Download NASO April program notes - New Albany Symphony Orchestra

Program Notes by Leah Branstetter
Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060R
The Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) is something
of a phantom work. It exists today not because we have a score handed down to us
from Bach’s time, but rather because of detective work made possible by what we know
of his habits as a composer.
Bach frequently transcribed concertos for the keyboard that were originally written for
other instruments. Sometimes these were his own pieces and sometimes they were the
work of other composers. The works of Antonio Vivaldi were particular favorites of Bach,
and a number of these transcriptions survive. Bach’s own concertos were strongly
influenced by Vivaldi, and he also transcribed some of these. Although it is believed that
most of his harpsichord concertos had models, in some cases these are not known or
are no longer extant. His Concerto for Two Harpsichords in C Minor, BWV 1060, is one
of these. Clues in the score and in Bach’s other works, however, point toward an earlier
concerto for violin and oboe.
First of all, a comparison of Bach’s other transcriptions with their surviving models
demonstrates that it was typical for the composer to take the melody from a solo
instrument and place it in the keyboard’s right-hand part; he would then add a new lefthand part, but made few other changes. Looking at the right-hand parts of the Concerto
for Two Harpsichords, it is then possible to determine the original instrumentation by
looking at both the range and the type of melodic writing. In this case, the two solo
instruments have different ranges, suggesting mixed instruments. One part fits the oboe
perfectly. The other has arpeggiated figurations that would not be possible on a
woodwind, suggesting a string instrument, and the range fits the violin. Using this
information, it is possible to reconstruct the original concerto.
We also must do some reconstruction in order to determine when Bach wrote the
concerto, and here there are fewer obvious indications. Some historians have
suggested that the music dates from around 1720, meaning it was written during Bach’s
time working as director of music for the court at Köthen. There, he led a group of
talented musicians and also wrote a number of secular works, including the famous
Brandenburg Concertos.
Symphonie Concertante, K.364/320d
From the last quarter of the 18th Century into the first quarter of the 19th—the height of
the Classical and the beginning of the Romantic Era—a genre called the “symphonie
concertante” flourished. The term itself is French, and Paris was an important center for
the development of this genre, but symphonies concertantes were composed
throughout Europe. Though the word symphony is evoked, this form has more in
common with the concerto. Many share similar characteristics: they were composed for
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a group of solo instruments—usually between two and four, but sometimes more—with
orchestral accompaniment; they consisted of two or three movements; and they had a
light, carefree quality.
Little is known about the genesis of the Symphonie Concertante in E-flat composed by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791). Mozart went to Paris in 1778, and following
that trip, he worked on several pieces for multiple instrumental soloists with orchestra
(some of which are not extant or exist only as fragments). These pieces used a variety
of solo instruments: four wind instruments; two pianos; flute and harp; piano and violin;
and violin, viola and cello. It is the work for violin and viola, however, which is often
listed among the composer’s masterworks.
Mozart was known as a skilled violinist, but when given the choice, he reportedly
preferred to play the viola. Though the early performance history of the Symphonie
Concertante for violin and viola is lost, it is possible that Mozart himself performed the
viola part. What can be determined with certainty is that Mozart took steps to allow the
viola to compete with the typically more brilliant-sounding and soloistic violin. He called
for the violist to tune the instrument a half-step higher than normal. This extra tension in
the strings allows for a brighter sound that is more easily heard through the texture. The
composer also did not skimp on writing virtuosic material for the viola, which matches
the violin lick-by-lick throughout the work.
As the 19th Century progressed, a growing vogue for charismatic, even rock star-like
solo performers caused a decline in the popularity of works written for multiple
instrumentalists. Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante is one of only a few from its era to
hold a place in the modern orchestral repertoire in the 20th and 21st Centuries. In fact,
the work has often been the source of collaboration between some of the world’s most
famous string players; it has been recorded, for example, by Jascha Heifetz and William
Primrose, and by Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman.
Maurice Ravel, Suite No. 1 and Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
The ballet Daphnis et Chloé was originally the brainchild of Michel Fokine (1880–1942),
an influential Russian dancer and choreographer. While employed as a dancer with the
Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Fokine envisioned a scenario based on a pastoral
romance written during the second century AD by Longus, a Greek author about whom
little is known. In 1907, Fokine submitted a two-act version of the story to the director of
the Imperial Theaters, who apparently showed no interest. When Maurice Ravel (1875–
1937) was finally engaged to write music for Daphnis, it was not by the Imperial Ballet,
but by Serge Diaghilev, the impresario of the Ballets Russes. Diaghilev established the
Ballet Russes in Paris in 1909, and Fokine was a crucial element of the company’s early
success there.
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A three-part scenario was devised, with Ravel’s input, for the Ballets Russes production.
The setting is the Eastern Aegean Island of Lesbos, where, on a spring afternoon,
young people lay gifts before statues of nymphs. Goatherd Daphnis and shepherdess
Chloé join them. Dorcon, another herdsman, challenges Daphnis for Chloé’s affections.
The two engage in a dance competition, with the winner to receive a kiss from Chloé.
Daphnis soundly defeats Dorcon and is sent into a state of ecstasy by Chloé’s kiss. Left
alone on stage, Daphnis is approached by Lyceion, who attempts to seduce him with a
dance of her own. Daphnis is left feeling disturbed, and meanwhile, Chloé is abducted
by a band of pirates. Daphnis pursues her, but when he finds one of her sandals, he
fears the worst and collapses in despair. The nymph statues come to life, reviving
Daphnis and invoking the god Pan.
The second section of the ballet opens in the pirates’ camp. Chloé is forced to dance by
her captor, Bryaxis. She attempts to escape, but is thwarted, and Bryaxis carries her off.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changes, and Pan appears, sending the pirates fleeing. The
final scene begins just before daybreak, when Daphnis and Chloé are reunited. They
dance in honor of Pan and Syrinx, a nymph the god had loved, and all rejoice.
Work on the ballet was hampered by artistic differences. Fokine hoped to create what
he thought of as an authentic representation of ancient Greece. Ravel, on the other
hand, wanted to create “a vast musical fresco” based on “the Greece of my dreams,”
and took his inspiration from the depictions made by 18th Century French painters rather
than directly from Greek models. “I have to tell you that the last week has been insane:
preparing a ballet libretto for the next Russian season,” wrote Ravel to a benefactor.
“[I’ve been] working up to 3 a.m. almost every night. To confuse matters, Fokine does
not know a word of French, and I can only curse in Russian. Irrespective of the
translators, you can imagine the timbre of these conversations.”
Fokine also clashed with Diaghilev. During the time that Daphnis et Chloé was in
development, the Ballet Russes worked on two other Greek-themed ballets. Among
Fonine’s concerns was that more attention was being paid to another of these works,
which was being choreographed by the superstar dancer Nijinsky; he was also angered
by the prospect that costumes from another production might be reused for Daphnis. He
soon after parted ways with the company.
Daphnis et Chloé was finally premiered in Paris in 1912, at least three years after it was
begun, and after narrowly escaping cancellation by Diaghilev. Both Fokine and Ravel
were somewhat disappointed with the results. Even before the first performance of the
ballet, Ravel began arranging the music for concert performance. The expansive score,
which the composer dubbed a “choreographic symphony,” included a large orchestra
and off-stage chorus and offered a lot to draw upon as a purely musical work. By 1914,
he had created two orchestral suites. Suite No. 1 draws on music from the first and
second parts of the ballet, while Suite No. 2 presents much of the third part, beginning
with the now-famous “Daybreak” music and concluding with the celebratory “Danse
générale.”
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