Program Notes

by Dr. Marcia Fountain

January 2010

Karl Goldmark
Born May 18, 1830 Keszthely, Hungary
Died January 2, 1915 Vienna, Austria

Rustic Wedding Symphony, op. 26

Karl Goldmark is not well known today, but he was well known in Vienna in the late 19th century. Hungarian by birth, he was the son of Jewish lower-middle class parents; his father was a cantor. His music was shaped by memories of Hungarian folk culture, synagogue music, and the music of such 19th century figures as Wagner, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. He studied in Vienna, but financial problems prevented his finishing any of the degree programs for which he enrolled. Thus, he essentially was self-taught on violin and totally self-taught on piano. As a young man he supported himself in Vienna by playing violin in theater orchestras and giving piano lessons. Later he became active also as a choir director and music critic. In his lifetime, he was most famous for his operas.

First performed in 1876, the Rustic Wedding Symphony is now the only one of his works regularly performed. Its five movements have titles that depict the various scenes from a village wedding ceremony. The first movement, titled Wedding March is a set of variations on a theme, which sounds like a folk song (though apparently it wasn't). The second movement is the Bridal Song, the third a Serenade. The fourth movement, In the Garden, is slow; Goldmark called its melody “dreamy.” The final movement is a celebratory dance.

As a music critic, Goldmark was a passionate supporter of the musical language of Wagner, but his own works are much more reminiscent of early 19th century composers such as Schubert, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. Johannes Brahms told Goldmark that this symphony "…is the best thing you have done; it is clear-cut and faultless; it sprang into being, a finished thing, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter."

Antonin Dvořák
Born September 8, 1841 Nelahozeves, Czech Republic
Died May 1, 1904 Prague, Czech Republic

Concerto for Cello in B minor, op. 104

There is general agreement that the Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor is the greatest cello concerto ever written. It is also perhaps Dvořák's best work. He had written another cello concerto some years before but was very unhappy with it; he had been heard to say the cello was difficult to write for because of the "nasal quality of the high notes and the mumbling of the bass."
He certainly had no intention of writing another cello concerto until, during his stay in the United States, he heard Victor Herbert perform one of his own (Herbert’s) concertos in 1894. Hearing this performance (along with the fact that Hanus Wihan, a close friend who was the cellist with the famous Czech Quartet, had been requesting a concerto for some time), inspired Dvořák to start another cello concerto. Most of the work on the Concerto was done during Dvořák's last months in New York. During this time he received word that his sister-in-law was extremely ill and chose one of his songs, which had been a favorite of hers, as the theme of the slow movement. Soon after he returned to Czechoslovakia, she died. He altered the ending of the last movement to recall the slow movement theme as his requiem for her.

The Concerto was dedicated to Wihan, who also assisted Dvořák with editing the cello part. But the two had major disagreements about some details. Dvořák wrote his publisher: "I have had some differences of opinion with Friend Wihan over a number of places. I don't like some of the passages -- and I must insist on my work being printed as I wrote it. The passages in question can be printed in two versions, an easier and a more difficult version. I shall only give you the work if you promise not to allow anybody to make changes -- Friend Wihan not excepted -- without my knowledge and consent -- and also not the cadenza that Wihan has added to the last movement. There is no cadenza in the last movement either in the score or in the piano arrangement. I told Wihan straight away when he showed it to me that it was impossible to stick such a bit on. The Finale closes gradually diminuendo, like a sigh, with reminiscences of the 1st and 2nd movements -- the solo dies down to pp, then swells again, and the last bars are taken up by the orchestra and the whole concludes in a stormy mood. That is my idea and I cannot depart from it."

As it turned out, though the Concerto was dedicated to Wihan, it was Leo Stern, an English cellist, who gave the work its premiere performance in London on March 19, 1896 with Dvořák conducting. It was not the quarrel between the two friends, but Wihan's concert schedule with the Czech Quartet that caused the change in soloist. Wihan later performed the Concerto with Dvořák conducting in Amsterdam, Budapest and at the Hague. Dvořák was lucky in both cases. Wihan, who had been appointed as a professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg when he was 18 years old, was described by contemporaries as playing with "technical perfection, refined musical taste, brio and verve" and a "powerful and robust tone." At the debut, Leo Stern, a student of Piatti, Klengel, and Davidoff, three of the greatest cellists of the 19th century, "played the solo part with much expression and faultless intonation."

At the first performance, critics did comment that the orchestra seemed to almost overpower the soloist, pointing to what remains the difficulty of the work in performance. The orchestra and soloist are equal partners, and the orchestra is the largest Dvořák ever used in a concerto. It is not easy to handle the balance between orchestra and cello in many of the areas, but when it is done well, the results are magnificent.

February 2010

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born January 27, 1756 Salzburg, Austria
Died December 5, 1791 Vienna, Austria

Concerto for Flute and Harp in C major K. 299

The Concerto for Flute and Harp was written in 1778 while the composer was on a visit to France. It was his last major tour and was both unsuccessful and tragic; during the Paris visit his mother, who was with him, died. Mozart’s father, Leopold, had been unable to accompany them on this trip, and, in the absence of his father, the young Mozart demonstrated what was to be his continuous problem – he had neither good social skills nor good business skills.

During his visit, Mozart was introduced to the Duke de Guines. The Duke was a flutist with a daughter who played harp; Mozart was engaged as a composition teacher for the daughter. He wrote his father that the daughter really showed no promise as a composer. Alarmed at his son’s attitude, Leopold wrote back, "My dear son! I beg you to preserve the friendship of the Duke de Guines and to establish yourself in his eyes…Since the Queen is pregnant, as a matter of course there will be great festivities at the birth; you might receive something to do that can make your fortune, for on such occasions what the Queen but demands is carried out." The French queen in question was, of course, Marie Antoinette with whom de Guines was supposed to have a good relationship; Leopold, as always, had his eye on the possibility of court support for his son. By some accounts, the young Mozart was offered a position as court organist at the French court, but felt it was too small a salary and too menial a position for his talents.

The duke commissioned a concerto to play along with his daughter. In all too characteristic a fashion, he somehow never got around to paying Mozart for the composition! Posterity, though, benefits from a beautiful and unusual work.

Gustav Holst
Born September 21, 1874 Cheltenham, England
Died May 25, 1934 London, England

The Planets, op. 32

Holst's parents were both musicians and it was from them that he had his earliest musical training. He furthered his studies at the Royal College of Music, where he earned a scholarship in composition. After graduation, he played trombone with various orchestras. He taught for 20 years at St. Paul's Girls' School and later at the Royal College of Music. His teaching duties were heavy and it took him two years to finish The Planets.

The Planets were first performed in a private and incomplete performance on September 29, 1918, conducted by Balfour Gardiner. A partial public performance without the Venus and Neptune was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult on February 27, 1919. The first complete performance was done on November 15, 1920, under Albert Coates. The work was an almost instant success and Holst came to view it as something of an albatross. He said to friends: "It made me realize the truth of 'Woe to you when all men speak well of you. If nobody likes your work, you have to go on just for the sake of the work, and you are in no danger of letting the public make you repeat yourself."
In explanation of the work, Holst said: "These pieces were suggested by the astrological significance of the planets; there is no program music in them, neither have they any connection with the deities of classical mythology bearing the same names. If any guide to the music is required, the subtitle to each piece will be found sufficient, especially if it be used in a broad sense. For instance, Jupiter brings jollity in the ordinary sense, and also the more ceremonial kind of rejoicing associated with religious or national festivities. Saturn brings not only physical decay, but also a vision of fulfillment. Mercury is the symbol of the mind."

The work is written for a very large orchestra consisting of 4 flutes (doubling at various times piccolo and bass flute), 3 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets and bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, double bassoon, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tenor tuba, bass tuba, many percussion instruments, 2 harps, organ, and strings.

The first movement is "Mars-the Bringer of War." Mars to Holst was "headstrong, forceful, assertive." Though The Planets was written during World War I, this movement was actually finished before the beginning of the war. Holst disliked having it associated specifically with that war. The music conveys well the ominous implications of war.

The second movement is "Venus-the Bringer of Peace." The solo horn and solo violin play important roles here and the contrast to the first movement is obvious. To Holst, the importance of Venus lay in evenness of disposition.

In "Mercury-the Winged Messenger" the heavier instruments disappear from the orchestration, emphasizing the fleetness of Mercury. To Holst, Mercury was quick in thought and ingenious.
Holst considered "Jupiter-Bringer of Jollity" a depiction of "one of those jolly fat people who enjoy life." He described him in terms such as "buoyant, rustic, bucolic, hopeful.”
"Saturn-Bringer of Old Age" is depicted as patient, but with a vision of fulfillment.
"Uranus-the Magician" is full of unexpected turns. Holst thought of it as "eccentric, abrupt."
"Neptune-the Mystic" was called by Holst's sister "a prolonged gaze into infinity." To the already large performing forces, it adds a wordless chorus. The entire movement is very soft and dies away into nothingness.

April 2010

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
Born May 7, 1840 Votinsk, District of Viatka
Died November 6, 1893 St. Petersburg, Russia

Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

Tchaikovsky referred to this work as a “Fantasy Overture.” It might also be called a symphonic poem. Whatever label is put on it, Romeo and Juliet is one of Tchaikovsky’s masterpieces. It was a youthful work, begun in 1869, when he was much the same age as Shakespeare is supposed to have been when he wrote the original play. Perhaps the expression of this story in art requires a youthful artist.

Tchaikovsky chose the subject at the urging of Balakirev, an older Russian composer who delighted in trying to promote young Russian talent. When Tchaikovsky wrote to Balakirev that his inspiration for the work seemed to be failing him (Tchaikovsky), Balakirev wrote back with an entire scenario, suggested harmonic schemes, and even some actual music. Tchaikovsky seems to have taken many of these suggestions. In its first version, the work was premiered in Moscow on March 16, 1870; it received very little notice. Tchaikovsky made some revisions, many of them again suggested by Balakirev, and the revised version was presented in St. Petersburg on February 17, 1872 and some two weeks later in Moscow. This time at least it was a success financially. In 1880 Tchaikovsky made further revisions to the ending, and it is this version that became the final one.

The opening delineates Friar Laurence; then the feud of the Montagues and Capulets is suggested by violent orchestral outbursts. The love themes follow, after which the love music and feuding music intertwine; at the end the love song becomes lamentation instead. It is difficult to imagine a more effective telling of this tale.

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
Born May 7, 1840 Votinsk, District of Viatka
Died November 6, 1893 St. Petersburg, Russia

"Lensky's Aria" from Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky's operas are not as well-known outside Russia as his orchestral music, but this aria is among the most frequently performed. Lensky has challenged Eugene Onegin to a duel. As their seconds make arrangements for the duel, Lensky sings of his happier youth, his love for Olga and the bitterness that now leaves him not caring whether he lives or dies.

Giacomo Puccini
Born December 22, 1858 Lucca, Italy
Died November 29, 1924 Brussels, Belgium

"Che gelida manina” from La Boheme

In this Italian opera aria Rodolfo introduces himself to Mimi as they search for the key to her room that she has dropped (intentionally?). In the dark, he encounters her hand, comments on how cold it is and, of course, offers to help warm it.

Giuseppe Verdi
Born October 9, 1813 Le Roncole, Italy
Died January 27, 1901 Milan, Italy

"La donna e mobile" from Rigoletto

In one of Verdi's most famous arias, the Duke sings cynically that women are flighty and any man who trusts them is foolish. Of course, it is really the Duke who cynically seduces and discards women, so the aria is tinged with irony.

Richard Wagner
Born May 22, 1813 Leipzig, Germany
Died February 13, 1883 Venice, Italy

Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin

The opera Lohengrin is based on a medieval legend. This prelude precedes a wedding scene and Wagner masterfully uses the orchestra in a short prelude to set the mood of celebration that will lead up to the wedding.

José Serrano Simeón
Born October 14, 1873 Sueca, Valencia, Spain
Died March 8, 1941 Madrid, Spain

“La Roca Fria Del Calvario” from La Dolorosa

Rafael has decided to enter a monastery even though torn by early emotions. In this zarzuela aria he sings of the sorrows of Mary the Mother of Christ.

Pablo Sorozábal
Born September 18th 1897 San Sebastian, Spain
DIed December 26, 1988 Madrid, Spain

“No Puede Ser” from La Tabernera del Puerto

Told that the woman he loves is not a good woman and is trying to lure him into criminal activity, Leandro asserts in another famous zarzuela aria that this simply cannot be so.

Agustín Lara (Aguirre del Pino)
Born October 30 1897 Mexico City, Mexico
Died November 6, 1970 Mexico City, Mexico

Granada

Probably the best-known of hundreds of popular songs by this well-known 20th century Mexican composer, Granada is a song about the lure of that Spanish city and its unique culture.

Richard Strauss
Born June 11, 1864 Munich, Germany
Died September 8, 1949 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier

As he prepared to write the opera Der Rosenkavalier, Strauss wrote to his librettist that he wanted to write a work that would combine the best qualities of Mozart and Johann Strauss. The result is a comic opera permeated with waltzes, which does, indeed, occasionally recall these two composers, but which is unmistakably Richard Strauss in its elaborate orchestration and harmony. Waltzes permeate the entire opera; they are often played, as tonight, as separate orchestral pieces.