Download HARLEM QuARTET - Rockport Music

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harlem quartet
Friday
july
Ilmar Gavilán, violin
Melissa White, violin
Jaime Amador, viola
Felix Umansky, cello
WITH
Aldo López-Gavilán, piano
8 PM
GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY ALLAN AND KATHE COHEN
ALMENDRA
Abelardito Valdés (1911-1958)/Arr. Nicky Aponte
A NIGHT IN TUNISIA
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917-1993)/Arr. Dave Glenn
THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA
Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994)/Arr. Dave Glenn
TAKE THE “A” TRAIN
Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967)/Arr. Paul Chihara
:: intermission ::
EPÍLOGO
Aldo López-Gavilán (b. 1979)
TALKING TO THE UNIVERSE
Aldo López-Gavilán
ECLIPSE
Aldo López-Gavilán
PAN CON TIMBA
Aldo López-Gavilán
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 69
WEEK 5
the program
Notes
on the
program
by
Sandra Hyslop
In their work together, the quintet of Harlem Quartet and Aldo López-Gavilán has developed
a repertoire that honors composers, arrangers, jazz musicians, and other performers who
incorporate improvisation into their music. All the works on this evening’s concert are
performed in that tradition. The composers and arrangers who are named have provided a
musical platform for the unique interpretations of the Harlem Quartet and their partner,
Aldo López-Gavilán.
In 1979 the pianist and composer Aldo López-Gavilán was born in Cuba into a family of talented
and accomplished musicians. His mother, Teresita Junco, was a well-known concert pianist and
pedagogue. She performed and recorded both with Aldo and with his brother, the concert
violinist Ilmar Gavilán, the founding leader of the Harlem Quartet. Their father, Guido, is a
conductor and composer.
As a pre-schooler, Aldo wrote his first music compositions and had his first piano instruction
from his mother. He began formal studies at the age of seven and made his debut as a pianist
at the age of twelve. In addition to learning the demanding classical piano repertoire, Aldo
developed remarkable improvisational skills at a very young age.
Aldo López-Gavilán has an active international career, performing as soloist and in ensembles
throughout the world. In 2006 the conductor Claudio Abbado invited him to perform as a concerto
soloist in a concert honoring the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, and in 2007 he performed
Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto with Abbado in Caracas and Havana. In 2012 he made his debut
at Carnegie Hall in the concert “Voces de Latino América.”
Aldo’s seven CDs reflect the breadth of his repertoire, which ranges from classical to jazz and
includes many of his own compositions and improvisations. His first CD won the 2000 Grand Prix
at Cubadisco, and he was included in the DVD set Cuban Pianists: The History of Latin Jazz.
• • •
ALMENDRA
Abelardito Valdés (b. Havana, November 7, 1911; d. Havana, December 9, 1958)/
Arr. Nicky Aponte
Composed 1938
Abelardito Valdés
Abelardito Valdés was the beloved leader of a highly popular Cuban dance orchestra that
bore the same name as this danzon, its theme song: “Almendra” [Almonds]. During the
period of its greatest fame, in the 1940s and ’50s, ballroom dancers flocked to Almendra’s
live performances of its extensive repertoire, which their devoted public also knew from the
many albums that Almendra recorded.
A NIGHT IN TUNISIA
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (b. Cheraw, South Carolina, October 21, 1917;
d. Englewood, New Jersey, January 6, 1993)/Arr. Dave Glenn
Composed 1941-42
John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie
The great Dizzy Gillespie was a trumpeter in the Earl Hines Band during the hey-day of bebop
when he composed this piece, which he called “Interlude.” Both Sarah Vaughan and Anita
O’Day recorded it (with lyrics by Jon Hendricks) under that title, respecting Dizzy’s disdain
for the other title. “Some genius,” said Dizzy, “decided to call it ‘Night in Tunisia.’” By the
70 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
name “Interlude,” Dizzy Gillespie and his Sextet recorded it for Victor in 1946, a 78 rpm disc
that in 2004 was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. It is currently available on several
hundred recordings, adapted and arranged for every conceivable combination of instruments
and voices. In his memoir “To Be or Not to Bop,” Dizzy Gillespie explained the origin of the
musical idea. Sitting at the piano, he noticed that the notes of chord progressions he was
improvising created a melody with a Latin, or oriental, feel. Playing it with a bebop rhythm
created “a mixture with a kind of syncopation in the bass line,” different from the regular
four-beat bass. He subsequently referred to it as an “anthem to bebop, ” which introduced
Afro-Cuban rhythms into American jazz.
THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA
Antônio Carlos Jobim (b. Rio de Janeiro, January 25, 1927;
d. New York City, December 8, 1994) /Arr. Dave Glenn
Composed 1962
In 1962 the composer Antônio Carlos Jobim and his friend, the poet Vinicius de Moraes,
created a song for the musical theater piece Blimp, a work that they were creating in their
home city, Rio de Janeiro. Originally titled “The Girl Who Passes By,” the samba became one
of the most-performed, most-recorded popular songs in the history of the genre. Eventually,
the original Portuguese lyrics were supplemented for international purposes by Norman
Gimbel’s English lyrics, so that the tall and tan, young and lovely Girl from Ipanema was
soon “passing by” her fans all over the world. By one estimate, the song has been recorded
ca. 250 times. Although its popularity made “Tom” Jobim’s name familiar in international
households, his work as a prolific composer, arranger, singer, pianist, guitarist, performer,
and recording artist would have stood alone, even without his famous Girl, as one of the
most extraordinary bodies of musical endeavors in the twentieth century.
The Brazilian songwriter
Antônio Carlos Jobim, also
known as Tom Jobim, was a
prolific composer, arranger,
singer, pianist, guitarist,
performer, and recording
artist.
TAKE THE “A” TRAIN
Billy Strayhorn (b. Dayton, Ohio, November 19, 1915; d. New York City, May 31, 1967)/
Arr. Paul Chihara (b. Seattle, 1938)
Composed in 1939
In September 2007 the Harlem Quartet released its first CD, entitled “Take the ‘A’ Train.”
The title track features an arrangement by Paul Chihara of the famous Duke Ellington
theme song composed by Billy Strayhorn.
Take the “A” Train, the
Harlem Quartet’s first CD
(White Pine Music), features
the title song.
In this energized four-minute piece, a diverse world comes together: the African-American
composer Billy Strayhorn, who wrote so many famous compositions for the Duke Ellington
orchestras; the Japanese-American composer and arranger Paul Chihara, who has created
soundtracks for countless cinema and television films; and the Harlem Quartet, whose
stated purpose is “to advance diversity in classical music while engaging young and new
audiences through the discovery and presentation of varied repertoire, highlighting works
by minority composers.”
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 71
The composer and pianist Aldo López-Gavilán has provided commentary for the final four
pieces on the program.
Notes
on the
program
EPÍLOGO
Aldo López-Gavilán
Composed before 2009; 7 minutes
From the DVD Más allá del Ocaso [Beyond the sunset]: “Epílogo” was originally written for solo
piano, solo clarinet, and orchestra. The central theme explores a dream-like lyricism, highly
modulatory, as well as a triumphant musical gesture reminiscent of “Nueva Trova,” a style
pioneered and made famous by troubadour singers Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanés. It
also showcases Aldo López-Gavilán’s characteristic canon in the development section,
where all instruments stagger a rhythmic figure that constructs a sonic kaleidoscope.
TALKING TO THE UNIVERSE
Aldo López-Gavilán
Composed before 2009; 7 minutes
Aldo López-Gavilán’s
seventh, and most recent
CD (2014) is De todos
los colores y tambien
verde [About all the colors,
and green, too]
From the DVD Más allá del Ocaso [Beyond the sunset]: “Talking to the Universe” has gone
through several transformations from piano solo to piano jazz band to piano jazz band with
orchestra. The quintet version captures the intimate and yearning quality of a person sending
a message in a bottle out to the vast universe, as well as the vibrancy and wholeness of
feeling in union with the cosmos. It culminates in a complex and exhilarating counterpoint
of gradually increasing energy as preparation for launching out of planet earth.
ECLIPSE
Aldo López-Gavilán
Composed before 2009; 4 minutes
From the DVD Más allá del Ocaso [Beyond the sunset]: Originally written for violin and piano,
“Eclipse” is a personal piece that expresses great vulnerability. It was written for Aldo’s brother
Ilmar, addressing the emotional toll taken by the involuntary separation of the two brothers
due to political circumstances, as Ilmar went to the United States, while Aldo remained
in Cuba.
PAN CON TIMBA
Aldo López-Gavilán
Composed before 2014; 4 minutes
From Aldo López-Gavilán’s most recent (2014) CD, De todos los colores y tambien verde
[About all the colors, and green, too]: “Pan con Timba” is a quintessential Cuban piece, joyful
and contagiously optimistic. The title means “bread with unknown something,” classic
post-Cuban revolution humor, as the younger generation, instead of indulging in self-pity,
embraced humor as a psychologically uplifting device to deal with the scarcities of their
lives. This humor is now a staple, an essential component, of the current Cuban identity.
The piece features many types of “Cuban tumbao”—a reiterative rhythmic pattern—and
intertwined elements derived from popular contemporary Cuban dances.
72 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
7
Thursday
july
calder quartet
Benjamin Jacobson, violin
Andrew Bulbrook, violin
Jonathan Moerschel, viola
Eric Byers, cello
8 PM
GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY SUSANNE GUYER AND THAD CARPEN
STRING QUARTET IN G MINOR, OP. 10
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Animé et très decide
Assez vif et bien rythmé
Andantino, doucement expressif
Très modéré—En animant peu à peu—Très mouvementé et avec passion
KONGSGAARD VARIATIONS
Anders Hillborg (b. 1954)
:: intermission ::
STRING QUARTET NO. 8 IN E MINOR, OP. 59, NO. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Allegro
Molto Adagio
Allegretto—Maggiore (Thème russe)
Finale: Presto
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 73
WEEK 6
the program
STRING QUARTET IN G MINOR, OP. 10
Claude Debussy (b. St. Germain-en-Laye, August 22, 1862; d. Paris, March 25, 1918)
Notes
on the
program
by
Sandra Hyslop
Composed 1893; 24 minutes
At the great Paris International Exposition of 1889-90, the young French composer Claude
Debussy discovered the music of the Far East through the performances of the gamelan
orchestras of Javanese musicians. That encounter not only worked its magic on Debussy,
but through him it altered the course of music composition in his time.
Unlike other composers, including Beethoven and Shostakovich, Debussy did not wait until
his maturity to tackle the writing of a string quartet. By 1893, satisfied that he could express
his idiosyncratic ideas in this medium, Debussy undertook his String Quartet No.1, which he
intended to dedicate to his friend the composer Ernest Chausson. Working simultaneously
on the quartet and his new orchestral work L’Après-midi d’une faun,
Debussy explored daring new music territory. Midway through the
composition of the string quartet, Debussy wrote to Chausson, whom he
counted on for an understanding ear, “As for the last movement, I can’t get
it into the shape I want, and that’s the third time of trying. It’s a hard slog….”
At the 1889 Exposition
Universelle in Paris—where
the newly opened Eiffel
Tower served as the entry
gate—Claude Debussy first
heard the music of gamelan
ensembles from Java. Under
the everlasting spell of the
scales, harmonies, and
timbres of these ensembles,
Debussy composed his
String Quartet of 1893.
After Chausson had heard the quartet in a trial run, he wrote to Debussy
with criticisms and reservations. Debussy replied, “I must tell you that for
some days I have been greatly upset by what you said of my quartet….I felt that in the end it
only resulted in your being attracted to certain aspects of my work to which I attach little
importance.” And to what did Debussy “attach little importance”?
Studying the eventual form of the String Quartet, as well as the great orchestral works he
composed later, one can see that Debussy had little regard for the traditional sonata form, with
its development sections and thematic manipulations. He ignored the rules of counterpoint,
which controlled (or forbade) the use of parallel voices, preferring to set chords upon chords,
in fleet waves of motion. Through it all, his ear for his own language dictated a rhythm and
a flow of his music that ran counter to the definitive thrust of traditional Germanic rules of
composition. He reveled in the pentatonic scales and cross rhythms of the music of the Far
East. No wonder Chausson did not understand.
In the Quartet, Debussy begins with the germ of a theme that appears in all four of the
movements. Both Hector Berlioz and César Franck had utilized this approach, using a
recurring motif to stitch movements, or parts of movements, together. This motif, together
with the sheen and freshness of his harmonic inventions, supply all the “structure” that
Debussy needed to make of this string quartet a unified whole.
In some ways, Debussy clung to tradition in this work. Attempting a string quartet was in
itself a vestige of his attachment to the past. In addition, the forms of the first movement
(a modified sonata allegro), the second movement (a scherzo with trio), and the third (song
form) give the superficial impression of a “regular string quartet.” However, the musical
content of the Quartet points the way forward, toward the Debussy of the shimmering
orchestral works to come.
In the end, Debussy dedicated his First String Quartet to the Ysaÿe Quartet (Eugène Ysaÿe,
Mathieu Crickboom, Léon van Hout, and Joseph Jacob), who gave the first performance of
the work on December 29, 1893. Its mixed critical reception revealed that at least some in
74 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
the audience understood the electrifying vitality, brilliant sonic colors, and sparkling clarity
of the young composer’s singular achievement in writing for string quartet.
KONGSGAARD VARIATIONS
Anders Hillborg (b. Stockholm, Sweden, May 31, 1954)
Composed 2006; 14minutes
The Swedish composer Anders Hillborg has developed significant ties to the United States
music world, where his works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he
was composer-in-residence at the Aspen Music Festival in 2008.
Premiered in 2006 by the Prazak Quartet, the Kongsgaard Variations is dedicated to John
and Maggy Kongsgaard. John Kongsgaard, a winemaker in Napa Valley, California, is a
co-founder of the Arietta winery, whose wine labels include an image of a Beethoven
manuscript excerpt: two measures of the Arietta theme from the composer’s final piano
sonata. Mr. Hillborg has written the following about his Kongsgaard Variations:
Wine labels from the Arietta
vineyard (Napa Valley,
California) feature a
two-measure excerpt of
Beethoven’s manuscript
for the Arietta theme from
the composer’s final piano
sonata.
…So when I was asked to compose a piece in honour of this fabulous wine, this
[Arietta] theme would naturally have a key role in the piece. But whereas Beethoven’s
piece is a set of rigourously carried out variations with a steadily increasing intensity
curve,… the Kongsgaard Variations are more like meditations, with no directional
process.
The music floats aimlessly through the centuries, displaying reminiscences of
Baroque, folk music, Renaissance, and Romanticism, but with Beethoven’s Arietta
theme as the musical epicenter. Although scarcely audible, the piece actually starts
with music directly derived from the Arietta theme, leaving out the melody, but
maintaining the same rhythmical flow and harmonic landscape, as if Beethoven’s
theme is dreaming about yet another variation on itself.
Arietta means “little song,” and these beginning bars are then cloned and mutated
into other “little songs” that occur on several occasions in the piece.
After the introductory section the first violin takes on a simple, thoughtful solo motif,
and again, this is cloned and mutated and appears later in the piece in different
shapes. Then comes a viola solo, joyful, as in trance, leading into a section where
all instruments sing the praise of wine and music.
Shortly after the middle of the piece, we hear the Arietta theme for the first time,
but strangely distorted and stretched, in the same way a cubistic painting twists the
motif it uses. It’s almost as if the music is being played backwards.
A simple chorale lands us in the music that started out the piece. Then, finally, comes
the first part of the Beethoven theme in C major in its pure, original shape, succeeded
by the second part of the theme in A minor, but here again distorted, before the music
completely vaporizes into a mist of harmonics.
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 75
STRING QUARTET IN E MINOR, OP. 59, NO. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven (b. Bonn, December 16, 1771; d. Vienna, March 26, 1827)
Notes
on the
program
by
Sandra Hyslop
Composed 1805-06; 35 minutes
Beethoven’s three string quartets, composed in 1805-06 and published in 1808 as Opus 59,
were commissioned by and dedicated to Count—and later, Prince—Andrei Kirillovich
Rasumovsky, the Russian Ambassador in Vienna. They immediately became known as
“the Rasumovsky quartets.”
This patron and friend of Beethoven, one of the wealthiest men in Europe, was a passionate
amateur musician. He maintained a professional string quartet for performances, on call,
in his elegant home in Vienna. For several years, that ensemble was the quartet of the
Beethoven’s close friend and colleague the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh (1776-1830).
Schuppanzigh, six years younger than Beethoven, was a leading figure in Vienna’s community
of musicians and served as the principal violin in the premier performances of many of
Beethoven’s compositions—chamber music as well as orchestral works.
An acquaintance in that social circle said that “[Beethoven] was as much at home in
Rasumovsky’s palace as a hen in her coop. Everything he wrote was taken warm from the
nest and tried out in the frying pan.” Although Beethoven declined Rasumovsky’s request
to give him lessons in theory and composition, he did accept his commission for the three
string quartets. At their first performance, in the Rasumovsky palace, Schuppanzigh sat first
violin and Count Rasumovsky himself, as was his custom, played the second violin part.
Ignaz Schuppanzigh
(1776-1830), violinist,
violist, conductor, and
close friend of Ludwig van
Beethoven, occupied a
central place in Vienna’s
music life for forty years. As
his handsome countenance
and fit figure metamorphosed
into morbid obesity,
Schuppanzigh became
known for his corpulence,
about which his friend
Beethoven occasionally
commented. In fact,
Beethoven even wrote a
short choral composition
entitled “Lob auf den Dicken,”
[In praise of the fat one]
“in honor of” his friend.
The text reads, in part,
“Schuppanzigh ist ein
Lump.
Wer kennt ihn nicht,den
dicken Sauermagen…”
[Schuppanzigh is a lump,
who doesn’t know him,
the fat sour belly?...]
Beethoven’s humor, if such
it was, apparently had little
effect on their relationship,
as Schuppanzigh was a loyal
friend and colleague for
Beethoven’s entire life
in Vienna.
Thayer, in his Life of Beethoven, reported that the Vienna correspondent of the Allgemeine
musikalische Zeitung (that important eighteenth- and nineteenth-century journal that
provides us copious details of musical happenings throughout Europe) wrote the following
remark about the Opus 59 in 1807: “…three new, very long, and difficult Beethoven quartets…
are attracting the attention of all connoisseurs. They are profoundly thought through and
admirably worked out, but not to be grasped by all.”
Beethoven was aware of the advanced nature of these compositions. An Italian musician,
Felix Radicati, asked the composer if he seriously considered these quartets to be music.
Beethoven quickly replied, “Oh, they are not for you, but for a later age.”
That “later age” arrived sometime in the twentieth century, when a profound appreciation for
Beethoven’s more challenging quartets began to take hold. What to Signore Radicati seemed
bizarre, now reaches modern ears as the exciting force that Beethoven breathed naturally
into the music.
Opus 59, No. 2, begins with two dramatic and incisive chords, in the tonic, E minor, and its
dominant, B major, followed by a silence. This theme—chords and silence—recurs throughout
the first movement, contrasted by rapidly swirling melodic passages. The music of the
slow—molto slow—second movement demands sustained legato expressivity, more prayerful
than sentimental in tone. It ends serenely. In the Trio of the exuberant Scherzo, marked
“Allegretto,” Beethoven employed a Russian theme (no doubt to honor his patron), which he
delineated in energetic canonic passages. The final movement completes the work, in
relatively short order, with ebullient and rapidly paced good humor. The frequently recurring
principal theme, memorably jaunty, is like an invitation to a roisterous dance.
76 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
8
july
hesperion XXI
Friday
tembembe ensamble continuo
8 PM
Jordi Savall, viol and direction
Xavier Díaz-Latorre, theorbo and guitar
David Mayoral, percussion
Ulises Martínez, violin, guitarra de son, and voice
Enrique Barona, guitarra huapanguera, Leona, jarana jaroch 3a, mosquito,
maracas, pander, and voice
Lepoldo Novoa, marimbol, guitarra de son 3a, jarana huasteca,
quijada de caballo, and arpa llanera
FOLIAS, ANTIGUAS and CRIOLLAS
FROM THE ANCIENT TO THE NEW WORLD
FOLIAS ANTIGUAS
LA SPAGNA
Diego Ortiz (1510-1570)
(CMP 121):FOLIAS ANTIGUAS
Anonymous—Improvisation
FOLIAS ANTIGUAS “RODRIGO MARTINEZ”
Anonymous—Improvisation
JÁCARAS / LA PETENERA
Gaspar Sanz (1640-1710)/ Son from Tixtla
PASSAMEZZO ANTICO I - PASSAMEZZO MODERNO III RUGGIERO ROMANESCA VII - PASSAMEZZO MODERNO II
Diego Ortiz
MORESCA
Pedro Guerrero ((b. ca. 1520)
FOLIA: PAVANA CON SU GLOSA
Antonio de Cabezón (1510-1566)
GUARACHA
Juan García de Zéspedes (1619-1678)
Traditional from Tixtla, with improvisations
:: intermission ::
CELTIC TRADITIONS IN THE NEW WORLD
REGENTS RANT
Traditional Scottish
The program continues on the next page
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 77
WEEK 6
the program
LORD MOIRA
Traditional Scottish
LORD MOIRA’S HORNPIPE
Traditional Scottish
Ryan’s Collection (Boston)
FANDANGO-EL FANDANGUILLO
Santiago de Murcia (1673-1739)/Traditional jarocho
DIFERENCIAS SOBRE LAS FOLIAS
Antonio Martín y Coll (1650-1734) and improvisations
GLOSAS SOBRE “TODO EL MUNDO EN GENERAL”
Francisco Correa de Arauxo (1584-1654)
IMPROVISATIONS ON THE CANARIOS
Anonymous
GALLARDA NAPOLITANA – JARABE LOCO (JAROCHO)
Antonio Valente (active 1565-1580) and improvisations
With the support of the Departament de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya,
the Institut Ramon Llull and the Programa México en Escena del Fondo para
la Cultura y las Artes de CONACULTA - MÉXICO
Notes
on the
program
by
Jordi Savall
and
Louise K. Stein
FOLIAS, ANTIGUAS, AND CRIOLLAS: From the Old World to the New
ALL OF THE MUSIC on this program has travelled oceans of transformation, adapting, absorbing,
and reshaping a musical inheritance with many points of origin. The pursuit of true “authenticity”
in modern performances grows from the personal rediscovery of the spark of creativity. Hence,
our program embraces a constant improvisatory approach, replete with moments of fresh
collective improvisation.
A VARIEGATED MIXTURE of sailors and soldiers, nobles and clerics, musicians and merchants,
adventurers and African slaves, and all kinds of people hoping to get rich quickly sailed to the
New World from Andalusia via the Canary Islands. In the Caribbean, Mexico, and Latin America,
the newcomers encountered the astonishingly rich cultures of the indigenous peoples whose
musical practices can be heard still today, fragments traced through documents from the
so-called “conquest.” Many of the original languages have disappeared,
along with the peoples who spoke them. Some songs, dances, tunes,
In Folías Antiguas & Criollas, from the
and rhythmic patterns survive, however, within hybrid or “Creolized”
Old World to the New, we bring to life
traditional versions. Tunes rescued from long-vanished colonial cultures
the dialogue among the Llanero and
pour
forth in early dance-songs and their traditional incarnations.
Huasteco oral traditions, the anonymous
mestizo folk repertoires influenced
by Nahuatl and African cultures, and
early modern European and Hispanic
music preserved in manuscripts and
printed collections. This dialogue is
tirelessly engaging, humbling, and
ennobling—it is among the most
essential of conversations.
78 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
Spanish Siglo de Oro [Spanish Golden Age] writers provided colorful
references to these well-known tunes and dances. In his play El amante
agradecido, Lope de Vega (1562-1635) described the chacona as a
“mulatto-like” female ambassadress from “the Indies.” For Miguel de
Cervantes (1547-1616), worldly songs and dances of the “jacarandina”
[rough bullies] sounded in opposition to the decorous “música divina”
of sacred polyphony.
Chaconas, folias, canarios, jácaras, and fandangos circulated freely and
rapidly, forging audible bonds between “old” and “new” territories and
societies. Even today, this music and the dances retain an extraordinary
mixture of European, Iberian, and indigenous elements.
THE CHURCHES, CATHEDRALS, CONVENTS, and missions in the New
World were the institutions whose evangelizing practices not only affected
which musical repertoires would be preserved, but also how musical
history might be recorded and interpreted. Music was a catechistic art
that lent itself to the evangelizing project in both the northern and the
southern parts of the Americas.
Musicians from both the old and new
worlds who believed in the power of
music enlivened it through ingenious
improvisation. They continue to polish
it with passion and spirituality in our
time. This music has been kept alive
for centuries, often in remote regions
by unnamed musicians whose sensitivity
and talent has ensured the survival of
indigenous and culturally significant
music from the distant past.
Both material musical forms (written into choir books or psalm books, for example) and
audible, aural ones (musical instruction in European instruments and religious song) were
engaged to bring native musicians and listeners into the cult of the Eucharist. While the
suppression of profane music is a story we know too little about, it surely influenced the
transmission of music in the colonies. Even amorous romances and lively bailes could be
misinterpreted when performed in public spaces, perhaps filled with new meanings or
magical associations.
SPANISH AND COLONIAL MUSICIANS were especially famous for their improvisatory talent.
Our program displays several manifestations of this passionate musical “madness,”
“frenzy,” or folia—the practice of making variations or diferencias on a tune, sounding the
tune in the bass while spinning daring figurations above and around it. Variations by the
late sixteenth-century Spanish organist Antonio de Cabezón, on the
Performers would embellish with ad
repeated or “ostinato” bass, known as folia, might be its earliest form.
libitum ornaments and diminutions, so
Our improvisations on “Rodrigo Martínez” from the Cancionero musical
each performance of any work would
del palacio (1499) are shaped by Renaissance conventions of
be unique. Pieces that have survived
to our time in notation for a single
improvisation described by famous practitioners including Diego Ortíz
instrument were surely performed by
(1510-1570) himself.
soloists and ensembles interchangeably,
on vihuelas, guitars, harps, harpsichords,
In his Trattado de glosas (Rome, 1553), Ortíz included sets of variations
or
organ.
with the bass tune of the folia, as well as bass patterns with the Italian
labels Romanesca, passamezzo anticho, and passamezzo moderno. In
these, a repeating ostinato harmonic pattern is played on the harp, guitar, or other polyphonic
instruments, while the solo viola da gamba player performs virtuoso melodic and rhythmic
elaborations.
Many songs derived from the folia (“Rodrigo Martínez” for example) are included in the
Cancionero musical de palacio and other manuscript anthologies. Some appear as instrumental
intabulations (vocal pieces notated for instrumental performance). Luis Venegas de
Henestrosa’s Libro de cifra nueva (1557), an anthology of music for keyboard instruments,
harp, or guitars, includes Cabezón’s “Pavana con glosa,” with its “glosas,” or elaborations,
on the folia. “Pavana con glosa” is the first set of folia variations to be published in organ
tablature; its inclusion in the Libro de cifra nueva attests to its currency in an epoch famous
for competition among emerging styles.
CIRCULATING IN SPAIN AND ITALY before travelling to the Americas, the “Moresca” known
as “La perra mora” has a strong Arabic flavor in its characteristic rhythmic design with 5/2
time. The version attributed to Pedro Guerrero (fl. 1560-1580 in Seville) comes from the
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 79
Notes
on the
program
Cancionero de Medinaceli, collected in the late sixteenth century. The term “perra mora” was
a low insult commonly hurled at Jews, Moors, and others belonging to marginalized groups.
In the poem set by Guerrero, it refers metaphorically by the love-crazed speaker, who regards
his lover as a “slayer of hearts:”
by
Jordi Savall
and
Louise K. Stein
Di, perra mora,
Tell me, filthy [Moorish] bitch,
di, matadora,
Tell me, murderess,
¿Por qué me matas,
Why do you slay me,
y, siendo tuyo,
And, though I am yours,
tan mal me tratas?
Why do you treat me so poorly?
IN CONTRAST, THE FOLIA VARIATIONS, or diferencias in the Flores de
música anthology compiled between 1690 and 1708 by the Franciscan
organist Antonio Martín y Coll, present the common tune in an embellished
setting closer in style to the better-known folia variations of his Italian
contemporary, Arcangelo Corelli. Flores de música also contains pieces
by Corelli and Handel, reflecting Madrid’s cosmopolitan musical culture
in the early eighteenth century. Our choice of instruments for this
performance, however, includes viol, harps, guitars, and castanets, in
keeping with the characteristic sound of Iberian musical practice.
An array of Renaissance and
Baroque instruments, the
viol, Baroque guitar, and a
small Baroque triple harp,
plus the ageless handheld
percussion instrument, the
castanets.
This modern copy of the viol
[above right] makes clear
the difference in form
between a viol and a violin.
Both violins and viols came
into use at about the same
time, the late 1400s. Viols
come in different sizes, with
voices ranging from treble
to bass, and in the Renaissance
and Baroque periods were
frequently played together in
“consorts.” For this concert,
Jordi Savall is playing (1)
a Treble viol: anonymous
Italia, ca. 1500, and (2)
a seven-string Bass Viol,
Barak Norman,
London, 1697.
While the Romanesca, passamezzo, pavana, and gallarda were high-class dances appropriate
at aristocratic court balls, other dances known as bailes, including zarabandas, chaconas,
seguidillas, folias, fandangos, and jácaras, loudly announced their popular origin and were
unrestricted in social class. They danced from streets and taverns to printed guitar and harp
anthologies for literate amateurs. These were profane, even lascivious dances, as described
in legal prohibitions, but their slick popularity allowed them to “squeeze through the cracks
and even enter the convents” (Cervantes, La ilustre fregona).
The jácara was a wildly popular urban baile in the later seventeenth century across the
Hispanic dominions. Jácaras (also xácaras) explore the world of sassy ruffians and low-life
mercenaries in adventurous and sometimes violent fantasy. The slang-filled jácara strophes
relate the mythical exploits of underworld heroes dangerous to women. The jácaras and
the traditional son La Petenera share similar harmonic structures, melodic motives, and
rhythms. La Petenera is found in both the Flamenco and Huasteco [region of Mexico] traditions,
but reaches back to medieval Sephardic communities in Andalusia as well. The lyrics always
tell of a dangerous woman. She is a siren or mermaid in the Huasteco song La Petenera, the
salty lament of a damned sailor doomed by her seduction.
THE FANDANGO HAS BROUGHT FORTH exuberant celebration on both sides of the Atlantic
since the seventeenth century. Fandango is the ultimate expression of the Mexican son (also
called the huapango), a celebration in which everyone dances, sings, shouts, claps, whistles,
and plays instruments. The Fandanguito jarocho is musically identical to the early eighteenthcentury fandango by Santiago de Murcia from the Mexican Saldívar Codex No. 4 manuscript.
The fandango became famous across Europe and the Americas for its vivid choreography
and brilliant strumming. The Venetian Giacomo Casanova described it as expressing
passionate love, from the “sigh of desire to the ecstasy of possession.”
80 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
The popular canarios dance (perhaps born in the Canary Islands) became
a “ground” bass for instrumental variations. Endearingly “barbarian,” the
joyful canarios was assimilated through Spanish and French adaptation
to be transformed into a sophisticated courtly dance. Something of its
untamed origin may have been featured in its choreography. When the
scandalous canarios were danced onstage, the dancers’ bodies surely
pointed to the dance’s exotic origin. The canarios remind us how music
travelled, shaped by the vagaries of oral transmission while incorporating
Iberian, European, African, and indigenous American traditions of
improvisation.
Jordi Savall and Tembembe Ensamble Continuo
The Guaracha from Mexico has a characteristic rhythm in common with a much-performed
villancico by Juan García de Céspedes (†1678). This composer from Puebla, Mexico, based
his humorous Christmas villancico, “Ay que me abraso” (literally, “Oh, I am burning”) on the
Guaracha rhythm. In the villancico, peasants celebrating the birth of Jesus are panting and
gasping for air in the excessive heat of their spiritual rapture. The repeating rhythmic
pattern mimics the rising intensity of the metaphorical flames of their emotions.
VARIATION SETS (diferencias and pasacalles in the harp and guitar collections) were composed
or collected by acclaimed instrumental virtuosos. Their publications allow us to know of
their technical mastery as improvisers. The tientos and other organ pieces in the Facultad
orgánica (1626) by Francisco Correa de Arauxo are among the most brilliantly virtuoso of
inventions. Correa chose a long, contemplative bass melody as the basis
The Celtic tunes have long travelled
for a stunningly beautiful set of variations, “Todo el mundo en general.”
Correa de Arauxo’s older contemporary, the organist Antonio Valente,
working in Spanish Naples, published his small collection in the same
notational system or “tablature” used by Correa. The Gallarda Napolitana
on our program is virtually the same as a son jarocho entitled El jarabe
loco, which in turn appears to be related to Pan de Jarabe, a son banned
in the seventeenth century by the Inquisition in Mexico.
For the variation sets on folias, jácaras, chaconas and other tunes,
and the traditional Mexican sones, both composition and successful
performance require a succession of freely virtuoso elaborations over
a pre-existing bass line, pattern, or melody. This constant elaboration
brings alive the Celtic tunes, which have long travelled back and forth
across the Atlantic.
back and forth across the Atlantic.
Indeed, some of the first “concert”
performers and music teachers in the
former British colonies were Scots or
Irishmen. The huge Ryan’s Mammoth
Collection of 1050 Reels and Jigs, printed
in 1883 in Boston, contains more
than a century’s worth of the popular
dance tunes that working itinerant
musicians needed to know as they
travelled among communities in the
northern regions of the Americas.
The raw popular and folk tunes of the Irish and the Scots were gentrified and written down
in the eighteenth century in Europe as well, though seventeenth-century collections also
witness their transformation in variation sets and character pieces for harp, treble viol, or
the lower lyra viol, with a long list of special tunings that imitated familiar sounds, including
the bagpipes. Performing music for lyra-viol, or in the “lyra-way,” also brings up the many
similarities between Celtic improvisation and the baroque performance—inégal playing and
very distinctive bowing, along with elaborate, virtuoso improvised ornamentation.
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 81
82 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
9
Saturday
july
viva tango!
Alex Brown, piano
Cho-Liang Lin, violin
Satoshi Takeishi, percussion
David Shifrin, clarinet
Hector Del Curto, bandoneon Pablo Aslan, bass
8 PM
LETTERS FROM ARGENTINA
Lalo Schifrin (b. 1932)
Tango del Atardecer
Pampas
Tango Borealis
Danza de Los Montes
Tango a borges
Malambo de Los Llanos
:: intermission ::
SIX BY PIAZZOLLA
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Michelangelo 70
Verano Porteño
Adios Nonino
La Muerte del Angel
Oblivion
Libertango
This concert is made possible in part through the generosity of Jeannie and Angus McIntyre.
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 83
WEEK 6
the program
LETTERS FROM ARGENTINA
Lalo Schifrin (b. Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 21, 1932)
Notes
on the
program
by
Sandra Hyslop
Composed 2004; 57 minutes
Letters from Argentina was premiered in April 2005 at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and
was subsequently recorded on Lalo Schifrin’s CD label, Aleph Records. This evening’s concert
features four members of the original ensemble—Cho-Liang Lin, David Shifrin, Pablo Aslan, and
Satoshi Takeishi—with Hector Del Curto now playing the bandoneon (originally Nestor Marconi),
and Alex Brown at the piano instead of the composer, Lalo Schifrin, who was a member of the
sextet in its first performance and recording. Mr. Schifrin (who is a distant cousin of the clarinetist
David Shifrin, for whom he wrote the work) has provided the following comment, which he
originally wrote for the liner notes of the Letters from Argentina CD.
Like the clear sky, like the rain, like the clouds, music has always been part of the
Argentinean atmosphere. The strumming of the Gauchos’ guitars, the rhythms of the
Indian drums, the expressive melodies of the bandoneon were the aural medium in
which I grew up. In Argentina, the music was ever present in the literature, in the
visual arts, and in the history of the country.
Tangos coming from radios, folk music sung and danced in festivities, Milongas and
Candombes celebrating Mardi Gras surrounded my childhood in Buenos Aires.
Lalo Schifrin, the renowned
pianist, composer, arranger,
and conductor, is widely
admired for his work in
many musical genres. His
many accolades include
four Grammy awards and,
for his film scores, several
Oscar nominations.
Letters from Argentina are the musical memories enhanced by my imagination and
converted into impressions of my homeland. Working on this project helped me to
recreate an unreal past in which a memory persists and invites us to a journey full
of promises and dreams.
Tango Del Atardecer This is one of the pieces which I wrote for the score of Carlos
Saura’s film “tango.” In this version a second part (Trio) was added, and its lyricism
is a contrast to the sense of self-assurance of the first two themes.
The musicians participating not only in this number, but, in the whole CD are
members of the Lincoln Center Chamber group ensemble. Its former director, David
Shifrin, a clarinet virtuoso. Cho-Liang Lin, an outstanding violin soloist. Pablo Aslan
on bass and Sato Takeishi in percussion together with me on piano are added to the
sextet’s nucleus. And finally, as a guest soloist, Nestor Marconi on bandoneon
completes the ensemble.
Pampas The vast plains between the populated centers of Central Argentina and the
Patagonia are called the PAMPA. I purposely wanted to convey the feeling of infinity,
of vast spaces and solitude by transforming the title into “PAMPAS” in plural. There
is a feeling of nostalgia but also of hope in this number which reflects the echoes of
Argentinean folk music.
Tango Boreales Vigor, energy, and a strong pulsation are the basic elements of this
tango. The second part allows for the theme and variations form, inviting the soloists
to perform solos, duets and different instrumental combinations. The whole piece
which came to my mind in Iceland was a tribute to Buenos Aires suburbs, where the
city almost meets the countryside.
Danza De Los Montes The Calchaquí Indians in the Northwest of Argentina were vassals
of the Incas before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. In this number, we feel their
84 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
rhythms juxtaposed to the scales that suffered the passing of time. The result is an
exciting study on rhythms and melodic counterpoints.
Tango A Borges Jorge Luis Borges was one of the greatest Argentinean writers. His
poems, essays, and short stories have enriched our culture.
This is a tribute to the great man whose provocative thoughts were (and still are) part
of my intellectual formation. He loved Tango and even wrote lyrics to Milongas,
which are the ancestors of that genre. We could say that the Milonga is a fast tango.
Resonancias Two different themes alternate almost as a “sonatine”: the first, which
is built around the cycle of fourths (an interval which is neither major nor minor). The
second theme is actually a passacaglia which allows for improvisation. The spirit of
Buenos Aires permeates all through the piece.
La Calle y La Luna (The Street and the Moon) Like a musical portrait, this tango
evokes images of the Argentinean capital. I remember one night in one of the barrios.
The street was deserted, only illuminated by a full and bright moon. However, the
music is not only a description of the scene, but expresses the feelings that this
“letter” or rather “postcard” awakens in my memory.
Malambo De Los Llanos The gauchos were not peons. They were independent and
enjoyed their absolute freedom. The Pampa was their habitat, and the horse their
transportation. They did not work for a landlord and their resources came from
whatever they could find in their nomadic lives.
The “Malambo” (Danza de Los Llanos) was their music, which they play with guitars
while dancing. They used their spurs as percussion in combination with the boots
points and heels. This was a dance for men only and a kind of challenge for the ones
who were trying to be faster, more creative in their rhythmic inventions and more
aggressive. Since it was performed only by male dancers, it was a metaphor of a duel!
SIX BY PIAZZOLLA
Astor Piazzolla (b. Mar del Plata, Argentina, March 11, 1921;
d. Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 4, 1992)
As a sixteen-year-old, Astor Piazzolla worked in the night clubs of Argentina, performing
with traditional tango orchestras while attempting to compose on the side. The pianist Artur
Rubinstein heard Piazzolla’s early compositions and, impressed, urged him to study with
the great Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983). Under Ginastera’s tutelage,
Piazzolla became familiar with the music of Ravel, Stravinsky, and Bartók and enthusiastically
adopted them as models. By night he continued to make his way as a tango musician.
Astor Piazzolla was a virtuoso
performer on the bandoneon.
In 1953, with Ginastera’s support, Piazzolla won a French government grant to study in Paris
with the renowned Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979). Thinking that this student of Gabriel Fauré
and teacher of Aaron Copland would help him unlock the mysteries of composition, Piazzolla
presented himself to her for instruction.
“When I met her,” he wrote later, “I showed her my kilos of symphonies and sonatas. She
started to read them and suddenly came out with a horrible sentence: ‘It’s very well written.’
And stopped, with a big period, round like a soccer ball. After a long while, she said, ‘Here
you are like Stravinsky, like Bartók, like Ravel, but you know what happens? I can’t find
Piazzolla in this.’ And she began to investigate my private life, what I did, what I did and did
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 85
not play, if I was single, married or living with someone, she was like an FBI agent.
Notes
on the
program
by
Sandra Hyslop
“And I was very ashamed to tell her,” Piazzolla continued, “that I was a tango musician.”
“Finally I said, ‘I play in a night club.’ I didn’t want to say ‘cabaret.’ And she answered, ‘Night
club, mais oui, but that is a cabaret, isn’t it?’ ‘Yes,’ I answered, and thought ‘I’ll hit this
woman in the head with a radio…’ It wasn’t easy to lie to her. She kept asking. ‘You say that
you’re not a pianist. What instrument do you play, then?’ And I didn’t want to tell her that I
was a bandoneon player, because I thought, ‘Then she will throw me from the fourth floor.’
Finally, I confessed and she asked me to play some bars of a tango of my own.
“She suddenly opened her eyes, took my hand, and told me: ‘You idiot. That’s Piazzolla!’ And
I took all the music I composed, ten years of my life, and sent it to hell in two seconds.”
He continued his study with Boulanger, devoting himself whole-heartedly to the tango, to the
bandoneon, to the tango orchestra, and to searching explorations of the music. Returning to
Buenos Aires, and with extended stays in the United States and tours throughout the world,
Piazzolla became enormously influential as a bandoneon performer and composer of tangos.
The six tangos on this evening’s concert are among his most well-known.
Astor Piazzolla
(1921-1992)
Michelangelo 70
Michelangelo was a Buenos Aires café in which Piazzolla’s New Tango Quintet performed
in the 1970s. The piece first appeared on the recording Nuevo Tango: Zero Hour, which was
released in 1986. Piazzolla is said to have considered this his greatest album.
Verano Porteño
Piazzolla wrote four tangos that eventually were gathered under the title of “Cuatro Estaciones
Porteñas”—The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (“porteño” refers to someone born in the
capital city of Argentina). Verano Porteño—Buenos Aires Summer—was composed in 1965
as incidental music for a play, Melanita de Oro, by Alberto Rodriguez Muñoz.
Adios Nonino
In October 1959 Piazzolla composed “Farewell, Nonino” in New York City as a memorial
tribute to his father, Vicente “Nonino” Piazzolla, a few days after his passing.
La Muerte del Angel
In 1962 Piazzolla composed evocative incidental music for another theater piece by Alberto
Rodriguez Muñoz, Tango del Ángel. The play portrays the residents of a poor Buenos Aires
neighborhood who are uplifted by the benevolence of an angel. This innocent being suffers
the common fate of many urban saints: death in a knife fight, described
musically in “La Muerte del Angel—The Death of the Angel.”
The bandoneon is the most typical
instrument in the tango ([like] the
saxophone in jazz). It is very different
from the accordion, [to] which some
superficial similarities could be perceived.
However, the bandoneon was born in
Germany during the Renaissance in
villages with small churches that could
not afford a large organ. So, the
bandoneon is a sort of portable organ
and arrived to Argentina with the
immigration waves from Europe
during the nineteenth century.
–Lalo Schifrin
86 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
Oblivion
Piazzolla wrote and recorded “Oblivion” for the Italian film Enrico IV,
based on the play of that name by Luigi Pirandello. Directed by Marco
Bellocchio, and featuring the well-known actors Marcello Mastroianni
and Claudia Cardinale, the film, seen at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival,
helped to bring this tango before a world-wide audience.
Libertango
As a symbol of his transition from so-called Classical Tango to what
he called his Tango Nuevo—New Tango—Piazzolla named this piece
“Libertango.” First recorded and published by Piazzolla in Milan in 1974,
Libertango has been widely performed and recorded, notably by the
cellist Yo-Yo Ma on his CD Soul of the Tango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla.
Sunday
10
july
Kirill Gerstein, piano
5 PM
PIANO SONATA NO.13, QUASI UNA FANTASIA, IN E-FLAT MAJOR,
OP. 2, NO. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Andante—Allegro—Andante—
Allegro molto e vivace—
Adagio con espressione—
Allegro vivace
VARIATIONS, HOMAGE TO HAYDN, FOR SOLO PIANO, OP. 93
Alexander Goehr (b. 1932)
SONATA APRÈS UNE LECTURE DE DANTE: FANTASIA QUASI
SONATA
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
:: intermission ::
PIANO SONATA NO. 14, QUASI UNA FANTASIA, IN C-SHARP MINOR,
OP. 27, NO. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven
Adagio sostenuto
Allegretto
Presto agitato
SELECTIONS FROM TRANSCENDENTAL ETUDES
Franz Liszt
No. 9 Ricordanza [Remembrance]
No. 10 Allegro agitato molto
No. 12 Chasse-Neige [Snowscape]
No. 8 Wilde Jagd [Wild hunt]
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 87
WEEK 6
the program
PIANO SONATA NO.13, QUASI UNA FANTASIA, IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 27, NO. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven (b. Bonn, December 16, 1770; d. Vienna, March 26, 1827)
Notes
on the
program
by
Sandra Hyslop
Composed 1800-01; 15 minutes
The entire corpus of Beethoven’s thirty-two piano sonatas covers a
diverse terrain. He repeatedly confounded expectations and fearlessly
crossed the boundaries of whatever had been called a keyboard/piano
sonata up to his time. The two sonatas of Opus 27 are prime examples.
Subtitling both of them “Quasi una fantasia” [in the manner of a fantasy],
Beethoven pulled up anchor and set out on two unique journeys of
exploration.
Beethoven composed the four movements of Op. 27 No. 1 as one
continuous piece, with no pauses between the sections [attacca]. The
keys of the movements—E-flat major, C minor, A-flat major, and E-flat
major—knit the four parts together seamlessly. Yet, the movements
contrast with each other dramatically, in a freedom-seeking fantasy.
Miniature portrait on ivory
of Beethoven by Christian
Hornemann, 1802
Beethoven further upset the Haydn and Mozart model by beginning with a slow movement,
moving on to a scherzo, and placing the slow Adagio in third place. Internal coherence is
provided by thematic relationships, most apparent in the third-movement theme that is
quoted in the substantial final movement, a six-part rondo, which brings the sonata to a
brisk conclusion.
VARIATIONS, HOMAGE TO HAYDN, FOR SOLO PIANO, OP. 93
Alexander Goehr (b. Berlin, August 10, 1932)
Composed 2012; 10 minutes
Alexander Goehr in
Jerusalem, 2007
In 2010 Kirill Gerstein received the Gilmore Artist Award, which supported his commission
of the British composer Alexander Goehr to write this Variations for Solo Piano. Gerstein
performed it for the first time last summer, July 19, 2015, in the New Mexico Museum of
Art at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. The subtitle, “Homage to Haydn,” indicates
a musical connection that may be noticeable to those who are familiar with Josef Haydn’s
F-minor Variations for Piano. Haydn’s Variations have in common with Goehr’s Variations
the key, F minor; the frequent occurrence of a downward-falling melodic interval of a sixth;
and a distinctive dotted rhythm in the main theme.
Alexander Goehr explains the connection between the Haydn Variations and his own:
My piece is subtitled “Homage to Haydn.” Why? Because it is modeled on Haydn’s
Variations in F minor/major. But modeled does not imply pastiche or imitation. From
Brahms onwards (if not before) there are countless examples of pieces modeled on
others in a variety of ways. To do this does not imply a closeness to the original, rather
inevitably a distance from it. I don’t know whether a listener would be the wiser for
knowing the original. In any case, a composition must stand on its own feet.
88 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
SONATA APRÈS UNE LECTURE DE DANTE: FANTASIA QUASI SONATA
Franz Liszt (b. Raiding, Hungary, October 22, 1811; d. Bayreuth, July 31, 1886)
Composed late 1830s, revised in 1849; 17 minutes
The Sonata après une lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi sonata, although
composed in the late 1830s for Liszt’s own performances, was first
published only in 1856. He first played it in Vienna, November 1839,
under its original title, “Fragment after Dante.” He revised it several
times, and the expanded, one-movement sonata was published
in1856 under its new title, Sonata après une lecture de Dante: Fantasia
quasi sonata.
Handsome and dynamic,
Liszt (here, in an 1841
daguerreotype) toured as a
wildly popular pianist until
1846, when he abruptly left
the concert stage for good to
devote himself to teaching
and composing.
The (so-called) Dante Sonata was included in Volume II of Liszt’s
three volumes of piano solos called “Années de pèlerinage” [Years
of Pilgrimage]—a reference to the Romantic tradition wherein a
traveling hero treads a path to spiritual growth. Liszt’s own travels in
Switzerland and Italy prompted him to compose pieces for solo piano
that reflected upon those two countries, their cultures, and his
responses to them.
Volume II of his Années de Pélerinage depicted his impressions of Italy
and Italian culture. Basing this one-movement sonata on his reading of
the epic poem The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (ca. 1265-1321),
Liszt divided the work into two main themes. The first section, based
on Liszt’s use of the devilish harmonic interval called the “tritone”
(an augmented 4th), depicts the agonies of the souls in Hell—Dante’s
Inferno. The second section is an uplifting chorale theme that depicts
the joys of souls who go to Heaven. The one-movement sonata
concludes with a frenzy of chromatic octaves as the forces of the devil
consummate their victory.
This simple 1842 silhouette
of Liszt at the piano by the
diplomat and biographer
Karl Varnhagen von Ense
(1785-1858) is significant
precisely because of its angle
of observation. Liszt was the
first pianist ever to perform
in the concert hall with the
piano parallel to the stage
lip—in other words, with
him, as performer, in full
silhouette to the audience.
The poet Heinrich Heine called it
“Lisztomania”: a continent-wide
eruption of Franz Liszt adoration.
During the period 1839-1848 Liszt
toured ceaselessly as a virtuoso concert
pianist, causing public swooning of the
sort not experienced until a century later
with Frank Sinatra. During that decade
Liszt supplemented his enormous
repertoire of piano music written by
other composers with brilliant concert
works of his own creation.
PIANO SONATA NO. 14 IN C-SHARP MINOR, OP. 27, NO. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven
Composed 1801; 16 minutes
In 1800 the thirty-year-old Beethoven fell in love with one of his students, the seventeenyear-old Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, and he dedicated this sonata to her. Even though
their romance was fleeting, he treasured her memory. The brilliantly constructed sonata has
withstood amateur attempts on its Adagio sostenuto first movement, as well as the insipid
“Moonlight” appellation tacked onto it by the nineteenth-century music critic Ludwig Rellstab.
The sonata stands as a first-class example of Beethoven’s unfettered creative powers.
The sonata runs the gamut of emotions, from its subdued opening, through the pensive
grace of the second movement, to the agitated, challenging force of the finale. Hector
Berlioz described the famous opening, Adagio sostenuto, as “one of those poems that
human language does not know how to qualify.” (Even though Rellstab tried…) Beethoven
directed that the first movement be played without damping the strings (an instruction
agreeable to the pianos of his time), which produced an effect that modern pianists must
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 89
Notes
on the
program
by
Sandra Hyslop
strive to accomplish with the instruments of our own time: allowing the harmonies to swim
into each other, without becoming muddy, in order to preserve the gossamer fabric of the left
hand bass, the softly rolling accompaniment, and the crystalline melody.
From the Adagio in C-sharp minor, the Allegretto emerges, without pause, in the enharmonic
key of D-flat, now in the major mode and rather wistful in character. In its turn, the third
movement pivots back to C-sharp minor, erupting dramatically from the graceful Allegretto.
Presto agitato, Beethoven instructs—fast and agitated. In spite of the furor, remnants of the
first movement are obvious: the prominently supporting bass line in the tonic key, the broken
chords in the center, and the melodic element—this time short and sharp—on top. The
longest of the movements brings the sonata to a fevered conclusion.
FOUR SELECTIONS FROM TRANSCENDENTAL ETUDES
Franz Liszt
Composed 1826-1837-1852; 26 minutes
In the nineteenth century, the two most prominent French manufacturers of pianos, Pleyel
and Erard, vied with each other for attention and customers. Frédéric Chopin preferred the
light action and more delicate tone of the Pleyel. It suited the small salons and music rooms
in which he occasionally consented to perform for an elite public.
“The well-known penand-ink drawing reproduces
Beethoven’s figure pretty
well…I often saw him like
that…in full sail homeward…
with his body leaning forward
(but not bent) and his head
high, as usual…”
–Gerhard von Breuning
(son of Beethoven’s
lifelong friend Stephan
von Breuning) in his book
Memories of Beethoven
Liszt, on the other hand, whose self-confidence tolerated his big concerts before big audiences,
wanted a correspondingly big piano. The Erard instrument, with seven octaves, a large
sound, and a more resistant and sturdier action, more nearly suited his style of playing and
composing. Pieces like the Transcendental Etudes, composed originally for his own concert
use, depended for their effect on an instrument that could withstand the pianist’s technical
explorations, and give back, to the pianist and the audience, a full measure of articulate
sound and color.
The Erard’s strength and responsiveness were particularly important for the wide-ranging
technical demands of the twelve Transcendental Etudes, which Liszt began composing early
in his concert career and continued to revise and refine even after he had retired from the
stage. Published in 1852, they were dedicated to Liszt’s only teacher, Carl Czerny, with whom
he had studied as a boy. They represent the apex of the “concert etude,” the piano exercise
elevated from a practice room technical exercise to an audience-dazzling feat of musical
persuasion.
In the four Transcendental Etudes on this evening’s program, the challenges are varied
and demanding. These tone poems for piano ask for wide-ranging sonority and legato
expressiveness in the “Ricordanza” [Remembrance]; unleashed extroversion in the untitled
No. 9 (Allegro agitato molto); a balance of orchestral sounds supporting lyricism in the
“Chasse-Neige” [Snowscape]; and the endurance challenge of the powerful chords in the
aptly named “Wilde Jagd” [wild hunt]. With the sturdy and versatile Erard piano at his
disposal, Liszt could indulge his wildest fantasies of his instrument’s capabilities.
90 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
Friday
22
july
chanticleer
Gerrod Pagenkopf, Kory Reid, Darita Seth, soprano
Cortez Mitchell, Alan Reinhardt, Adam Ward, alto
Michael Bresnahan, Brian Hinman, Blake Morgan, tenor
Eric Alatorre, Matthew Knickman,
Marques Jerrell Ruff, baritone and bass
William Fred Scott, music director
5 & 8 PM
GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY STEPHEN AND JILL BELL
OVER THE MOON
I. MY SPIRIT SANG ALL DAY*
Gerald Finzi (1901-1956)
S’ANDASSE AMOR A CACCIA*
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
THERE IS SWEET MUSIC, OP. 53, NO. 1*
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
ECCO MORMORAR L’ONDE*
Claudio Monteverdi
II. CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM*
Orlando di Lasso (ca. 1532-1594)
AVE MARIA*
Robert Parsons (ca. 1535-1572)
BENEDICTA ES, CAELORUM REGINA
Josquin Desprez (ca. 1450-1521)
III. THREE MOON SONGS*
Nico Muhly (b. 1981)
Harlequin
Moondrunk
Solo: Marques Jerrell Ruff
The Alphabet
Solos: Kory Reid and Adam Ward
Commissioned for Chanticleer in 2015 by Sarah
Billinghurst Solomon in honor of Howard Solomon
The program continues on the next page
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 91
WEEK 6
the program
FROM THE LOTUS LOVERS*
Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)
Notes
A Rich Brocade
Late Spring
All Night
Illusions
on the
program
Commissioned for Chanticleer in 2010 by Mary Rodgers and Henry Guettel
IV. MIRRORBALL*
Elbow/Guy Garvey/Arr. Peter Eldridge
Solo: Adam Ward
FLY ME TO THE MOON*
Bart Howard/Arr. Evan Price
MOON RIVER*
Henry Mancini/Arr. Jace Wittig
THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD*
Trad. Spiritual/Arr. Jennings
Solo: Marques Jerrell Ruff
WE SHALL WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY IN PEACE*
Trad. Spiritual/Arr. William Appling and Joseph Jennings
GOOD NEWS, THE CHARIOT’S COMIN’*
Trad. Spiritual/Arr. Moses Hogan
* These works have been recorded and are available for purchase at these performances,
or at www.chanticleer.org.
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
By Jace Wittig, Gregory Peebles, Joseph Jennings, Andrew Morgan, Matthew Oltman, and David Crook
MY SPIRIT SANG ALL DAY
Gerald Finzi (b. London, July 14, 1901;
d. September 27, 1956, Oxford, United Kingdom)
Born in England in 1901, the reclusive and introspective composer Gerald
Finzi lived only fifty-five years, dying before his time from Hodgkin’s
Disease. During his brief life, he spent time composing, attending
concerts, lecturing, collecting music, and cultivating friendships with
“Music from heaven, is’t?” from Gerald Finzi’s “My
such colleagues as Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. His
Spirit Sang All Day” —illustrated by a full moon in the
output
includes orchestral and choral music as well as many solo songs
heavens over Mt. Hood in Oregon
and essays. He shows a brilliance in the way he sets words by finding
the essence of the text without the need for over-embellishment. “My Spirit Sang All Day”
is from a set of seven part-song settings of poetry by Robert Bridges (1844-1930) and is an
ecstatic declaration of the joy wrought by love.
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S’ANDASSE AMOR A CACCIA
Claudio Monteverdi (b. Cremona, Italy, May 9, 1567; d. Venice, November 29, 1643)
Claudio Monteverdi was revered as a revolutionary composer whose music spurred the
transition between Renaissance and Baroque idioms. Though his legacy is strongly tied
to the composition of two remarkable operas (L’Orfeo, 1607, and L’incoronazione di Poppea,
1642), his focus until age forty was primarily the mastery of madrigal composition, both
sacred and secular.
Monteverdi’s madrigals, divided into nine volumes, can be seen as a snapshot of his
evolution as a composer. “S’andasse Amor a caccia” comes from Monteverdi’s second book of
madrigals (published 1590, Venice), setting a flirtatious text by Tasso, perhaps seen as witty
commentary on the fine line between love and lust.
THERE IS SWEET MUSIC, OP. 53, NO.1
Edward Elgar (b. Broadheath, United Kingdom, June 2, 1857;
d. Worcester, United Kingdom, February 23, 1934)
Sir Edward Elgar was born the son of a piano-tuner and musician. Elgar may have a reputation
as a quintessentially British composer, but in fact stated openly that he felt more connected
to the musical culture of mainland Europe, from which he drew much of his inspiration.
He is most famous for his orchestral works, though his compositional output is large and
includes staged works, solo songs, chamber music, and choral pieces.
Edward Elgar, composer of
“There Is Sweet Music”
The distinctive “There is Sweet Music” is the first piece in Elgar’s Opus 53, a collection of
four part-songs for mixed voices. The composer considered the set his best work for chorus,
and among them, “There is Sweet Music” was his favorite. It is notable not only for its rich
sonority, but also for being written in two keys at once (scored for lower voices in G, while
the upper voices are in A-flat). That the overall impression is not terribly dissonant speaks
highly of Elgar’s skill as a composer and interpreter of text.
ECCO MORMORAR L’ONDE
Claudio Monteverdi
Monteverdi’s first two books of madrigals primarily utilize an imitative style, following the
traditions of voice-leading and polyphony established in the 16th century. “Ecco mormorar
l’onde” (text by Torquato Tasso) comes from Monteverdi’s second book of secular madrigals
(1590) and sets a bucolic seaside text with subtle imitation. In the final phrase, the bass
voice begins a descending, sustained line, providing a harmonic anchor for the upper voices.
This technique was increasingly common in Monteverdi’s madrigals, and eventually evolved
into the decidedly Baroque practice of melody and accompaniment.
16th-century illuminated
manuscript for Conditor
alme siderum
CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM
Orlando di Lasso (b. Mons, Belgium, ca. 1532; d. Munich, Germany, June 14, 1594)
To his contemporaries, Orlando di Lasso was the “Prince of Music,” the “King of Musicians,”
the “Divine Orlando.” His early career was sensational and meteoric: born in the Frenchspeaking province of Hainault in present-day Belgium, di Lasso was abducted three times
during childhood on account of the beauty of his voice. A master of all the major vocal
genres of his time—French chanson, Italian madrigal, German lied, as well as Latin Mass
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 93
Notes
on the
program
and motet—Lasso became the most published composer of the sixteenth century. According
to one recent estimate, approximately one half of the music publications from the late
sixteenth century contain works by him.
The beautiful hymn Conditor alme siderum is quite ancient. Often sung during the Advent
season at Vespers, the chant dates from the 7th Century and has been translated into various
languages. (Today it is commonly known as “Creator of the Stars at Night.”) Di Lasso’s setting
uses a verse anthem format in which alternating verses are sung in chant and polyphony.
The composer’s gift for setting the chant tune is particularly evident when comparing the
fourth and sixth verses—the former a relatively florid and intimate setting for two voices,
and the latter a celebratory and grand setting for five parts.
AVE MARIA
Robert Parsons (b. ca. 1535; d. Newark-on-Trent, United Kingdom, 1572)
The veneration of the Virgin
Mary permeated medieval
art and music. This illustration
from the Book of Hours
demonstrates the connections
between a significant Old
Testament source, the Song
of Songs, and the adoration
of Mary, the Mother of
God, who appears in the
New Testament. "Love" is
the subject, whether referring
to God's love for Israel, the
love of Christ, or the adoration
of the Virgin Mary.
“You who were so great, Parsons, in life’s springtime, how great you would have been in
autumn had not death intervened.” So Robert Dow eulogized Robert Parsons in his part
books of 1580. Parsons met his fate in a tragic drowning accident on the river Trent. He
composed several monumental pieces (mostly in Latin) that were a great influence on
his younger contemporaries, especially William Byrd. His most famous surviving work, a
ravishingly beautiful setting of the “Ave Maria,” could have been written anytime during his
unfortunately short career, and there is no question that it is the work of a master. The
treatment of the cantus firmus is especially transcendent in its scalar and repetitive structure,
allowing each of the soprano’s first six entrances to begin on successively higher pitches.
BENEDICTA ES, CAELORUM REGINA
Josquin Desprez (b. County of Hainault, ca. 1450;
d. Condé-sur-l’Éscaut, France, August 27, 1521)
Although considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, Josquin Desprez
lived a life steeped in mystery for present-day scholars. The earliest surviving written record
dates from 1459, which lists him as an “adult” singer at the cathedral in Milan, where he
was employed until 1472. Other posts included serving as a singer in the Papal Chapel in
Rome and as court composer to Duke Ercole I of Ferrara. In 1503, Josquin moved to France,
where he served as Provost of Notre Dame de Condé, a post he held until his death in 1521.
Like many of his contemporaries, Josquin seemed particularly taken with texts honoring
the Virgin Mary. Benedicta es, caelorum Regina is among the composer’s more celebratory
motets. Josquin often employs smaller groupings of voices for repetitions of the same
phrase, each seemingly more lush and effusive than the next. Josquin is known for often
setting apart the “ave” text (his beloved “Ave Maria” uses an entirely original text to close
the motet, set in a homophonic and austere style); such is certainly the case with this motet.
The text Ave plena gratia (“Hail, full of grace”) shines through the thick polyphonic texture in
sustained and radiant tones. The final plea to the Virgin for intercession (Nunc Mater exora
natum…) is set in gently lilting triple meter, preceding the joyful “amen.”
94 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
THREE MOON SONGS
Nico Muhly (b. Randolph, Vermont, August 26, 1981)
Nico Muhly is a celebrated composer of chamber music, orchestral music, sacred music,
opera, ballet, and music for collaborators across a variety of fields. He has composed on
commission from St. Paul’s Cathedral and Carnegie Hall, and has written choral music for
the Tallis Scholars and the Hilliard Ensemble, songs for Anne Sofie von Otter and Iestyn
Davies, an encore for violinist Hilary Hahn, and a viola concerto for Nadia Sirota. The
Metropolitan Opera recently commissioned him to compose Marnie for its 2019-2020 season.
Nico Muhly, composer of
“Three Moon Songs”
This commission, made possible by Sarah Billinghurst Solomon, is Muhly’s first composition
for Chanticleer. It sets three poems by the Symbolist poet Albert Giraud (1860–1929), from
his enigmatic cycle, “Pierrot Lunaire” (1884). The French poems (Giraud was Belgian) have
been translated into numerous languages—perhaps most famously a German translation
by Otto Erich Hartleben, as set to music by Arnold Schoenberg. This English translation, by
Andrew Porter, captures the larger themes of the cycle—turn-of-the-century decadence,
the artist’s yearn for escape (often through intoxicants), the allure of the moon, and a
melancholy nostalgia for simpler times.
FROM THE LOTUS LOVERS
Stephen Paulus (b. Summit, New Jersey, August 24, 1949;
d. Saint Paul, Minnesota, October 19, 2014)
The texts are English translations of very old Chinese poems once
attributed to a poet named Tzu Yeh (alternately spelled “Zi Ye”). Current
scholarship indicates that these poems may not actually come from the
pen of Tzu Yeh; in fact, there may not even have been a Tzu Yeh. Stephen
Paulus wrote about the composition:
Stephen Paulus, regarded as one of
America’s most beloved and oftenperformed modern composers, wrote
more than 200 works in a multitude
of genres, including commissions for
many of the world’s most prestigious
symphony orchestras, chamber
ensembles, and soloists. The Lotus Lovers,
commissioned in 2010, was his first
composition for Chanticleer.
I had long wanted to set some of these poems, and when Chanticleer approached
me, I was asked to find a sensual text to set. The many images evoked in the poems
are rich in descriptions of nature. The text talks of “endless nights, winter skies, harsh
winds, the moon’s white light, the willows, and the sea breeze.” The translations are
by my friend and colleague Sam Hamill, who lives in the Pacific Northwest, is a poet
in his own right, and has made extensive translations of Japanese, Chinese, and Greek
poems.
Stephen Paulus
Musically, I have tried to take advantage of the tremendous vocal talents of Chanticleer.
I have used everything from unison to divisi chords with a variety of choral textures
and ranges. With each movement I have tried to exploit a different choral “portrait”
or character.
My deep gratitude is extended to my dear friends, May and Hank Guettel for their
kindness and generosity. I am happy to offer this work in honor of their friendship
and their wonderful ability to inspire and motivate. —SP
35TH SEASON | ROCKPORT MUSIC :: 95
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on the
program
MIRRORBALL
Elbow/Guy Garvey (b. Bury, Greater Manchester, England, March 6, 1974)/
Arr. Peter Eldridge
The British band Elbow has been soaring just beneath the mainstream since their debut
album was released in 2001. Peter Eldridge, from the New York Voices, captures the
weightless, elevated feeling of new love in this arrangement, his first for Chanticleer.
Mirrorball was commissioned by Chanticleer in 2013 for the studio album Someone New.
FLY ME TO THE MOON
Bart Howard (b. Burlington, Iowa, June 1, 1915;
d. Carmel, New York, February 21, 2004) /Arr. Evan Price
MOON RIVER
Henry Mancini (b. Little Italy, New York, April 16, 1924;
d. Los Angeles, June 14, 1994)/Arr. Jace Wittig
American popular music flourished throughout the world in the era that
encompassed Tin Pan Alley in the 1920s through the Hollywood musicals
of the 1950s. The brightest stars of this era (Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington,
George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and so many others) created the Great
American Songbook—the most popular and memorable songs of the
era. Today these songs are called, simply, “standards.”
THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD
Traditional Spiritual/Arr. Joseph Jennings
WE SHALL WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY IN PEACE
Traditional Spiritual/Arr. William Appling, Joseph Jennings
GOOD NEWS, THE CHARIOT’S COMIN’
Traditional Spiritual/Arr. Moses Hogan
The Fisk Jubilee Singers,
organized in 1871 at Fisk
University, was the first
vocal ensemble to bring the
Negro Spiritual into the
concert hall.
African American sacred music is a fountain that never runs dry. Impeccable
enunciation—often of dialect, as if to highlight the singers’ identification with, and distance
from, slavery—was combined with a moaning tonality incarnated in American music’s
greatest indigenous sound, the blue note. The ensemble sound was typically huge and the
vocal range immense.
In the course of his extended tenure with Chanticleer, Joseph Jennings’s arrangements
have become popular favorites with audiences worldwide. To his reflective setting of “We
Shall Walk through the Valley in Peace” and the perennial favorite “There Is a Balm…” we
add a rousing setting of “Good News, The Chariot’s Comin’” as arranged by the late Moses
Hogan. Hogan (1957-2003) received acclaim as a pianist, arranger and conductor of the Moses
Hogan Singers. In the works of Jennings and Hogan, exuberance and deep reverence are
equally matched.
Founder: Louis Botto (1951 – 1997)
Music Director Emeritus: Joseph H. Jennings
Website – www.chanticleer.org
96 :: NOTES ON THE PROGRAM