CLASSICAL SERIES BEETHOVEN S PIANO CONCERTO NO.4

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1 JEFF TYZIK Principal Pops Conductor LEONARD SLATKIN, Music Director Laureate Music Directorship endowed by the Kresge Foundation TERENCE BLANCHARD Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair NEEME JÄRVI Music Director Emeritus CLASSICAL SERIES BEETHOVEN S PIANO CONCERTO NO.4 Friday, April 12, 2019 at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 8 p.m. Sunday, April 14, 2019 at 3 p.m. at Orchestra Hall LUDOVIC MORLOT, conductor HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD, piano Sebastian Currier (b. 1959) Divisions Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 ( ) I. Allegro moderato II. Andante con moto III. Rondo: Vivace Hélène Grimaud, piano Intermission Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 ( ) I. Andante II. Allegro moderato III. Adagio IV. Allegro giocoso This Classical Series performance is generously sponsored by Saturday s performance will be webcast via our exclusive Live From Orchestra Hall series, presented by Ford Motor Company Fund and made possible by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Friday performance s recognition of American s Veterans and Active Military is supported by 28 DSO PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE SPRING 2019

Program Notes PROGRAM AT-A-GLANCE TWO MUSICAL PERSPECTIVES ON WAR Currier looks back, Prokofiev looks around Sebastian Currier s Divisions was written to reflect on the horrors of World War I a

2 Program Notes PROGRAM AT-A-GLANCE TWO MUSICAL PERSPECTIVES ON WAR Currier looks back, Prokofiev looks around Sebastian Currier s Divisions was written to reflect on the horrors of World War I a century after the war s commencement. Currier uses the tools provided by 100 years of history and perspective to contemplate events long in the past. Sergei Prokofiev s Symphony No. 5 was written in Russia during the final chapters of World War II. Prokofiev, intentionally or otherwise, draws on his experience as a Russian to compose a work about a present conflict. Divisions Composed 2014 Premiered April 2015 SEBASTIAN CURRIER B. March 16, 1959, Providence, RI Scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 3 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion, harp, and strings. (Approx. 12 minutes) The composer writes the following about the piece: Divisions, written for the Seattle Symphony, Boston Symphony, and the National Orchestra of Belgium, is part of a group of pieces commissioned in commemoration of World War I. I am honored to be the American representative of this primarily European project to find some form of musical commemoration to the gruesome destruction that gripped Europe a century ago. When I was first approached, I remember mentioning the project to friend and he said, well, that should be easy: one should just have total silence. And of course, in a way, he was dso.org right. That dark time in our collective history is really the antithesis of creative human impulse and it is hard to imagine what place music could have except possibly to once again mourn the dead. But it is one hundred years later and it seemed to me that the piece should have a connection to the present or even the future as much as look back to this time of unbridled destruction. My starting point was the rather obvious observation that we humans are a jumble of contradictory impulses: at our best so creative, insightful, and altruistic; at our worst so inexplicably short-sighted, destructive, and selfish. Divisions embodies this basic contradiction. As it unfolds, the musical material moves from fragmentation and fracture to wholeness and connectedness. The word divisions points to this process. It first simply refers to the destructive force whereby we humans work against each other instead of together. World War I is certainly an all too familiar instance. Divisions also has its military associations, as in a division of troops. But it also has a much more benign reference in the world of music: a divisions is an early form of instrumental variations from the DSO PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE 29

$In my piece the trajectory is from the one meaning of the word to the other. After an opening of disjunction and fracture, the piece finally settles down into a set of simple variations.$

3 16th century. The term comes from the fact that in each successive variation, as the level of ornamentation increases, there are smaller and smaller note values, so that the beat is further divided. In my piece the trajectory is from the one meaning of the word to the other. After an opening of disjunction and fracture, the piece finally settles down into a set of simple variations. However, this movement towards wholeness proves ephemeral. The drum beat of war is never far off. Sebastian Currier These performances of Sebastian Currier s Divisions will be DSO premieres. Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 Composed Premiered December 1808 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN B. December 1770, Bonn, Germany D. March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria Scored for solo piano, flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings. (Approx. 34 minutes) The 1808 mega-concert that served as the premiere of Beethoven s fifth and sixth symphonies, Choral Fantasy, present Piano Concerto No. 4, and other works is certainly a time machine moment for many classical music fans oh to have been a fly on the wall! The concerto and two symphonies performed that night are landmarks in Beethoven s artistic development, marking (to some) the firmest transition from the Classical period to the burgeoning Romantic. The gentle, song-like character of the piano concerto, especially its opening movement, attests to the spirit of what later became known as Romanticism. Beethoven also nearly established a precedent by opening the concerto with a quiet solo phrase, rather than reserving the entire first exposition of the themes for the orchestra alone. Though many composers soon followed Beethoven s lead, only Mozart anticipated him in this practice, with a keyboard solo at the opening of his youthful Piano Concerto No. 9. The orchestra resumes its traditional exposition, but in one of Beethoven s interesting rhythmic games, the main theme is set off-center by one note, adding tension until it is resolved at the end of each phrase. Tonal relationships are also colorful and broadly romantic, not only in the main theme but in the minor-key intermediate theme leading the orchestra to its closing group. When the piano returns, it embellishes and varies the themes with delicate filigree, adding a new subsidiary theme of its own. The slow movement is one of the most personal, intense, innovative moments in all the Beethoven literature. It pits the agitated, dramatic strings against an intervening series of plaintive phrases in the piano. Ultimately, the calm prevails as the piano proceeds into a figurative passage and the close of the movement. A free adaptation of established forms also occurs in the finale. Instead of being a normal five-part rondo, the movement is expanded with developmental episodes interspersed with various themes. But the light fanciful character of the music is maintained throughout much of its lacy keyboard figuration and playful melodies. 30 DSO PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE SPRING 2019

4 The DSO most recently performed Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 4 in October 2016, conducted by Leonard Slatkin and featuring pianist Lang Lang. The DSO first performed the piece in February 1920, conducted by Ossip Gabrilowitsch and featuring pianist Winifred Christie. Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 Composed 1944 Premiered January 1945 SERGEI PROKOFIEV B. April 23, 1891, Sontsivka, Ukraine D. March 5, 1953, Moscow, Russia Scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano, and strings. (Approx. 46 minutes) Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 5 at the Soviet Composers Retreat during the summer of I conceived it as a symphony of the grandeur of the human spirit, he wrote. Though the retreat took pace in the pastoral city of Ivanovo which was not targeted during World War II intense fighting between the Axis powers and Soviet armed forces continued not far away. The symphony s accessible style and unmistakable optimism suggest that the human spirit it extols is that of the Russian people nearing their hour of victory over the Nazi invaders. Without fanfare or introduction, the main theme of the opening movement sounds in the flute and bassoon. Prokofiev explores this broadly flowing melody at length before presenting a second, rather more intimate and gracious subject in the oboes and flutes. The development of these ideas proves extensive, frequently involving different thematic fragments set against each other in simple but convincing counterpoint. The scherzo-like second movement recalls the style of Prokofiev s pre-soviet period. We hear not only his characteristic humor (in the opening clarinet solo) but the brittle textures, driving rhythms, and colorful, sometimes garish orchestration that gained the composer considerable notoriety during the 1920s. There follows a lyrical Adagio, whose principal melody unfolds over an accompaniment of steady triplets in the strings. A contrasting central section moves toward darker thoughts, with anguished cries plummeting from the upper registers of the woodwinds. A brief prelude in slow tempo, built around recollections of the symphony s opening measures, introduces the finale. This movement also uses two principal subjects: a melody presented at the outset by Prokofiev s favorite instrument, the clarinet, and a more pastoral idea heard in the flute and clarinet. These lighthearted themes are soon balanced by a soberer thought that rises hymnlike from the low strings midway through the movement. The DSO most recently performed Prokofiev s Symphony No. 5 in May 2016, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. The DSO first performed the piece in November 1946, conducted by Karl Krueger. dso.org DSO PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE 31

Profiles LUDOVIC MORLOT The French conductor Ludovic Morlot has served as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony since 2011.

Berliner Philharmoniker, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and others. Morlot and the Seattle Symphony recently presented the world premiere of Caroline Shaw s Piano Concerto, and the U.S. premiere of Pascal Dusapin s At Swim-Two-Birds.

5 Profiles LUDOVIC MORLOT The French conductor Ludovic Morlot has served as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony since He regularly appears as a guest conductor with premier orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and others. Morlot and the Seattle Symphony recently presented the world premiere of Caroline Shaw s Piano Concerto, and the U.S. premiere of Pascal Dusapin s At Swim-Two-Birds. Under Morlot, the Seattle Symphony has released several successful recordings, two of which have won Grammy Awards. They recently released a box set of music by Henri Dutilleux to mark the 100th anniversary of the composer s birth. Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting at the Pierre Monteux School with Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo. He continued his education at the Royal Academy of Music and then at the Royal College of Music as recipient of the Norman del Mar Conducting Fellowship. Morlot was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 in recognition of his significant contribution to music. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle. Ludovic Morlot has previously appeared with the DSO once, leading a program of Debussy, Joan Tower, Vivaldi, and Elgar in November HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD Hélène Grimaud began her piano studies in her native France, first in Aix-en-Provence and then Marseilles, before being accepted to the Paris Conservatory at age 13. Her career began in earnest in 1987, when conductor Daniel Barenboim invited her to perform with the Orchestre de Paris. Since then, she has performed with many of the world s leading conductors, orchestras, festivals, and ensembles. Grimaud has recorded exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon since Her most recent album is Memory, released in September 2018 and comprising evanescent miniatures by Chopin, Debussy, Satie, and Valentin Silvestrov. Other recordings in her catalog have won numerous accolades, includes the Cannes Classical Recording of the Year, Diapason d or, Record Academy Prize (Tokyo), and Echo Klassik Award. Grimaud s love for the world s endangered species was sparked by a chance encounter with a wolf in northern Florida. This led her to open the Wolf Conservation Center, a nonprofit that protects and educates the world about wolves. She is also a member of the organization Musicians for Human Rights and has published three books: Variations Sauvages, Leçons particulières, and Retour à Salem. MOST RECENT APPEARANCE WITH THE DSO: February 2016, performing Brahms s Piano Concerto No. 2 (cond. Leonard Slatkin) FIRST APPEARANCE WITH THE DSO: November 1992, performing R. Strauss s Burleske (cond. Neeme Järvi) 32 DSO PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE SPRING 2019

Symphony in C Igor Stravinksy

Symphony in C Igor Stravinksy One of the towering figures of twentieth-century music, Igor Stravinsky was born in Oranienbaum, Russia on June 17, 1882 and died in New York City on April 6, 1971. While