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Program Notes Masterworks #1 Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila…………………………………………..Mikhail Glinka Glinka is considered the father of 19th century Russian concert music and opera. Though chiefly known for his two operas The Life for the Tsar (1834) and Ruslan and Ludmila (1837-1842), he wrote a substantial amount of other vocal and instrumental music. It would have been conceivable for Glinka to have never had an interest in music, as he spent the first six years of his life in isolation, locked away from the world by one of his grandmothers. Thankfully for the world of music, he was returned to his parents and a somewhat normal life for the rest of his childhood, and this included exposure to music both folk and concert on and around his family’s estates. In 1817 he began school in St. Petersburg and eventually became a fixture of the salons of the aristocracy where he participated as a singer and pianist. In 1830 he visited Italy and spent several years there where he began a more formal study of music, and composition. He also studied in Berlin. Upon returning to Russia in 1834, he returned to social circles and also began a courtship that would lead to marriage in 1835. He also began serious work on The Life for the Tsar, and this would occupy most of his energies until its premiere in December 1836. Though it was not a particularly original work, it was very pro-Tsarist and the combination of the novelty of an opera in the Russian language and the political overtones favorable to the established government immediately established Glinka as Russia’s leading national music figure. Almost immediately Glinka began an interest in composing his next opera based on a fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin. He hoped Pushkin could provide the libretto, but the great poet died in February 1837 from wounds received in a duel. He turned to a Russian army officer Valerian Shirkov to be his librettist. Glinka’s life was chaotic, with an ugly deterioration of his marriage, the departure of Shirkov to the Ukraine, financial troubles and continuing health problems (many fueled by his hypochondria). By 1842, after many obstacles, the opera was slated for production. Though Liszt thought highly of the opera, it proved to be a failure on a dramatic level, though Glinka’s music was considered significantly more advanced by this point. The Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila remains the most popular work outside of Russia, where many of his songs are still performed along with both of his operas. The overture was actually completed after rehearsals had begun for the opera and was first heard at the premiere in 1842. Glinka's inspiration for the overture was particularly down-to-earth. In 1842, he attended a wedding dinner and later wrote in his Memoirs (1854) "I was up in the balcony, and the clattering of knives, forks and plates made such an impression on me that I had the idea to imitate them in the prelude to Ruslan. I later did so, with fair success." The overture consists of two main themes, the first driving and rhythmic allowing the strings to show off their ability to move quickly as well in the bright key of D Major. The second theme in F major is more lyrical, though still energetically accompanied. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 16…………….………Edvard Grieg Though not to be considered the father of Norwegian romanticism, being preceded by the violinist Ole Bull and composer Niels Gade among others, he is certainly the best-known musician to have come from that huge Scandanavian country. Grieg families origins were Scottish however, as his great-grandfather left his homeland after the final defeat of the Stuarts in 1742. Not surprisingly one of Grieg’s closest musical associates while a student at the Leipzig Conservatory was Sir Arthur Sullivan. Edvard’s father served as the British envoy to Bergen for many years. After completing his conservatory studies, Grieg would find his way to the Norwegian capital then called Christiana (now Oslo), where he was befriended by Niels Gade, who shared Grieg’s love of the music of Robert Schumann and by another young composer Rikard Nordraak. Nordraak encouraged Grieg to join him pursuing a specifically nationalist style of composition. By 1866 he was well established in his own country as a very important musical figure, and the premiere of his Piano Concerto in 1869 was expand his reputation internationally. It probably also didn’t hurt his cause when Liszt played through the concerto before its first performances and gave it a hardy endorsement. The opening of the concerto was probably influenced strongly by the opening of the Robert Schumann Piano Concerto that Grieg had heard performed by Clara Schumann in Leipzig when he was a student. Both concertos are in a minor, and both begin with a bold statement by piano which is very briefly introduced by what Michael Steinberg calls “orchestral bangs”. The themes that follow, again in both concertos are hushed themes, though Schumann’s theme is more lyrical, and Grieg’s more marchlike and tragic. Grieg revised his concerto several times, and eliminated a full statement of the lyrical second theme by the solo trumpet. Analysts have suggested that the first movement contains up to seven distinct themes, though several are closely-related Grieg’s cadenza at the end of the movement caused the Norwegian audience to break in applause, and it is certainly full of sonorities and technical challenges that owe their origins to Franz Liszt. The second movement, an adagio in D-flat major, begins with the statement of principal theme in the muted strings. The piano’s entrance is nearly celestial, again soft, delicate, gently embellishing the movement’s principal theme. The middle section briefly modulates to B major before the piano presents a full-blown statement of the theme in its original key. As the slow movement closes the piano leads us to a transition with pause into the finale, a device also used by Schumann, but Grieg’s case probably more closely related to Beethoven’s use of this plan in his Piano Concerto #4 in G Major. Particularly evident in the opening of the finale of both concertos. Grieg turns to strong Norwegian folk models in his finale. He uses fiddle dances like the halling and springdans and the imitation of the Norwegian folk instrument the hardinger fiddle in the animato section. The movement begins in a minor, but the second theme is presented in F major. The movement’s form contains strong elements of sonata form, but the concerto’s final moments are quite interesting. He converts the opening theme from duple to triple meter and let’s this Chopin-like waltz take us into a grand and majestic restatement of lyrical second theme in much longer note values. Concluding a concerto in this way became a standard practice that would be used by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff in their subsequent concertos, but Grieg did it first! Symphony in D Minor………………………………………………………..Cesar Franck The symphony was not a priority for most 19th century French composers. It has been suggested that few symphonies of significance were written in France between Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique of 1830 and Franck’s Symphony in d minor finished near the end of the composer’s life in 1888. In 1886 both Vincent D’Indy and Camille Saint-Saens had written symphonies, but each featured very important solo parts for the keyboard. Franck’s Symphony in d, did not achieve the immediate success of these other popular works, but today is considered an important work and a standard part of the symphonic repertoire. Franck was also embroiled in the middle of a battle between two factions: French composers who would be influenced the German traditions of Wagner and Brahms, such as D’Indy and Franck. The other faction was more conservative and included Saint-Saens and Fauré who rejected any influence of the Germans, particularly after the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. Franck, who was at this time Director of the Paris Conservatory, had difficulty getting a performance of the piece. He would turn to the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, who while reluctant, did present the premiere of the work in 1889. The piece was largely ridiculed including a comment by elder composer Ambroise Thomas that “he had never heard a symphony that included an English horn”. The beautiful English horn solo in the second movement was hardly precedent setting. Haydn had used the English horn in late 18th century in his Symphony #22 “The Philosopher” and of course Berlioz uses it in his shepherd’s dialogue in the third mvt “Scene aux Champs” of Symphonie Fantastique. Perhaps it would be of interest to note that Symphonie Fantastique was first published in Germany and Franck’s Symphony would also be published in that country. Both works issued by Breitkopf and Härtel of Leipzig. The principal theme of the first movement is used in both the introductory slow section and also the subsequent allegro ma non troppo. After a good bit of development, a new theme breaks forth in F major. The second movement combines elements of a slow movement and a scherzo combined. The movement begins with harp and pizzicato strings laying out the harmonic underpinning for the English horn melody that follows. Like the first movement, there are several changes of key (modulation) especially from minor to major. The finale begins in D Major and presents a more cheerful opening theme. The second theme is presented as a brass chorale and leads to a third theme that is at times reminiscent of the second theme of the first movement it also morphs into the violin theme from the slow movement and a short section in triple time that serves as a transition to the development where the opening finale theme is treated to an appearance in a number of distantly related keys. Eventually he will combine all these themes into a stunning section of counterpoint worthy of any great composer. After a second appearance of music from the slow movement, there is a summing up of all the material presented including the opening theme of the first movement and the return of the harp. The symphony ends with a grand statement of the opening finale theme in D major taken up by the whole orchestra. ‹‹ RETURN TO PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
“Danse Négre” from African Suite, Op. 35, #4………………...Samuel Coleridge-Taylor “Danse négre” from African Suite, Op. 35 by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was written in 1898 as the finale of four pieces for solo piano. The final work in the suite also adds a quintet of strings to the solo piano part. In 1901, a transcription for orchestra by the composer was published by Augener. “Danse négre” clearly influenced by Antonin Dvorak in sonority and style. The first time I heard the piece was on a radio broadcast in Cleveland. For several years it served as the theme music for a program hosted by Dr. A. Grace Lee Mims (Spike Lee’s aunt) on black concert music. I mistakenly thought it was written by Dvorak. The short introduction replicates the orchestral sonority of the “Scherzo” from Dvorak’s Symphony #9 in E Minor, Op. 95. The opening melody by the solo flute is developed extensively in the opening section primarily through a series of modulations, but later by using only part of the theme. After what seems like a third opening statement, another part of the theme is developed. Next is a transition through the piccolo and solo oboe to the second theme based on a major sixth which is also the encompassing interval of the principal theme. This is a piece that is worthy of Dvorak or Elgar, but once the themes began to develop it is clearly the original work of a first rate composer, not an imitator. Geoffrey Self commented in his article “Coleridge-Taylor and the Orchestra” in Black Music Research Journal on the apparent lack of African influence in this suite. It was noted by Coleridge-Taylor biographer Paul Tortolano, the inspiration for “Danse négre” is actually related to work of the same title by Dayton, Ohio-born poet Paul Laurence Dunbar who was a close friend of the composer. The Nutcracker Suite of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) In 1960 Duke Ellington’s Orchestra recorded an album co-written with Billy Strayhorn that provided a jazz influenced reworking several pieces from Tchaikovsky’s final ballet Nutcracker. Ellington loved the concept of the suite (a set of dances) for many of his longer compositions, but together with Strayhorn had to be convinced that they would not be treading on sacred ground (or copyright) in their treatment of nine of the movements from the complete ballet. Trumpeter/conductor/arranger Jeff Tyzik, who serves as the Pops conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic, created versions of five of these movements for symphony orchestra but maintains many of the important solo elements, particularly the jazz clarinet solos from the big band settings. The Overture swings Tchaikovsky’s theme, but so naturally that you wonder why the original might have benefitted from some rhythmic flexibility. The counterpoint that Ellington/Strayhorn created adds a wonderful new depth to the theme. The introduction to “Dance of the Reed-Pipes (Mirlitons)” is more reminiscent of Stravinsky or “Les Six”. And rather than solo flutes, the clarinets tend to dominate in melodic roles. It is retitled “Toot Toot Tootie Toot.” “Dance of the Floreadores” (Waltz of the Flowers) is a waltz no longer, but converts the tune to a swinging quadruple time. “Peanut Brittle Brigade” again replaces the rigidity of Tchaikovsky’s intentionally four-square theme. (Note: little lead soldiers of his day didn’t bend much). There is plenty of bending here, and a distinct change of inflection. It starts with the sonority of the brass in the opening statement of the theme, contrasting with the cascading of woodwinds and strings. No mindless marching along is going to happen here.
Concerto in F………………………………………………………….George Gershwin In the preface to the published score of this piece Frank Campbell-Watson provides the following commentary: In the opinion of this chronicler, it is his greatest work. Gershwin, for the first time in his life, came to grips with a severe musical form, a form known to the masters and assiduously avoided by many of them. He was confronted with the problems of symphonic orchestration and instrumental balance per se and with the solo piano. He was obliged to bring to this formidable structure a musical idiom hitherto never attempted—and he succeeded on all accounts, resulting in a work which today, after repeated hearings, has lost none of its greatness, freshness or brilliance. George Gershwin, as it turns out, needed help to organize and orchestrate the Concerto in F and turned to Rubin Goldmark a student of Dvorak, who taught at the Institute of Musical Art for assistance. Another of Goldmark’s students Aaron Copland, had chaffed at the academic rigor of Goldmark’s instruction, but apparently Goldmark was able to help Gershwin organize his materials formally and to create an orchestration that would balance with the solo instrument. Both those tasks had been assigned to Ferde Grofe for Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin spent part of his summer at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York where he put the piece together and finished the orchestration. He also worked on three Broadway musicals in the same year. The concerto is in the traditional fast-slow-fast scheme: Allegro, Adagio - Andante con moto, and Allegro agitato. Each movement contains the unmistakable influence of 1920’s jazz style, but all three also contain traditional elements of classical form from the great romantic concertos of the past century. The first movement begins with a short motto played by the timpani, introducing elements of the main thematic material. An extended orchestral introduction follows, then solo piano takes over and introduces another melody. The speed of the musical episodes moves back and forth between a fox-trot tempo and a broader ballad tempo. Gershwin also recycles earlier musical episodes but always with variation of orchestral color, and frequently in shortened rhythmic values. The high point of the movement is grandiose with the orchestra broadly presenting the theme while the soloist plays full-fisted triplets against it. A short coda based on the five-note scale brings the movement to a blazing close. The second movement is nostalgic - beginning with an elegant bluesy melody in the solo trumpet accompanied by a trio of clarinets. A faster section featuring the piano follows, building gradually and allowing for solo turns by the violin and a third appearance by the trumpet. Gershwin modulates from B-flat minor to E major in the midst of a piano cadenza and the full strings take up a new melody. The piano takes up this melody and engages in a conversation with strings and solo woodwinds. The flute returns with the original melody at the end. The movement ends with a short “climbing” figure that leaves us hanging awaiting the beginning of the finale. The final movement is pulsating and energetic hammering home the key of g minor through duple and triple rhythmic figures. Eventually this music modulates to f minor and the first solo entrance of the piano which is essentially a restatement of the opening material. Piano and orchestra also take up an altered statement of the broad first movement theme in more of a Latin style. The broad sounding theme with pounding triplets also returns from the first movement, but is abruptly supplanted by the opening fast music and an ending more than slightly reminiscent of Rhapsody in Blue. ‹‹ RETURN TO PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Symphony #6 in D Major, Le Matin (Morning)………………………Franz Josef Haydn In the spring of 1761 began his employment with the Esterhazy family, princely nobility from the Hungarian side of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Among his first compositions were a set of three symphonies: Le Matin, Le Midi, Le Soir (Morning, Noon, and Night) all of which were written in the galant style, but frequently contained references to baroque practice as well. Each symphony also contained extended solo passages for several of the instruments. The first two movements begin with adagios in subdivided quadruple time, followed by faster sections in triple time. The first movement introduction depicts the rising of the sun. The fast section in sonata form, features extended solo passages for flute, oboes, and French horn. The second movement begins with a slow introduction for strings only with an extended violin solo. The section in triple time that follows, features an even more extensive solo violin part and solo cello as well. The movement closes with slow music somewhat similar in content to the opening, but without the solo violin. The minuet that follows features the solo flute in the first section and the winds in the second section. The trio is a duet for solo bassoon and stringbass, quite an unusual pairing for the 18th century. There are also briefer solo roles for the principal viola and cello. The allegro finale is also in sonata form and features solos for flute, violin and cello. The other winds also get some short solos. In this section the relationship of the solo group (concertino) and accompanying group (ripieno) is most clearly defined. Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat Major, K. 364…………….Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart wrote two Sinfonia Concertantes, one for solo oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn, K. 297b thought to have been an arrangement by another composer of one of his earlier works for flute, oboe, bassoon and horn. This work was heard at our February 9, 2008 Masterworks concert. Mozart also wrote a Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola, K. 364 around 1779 in a period where he wrote other concertos for multiple soloists including the Flute and Harp Concerto, K. 297c and the Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 316a. As the title implies these works are both symphonic in nature, in fact K. 364 contains two viola parts as a balance to the standard division of violin parts. In order to make the viola’s sound balance the violin he does not hesitate to take it well into the range of the violin. He also wrote the original viola part in D major, and ask the violist to tune all the strings up a half step, but today most violists simply re-transpose the part to E-flat major. The work is in three movements: fast, slow, fast and the cadenzas in the first two movements were written by Mozart. Many cadenzas that were published with many of the famous classical and early romantic concertos were provided by other musicians. Cadenzas were often improvised, particularly in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and sometimes favorite cadenzas were transcribed for use by students and talented amateurs. Symphony #8 in F Major, Op. 93………………………………Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven’s music had developed significantly from the standard classical models of Haydn and Mozart, particularly in the Symphonies #5 and #6 “Pastoral”. Beethoven had written these two symphonies at the same time and they were premiered on the same concert in 1808. In 1811 he began earnest work on the Symphonies #7 and #8. While Symphony #7 in A Major is considered a work of very serious nature, and like #5 emphasizes motivic rather than melodic elements. Symphony #8, in a sense, is a look backward. It is the shortest symphony since #1 and really closes the book on Beethoven’s exploration of the genre in the conventional sense as #9 is such a ground-breaking work with its use of voices. Symphony #8 is a work full of high spirits and good humor in an era when much of Beethoven’s work was starting to turn inward. The first movement starts full bore, without introduction and presents the four bar theme upon which much of the movement is based. The woodwinds provide an answer that is more lyrical and less bold. This material is fragmented into a fanfare figure centered on intervals of the descending major third and descending minor sixth. Beethoven quickly uses the minor sixth interval as a means of modulation to the second theme in D major. The second movement is a tribute to Beethoven’s friend Maelzel, the inventor of the metronome. Like Haydn’s Symphony #101 (The Clock), the second movement is almost machine like, but Beethoven’s music is quicker and more spirited and is marked allegretto scherzando. Beethoven uses the repetition of 16th notes as a way of almost annoying us with repetition. When he does deviate, be ready for some fun. In the third movement, Beethoven turns to the tempo of the minuet for the first and last time in his nine symphonies/ He provides us with a delightful peasant dance in the first two sections. Notice that in the second section the repeat of the opening melodic material is changed significantly and in a different key, not just what is usually a standard cut and paste of musical material to be found in Haydn and Mozart. The trio begins with a lovely French horn duet later joined by the solo clarinet. Also note the triple time of the accompaniment in contrast with the melody in duple rhythms. Rollicking is perhaps the best word to describe the finale. It begins very softly and quickly in the violins. Lightness is key, as Beethoven asks for the music to get even softer before one of his abrupt surprises. The second theme is in A-flat major and could have easily come from the pen of Schubert, such is its singing character. It is hard to tell when the exposition ends and the development begins, but clearly Beethoven is changing the character of his original materials and using portions of the first theme to create counterpoint. The original music returns, the second theme repeats, but this time in D-flat major and the recapitulation seems underway. But…just when you think you have everything figured out, Beethoven begins another “development” a structural device that is as much a nod to rondo form as it is another good trick on his listeners. It also provides Beethoven an opportunity to present his theme in longer notes and broader strokes. There are several stops and starts, pauses in strange places, and quick shifts of dynamics (volume) and orchestral color. There is even a surprise modulation towards the end from F Major to F# minor. Finally we here the second theme in the home key of F Major, and we seem to return to more familiar territory harmonically and melodically, but now we here the second theme developed and then come to a complete and sudden stop. The music of the first theme begins one last time, softly at first and then suddenly full bore into one of those great and emphatic Beethoven endings. ‹‹ RETURN TO PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
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Stars Wars Suite………………………………………………………..John Williams George Lucas’s Star Wars films are among the most successful in the history of cinema. George Lucas has always insisted that John Williams provide the musical soundtracks for all of the Star Wars films. The music is epic and heroic and follows in a tradition of Hollywood composers such as Miklos Rozsa, Bernard Hermann, and Franz Waxman. 1977 seems “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …” when we realize that was the year the first film debuted. Lucasfilm and Skywalker Studios put together a great team of writers, actors, special effects artists and, of course, found just the right composer to generate the first three great films in the series known as The Star Wars Trilogy. The Williams’ Star Wars soundtracks, with their soaring melodies and brilliant orchestration, are among the finest achievements in American cinema, worthy of the tradition of such composers as Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, and Bernard Herrmann. Almost immediately the soundtrack recordings became giant hits in their own right, and the appointment and subsequent tenure of John Williams as conductor of the Boston Pops from 1980-93 only increased the exposure of the music and offered the composer additional opportunities to adapt this wonderful music. This concert presents an orchestral suite John Williams fashioned from his music for the first three Star Wars releases: Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983). In a preface to the score, the composer offers the following comments:
The Planets, Op. 32…………………………………………………………..Gustav Holst The Planets brought Holst incredible success and notoriety. The recognition of The Planets also created an expectation for future works that was unrealistic and has led, in some cases to his later works being ignored. Though noted for its spectacular orchestral color, The Planets was originally conceived as a work for two pianos and composed between 1914-16 while the composer was also a full time employee of the Saint Paul School for Girls. It took him nearly a full year to orchestrate the piece with the help of assistants who wrote out the piece in score per his instructions. Holst suffered from neuritis, particularly in his right hand, and usually required assistants to write down his musical ideas. In the manuscript score, Holst only wrote down the orchestration for the movement Mercury entirely in his own hand. Holst’s portrayal of each planet is closely related to his interest in astrology which began in 1913. It has been suggested that the subtitles to each movement more clearly reflect the composer’s intent than the names of the planets themselves, though Holst also insisted that his portrayals were not motivated directly by poetic sources. The work is unique in its use of seven movements, a length that was unprecedented. The orchestra is quite large and surely was influenced by some of the ballet scores of Stravinsky and tone poems of Richard Strauss. He uses the alto flute and baritone oboe (heckelphone) and these were instruments used by the aforementioned composers. His use of offstage wordless chorus in “Neptune” was influenced by Debussy who used a wordless female chorus in the final movement “Sirénes” from Nocturnes.
In fact, the piece is more about the character of the warrior, than war itself. The piece is dominated by the opening rhythmic figure (ostinato) and the broad theme above it. The second theme presented by the low brass, is also broad and in long dotted figures. A third theme appears like a fanfare in the euphonium (tenor tuba) and trumpets
It begins with the solo French horn and a quartet of flutes. The music changes into triple time and the violins play a beautiful pastoral tune. These two musical elements alternate as the movement ends calmly and softly.
This was the movement that he wrote last of the seven. The piece is polytonal based on the first four notes of the B-flat major scale (B-flat-C-D-E-flat) and the first four notes of the E major scale (E-F#-G#-A). In addition to its polytonal character, the music shifts constantly between a feeling of duple and triple, as well.
fourth being the best known theme of the piece. Holst purposefully avoided the word joviality, as in Jove, the nickname of Jupiter. All the themes are energetic and generate a spirit of thanksgiving. The fourth theme was later turned into a patriotic anthem.
music begins with a syncopated series of half notes in the flutes and harps. The theme is in the double bass. The trombones play a chorale melody that could have portrayed wise old operatic sages such as Hans Sachs or Sarastro. Even George Lucas’ lovable Jedi Master Yoda (John Williams might have done a little borrowing from this movement.)
Sorcerer is certainly evident in the bassoon writing and some of the other aspects of this piece. The music begins with an invocation in the brass and timpani, a figure played three times: Horns, low brass, and timpani. The bassoons and other low woodwinds present the first theme which is quickly integrated with the opening brass figure. The cellos and bassoons present a second theme and it gets passed around very quickly to the violas and violins, as well as woodwinds and horns. The full string section announces a third theme in broader notes and more sustained. The invocation figure comes back and a fourth section offers up yet another theme. Eventually all these elements are presented together as the movement reaches a sweeping climax. 7. “Neptune: the Mystic” never gets above a soft dynamic. Holst had already started ‹‹ RETURN TO PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE.
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