MUSIC REVIEWS : Pierce Debut Honors O.C. Centennial

In a reserved spirit of celebration for the Orange County Centennial, the Garden Grove Symphony under the baton of Edward Peterson ended its 1988-89 season Saturday night at Wash Auditorium. A program of light music headed by the works of American composers unfortunately caught more people dozing off than appreciating the anniversary.

Most anticipated was the premiere of Brent Pierce’s “Landscapes, A Symphonic Tone Poem for Orchestra and Piano in Three Movements.” Commissioned by the orchestra with donations from Times Mirror Co., Subaru and Disneyland, the new work raised few eyebrows, inspired few imaginations.

Pierce, who directs jazz and choral ensembles at Cal State Fullerton, composes with a lush tonality that seems to reflect an interest in film music. In “Landscapes,” he uses lots of notes, glissandos and sweeping passages, producing little variation in texture or dynamics.

Once in a while, more sophisticated harmonies and rhythms occur, sounding much like Aaron Copland. The third movement, “La Tierra Nueva,” created a few surprises with a saxophone solo and what sounded like a quote from Stravinsky.

Most disappointing, the rudimentary piano part--more suited as simply another orchestral part than a solo--did little to display the talents of local pianist Pinio Dovalis-Miner.

Dovalis-Miner’s work in Falla’s “Noches en los Jardines de Espana” proved more of a challenge. This time dressed in a bright blue dress and crossing herself before playing, she played with a sincere passion, aptly bringing out the Spanish idioms. Yet sometimes her high energy level became forced and, consequently, her playing inaccurate.

Peterson led the ensemble without much flair, locking into tempos that were consistently on the slow side. Aligning the varying tempos between orchestra and soloist also gave him some genuine problems.

Closing the program was a routine performance of Copland’s “El Salon Mexico.”