SoNA Masterworks I. Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a. Élégie, Op. 24 INTERMISSION. Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "SoNA Masterworks I. Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a. Élégie, Op. 24 INTERMISSION. Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World"

Lionel Tyrone Knight
5 years ago
Views:

1 SoNA Masterworks I Saturday, November 7, 2015, 7:30 pm Walton Arts Center Paul Haas, conductor Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a JOHANNES BRAHMS Chorale St. Anthony: Andante Variation I: Poco più animato Variation II: Più vivace Variation III: Con moto Variation IV: Andante con moto Variation V: Vivace Variation VI: Vivace Variation VII: Grazioso Variation VIII: Presto non troppo Finale: Andante Élégie, Op. 24 GABRIEL FAURÉ Kari Caldwell holds the Starr Foundation s Cello Chair INTERMISSION Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World ANTONÍN DVORÁK Adagio; Allegro molto Largo Molto vivace Allegro con fuoco Presenting Sponsor:

2 Program Notes Maestro Paul Haas opens this season of SoNA s Masterworks Series with a thoughtful, multi-layered program that salutes past, present and future. The first half of the program features works that are retrospective, while after intermission we hear a great symphony embracing both old and new. We open with Johannes Brahms s Variations on a Theme by Haydn. The theme was actually a traditional chorale tune that the Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn had used in a suite for wind band. Brahms was paying dual homage: to beloved melodies familiar to church-goers, and to his Austrian predecessor. These variations were Brahms s most significant orchestral work prior to his First Symphony, which he completed in 1876 after a lengthy gestation period. The Haydn Variations established him as an orchestral master, and heralded the rich symphonic harvest that lay ahead. Gabriel Fauré probably conceived his Élégie as the slow movement to a sonata for cello and piano. That sonata never came to fruition; however, the Élégie became so popular that a conductor persuaded Fauré to orchestrate it. By definition, elegies are songs of lament or praise for the dead. One theory is that Fauré wrote this one in response to the tragic early death in 1875 of his friend Georges Bizet, composer of the opera Carmen. Regardless, this beautiful movement is fraught with pathos. The Élégie touches the heart with unforgettable melodies and a soaring cello line. Antonín Dvorák ˇ was Czech through and through, but he responded to folk music wherever he went. During his historic trip to the United States in 1892, he became acquainted first with spirituals, then with the indigenous music of Native Americans. Fascinated with this unfamiliar yet compelling repertoire, he synthesized its themes with the rhythms of Bohemian music in his Symphony No. 9, From the New World. In a way, Dvorák ˇ was a visionary, recognizing that America had a great future in cultivating her own distinctive music. Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a Johannes Brahms Born 7 May, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany Died 3 April, 1897 in Vienna, Austria One of Franz Joseph Haydn s important early biographers was an organist, composer and music historian by the name of Carl Ferdinand Pohl ( ). Late in 1870, Pohl showed Johannes Brahms the score of a divertimento attributed to Haydn called Feldpartita, whose second movement was a setting of the traditional pilgrims march known as Chorale St. Antoni. Brahms was quite taken by the work s unusual scoring for oboes, horns, bassoons, and serpent [a sixteenth-century bass cornett] and the rich potential of the simple, asymmetrical melody. Three years later he selected the chorale theme as the subject for variations. That work, the Variations on a Theme by Haydn, so absorbed him that two major versions ensued: the first for two pianos, then the orchestral piece we hear this evening. Brahms scholar Michael Musgrave calls the Variations Brahms s finest score; certainly it is the most important orchestral work to precede the First Symphony. Other than substituting contrabassoon for the original serpent, Brahms preserved the original Feldpartita instrumentation, emphasizing the lovely woodwind timbres throughout the variations. The result is a work transparent in texture and largely free of the densely woven sound generally associated with Brahms s symphonies. The chorale theme, introduced by winds and pizzicato strings at the outset, is recognizable throughout each variation, with rhythm and harmony strictly observed. Brahms s principal technique of elaborating on the theme is counterpoint: from simple inversion of parts to more intricate fugal textures. His contrapuntal sophistication never interferes with the work s transcendent beauty, however, and one leaves a performance of this lovely piece humming the noble theme for days afterward. The Variations are scored for woodwinds in pairs plus piccolo and contrabassoon; four horns, two trumpets, timpani, triangle and strings. Élégie for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 24 Gabriel Fauré Born 12 May, 1845 in Pamiers, Ariège, France Died 4 November, 1924 in Paris Of all the string instruments, the cello sounds most like the human voice. Its warm timbre and wide range combine to make it an enormously expressive instrument, with a great capacity for melody. The nineteenthcentury French master Gabriel Fauré understood this, and composed several of his finest solo works for cello. The Élégie dates from 1880, and in its original version was a duo for cello and piano. Musical scholars believe that he probably conceived it as the slow movement of a sonata that he did not complete. In a June 1880 letter to his publisher, Julien Hamelle, he wrote: I was very sorry you could not be at Saint-Saëns s on Monday. My cello piece was excellently received, which greatly encourages me to go on and do the whole sonata. That private performance in the composer Camille Saint-Saëns s salon was followed by a formal première in Paris on 15 December 1883 at the Société Nationale de Musique in Paris. The cellist was Jules Loeb (who also received the Élégie s dedication); the composer played piano. Not until twelve years later did he orchestrate it in the version we hear tonight. A French conductor, Édouard Colonne, encouraged him to do so, recognizing that the piece could reach a broader audience in the concert hall than it could with smaller recitals. The Élégie is an easy work to follow, even on a first hearing. The cello states the melody three times, then recedes to an accompanying role as the clarinet and oboe carry the melodic weight for much of the middle section. Eventually, of course, the cellist has his turn at their theme as well. A reprise of the poignant opening melody has drama because it is introduced by cadenza-like figuration, building to fortissimo volume with an intense, agitated orchestral accompaniment. Fauré closes his Elégie quietly and peacefully, recalling the beauty of the middle section. Fauré scored the Élégie for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, solo cello and strings. Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 (From the New World) Antonín Dvorák ˇ Born 8 September, 1841 in Mühlhausen (Nelahozeves), Bohemia Died 1 May, 1904 in Prague, Czechoslovakia Misunderstood masterpiece In spite of the fact that I have moved about in the great world of music, I shall remain what I have always been a simple Czech musician. These words of Dvorák ˇ are uncannily apt when considering the familiar, beloved and

3 Soloist misunderstood New World Symphony. Sketched and written between December 1892 and May 1893 when Dvorák ˇ had come to New York to head the new National Conservatory of Music of America, the piece was ridiculed at its premiere because of its alleged incorporation of American Indian tunes. The critics did acknowledge the symphony s individuality and its unique mesh of Czech and American elements. In fact, Dvorák ˇ never intended to directly appropriate American Negro or Indian folk song; some years later, in 1900, he wrote to his former student Oskar Nedbal declaring of the New World Symphony: I have only composed in the spirit of such American national melodies. Connections to indigenous American music Late in 1892, Dvorák ˇ became acquainted through Henry Thacker Burleigh with America s Negro spirituals. Since his visit to the United States, he had also been intensely curious about the native music of the American Indian tribes. Innumerable critics have commented on the strong echoes of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot in the first movement and Deep River later in the work. In fact, as Dvorák s ˇ biographer Gervase Hughes has pointed out: Folk tunes often tended (one could put it no higher than that) to be based on a pentatonic scale C, D, E, G, A (or the equivalent) indigenous to Bohemia, Somerset, the Hebrides, Ireland and the Appalachians; furthermore the old plantation songs of the deep south of North America sometimes held rhythmic inflexions similar to those of Slav folk music. Dvorák ˇ had the pleasant sagacity to capitalize on these coincidences. The result is a symphony with extraordinary and spontaneous emotional appeal. If the New World has its formal lapses, it amply compensates for them with rhythmic punch and a wealth of memorable, singable melodies that have made this symphony his most popular work. The most famous movement is, of course, the delicious Largo, which opens with a startling series of coloristic modulations from distant keys: E major to D-flat major. The immortal Goin Home melody is said to have been inspired by Dvorák s ˇ consideration of Longfellow s Hiawatha as a potential opera subject. He was drawn to the legend; nothing came of that project, but his mind was clearly churning with ideas stimulated by his exposure to Negro and American Indian musical culture. His English horn solo has become one of the best known melodies in all of classical music. Structurally, the first movement is the strongest; its rhythmic profile manifests itself in one form or another in all of the succeeding movements. Dvorák ˇ wrote a true scherzo for this symphony rather than the Czech dances he favored in other large instrumental compositions. His finale incorporates quotations from each of the preceding movements to cyclically unify the symphony. The score calls for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle, cymbals and strings. Laurie Shulman 2015 First North American Serial Rights Only Kari Caldwell is a native of Northport, New York, but has lived in Tulsa for most of her adult life. She is presently the Cellist with the Tulsa Symphony, the Tulsa Opera, SoNA and the Sunriver Music Festival in Sunriver, Oregon. As Cellist with the Tulsa Philharmonic, she was a featured soloist many times, including performances of works by Couperin, Fauré and Tchaikovsky, as well as the concertos of Haydn and Saint-Saëns. In both Tulsa and Sunriver, she has been featured in the Beethoven Triple Concerto, collaborating with violinists Marc Gottlieb and Phillip Ruder and pianists Rita Sloan and Andre-Michel Schub. She was most recently featured as soloist with the Tulsa Symphony in the Strauss tone poem Don Quixote. Kari grew up in a musical family: her father taught middle school band and private clarinet lessons, and her mother studied voice in New York City and performed regularly. She and her sister were known to sing Bach arias in the sandbox. All of Kari s siblings have degrees from music conservatories in the US. Kari graduated from the Eastman School of Music, where her principal teachers were Ronald Leonard, Alan Harris and Samuel Mayes. She won fellowship positions with the Aspen Music Festival and the Tanglewood Music Festival, where she played in a master class for Mstislav Rostropovich, and was winner of the Piatigorsky Prize. Other positions she has held include Cellist with the Des Moines Opera Festival and member of the Oklahoma and Long Island Symphonies. She has worked under many of the world s greatest conductors, including Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Klaus Tennstedt, Edo de Waart and Mstislav Rostropovich. At the University of Tulsa, Kari was on the faculty for sixteen years, teaching cello chamber music, and performing with Trio Tulsa. She has also maintained a large private studio, and served on the faculty at Oral Roberts University. Many of her former students play and teach in Tulsa, attend conservatories internationally and have won major competitions. She also has former students teaching in colleges nationally, and working in other orchestras, notably the new Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. An avid and active chamber musician, Kari has been a founding member of Trio Tulsa, the Prima String Quartet, the Anadarko String Ensemble, the Tulsa Chamber Players and the Tulsa Philharmonic String Quartet. During her tenure with them, Trio Tulsa won the David Bruce Smith Competition for the U.S. Information Agency s Artistic Ambassador Program. Under their auspices, the trio performed in Washington, DC, and toured Central and South America and the Caribbean. They also concertized throughout the region and in Tulsa for Chamber Music Tulsa, and were heard on National Public Radio s Performance Today. Kari is the immediate past president of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, a member of the Tulsa Youth Symphony Board, and is committed to advocating for the Tulsa Symphony as the cornerstone of the arts in Tulsa. Her family includes husband George, a physician and former president of the Tulsa County and Oklahoma State Medical Associations, and daughters Brenna and Rachel.

SoNA s 2015-16 Season Continues! Tickets on sale now! $28, $39, $50 sonamusic.org 479.443.

Featuring the SoNA Singers and special guest soloists.

104, London Underwritten by Bob & Marilyn Bogle Underwritten by Benton County Women of Music Valentines Pops February 6,

Masterworks III America s beloved popular musical output from the first half of the last century, with a generous helping

Poulenc, Gloria featuring Tami Petty, soprano, the SoNA Singers and the John Brown University Cathedral Choir

April 30, Sponsored by Highlands Oncology Group Special Holiday Event!

4 SoNA s Season Continues! Tickets on sale now! $28, $39, $50 sonamusic.org A Very SoNA Christmas Masterworks II December 5, :30 p.m. March 19, :30 p.m. A collection of favorite sacred and secular music celebrating the magic and beauty of Christmas. Featuring the SoNA Singers and special guest soloists. Elgar, Serenade for Strings Ibert, Concerto for flute Virginia BroffittKunzer, SoNA Flute Haydn, Symphony No. 104, London Underwritten by Bob & Marilyn Bogle Underwritten by Benton County Women of Music Valentines Pops February 6, :30 p.m. Masterworks III America s beloved popular musical output from the first half of the last century, with a generous helping of songs about love. Featuring jazz vocalist Genine LaTrice Perez. Poulenc, Gloria featuring Tami Petty, soprano, the SoNA Singers and the John Brown University Cathedral Choir Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4 Sponsored by Greenwood Gearhart, Inc. April 30, :30 p.m. Sponsored by Highlands Oncology Group Special Holiday Event! Tickets $8 SoNA & Walton Arts Center present The Snowman: A Family Concert December 6, :00 p.m. Your favorite holiday treat returns to Walton Arts Center for a second year! Experience a very special screening of the award-winning film The Snowman as SoNA musicians bring to life the extraordinary score in an afternoon that is sure to enchant your little ones. Sponsored by The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation

5 The Symphony of Northwest Arkansas November 7, 2015 PAUL HAAS, Music Director & Conductor Bob & Marilyn Bogle Chair FIRST VIOLIN Winona Fifield, Concertmaster Maestro s Circle Chair Michael Nicholson, Acting Associate Concertmaster Johann Acuna William Bush Andrew Chu Patrick Conlon Paulo Eskitch Mary Haley Elizabeth Lyon Hannah Murray Christy Paxton-Tureman Jennifer Sherman SECOND VIOLIN Miho Oda Sakon, Mt. Sequoyah Women of Music Chair Emily Bishop Jana Burton Rebecca Cutler Kent Dennis Joe Farrell Diane Halliburton Natalia Korenchuk Martha Mattes Karol Rulli VIOLA Jesse Collett, Pedro Oviedo, Associate Babette Allen Christy Genn Micah Neely Paul Roberts Phillip Wachowski Anne Wenzel CELLO Kari Caldwell, Starr Foundation Chair Bree Ahern Diane Bucchianeri Amelia Ivory Angelika Machnik-Jones You Pan BASS Jarrett Bastow, Marc Facci Noah McNair Benji Wilson FLUTE Virginia Broffitt Kunzer, Greenwood Gearhart Chair Kristen Predl, Associate Carley Flowers, piccolo OBOE Theresa Delaplain, Dan and Diane Houston Chair Andrew Baker Lise Glaser, English horn CLARINET Trevor Stewart, Jasper Hensley BASSOON Lia Uribe, Brent Fillmer Richard Bobo, contrabassoon HORN Bruce Schultz, Michael Gale Ben Korzelius Jason Hofmeister Ashley Walla, Assistant TRUMPET Richard Rulli, Ryan Gardner TROMBONE William Damron, Tenor Doug Fletcher Gerald Sloan, Bass TUBA Ryan Robinson, TIMPANI Stephen Craft, PERCUSSION Dorothy Valencia, MUSIC LIBRARIAN Marc Facci PERSONNEL MANAGER Jarrett Bastow OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Ben Harris

2018 Winter Festival America, Inspiring: Dvořák s New World Symphony

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM BY LAURIE SHULMAN, 2018 2018 Winter Festival America, Inspiring: Dvořák s New World Symphony ONE-MINUTE NOTES Britten: Simple Symphony. Britten based his Simple Symphony on piano pieces