"Music From Near & Far"
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
Program Notes
Overture to "Candide"
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Allegro molto con brio
Last SEKSO Performance: September 28th, 2003
Completed In: 1956
First Performed: Jan. 26, 1957, NYPhil, Bernstein conducting
For anyone asking "how did I get myself
into this?", consider yourself in good company. In the early 50's, Leonard Bernstein,
on the urging of playwright Lillian Hellman, began collaborating on an adaption
of Voltaire's short novel "Candide" for the musical theatre. Over the next several
years, sketches were made, lyricists came and went, and finally in the fall of 1956
the operetta was ready for performances in Boston. The work was premiered in New
York on December 1st, 1956 at the Martin Beck Theater, and the Overture was given it's
concert premiere the following January.
Voltaire's 1759 novella was a satire on the social and religious philosophies
of the day - quite harsh in some circles. Hellman recognized a number of similarities
in the "Washington Witch Trials" and the resulting paranoia and blacklisting that
affected her and many of Bernstein's friends. Between conception and its 1956 premiere,
Hellman was called upon to testify in the McCarthy hearings and later witnessed
the humiliation of Senator McCarthy. Bernstein turned his sharpest eye to the political
characters in the operetta.
Although there were good reviews, the premiere itself was not received well by
critics and closed in February of the next year. Bernstein continued to work on
the piece with at least 5 revisions over the next 2 decades.
The Overture itself is a wild ride. Presenting melodies of the operetta in traditional
fashion, it's perhaps more of a "good old days" reverie of Candide, before his calamities
begin. Using a variety of musical twists, turns, and jokes somewhat similar to the
musical humor displayed by Prokofiev in his "Classical Symphony", Bernstein hot-foots
his way quickly through the overture so he can throw in one last musical joke before
dealing with Voltaire.
Scored for: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet,
2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion,
harp and strings. [ 3[1.2.pic] 2 3[1.2.bcl] 3[1.2.cbn]-4231-tmp+5-hp-str]
Concerto No. 1 in G minor for Violin and Orchestra, op. 26
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
I. Vorspiel (Prelude). Allegro moderato
II. Adagio
III. Finale. Allegro energico
Completed In: Oct. 1867
First Performance: January 7, 1868, Bremen, Germany, Joseph Joachim, vln.
Max Bruch began composing at an early
age. Writing chamber music at age eleven and finishing his first symphony at fourteen,
his music became very popular for its use of folk tunes and romantic feeling.
History doesn't give Bruch the same stature of other musical giants, like his
contemporary Brahms, because his music, by being so accessible to the audiences
of his day, lost some of the respect of following generations. He was, however,
one of the most sought-after teachers of composition with pupils such as Ralph
Vaughan Williams and Ottorino Respighi.
Violinists embrace the legacy of Bruch which includes the passionate Concerto
No. 1 in G minor. Ranking with the other great romantic violin concertos, Bruch's
No. 1 was began in 1862 and performed in its final version in 1868 by Joachim,
one of the greatest virtuosos of the romantic period.
Bruch's early attempts at calling the work a fantasy helps to explain the nature
of its construction. The first movement, despite technical difficulties and emotional
depth that rival other romantic concerto's opening movements, is a prelude in title
and function. The Prelude continues without conclusion into the Adagio. One of
the most beautiful slow movements of violin repertoire, this is truly the heart
and soul of the concerto. The Finale, brilliant and fantastic, is full of passages
that exploit many of the amazing technical abilities unique to the violin.
Scored for: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings. [2222-4200-tmp-str]
Beginning piano at age seven, Jonathan
studied a variety of instruments including saxophone, trumpet, accordion and banjo.
At age sixteen, Jon finally found "his" instrument-the violin. His first teacher,
Kirt Duffy, helped him win a scholarship at MSSU in Joplin, Missouri where he studied
under Dr. Kexi Liu.
Performance experiences of all kinds awaited Jon at MSSU. He played alto saxophone
in a saxophone quartet that was featured on tour with the MSSU Concert Band. He also
played first trumpet in the Concert Band and second trumpet in the Jazz Orchestra.
Majoring in piano, as well as violin, Jon devoted himself to practicing and achieved
many successful performances on both instruments including a solo appearance with
the Joplin Community Orchestra playing Mozart's third Violin Concerto under the
direction of William Elliott.
Jon has had the privilege to study under Dr. Selim Giray while working on his
master's degree at Pittsburg State University. He is extremely grateful for the
many professors who have given so much of themselves towards his musical and professional
development.
Sheherazade, Symphonic Suite, Op. 35
Nicolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship
II. The Tale of Prince Kalendar
III. The Young Prince and the Princess
IV. "The Festival at Baghdad - The Sea - Shipwreck - Conclusion"
Last SEKSO Performance: November 21st, 1999
Completed In: August, 1888
First Performed: December 15th, 1888, St. Petersburg, conducted by the composer
Scheherazade is based on the tales
of Arabian Nights' or "The Thousand and One Nights". These stories are ancient.
They have existed for centuries in many countries; Persia, Arabia, India. No one
knows where they began. The composer put the following statement in the score:
"The Sultan Schahriar, convinced of the perfidy and faithlessness of women, vowed
to execute each of his wives alter the first night. But the Sultana Scheherazade
saved her own life by interesting him in the tales she told him through 1001 nights.
Impelled by curiosity, the Sultan continually put off her execution, and at last
entirely abandoned his sanguinary resolve. Many marvels did Scheherazade relate
to him, citing the verses of poets and the words of songs, waving tale into tale
and story into story."
I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship. The first movement opens with the principal theme
of the entire work: a heavy, forbidding motto proclaimed in thunderous octaves.
This might be the ferocious Sultan, except that, as Rimsky himself pointed out,
it returns in later movements at points where there is no thought at all of the
Sultan. This stem announcement is answered by pacifying woodwind chords and then
by the voice of Scheherazade: a graceful, sinuous violin solo. The Sultana's first
narrative has three principal themes: 'the stem motto of the start, the theme of
Scheherazade herself (which is not always confined to the solo violin), and a rocking,
wave-like theme, suggesting the billows of Sinbad's sea.
II. The Story of the Kalendar Prince. The wheedling, cajoling voice of the Sultana
introduces the adventure of the Kalendar Prince. One wonders which one of the
several Kalendar princes Rimsky had in mind. There were at least three princes
who disguised themselves as Kalendars, members of a mendicant order of wandering
dervishes. The story begins with a jaunty bassoon solo, later taken by the oboe
and others. Scheherazade's theme suddenly erupts in the bottom of the orchestra.
Over a shuddering tremolo of the violins, a brassy fanfare is played by the
trombone, echoed by trumpet and by various alternations and combinations of brasses,
woodwinds, and strings.
III. The Young Prince and the Young Princess. The opening theme in the violins
suggests that, whichever story is being told here, it is a romantic one. The
narrative is embellished by rippling scales of flutes and clarinets, and then
interrupted by a softly rasping sound of a military drum. The subtle rhythms of
plucked and muted strings are accentuated with a touch of tambourine and triangle
tone. For a moment we catch the voice of Scheherazade herself, but soon it is
submerged in the fascination of the tale she tells.
IV. Festival in Baghdad; The sea; The Ship Breaks Up Against a Cliff Surmounted
by a Bronze Horseman; Conclusion. A nervous transformation of the main motto theme
alternates with the voice of Scheherazade as an introduction to the Finale, which
is like a confused dream of Oriental splendor and terror. Te Festival begins with
a lightly fluttering dance of the solo flute. Other instruments join as the excitement
swells. The dance seems more and more frenzied until it takes on an undertone of fear.
Rhythms clash and the tempo grows. All at once the Festival seems to be on shipboard.
The waves of Sinbad's sea swell in overwhelming mountains, and woodwinds scream
as the ship crashes on the magic rock, lie storm and the sea subside, and the
story is done. The voice of Scheherazade's violin fades away upward through a final,
serene chord of the orchestra, like the passing of a dream.
Scored for: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings.
[3[1.2.pic]2[1.2/Eh]22-4231-tmp+5-hp-str]
and...
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