Motivated: Invitation to the Dance
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
concert program v: Motivated: invitation to the dance JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750) August 1 Suite no. 2 in b minor, BWV 1067 (ca. 1738–1739) Ouverture Wednesday, August 1, 8:00 p.m., The Center for Performing Rondeau Arts at Menlo-Atherton Sarabande AMS Bourrée PROGRAM OVERVIEW Polonaise Minuet “Dancing can reveal all the mystery that music conceals.” Badinerie —Charles Baudelaire Carol Wincenc, flute; Wu Han, harpsichord; Kristin Lee, Ian Swensen, violins; Paul Neubauer, viola; “Motivated” celebrates the vital dimension of dance in the Dane Johansen, cello; Scott Pingel, bass musical art form across more than two centuries, from the FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828) Second Orchestral Suite of Johann Sebastian Bach, a collec- Six German Dances, D. 820 (1824) tion of traditional Baroque dance forms, to Aaron Copland’s Gilbert Kalish, piano iconic ballet Appalachian Spring. Along the way, Schubert’s rustic Six German Dances and the Kaiserwalzer of the “Waltz CLAUDE DEBUssy (1862–1918) King” Johann Strauss Jr.—in a decadent arrangement Danse sacrée et danse profane (1904) by Arnold Schoenberg—illustrate the vitality of dance in Bridget Kibbey, harp; Erin Keefe, Jorja Fleezanis, violins; Paul Neubauer, viola; Dane Johansen, nineteenth-century Vienna, while Debussy’s impressionistic cello; Scott Pingel, bass CONCERT PROGR CONCERT Danses sacrée et profane and Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances JOHANN STRAUss (1825–1899) encapsulate those composers’ native cultures. Kaiserwalzer, op. 437 (1889, arr. 1925) (arr. Arnold Schoenberg, 1864–1949) Carol Wincenc, flute; Jose Franch-Ballester, clarinet; Gloria Chien, piano; Ian Swensen, Erin Keefe, violins; Paul Neubauer, viola; Dane Johansen, cello SPECIAL THANKS INTERMISSION Music@Menlo dedicates this performance to Kris Klint with BÉLA BARTÓK (1881–1945) gratitude for her generous support. Seven Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76 (1915) Jocul cu bât˘a (Stick Dance) Brâul (Sash Dance) Pe loc (In One Spot) Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum) Poarga Româneasc ˘a (Romanian Polka) M˘arunt.el (Fast Dance) M˘arunt.el (Fast Dance) Erin Keefe, Jorja Fleezanis, Adam Barnett-Hart, Wu Jie, violins; Paul Neubauer, Geraldine Walther, violas; Dane Johansen, cello; Scott Pingel, bass AARON COPLAND (1900–1990) Appalachian Spring (1944) Carol Wincenc, flute; Jose Franch-Ballester, clarinet; Marc Goldberg, bassoon; Gloria Chien, piano; Martha Graham and ensemble in Appalachian Spring. Courtesy Jorja Fleezanis, Wu Jie, Adam Barnett-Hart, Kristin Lee, violins; Pierre Lapointe, Geraldine Walther, of the Library of Congress violas; Dane Johansen, David Finckel, cellos; Scott Pingel, bass 26 Music@Menlo 2012 Program Notes: Motivated JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH is impeccable—and, for the solo flutist, the Badinerie offers one of the (Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach; died July 28, 1750, Leipzig) classic tunes in that instrument’s repertoire. Orchestral Suite no. 2 in b minor, BWV 1067 —Patrick Castillo Composed: ca. 1738–1739 Other works from this period: Sonata in A Major for Flute and Harpsi- chord, BWV 1032 (ca. 1736); Fantasia on a Rondo in c minor, BWV 918 FRANZ SCHUBERT (ca. 1740) (Born January 31, 1797, Vienna; died November 19, 1828, Vienna) Approximate duration: 20 minutes Six German Dances, D. 820 Composed: 1824 In 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach was appointed to the music direc- Other works from this period: Detailed in the notes below torships of the Nikolaikirche and the Paulinerkirche, the two most Approximate duration: 8 minutes prominent churches in Leipzig, as well as to the post of Cantor of the St. Thomas School at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche. These prestigious Late in 1822, Franz Schubert contracted syphilis, and within a few appointments lured him from his position as Kapellmeister at the court months he was hospitalized for a lengthy period. With much of the of Cöthen to the city where he would remain until his death in 1750. European continent affected by the disease, Schubert was well aware of Also during his tenure in Leipzig, Bach assumed the directorship of the his own mortality. He wrote to a friend in March of 1824: Collegium Musicum, a strong amateur ensemble founded in 1701 by Bach’s contemporary Georg Philipp Telemann. The Collegium Musicum I find myself to be the most unhappy and wretched creature was one of numerous such performance groups in Germany at the time, in the world. Imagine a man whose health will never be right mostly founded by university music students and which were a vital part again, and who in sheer despair continually makes things of German musical life. worse and worse instead of better; imagine a man, I say, Much of Bach’s instrumental music during this period was com- whose most brilliant hopes have perished, to whom the felic- posed for the Collegium Musicum’s performances at such venues as ity of love and friendship has nothing to offer but pain at best, Zimmermann’s Coffeehouse, a café made famous by hosting the whom enthusiasm (at least of the stimulating variety) for all AMS premiere performances of some of Bach’s finest music. Bach’s Four things beautiful threatens to forsake, and I ask you, is he not Orchestral Suites are among the works presented at Zimmermann’s a miserable, unhappy being? “My peace is gone, my heart is Coffeehouse by the Collegium Musicum. The second of these, the sore, I shall find it nevermore.” I might as well sing every day Orchestral Suite no. 2 in b minor, was the last of the four to be com- now, for upon retiring to bed each night I hope that I may not pleted: its composition dates from between 1738 and 1739, though wake again, and each morning only recalls yesterday’s grief. recent research suggests that some of its material comes from Bach’s earlier time in Cöthen. Despite the dire outlook of his health, Schubert remained remark- Bach’s directorship of the Collegium Musicum, in addition to his ably prolific in his compositional output. In 1824, four years before his various other posts, helped reinforce his position as Leipzig’s most death, Schubert wrote his Octet for Strings and Winds, the Rosamunde influential musical figure. More importantly, it provided Bach, one of and Death and the Maiden string quartets, the Grand Duo for piano history’s most indefatigable composers, with an outlet to produce a duet, and the Arpeggione Sonata. In the summer of 1824, Schubert body of secular instrumental music that was not needed for his church returned to Zselíz, one hundred miles east of Vienna, to the summer positions but that over history became essential to the Western canon. home of Count Johann Karl Esterhazy, where he had previously been Each of the orchestral suites begins with an overture; the b minor employed. While there, Schubert tutored the count’s two daughters, PROGR CONCERT suite’s overture is set in the French style, characterized by its stately the Countesses Marie and Karoline, and composed numerous works for dotted-rhythm opening. As per the French overture style, the regal keyboard, including his Six German Dances, D. 820. opening leads to a central fugato section. Each of the six dances, though relatively short in length, demon- Following the overtures, the orchestral suites are compendia of strates Schubert’s ingenious and subtle pianistic writing and use of such Baroque dance forms. The second movement is a rondeau, a French forward-thinking techniques as rhythmic and metric displacement. Per- dance form rooted in the early thirteenth century. The third move- formed without pause, the six dances come across as one piece with six ment is a sarabande, a genre of sung dance from sixteenth-century distinct episodes. The first three dances are in A-flat major, and the first Spain. The bourrée, another French dance form, follows and then the of these begins with a lilting primary theme. In each of the two follow- polonaise, a stately Polish dance in triple meter. ing dances, the primary theme of the first dance returns after sections The minuet, another triple-meter dance, resembles the waltz with of wistful reflection. The final set of dances, all in B-flat major, begins its elegant gait. This form would remain a key component of instrumen- with a rustic quality, with heavy use of the bass register. In the final tal music throughout the Classical period, serving as the second or third two dances, Schubert’s characteristic Viennese elegance shines forth, movement in the multimovement works of Haydn and Mozart. before returning to the rustic earthiness of the fourth dance. The suite concludes with its most famous movement, the sprightly —Isaac Thompson Badinerie. The term badinerie (or badinage) came into use around the time of this suite and, according to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the finale to Bach’s b minor suite is the only known badinerie in the repertoire. The term has no exact musical definition—it was generally used to describe music of a light and frivolous character. Whether frivolous or profound, as with all of Bach’s music, the execution *Bolded terms are defined in the glossary, which begins on page 107. www.musicatmenlo.org 27 CLAUDE DEBUssy Strauss was greatly prolific and commercially shrewd: any signifi- (Born August 22, 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye; died March 25, 1918, cant event in Viennese public life, as well as many important occasions Paris) elsewhere in Europe, was commemorated by a festive Strauss waltz, Danses sacrée et profane ensuring that the composer remained always in the public eye. Strauss scholar Peter Kemp writes, “The titles and dedicatees of [Strauss’s] Composed: 1904 compositions may be viewed as a musically illustrated guide to about Published: 1904 fifty years of European history.” Dedication: Gustave Lyon Though he is regarded, not inaccurately, as a composer of lighter Other works from this period: Estampes (1903); L’isle joyeuse (1903– fare, it would be a mistake to dismiss Strauss as a composer lacking in 1904); La mer (1903–1905) substance.