BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Seiji Ozawa, Music Director Bernard Haitink, Principal Guest Conductor One Hundred and Seventeenth Season, 1997-98

PRELUDE CONCERT V Saturday, February 28, at 6, at Symphony Hall COMMUNITY CHAMBER CONCERT Sunday, March 1, at 3, in Frank L. Wiggins Auditorium, Peabody City Hall

BONNIE BEWICK, NORMAN BOLTER, trombone SCOTT ANDREWS, clarinet JOHN STOVALL, double bass RICHARD RANTI, bassoon TIMOTHY GENIS, percussion PETER CHAPMAN, trumpet

J. SCOTT BRUMIT, narrator RONALD KNUDSEN, conductor

STRAVINSKY L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale)

The Soldier's March The Soldier's Violin (Airs by a stream) Pastorale The Royal March The Little Concert Three Dances: Tango, Waltz, Ragtime The Devil's Dance The Little Chorale The Devil's Song Great Chorale The Devil's Triumphal March

Week 17

Igor Stravinsky L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale)

The outbreak of World War I left Stravinsky stranded in Switzerland, cut off from his family estates by war and later by revolution in Russia. He had already com- posed—and become famous for—his three popular ballets, The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring, but the war temporarily ended the performances of the Bal- lets Russes, so he had no royalties coming in. Under the circumstances, large works were utterly impractical. The idea occurred to him to create a small theater piece that could tour on a shoestring and perform almost anywhere. He adapted a sce- nario from a story by Afanasiev involving encounters between the Devil and a nameless soldier, a sort of Everyman. The story was worked out with a Swiss writer, C.F. Ramuz, into an hour-long theater piece involving a narrator, a pair of actors, and a dancer, accompanied by an ensemble of seven instruments, chosen in such a way as to have one high and one low instrument from each family: clarinet and bassoon, cornet a piston and trombone, violin and double bass, plus a percus- sionist playing high and low pitched side drums, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, and triangle. The first performance took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, on September 28, 1918. The evening was a success, but the work could not be repeated when the great worldwide 1918 influenza epidemic caused the theaters to be closed. Stravinsky quickly created a concert suite out of the score, retaining those parts of the score that are most musically self-sufficient. Ernest Ansermet led the first performance of the suite on July 20, 1920, in London; it is through performance of the suite that Stravinsky's suite is most often heard. As befits a work aimed at a broad audience, Stravinsky draws upon familiar types of compositions—the soldier's march home- ward, the violin solo in which he fiddles merrily, his mock-heroic arrival at the palace, and the dances of the princess (in the popular styles of tango, waltz, and ragtime)—though, of course, these familiar types become purely Stravinskyan along the way.

Though derived from Russian folklore, the plot of L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's

Tale) clearly falls into the wider cultural framework of stories that tell of trafficking with otherworldly forces beyond human control, of which the most famous in our culture are the many variants of the traditional Faust legend. The Devil is a master of disguises who is willing to employ any trick to obtain the soldier's violin, which symbolizes his soul. He buys it in return for a magic book that foretells the future, but the soldier soon becomes disillusioned with the wealth he can acquire through his knowledge and tries to get the fiddle back. In one encounter he plays cards with the Devil and plies him with wine until finally the Devil falls unconscious, enabling the soldier to make off with the instrument. He uses it to cure an invalid princess, who dances to his music and falls into his arms. When the Devil attempts to seize him again, he plays wild music on the fiddle, forcing the Devil into contortions and driving him away from the kingdom. Only after the soldier has been married to the princess for several years and she urges him to take her to visit his old home does the Devil get his due; as soon as the soldier crosses the border, the Devil gets control of the violin and marches the soldier away triumphantly. Stravinsky himself commented that L'Histoire has a characteristic sound—"the scrape of the violin and the punctuation of the drums," the former representing the soldier's soul and the latter the diablerie. He composed the score in self-contained musical units, most of which he later assembled into the familiar concert suite. When heard as part of a complete performance, with narrator and possibly stage action, some of these are repeated ("The Soldier's Violin," also called "Airs by the stream," for example, is heard, in whole or in part, several times, and "The Soldier's

March" also recurs frequently). These fill out and give shape to the scenes of the play and also give a special feeling to each scene. The narrator, of course, recounts the tale as it unfolds, so that the music becomes more directly illustrative.

—Steven Ledbetter Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, violinist Bonnie Bewick joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in January 1987. A frequent performer in Boston-area recitals and chamber music concerts, Ms. Bewick studied at the in Ann Arbor and received her bachelor's degree in music from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadel- phia. Her teachers included Aaron Rosand and David Cerone at Curtis, Ruggiero Ricci and Paul Makanowitzky in Michigan, and Elizabeth Holborn in California. Ms. Bewick has made solo appearances with a number of west coast orchestras, and with the Boston Pops and the Cape Ann Symphony in New England. Her orchestral experience has included positions with the Colorado Philharmonic, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and the Peninsula Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as concertmaster and soloist with the New England Philharmonic and has also been a member of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra and the orchestra of the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds.

Scott Andrews joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in January 1996 as the BSO's sec- ond clarinetist. Prior to that he was principal clarinet of the Gardner Chamber Orchestra; at Symphony Hall he was a substitute player during the 1994-95 Boston Symphony season and the 1995 Boston Pops season. A Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 1991 and 1994, Mr. Andrews has also been principal clarinet of the New England Chamber Orchestra and the Toho Gakuen Symphony Orchestra, substitute principal clarinet of the New World Symphony, and second clarinet of the Cantata Singers and Ensemble. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, he received a 1992 Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Fel- lowship. His teachers have included Harold Wright, Sidney Forrest, and Edward Knakal.

Associate principal bassoonist Richard Ranti joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the start of the 1989-90 season. Also principal bassoonist of the Boston Pops Orchestra, Mr. Ranti was born in Montreal and started bassoon at age ten, studying with Sidney Rosenberg and David Carroll. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy, he studied with Sol Schoenbach at the Curtis Institute of Music. At the age of nineteen he won the second bassoon position in the Philadelphia Orchestra; he spent six years with that orchestra, the last as acting associate principal. A 1982 Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Ranti has also participated in the Spoleto and Marlboro festivals. He won second prize in the 1982 Toulon International Bassoon Competition and is the recipient of two Canada Council grants.

A member of the Boston Symphony's trumpet section since July 1984, Peter Chapman was named second trumpet of the BSO and assistant principal trumpet of the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1988. Born in Montreal, Canada, Mr. Chapman received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Boston University. As a student he won the "Boston University Night at Pops" concerto competition and performed with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Numerous Pops solo appearances fol- lowed, with Arthur Fiedler, Harry Ellis Dickson, and John Williams. A Tanglewood Music Center Fellow for four summers, Mr. Chapman was the first recipient of the TMC's CD. Jackson Master Award. Before joining the BSO he was a member of the Boston Pops Orchestra and principal trumpet of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. He has also been principal trumpet with the Opera Company of Boston, Boston Ballet, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and Musica Viva. Mr. Chapman teaches at Boston University and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, BSO second trombone Norman Bolter began playing the instrument when he was nine; he later attended the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with John Swallow. Mr. Bolter was a participant in the Boston Univer- sity Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Program and won the CD. Jackson Master Award as a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow. After coming to Boston in 1973, he per-

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formed with several freelance organizations until he successfully auditioned for the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1975. For five years he was a member of the Empire Brass Quintet, which received the 1976Naumburg chamber Music Prize. Also principal trombone of the Boston Pops Orchestra, Mr. Bolter teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Born in Casper, Wyoming, bass player John Stovall studied piano while in grade school and high school; he began playing the double bass while in high school. Mr. Stovall began his college studies in 1978 with Stuart Sankey at the University of Texas, then transferred to the New England Conservatory of Music to study with BSO assistant principal bass player Lawrence Wolfe, receiving his bachelor's degree in double bass performance in 1983. Following a year as a freelance performer in the Boston area, Mr. Stovall played with the Houston Symphony, the New Orleans Symphony, and the Indianapolis Symphony before joining the Boston Symphony at the start of the 1988-89 season. A Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 1981 and 1982, he has also participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Congress of Strings in Seattle, Washington.

Percussionist Timothy Genis joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in May 1993 as assistant timpanist of the BSO and timpanist of the Boston Pops Orchestra. Mr. Genis attended the of Music and the Eastman School of Music. From July 1991 until his BSO appointment he was associate timpanist and assistant principal percus- sionist of the Honolulu Symphony Society. Prior to that he was principal timpanist with the Philharmonia Virtuosi in New York, principal timpanist with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, and assistant principal percussionist for two years with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. A Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 1990, Mr. Genis also attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute.

J. Scott Brumit received his B.A. from Occidental College in Los Angeles and his M.M. from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Mr. Brumit taught at the Boston Con- servatory for five years as the assistant director of the Opera Department under the direction of John Moriarty. He then served as artistic administrator of the Opera Com- pany of Boston for Sarah Caldwell. In 1985, Mr. Brumit co-founded Longwood Opera with John Balme; he is currently the company's general director. Mr. Brumit has more than fifty operatic roles in his repertoire. He has sung and directed throughout the United States, with companies including Longwood Opera, the Opera Company of Boston, Boston Lyric Opera, the Turtle Lane Playhouse, Fort Worth Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Ashlawn Opera Festival, and Opera Theatre of Rochester. Mr. Brumit

is one of the international product managers for the Lotus Development Corporation, as well as a martial arts instructor.

Ronald Knudsen has been a member of the Boston Symphony violin section since 1965. Before coming to Boston, he was a member of the Baltimore and Detroit symphony orchestras. A Tanglewood Music Center alumnus, he received his early musical training in Minneapolis and from 1952 to 1959 studied with violinist William Kroll at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Since coming to Boston he has been heard frequently as soloist and in chamber music programs. He was the original violinist of Collage New Music and a founding member in 1970 of the Curtisville Consortium. He has been a fac- ulty member at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and at the All Newton Music School, where he is now on the Board of Directors. Mr. Knudsen was concertmaster and conductor of the Brockton Symphony from 1970 to 1988 and music director of the New- ton Symphony from 1982 to 1995. In the summer of 1995 he was invited by the newly formed New Philharmonia Orchestra to become its music director. Since his conducting debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra in June 1990, he has been a regular guest conduc- tor with the Boston Pops and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra.