​F-M Symphony guest artist: classical guitarist Berta Rojas

When you think of an orchestra, what string instruments come to mind? Chances are the first two to come into your head are violins and cellos. In many cases, that’s not terribly far from the truth. Even FM Symphony Orchestra executive director Linda Boyd readily admits, “Orchestras tend to stick to popular instruments,” and the order of the day is usually violins, cellos, and various kinds of horns and woodwinds.

An instrument like the guitar more often brings up associations with folk and pop music, kind of an everyman’s instrument. However, in keeping with this season’s theme of more “personal” music, the FM Symphony Orchestra will be exposing the area’s classical music lovers to the distinguished tradition of the classical guitar.

For a long time, the guitar was an overlooked instrument in the orchestral repertoire. Even in the medieval era the guitar, in the same tradition as the lute, was used in accompaniment, with singing folk and tavern songs. It was a notoriously difficult instrument to write classical orchestra music for, in part because in comparison to other orchestral instruments, guitars are rather quiet. Composing and conducting orchestral music for the guitar confronts the difficulty of making sure the guitar isn’t drowned out by the rest of the instruments.

In the late 1800s, however, a Spanish composer named Andrés Segovia was born. The “grandfather of classical guitar” spearheaded an effort to get more orchestral composers writing for the once-neglected instrument, and soon enough others began to follow suit, with a parallel tradition of the classical guitar developing alongside the guitar of popular music.

Classical and folk guitar playing utilize different compositional and playing techniques, among them the fact that instead of utilizing a pick, classical guitar is usually played with one’s fingernails. Boyd pointed out that one can easily spot the classical guitar players in the music department at NDSU from the longer fingernails on their right hands.

The classical guitar features in the second piece of the night, called “Concierto de Aranjuez,” by Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. This piece will feature the second guest performer of the season, Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas, in her first performance with the FM Symphony Orchestra. She will be showing up a few days before the concert and performing at Wednesday’s Urban Overture program at the Radisson.

The first piece that will be played that evening is an orchestra favorite, partly because it is so likely to be recognized by even those who are new to classical music. This is the “William Tell Overture,” by the prolific Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. Rossini wrote dozens of operas and was a rock star in his time, when operas held the popular appeal that stage musicals do now.

Outside of the world of opera, Rossini’s melodic and energetic music, especially the overtures to his operas, featured in a number of staples of popular culture. The audience will most likely immediately recognize the “William Tell Overture” from its incorporation in countless cartoon chase scenes and perhaps most famously in “The Lone Ranger.”

The last piece of the evening is the First Symphony by Johannes Brahms. Best known to the public outside of the concert hall for his famous lullaby and various other short pieces like the “Hungarian Dances,” in his time Brahms was regarded as the potential successor to Ludwig von Beethoven.

Naturally, being expected to fill the shoes of the man who bridged the classical baroque era to the romantic era was quite a tall order. Eventually, however, Brahms proved himself up to the challenge and composed his first symphony. Once that creative faucet had been turned on, however, there was no turning it off, and Brahms would go on to write his second symphony very shortly afterwards and several more after that. Brahms’ pieces are marked by a mixture of ingredients from the classical and the romantic era, lending his music a melodic, lush, complex, and dense feel which Linda Boyd described as “gently evolving.”

With this bill of performances Boyd, Zimmerman, and the rest of the FM Symphony orchestra are seeking to build on the success of this season’s first show. Given the orchestra’s incredible skill and the uncanny ability of conductor Chris Zimmerman and executive director Linda Boyd to put together programs that are both accessible and full of variety, they should have no problem filling the seats again this weekend.

IF YOU GO

F-M Symphony, featuring classical guitarist Berta Rojas

Sunday, November 13, 2pm

NDSU Festival Concert Hall, Reineke Fine Arts Center

Lobby box office and beverage service open at 1pm; pre-concert talks at 1:15pm in adjacent Beckwith Recital Hall. $30-38 adult; $14-18 student.