Season 2013-2014 23 Thursday, January 16, at 8:00 Friday, January 17, at 2:00 Saturday, January 18, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Cristian Măcelaru Conductor Hai-Ye Ni Cello Borodin Polovtsian Dances, from Prince Igor I. Dance of the Polovtsian Maidens II. Polovtsian Dance Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, for cello and orchestra Intermission Tchaikovsky Serenade in C major, Op. 48, for strings I. Pezzo in forma di sonatina: Andante non troppo Allegro moderato Andante non troppo II. Walzer: Moderato. Tempo di valse III. Élégie: Larghetto elegiaco Poco più animato Tempo I IV. Finale (Tema russo): Andante Allegro con spirito Molto meno mosso Tempo I Più mosso Balakirev/orch. Liapunov Islamey This program runs approximately 1 hour, 40 minutes. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.
24 Story Title The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, renowned for its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for a legacy of innovation in music-making. The Orchestra is inspiring the future and transforming its rich tradition of achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging and exceeding that level, by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and around the world. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth artistic leader of the Orchestra in fall 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeplyrooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. Yannick has been embraced by the musicians of the Orchestra, audiences, and the community itself. His concerts of diverse repertoire attract sold-out houses, and he has established a regular forum for connecting with concertgoers through Post-Concert Conversations. Under Yannick s leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newlyreleased CD on the Deutsche Grammophon label of Stravinsky s The Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. In Yannick s inaugural season the Orchestra has also returned to the radio airwaves, with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM. Philadelphia is home and the Orchestra nurtures an important relationship not only with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center but also those who enjoy the Orchestra s other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn s Landing, and other venues. The Orchestra is also a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the U.S. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall while also enjoying annual residencies in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and at the Bravo! Vail festival. Musician-led initiatives, including highly-successful Cello and Violin Play-Ins, shine a spotlight on the Orchestra s musicians, as they spread out from the stage into the community. The Orchestra s commitment to its education and community partnership initiatives manifests itself in numerous other ways, including concerts for families and students, and ezseatu, a program that allows fulltime college students to attend an unlimited number of Orchestra concerts for a $25 annual membership fee. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.
8 Music Director Nigel Parry/CPi Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Yannick phenomenal, adding that under his baton the ensemble has never sounded better. In his first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His second builds on that momentum with highlights that include a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three leading composers have been commissioned to write solo works for three of the Orchestra s principal players; the next installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré s Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of Strauss s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production with Opera Philadelphia. Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal s Orchestre Métropolitain. In addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music s conducting fellows program in the fall of 2013. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world s most revered ensembles, and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses. Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on that label of Stravinsky s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique. A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise- Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal. To read Yannick s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.
Conductor 25 Matthew Evearitt Cristian Măcelaru is the associate conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He began his tenure as assistant conductor in September 2011; in recognition of his artistic contributions to the Orchestra, his title was elevated to associate conductor in November 2012. In addition to assisting Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he leads several subscription and non-subscription performances in the 2013-14 season. Other highlights of the season include a subscription debut with the National Symphony and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter as soloist, a return to the Chicago Symphony, and appearances with the Florida Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic, and the Alabama and San Antonio symphonies. He also returns to his home country to lead the National Radio Orchestra of Romania in Mozart s Requiem. He recently made two overwhelmingly successful appearances with the Chicago Symphony on subscription programs two seasons in a row as a replacement for Pierre Boulez. An accomplished violinist from an early age, Mr. Măcelaru was the youngest concertmaster in the history of the Miami Symphony and made his Carnegie Hall debut with that orchestra at age 19. He also played in the first violin section of the Houston Symphony for two seasons. Formerly he held the position of resident conductor at Rice University s Shepherd School of Music. A proponent of music education, Mr. Măcelaru was the founder and artistic director of the Crisalis Music Project, a program in which young musicians perform in a variety of settings, side-by-side with established, renowned artists. He also served as a conductor with the Houston Youth Symphony. Last year Mr. Măcelaru received the 2012 Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award, a prestigious honor only awarded once before in the Foundation s history. He has participated in the conducting programs of the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival, studying under David Zinman, Murry Sidlin, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Robert Spano, Oliver Knussen, and Stefan Asbury. Mr. Măcelaru s main studies were with Larry Rachleff at Rice University, where he received master s degrees in conducting and violin performance. He completed undergraduate studies in violin performance at the University of Miami. Mr. Măcelaru currently resides in Philadelphia with his wife, Cheryl, and children, Beniamin and Maria.
26 Soloist Ryan Donnell Hai-Ye Ni joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal cello at the beginning of the 2006-07 season after having served as associate principal cello of the New York Philharmonic since 1999. She first came into prominence after her critically praised New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1991, a result of her winning first prize at the Naumburg International Cello Competition; she was the youngest recipient ever of that award. She has since won first prize in the 1996 International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland and became a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2001. Her recent engagements have included a recital at the San Francisco Conservatory; a chamber music performance with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and violist Paul Neubauer at the Bravo! Vail festival; a performance with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia; and a recital at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society with pianist Cecilia Licad. Ms. Ni made her solo debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2010 with Saint-Saens s Cello Concerto No. 1. Past performances of note include Tan Dun s The Map in July 2010 at the World Expo in Shanghai with the composer conducting and appearances with pianist Lang Lang on the October 2009 Carnegie Hall series Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture. In 2004 she gave a solo recital at Carnegie Hall s Weill Recital Hall, featuring works by contemporary female composers Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Chen Yi. In 1997 Ms. Ni premiered Bright Sheng s cello concerto, Two Poems, on a 14-city United States tour, in which she replaced Yo- Yo Ma at his recommendation. Ms. Ni s recent CD, Spirit of Chimes, is a collaboration with violinist Cho-Liang Lin and pianist Helen Huang of chamber music by Zhou Long, for Delos Music. She is featured on a recording of Shostakovich s Symphony No. 5 and Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach, on the Ondine label. Her 1998 debut solo CD on the Naxos label was named CD of the week by Classic FM London. Born in Shanghai, China, in 1972, Ms. Ni began cello studies with her mother and later studied at the Shanghai Conservatory. She continued her musical education with Irene Sharp at the San Francisco Conservatory, Joel Krosnick at the Juilliard School, and William Pleeth in London.
Framing the Program 27 Parallel Events 1869 Balakirev Islamey 1874 Borodin Polovtsian Dances 1880 Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings Music Brahms Alto Rhapsody Literature Twain The Innocents Abroad Art Manet The Balcony History Opening of Suez Canal Music Grieg Peer Gynt Literature Hardy Far from the Madding Crowd Art Renoir La Loge History First American zoo founded in Philadelphia Music Offenbach The Tales of Hoffmann Literature Zola Nana Art Rodin The Thinker History First Boer War The Philadelphia Orchestra s Tchaikovsky Celebration continues with Associate Conductor Cristian Măcelaru joined by Principal Cello Hai-Ye Ni in the elegant Rococo Variations. Works by Alexander Borodin and Mily Balakirev, members of the so-called Mighty Five, frame the program. This group of nationalist composers, with Balakirev as their charismatic leader, took a progressive approach to music and sought inspiration in Russian folk materials. They were also drawn to exotic themes of an imagined East, as we hear in the pieces that open and close the concert today. The Polovtsian Dances from Borodin s unfinished opera Prince Igor range from the sensuous to the barbaric. Balakirev originally composed Islamey as a dazzlingly difficult piano work in the virtuoso style of Franz Liszt, using folk materials from the Caucasus Mountains. We hear the piece today in a brilliant orchestration by one of the composer s students. While Tchaikovsky rarely felt a comparable attraction to Orientalist subjects, he was deeply drawn to 18th-century Classicism. Mozart was his favorite composer. Refinement mixed with passion are evident in both his works on the program today. Tchaikovsky based the Rococo Variations on a theme of his own devising, initially stated by the cello soloist at the beginning and then transformed through seven variations. His Serenade for Strings calls upon the tradition of the Classical serenade. The Orchestra continues its exploration of the serenade this season with one that proves the perfect vehicle for the legendary Philadelphia strings.
28 The Music Polovtsian Dances, from Prince Igor Alexander Borodin Born in St. Petersburg, November 12, 1833 Died there, February 27, 1887 During the 1860s, as a member of a circle of musicians that gathered around the author and critic Vladimir Stasov and also included Musorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin was present at the creation of a new Russian school of composition. He and his fellow composers, called the Mighty Five or Mighty Handful, sought to turn away from Western European models and toward a frankly Russian sound in their music even if that meant including primitive tunes and rhythms from the countryside or the frontier. The exotic harmonies of the recently conquered peoples of Asia now could be added to the Russian mix as well; in fact, it was Borodin s 1880 orchestral sketch In the Steppes of Central Asia that brought him to the attention of Franz Liszt and other leading musicians. An Unfinished Opera In 1868 Stasov bought to Borodin s attention the poem Epic of the Army of Igor, supposedly written in the 12th century and discovered in 1800, but likely a literary hoax. Authentic or not, the poem contained more than enough love interest, fighting, local color, political intrigue, and dancing girls for an opera, and the writer and the composer began working on one together. Borodin was a chemist by profession, and as his workload increased he had less and less time to write music. His conscientiousness about research further slowed his progress; he insisted on studying the folk music of the medieval Russians and of their antagonists in the opera, the Polovtsians of what is now southern Russia, so as to write appropriate music for each. He broke off work on Prince Igor entirely for four years, from 1870 to 1874. When he resumed, he found that some scenes came to him fairly easily, including the real showstopper, the Polovtsian Dances at the end of Act II. But the work slowed again, and at the time of his unexpected death from heart failure in 1887, at age 53, Borodin left substantial portions of the opera unfinished, sometimes even unsketched. Recognizing the importance of Prince Igor to his late friend, Rimsky-Korsakov enlisted the aid of another composer, Alexander Glazunov, to create a performable version of the opera. After much orchestration, stitching,
29 The Polovtsian Dances were composed between 1874 and 1875. Leopold Stokowski was on the podium for the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the Dances, in October 1917. They have been heard numerous times since, including several performances in the 1930s with the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, and a special Children s Concert for the benefit of Russia s war orphans in January 1945, led by Eugene Ormandy. The entire opera was performed in December 1935, with Alexander Smallens conducting. The most recent performances on subscription concerts were in November 2004; Tan Dun led the Orchestra. The Philadelphians have recorded the Dances four times: in 1925 for RCA with Stokowski; in 1944 and 1959 for CBS with Ormandy; and in 1971 for RCA with Ormandy. The Orchestra also recorded the first dance only in an arrangement by Stokowski in 1937 for RCA, with Stokowski conducting. The score calls for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, orchestra bells, snare drum, suspended cymbal, tambourine, triangle), harp, and strings, with an optional chorus for the second movement. The Polovtsian Dances run approximately 14 minutes in performance. and new composition by these two, Prince Igor made its debut at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg on November 4, 1890. Although its modest success was overshadowed that season by the brilliant debut of Tchaikovsky s Queen of Spades, Prince Igor has offered enough colorful action and fragrant Borodin melodies to hold its place in the opera repertory ever since. And of course the Polovtsian Dances have been an evergreen in the concert hall and even, now and then, on the pop charts. For a while in the mid-20th century, no Hollywood movie set in mysterious, romantic, barbaric Central Asia was complete without this music, or something a lot like it, on the soundtrack. A Closer Look In Act II the Russian warrior Prince Igor and his son, Vladimir, are captives in the camp of the Polovtsians and their Khan, Konchak. Having defeated the Russians in battle, the Khan praises their valor and puts on an entertainment for them. Vladimir is already enamoured of the Khan s daughter, Konchakovna; this will complicate matters later in the opera, but for now young love is in the air, as reflected in the famous lyrical tune of the opening dance. A vigorous dance for the men is interrupted by a splendid fortissimo passage and lusty shouts of Honor to the Khan! A languid dance for the female slaves soon gives way to the men with a whirling dance, driven by a snapping four-note pizzicato figure. Now Borodin seems to say, You ain t seen nothin yet as he ingeniously combines the themes with each other, the stage fills up with dancers, and the music builds, più animato, to its dazzling conclusion. David Wright
30 The Music Variations on a Rococo Theme Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovksy Born in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia, May 7, 1840 Died in St. Petersburg, November 5, 1893 Many cellists no doubt live with a certain degree of concerto envy. They play such a wonderful instrument, capable of singing the most beautiful melodies in a lush baritone range (but also with possibilities for transforming into a bass, a tenor, and even, in the highest registers, a soprano). They can also proudly claim what some consider the greatest concerto ever written, Dvořák s magnificent essay from 1894-95, as well as wonderful singular offerings from Schumann and Elgar. And yet when cellists look at the riches that pianists and violinists have, so many concertos by so many composers, there may be some sense of frustration. Nothing from Mozart at all, and a shared spotlight from Beethoven and Brahms in the former s Triple Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Cello, and latter s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello. And even those works that cellists do possess sometimes require explanations, at least before the blossoming of repertory in the 20th century. Two concertos by Haydn are familiar fare, but the authenticity of the one in D major was long questioned and the charming one in C major was only discovered in the 1960s. Italian composer Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) is best known today for one work: the Cello Concerto in B-flat major. This piece came to prominence in the late 19th century through a mangled arrangement by a leading German cellist, Friedrich Grützmacher, who pieced together various works by the composer. A Partnership with a Soloist The situation with Tchaikovsky s Rococo Variations, another beloved staple of the cello repertory, is somewhat similar. He composed the piece for a colleague at the Moscow Conservatory, the eminent young German cellist Wilhelm Fitzenhagen. Tchaikovsky started work just before Christmas in 1876. He first wrote out a cello and piano version that he showed to Fitzenhagen, who heavily edited the solo part. Such partnerships were not unusual, especially when the composer did not play the instrument. Tchaikovsky accepted Fitzenhagen s emendations and went on to orchestrate the piece, which he finished in early 1877. Nikolai Rubinstein conducted the Moscow premiere later that year with Fitzenhagen as soloist.
31 Tchaikovsky composed his Rococo Variations in 1876. Herman Sandby was the soloist in the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the work, in December 1903; Fritz Scheel was on the podium. The work was last heard on subscription concerts in March 2006, with cellist Dimitri Maslennikov and conductor Christoph Eschenbach. The Philadelphians recorded the Rococo Variations in 1962 for CBS, with Leonard Rose and Eugene Ormandy. The score calls for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns, strings, and solo cello. The Variations run approximately 20 minutes in performance. Things got more complicated on the way to publication as Fitzenhagen considerably altered the piece, not limiting himself any longer to just the solo line. The publisher Pyotr Jurgenson wrote to complain: Loathsome Fitzenhagen! He is most insistent on making changes to your cello piece, and he says that you have given him full authority to do so. Heavens! Jurgenson nonetheless published the work and one of Tchaikovsky s students relates that the composer went along as well: The devil take it! Let it stand as it is! The cello and piano arrangement appeared in 1878 and the full score in 1889. Tchaikovsky s original version was only reconstructed in 1941 and performed for the first time in Moscow; it is rarely played today. A Closer Look Tchaikovsky once wrote to his generous patron Nadezhda von Meck: It is thanks to Mozart that I devoted my life to music. I adore and idolize him. The affinity may seem a bit surprising as Tchaikovsky s music is popularly viewed as so lushly Romantic and Mozart s as an exemplar of refined Classicism, yet both used music as a vehicle for deep personal expression and did so with exquisite technique. Tchaikovsky had a lasting affinity, indeed nostalgia, for the 18th century. The word rococo is most associated with the decorative arts of the time the word apparently derives from the French rocaille, shellwork, and today brings to mind paintings by Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard. Following a short orchestral introduction, the cello states the principal theme (a melody of Tchaikovsky s own invention) that has the character of a charming gavotte dance (Moderato semplice). It is made up of two complementary parts plus a codetta, which, as David Brown has remarked, projects a spirit both old and new: If the original theme, chaste in outline and gracefully paced in its harmonies, masks the personality of its creator, a clear glimpse of the composer himself is provided by this codetta, with its richly detailed, pedal-supported chromaticism. Tchaikovsky originally had eight variations follow, which Fitzenhagen reordered and cut to seven, saving a passionate Andante until just before the coda. Perhaps Tchaikovsky agreed only reluctantly to the changes, but he nonetheless remained friends with the cellist, who premiered much of his chamber music as well, arranged pieces, and was enlisted for advice years later on another piece for cello and orchestra. Whatever the relative merits of the versions, audiences (and cellists) remain grateful for the enchanting addition to the instrument s repertory. Christopher H. Gibbs
32 The Music Serenade in C major Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Throughout its history the serenade initially a sort of musical greeting performed outside the home of a loved one has managed to retain something of the light-hearted serenity of its origins. When Mozart or Haydn composed a serenade, it was usually a set of pieces written for courtly entertainments requiring gentle, uncomplicated instrumental music. Even in the 19th century, when the constructs of feudalism had largely been replaced by the very different demands of public concerts, many composers still wrote works that made formalistic nods to popular courtly genres. But the function of the genres had shifted. The serenade or suite became, for many 19th-century composers, an opportunity to relax from the structural rigors of the symphony; thus the serenades of Brahms, Dvořák, and Tchaikovsky, for example, are works that call for supreme instrumental skill yet also permit a free and unfettered concentration on melodism and charm. Genesis and Premiere In addition to his six numbered symphonies and the Manfred Symphony, Tchaikovsky also wrote four suites for orchestra and several other concert works such as Francesca da Rimini and the C-major Serenade that were formally less restrictive and particular. All my life, he wrote, I have been troubled by a difficulty in grasping and manipulating form in music. Ironically, as he sketched the Serenade for Strings he thought at first that the work might become another symphony. But his most recent essay in the genre (the Fourth, of 1877) had taken a substantial toll on his mental and physical health, and one can well understand how happily he steered these sketches toward a less formal path. The summer and fall of 1880 gave rise to two of the composer s most notable compositions the 1812 Overture, which Tchaikovsky said he found loud and noisy and lacking any warm feelings of love, and the Serenade, later published as Op. 48, which his musical mentor Anton Rubinstein immediately dubbed his best work. Completed in November 1880, the Serenade was played informally at the Moscow Conservatory the following month, with Nikolai Rubinstein conducting; the first public performance was at St. Petersburg in October 1881, under Eduard Nápravník s baton.
33 The Serenade for Strings was composed in 1880. Fritz Scheel conducted the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the piece, in December 1900. The most recent appearance of the Serenade on a subscription concert was conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, in November 2007. The Philadelphians have recorded the Serenade four times: in 1946, 1952, and 1960 with Eugene Ormandy for CBS, and in 1981 with Riccardo Muti for EMI. Performance time is approximately 28 minutes. A Closer Look The work begins with a stately introduction that looks back to the 18th-century serenade, which often required a processional march to open and close the occasion (to which music the nobility and/or the musicians would march in and out). The first movement proper begins with a Pezzo in forma di sonatina (Piece in the form of a sonatina): Andante non troppo Allegro moderato, much like a sonata structure but basically without a development section. The waltz (Moderato. Tempo di valse) contains all the flavor of the ballet music for which Tchaikovsky is so well known; the Élégie finds the composer in his finest and most plaintive melodic vein. The vigorous finale (Tema russo: Andante Allegro con spirito) is built from a Russian folk tune that is an outgrowth of the first movement s introductory theme. Paul J. Horsley
34 The Music Islamey Mily Balakirev Born in Nizhny-Novgorod, Russia, January 2, 1837 Died in St. Petersburg, May 29, 1910 Debates in the latter half of the 19th century about what kind of music to write pitted the so-called New Germans around Franz Liszt against a supposedly more conservative group exemplified by Brahms. Both camps had aesthetic agendas ( program versus absolute music) and critical advocates (such as Eduard Hanslick for Brahms) that continue to resonate to this day. Similar concerns arose in Russia, where a significant native musical culture was developing that looked to the European mainstream for models. One group centered around Mily Balakirev, who promoted a progressive aesthetic line against a purportedly conservative and conservatory opposition spearheaded by the Rubinstein brothers. Anton founded the Russia s first professional orchestra and established the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862, while his younger brother Nikolai started the Moscow Conservatory four years later. Tchaikovsky was their ally one of the first students at the former institution, he later taught at the latter. Despite the sometimes strong aesthetic differences between these two camps, the interactions and collaborations were generally more cordial than they were among their German counterparts. Nikolai Rubinstein, for example, played the premiere of the original keyboard version of Islamey, and Balakirev freely offered suggestions to Tchaikovsky, including for Romeo and Juliet and the Manfred Symphony. A New Russian School The charismatic Balakirev most influenced four younger composers: Alexander Borodin (1833 87), César Cui (1835 1918), Modest Musorgsky (1839 81), and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 1908). All were gifted amateurs and autodidacts who otherwise held day jobs: Cui worked as a military fortifications expert, Borodin as a celebrated chemist, Musorgsky as an army officer, and Rimsky-Korsakov as a naval cadet. The group also had their counterpart to Hanslick in the brilliant critic Vladimir Stasov, the one who gave them their nickname: moguchaya kuchka, meaning mighty little bunch, usually translated in English as the Mighty Five or Mighty Handful. Stasov coined the term in connection with a concert that featured compositions from different Slavic countries. Being particularly proud of the new Russian pieces, which he said made a great impression on our
35 Islamey was composed for piano in 1869 and revised in 1902. Leopold Stokowski was on the podium for the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the work, in October 1925. The piece has been heard infrequently here, most recently in February 1961, with Eugene Ormandy conducting. The Orchestra recorded Islamey in 1961 for CBS with Ormandy. The score calls for two piccolos, two flutes, oboe, English horn, two clarinets, E-flat clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, tambourine, triangle), two harps, and strings. Islamey runs approximately nine minutes in performance. Program notes 2014. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and/or David Wright. dear guests from the Slavic West, he concluded his review with a wish: God grant that our audience never forget today s concert; God grant that they always remember how much poetry, feeling, talent, and skill there is in the small but already mighty little bunch [kuchka] of young Russian musicians. Balakirev held meetings at his house where the group would study scores and discuss musical matters. They were inspired by the example set by Mikhail Glinka, the foundational figure in Russian music, and also attracted to Russian folk traditions. Despite the benefit derived from studying German models, they shared a desire to create a more truly Russian musical style. The Mighty Five composers were also drawn to so-called Orientalist topics, which looked to an imagined exotic East. Elements in Glinka s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila pointed the way to later operas (the Polovtsian Dances from Borodin s Prince Igor and the Dance of the Persian Slave Girls from Musorgsky s Khovanshchina) and orchestral works (notably Rimsky s Sheherazade). Balakirev s best known composition proved an influential part of this tradition: Islamey, subtitled Oriental Fantasy. He wrote it quickly in 1869 as a virtuoso piano fantasy based on folk tunes and looking to the keyboard model of Franz Liszt. Today we hear it in an orchestration by Balakirev s later disciple Sergei Liapunov, who transfigured the dazzling difficulty of the piano original into a colorful tone poem. There is some evidence that Balakirev was initially planning for the work to be for orchestra, similar to his later Orientialist masterpiece Tamara. A Closer Look Balakirev and his colleagues often called upon folk traditions and he was particularly attracted to the music of the Caucasus Mountains, where he often vacationed. The combination of natural beauty and folk music provided the inspiration for Islamey, the name of one of the dance melodies he heard that provides the opening theme in the three-section work (Allegro agitato). The theme for the contrasting middle section (Tranquillo Andantino espressivo) is of Crimean origin, which Balakirev learned from an Armenian actor who he heard in Moscow. This part begins lyrically, but becomes increasingly virtuosic. The final section (Allegro vivo Presto furioso) brings back the fast and furious opening material with even more sparkle. Christopher H. Gibbs
36 Musical Terms GENERAL TERMS Chord: The simultaneous sounding of three or more tones Chromatic: Relating to tones foreign to a given key (scale) or chord Coda: A concluding section or passage added in order to confirm the impression of finality Codetta: A short coda Development: See sonata form Divertimento: A piece of entertaining music in several movements, often scored for a mixed ensemble and having no fixed form Gavotte: A French court dance and instrumental form in a lively duple-meter popular from the late 16th century to the late 18th century Op.: Abbreviation for opus, a term used to indicate the chronological position of a composition within a composer s output. Opus numbers are not always reliable because they are often applied in the order of publication rather than composition. Pizzicato: Plucked Serenade: An instrumental composition written for a small ensemble and having characteristics of the suite and the sonata Sonata: An instrumental composition in three or four extended movements contrasted in theme, tempo, and mood, usually for a solo instrument Sonata form: The form in which the first movements (and sometimes others) of symphonies are usually cast. The sections are exposition, development, and recapitulation, the last sometimes followed by a coda. The exposition is the introduction of the musical ideas, which are then developed. In the recapitulation, the exposition is repeated with modifications. Suite: A set or series of pieces in various dance-forms. The modern orchestral suite is more like a divertimento. THE SPEED OF MUSIC (Tempo) Agitato: Excited Allegro: Bright, fast Andante: Walking speed Andantino: Slightly quicker than walking speed Animato: Lively, animated Con spirito: With spirit Elegiaco: Mournful, lamenting Espressivo: With expression, with feeling Furioso: Wild, passionate Larghetto: A slow tempo Meno mosso: Less moved (slower) Moderato: A moderate tempo, neither fast nor slow Più mosso: Faster Presto: Very fast Semplice: Simply Tempo di valse: Tempo of a waltz Tranquillo: Quiet, peaceful, soft Vivo: Lively, intense TEMPO MODIFIERS Molto: Very Non troppo: Not too much Più: More Poco: Little, a bit DYNAMIC MARKS Fortissimo (ff): Very loud
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