Concerts of Thursday, February 21 and Saturday, February 23, 2019, at 8:00p

Transcription

1 Concerts of Thursday, February 21 and Saturday, February 23, 2019, at 8:00p Robert Spano, Conductor TBA, soprano Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( ) Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 ( Jupiter ) (1788) I. Allegro vivace II. Andante Cantabile III. Menuetto. Allegretto IV. Molto allegro Intermission Giuseppe Verdi ( ) Quattro pezzi sacri (1898) I. Ave Maria II. Stabat Mater III. Laudi alla Vergine IV. Te Deum TBA, soprano Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus

2 Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551, "Jupiter" (1788) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756, and died in Vienna, Austria, on December 5, The Jupiter Symphony is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. Approximate performance time is thirtythree minutes. First Classical Subscription Performance: January 26, 1947, Henry Sopkin, Conductor. Most Recent Classical Subscription Performances: May 30, June 1 and 2, 2013, Robert Spano, Conductor. Between June 26 and August 10, 1788, Mozart completed his final three Symphonies No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543, No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, and No. 41 in C Major, K Even more remarkable is the fact that these glorious Symphonies, among Mozart s crowning achievements, were the product of a particularly distressing period in the composer s life. Mozart s career in Vienna as a composer, teacher, virtuoso pianist, and impresario reached its apex in the mid-1780s. However, the exhilaration of those triumphant years soon yielded to profound frustration and unhappiness. Mozart experienced a sharp decline in the demands for his services in Vienna. There is no specific documentation that any of these Symphonies was performed during Mozart s lifetime. This fact has led some to theorize that Mozart composed these Symphonies not in pursuit of monetary gain, but out of an overwhelming need to express himself in music. However, we do know that it was Mozart s practice to compose large-scale works (such as piano concertos and symphonies) in anticipation of specific concerts. In June of 1788 (around the time Mozart began work on his final three Symphonies), the composer wrote to his friend and fellow Mason, Michael Puchberg, asking for money. Mozart assured Puchberg he would be able to repay the loan with proceeds from upcoming subscription concerts. Perhaps Mozart intended to introduce his new Symphonies as part of the subscription programs. It is not certain that these concerts ever took place. However, there is documentation of concerts conducted by Mozart in Germany in 1789 and Concerts in Leipzig and Frankfurt both included Symphonies. The April 16 and 17, 1791 benefit concerts for the Vienna Society of Musicians, conducted by Antonio Salieri, also featured a grand symphony by Mozart. While the programs don t list the specific works, it is likely Mozart would have favored his most recent Symphonies for such programs. A further clue is found in the fact that Mozart s autograph of the score for Symphony No. 40 contains modifications of the original version s slow-tempo

3 movement, as well as a revision of the entire work, adding clarinets to the orchestration. Such modifications would not have been made without the existence of previous performances, and the promise of new ones. Mozart did not coin the C-Major Symphony s popular nickname, Jupiter. In August of 1829, the composer s son told publisher Vincent Novello and his wife, Mary, that it was the German violinist and impresario, Johann Peter Salomon (the impetus for Haydn s London visits), who christened the Symphony as the Jupiter. It is doubtful Mozart intended the Jupiter to be his final Symphony. The composer was thirty-two at the time he completed the Symphony No. 41. Illness prematurely cut short his life just three years later. Still, like his final Piano Concerto, K. 595 (1791), the Jupiter Symphony represents a fitting summation of Mozart s achievements in the symphonic repertoire. It is a resplendent work of extraordinary power, majesty, and eloquence, culminating in a breathtaking virtuoso finale. Musical Analysis I. Allegro vivace The Symphony opens with a bold orchestral tutti, to which the strings offer a subdued reply. The extended presentation of the opening theme highlights the contrast between its heroic and more subdued elements. The violins present a lyrical second theme that also confronts moments of storm and stress. The strings playful, final theme is derived from the aria Un bacio di mano ( A kiss on the hand ), K. 541 (1788), composed by Mozart for Pasquale Anfossi s comic opera, Le gelosie fortunate. In the aria, the melody accompanies this text: Voi siete un po tondo, mio caro Pompeo, l usanze del mondo andate a studiar. You are a bit naive, my dear Pompey, Go out and study the ways of the world. This opera buffa tune soon becomes the basis of an intense, contrapuntal development section. A recapitulation of the principal themes yields to a brief, but forceful, coda. II. Andante Cantabile The poignant slow-tempo movement is scored for winds, French horns, and strings. Muted violins, with brief woodwind interjections, introduce the tranquil, principal theme. A foreboding second theme is followed by a return to the peaceful mood of the opening. A brief, and sometimes tempestuous development leads to the varied recapitulation. The lovely final measures prominently feature the horns in conversation with the strings and winds.

4 III. Menuetto. Allegretto The third movement opens with the first violins descending, theme, whose chromatic progression is prominent throughout the Minuet. The Trio begins with a charming dialogue between one group (flute, bassoons and horns), and another, featuring the oboes and strings. A fiery orchestral pronouncement provides striking contrast. The movement concludes with a reprise of the Minuet. IV. Molto allegro The finale begins with the first violins introduction of a fournote motif that provides the cornerstone for the movement s numerous themes. Mozart introduces no fewer than five motifs, often treated in brilliant contrapuntal fashion. In fact, the miraculous coda features a simultaneous presentation of all five! It is a testament to Mozart s genius that the passage emerges not as an academic exercise, but rather, as a thrilling musical experience. After this stunning achievement, Mozart concludes his Jupiter Symphony with a bracing series of fanfares and chords. Quattro pezzi sacri (1898) Giuseppe Verdi was born in Roncole, Italy, on October 9 or 10, 1813, and died in Milan, Italy, on January 27, The first performance of the Quatro pezzi sacri took place at the Opéra in Paris, France, on April 7, 1898, Paul Taffanel, conducting the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (the Ave Maria was not performed on this occasion). The Quatro pezzi sacri are scored for soprano solo (Te Deum), mixed chorus, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, four bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, four trombones, timpani, bass drum, harp, organ, and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-eight minutes. First Classical Subscription Performances: February 13, 1964 (Te Deum), Robert Shaw, Conductor. Most Recent Classical Subscription Performances: May 3-5, 1990, William Fred Scott, Conductor. Recordings: Ave Maria: Telarc CD-80656, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Robert Shaw, Conductor. Te Deum: Telarc CD-80109, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Robert Shaw, Conductor. Stay away from priests Composer Arrigo Boito ( ), who also served as the librettist for Giuseppe Verdi s final operatic masterworks, based on Shakespeare, Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893), offered this description of the maestro s religious beliefs:

5 This is the day, of all days of the year, that he loved best. Christmas eve reminded him of the holy marvels of childhood, the enchantments of a faith that is truly celestial only when it attains to belief in miracles. That belief, alas, he lost early, like all of us, but perhaps more than the rest of us he retained all his life a keen regret for it. He provided an example of Christian faith by the moving beauty of his religious works, by observing rites (you must remember his beautiful head bowed in the chapel of [his home in] Sant Agata), by his illustrious homage to (Alessandro) Manzoni (the Messa da requiem), by the directions for his funeral found in his will: one priest, one candle, one cross. He knew that faith was the sustenance of hearts....in the ideal and moral sense he was a great Christian, but one should take care not to present him as a Catholic in the political and strictly theological sense of the word: nothing could be further from the truth. The truth was that Giuseppe Verdi harbored a lifelong distrust for organized religion. Sta lontan dai pret ( Stay away from priests ), he once cautioned a member of his family. And such Verdi operas as Don Carlos and Aida graphically portray hypocrisy within the religious hierarchy. Verdi s negative feelings toward organized religion may have had their origins in a childhood incident. When Verdi was about seven years old, he served as an altar boy at the church of San Michele in his birthplace of Roncole. During Mass, the young Verdi failed to respond promptly to the priest s request for water and wine. The priest shoved Verdi, and the child fell from the altar. The humiliated boy responded with the peasant curse, Dio t manda na sajetta! ( May God strike you with lightning! ) In a surreal turn of events, eight years later the priest was indeed fatally struck by lightning. Nevertheless, Verdi was capable of writing music of extraordinary beauty that portrayed religious fervor and sincerity. One need only hear the supplications of Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Leonora in La forza del destino, Aida, or Desdemona in Otello to realize that Verdi s operatic characters could pray with devotion, sincerity, and fervor. Verdi also composed one of the greatest settings of the Requiem Mass (1874), in commemoration of the first anniversary of the death of the beloved Italian writer, Alessandro Manzoni. And, Italy s foremost opera composer ended his career with yet another sacred choral work, the Quattro pezzi sacri (Four Sacred Pieces) (1898). Unlike the Requiem, Verdi did not conceive the Four Sacred Pieces as a single, unified work. The composition of the Quattro pezzi sacri spanned the years Verdi allowed his publisher, Ricordi, to issue the works collectively.

6 However, Verdi withdrew the Ave Maria from the work s premiere in Paris on April 7, 1898, as well as from the first performance in Italy, led by Arturo Toscanini in Turin that May 26. Nevertheless, the Quattro pezzi sacri have long proven their worth as an integrated and fulfilling concert experience. Verdi s description of his achievement in the Messa da requiem applies with equal force to the Quattro pezzi sacri: I have done nothing but write note after note, to the greater glory of God... I. Ave Maria In 1888, the Gazzetta musicale di Milano posed a challenge to composers a scale comprising odd intervals. Boito shared the enigmatic scale with Verdi, who contemplated using it as the basis for an Ave Maria. Another one! It would be my fourth. So perhaps I can look forward to being sanctified after my death! Boito responded: You will need a great many Ave Maria s if His Holiness will forgive you Iago s Credo! (Act II of Otello). Verdi retorted that Boito, as librettist for Otello, was the chief culprit who needs forgiveness for that Credo. Verdi employed the Scala enigmatica in his 1889 (revised, 1896) setting of the Ave Maria for a cappella four-part chorus. II. Stabat Mater Verdi composed the second of the Four Sacred Pieces in The work, scored for mixed chorus and orchestra, is a setting of the poem describing the pain of the grieving Mary, standing at the foot of Jesus s cross. III. Laudi alla Vergine The Laudi alla Vergine (Praise to the Blessed Virgin) (ca. 1890) is the sole portion of the Four Sacred Pieces sung in Italian, rather than Latin. Verdi scored the text, from Dante s Paradiso, for unaccompanied soprano and alto voices, each divided into two parts. IV. Te Deum The Te Deum (1895-6) is scored for solo soprano, double chorus, and orchestra. Verdi s majestic setting is a fitting conclusion to the Four Sacred Pieces. Texts and Translations I. Ave Maria Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, Benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed art you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

7 Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. II. Stabat Mater Stabat mater dolorosa Juxta crucem lacrymosa, Dum pendebat Filius. The sorrowful Mother stood weeping by the Cross where hung her Son. Cujus animam gementem, Contristantem et dolentem Pertransivit gladius. Her weeping soul, saddened and grieving, was pierced by a sword. O quam tristis et afflicta Fuit illa benedicta Mater unigeniti! Oh, how sad and afflicted was that Mother of the Only-begotten! Quae moerebat et dolebat, Pia Mater, dum videbat Nati poenas inclyti. She moaned and wept, the loving Mother, as she saw the sufferings or her glorious Son. Quis est homo, qui non fleret,

8 Matrem Christi si videret In tanto supplicio? Who is the man who would not weep, if he saw the Mother of Christ in such distress? Quis non posset contristari, Christi Matrem contemplari Dolentem cum Filio? Who could not feel sorrow, to contemplate Christ s Mother grieving for her Son? Pro peccatis suae gentis Vidit Jesum in tormentis Et flagellis subditum. For the sins of His people she saw Jesus in torment and submitting to the scourges. Vidit suum dulcem Natum Moriendo desolatum Dum emisit spiritum. She saw her sweet Child dying, abandoned as He yielded up His spirit. Eja mater, fons amoris, Me sentire vim doloris Fac, ut tecum lugeam. Mother, fountain of love, I feel the power of pain, let me grieve with You. Fac ut ardeat cor meum In amando Christum Deum, Ut sibi complaceam. God, pierce my heart with the love of Christ, that I may please Him too.

9 Sancta Mater, istud agas, Crucifixi fige plagas Cordi meo valide. Holy Mother, grant me this, fix the wounds of the Crucified firmly against my heart. Tui Nati vulnerati Tam dignati pro me pati, Poenas mecum divide. Let me share the wounds of your Son Who deigned to suffer for me. Fac me tecum pie flere, Crucifixo condolere, Donec ego vixero. Let my tears mingle with yours, to grieve for the Crucified as long as I live. Juxta crucem tecum stare Et me tibi sociare In planctu desidero. To stand with You by the Cross, and to join You in mourning. Virgo virginum praeclara, Mihi jam non sis amara, Fac me tecum plangere. Virgin supreme among virgins, be not bitter with me, make me weep with You. Fac ut portem Christi mortem, Passionis fac consortem Et plagas recolere. Let me bear the death of Christ,

10 allow me to be a partner in his Passion, and to remember His wounds. Fac me plagis vulnerari, Cruce hac inebriari Et cruore Filli. Make me stricken with His wounds make me drink the cup of the Cross, with Your Son. Flammis ne urar succensus, Per te, Virgo, sim defensus, In die judicii. That I may not burn and die in the flames, Oh Virgin, may I be defended by You, In the Day of Judgment. Christe, cum sit hinc exire, Da per matrem me venire Ad palman victoriae. Christ, when it is time to depart, Grant through Your Mother that I will come to the prize of victory. Quando corpus morietur, Fac ut animae donetur Paradisi gloria. When my body dies, let my soul be granted the glory of Paradise. Amen. Amen. III. Laudi alla Vergine Vergine madre, figlia del tuo figlio, Umile ed alta piu che creatura, Termine fiso d eterno consiglio, Virgin mother, daughter of your Son,

11 more humble and exalted than any creature, fixed end of the eternal counsel. Tu se colei che l umana natura Nobilitasti si, che l suo Fattore Non disdegno di farsi sua fattura. You are the one who so ennobled human nature, that the Creator did not disdain to make Himself in like fashion. Nel ventre tuo si raccese l amore, Per lo cui caldo nell eterna pace Cosi e germinato questo fiore. Love was retold within your womb, by whose warmth in eternal peace this flower has blossomed. Qui se noi meridiana face Di caritate, e giuso, in tra i mortali, Se di speranza fontana vivace. Here, you are for us a sundial of charity, and in this manner, among the mortals, you are a living fountain of hope. Donna, se tanto grande, e tanto vali, Che qual vuol grazia, ed a te non ricorre, Sua disianza vuol volar senz ali. Woman, you are so grand, and so worthy that whoever wants grace and does not seek you, wishes his desire to fly without wings. La tua benignita non pur soccorre A chi dimanda, ma molte fiate Liberamente al dimandar precorre. Your kindness helps not only those who ask for it, but often is given freely before the request is made. In te misericordia, in te pietate, In te magnificenza, in te s aduna Quantunque in creatura e di bontate.

12 In you there is mercy, pity, magnificence, in you is found all that is good in any creature. Ave. Ave. Hail. Hail. IV. Te Deum Te Deum laudamus, te Dominum confitemur. Te aeternum Patrem, omnis terra veneratur. Tibi omnes Angeli, tibi caeli et universae potestates, tibi Cherubim et Seraphim, incessabili voce proclamant: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. We praise you, O Lord, Lord, we thank You. You are the Eternal Father, Whom all the earth worships. To You all the angels, the heavens, and all the powers, the Cherubim and Seraphim, proclaim with an unceasing voice: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. Pleni sunt caeli et terra maiestatis gloriae tuae. Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus, te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus, te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. The glorious chorus of the apostles, the admirable company of the prophets, the white-robed army of martyrs do praise You. Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia: Patrem immensae maiestatis; venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;

13 sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum. Tu rex gloriae, Christe! Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius. Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem non horruisti Virginis uterum. Tu devicto mortis aculeo, aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum. Throughout the world the holy Church does confess: Father of infinite majesty; Your honorable, true, and only Son; and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete. You, o Christ, are the King of glory! You are the eternal Son of the Father. You, having taken it upon Yourself to save man did not disdain the Virgin s womb. You who overcame the sting of death, have opened to believers the kingdom of heaven. Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes in gloria Patris. You sit at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father. Iudex crederis esse venturus. We believe you are the Judge to come. Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni, quos pretioso sanguine redemisti. We therefore pray to You, help Your servants, whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood. Aeterna fac cum Sanctis tuis in gloria numerari. Make them to be numbered with Your saints in everlasting glory. Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae. Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum. Per singulos dies benedicimus te.

14 Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi. Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire. Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri! Fiat misericordia tua, Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te. Save Your people, O Lord, and bless Your inheritance. Govern them, and lift them up forever. Every day we will bless You. We praise Your name for ever and ever. Grant, O Lord, this day to keep us without sin. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us! Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have trusted in You. In te, speravi: non confundar in aeternum. In te, Domine. In te speravi. I put my trust in You: Let me not be confounded forever. In You, Lord. In You I put my trust.