EYO conductor Michael Massey picks up composing

Edmonton Youth Orchestra conductor and arranger Michael Massey, 71, is about to embark on a new career as a composer.

This season is Massey’s 40th anniversary conducting the EYO and the orchestra’s 65th jubilee year. To commemorate this landmark, Massey presents the world premiere of The Wind in the Willows, a symphonic poem he composed from writer Kenneth Grahame’s sentimental children’s classic of the same name.

The Senior Orchestra will play this 17-minute work focused on the adventures of four animals in a pastoral version of Edwardian England. Set on the banks of the Thames River, Grahame uses Mr. Toad, Mr. Badger, Mole and Rat to explore childhood, home life, river life and class struggles.

The Wind in Willows is part of English mythology, and the British-born Massey devoured the classic as a child.

“The four animals’ characteristics and traits are metaphors for human strengths and weaknesses, and it is these characteristics that I have tried to capture in music,” said Massey, a long-time St. Albert resident.

Interestingly, he was inspired by this classic tale while enjoying nature in his garden last summer.

“I didn’t want to do something that was musically off the cuff, but something that was structured and tasteful.”

Filled with nostalgic overtones similar to the Romantic period, this pastoral piece brings to life “England’s beautiful countryside” as the musical character studies gradually unfold.

The 90-piece Senior Orchestra also plays Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, inspired by a display of Victor Hartman’s architectural drawings and pictures of familiar Russian scenes.

“The truly original feature is the Promenade music, with its curious ‘skipped beats’ that opens the piece and then recurs, appropriately altered in character, as the visitor strolls about the gallery.”

The 65-piece Intermediate Orchestra also performs two works: Ralph Vaughan Williams Concerto Grosso for Strings and Robert Schumann’s Young Florestan.

Renowned for creating a true British musical voice, Vaughan Williams’ Concerto Grosso splits the orchestra into three string sections based on skill.

In Schumann’s Young Florestan, the orchestra shares the stage with Shumayela choir providing vocals.

This work combines Schumann’s Lieder-Album For the Young filled with charming songs for one to three voices added to the original Young Florestan.

“The pieces are ordered in such a way as to give the impression of journey from sorrow (nighttime or wintertime) to joy (daytime or summertime) returning again to evening and consolation with the two chorales as spiritual pillars.

In describing his 40 years at the EYO helm, Massey says, “It’s been a wonderful time and I would not change a minute of it. I will continue to do this as long as I can.”