PROGRAM NOTES for It s About Time (March, 2015) John Stafford Smith (1750 1836) Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) The Star-Spangled Banner The Star-Spangled Banner is the official song of the United States our national anthem. The words come from a poem called Defence of Fort M'Henry. An American lawyer named Francis Scott Key wrote it on the back of a letter he had in his pocket, after watching British ships fire on an American fort during the War of 1812. The poem was given the tune of a well-known British song that had been written by John Stafford Smith for a men's club in London. The new song was named The Star-Spangled Banner and became very popular. It was chosen by Congress to be our national anthem in 1931. The poem has four verses, but today we just sing the first one. At many sports events like baseball or hockey games, you will hear our national anthem sung before the game begins. At the Symphony, the whole audience sings it before the first concert every fall. In case you don't know the words, here they are: Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? 1
Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) Unter Donner und Blitz (Thunder and Lightning) Polka, op.* 324 Unter Donner und Blitz means Under Thunder and Lightning. It was written in 1868 and you may have heard it before. It has been used in everything from cartoons and movies to circus performances. It is a fast polka, a kind of dance, written in 2/4 time, that makes you want to get up and gallop around the room. This type of polka is sometimes called the explosion polka. It certainly sounds like it could explode at any minute with all its drums and cymbal crashes! Johann Strauss lived in Vienna, the capital city of Austria, in the 19th century. There he wrote more than 500 waltzes, polkas, and other kinds of dance tunes. Because of his music, waltzes became hugely popular in Vienna, and his polkas came close behind. In fact, he is often called "The Waltz King." Before Strauss, both waltzes and polkas were dances for farmers and country people. His music made them the favorite dances of the nobles and royalty of Europe. Strauss's father and brother were also composers, but he was the most famous of all of them. Today in Vienna and all around the world, people still celebrate New Year's Eve by going to formal dances or balls, where couples whirl around the floor to Johann Strauss's dance music. * Op. stands for opus, a word that means 'work.' A composer's first published composition would be labeled opus 1 ('first work'). Then the second piece would be opus 2, and so on. 2
Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Danse Boheme from Carmen This music is from an opera* named Carmen, about a Gypsy woman in Spain. Danse Boheme means Gypsy Dance. When Carmen sings it in a tavern full of her friends, we can hear the Gypsy women dance and whirl. Their bright red and orange dresses flash in the light. The coins sewn into their clothes and their copper rings and bracelets glitter as they move, and the Gypsy men are bewitched as they watch. The music starts so softly that you can hardly hear it. But listen: as it gets louder and faster, you can almost see the Gypsies dance. Danse Boheme is a waltz in 3/4 time. Carmen's first performance was in Paris in 1875. At first people did not like the opera. They thought the story was shocking, because the Gypsy woman Carmen seemed dangerous, and the ending was tragic. Just a few weeks after its first performance, Georges Bizet, its young composer, died. Soon afterwards, his opera became wildly popular. Bizet was born in Paris. He was a child wonder in music, and went to the most important music school in France when he was just nine years old. To earn his living he played piano for singers and worked on other people's music. But he also won many prizes for his own music in his short life, and Carmen is still one of the best loved of all operas. * An opera is a story acted out on stage, like a play. However unlike plays or musicals, all the words are sung instead of spoken. Dances are often included in operas. 3
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) March from The Love for Three Oranges The Love for Three Oranges is an opera that tells the story of a prince who has made a wicked witch angry. She sends him to look for three oranges. To his surprise, he finds a princess hidden in each one. Of course, he falls in love with the third princess. But this is a fairy tale, so he has many adventures before he can marry her. Prokofiev, who wrote the opera, uses it to make fun of many older operas. Because we have two feet, it is easiest to walk or march to a count of 2/4 (one, two / one, two / one, two), or 4/4 (one, two, three, four / one, two, three, four). The orchestra will play you the most famous music in this opera, a March in 4/4 time. As you listen to it, picture everybody in the price's palace marching stiffly about, looking important and a little silly. Prokofiev was born in 1891 in a country called Ukraine, which belonged to Russia then. He lived for many years in the United States and in France. Finally he returned to Russia to spend the rest of his life. He is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, who wrote everything: symphonies, operas, music for movies and much more. He wrote one of his most famous works for children, a story about Peter and the Wolf. Each character in the story Peter, his grandfather, a bird, a duck and a cat, a group of hunters, and of course: the wolf has his own tune or theme that is always played by one kind of instrument. For example, the bird's tune is played by a flute. If you ever hear Peter and the Wolf, it might remind you of the March from The Love for Three Oranges. 4
Lalo Schifrin (b. 1932) Mission: Impossible Suite (arranged by M. Townend) Mission: Impossible was first a famous TV series and then a movie franchise. Both tell stories about a group of spies and inventors and adventurers. They travel around the world trying to solve the most difficult and dangerous crimes impossible missions. The stories are filled with bad guys, gunfights, and explosions. Can you feel the danger when you listen to the music? It begins with drums that sound almost like an army is coming. Then come the big brass instruments. What do you think they are saying? Is it a warning? Then the flutes begin their song and things start moving very fast. Can you see people running? This music is written in 5/4 time. Lalo Schifrin, who wrote the music, joked that it is for people with five legs. Does it feel jerky to you? Does that make it more exciting? More frightening? Schifrin writes and conducts music, and plays piano. He has won many prizes for his music for movies and TV, but the most famous of all is this music for Mission: Impossible. 5
Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) El sombrero de tres picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) is a ballet* with music written by Manuel de Falla in 1917. It tells the story of a foolish judge in a small Spanish village whose three-cornered hat shows his importance. He thinks he is very grand and is sure that all the ladies like him. One who doesn't like him is the village miller's wife. When the judge tries to arrest the miller, everything gets confused. The judge ends up in the miller's clothes, and finally he is the one who almost gets arrested. Most of us think it serves him right. The music that you will hear is written in 6/8 time. It is called the Jota (Final Dance) and comes at the end of the ballet. De Falla learned to play piano from his mother and grandfather when he was a child, and on your classroom CD, the Jota is played on the piano. At the Symphony concert, you will hear the full orchestra play the music. Many think that De Falla is the greatest twentieth century Spanish composer. In Madrid, Spain's capital city, he studied music from different parts of Spain especially flamenco from Andalusia. Later he lived in Paris and learned from many famous French composers. Other great artists worked with him on the ballet El sombrero de tres picos. One of these was the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who designed its sets and costumes. * A ballet is a story told without words, by dancers acting and dancing on stage. 6
Dave Brubeck (1920-2012) Unsquare Dance (arranged by Christopher Brubeck) Dave Brubeck was one of the most famous jazz musicians of all time, a pianist, bandleader, and composer. He was born just 50 miles north of San Jose, in Concord, California, and went to school in Oakland. He grew up as a cowboy in Northern California (his father was a champion roper, which means a cowboy who ropes cattle from horseback). But Dave fell in love with music when he was very young. He never liked reading written music. Instead he learned it by ear, and remembered it his whole long life. Different kinds of jazz have their own labels, and Brubeck's music is part of "Cool Jazz," or "West Coast Jazz." His music was complicated; it broke rules and went on adventures. It is also easy to listen to and full of melody, like song. Brubeck took his jazz groups to perform all over the world. He also wrote hundreds of works, and recorded many of them. His best-known recording was called "Time Out," and the most famous piece of music on it is called 'Take Five, which is in the meter 5/4. Brubeck liked to experiment with unusual meters. The piece that you will hear Symphony Silicon Valley perform is called 'Unsquare Dance,' and it is written in 7/4! He wrote other works in 13/4 and 9/8. You can experiment with the meter of 'Unsquare Dance' yourself. See if you can divide the beats of the song into groups of 4 plus 3 (one two three four, one two three, one two three four, one two three). If it gets confusing, don't worry. You will be practicing it with the full orchestra. 7