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Concerts of Thursday, May 10, Friday, May 11, and Saturday, May 12, 2012, at 8:00pm. Robert Spano, Conductor Leon Bates, Piano Alvin Singleton (b. 1940) Different River (2012) World Premiere, Commissioned by Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra George Gershwin (1898-1937) Rhapsody in Blue (1924) Leon Bates, Piano Intermission Aaron Copland Symphony No. 3 (1946) I. Molto moderato II. Allegro molto III. Andantino quasi allegretto IV. Molto deliberato (Fanfare)—Allegro risoluto Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer Different River (2012) Alvin Singleton was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 28, 1940. These are the world premiere performances of Different River. Different River is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, two bongos (hi, low), snare drum, marimba, Xyl, timables (hi, low), cowbell (medium), vibraphone, three tom toms (high, medium, low), harp and strings. Approximate performance time is twenty-five minutes. These are the First ASO Classical Subscription Performances Alvin Singleton Alvin Singleton’s unique musical voice is the product of his richly diverse educational and cultural background. Mr. Singleton studied at New York University, Yale University, and, as a Fulbright Scholar, with Goffredo Petrassi at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Mr. Singleton acknowledges the influence of numerous and varied styles of popular music in his concert works. While growing up in Brooklyn, Mr. Singleton was fascinated by such artists as the Beatles, John Coltrane, James Brown and Mahalia Jackson. Mr. Singleton was also profoundly influenced by the gospels and spirituals that resounded in his own family’s church. Alvin Singleton was the first Composer-in-Residence in the history of Spelman College (1988-1991). Alvin Singleton has also served as UNISYS Composer-in-Residence with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1996-97), and was the 2002–03 Composer-inResidence with the Ritz Chamber Players of Jacksonville, Florida. In addition, he has served as Visiting Professor of Composition at the Yale University School of Music. In the spring of 2004, Mr. Singleton joined the American Composers Orchestra as “Music Alive” Composer-in-Residence and Artistic Advisor for the IMPROVISE! Festival. In October, 2008, Singleton served as Composer-in-Residence in Tirana, Albania. He was invited by the cultural organization Eurynome Corp., who presented the Albanian premieres of selected works performed by the Orchestra of Albanian Radio and Television conducted by Oleg Arapi. Mr. Singleton also conducted a master class at the Fine Arts Academy in Tirana. Alvin Singleton’s compositions have been performed by major symphony orchestras throughout the world. Important international festivals that have programmed Mr. Singleton’s music include Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, OR, Tanglewood, Aspen, Bravo! Colorado, Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico, Cincinnati May Festival, Cabrillo Music Festival, Bang On A Can, the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, Other Minds in San Francisco, Festival Miami, the Vienna Summer Festival, Pro Musica Nova in Bremen, the Styrian Autumn Festival in Graz, Nuova Consonanza Festival in Rome, the Brussels ISCM World music Days and IRCAM in Paris. Alvin Singleton’s music is published by Schott Music Corporation, and is recorded on the Albany Records, Elektra/Nonesuch, Tzadik, and Innova labels. Singleton’s latest CD, “Sing to the Sun,” was released in February 2007 on Albany Records and is the fourth all-Singleton disc. After his studies in Rome, Alvin Singleton remained in Europe for fourteen years as a free-lance composer, where he received numerous awards and citations for his works. While in Paris, Mr. Singleton met Robert Shaw, then the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This meeting ultimately led to Mr. Singleton’s appointment as Composer-in-Residence for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, a post he held from 198588. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has continued to enjoy a long and rewarding association with Mr. Singleton. On the weekend of March 5, 2009, Music Director Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performed Mr. Singleton’s PraiseMaker, which they also recorded for Telarc Records (Telarc CD32630). On the weekend of February 3, 2011, Robert Spano and the ASO performed Mr. Singleton’s fanfare, Miaka Kumi (2010), written in celebration of Maestro Spano’s 10th anniversary as Music Director. On the weekend of June 2, 2011, Maestro Spano and the ASO performed Mr. Singleton’s After Fallen Crumbs, originally composed for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1988 (and recorded on Elektra/Nonesuch 9 79231-2). These concerts open with the world premiere of Mr. Singleton’s Different River, commissioned by Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Different River For over a century or more the trend for so many composers of creative music has been to put the emphasis of their work on self expression with ever-less regard for listeners, even sophisticated ones. Certain composers have even boasted that they don’t want their works understood; or as one said, he writes for his colleagues. Alvin Singleton, on the other hand, has typically achieved the distinct accomplishment of writing music that is both attractive to hear and intellectually-challenging in a way that also invites listeners to join him in some sonic and/or structural guessing game. DIFFERENT RIVER is certainly a case in point. Scored for full orchestra with extra percussion, this one-movement work lasts about 25 minutes. Of the title the composer writes: it is “about an ever-changing perspective on a river that is always moving.. Each time you step in you’re at a different place.” Are we in this river or observing it? And of what is it made (composed)? Strange objects float by. Intensely themselves, they may be the mystical-though-annunciatory percussion utterance that opens DIFFERENT RIVER. Or the galloping 16th notes from mallet instruments that follows, or the contrasting long, long tones of strings and woodwinds, or a brass fanfare, the sweet mumblings of solo harp, and then a stretch of silence. Unlike in many of his works, Singleton here seems not to favor any of these as the “theme” that wins out in the end. Each element that enters and passes is bright, clear, and strong. There are moments when elements gather, crash together, and suggest “climax.” But the true theme of DIFFERENT RIVER is the listener’s experiencing the rolling by of disparate musical passages. River-like, each impresses (intrigues?) us, and like the river of life, all passes on. —Notes by Carman Moore Rhapsody in Blue (instrumentation by Ferde Grofé) (1924) George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1898, and died in Hollywood, California on July 11, 1937. The first performance of the Rhapsody in Blue took place at Aeolian Hall in New York City, on February 12, 1924, with the composer as soloist and Paul Whiteman conducting the Palais Royal Orchestra. In addition to the solo piano, Rhapsody in Blue is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, three horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, suspended cymbal, cymbals, glockenspiel, triangle, bass drum, gong and strings. Approximate performance time is eighteen minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performance: January 29, 1950, Oscar Levant, Piano, Henry Sopkin, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: May 31, June 2 and 3, 2007, Marcus Roberts, Piano, Robert Spano, Conductor. “A jazz concerto” George Gershwin composed his Rhapsody in Blue at the request of his friend, bandleader Paul Whiteman. Whiteman planned to stage a concert in New York to demonstrate that American jazz “had come to stay and deserved recognition.” Gershwin, who was busy with the preparations for his newest musical, Sweet Little Devil, was hesitant to become involved in such a project. However, in early January of 1924, Gershwin was in midtown Manhattan, shooting pool at the Ambassador Billiard Parlor. George’s brother, Ira, who was also at the billiard club, picked up a copy of the January 4 issue of the Herald Tribune. The paper contained an article announcing that Paul Whiteman had scheduled a New York concert for February 12. The article further reported that, “George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto” to be featured at the Whiteman concert. A rather surprised Gershwin called Whiteman the following day. Finally, after much persuasion by Whiteman, Gershwin agreed to compose a rhapsody for piano and orchestra that he conceived of as “a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America—of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, of our metropolitan madness.” Gershwin composed this rhapsody at a furious pace, completing the work in about three weeks. Ferde Grofé, who orchestrated the work, was an almost constant presence in the Gershwin apartment, adapting each new page of the score as soon as it left the composer’s hand. Grofé’s original version, performed at the premiere, was for jazz band. Later, Grofé orchestrated the work for a large symphonic ensemble. George Gershwin planned to entitle his new work American Rhapsody. But Ira Gershwin, inspired by an exhibition of paintings by the American painter James McNeill Whistler—including Nocturne in Gold and Arrangement in Gray and Black (Whistler’s Mother)—suggested the work’s famous title, Rhapsody in Blue. On February 12, 1924, a capacity audience filled New York’s Aeolian Hall to hear Paul Whiteman’s concert, entitled, “An Experiment in Modern Music.” As the concert proceeded, the attention of the audience began to flag. But, as Olin Downes reported the next day for the New York Times: “Then stepped upon the stage, sheepishly, a lank and dark young man—George Gershwin. He was to play the piano part in the first performance of his Rhapsody in Blue for piano and orchestra.” From the very first notes of the audacious clarinet solo, the audience was spellbound. Here was a work that offered a beguiling synthesis of the classical tradition—long believed to be the province of European composers—and America’s own music, jazz. When the majestic final chord sounded, the audience erupted with an ovation described by critics as “tumultuous,” “wild and even frantic.” From that day, George Gershwin became recognized not only as an important composer of Broadway and popular melodies, but as a force to be reckoned with in classical music. Almost ninety years after its premiere, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue remains one of the most beloved and performed concert works by an American composer. Rhapsody in Blue Molto moderato—The Rhapsody in Blue opens with the famous clarinet solo that moves from its brazen ascent to the introduction of the first of several themes that appear throughout the work. The pianist enters, soon embarking on a solo turn. As is implied by the work’s title, the Rhapsody is a rather free-form work that offers diverse and often virtuoso treatments of the thematic material by the soloist and orchestra. Toward the latter part of the Rhapsody, the orchestra introduces a majestic theme, capped by some jazzy commentary by the horns (Andantino moderato, con espressione). From there, the Rhapsody in Blue proceeds to its brilliant climax, concluding with a final statement of the opening clarinet theme. Symphony No. 3 (1946) 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 Symphony No. 3 took place in Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 18, 1946, with Serge Koussevitsky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony No. 3 is scored for two piccolos, three flutes, three oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, xylophone, orchestra bells, slapstick, triangle, tenor drum, ratchet, chimes, snare drum, tam-tam, tenor drum, wood block, claves, cymbals, suspended cymbals, bass drum, anvil, two harps, piano, celeste and strings. Approximate performance time is forty-three minutes. First ASO Classical Subscription Performances: January 25, 1968, Aaron Copland, Conductor. Most Recent ASO Classical Subscription Performances: May 31, and June 2 and 3, 2007, Robert Spano, Conductor. ASO Recording: Yoel Levi, Conductor (Telarc CD: 80201) Aaron Copland remains America’s foremost composer of concert music. Copland’s masterful and heartfelt incorporation of American folklore and melodies into such works as the ballets Billy the Kid (1940), Rodeo (1942), and Appalachian Spring (1944), the Lincoln Portrait (1942) for speaker and orchestra, and his arrangements of Old American Songs (1950 and 1952), have long inspired the affection and admiration of performers and concert audiences. Despite the immense popularity of such works (or perhaps, because of it), Aaron Copland also sought to compose pieces that built upon the traditions of European concert music. The Clarinet Concerto (1948), written for Benny Goodman, represents one such venture, although the stylistic influence of American jazz is also quite prominent. Copland’s Third Symphony, commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation, represents perhaps the composer's most ambitious work in this traditional vein. Copland’s Third followed two relatively brief Symphonies, completed in 1925 and 1933. The composition of the Third Symphony took place between 1944 and 1946. Copland finished the orchestration of the final movement on September 29, 1946, just a few weeks before the Symphony’s premiere on October 18, with Serge Koussevitsky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The New York Music Critics Circle selected Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony as the best work by an American composer played during the 1946-7 season. Aaron Copland Discusses his Third Symphony In Copland’s program notes for the premiere of his Third Symphony, he cautioned: One aspect of the symphony ought to be pointed out: it contains no folk or popular material. During the late twenties it was customary to pigeonhole me as a composer of symphonic jazz, with emphasis on the jazz. More recently I have been catalogued as a purveyor of Americana. Any reference to jazz or folk-material in this work was purely unconscious. While it is true that all of the melodies are Copland’s own, the spirit of such works as Appalachian Spring and Lincoln Portrait may be found in the Symphony’s transparent orchestration and beautiful, arching themes. In addition, Copland acknowledged the presence in the Third Symphony of one of the most familiar and beloved American concert works: I do borrow from myself by using Fanfare for the Common Man (1942) in an extended and reshaped form in the final movement. I used this opportunity to carry my Fanfare material further and to satisfy my desire to give the Third Symphony an affirmative tone. After all, it was a wartime piece—or more accurately, an end-of-war piece—intended to reflect the euphoric spirit of the country at the time. Copland provided the following musical analysis for the 1946 premiere of his Third Symphony: I. Molto moderato. The opening movement which is broad and expressive in character, opens and closes in the key of E major. (Formally it bears no relation to the sonata-allegro form with which most symphonies usually begin.) The themes—three in number—are plainly stated: the first is in the strings, at the very start, without introduction; the second in related mood in violas and oboes; the third, of a bolder nature, in the trombones and horns. The general form is that of an arch, in which the central portion is more animated and the final section an extended coda, presenting a broadened version of the opening material. Both the first and third themes are referred to again in later movements of the Symphony. II. Allegro molto. The form of this movement stays closer to normal symphonic procedure. It is the usual scherzo, with first part, trio and return. A brass introduction leads to the main theme, which is stated three times in Part I: at first in horns and violas, then in unison strings, and finally in augmentation in the lower brass. The three statements of the theme are separated by the usual episodes. After the climax is reached, the trio follows without pause. Solo woodwinds sing the new trio melody in lyrical and canonical style. The strings take it up and add a new section of their own. The recapitulation of Part I is not literal. The principal theme of the scherzo returns in somewhat revised form in the piano solo, leading through previous episodic material to a full restatement in the tutti orchestra. This is climaxed by a return to the lyrical trio theme, this time sung in canon and in fortissimo by the entire orchestra. III. Andantino quasi allegretto. The third movement is the freest of all in formal structure. Although it is built up sectionally, the various sections are intended to emerge one from another in continuous flow, somewhat in the manner of a closely knit series of variations. The opening section, however, plays no role other than that of introducing the main body of the movement. High up in the unaccompanied violins is heard a rhythmically transformed version of the third (trombone) theme of the first movement of the Symphony. It is briefly developed in contrapuntal style, and comes to a full close, once again in the key of E major. A new and more tonal theme is introduced in the solo flute. This is the melody that supplies the thematic substance for the sectional metamorphoses that follow: at first with quiet singing nostalgia, then faster and heavier—almost dance-like; then more childlike and naïve, and finally more vigorous and forthright. Imperceptibly, the whole movement drifts off into the higher regions of the strings, out of which floats the single line of the beginning, sung by a solo violin and piccolo, accompanied this time by harps and celesta. The third movement calls for no brass, with the exception of a single horn and trumpet. IV. Molto deliberato (Fanfare)—Allegro risoluto. The final movement follows without pause. It is the longest of the symphony, and closest in structure to the customary sonata-allegro form. The opening fanfare is based on “Fanfare for the Common Man” which I composed in 1942, at the invitation of Eugene Goossens for a series of wartime fanfares introduced under his direction by the Cincinnati Symphony. In the present version it is first played pianissimo by flutes and clarinets, and then suddenly given out by brass and percussion. The fanfare serves as an introduction to the main body of the movement which follows. The components of the usual form are there: a first theme in animated 16th-note motion; a second theme—broader and more song-like in character; a fullblown development and a refashioned return to the earlier material of the movement, leading to a peroration. One curious feature of the symphony consists in the fact that the second theme is to be found embedded in the development section instead of being in its customary place. The development as such concerns itself with the fanfare and first theme fragments. A shrill tutti chord, with flutter-tongued brass and piccolos, brings the development to a close. What follows is not a recapitulation in the ordinary sense. Instead a delicate interweaving of the first theme in the higher solo woodwinds is combined with a quiet version of the fanfare in the two bassoons. Combined with this, the opening theme of the first movement of the symphony is quoted, first in the violins and later in the solo trombone. Near the end a full-voice chanting of the song-like theme is heard in horns and trombones. The symphony concludes on a massive restatement of the opening phrase with which the entire work began.