Letter to Chris about the 2015 Christmas Program

Excellent! You ask the best questions.

Your question: "Do you like the music for the Christmas rehearsal?"

For the Presbyterian Church's "Christmas 2015: What Shall We Give Him" concert out of 15 compositions eight are arranged by Mack Wilberg. My criticism focuses on him. Christmas programs in general; however, tend to be filled with the necessary musical schlock unless it's a performance of Handel or Bach.

Wilberg arrangements cast the violins and violas in their extreme upper range so they hover in the heavens above the range of the choir. In addition, he challenges them with unusually difficult  and fast technical passages wondering without warning from one complex key to another. I mean, what is the point in giving musicians an unnecessary headache  in writing continually in keys with 5 or 6 sharps, or flats.

Meanwhile, he writes a dreadfully boring parts for the cellos and basses where their only challenge is keeping alert to quick key changes.

Looking at the entire range of Mozart String Quartets (I have fun playing the cello part along with the recording) you can see that the early quartets have a simple cello line, but after Mozart travelled to Vienna and wrote the "Haydn" quartets for Haydn (in the original manuscript you can see that Mozart was very careful writing these because there are many revisions, unlike his many other compositions which show none because they just flowed out of him fully formed) you can see an enlived cello line due to the senior master's influence.

So, my conclusion is that Wilberg in his maturity, unlike Mozart, alas has not experienced a beneficial progression. Maybe he was not lucky enough to meet a "Haydn."

Also, if I remember correctly, I opine that the few great composers writing for orchestra most often seem to write interesting parts for every individual member of the ensemble. Their music not only is a delight for the ear, but also for the fingers.

Conclusion: I'm playing as a volunteer for a seasonal program that may delight and inspire many. No one is twisting my arm.