In Praise of Community Music

Until not that long ago, music was a participant event.Everyone in the village gathered to sing, play handmade instruments, and dance.If you were especially skilled, you received recognition (and maybe a fewrounds of free ale or whatever passed for it). I grew up in the era of folkmusic, where almost everyone I knew had a guitar, banjo, recorder, orequivalent instrument. Maybe a dulcimer, castanets, or lap harp. Sure, we wentto concerts, but we made our own music, too. For the last couple of centuries,folks who could afford it had a harpsichord, clavichord, pianoforte, as well asa harp (ref. any Jane Austen novel or film). Composers wrote for their patrons(or their patrons’ families), music simple enough for an amateur to enjoyplaying. Even with the shift through recorded media to professional concertmusic (everything from symphonies to metallica), folks continue to enjoy playingmusic. Perhaps it’s a bug they catch in high school band or orchestra. Perhapstheir moms forced them into piano or clarinet lessons and they found themselveswanting to play long after lessons went by the wayside.

So I’m not at all surprised at the popularity of communitymusic groups. Amateur choral groups, whether associated with religiousinstitutions or not. Recorder ensembles playing Christmas music. Church choirs.Community bands or string ensembles—after all, where else are those bandmembers or not-quite-good-enough-for-professional violinists going to findkindred spirits and have fun?

My husband, a clarinetist, played in a community band comprisedof retired musically inclined folks and high school seniors or graduates, plustwo for-credit community college bands. The “symphonic band” in particular drewfrom current students and ordinary folks. I used to love attending theseconcerts, well within our budget (aka, free). They varied in quality but it wasalways clear how much fun the musicians were having.

Fast forward through the pandemic and waning interest…to asign outside one of the tiny churches in our tiny town: “Concert!” Of course, evenat the requisite 25 mph, I couldn’t catch the date and time. Then my pianoteacher said, “I’m playing the piano solo at the church, you should come.” Icame. I sat where I had a good view of her hands. The church held maybe ahundred people, but the acoustics were marvelous. I went back for a secondconcert, although I had the same problem finding out when the performances were.At last, I found the website for the “Concertino Strings,” showed up for aperformance, and had a marvelous time.

The directors, Joanne Tanner and Renata Bratt, did abrilliant job selecting music that was fun to play, within the skill level oftheir musicians, and delightful to listen to. This last concert included:

Don Quixote Suite; A Burlesque, by G. P. Telemann

Gigue, by J. Pachelbel (the one written to go with hisfamous Canon in D)

Pachelbel’s Rhapsody, by Katie O’Hara LaBrie

As Renata Bratz pointed out, we have all heard Pachelbel’sCanon in D umpteen times, although few of us have shared the experience of thecellists, who play the same 8 notes over…and over…and over. Maybe that was whatLaBrie had in mind when she arranged a delightful blend of Pachelbelian themesin a sprightly modern setting. I came home and looked it up online. You canenjoy it, too!

Thenext concert is December 11 and 14, featuring Sammartini'sConcerto Grosso “Christmas.”