37th Sterling Zither Seminar

Have you recently participated in a zither event, or know where the history of the zither can be experienced firsthand? Share your experiences here.

Moderator: Dave

Post Reply
User avatar
Dave
Posts: 352
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:55 pm
Location: Chestertown, Maryland
Contact:

37th Sterling Zither Seminar

Post by Dave »

Zitherists from the East Coast came together in April for the 37th Sterling Zither Seminar, hosted by Jane Curtis in Springfield, VA. She shares her report for this most recent seminar.

At our thirty-seventh seminar on 8 and 9 April, we celebrated not one, not two, but three new members: Two from New York and one from Maryland, adding to our usual mix of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The group portrait below shows that we had our usual good time, starting with a nice variety of music at the Friday afternoon open-play session (including a few questions about the music for the next day) and a tasty Pakistani buffet, our usual Thai restaurant being closed for renovation.

Saturday morning at 8:45 everyone was set up and tuned up and ready to take off at 9. First came our finger exercise of the day, disguised as the Ländler aus Kirchdorf, a great little piece set for three descant zithers. While its measures may be full of eighth notes in various daunting patterns, good fingering and familiarity make it a pleasure to play. Another pleasure was Josef Hauser’s duo Die Zithermeisterin as slightly edited and with added Zither 3 by Jane Curtis. We did this piece at the last seminar, and it came together nicely as we took it up again. The staccatos were sharper, the grace notes were sprightlier, and the music carried itself along with good spirit.

Jumping up to the 1930s, we followed with a haunting melody from the wonderful songs of the 1930s: These Foolish Things Remind Me of You, with music by Jack Strachey, words by Eric Maschwitz, and solo zither arrangement by Jane Curtis. We worked for smoothness, a slow and easy syncopated rhythm, and expressiveness throughout, including the soft fill–ins during held notes in the melody and the final nostalgic ritardando at the end. This song, like so many of its contemporaries, shows the care and musicianship that went into the making of even these “ordinary” pop songs in those days.

Johann Strauss Jr was up next, with the Pizzicato Polka, in a three–voice setting for two descant zithers and one alto zither. It took a little doing to get all the staccatos crisp and all the chromatic runs lined up correctly, but after some concentrated work on it in the morning, it sounded like a real Strauss polka in the afternoon.

Fesche Weana, a lovely chain of seven short waltzes by J B Bauer, was our longest piece but probably the easiest. Bauer immigrated to the United States as a young person, lived and composed here, and later returned to his native Bavaria. Of his many compositions, Fesche Weana is one of the best: fresh melodies, very Viennese in feeling and style, and not too difficult to play.


Zitherists seeking more information on upcoming Sterling Zither Seminars may reach Jane Curtis at zitherlady@yahoo.com.
Attachments
Left to Right: Dave Kyger, John Snyder, Kurt Maute, Tom Groeber, Steve Dippel, Jim Vorosmarti, Heidi Lugmayer, Karl Skowronek, Jane Curtis, Kathryn Prinz, Mia Karlberg–Levin, Tony Walter. Front, at his alto zither: Don Tsusaki
Left to Right: Dave Kyger, John Snyder, Kurt Maute, Tom Groeber, Steve Dippel, Jim Vorosmarti, Heidi Lugmayer, Karl Skowronek, Jane Curtis, Kathryn Prinz, Mia Karlberg–Levin, Tony Walter. Front, at his alto zither: Don Tsusaki
sterling_zither_seminar_37.jpg (78.4 KiB) Viewed 1957 times
We do not take humor seriously enough. —Konrad Lorenz
Post Reply