Concerts of Thursday, November 5, and Saturday, November 7, 2015, at 8:00p.

Transcription

1 Concerts of Thursday, November 5, and Saturday, November 7, 2015, at 8:00p. Robert Spano, Conductor Jonathan Leshnoff (b. 1973) Symphony No. 2 ( Innerspace ) (2014) I. Broad, Maestoso II. : Netzach, Fast and Intense III. Slow IV. Fast V. Unimaginable World Premiere, Commissioned by Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Intermission Ludwig van Beethoven ( ) Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Opus 92 (1812) I. Poco sostenuto; Vivace II. Allegretto III. Presto; Assai meno presto IV. Allegro con brio

2 Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer Symphony No. 2, Innerspace (2014) Jonathan Leshnoff was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on September 8, The Symphony No. 2 is scored for piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, two tenor trombones, alto trombone, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, crash cymbals (small, medium and large), snare drum, mounted kick drum, two toms, xylophone, congas, bongos, vibraphone, three log drums, bass drum, large crash cymbals, vibraphone, harp, and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-five minutes. These are the world premiere performances. Jonathan Leshnoff Jonathan Leshnoff s compositions have earned international acclaim for their accessible melodies, structural complexity and weighty themes. Commissioned by Carnegie Hall as well as the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville and Kansas City Symphony Orchestras, his compositions have been performed by over 45 orchestras worldwide. He has written for Gil Shaham, Manuel Barrueco, Ricardo Morales and Jessica Rivera. His catalog includes three symphonies, ten concerti, four string quartets, three oratorios, and over 50 works. Born in 1973, Leshnoff currently resides in Baltimore where he is a Professor of Music at Towson University. Leshnoff s season will be his busiest yet. February will see Gil Shaham and the Knights Orchestra premiere Leshnoff s Chamber Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. In April, the Philadelphia Orchestra will premiere his Clarinet Concerto, which it commissioned from Leshnoff, under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. And in May, Leshnoff s Symphony No. 3, commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony, will receive its first performances. Symphony No. 2, Innerspace On March 6, 2014, at Symphony Hall, soloist Jeffrey Khaner, Music Director Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performed Jonathan Leshnoff s Flute Concerto (2009). Maestro Spano and the ASO commissioned Mr. Leshnoff to compose his Symphony No. 2. That work receives its world premiere at these concerts. When I was in college, I read a book by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Innerspace (Moznaim Publishing Corporation, Brooklyn, New York, 1990), which started a 23-year journey into and discovery of my Jewish heritage. This book explains the deepest levels of the Jewish religion, exposing in the most profound and sublime way

3 that I have ever seen the basic structure that holds the entire religion together. Rabbi Kaplan explains the ancient mystical concept of olomos (pronounced oh-lohm-ohs) universes. The basic idea being that G-d s unique essence is too powerful for any other being to exist; as such, He had to occlude His perceptibility for anything else to even exist. This occlusion occurs in 5 stages, with the last stage leaving room for our existence. The first stage is a barrier separating Him from anything else, infinitely high from us, but infinitely lower than G-d. Each stage is a universe. The structure of my symphony parallels these five universes. Starting with clarion brass, my symphony begins with the lowest universe, which is our universe (Broad, Maestoso). The music starts with a jolt, but ends quickly and inconclusively, in quiet contemplation. The second movement (Fast and Intense) is furious, with restless energy from start to finish. This movement is associated with the Hebrew letter Vav and Netzach, meaning overpowering, as in when a teacher overwhelms a students with overabundance of knowledge. The third movement, slow and expansive, opens and closes with a hushed episode scored for harp and strings. These episodes frame intense lines that explode with tremendous force. The penultimate movement (Fast) is unceasing in momentum. Suddenly, that momentum halts (attaca Largo), leading to the final movement (Unimaginable). This brief, final movement, consists of a mere single note by the first clarinet and a rest, which was the first idea in my mind. In a sense, I had to write the whole symphony just for this last note. My symphony is dedicated to 3 people who have changed my universe. First, is Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, as Innerspace still speaks to me to this day. Second is Evans Mirageas, friend and advisor, always helpful and with wise advice. The final dedicatee is Robert Spano. Maestro Spano inspires me. He inspires me to go higher and higher to reach places I never thought I could. And he is right there to breathe life into what I wrote, going even higher. Jonathan Leshnoff Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Opus 92 (1812) Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in Bonn, Germany, on December 17, 1770, and died in Vienna, Austria, on March 26, The first performance of the Seventh Symphony took place in the Hall of the University of Vienna on December 8, 1813, with the composer conducting. The Symphony No. 7 is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. Approximate performance time is

4 thirty-eight minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performance: October 26, 1947, Henry Sopkin, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: April 10, 11, and 13, 2014, Donald Runnicles, Conductor. Robert Shaw Performances: (Subscription, unless otherwise noted): November 16, 1967; November 20, December 1 and 2, 1967 (Tour); September 16, 17, and 18, 1976; October 5, 6, 7, and 9, 1976 (Tour); October 24, 1976 (Special); June 15, 1980 (Atlanta Parks); January 15, 16, and 17, 1981; February 6, March 3, 23, 24, and 27, 1981 (Tour); November 29 and 30, December 1, 1984; January 27, 1985 (Runout); March 13 and 16, 1985 (Tour); April 22, 1985 (Special); May 8, 1985 (Campus Series); May 9, 1985 (Special); September 29, 1987 (Great Performers). Vienna s Court Mechanician The fall of 1812 marked the beginning of the end of Napoleon Bonaparte s domination of Europe. In October of that year, Napoleon and his troops were forced to retreat from Moscow when the Russians deserted, and then burned, their Holy City. On June 21, 1813, the forces of Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, soundly thrashed Napoleon s army at Vitoria. On August 12, Austria declared war on France. Napoleon then suffered a major defeat on October 16 in the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig. Emotions ran high throughout Europe including Ludwig van Beethoven s Vienna, a city that had suffered great hardship under Napoleon s relentless pursuit of French omnipotence. By the time of these events, Beethoven had befriended Johann Nepomuk Maelzel ( ). Maelzel, an inventor and tireless self-promoter, was known as the Court Mechanician of Vienna. Maelzel had created several ear trumpets to help Beethoven cope with his ever-increasing deafness. Maelzel also fashioned numerous musical devices, such as The Musical Chronometer, a predecessor to his own metronome. Other Maelzel inventions included the Mechanical Trumpeter and the Panharmonicon devices that could reproduce the sounds of various orchestral instruments. In celebration of Napoleon s Russian defeat, Maelzel produced an elaborate animated musical spectacle, The Conflagration of Moscow. After Wellington s triumph in Vitoria, Maelzel approached Beethoven with the idea of composing a celebratory piece featuring the Panharmonicon. Beethoven responded with Wellington s Victory. Maelzel then suggested that Beethoven create an orchestral adaptation of Wellington's Victory for presentation in a series of gala concerts that would also include a new Symphony by the esteemed composer. Beethoven, who had been working on his Seventh Symphony during the previous two years, enthusiastically agreed. The first of these concerts, held on December 8, 1813, at the grand Hall of the University of Vienna, was presented for the benefit of wounded Austrian and Bavarian soldiers. Beethoven himself served as

5 conductor. Beethoven on the Podium Because of Beethoven s participation in the concert and its philanthropic mission, Maelzel was able to convince several of Vienna s eminent musicians to play in the Orchestra. Ignaz Schuppanzigh, leader of Count Razumovsky s quartet, served as first violinist. Antonio Salieri cued the drums and salvos. Among the percussionists were Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ignaz Moscheles, and Giacomo Meyerbeer (although Beethoven complained that Meyerbeer always entered after the beat!). Another violinist at the December 8, 1813 concert was composer Louis Spohr, who offered this colorful description of Beethoven as conductor: Often as I had heard of it, it surprised me extremely. He was accustomed to convey the marks of expression to the band by the most peculiar motions of his body. Thus at a sforzando he tore his arms, which were crossed before on his breast, violently apart. At a piano he crouched down, bending lower the softer the tone. At the crescendo he raised himself by degrees until at the forte he sprang up to his full height; and without knowing it, would often at the same time shout aloud. Despite this unorthodox podium manner and the difficulties that must have been posed by Beethoven s impaired hearing, the concert proved to be one of the great public triumphs of the composer s career. The audience cheered Wellington s Victory and insisted upon an encore of the Seventh Symphony s Allegretto. By popular demand, the entire concert was repeated four days later, raising another 4,000 florins for the wounded soldiers. Quite ripe for the madhouse Still, Beethoven s reliance upon the briefest of rhythmic motifs often presented with relentless, and even frightening energy inspired some negative reactions. Musician Friederich Wieck, father of Clara Wieck Schumann, attended the first rehearsal of the Beethoven Seventh. Wieck recalled that the general consensus among musicians and laymen alike was that Beethoven must have composed the Symphony, particularly its outer movements, in a drunken state ( trukenen Zustande ). Carl Maria von Weber, after hearing the Symphony for the first time, reportedly stated that Beethoven was now quite ripe for the madhouse. On the other hand, Richard Wagner, in one of the most famous appraisals of a Beethoven Symphony, hailed the finale as the apotheosis of the dance. Two centuries after its premiere, Beethoven s Seventh continues to captivate and amaze audiences with its irrepressible momentum and dramatic fire. It remains one of the most powerful symphonic creations. Musical Analysis I. Poco sostenuto; Vivace The opening movement begins with the most ambitious slow introduction (Poco sostenuto) of any Beethoven Symphony. At

6 the conclusion of the introduction, the flute offers premonitions of the central theme, and then launches the Vivace with a full statement of that initial subject a sprightly dance melody in 6/8 time. After a brief pause, the entire orchestra joins in a festive proclamation of the main theme. The subsidiary themes and ensuing development indeed the entire Vivace are based upon the dotted eighth/sixteenth/eighth-note motif that is the nucleus of the principal theme. Another dramatic pause leads to a coda that builds to a stunning finish. II. Allegretto A foreboding chord in the woodwinds and horns introduces an equally ominous march figure, played by the violas, cellos, and bases. The tension increases during a series of variations that ultimately erupt in a fortissimo orchestral outburst. Following a diminuendo, a contrasting lyrical section appears, prominently featuring the winds. After a varied reprise of the principal sections, a brief coda offers fragments of the march figure, capped by a reprise of the opening chord. III. Presto; Assai meno presto The scherzo (Presto) begins with a forte orchestral outburst, immediately followed by a quicksilver figure in the winds and strings. Various sections of the orchestra engage in lively dialogue, as the scherzo grows in power. The trio section (Assai meno presto) begins in far more tranquil fashion, but soon moves to a grand statement as well. The scherzo and trio sections repeat, but what initially appears to be a third statement of the trio is truncated by five brusque fortissimo chords. IV. Allegro con brio The finale is a miraculous combination of academic structure (sonata form) and Dionysian abandon. After a brief, fortissimo introduction, the first violins launch into the scurrying principal theme of the finale. The subsidiary themes (a descending phrase and a skipping motif, both introduced by the first violins), while offering some contrast, do little to slow the breathless pace. It is not until the terse final measures that the whirlwind of activity comes to a stunning halt.