Download Greg Waxberg is Music Director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting

Greg Waxberg is Music Director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting Radio, program
annotator for opera companies and a freelance writer covering the arts.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Tchaikovsky’s rendition of Shakespeare’s story was not a “student work,” in
terms of being composed during formal studies, but it came close. The idea originated
with Mily Balakirev, the leader of nationalistic Russian composers known as “The
Mighty Five” (including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander
Borodin and Cesar Cui). Balakirev became one of Tchaikovsky’s mentors and suggested
that he write a piece based on Romeo and Juliet.
It was well-intentioned, but Tchaikovsky couldn’t find inspiration – he couldn’t
get a grasp on any melodies – and told Balakirev in a letter. In response, Balakirev
described how he had approached his overture to Shakespeare’s King Lear, told
Tchaikovsky what notes he would use to start Romeo and Juliet and urged him to create a
plan. This last point was important because Balakirev had had a similar problem with his
overture…he wanted to write a piece about King Lear and lacked musical ideas, so he
envisioned the structure of the work and the melodies soon came.
Tchaikovsky began composing in the autumn of 1869 and the premiere, which did
nothing for the piece, took place in Moscow in March 1870. He exchanged ideas with
Balakirev and revised the overture that summer; the new version was played in February
1872 in St. Petersburg. Ultimately, the final revision modified the end of the work and
was unveiled in 1880. During all this time that Romeo and Juliet was in progress,
Tchaikovsky completed his Second, Third and Fourth Symphonies, Marche Slave, Swan
Lake, Eugene Onegin, Francesca da Rimini, The Tempest and other compositions.
Regarding the title “Fantasy Overture”: the piece easily could be called Romeo
and Juliet or Romeo and Juliet Fantasy, but Tchaikovsky chose a more fanciful title. The
word “overture,” in the 19th century, was adapted to the phrase “concert overture,” a
stand-alone piece that doesn’t precede a larger work. Some “concert overtures” also can
be considered symphonic poems because they might be inspired by literature, tell a story
and/or recreate images. Thus, Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture could be called a
symphonic poem.
Definite imagery applies to various sections of Romeo and Juliet. For example,
the opening minutes of subdued woodwinds, strings and harp are said to depict Friar
Laurence. In addition, the dark and mysterious qualities of this music suggest that
something negative is pervading the scene. The orchestra suddenly seems unsettled and
the strings and woodwinds alternate rapidly, perhaps signifying Montagues versus
Capulets. Then, the “fury” or “feud” theme is unleashed – the cymbals could be the
clashing of swords – and this motif is heard elsewhere in the strings and woodwinds.
Shortly thereafter, the love theme develops in the woodwinds and strings, but the
fury returns (you may hear hints of the 1812 Overture). The love theme is played more
passionately by the strings, as if Romeo and Juliet are determined to conquer the feud,
and Tchaikovsky alternates love and fury before fury once again takes control. The mood
changes when the timpani announce death and the love theme returns in a slower version,
but a prolonged drum roll and death chords bring us to the inevitable conclusion.
Sergei Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
This concerto was commissioned by enthusiasts of the French violinist Robert
Soetans and Prokofiev was quite willing to compose it, because he wanted to write
another violin work and had some material ready. Soetans gave the first performance in
Madrid on December 1, 1935 as part of a concert tour with Prokofiev. It is rather fitting
that the premiere took place during a tour, because the concerto had taken form in various
cities – Paris, Voronezh (in southwest Russia) and Baku, Azerbaijan.
Prokofiev’s original title was “concert sonata for violin and orchestra,” and he
composed it during the summer of 1935, at the same time that he was working on his
ballet Romeo and Juliet. His first four symphonies and five piano concertos had already
been composed. Cinderella, the cantata Alexander Nevsky, the Fifth and Sixth
Symphonies and Peter and the Wolf were still to come.
Rather unusual for the beginning of a concerto, we hear the soloist first. She plays
a subdued six-note theme before the orchestra plays it, also subdued. The motif is
repeated numerous times at different paces. The movement flows with lovely melodies,
but the overall sound is rather dark. It ends with pizzicato (plucked strings), which is how
the second movement begins.
In the midst of this pizzicato, and in contrast to the first movement, the violin
soars in a higher register with penetrating beauty, joined by the strings. The movement
ends as that high violin melody is transformed into a slow, low version elsewhere in the
orchestra. The final movement is more erratic and features castanets and, at times, a duet
for the violin and bass drum.
Claude Debussy: La Mer (The Sea)
Considering Debussy’s childhood, it’s remarkable that La Mer – or any of his
music – was written. He wanted to be a sailor, partly because his father was a sailor, he
heard stories about his father’s trips and his father wanted Debussy to be a sailor. He also
loved the sea from an early age, including visits to Cannes (on the Riviera) and Italy and
a holiday spent on the coast of Brittany (where he and some friends were in a boat during
a storm).
Once he became a composer, though, La Mer was a natural choice for him. For
one thing, he relied on his memories of the water. As an Impressionist, he was influenced
by Impressionist painters who evoked atmospheres with changes in lighting and blending
of colors and didn’t focus as much on strict forms of content. Indeed, Debussy’s music
capitalizes on mood and color with blending and shifting of musical ideas. And what
better subject than the sea…constantly in a mode of change, with light (or the lack of it)
and the crash of the waves always blending.
Among the Impressionists, Debussy was influenced by Claude Monet and British
painter Joseph Mallord William Turner. He also took great interest in 19th-century
Japanese art, especially Katsushika Hokusai, an artist, painter and maker of woodblock
prints. Hokusai’s “In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast at Kanagawa,” from a series of
block prints called “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” captured Debussy’s imagination. It
depicts a gigantic wave at its crest, ready to crash down on a stormy ocean, and Mount
Fuji is dwarfed in the distance under the crest.
La Mer consists of three symphonic sketches: “From Dawn to Midday on the
Sea,” “Play of the Waves” and “Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea.” Its first performance
was on October 15, 1905 in Paris, with the Lamoureux Orchestra conducted by Camille
Chevillard. Few people liked his interpretation, and the piece became more successful
when Debussy conducted it three years later.
The work starts quietly, as the sea comes to life, then rumbles and swirls. At
various times, Debussy uses the brass, timpani, flat cymbals and percussion in swells of
sound. La Mer ends with a burst of splendor, as we are reminded of the sea’s awesome
power and beauty.