Sunday, September 30th, 2007
Program Notes
Leonore Overture "No. 3" in C Major, Op. 72b
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Adagio - Allegro - Presto
Written/First Performed: 1806
Also: 1840: Mendelssohn was first to program all four overtures in one concert.
It took Beethoven nine years to pen
what has become the overture to his only opera "Fidelio". The path taken for the
piece was as rocky and dramatic as the plot of the opera itself. Over that time
period, three "Leonore" overtures were written, before the final "Fidelio Overture"
was officially adopted for the opera.
The first Lenore overture was written in 1805, but after its initial screening
for prince Lichnowsky, it was dropped, and not published until 1832, several years
after Beethoven's death.
The second overture was presented with the premiere performance in November,
1805 - just weeks after Napoleon's occupation of Vienna. Perhaps for genuine
musical reasons or that Napoleon's entourage made up a significant portion of the
audience, it was considered too complex and radical for the time, and received harsh criticism.
Enter Lenore number 3. This version was extensively edited and presented in March,
1806, after the French had left Vienna. It is the most powerful of all the arrangements
and very well received, due in part to its more traditional structure of the time.
In fact, it was a bit too powerful, and later believed to overpower the impact of
the opera itself. Currently it stands as the overture of choice for the non-operatic performances.
Finally, in 1814, Beethoven wrote the Fidelio, the fourth and final overture
for the opera. It is much shorter, and oddly enough, the "accepted" version doesn't
really have any musical allusions to the themes of the opera, as did the other three.
The opera is thought to have a true-to-life story of the French Revolution behind
it, with the "names changed to protect the innocent". Change France to Spain, change
the names... the story and moral was left to tell, without all of those akward
political complications. The Spanish nobleman Florestan
has been wrongfully jailed by an enemy, Don Pizarro. Lenore, Florestan's wife,
disguises herself as a young man, taking the name Fidelio, and obtains a job
with the jailer Rocco. Lenore manages to hold off Pizarro's plans
to destroy Florestan until help arrives and he and the other political prisoners
are released. Throw in the added complication of "Fidelio" catching the eye of
Rocco's daughter Marzelline; you have all of the elements of a fine tale.
The opening Adagio starts with a loud chord and a slow, descending scale, to
represent the prison door closing and Florestan's descent into the dungeon. His
imprisonment and confusion in the dark prison is represented by the odd mix of
harmonies. The Allegro middle section is full of the expected heroic action of
the story. Interjected within is a trumpet fanfare, to represent the prison inspectors
coming to save the day and right the wrongs. Finally, is the Presto to wrap up and
insert a bit of triumph over evil.
Scored for: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings. [2222-4230-tmp-str]
Trumpet Concerto in A flat major (1950)
Alexander Grigori Arutiunian (1920- )
I. Andante-Allegro energico
II. Meno mosso
III. Tempo I
Last SEKSO Performance: Apr. 4th, 1999
Written In: 1950
The Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra
was the sixth major composition written by the Armenian composer and pianist Arutunian.
It was written in 1950 for the renowned trumpet player Timofei Dokschitzer who
wrote the cadenza that is traditionally performed. This work is one of the most
accepted and more traditionally played concertos for trumpet in the competition
circuit along with the Hayden, Hummel, and Tomasi. It is a flashy piece that exhibits
the trumpet virtuosity unlike any other with if fast and slow passages alike, testing
the performers range, tone, endurance, and technique. This concerto is often associated
with the Armenian genocide that took place early in the 20th century when the majority
of the Armenian people were massacred.
The opening fanfare in the style of ad libitum acts as a prologue, setting up
the saga that is to follow. The first Allegro march is presented as fight song for
the Armenian people, strong yet desperate as it progresses into the first slow movement.
This section is depictive of the beautiful Armenian culture as the lush harmony
and lyrical melody passes between the trumpet and the accompaniment. This is broken
by the next fast section where the massacre begins. It is mostly frantic but with
a short lullaby as if a grandmother tries to soothe a crying child in order to save
its life. Suddenly a loud crescendo cuts this off and leads to the final near-screaming
note of the trumpet. The next slow section is one of weeping, weeping for those
lost in the genocide, even recalling a bit of the earlier lullaby with sobbing rhythms
in the accompaniment. Then there is a shift back to the major key and the first
theme, a dedication to change and to making a difference in the world and a resolution
that this story never be forgotten. Finally it ends with a two-beat triplet and
final note crying "NEV-ER FOR-GET!"
-AJM
Scored for: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, timpani, harp, and strings.
[2[1.2/pic]222-4231-tmp+3-hp-str]
Aaron Metzger, a native of Pittsburg,
Kansas, began playing trumpet at the age of 12, and it soon became his passion.
He began studying with Dr. Todd Hastings, Associate Professor of Trumpet at Pittsburg
State University, at the age of 16 and went on to pursue a degree in Trumpet Performance
at PSU. During his college career, Aaron has been an avid performer, playing first
trumpet with the PSU Wind Ensemble, the Southeast Kansas Symphony, and the PSU Student
Brass Quintet, as well as performing with the PSU Jazz Band and occasionally with
the PSU Faculty Brass Quintet. Aaron, along with the PSU Trumpet Ensemble, performed
at the International Trumpet Guild in 2007 at the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, premiering Fanfare Festivo by the international recording artist Allen
Vizzutti. Aaron and the ensemble were also semi-finalists at the National Trumpet
Competition at the University of Fairfax, Virginia, also in 2007, premiering Dr.
John Ross's (PSU) For Five, composed for the group.
Aaron has also performed as an extra for the Ft. Smith Symphony, Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Aside from studying with Dr. Hastings, Aaron has studied with Chip Schutza
of the Kansas City Symphony and has performed in master classes with Allen Vizzutti,
Raymond Crisara (Professor Emiritus, University of Texas at Austin), and Vince DiMartino
(international trumpet soloist). Aaron was a finalist in the Northeast Arkansas
Symphony Concerto Competition in January 2007 just before winning the Southeast
Kansas Symphony Concerto Competition. After graduating this spring, Aaron plans
to further his education by pursuing a Master's Degree in Trumpet Performance at
an eastern college.
Symphony no 8 in B minor, D. 759 "The Unfinished"
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
Last SEKSO Performance: April 6th, 2003
Written In: 1822
First Performed: 1865
In spite of the fact that the B-minor
symphony has become, almost mythically, the unfinished symphony, Schubert started 13
symphonies and completed only seven of them. In fact, he left many "unfinished"
works in every area, distracted by another, better opportunity, or simply when other
ideas came to mind. Nevertheless, in his short lifetime (he actually died at a
younger age than Mozart) he produced over one thousand cataloged works. Unfinished
works by major composers are not unheard of; Mahler and Bruckner are but two composers
with unfinished symphonies. Peter Schickele even wrote an "Unbegun Symphony", he
was simply born too late to write the first two movements?
The B-minor symphony was started in the fall of 1822, and set aside the next
spring when Schubert turned his attention to another work. Two movements had been
completed and sketches for the third begun. Schubert had just been made an honorary
member of the Styrian Music Society in Graz, one of the few honors received in his
lifetime. Included with a letter of appreciation to the Society was an I.O.U. of
sorts, the promise of a symphony as a token of his gratitude. Later that year, a
manuscript was given to Josef Hüttenbrenner, whose brother Anselm was a member of
the Society.
Anselm never sent the score on to the Society, perhaps because it was only the
two movements. He held it for 40 years, only mentioning its existence in passing
in a biographical dictionary. It was in this source that a Schubert biographer,
Heinrich Kreissle von Hellborn discovered its existence. When if finally surfaced
for a Vienna performance in 1865, the audience quickly recognized the melodic treatments
as those of "Schubert!"
The first movement, Allegro moderato, opens from the deep, dark recesses of the
low strings, flowing into a melody of oboe and clarinet over the agitations of the
violin section. This tension melts away into one of the most recognized melodies
of Classical/Romantic literature, brought forth by the cello section. A series of
pizzicato notes in the strings introduce the development section of the movement.
The second movement, Andante con moto is a bit more serene, the principal melody
introduced by the upper strings and the secondary by the clarinet and oboe. Beginning
E Major, this movement takes side trips into C# and A minor before returning to
the opening key for a peaceful finish.
The argument that the two movements were written to stand alone, not needing
a third of fourth, seems a bit thin. Perhaps it's believable after more than a
century of hearing the work stand on the merits of the two movements. Could we have
said the same of Beethoven's ninth symphony, if he had only written two movements?
Several attempts have been made others to 'finish' the piece, the most successful
using the available sketches of the third movement, followed by the B minor entr'acte
incidental music from Rosamunde, however it is almost always performed as "the
symphony that Schubert wrote, but never finished".
Scored for: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings. [2222-2230-tmp-str]
"Farandole" from L'Arlésienne, Suite No. 2
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
First Published In: 1879
L'Arlésienne: trans. "The Woman from Arles"
In 1872, Bizet finished the incidental
music to Alphonse Daudte's play, "The Girl from Arles". True to fashion, the play
wasn't that well received, however the music helped put Bizet in the upper echelons
of French composers. The classic opera "Carmen", written a few years later, helped a bit, too.
Two Orchestral Suites were developed from the melodies; the first by Bizet himself,
the second was arranged by his friend Ernest Guiraud in 1879, four years after the
composer's death.
The Farandole is a traditional French peasant dance, similar to a tarantella, or
gavotte, the last of four movements that make up the Suite. Both themes are easily
recognizable by concertgoers, the opening theme an arrangement of "The March of
the Three Kings" ("La Marche des Rois"). Both themes are played back and forth until
the end, where they blend together for the final completion.
Scored for: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, percussion, timpani, harp, and strings.
[2[1.2/pic]222-44[2tpt, 2crt]30-tmp+1-hp-str]
