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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.