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David Whitwell
European Conducting Reviews
The public was pouring into the Hall...then began the extraordinary. For
two hours the hearts of the friends of music were lifted higher and higher.
Conductor, David Whitwell, conducted the entire concert from memory. Already
from his very first motion, it was apparent that he conducts with an inimitable
elegance and clarity. He shapes on a foundation of very precise pulse and attacks,
sometimes with broad inviting gestures, sometimes with minute indications. The 52
young players follow, at the slightest wink, with discipline full of temperament.
One hears every note, even every little note! Everything is perfect:
Intonation, Articulation, Dynamics, Rhythm and Tempo....
The Schönberg Theme and Variations was a masterpiece masterfully
interpreted. The Schmitt Dionysiaques was as fresh as if the notes had just come
from the printer....
Everyone said, “It was an unforgettable evening.”
Schwäbische Zeitung, July 20, 1981 (Germany)
PERFECT WIND MUSIC FROM AMERICA
A full-house enjoyed an emotional and highly musical concert, such as one
rarely hears...one highpoint followed another....
The listeners were astounded by the perfect performance of the Strauss
Rosenkavalier Walzes, played from the heart...it was an emotional highpoint....
It was a concert which wind music circles will talk about far into the future.
Zuger Nachrichten, July 17, 1981 (Switzerland)
A musical treat of perfectly interpreted wind music...not without reason is
this ensemble considered one of the best in America.
Zuger Nachrichten, July 15, 1981 (Switzerland)
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SUPERLATIVE WIND MUSIC
An astonished public enjoyed one of the best wind ensembles in America....
The concert ended with stormy applause.
Luzerner Neuste Nachrichten, July 17, 1981 (Switzerland)
VIRTUOSO AMERICAN WIND ORCHESTRA
The concert was sensational, thanks to the technical ease and discipline with
which this very virtuoso program was performed. David Whitwell conducted in an
inspiring manner.
The Schönberg was fascinating.... The Schmitt was formidable.... Both
pieces were performed in a profusion of sound and unknown suppleness.
De Limburger, July 24, 1981 (The Netherlands)
SUPERB CONCERT
It was unbelievable how the group could give a concert of such high
orchestral quality. The Dutch Broadcasting Company made a live recording of this
concert for broadcast.
Hilverbode, July 23, 1981 (The Netherlands)
WIND MUSIC DELIGHT IN THE LORETO SCHOOL
Tonight the California State University, Northridge Wind Orchestra
plays under the well-known conductor, David Whitwell
in the Loreto Auditorium in Zug
A special delight for the ears will be given tonight in the auditorium of the
Loreto School in Zug.... This wind orchestra is one of the five best in the USA and
their conductor is a leader in the field....
Luzerner_Neuste_Nachrichten (Switzerland), July 12, 1989
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The young musicians performed the largely European program with an
ability to adapt to the constant changes between transparent tones, precision, and
well-marked atmospherically dense counterpoint. The well-tempered and
harmonious sounds within the individual ranges and throughout the entire
orchestra enthused the audience of Zug, who did not hold back the warmest
applause.
If it were up to the public, the Wind Ensemble from California could have
continued playing much longer.
Luzerner_Neuste_Nachrichten, (Switzerland), July 14, 1989
A composition of musicologist and conductor David Whitwell was the
highpoint of the first-half of the concert. The Sinfonia_da_Requiem was created in
1988 after an intensive preoccupation with Mozart and is to be thought of as an
homage to this great composer....
Most impressive was the perfect interpretation of the
Grand_Sinfonie_funebre_et_triomphale.
Vaterland (Switzerland), July 14, 1989
WIND ENSEMBLE AT SANTA CHIARA
THE STEREOPHONIC EFFECT
The Sinfonia_da_Requiem is a very recent composition, purposely indebted
to the renowned Requiem, K. 626, by Mozart. Surely one of the best things of the
evening was the sound of this work, characterized by an impressive power in its
most emphatic moments. The American ensemble took advantage of the open
gallery of the Cloister, to create pleasant stereophonic effects by locating the
trumpets and trombones on the sides of the flight of steps that hosted spectators.
The saxophone soloist [Bill Wilson] in the Lacrymosa created a very beautiful and
successful effect, while in the Libera me (with the sky imperturbably perturbed) a
tranquil melody of conciliation and thanksgiving was lifted up to the divinity....
Particularly significant was the presentation of the composition of Berlioz, an
homage to the ideals of the French Revolution.
Brescia_Oggi (Italy), July 15, 1989
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TOTALY NEW SOUND AT THE ZELL CIVIC HALL
Again and Again the Audience Applauded the Orchestra on the Stage
An unique musical experience in the realm of wind instrument concert music
occurred through the concert by the American Wind Orchestra from California
State University, Northridge. The attentive audience in the Zell Civic Hall
experienced a wonderful evening of music of the highest level. One highpoint of this
concert -- the "Symphonie Brillante," composed only last year by the contemporary
composer, Ida Gotkovsky -- produced an inferno of sound (principally woodwind)
which transformed the audience, both acoustically and visually, into a mesmerized
state....
In the "Sinfonia da Requiem," composed in memory of the last days of the
great composer, Mozart, allowed the composer, David Whitwell, to place himself
into the very moving last days of Mozart, who, as is well-known, composed a
Requiem on his deathbed which, however with superhuman effort, he was not able
to finish. Whitwell rendered the tragic and hectic of those last December days of
almost 200 years ago in a grandiose manner. In the next to last movement, the
"Lacramosa," the public experienced a wealth of tone and rhythm after an earlier
movement, the "Dies Irae," the trumpets, horns, and trombones captured a defiant
reaction against the deadly disease. In the final movement, the "Libra me," a
measured movement, besides a monumental finale the heartache of the composer
over the all too early death of the talented Mozart was expressed. The audience
experienced the real ability of this orchestra where it was able to produce the finest
nuances of tone at the softest dynamic levels.
The composer Whitwell left the offering of his great composition on the last
days of Mozart to his guest conductor Johnson who lived up to this task admirably
and he had a real sense of what was needed to pull the orchestra with him.
Also with the "Waltze Sequence," the grand and well-known waltzes from
the "Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss, the conductor (Whitwell) with his
orchestra was able to get into the moods of the very difficult phrases and cadences.
The magic of Strauss's music was fully expressed. David Whitwell (also) appeared
as conductor for the contemporary work by Ida Gotkovsky, "Symphonic
Brilliante." Like a sovereign, and like his predecessor conducting without scores, he
was able to pull the orchestra, and even more so the public, into a trance with this
obviously great musical work. The public at the Zell civic hall has never
experienced such expressive tones and such fantastic perfection. The same is true
regarding the rhythmic support.
An additional experience was the "Grand Sinfonie funebre et triomphale,"
by the great French composer, Hector Berlioz, which captures the aftereffects of the
French Revolution and was placed on this European tour program by David
Whitwell in honor of this commemorative year. An heroic work, which captures the
depths as well as the heights of the great Revolution in a masterful manner,
interesting in the first movement for the lonesome, and at the same time hard
percussion strokes and rhythm, a grand musical work which was equal to the
superb rendition by the orchestra.
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Without encores of course this wind orchestra was not permitted to leave the
stage, first with a well-known folksong of Irish origin which allowed the orchestra to
express its full range of sound and harmony. The same can be said for the much
loved Sousa march, "The Stars and Stripes," with which the Americans from
California concluded their great concert.
Markgrafler_Tagblatt (West Germany), July 19, 1989.
American Orchestra Enthuses the Public in Zell
IMAGINATION AND PERFECTION
Last Sunday evening the Wind Orchestra of Northridge were guests in the
Zell Civic Hall on the occasion of their European tour. The leadership of the Music
Society of Atzenbach had been able to bring this tonal experience to Zell by having
responded to an announcement about the orchestra in a professional journal.
The orchestra attracted, on this very hot Summer evening, a surprisingly
great audience awaiting the orchestra, after a greeting by the representative of the
mayor, which serves a a model of American bands and enjoys a very high
reputation. The leader of this Orchestra, David Whitwell, a conducting student of
Eugene Ormandy, is well known as an authority on matters of wind instruments.
Especially during the last years he has made a name for himself through his
research and publication of historical wind compositions and offered the surprise at
the beginning of the concert of a march-like "Allegretto" of Joseph Haydn based on
his Symphony Nr. 100. According to the program notes, Whitwell has discovered a
manuscript of Haydn's written in the composers own hand from the year 1794. The
manuscript reveals clearly that Haydn intended this movement to be an example of
so-called "turkische Musik" (an expression meaning military music with
percussion). The second movement of this symphony, sounding somewhat foreign in
its wind instrument setting, achieved a totally new effect. The orchestra performed
in the historically correct smaller size with two bassoons as the only bass
instruments. The performance of the "trumpet signal" was convincing and
brilliant.
The Requiem was then performed a full orchestra strength, a Mass which
was composed by Whitwell after he had occupied himself intensively with the last
years of Mozart. In addition to the four parts of the Catholic Liturgy (Introitus,
Dies irae, Tuba mirum and Lacrymosa) there sounded a fifth movement, a "Libera
me," which is to be found first in Verdi. Also reminiscent of Verdi was the dramatic
power of the Dies Irae movement, which captures the terror of the Last Judgement
with musical means. Surprisingly, this work was conducted not by the composer
himself, but by Ronald Johnson, whose interpretation was able to lend full
expression to the extraordinary qualities of the orchestra: a Pianissimo so soft that
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one believe that the musicians had already packed up their instruments; then a
Fortissimo which sounded powerfully, but never simply noisy or brutal effects,
managing to capture nuances of tones and a breathless crescendo.
The Waltzes from Richard Strauss's Opera, "Der Rosenkavalier," as
arranged only for winds demanded of the horn players incredible heights and
sequences. The fantastic whirlwind-like woodwinds, even though they were not
quite the equal of the original orchestration, created the nuances of tempos lovingly
interpreted by Whitwell.
After a short pause, a move in the direction of contemporary music with the
"Symphonic Brillante" -- the latest work of the French composer, Ida Gotkowsky.
The student of Oliver Messiaen managed to produce a gem for winds, which
managed to exploit all the shades of sounds of the 57 member orchestra. From
English horn to bass clarinet, from piccolo to tuba, all musicians were able to
participate in a playful delight of sound and tonal sequences. The "Master" David
Whitwell took the lead in a sovereign manner leading his orchestra over all the
cliffs, over the changes of beat and tempo, in a masterful manner.
Badische_Zeitung (West Germany), July 19, 1989
SPARKLING WITH RICH TONE COLOR
California State University, Northridge, with its 30,000 students one of the
largest American state universities, has jazz bands, choirs, a symphony orchestra,
opera, and a wind orchestra. A sample of its musical abilities was offered this
weekend when the Wind Ensemble of the university, under the leadership of Dr.
David Whitwell, offered a rich and interesting program in the Graf-Zeppelin-Haus.
The concert opened with the Allegretto of the Symphony Nr. 100, the
Military Symphony, of Josef Haydn. In this instrumentation for wind orchestra the
work retained the typical lightness of Haydn's music, due to the woodwind
character and effective use of percussion. Guest conductor Ronald Johnson led with
great assurance and with economic gestures.
The Sinfonia_da_Requiem, the second piece of the evening, was composed by
the conductor of the ensemble, David Whitwell, in honor of and to commemorate
Mozart. The five movements are constructed in the formal manner of the Requiem
Mass, with the first movement featuring the brass. The "Tuba Mirum" can be
compared to a funeral march which received an almost dramatic character through
punctuation and tonal repetition. Ronald Johnson stressed dynamic contrast.
Rhythmically, the "Dies Irae" was fascinating by the colorful use of lively timpani.
The "Libra me" impressed with its full, round brass sound. Johnson led confidently
and provided the generally conventional work with dignity and effectiveness....
Hector Berlioz wrote the Grande_Sinfonie_funebre_et_triomphale for the
festivities of the tenth anniversary of the revolution of 1830. The first performance
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outside under the sky was drowned out by the noise of the public. The "Funeral
Marsch" was shaped by rhythmic precision and precise workmanship in its details.
What bold introduction of the drums! More reminiscent of church music was the
"Oraison," wherein Mike Steltzer offered a wonderfully clean and expressive
trombone solo. Then followed the whole orchestral richness and tone color in the
"Apotheose." David Whitwell produced incredibly dynamic highpoints with care
and stability and with concern for exact synchronization of the instruments
provided the work with much color and effect. The conductor and orchestra
thanked the audience for its rich applause with three encores.
Sudkurier (West Germany), July 18, 1989, appearing also in
Schwabische-Zeitung (West Germany), July 18, 1989
The heroic leader of the Grande Symphonie funebre et Triomphale, a highly
dramatic and effective composition in honor of the victims of the 1830 Revolution,
was an American conductor, David Whitwell, a musician of international
reputation.
Fascinating to hear and see, Whitwell led the Laupheim Wind Orchestra
with expressive gestures and the highest accomplishment. As he spread his arms for
the sound of the tutti, so he also with the smallest finger motions indicated the finest
turns of phrases. He gave smiles of thanks when phrases went especially well. The
ensemble followed this greatly artistic conductor with the highest concentration.
A thankful audience gave stormy applause and calls of “Bravo!”
Laupheim Nachrichten (Germany), May 12, 2003
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