Before each concert, we share Manny’s Musings, thoughts from our Music Director and Conductor, Manny Laureano. Please enjoy this concert preview and check back next week for more of “Manny’s Musings”!
The story of Le Chasseur Maudit (1883) comes to us from a poem by Gottfried Berger, a German writer from the late 1700s who had borrowed and altered the original Norse legend of “The Wild Hunter.”
Cesar Franck, composer
From the start, let’s be clear about one thing: the “Accursed Hunter” Frenchman Cesar Franck portrays in his tone poem has not a particularly winning personality. A devoted Catholic church organist, Franck provides for us a vivid musical cautionary tale about observing the Sabbath. The Huntsman has a fairly odious habit of going hunting on the Lord’s Day despite the presence of a White Knight who appears to admonish him not to do so for once but an influential Black Knight helps the Hunter choose otherwise.
Strike one.
On his way to the forest he is beseeched by an old woman to not travel through her field with his entourage of horses and men for it would surely ruin her harvest. Once again, the White Knight appeals to him to do the right thing only to be subverted by the Black Knight. The Hunter runs roughshod over the woman’s field and ruins her future meager earnings.
Strike two.
The Hunter finds his prey in short order, a beautiful stag, who seeks refuge in the home of an old hermit. The hermit makes an impassioned plea on behalf of the animal but the Hunter’s heart is tainted beyond repair and remorse. He orders the old man’s house burned in order to smoke the animal out so it can be taken as his prize.
Strike three
Strike three.
The Hermit is killed in the fire and at the moment he dies the Hunter finds himself changing, his very soul transfiguring into that of a phantom. He is surrounded by the most evil of spirits but particularly those of his once-loyal dogs who have now been charged with chasing him through eternity with a yearning to tear him to shreds.
Join Music Director & Conductor Manny Laureano, for the concert, “Music in 3D: The Sequel” featuring Sara Melissa Aldana, winner of the CodaBow prize at the Mary West Solo Competition, as soloist. The concert takes place on Sunday, April 19 at 3 p.m. at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Bloomington. To learn more about the concert, click here, or to order tickets online through the Bloomington Box Office or by calling 952-563-8575.