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Concerts of February 6-8, 2015
Michael Stern, Music Director
Haydn
Symphony No. 22 in E-flat Major, “The Philosopher” (1764)
I. Adagio
II. Presto
III. Menuetto
IV. Finale. Presto
Intermission
Mahler
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor (1902)
ERSTER TEIL (PART ONE)
I. Trauermarsch. In gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt (Funeral March. With
measured pace. Strict. Like a cortège)
II. Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz (Violently agitated. With the greatest
vehemence)
ZWEITER TEIL (PART TWO)
III. Scherzo. Kräftig, nicht zu schnell (Vigorously, not too fast)
DRITTER TEIL (PART THREE)
IV. Adagietto. Sehr langsam (Very slow)
V. Rondo-Finale. Allegro
Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer
Concert Overview
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony No. 22 in E-flat Major, “The Philosopher” (1763) 16 minutes
—The Haydn “Philosopher” Symphony includes a pair of English horns, a rarity for
symphonies of the 18th and 19th centuries.
—The Symphony is in four brief movements, alternating slow and fast tempos. The
noble, introspective opening dialogue between the French and English horns is probably
the source of the Symphony’s “Philosopher” nickname.
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor (1902) 68 minutes
—Mahler’s epic Fifth Symphony is in three Parts, and five movements. Part I opens with
an expansive Funeral March. This serves as the introduction to the second movement,
fiercely dramatic, with a gripping juxtaposition of moods.
—Part II consists of a single movement, a Scherzo that, in sharp contrast to Part I,
radiates optimism.
—Part III opens with the beautiful and famous Adagietto that may have been Gustav’s
love letter to Alma. The virtuoso Rondo-Finale brings the Fifth Symphony to a joyous
resolution.
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Symphony No. 22 in E-flat Major, “The Philosopher” (1763) 16 minutes
2 English horns, bassoon, 2 horns, continuo and strings.
In 1761, Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn began his years of service to the court
of the Hungarian Esterházy family. In the early years of that relationship, Haydn’s
composition duties focused on instrumental music, including numerous symphonies. The
Symphony No. 22 is a superb example of a young composer who was already a master of
his craft. Even at this early stage, Haydn displayed his trademark exploration of
unexpected, compelling departures from tradition.
The Symphony No. 22 is in four movements, alternating slow and quick tempos. The
first (Adagio) is scored for the striking instrumental combination of English horns (the
use of this instrument in a symphony was quite revolutionary for the time), French horns
and muted strings. The noble, introspective opening dialogue between the French and
English horns is probably the source of the Symphony’s “The Philosopher” nickname.
The second movement is a bracing Presto. The third-movement, a stately Minuet
(Menuetto), leads to the spirited Finale (Presto), featuring vibrant hunting-horn passages.
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor (1902) 68 minutes
2 piccolos, 4 flutes, 3 oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3
bassoons, contrabassoon, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass
drum, cymbals, small bass drum, orchestra bells, snare drum, slapstick, tam-tam,
triangle, harp and strings.
In June of 1901, Gustav Mahler journeyed from Vienna to his newly-constructed
vacation home in Maiernigg on Lake Wörth in southern Austria. The summer proved to
be an incredibly productive one for Mahler. During his three-month stay in Maiernigg,
Mahler composed numerous songs for voice and orchestra, and began work on his Fifth
Symphony, completing the opening two movements.
That November, at the home of a mutual friend, Mahler and Alma Schindler met for the
first time. Mahler immediately fell in love with the beautiful, musically gifted young
woman, and the two were engaged after a brief courtship. Gustav and Alma Mahler wed
in March 1902—he was forty-one, and she, twenty-two. That summer, the Mahlers,
expecting their first child, traveled to Maiernigg. There, Gustav Mahler completed the
short score of his Fifth Symphony. Mahler completed the orchestration of his Fifth
Symphony in 1903. He conducted the work’s premiere in Cologne at an October 18,
1904 concert.
The Fifth marks a turning point in Mahler’s symphonic output. The initial four
Symphonies are all closely related to the composer’s musical settings of texts from a
collection of folk-poems known as Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn).
In fact, Symphony numbers Two, Three, and Four contain movements for vocalists based
upon Wunderhorn texts. By contrast, Symphonies Five, Six and Seven are all purely
orchestral.
As with many of Mahler’s works, the Fifth was slow to gain acceptance. One critic
scoffed: “Mahler had not much to say in his Fifth Symphony and occupied a wondrous
time saying it.” A year after the premiere, Mahler lamented, “The Fifth is an accursed
work. No one understands it.” That was, of course, not entirely true. The Fifth
Symphony did have its early advocates, including Ida Dehmel, wife of poet Richard
Dehmel. She offered the following eloquent appreciation of the Mahler Fifth, reprinted
in Alma’s Memoirs:
This Fifth Symphony of his carried me through every world of feeling. I
heard in it the relation of adult man to everything that lives, heard him cry
to mankind out of his loneliness, cry to man, to home, to God, saw him
lying prostrate, heard him laugh his defiance and felt his calm triumph.
For the first time in my life a work of art made me weep, a strange sense
of contrition came over me which almost brought me to my knees.
Today, the Mahler Fifth rightfully enjoys its status as one of the towering achievements
of a unique genius.
ERSTER TEIL (PART ONE)
I. Trauermarsch. In gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt (Funeral March. With
measured pace. Strict. Like a cortège)—The opening movement is an expansive Funeral
March, launched by a solo trumpet. The March is at one point interrupted by an
extended passage of extraordinary violence and despair. The mysterious final statement
of the fanfare is capped by an emphatic, pizzicato chord.
II. Stürmisch bewegt. Mit grösster Vehemenz (Violently agitated. With the greatest
vehemence)—According the Mahler, this is the true opening movement of the
Symphony, with the preceding Funeral March serving as an introduction (echoes of the
Funeral March do indeed return throughout). The movement opens with tremendous
fury. Suddenly, the measured tread of the Funeral March reappears. The lengthy
development features a stunning contrast of moods, concluding with the hint of a chorale
that will return toward the end of the Symphony.
ZWEITER TEIL (PART TWO)
III. Scherzo. Kräftig, nicht zu schnell (Vigorously, not too fast)—In contrast to the
opening two movements, the Scherzo—which stands on its own as the Symphony’s
second part—radiates optimism. As Mahler commented to Natalie Bauer-Lechner, the
Scherzo “is mankind in the full brightness of day, at the zenith of life.”
DRITTER TEIL (PART THREE)
IV. Adagietto. Sehr langsam (Very slow)—Scored only for strings and harp, the
meditative Adagietto is a reflective intermezzo between the exuberant Scherzo and
concluding Rondo. According to the composer’s friend, conductor Willem Mengelberg:
“This Adagietto was Gustav Mahler’s declaration of love for Alma! Instead of a letter, he
sent her this manuscript without further explanation. She understood and wrote back that
he should come!!! Both have told me this!”
The concluding Rondo follows without pause.
V. Rondo-Finale. Allegro—A brief introduction provides a glimpse of the Finale’s
central themes, the first of which is ultimately presented in a more fully-developed form
by the horns. The strings launch a vigorous contrapuntal episode. After a repeat of the
initial melody and contrapuntal passage, the strings offer yet another central theme, based
upon the preceding Adagietto. Throughout the Finale, the themes are repeated and
manipulated with stunning virtuosity. Toward the Rondo’s conclusion, the secondmovement chorale returns in its most triumphant form, as the Fifth Symphony proceeds
to a joyous conclusion.