Download I. =144 - Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Concerts of Saturday, November 2, 2013, at 7:30p, and Sunday, November 3, 2013,
at 2:00p.
James Gaffigan, Conductor
Stephen Hough, Piano
Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
Short Symphony (Symphony No. 2) (1931-33)
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Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra in E-flat Major, S. 124 (1855)
I. Allegro maestoso. Tempo giusto
II. Quasi Adagio
III. Allegretto vivace
IV. Allegro marziale animato
Stephen Hough, Piano
Intermission
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Pétrouchka (1947 version)
First Part: The Shrovetide Fair
Second Part: Pétrouchka
Third Part: The Moor
Fourth Part: The Shrovetide Fair
Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer
Short Symphony (Symphony No. 2) (1931-33)
Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14, 1900, and died
in North Tarrytown, New York, on December 2, 1990. The first performance of the
Short Symphony took place in Mexico City, Mexico, on November 23, 1934, with the
Orquesta Sinfónica de México, conducted by Carlos Chávez. The Short Symphony
is scored for piccolo, two flutes, alto flute, two oboes, English horn, heckelphone
(optional), two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two
trumpets, piano and strings. Approximate performance time is sixteen minutes.
These are the first ASO Classical Subscription Performances.
American composer Aaron Copland wrote his Second Symphony, Short Symphony “at
intervals between 1931 and 1933 in a variety of places from Morocco to Mexico.” At the
time, Copland was gravitating toward a “purer, non-programmatic style, an attempt
toward an economy of material and transparency of texture.” Copland observed: “If I
expended a great deal of time and effort on the Short Symphony, it was because I was
determined to write as perfected a piece as I possibly could.”
Two great maestros, Leopold Stokowski and Serge Koussevitsky, “announced
performances, but gave it up because of the rhythmic difficulties. Koussevitsky
considered the piece for a year and a half. When (Copland) asked him, “Is it too
difficult?” he responded, “Non, ce n’est pas trop difficile, c’est impossible!”
The premiere of the Short Symphony took place in Mexico City on November 23, 1934,
with composer and conductor Carlos Chávez leading the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico.
Chávez informed Copland: “We had ten rehearsals…the orchestra men were at first
skeptical but by the third rehearsal or so they had a real genuine and growing interest…”
Chávez praised the Short Symphony’s remarkable economy and unity of musical
expression:
The way each and every note comes out from the other as the only natural
and logical possible one, is simply unprecedented in the whole of
music...There has been much talk about music in which everything is
essential, nothing superfluous…The Little Symphony is the first
realization I know of that, and yet, the human content, the ironic
expression, is purely emotional…
In 1937, Copland arranged the Short Symphony as a Sextet, for clarinet, string quartet and
piano. The United States premiere of the orchestral Short Symphony took place on
January 9, 1944 in an NBC Symphony radio broadcast from Studio 8-H in New York,
with Stokowski conducting. Stokowski confessed: “It is still a difficult work to perform,
and even more so to interpret.”
Copland considered the Short Symphony “one of my ‘neglected children’ and am perhaps
more fond of these works because they receive so much less attention.” During his 80th
year, Copland conducted the Short Symphony at Carnegie Hall, and was delighted when a
violinist approached him and said: “In my opinion, Mr. Copland you, Mr. Copland,
taught American orchestras to play in 5/4!”
Aaron Copland provided the following description of his Short Symphony:
It is in three movements—fast, slow, fast—to played without pause. The
first movement’s main impetus is rhythmic, with a scherzo-like quality.
All melodic figures result form a nine-note sequence—a kind of row—
from the opening two bars. The second movement, tranquil in feeling,
contrast with the first movement, and with the finale, which is again
rhythmically intricate, bright in color and free in form.
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Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, S. 124 (1855)
Franz Liszt was born in Raiding, Hungary, on October 22, 1811, and died in
Bayreuth, Germany, on July 31, 1886. The first performance of the Piano Concerto
No. 1 took place at the hall of the palace of the Grand Duke of Weimar, Germany,
on February 17, 1855, with the composer as soloist, and Hector Berlioz conducting.
In addition to the solo piano, the Concerto No. 1 is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two
oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones,
timpani, triangle, cymbals and strings. Approximate performance time is nineteen
minutes.
First ASO Classical Subscription Performance: November 30, 1947, Despy Karlas,
Piano, Henry Sopkin, Conductor.
Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: February 17, 18 and 19,
2011, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano, Jaap van Zweden, Conductor.
“A giant”
The Hungarian-born Franz Liszt was one of the greatest and most charismatic virtuosos
in music history. As a child, Liszt displayed a remarkable keyboard talent that he refined
under the tutelage of the eminent Austrian teacher, pianist and composer, Carl Czerny.
By the age of 12, Liszt had already become an acclaimed concert pianist. There is a
story, perhaps apocryphal, that Ludwig van Beethoven, who had been Czerny’s teacher,
attended a Liszt recital in 1823 and after the concert, kissed the young boy on the
forehead.
On March 9, 1831, Liszt was present at the Paris debut of the legendary Nicolò Paganini.
The young Liszt was overwhelmed by the Italian violinist’s extraordinary fusion of
showmanship and technical prowess. Liszt vowed that he would replicate, and perhaps
even exceed, Paganini’s charismatic hold upon an audience. The following year, Liszt
heard Frédéric Chopin for the first time, and realized that poetry could move the listener
with a force that rivaled the most impressive displays of virtuoso pyrotechnics.
Liszt exerted an almost otherworldly control over his audiences, due in great part to his
technical and interpretive mastery. It was not uncommon for members of the audience to
faint during a Liszt recital. Many of those who remained conscious would rush to the
stage and try to retrieve such souvenirs as Liszt’s cigar stubs, gloves and broken piano
strings. These items took on an almost religious significance for his devoted followers.
Franz Liszt, the legendary virtuoso pianist and showman, sometimes overshadows his
considerable achievements as a composer. Liszt’s phenomenal technique and keen ear
allowed him to create works that explored new vistas in keyboard sonorities. Hallé once
attended a concert in which Hector Berlioz conducted the March to the Scaffold from his
orchestral work, the Fantastic Symphony. Liszt then played his own transcription for
solo piano of the same piece, “with an effect even surpassing that of the full orchestra,
and creating an indescribable furore.”
One of the great pioneers of the Romantic movement, Liszt advanced the concept of
music as a form of programmatic expression and, in fact, invented the term “sinfonische
Dichtung” (“symphonic poem”). He also demonstrated bold and revolutionary
possibilities for traditional musical conventions and forms, as in the case of his Piano
Concerto No. 1.
The Piano Concerto No. 1
Liszt may have begun sketches for his First Piano Concerto in the early 1830s. He
worked on both the First and Second Concertos during the years 1839-40. However,
Liszt’s prolific career as a concert performer delayed completion of both works until
1849, by which time he had been appointed Kapellmeister of the Weimar Court. Liszt
revised the Concertos in 1853 and orchestrated them with the aid his pupil, the composer
Joachim Raff. The premiere of the First Piano Concerto took place on February 17,
1855, at the hall of the palace of the Grand Duke of Weimar, with Liszt as soloist. The
conductor was French composer Hector Berlioz, whose works Liszt championed in
Weimar. The score of the First Piano Concerto was published two years later.
Musical Analysis
Liszt’s first Piano Concerto is cast in a single continuous movement that divides into four
sections, each played without pause.
I. Allegro maestoso. Tempo giusto—The Concerto opens with the strings’ emphatic,
fortissimo statement of a motif, to which the winds and brass respond with a short
fanfare. The soloist responds with a grand cadenza. The principal motif and fanfare
return throughout the opening section, featuring numerous dazzling episodes for the
soloist. The opening section concludes with the pianist’s delicate, ascending flourish.
II. Quasi Adagio— Muted strings introduce an ascending and descending theme soon
played by the soloist. The music becomes increasingly tempestuous and then calms. The
solo flute, accompanied by the soloist’s ethereal trills, introduces a serene melody that
serves as a bridge to the following section.
III. Allegretto vivace—The scherzo portion of the Concerto (Allegretto vivace) is a
gossamer dance in ¾ time, enhanced by the triangle’s sparkling presence. The solo
cadenza and ensuing Allegro animato feature a reprise of the opening section’s principal
motif, as well the flute melody from the Quasi Adagio portion.
IV. Allegro marziale animato—The theme that served to open the Quasi Adagio portion
of the Concerto is now transformed into a sprightly march. The pianist, followed by the
winds, restate the lyrical flute melody that preceded the scherzo portion of the Concerto.
The music of the scherzo returns as well. The Concerto’s initial motif makes a final
appearance in the brilliant closing pages.
Pétrouchka (1947 version)
Igor Stravinsky was born in Lomonosov, Russia, on June 17, 1882, and died in New
York on April 6, 1971. The first performance of Pétrouchka took place at the
Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris, France, on June 13, 1911, with Pierre Monteux
conducting. The 1947 version of Pétrouchka is scored for piccolo, three flutes, two
oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon,
four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, tambourine, snare
drum, small snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, suspended cymbal, snare drum
without snares, bass drum with attached cymbals, triangle, xylophone, tam-tam,
piano, celeste and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-five minutes.
First ASO Classical Subscription Performance (1947 version): January 31, 1955,
Igor Stravinsky, Conductor.
Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: March 11, 12 and 13, 2010,
Vasily Sinaisky, Conductor.
Igor Stravinsky's Pétrouchka was the second in the remarkable trilogy of ballets he
composed for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. While completing his first Diaghilev
work, The Firebird (1910), Stravinsky had a vision of a scenario that would become his
infamous ballet, The Rite of Spring (1913). In his autobiography, Stravinsky recalled:
I saw in imagination a solemn pagan rite: sage elders, seated in a circle,
watched a young girl dance herself to death. They were sacrificing her to
propitiate the god of spring. Such was the theme of the Sacre du
Printemps. I must confess this vision made a deep impression on me...
“A puppet, suddenly endowed with life”
Stravinsky communicated that vision to Diaghilev, who was immediately “carried away
by the idea.” However, Stravinsky delayed composition of The Rite of Spring, traveling
with his family to Switzerland for a much-needed vacation:
Before tackling the Sacre du Printemps, which would be a long and
difficult task, I wanted to refresh myself by composing an orchestral piece
in which the piano would play the most important part—a sort of
Konzertstück. In composing the music, I had in my mind a distinct picture
of a puppet, suddenly endowed with life, exasperating the patience of the
orchestra with diabolical cascades of arpeggios. The orchestra in turn
retaliates with menacing trumpet blasts. The outcome is a terrific noise
which reaches its climax and ends in the sorrowful and querulous collapse
of the poor puppet. Having finished this bizarre piece, I struggled for
hours, while walking beside the Lake of Geneva, to find a title which
would express in a word the character of my music and, consequently, the
personality of this creature.
One day I leapt for joy. I had indeed found my title—Pétrouchka, the
immortal and unhappy hero of every fair in all the countries. Soon
afterwards Diaghilev came to visit me at Clarens, where I was staying. He
was astonished when, instead of sketches of the Sacre, I played him the
piece I had just composed and which later became the second scene of
Pétrouchka. He was so much pleased with it that he would not leave it
alone and began persuading me to develop the theme of the puppet's
sufferings and make it into a whole ballet. While he remained in
Switzerland we worked out together the general lines of the subject and
the plot in accordance with ideas which I suggested. We settled the scene
of action: the fair, with its crowd, its booths, the little traditional theater,
the character of the magician, with all his tricks; and the coming to life of
the dolls—Pétrouchka, his rival, and the dancer—and their love tragedy,
which ends with Pétrouchka’s death.
Stravinsky worked on the score of Pétrouchka during the winter of 1910-11, although a
severe case of nicotine poisoning caused him to suspend activities for a month.
Stravinsky's health returned, and in the early spring of 1911, he traveled to Rome to
complete Pétrouchka and rehearse the new work with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, then
performing at the Teatro Costanzi.
A remarkable team collaborated on the premiere of Stravinsky's Pétrouchka. By
agreement of the composer and Diaghilev, Alexandre Benois served as stage and costume
designer. The production was choreographed by Michel Fokine and conducted by the
superb French maestro, Pierre Monteux, whom Stravinsky praised for achieving “a very
clean and finished execution of my score.”
The rehearsals were not free of difficulty. Stravinsky continued to revise his score, as the
dancers struggled with both the heat of the early Roman spring and Pétrouchka’s intricate
rhythms. Slowly, however, the production began to take shape, and enthusiasm for the
project grew.
“I have just seen the greatest actor in the world!”
The soloists included Tamara Karsavina as the Ballerina, Enrico Cecchetti as the Old
Wizard, Alexander Orlov as the Moor, and the incomparable Vaslav Nijinsky as
Pétrouchka. Nijinsky’s portrayal of the melancholy puppet was perhaps the greatest
triumph of his spectacular career. By all accounts, Nijinsky succeeded beyond even the
highest expectations in conveying the pathetic humanity of the title character. After
witnessing Nijinsky’s interpretation of Pétrouchka, Sarah Bernhardt exclaimed: “I am
afraid, I am afraid—because I have just seen the greatest actor in the world!”
The Ballets Russes’ premiere of Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka took place at the Paris Théâtre
du Chatelet on June 13, 1911. While the production was generally a success, more than a
few observers were taken aback by music that was brittle, caustic, and at times, even
grotesque. One critic approached Diaghilev after a dress rehearsal and exclaimed: “And
it was to hear this that you invited us!” “Exactly,” was Diaghilev’s reply. When
Diaghilev and his company traveled to Vienna in 1913, the Vienna Philharmonic initially
refused to play the score, deriding Pétrouchka as “schmutzige Musik” (“dirty music”).
One wonders what (probably unprintable) invectives these musicians applied to The Rite
of Spring, a score that would shock the music world in just a few months’ time.
In 1947, Stravinsky penned a revised version of Pétrouchka for a reduced orchestra. The
1947 version also provides an optional fff close to the ambiguous, piano conclusion of the
original. In either guise, Pétrouchka—along with its Ballets Russes siblings, The
Firebird and The Rite of Spring—continue to challenge and thrill audiences with a
dramatic impact that is as fresh as when the works first appeared.
The Story and the Music
First Part: The Shrovetide Fair—The action of Pétrouchka takes place in the 1830s in
Admiralty Square, St. Petersburg, during Shrovetide rejoicing. Stravinsky’s stunning
orchestration and rapidly changing rhythms brilliantly depict the hustle and bustle of the
fair. An organ grinder and dancing girl entertain the crowd. Drummers announce the
appearance of the Old Wizard, who charms the captivated audience. The Old Wizard
uses a flute to cast a magic spell. Suddenly, the curtain rises on a tiny theater, revealing
three puppets—Pétrouchka, the Ballerina and the Moor. The puppets perform a vigorous
Russian dance (Danse Russe).
Second Part: Pétrouchka—The scene changes to Pétrouchka's cell, whose walls are
decorated with black stars, a half-moon, and a portrait of the frowning Old Wizard.
Pétrouchka lands in his cell with a resounding crash. Although Pétrouchka is a puppet,
he feels human emotions, including bitterness toward the Old Wizard for his
imprisonment, as well as love for the beautiful Ballerina. Pétrouchka unsuccessfully tries
to escape from his cell. The Ballerina enters. Pétrouchka attempts to profess his love,
but the Ballerina rejects his pathetic advances.
Third Part: The Moor—The scene changes to the Moor’s lavishly decorated cell. The
Moor, who is magnificently dressed, lies on a low sofa, playing with a coconut. The
Ballerina, who is attracted by the Moor’s handsome appearance, enters his room. The
two begin their lovemaking (Valse), interrupted by the entrance of Pétrouchka. The
angry Moor chases Pétrouchka away.
Fourth Part: The Shrovetide Fair—The scene returns to the fairground, where a series
of characters come and go (Wet-Nurses’ Dance, Peasant with Bear, Gypsies and a Rake
Vendor, Dance of the Coachmen, and Masqueraders). At the height of the festivities, a
cry is heard from the puppet-theater. The Moor chases Pétrouchka into the crowd and
kills him with his scimitar (Death of Pétrouchka).
The police question the Old Wizard, who reminds everyone that Pétrouchka is but a
puppet with a wooden head, and a body filled with sawdust. Night falls and the crowd
disperses. Alone, the Old Wizard is terrified to see the ghost of Pétrouchka, leering from
the roof of the little theater.