PORTLAND, Ore. — With the concept of democracy on display in the upcoming elections, the Oregon Symphony struck a vital chord Oct. 24 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, the world premiere of Gabriel Kahane’s Every Love Song is a Protest, and William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 4 aligned extremely well with the noble aspirations of our country. It was a shame that the concert hall, which seats 2,776, was only about half full, because the music resonated strongly and gave listeners plenty of hope.
An impassioned and forthright delivery by Earl Blumenauer, who represented Oregon in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1996-2024, added statesman-like gravitas to Lincoln Portrait. The orchestra, led by music director David Danzmayr, vigorously evoked the great plains and expansiveness of our nation, setting up the high-minded text that came from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and a State of the Union speech.
Graced with his trademark bow tie — this time a pink number — Blumenauer gripped listeners with “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We must rise with the occasion,” and “the honored dead shall not have died in vain.” Thanks to the expert playing that supported the narration, you could practically feel the audience leaning toward the stage, especially when the rising trumpet passage near the end was echoed by the rest of the orchestra.
Can a troubadour have a place in today’s world? Kahane, with his lyrical, light tenor voice, answered that question affirmatively with Every Love Song is a Protest. The piece consists of eight movements that are interspersed with five meditations in which Kahane speaks directly to the audience.
For each movement, he used poetic text to sing of how we can overcome our divisiveness with love, forgiveness, and respect for each other, even when we disagree. In the first movement, “Dark Shapes (Auto Love),” Kahane launched his quest with these words:
Is there a tune that makes broken hearts mend,
A love song, love song?
Something to sing as we bring the bright world to its end,
So long, so long.
Rather than blatantly telling listeners what to think or do, Kahane’s songs are reflective and geared to make us think. They have an easy-going, melodic quality, but they are technically sophisticated. Kahane expertly deployed a crystal-clear falsetto into the microphone to reach some very high notes.
His meditations support the songs with vignettes and well-crafted thoughts delivered with plainer language. He avoids becoming preachy while making it clear that we have to aim higher with a lot more inclusivity. His music shifts smoothly as the piece progresses. Sometimes it is shimmering and ethereal, sometimes it has a rock-and-roll quality. The seventh movement, “Paint Your Mind (Paternal Love),” is a lullaby underlaid with soft sounds from the marimba.
For the eighth movement, “Only Light Can Do That (Protest, Love),” Kahane took up his guitar, and his orchestration had more of a folk-song-like character and a sense of urgency. One of his strophes had a breezy style, with lines that repeated:
Only hands touching light, they just might send it back,
Only hands full of light, only light can do that,
Only light, only light, only light can do that,
Only light, only light, only light can do that.
At the end of the piece, it would have been terrific if Kahane had led the audience in a singalong of that text, because it was the easiest to grasp and repeat. I hope he or another troubadour will try that in the future.
Still’s Symphony No.4 invokes the American spirit through its “people of the soil,” as he explained after finishing the score in 1947. Known as the first African American composer to have a symphony played by a leading orchestra (his Symphony No. 1, in 1931), Still wrote over 200 works, including symphonies, operas, choral pieces, art songs, chamber music, ballet, and other genres.
Consisting of four movements, the Fourth Symphony cuts a bold, wide swath. The first movement is perky and slightly bluesy. Emphatic strides suggest an optimism that caused the audience to break out in applause. The woodwinds open the second movement with a beautiful serenade before the rest of the orchestra joins in. Lush strings express a melancholy melodic passage, and one of the highlights is a lovely flute solo.
The third movement elicits a big band sound that sweeps concertgoers into a dance hall. The fourth swells dramatically and features solemn music from the brass. A striking section pairs woodwinds with the tuba before the strings reenter with a warm melody. Magnificent chords augmented with tubular bells ringing emphatically signal a grand ending that Danzmayr and his forces wrapped up with gusto.
