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El Paso Herald Post

December 4, 1972
Synthesizers Prove Symphonic Success

It was Family Day at the afternoon performance of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra yesterday in Liberty Hall when computers and synthesizers took their place alongside traditional musical instruments
But it was hard to tell who had who in tow, parents or eager offspring, for the concert featuring music of the spheres. John D. Robb's electrifying manipulation of the three synthesizers, including the famous Moog in harmony with the accompanying orchestra, convinced me that electronic music has a place in the concert repertoire.
THOUGH THE symphony season shows a Family Concert scheduled for March, it will he hard put to attract more families than attended yesterday's informal program. An entirely different type of audience was attracted, including young people from preschoolers through college. They came with their parents, regular season ticket holders, and, probably learned more than they bargained for.
Director William Kirschke turned out in a modish red velveteen suit and white ruffled shirt, shrewdly baited a young audience to hear electronic music and then gave them a short course on Mozart. In a calculated departure from the norm, Kirschke divided up the brilliant Mozart Jupiter Symphony. No. 41, into three parts and discussed each one before playing it much in the manner of leonard Bernstein in his Young Peoples' Concerts.
He illustrated the themes and bridges, the exposition. development and recapitulation on which Mozart built his composition with a few bars played by the orchestra. Then he played the movement through, stopping for explanations at the end of each one. Purists objected to having anything as beautiful as the Jupiter chopped up into disjointed sections. But then, this was no ordinary concert.
The Brass section was augmented for the opening Canzona in the 12th Tone for 10 Parts by Gabrieli. The result was a bright, clean sound bridging the gap of the century (it was written before 1600) and showing off the polished sound of the brass choir.
During the performance of the Space Odyssey, a conglomeration of Strauss, pere et fils, the thrilling Thus Spake Xarathustra opening and Blue Danube Waltz with electronic overlay, Kirschke molded his orchestra in a tight display of free flow original musicality whereby each instrument was allowed to "do his own thing." The result, which might be expected to sound like the tune-up session before a concert, produced ethereal sounds now massive, now a whisper, but surprisingly pleasing.
Generating the most excitement were the projected colored lights splayed over the theater walls during the Space Odyssey number. Two Sandia Corporation employees, a physicist and a mathematician, operated the eight movie and slide projectors in a light show that looked like a turning kaleidescope amplified hundreds of times. The computerized film produced a convolution of colored motion which was the visable extension of what the audience was hearing.
The final selections from Holst's The Planets also required an increasing orchestra, including an organ and harp. The orchestra was intuitively attuned to Kirschke's interpretation, producing a stunning performance sauced with elan and providing the principals a chance for solo flights to delight the ear.