Sinfonietta Ushers in the New

The Chicago Sinfonietta introduced a new guest conductor at itsconcert Monday night in Orchestra Hall and a new work, "Symphony forthe Sons of Nam" by James "Kimo" Williams.

Taking the usual spot of Paul Freeman, the Sinfonietta's musicdirector, was Yong-Yan Hu, principal conductor of the PhilharmonicOrchestra of China in Beijing and associate conductor of the SavannahSymphony Orchestra in Georgia. Hu set up a strong, steady beat andshaped his half of the program well. The musical line was neverbroken as the emotional climate shifted in Williams' programmaticsymphony. In Bizet's Symphony No. 1 in C, Hu gave equal weight tothe work's overall exuberance and the second movement's long,singing melody. "Symphony for the Sons of Nam" is relativelyshort, approximately 20 minutes, and holds no terror for listenerswho fear the complexities of "modern music." The 10-part narrativewas outlined in the program book, starting with "March of the Sons"and ending with "Flying Home." Williams, a Vietnam veteran who isnow artist-in-residence at Columbia College, was interested inportraying the emotional trajectory of a young soldier from his firstdays as a recruit to a veteran ending his 12-month assignment inVietnam.

The piece opened with an insistent march and a theme thatseemed to reappear at the end at the symphony in a looser, almostjazzy style. There were simple melodies that evoked 19th centuryAmerican folk tunes as well as sections that melted into hazydissonance meant to represent the unknown Asian jungle."Symphony for the Sons of Nam" was immediately accessible, but itslength kept Williams from digging more deeply into the profoundexperience of U.S. soldiers. The music sped by like a short subjectwhen a feature film would have been more appropriate.

The Sinfonietta hit some rough patches in the Bizet. Frenchhorns suffered some noticeable bobbles, and the violins soundedrushed and ragged in the finale's breakneck swirls and riffs.Brasses were sometimes too prominent, but the tender oboe song in theAdagio movement was sinuously spun. Too bad a mistake in theprogram, omitting the finale in its list of movements, prompted earlyapplause after the big, unsettled chord ending the third movement.