Concert of Sunday, November 4, 2018, at 3p Overture Concert Stephen Mulligan, Conductor Jason Guo, piano ASYO Concerto Competition Winner George Enescu (1881-1955) Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A Major, Opus 11 (1901) Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in C minor, Opus 18 (1901) III. Allegro scherzando Jason Guo, piano Intermission Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Opus 73 (1877) I. Allegro non troppo II. Adagio non troppo III. Allegretto grazioso (Quasi Andantino) IV. Allegro con spirito
Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A Major, Opus11 (1901) George Enescu was born in Liveni Vîrnav (now George Enescu), Romania, on August 19, 1881, and died in Paris, France on May 3/4, 1955. The first performance of the Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1 took place at the Salle Gaveau in Paris in on February 7, 1908, with the composer conducting. The Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1 is scored for piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, triangle, side drum, cymbals, and strings. Approximate performance time is thirteen minutes. Romanian musician George Enescu excelled as a violinist, conductor, composer, and teacher of the first rank. Most of Enescu s artistic life was centered in Paris. Among his pupils were several eminent violinists, including Arthur Grumiaux and Yehudi Menuhin. Enescu also made several visits to the United States, the earliest in 1923. Despite his busy international schedule, Enescu found time to return to his native country, where he contributed much to Rumanian musical life. George Enescu was a versatile composer, whose works include chamber pieces, shorter orchestral works, five symphonies, and the lyric tragedy, Oedipe. However, Enescu remains best known for his two Rumanian Rhapsodies, Opus 11. Enescu conducted the premieres of the Rhapsodies at a February 7, 1908 concert, organized by the legendary Spanish cellist, Pablo Casals. The Rhapsody opens with a playful tune introduced by the winds, and said to be inspired by the song I have a Coin and I Want a Drink. A series of charming melodies follows, each demonstrating Enescu s considerable talents for orchestral color. Eventually, the pace quickens, as the music assumes the character a vigorous folk-dance. The furious activity comes to a brief pause before the Rhapsody finally speeds to a stirring finish. Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra in C minor, Opus 18 (1901) Sergei Rachmaninov was born in Semyonovo, Russia, on April 1, 1873, and died in Beverly Hills, California, on March 28, 1943. The first performance of the Second Piano Concerto took place in Moscow, Russia, on November 9, 1901, with the composer as soloist and Alexander Siloti conducting the Moscow Philharmonic Society. In addition to the solo piano, the Concerto No. 2 is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, and strings. Approximate performance time of the third movement is eleven minutes. When Sergei Rachmaninov completed his First Symphony in August of 1895, he was 22, and brimming with all the confidence of youth. I imagined that there
was nothing I could not do and had great hopes for the future, he later recalled. Rachmaninov s First Symphony received its premiere in St. Petersburg on March 15, 1897, with composer Alexander Glazunov conducting. The performance was a disaster, and immediately after the final notes sounded, Rachmaninov fled, horrified, into the street. While Rachmaninov was able to escape the confines of the theater, he still had to face the wrath of the critics. Russian composer César Cui wrote in the St. Petersburg News: If there were a conservatory in Hell, if one of its many talented students were instructed to write a programme symphony on the Seven Plagues of Egypt, and if he were to compose a symphony like Mr. Rachmaninov s, then he would have fulfilled his task brilliantly and would delight the inhabitants of Hell. It s not surprising that Rachmaninov was devastated by this disastrous turn of events. He lapsed into a deep depression. Rachmaninov s friends were alarmed by his profound depression and tried all forms of cures to buoy his spirits. Finally, they convinced Rachmaninov that he should consult Dr. Nikolai Dahl, a doctor who had gained some prominence for his employment of suggestion and auto-suggestion. Between January and April of 1900, Rachmaninov visited Dr. Dahl on a daily basis. Rachmaninov told Dahl that he had promised to compose a Piano Concerto. Dr. Dahl set about treating his patient: I heard the same hypnotic formula repeated day after day while I lay half asleep in the armchair in Dr. Dahl's study. You will begin to write your Concerto...You will work with great facility...the Concerto will be of an excellent quality... It was always the same, without interruption. Although it may sound incredible, this cure really helped me. Already at the beginning of the summer I began again to compose. The material grew in bulk, and new musical ideas began to stir within me far more than I needed for my Concerto. Rachmaninov completed the final two movements of his Second Piano Concerto in the autumn of 1900 and performed them at a Moscow charity concert on October 14. Rachmaninov added the opening movement in the spring of the following year and appeared as soloist in the November 9, 1901 premiere of the entire Second Concerto. The composer readily acknowledged Dr. Dahl s role in the creation of one of the most popular works of the 20 th century, and dedicated the Concerto to him. The Concerto is in three movements. The finale (Allegro scherzando) is based upon two themes, the second, one of Rachmaninov s most beloved. That theme makes a glorious return in the Concerto s closing measures. Symphony No. 2 In D Major, Opus 73 (1877)
Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany, on May 7, 1833, and died in Vienna, Austria, on April 3, 1897. The first performance of the Symphony No. 2 took place in the concert hall of the Musikverein in Vienna on December 30, 1877, with Hans Richter conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. The Symphony No. 2 is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings. Approximate performance time is forty-one minutes. In 1870, Brahms wrote to conductor Hermann Levi: I shall never write a symphony. You have no idea how the likes of us feel when we hear the tramp of a giant like him beside us. The giant Brahms feared was Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), whose Nine Symphonies form the cornerstone of the orchestral repertoire. Although he attempted the composition of a symphony as early as 1854, it wasn t until 1876 that the 43-year-old Brahms gathered the courage to complete his First (in C minor, Opus 68). The Symphony No. 1 received its premiere on November 4, 1876. The premiere and early subsequent performances were far from unqualified triumphs. Nevertheless, Brahms had finally cast aside his trepidation about composing in a genre that invited comparisons to Beethoven. Brahms spent the following summer in Pörtschach, a tiny Austrian village on Lake Wörth. It was there, between the months of June and September 1877, that Brahms composed his Second Symphony. Brahms found Pörtschach a congenial place for musical inspiration. In addition to the Second Symphony, Brahms composed his Violin Concerto (1878), the G-Major Violin Sonata (1878-9), and Two Piano Rhapsodies (1879) while vacationing at the peaceful lakeside village. The first performance of the Brahms Second Symphony took place on December 30, 1877, at the concert hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. The eminent conductor, Hans Richter, led the Vienna Philharmonic. The D-Major Symphony seems to reflect the composer s relaxed state of mind during the happy summer of 1877. The lyrical character of the work sometimes referred to as Brahms s Pörtschach or Pastoral Symphony certainly is in marked contrast to the storm and stress that pervades the C-minor First (although to be sure, the Second Symphony has its moments of conflict as well, particularly in the first two movements). Brahms referred to his Second Symphony as a charming new monster and, in typically self-deprecating fashion, told his friend, Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, that it was merely a little Sinfonia. That of course, is hardly the case, and in spite of Brahms s protestations to critic Eduard Hanslick that there is nothing clever about it, the Second Symphony is a remarkably intricate and unified
composition. In its own genial fashion, the D-Major Symphony is as musically and dramatically rewarding as its heroic predecessor. The Symphony No. 2 is in four movements. The first (Allegro non troppo) opens with the cellos and basses intoning a three-note motif that will return in various guises throughout the Symphony. The movement also includes a waltz-like theme that recalls the composer s beloved Lullaby, Opus 49, No. 4 (1868). The slow-tempo second movement (Adagio non troppo) alternates lyrical repose with moments of tension, not resolved until the final bars. The third movement (Allegretto grazioso) opens with the oboe s presentation of the sprightly principal melody that returns throughout, alternating with fleet interludes. The concluding movement (Allegro con spirito), the most cheerful finale among Brahms s Four Symphonies, radiates energy and optimism from start to finish.