less than conventional
program with two contemporary
(almost) works in the first half,
and the Brahms Second for the other
half of the program...enough to stim
ulate the interest and the enthu
siasm of the performers and of the
audience. But the enthusiasm was not
quite there, and I felt a sort of un
easiness especially for the first
half of the program. Possibly a
difficult work like the Frank Martin
needed a few more rehearsals.
The soloists for the Concerto
did a very creditable job and need
to be congratulated for an intelli
gent and musical interpretation} it
was, I think, the overall concept of
the work that was lacking in vital
ity and unity, possibly because the
strings needed to give a stronger
support to the seven wind players.
But this is just my impression. The
Frank Martin Concerto would gain to
be heard more frequently. It is a
well constructed worjc, full of
fascinating musical ideas, and not
always easy to perform - I am think
ing of some awkward flute passages -
but a work well worth knowing.
The same can be said of Bernard
Rogers' Apparitions with its original
orchestral colors, bordering on
electronic sonorities, which could
have come out more effectively with
a few more rehearsals. It was how
ever refreshing to have the orchestra
give us some new and seldom heard
works, an initiative to be continued,
I hope.
In the Brahms Second Symphony,
the orchestra felt more at ease, at
least in the Brahmsian idiom with
which the performers are now famil
iar. Some of the solo passages came
out particularly well in the winds -
oboe, clarinet, etc.. and except for
a few minor mishaps it was a fairly
satisbying performance.
Plus, there is the factor of the
Stones themselves, apparently mis
understanding the nature of the free
concert and carried away with their
own image and self-importance.
Finally, the fact that the Hell's
Angels were "employed" as "policemen."
Yet, in retrospect, it is fool
ish to blame one group or person.
Everyone there (and those not there)
played a part to some degree. We can
no longer sit and smugly point our
accusing fingers.
The situation with the Angels is
confusing. Exactly who hired them is
not known. Some claims say that Mick
Jagger asked them to guard the stage;
his spokesmen deny it. The Angels
cry that they were the victims of a
(Cont. on page 4)
John luele3 conductor of the North
Carolina School of the Arts Orches
tra for the past two and one-half
years3 resigned officially Friday3
January 26, 1970.
When are we going to have a
reasonable time for ensemble
rehearsals? The lack of rehearsal
is not entirely the students'
fault; after a long day of classes,
a rehearsal on an empty stomach,
between 5 and 6:30, is a lost
battle, achieving little or no
results. There lies, probably, the
secret to a more enthusiastic work
out in rehearsals, and a greater
sense of accomplishment in concert.
PhiIippe H. BuhIer
Letters to the Editor
THIS LETTER TO TEE N. C. ESSAY IS FROM
DAVID SUTOR, SENIOR IN THE DRAMA
SCHOOL AND ACTING INSTRUCTOR IN THE
DRAMA SCHOOL.
"Turn back traveler, for the Spring
of Humanity has gone dry in this
Place." -from "Camino Rea I"
When someone is struck by a hit-
and-run driver in this country, he is
at least slightly consoled by the
f^ct that the nation's police forces
will work for his tax money to find
and punish tie criminal (and more
often than not, the criminals are
found.) But away from the nation's
vast and heavily traveled highways,
in a quaint dormitory of less than
100 people, in a chool of only 500
people, there is no safety or secur-
(con’t on page 5)