Tulare County Symphony Concert "Fiddling Fun"

Symphony plays folk-inspired concert
Beethoven, Tchaikovsky show their folk heritage
      This season, the Tulare County Symphony is highlighting music that stems from folk music, folk songs and folklore. You might not think of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky as writing folk tunes, but the Jan. 14 concert will feature two of their symphonies with moments inspired by folk songs, specifically fast fiddle playing similar to bluegrass.
      “Our shared musical heritage is perhaps best summed up by folk songs,” said music director Bruce Kiesling. “Two great composers showed how they were inspired by their distinct folk heritage, Tchaikovsky’s Ukrainian-inspired “Dance” Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian) and Beethoven’s youthful first symphony.” 
      The Second Symphony is Tchaikovsky's shortest, made distinctive by his use of folk tunes for some of its themes. Scholars have identified specific folk tunes in this symphony, but much of the thematic material has a folksong quality created by the composer himself. The authentic folk tunes that Tchaikovsky used came from the Ukraine, a region sometimes known as “Little Russia.” Tchaikovsky wrote down these tunes in his sketchbook after hearing peasants sing them while he was on vacation at the family home in Kamenka.
      Beethoven, like other composers of his generation, was subject to the influence of popular music and of folk music. Although never a folk composer in the 20th-century sense, he often allowed the unusual contours of folk melody to lead him away from traditional harmonic procedure.