COCCO strikes a chord

Jan. 4—Children of Crossville Chamber Orchestra spun yarns with their strings for the "Music That Tells a Story"-themed annual winter concert at the Palace Theatre on Dec. 14.

Opening the concert, James Queen performed "Danse Rustique" by William Squire on the cello, accompanied by Sharon Quick on piano. As his fingers strategically danced along the strings, Queen made his cello sing for the very technical and difficult tribute to Squire's work. The rhythmic theme throughout the jaunty "singing cellist's" piece was cylindrical, coming full circle and rounding out the slight lean toward the composition's minor setback (pun intended).

Queen postured the cello's dreamy melody against the accompaniment of the piano with gentle fervor for a job well done.

The orchestra and community personnel joined the stage to present Concerto Grosso in e minor by George F. Handel, playing two parts of the concerto. For the first part, the music was soulfully mournful with a trudging tempo as though the world was sad it had slept through something beautiful. The second part was brighter, as though experiencing an awakening.

The COCCO players came together for the concerto as a whole, having learned how to play together and combine their talents.

The concertino for the piece was performed by Savannah Bowman on violin I, James Queen on cello and Bryson Story on violin II. They made magic, blending in nicely as the concertino played against the orchestra without overplaying it.

The result was a lovely rendition of Handel's composition between light and darkness, major and minor chords, as though the notes were the manifestation of Handel having a proper discussion with himself about good and evil. Both sides were well-represented in the musical debate posed by COCCO, which suggested the composer's argument with himself was done with propriety, leading to a beautiful conclusion.

After a brief intermission, COCCO was welcomed back to the stage to tell the audience a few more stories with their music.

The orchestra performed "Two Scenes from the Hollow" by Kirt Mosier based on Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," namely Ichabod's Walk and Hessian's Ride.

The orchestra set the first scene for Ichabod's Walk. With the help of the orchestra's community personnel, Don Lordo, on percussion, the clippity-clop of the horse's hoof falls resonated as the orchestra told the mischievous-sounding story. As the orchestra plucked their strings, the audience was certainly informed that Ichabod's Walk was likely a tango.

The second scene was set for Hessian's Ride, a positive and rising occasion, as though coming in waves of urgency. Hessian's Ride was intense and building.

Bowman, Queen and Story performed the concertino, telling the story of Hessian's Ride alongside the orchestra. Racing against the measure, COCCO definitely let the music speak for itself. But the story, as excellently told by the orchestra through the music, created conflicts with the open-ended musical question marks as the music fell on the audience's ears.

What is the Hessian trying to accomplish and does he succeed? The music is suggestive of hope, success and resolution, but was it the Hessian's?

It was a suspensful musical mystery that was exciting to hear.

Next, they played the story of "Capulet Castle" by Cindy Hill. Based on William Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, COCCO director Becky Bull said, "It's basically a Renaissance version of Hatfields and McCoys," during the introduction.

The piece began section-by-section, adding layered sounds as the orchestra finally came together for a brief few measures only to unfold and fall apart again, as though Romeo and Juliet were looking for each other under the watchful gaze of the Capulets of the castle and would come together only to be separated again. As the orchestra performed you could hear the star-crossed lovers peeking from behind their masks at the Capulets' masquerade ball to see clearly the tender and evoking unveiling itself.

Can it be? Is there hope? The music gently anticipated the struggle Romeo and Juliet would have later in the story, then returned to the theme of the masquerade. COCCO gingerly handled the dramatic music, as though not to tell too much. Percussive and fulfilling, the piece landed on the audience's ears with curiosity and prediction as COCCO followed the music to its crescendo, an indication of the peak of happiness in the otherwise tragic story.

COCCO's grand finale "The Evil Eye and the Hideous Heart" by Alan Lee Silva was based on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart."

Immediately, the orchestra clued into the narrator's murder and the resounding quiet afterward.

"You can't run away from your conscious," Bull said.

The piece started out with deep throngs of mysterious notes and ear-tickling vibrato. As the orchestra played out the pangs of misconduct, the audience felt the premonition that something was coming. Clapper percussion sounded like a shot, jolting the audience. The mayhem of music was reminiscent of a murderous Inspector Gadget theme.

As the orchestra's strings continued to bend, crunchy percussives told the story of someone being murdered.

The hush of death lingered with low base humming against strands of daunting notes. Immulating how loud guilt can be, the bass drum quietly rapped, but banged louder and louder, taunting the murderer. The drumming continued like the haunted heartbeat of a dead man, or his own guilty conscious, as the orchestra struck alongside the pounding. High strings and alarming notes tattled on his transgressions, as he is driven to madness in his condition of contrition.

COCCO was expressive and impressive in their performance of these stories.

Mark the calendar for COCCO's spring orchestra and ensemble concert at the Palace Theatre at 7 p.m. on May 10. To support COCCO, sponsor the concert, tickets or for rehearsal information, contact COCCO's director Becky Bull at 931-707-0656.