Download Concerts of June 2-4, 2017 Michael Stern, Music Director Emanuel

Concerts of June 2-4, 2017
Michael Stern, Music Director
Emanuel Ax, piano
Debussy
Jeux, Poème dansé (1913)
Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 19 in F Major, K. 459 (1784)
I. Allegro
II. Allegretto
III. Allegro assai
Emanuel Ax, piano
Intermission
Piano Concerto No. 16 in D Major, K. 451 (1784)
I. Allegro assai
II. Andante
III. Allegro di molto
Emanuel Ax, piano
Strauss
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks), op. 28 (1895)
Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer
Concert Overview
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Jeux, Poème dansé (1913) 17 minutes
—Claude Debussy’s ballet Jeux (Games) depicts a game of tennis at dusk that turns
romantic.
—Debussy’s score is a miraculous synthesis of energy, refinement, and delicacy, couched
in rich, transparent, and varied instrumental colors.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto No. 19 in F Major, K. 459 (1784) 28 minutes
—The F-Major is the last of six Piano Concertos Mozart composed in 1784.
—The Concerto, in three movements, showcases the virtuoso technique, exquisite
musicality, and creativity that were hallmarks of Mozart the pianist and composer.
Piano Concerto No. 16 in D Major, K. 451 (1784) 25 minutes
—Mozart composed his Piano Concerto No 16 during the height of his fame and
popularity in Vienna.
—The Concerto, whose scoring includes trumpets and timpani, features brilliant writing
for the soloist.
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks), op. 28 (1895) 15
minutes
—Richard Strauss’s orchestral tone poem, Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks, is the
German composer’s musical depiction of the legendary prankster who delighted in
unmasking the foibles of the rich and powerful.
—Till is one of Strauss’s most famous and beloved works, a brilliant showpiece for
orchestra and conductor.
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Jeux, Poème dansé (1913) 17 minutes
2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 3 oboes, English horn, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons,
contrabassoon (sarrusophone), 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani,
xylophone, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, two harps, celesta, and strings.
Claude Debussy composed Jeux, Poème dansé, for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.
The premiere took place at the Paris Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on May 15, 1913—two
weeks before the infamous first performance in the same theater of Stravinsky’s The Rite
of Spring. The great French Maestro Pierre Monteux led both premieres.
Unlike the premiere of the Rite of Spring, no riots broke out in the audience during the
initial performance of Jeux. Nevertheless, the reaction was far from positive, as
lukewarm applause mingled with occasional hissing. A similar reception took place after
a Paris concert performance the following March.
In time, however Jeux has become recognized as one of Debussy’s finest orchestral
scores. It is a masterpiece of symphonic writing, a miraculous synthesis of energy,
refinement, and delicacy, couched in rich, transparent, and varied instrumental colors.
The following is the synopsis of the action of Jeux:
The scene is a garden at dusk; a tennis ball has been lost; a young man and
two young girls are searching for it. The artificial light of the large
electric lamps shedding fantastic rays about them suggests the idea of
childish games: they play hide and seek, they try to catch one another,
they quarrel, they sulk without cause. The night is warm, the sky is bathed
in a pale light; they embrace. But the spell is broken by another tennis ball
thrown in mischievously by an unknown hand. Surprised and alarmed, the
young man and girls disappear into the nocturnal depths of the garden.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Piano Concerto No. 19 in F Major, K. 459 (1784) 28 minutes
Solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings.
In the early to mid-1780s, Mozart was in constant demand in Vienna as a composer,
pianist, and teacher. One of his most lucrative ventures was a series of “academies”—
Lenten subscription concerts sponsored by Mozart that featured the composer performing
his own music.
Between the years 1784 and 1786, Mozart composed twelve Piano Concertos, including
six in 1784. Mozart, one of the great keyboard artists of his time, wrote most of these
works for his own performance at subscription concerts. But regardless of the intended
soloist, Mozart’s Concertos showcased the elements he prized most in a pianist—flawless
technique, impeccable musicianship, a singing tone, and a seamless legato that “flowed
like oil.”
The Concerto No. 19 is the last of the six Mozart composed in 1784. He completed the
work in Vienna on December 11. The Concerto is in the traditional three movements.
The first (Allegro) begins with an orchestral presentation of the principal themes. While
typical of Mozart, there is an abundance of thematic material, it is the opening theme that
predominates throughout. The soloist takes center stage from his entrance to the close of
the Allegro, capped by a cadenza, and the forte concluding bars. The second movement
is a graceful Allegretto, cast in a flowing 6/8 meter. The soloist immediately introduces
the central theme of the rondo finale (Allegro assai). Mozart uses this playful theme as
the basis for music of remarkable richness and depth, including contrapuntal episodes.
The final measures juxtapose forte and piano dynamics.
Piano Concerto No. 16 in D Major, K. 451 (1784) 25 minutes
Solo piano, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and
strings.
Mozart completed his D-Major Concerto in Vienna on March 22, 1784. Like the FMajor, K. 459, the Concerto is in three movements, with the orchestration now enhanced
by the inclusion of trumpets and timpani. The opening movement (Allegro assai)
features brilliant, fleet writing for the soloist. The slow-tempo second movement
(Andante) focuses on a beguiling melody that incorporates chromatic elements. The flute
and first violins launch the introduction of the rondo finale’s (Allegro di molto) lively,
central melody. After a solo cadenza, Mozart recasts the principal theme from duple into
triple meter, leading to the ebullient final bars.
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks), op. 28 (1895) 15
minutes
Piccolo, 3 flutes, 3 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, 3
bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass
drums, cymbals, ratchet, snare drum, triangle, and strings.
The legendary prankster Till Eulenspiegel (whose last name translates as “Owl Glass” or
“Owl’s Mirror”) may have been an actual person. But others believe that Till
Eulenspiegel, who delighted in revealing the foibles of the rich and powerful, was a
purely mythical figure created to entertain the laborer and peasant, as well as those
members of the privileged class who enjoyed a laugh at their own expense.
Till’s adventures were published in book form and circulated throughout Europe.
Eulenspiegel was well known and adored by 19th-century German schoolchildren,
including Richard Strauss.
As an adult, Strauss first conceived of an operatic setting of Till’s misadventures, and
began to sketch a libretto in June of 1893. However, the lack of success of Strauss’s first
operatic effort, Guntrum (1894), may have encouraged the composer to present his
musical vision of Till in a purely orchestral work. Strauss completed the miraculous
score, described by the great 20th-century German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler as “a
stroke of genius, worthy of Beethoven,” on May 6, 1895. The premiere took place that
year in Cologne on November 5, with Franz Wüllner leading the Gürzenich Orchestra.
Till Eulenspiegel is based upon two themes, introduced at the outset of the work. The
first, lyrical and reserved, is played by the violins. The second, one of the most famous
horn passages in all of symphonic music, is a puckish seven-measure staccato figure that
twice hesitates, prior to bursting forth in its mischievous totality. The two themes
reappear in various forms throughout a rather free orchestral rondo, contrasting with
material depicting Till’s numerous pranks. The closing portion of the work portrays
Till’s arrest, trial, sentence, and execution. According to legend, Till Eulenspiegel
continued to torment his foes even after his death. The work’s raucous conclusion
suggests that the prankster’s spirit indeed lives on.