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Home , Glagolitic Mass, Sinfonietta (Janáček)

27 Season 2014-2015

Thursday, October 16, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Friday, October 17, at 2:00 Saturday, October 18, at 8:00 Alan Gilbert Conductor Tatiana Monogarova Soprano Kelley O’Connor Mezzo-soprano Anthony Dean Griffey Tenor John Relyea Bass The Philadelphia Singers Chorale David Hayes Music Director

Sibelius Night Ride and Sunrise, Op. 55 First Philadelphia Orchestra performances

Dvořák The Golden Spinning Wheel, Op. 109

Intermission

Janáček I. Úvod (Introduction) II. Gospodi pomiluj () III. Slava (Gloria) IV. Věruju () V. Svet () VI. Agneče Božij (Agnus Dei) VII. Varhany sólo (Postludium) VIII. Intrada Michael Stairs, organ

This program runs approximately 1 hour, 45 minutes.

LiveNote, the Orchestra’s interactive concert guide for mobile devices, will be enabled for these performances.

designates a work that is part of the 40/40 Project, which features pieces not performed on subscription concerts in at least 40 years.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details. Create-Your-Own 4 Series Now Available!

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2014-15 Season Highlights include: Bernstein’s MASS Rachmaninoff Symphony Nos. 2 and 3 Mahler Symphony No. 2 Beethoven Symphony No. 5 And much more …

Save over single tickets and enjoy all the benefits of subscribing. SUBSCRIBE TODAY 215.893.1955 www.philorch.org/subscribe 3 Story Title 29 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent in the world, renowned for its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for a legacy of imagination and innovation on and off the concert stage. The Orchestra is transforming its rich tradition of achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging—and exceeding—that level by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and around the world. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike since his inaugural season in 2012. Under his leadership the Orchestra returned to recording with a celebrated CD of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions on the label, continuing its history of recording success. The Orchestra also reaches thousands of listeners on the radio with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM. Philadelphia is home, and the Orchestra nurtures an important relationship with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center, and also with those who enjoy the Orchestra’s other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other cultural, civic, and learning venues. The Orchestra maintains a strong commitment to collaborations with cultural and community organizations on a regional and national level. Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, the Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The ensemble annually performs at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center while also enjoying summer residencies in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Vail, Colorado. The Philadelphia Orchestra has a decades-long tradition of presenting learning and community engagement opportunities for listeners of all ages. The Orchestra’s recent initiative, the Fabulous Philadelphians Offstage, Philly Style!, has taken musicians off the traditional concert stage and into the community, including highly-successful Pop- Up concerts, PlayINs, SingINs, and ConductINs. The Orchestra’s musicians, in their own dedicated roles as teachers, coaches, and mentors, serve a key role in growing young musician talent and a love of classical music, nurturing and celebrating the wealth of musicianship in the Philadelphia region. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org. 6 Music Director

Chris Lee Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin continues his inspired leadership of The Philadelphia Orchestra, which began in the fall of 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Nézet-Séguin “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.” He has taken the Orchestra to new musical heights. Highlights of his third season as music director include an Art of the Pipe Organ festival; the 40/40 Project, in which 40 great compositions that haven’t been heard on subscription concerts in at least 40 years will be performed; and Bernstein’s MASS, the pinnacle of the Orchestra’s five- season requiem cycle.

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. He has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic since 2008 and artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. He also continues to enjoy a close relationship with the London Philharmonic, of which he was principal guest conductor. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, and he has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading houses.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with a CD on that label of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. He continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic and for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor. 30 Conductor

Chris Lee Music Director Alan Gilbert began his tenure in September 2009 and is the first native New Yorker to be appointed to that post. He simultaneously maintains a major international presence, making regular guest appearances with orchestras including the Berlin and Radio France philharmonics, the Royal Concertgebouw and Cleveland orchestras, the Boston Symphony, and the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2003 and last performed with the ensemble in January 2011. Mr. Gilbert is conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, where he served as music director for eight years, and this season marks his 10th anniversary as principal guest conductor of the NDR Symphony in Hamburg. He has led operatic productions for the Metropolitan, Los Angeles, Zurich, and Royal Swedish , as well as for the Santa Fe Opera, where he served as the first appointed music director. At the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Gilbert has widened the artistic reach of the 172-year-old institution. He initiated annual residencies for (with Magnus Lindberg the first appointment) and leading performing artists (this season violinist Lisa Batiashvili and pianist Inon Barnatan). Semi-staged productions of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, Janáček’s , and Stravinsky’s Petrushka have been presented to critical acclaim and capacity audiences. Mr. Gilbert also encouraged the development of two series devoted to contemporary music: CONTACT! devoted to premiering new scores, and the New York Philharmonic Biennial, a curatorial approach to exploring a wide range of contemporary and modern composers, inaugurated in the spring of 2014. Mr. Gilbert opened the 2014-15 season with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, where he replaced that ensemble’s indisposed music director, , in season-opening concerts and on tour at the Lucerne Festival, Musikfest Berlin, and London’s BBC Proms. Other guest engagements this season include weeks with the Berlin and Munich philharmonics and a return to the Met where he conducts Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Peter Mattei in the title role. Mr. Gilbert’s recordings include Renée Fleming’s recent Decca release, Poèmes, which received a 2013 Grammy Award. In 2014 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 31 Soloist

Eugene Beregovoy Soprano Tatiana Monogarova made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in February 2014 performing Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Vladimir Jurowski conducting. In addition to these current performances, other highlights of her 2014-15 season include the role of Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and house debuts at Washington National Opera as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème and at l’Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg as Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. Also upcoming is her debut at Frankfurt Opera. In the 2013-14 season Ms. Monogarova sang the title role of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw with Valery Gergiev; made her debut with Zurich Opera singing Lisa in The Queen of Spades with Jiří Bělohlávek; returned to the role of Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly with Cape Town Opera; and performed Britten’s War Requiem with the London Philharmonic and Mr. Jurowski at the Southbank Centre in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Rostropovich Festival in Moscow. Operatic highlights of past seasons include her signature role of Tatiana in Eugene Onegin on tour with the Bolshoi in Europe and Israel; the title role in Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Semperoper Dresden and the Ljubljana State Opera; Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Cologne Opera; Cleopatra in Handel’s Julius Caesar in Bern; Lisa in The Queen of Spades at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels; Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello at the Glyndebourne Festival; the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at the Vienna State Opera; the title role in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen in Seville; and Xenia in Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov at La Fenice in Venice. Ms. Monogarova made her U.K. concert debut with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14. She has performed Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with the Bavarian Radio Symphony under Mariss Jansons; Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Hong Kong Philharmonic; and Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She has also performed The Bells with Mr. Jurowski and the London Philharmonic; with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony; and at the BBC Proms. Ms. Monogarova was born in Moscow and studied voice at the Russian Academy of Arts. 32 Soloist

Zachary Maxwell Stertz Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2009 performing Handel’s Messiah. In addition to these current performances, highlights of the California native’s 2014-15 season include Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue and Duruflé’s Requiem with Donald Runnicles conducting the Berlin Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Colorado Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and Mahler’s Second Symphony with the San Antonio Symphony and the Reno Philharmonic. She also returns to the operatic stage as Smeton in a new production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at the Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Patrick Summers and directed by Kevin Newbury. In the summer of 2014 Ms. O’Connor performed Mozart’s Requiem with Louis Langrée and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center. She has also sung Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic. Recent concert seasons have included performances of Beethoven’s Mass in C during an international tour with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra; John Adams’s El Niño under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski with the London Philharmonic; a U.S. recital tour with soprano Jessica Rivera and pianist Robert Spano, including a performance at Carnegie Hall; Ravel’s Shéhérazade with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Mr. Spano and the Atlanta Symphony; and Stravinsky’s The Wedding with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony. John Adams wrote the title role of The Gospel According to the Other Mary for Ms. O’Connor and she has performed the work internationally, both in concert and in the Peter Sellars production, under the batons of the , Gustavo Dudamel, and Grant Gershon. For her debut with the Atlanta Symphony in Golijov’s Ainadamar, she joined Mr. Spano for performances and a Grammy Award-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording. Her discography also includes Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with Mr. Spano and the Atlanta Symphony; The Gospel According to the Other Mary with Mr. Dudamel and the ; and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Mr. Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra. 33 Soloist

American tenor Anthony Dean Griffey has appeared in the world’s most prestigious opera houses in the title roles in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, and Kurka’s The Good Soldier Schweik; as Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio; and as Alfred in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. Mr. Griffey is particularly noted for his portrayal of the title role in Britten’s Peter Grimes, which he debuted at the Tanglewood Festival under the baton of Seiji Ozawa and has since performed all over the world, most recently in concert performances with the Atlanta Symphony at Carnegie Hall as part of the Britten centenary celebrations. He also appeared in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera that was broadcast as part of the Live in HD series and subsequently released on DVD (EMI Classics). Mr. Griffey made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1998 and most recently appeared with the ensemble in 2009 for Handel’s Messiah. A celebrated concert performer, he appears regularly with many distinguished ensembles, including the Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles philharmonics; the London, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, and Boston symphonies; the Minnesota and Philharmonia orchestras; the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; and the Orchestre de Paris. Highlights of his current season include a return to the Houston Grand Opera for the world premiere of Iain Bell’s A Christmas Carol, a one-man show based on the Dickens classic, and the U.S. premiere of Kurt Weill’s The Road of Promise with the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall. He also appears in concert with the Nashville Symphony, at the University of North Carolina, and at the Desert Song Festival in Tucson. A supporter of new works, Mr. Griffey has won critical acclaim for creating the role of Mitch in the world premiere of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire at the San Francisco Opera and for his performances of Lennie in Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, for which he won a Helpmann Award for Best Male Performer in an Opera when he performed the role at Opera Australia. A four- time Grammy-winning recording artist, Mr. Griffey recently collaborated with classical guitarist Joseph Pecoraro on a Christmas album entitled This Little Light. He currently holds the position of distinguished artist in residence at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. 34 Soloist

Shirley Suarez Canadian bass John Relyea made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1998 and most recently performed with the ensemble at the Bravo! Vail festival in 2013. He has appeared in the world’s most celebrated opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera (where he is an alumnus of the Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow), the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Mariinksy Theater. This season he returns to the Lyric Opera in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena and Wagner’s Tannhäuser, the Canadian Opera in Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu for Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. He also appears in concert with the Toronto Symphony. On the concert stage Mr. Relyea appears regularly with orchestras such as the Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Swedish Radio symphonies; the Cleveland, Philharmonia, and Scottish Chamber orchestras; and the New York and Berlin philharmonics. He has also appeared at the Tanglewood, Ravinia, Blossom, Cincinnati May, Lanaudière, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne, and Mostly Mozart festivals; and at the BBC Proms. In recital he has been presented at Weill Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Wigmore Hall in London; the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor; and on the University of Chicago Presents series. He has worked with conductors including Pierre Boulez, Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gustavo Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Neville Marriner, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. Mr. Relyea’s recordings include Verdi’s Requiem (LSO Live); Mozart’s Idomeneo with and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (EMI); Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with and the City of Birmingham Symphony (EMI); and the Metropolitan Opera’s DVD presentations of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Bellini’s I puritani, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Deutsche Grammophon), and Verdi’s Macbeth (Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series). He is the winner of the 2009 Beverly Sills Award and the 2003 Richard Tucker Award. 34A Chorus

Described by Wolfgang Sawallisch as “one of the musical treasures of Philadelphia,” the Philadelphia Singers has won acclaim for artistic excellence for more than 40 years. Founded in 1972 by Curtis Institute of Music graduate Michael Korn, the professional chorus began as a 32-voice chamber ensemble, performing repertoire that ranged from Renaissance-era to contemporary works in an annual concert series. During the 1980s the group rose to prominence, presenting the Philadelphia premieres of works by Poulenc and Gershwin and world premieres of Romeo Cascarino’s William Penn and Vincent Persichetti’s Flower Songs. The chorus performs regularly with leading national and local performing arts organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Pennsylvania Ballet. In 1991 the Philadelphia Singers founded the Philadelphia Singers Chorale, a symphonic chorus composed of professional singers and talented volunteers, and the ensemble made its Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1992. The Chorale was resident chorus of the Orchestra from 2000 to 2011. Past performances with the Orchestra include Orff’s Carmina burana; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Das klagende Lied; Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet, The Damnation of Faust, and Requiem; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s The Singing Rooms; Ravel’s complete Daphnis and Chloe; Fauré’s Requiem; and Handel’s Messiah. The Chorale returns to Verizon Hall again this December for Messiah and in the spring of 2015 for Magnus Lindberg’s Graffiti,both with the Orchestra. David Hayes was appointed music director of the Philadelphia Singers in 1992. Music director of the New York Choral Society and the Mannes Orchestra of the Mannes College of Music in New York, he is also staff conductor of the Curtis Symphony and from 2000 to 2010 served as a cover conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also served as a cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic as well as for André Previn on the Curtis Symphony’s 1999 European Tour with Anne- Sophie Mutter. Mr. Hayes studied conducting with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School and with Otto-Werner Mueller at the Curtis Institute of Music.

34C Framing the Program

In the late 19th century prominent composers began to Parallel Events emerge from countries that had not been center stage 1896 Music in international musical life. Among these leading figures Dvořák Strauss were Jean Sibelius in Finland, and Antonín Dvořák The Golden Also sprach and Leoš Janáček in the Czech lands. All three were Spinning Wheel Zarathustra deeply connected with their native landscape, language, Literature and cultural traditions but also sought wider fame. Chekhov They eventually succeeded in becoming both national The Sea Gull monuments and international stars. Art Leighton Sibelius is best known for his Concerto, seven Clytie symphonies, and some dozen tone poems. Despite History The Philadelphia Orchestra’s long association with his Utah becomes a music, these concerts are the first time the ensemble state has performed Night Ride and Sunrise, a piece both representational and impressionistic. 1908 Music Sibelius Elgar Dvořák is likewise beloved for his concertos and Night Ride and Symphony No. 1 symphonies, although his range of works extended further Sunrise Literature to include operas, choral pieces, and chamber music. Stein Near the end of his career—after spending three years in Three Lives America—he became interested in symphonic poems. The Art Golden Spinning Wheel is one of four based on fairy tales Chagall by the venerated Czech poet Karel Jaromír Erben. Nu rouge History For most of his life Janáček’s career was relatively Ford produces local, based in the Moravian capital . At age 62 he Model T suddenly became much more famous when his opera Jenůfa captured international attention and ushered in 1926 Music a final dozen years of phenomenal activity and brilliant Janáček Berg masterpieces. A crowning work is his monumental Glagolitic Mass Lyric Suite Glagolitic Mass, with words in Old Church Slavonic rather Literature than the traditional Latin. Scored for vocal soloists, chorus, Hemingway The Sun Also and large orchestral forces, it also prominently features Rises the organ. This concert initiates the “Art of the Pipe Art Organ,” a month-long celebration spotlighting the Fred J. Munch Cooper Memorial Organ, the largest mechanical-action The Red House concert hall organ in America. History First flight over the North Pole 34D The Music Night Ride and Sunrise

“This is the crucial hour, the last chance to make something big of myself and achieve great things.” So the 39-year- old Jean Sibelius wrote to his wife, Aino, in 1905. Not that the composer wasn’t already quite well known, at least in his native Finland. His challenge was trying to secure larger renown, to be more than just a representative of a particular nation. His tone poem Finlandia, written six years earlier, supported the cause of Finnish independence from Russia and Jean Sibelius would eventually become his country’s unofficial national Born in Hämeenlinna, anthem, as well as his most famous piece. But Sibelius, Finland, December 8, 1865 who had studied in Berlin, as well as in Vienna, aspired to Died in Järvenpää, be compared with the preeminent modernist composers of September 20, 1957 the time, contemporaries like Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. His letter to Aino continued, “Now the important thing is not to let up but to sustain the momentum.” The next few years would pose challenges, both professional and personal, including a serious health crisis that required an operation and forced him, at least for a few years, to give up smoking and drinking. New Paths Many of Sibelius’s most ambitious pieces to this point drew inspiration from the mythic tales of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic that continued to influence some of his later works. But as he sought greater international stature he now looked in other directions as well. He broke with his Finnish publishers and allied himself with a firm in Berlin, where he had recently visited and conducted acclaimed performances of his new Second Symphony. He heard Strauss conduct his massive Ein Heldenleben and Symphonia domestica, both of which fascinated him. Sibelius had by then composed two of his seven symphonies and now declared, “I’m no longer writing a symphony, but rather a symphonic fantasy for orchestra. This is my genre!! Here I can move without feeling the weight of tradition.” The immediate result was Pohjola’s Daughter and although he did not give up on writing symphonies, he did cultivate a wider range of symphonic poems. Night Ride and Sunrise is one that calls upon personal experience and nature rather than national literature. He completed the piece in November 1908 39

Sibelius composed Night Ride and Alexander Siloti conducted the premiere two months and Sunrise in 1908. later in St. Petersburg. Sibelius did not attend—Siloti made These are the first Philadelphia several cuts in the piece and the critical reaction was Orchestra performances of the largely negative. work. Over the years Sibelius gave several differing accounts of The score calls for piccolo, two the genesis of the work to various friends and associates, , two , two , at least so they reported in books they wrote about him. bass , two , He told Karl Ekman that it was inspired by an experience in , four horns, two Rome. To his English biographer Rosa Newmarch he said , three , the piece dealt “with the inner experiences of an average , , percussion (bass man riding solitary through the forest gloom; sometimes drum, , , glad to be alone with Nature; occasionally awe-stricken by tambourine, triangle), and the stillness or the strange sounds which break it; not filled strings. with undue foreboding, but thankful and rejoicing in the Performance time is daybreak.” Decades later he reminisced to his long-time approximately 15 minutes. secretary about a trip on a horse-drawn sleigh during which he saw an amazing sunrise: “The whole heavens were a sea of colors that shifted and flowed producing the most inspiring sight until it all ended in a glowing light.” A Closer Look In any case, the idea of a ride has long been an attractive subject for composers, as forward motion is one of music’s defining characteristics. Nature has also proved an enduring topic, be it for representational pieces, depicting such things as birdcalls (heard in this work in the transition from night to dawn), or impressionistic ones, as in the majesty of a sunrise that Sibelius evokes with a hymn-like section for horns. As the title suggests, the work is in two overall parts—a fast ride with a persistent trochaic rhythm (stressed/unstressed or long/short) and a slower sunrise. After a brief but forceful introduction for full orchestra, the nocturnal ride (Allegro) begins softly in the strings, occasionally punctuated by short orchestral interjections. We hear the horses galloping at a distance—marked dolcissimo (very softly), creating a marvelous minimalist landscape. Gradually the music comes more into focus before retreating again in a moderato assai section that introduces a top the persisting ride theme an expansive musical idea initially for and , creating a typically Sibeliean texture of two simultaneous time planes, one fast, the other long-breathed. This builds in volume and instrumentation to create a maelstrom of the night ride. A largamente transition uses a plaintive string theme and birdcalls for oboe, flute, and clarinet leading to the largo sunrise evoked by a solemn horn chorale and a final grand blaze of light. —Christopher H. Gibbs 40 The Music The Golden Spinning Wheel

Dvořák is not as easy a figure to pin down as some may think. He seems the quintessential Czech composer, and indeed nationalist sentiment was central both to his self-definition and to his music. Yet Dvořák was far from provincial. He actively sought an international reputation and succeeded brilliantly in achieving one. After studies in Prague, he began to play in an orchestra conducted by the great Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. In 1874 the 33-year-old Czech applied for a newly created Austrian state stipend for needy young artists. He submitted 15 compositions, including Antonín Dvořák his Second and Third symphonies. The jury was chaired Born in Nelahozeves, by the powerful music critic Eduard Hanslick and included Bohemia, September 8, prominent musicians in Vienna. Dvořák was awarded a 1841 grant. The next year, with Johannes Brahms joining the jury, Died in Prague, May 1, 1904 he succeeded again, as he did the following three years, ultimately winning all five times he applied. The “Slippery Slope” of Program Music Early success quickly led to fame far beyond the Czech lands, especially after Brahms recommended Dvořák to his own German publisher, Fritz Simrock, who soon published his Moravian Duets and Slavonic Dances. As Dvořák was quick to point out to Simrock, these works proved a “goldmine,” and he wanted to move on to bigger works—symphonies, concertos, and operas that would be heard and judged as part of the great tradition of Western music, not as a colorful, quaint, local phenomenon. In this respect, we can consider Dvořák within the context of late-19th-century debates about music’s primary role, whether it should be pure and “absolute,” as Brahms and Hanslick believed, or “programmatic,” infused with extra-musical meanings, as Liszt, Wagner, and Richard Strauss preached and practiced.

At first Dvořák appeared to follow the Brahmsian position, although he greatly admired Wagner and, unlike Brahms, wrote operas himself. Near the end of his career Dvořák became increasingly drawn to extra-musical sources for his orchestral compositions. After finishing his final symphony, “From the New World,” in 1893, he turned to writing symphonic poems, the genre embraced by the opposing camp. This move did not at all please Professor Hanslick (Brahms was terminally ill at this point). In a review of the “New World” Symphony, the critic commented on this unwelcome new path: 41

I am afraid that with this detailed programmatic music Dvořák has stepped onto a slippery slope which, in the end, leads to—Richard Strauss. … I just cannot accept that I must now put Dvořák … on a level with Richard Strauss; he is a true musician who has proved a hundred times that he needs no program and no description to enchant us through the medium of pure, absolute music. Supernatural Czech Folk Tales Just as Wagner, Liszt, and Strauss were primarily drawn to German literature and myth, Dvořák looked to Czech sources. He was particularly enamored by the grotesque and supernatural tales by the venerated poet Karel Jaromír Erben (1811- 70), whose collection Bouquet of Folk Tales inspired four symphonic poems: The Water Sprite, The Noonday Witch, The Wood Dove, and The Golden Spinning Wheel. (A fifth and final symphonic poem, Heroic Song, Op. 111, has no literary basis and is more autobiographical; it has been compared to Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben.) Erben, a fervent Czech nationalist, had already provided the material for earlier works by Dvořák, most prominently the cantata The Spectre’s Bride. His poems were familiar to all Czechs, memorized in ways rarely encountered in America today. Clement C. Moore’s A Visit from Saint Nicholas (’Twas the Night before Christmas) may come to mind, but a Czech schoolchild would probably know the entire poem by heart, not just the first few lines. Dvořák composed the four Erben pieces at breakneck speed in early 1896, not long after his return from nearly three years in America.

Dvořák was inspired not only by the narratives of Erben’s poems, but also by the actual rhythms and melodic flow of the words. Indeed, as his musical sketches reveal, some of the rhythms and melodies heard in these symphonic poems fit precisely the contour of lines from the original poems. Although the familiar words are not sung, they nonetheless leave hidden traces. This idea was taken even further by Dvořák’s great Czech successor, Leoš Janáček, who published penetrating analyses of his mentor’s Erben compositions, praised them as the most Czech of his works, and conducted the world premiere of The Wood Dove in March 1898. A Closer Look Erben’s story tells of a young king out hunting who comes upon a forest cottage and asks for something to drink. He spies the lovely Dornicka, who fetches water and then continues spinning at her wheel. 42

Dvořák composed The Golden He tells her of his love. When he later returns her ugly Spinning Wheel in 1896. stepmother greets him and he requests that his beloved The first, and only other, be brought to the castle. The old woman sets off with Philadelphia Orchestra both her own daughter and Dornicka, but on the way they performances of the work were attack her, cutting off her hands and feet, blinding her, in May 2009, led by Rossen and leaving her to die. The king mistakes the daughter, Milanov. who looks much like Dornicka, and marries her to festive The Golden Spinning Wheel music. He must now go off to war. A sorcerer finds the is scored for two flutes (II remains of Dornicka’s body in the woods; he sends off doubling piccolo), two oboes, riches in exchange for the missing feet, hands, and eyes, English horn, two clarinets, and then magically restores her to life. The victorious king two bassoons, contrabassoon, returns from war and as his wife spins the golden wheel it four horns, two trumpets, three issues forth a three-verse song telling of the crime in the trombones, tuba, timpani, forest. The king goes there and finds Dornicka alive and percussion (bass drum, well. In Erben’s tale the guilty women are torn to shreds, cymbals, triangle), harp, and but Dvořák’s piece ends on a kinder note of celebration. strings. Dvořák gave little information about The Golden Spinning Performance time is Wheel; he wrote to music critic Richard Hirschfeld: “I approximately 22 minutes. have made no attempt to set the whole poem in terms of music, but merely the several principal protagonists, in order to express the character of this poetic music … these are the king (lord), the bad old mother, the unhappy Dornicka, and the old man (sorcerer).” —Christopher H. Gibbs 43 The Music Glagolitic Mass

Audiences have long marveled at the opposing phenomena of musical prodigies and of late compositional miracles, at what geniuses such as Mozart and Mendelssohn accomplished as teenagers or at what Verdi achieved in his 80s. Leoš Janáček offers an unusual case of the latter: He enjoyed a respectable if relatively local career in Moravia until the dazzling success of a Prague production during the First World War of his fourth opera Jenůfa, a work he had completed 13 years earlier, in 1903. Performances soon followed in Vienna, Berlin, New York, and elsewhere. Leoš Janáček Born in Hukvaldy, Moravia At age 62 Janáček suddenly found wide recognition and (now ), new opportunities that ushered in a final dozen years of July 3, 1854 astonishing productivity during which he composed most of Died in Ostrava, August 12, his greatest compositions, among them five more operas, 1928 the , two impressive string quartets, and the monumental Mass we hear today. As he remarked to fellow Czech composer : “I feel as if I were living in a fairy tale. I am composing, composing as if driven.”

Janáček was born in Hukvaldy, in Moravia, in 1854 and initially trained at an Augustinian monastery in Brno before pursuing studies in Prague, Vienna, and Leipzig. He based his career in Brno, where he founded the Brno Organ School, serving there for many years as director, teacher, choirmaster, and organist. While some of his music draws upon Moravian folk music—as Bartók and Stravinsky, a generation younger than Janáček, would later mine their indigenous traditions—he was more interested in language, specifically the rhythmic and melodic contours of speech.

A Slavonic Mass Most of Janáček’s sacred music dates from early in his career after which he increasingly moved toward more generally spiritual and pantheistic projects, such as a text by Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. It comes as something as a surprise, therefore, that one of the major projects of his final golden years was a Mass.

Janáček was not a practicing Catholic—indeed soon after the Mass premiered in December 1927 (just eight months before he died at age 74) the Czech musicologist Ludvík Kundera (father of the great novelist Milan Kundera) wrote an article about it stating: “Janáček, an old man, now a firm believer, feels with increasing urgency that his life’s work 44

should not lack an element of expressing his relationship to God.” The composer sent Kundera a terse postcard: “No old man, no believer! You youngster!” He repeated the sentiment in a newspaper interview: “You know what they wrote about me: ‘The pious old man.’ I got angry then and said: look here, young man, first of all I am not old, and as for being a believer—well, I am certainly not that, certainly not!” And yet his attraction to the project may not be entirely unexpected as it combined spiritual elements with fervent patriotic feelings that were connected to his interest in language. He did he not write the Mass using the traditional Latin text of the Mass Ordinary, but rather a slightly shorter version in Old Church Slavonic. The title, Msˇa glagolskaja, refers to the written Glagolitic alphabet developed more than a thousand years earlier by the Saints Cyril and Methodius and that is akin to the later Cyrillic script now most familiar in Russian.

In an article for the leading Brno newspaper Janáček explained what he wanted to avoid in the piece: It was to be a Mass “without the gloom of the medieval monastic cells in the themes, without the same lines of imitation, without the tangled fugues of Bach, without the pathos of Beethoven, without the playfulness of Haydn.” Rather he talks of the inspiration of nature and language. The impetus for the Mass apparently came from a conversation he had in the summer of 1920 with the future Archbishop of Olomouc, to whom he complained about the poor quality of contemporary church music. No surprise that the response was the suggestion that Janáček himself compose “something of merit.” He wrote out some preliminary sketches around this time but took up the project in earnest only in August 1926, using as well some ideas connected with an unfinished Latin Mass dating back to 1908. A Closer Look The work is in eight movements—the traditional five of the Mass Ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei), framed by purely instrumental opening and closing ones and a penultimate extravaganza for organ solo. There are four vocal soloists, chorus, large orchestra, and prominent role for the organ. This is a Mass unlike any other, written by a great orchestral and opera composer who brought those gifts crafting the piece. The opening Úvod (Introduction) projects a cheerful and ceremonial air with brass fanfares similar to those in the composer’s Sinfonietta (written earlier the same year). One immediately recognizes Janáček’s distinctive musical voice 45

The Glagolitic Mass was in the instrumentation, voicing of chords, and melodic and composed in 1926. harmonic procedures. was on the Gospodi pomiluj (Kyrie) begins darkly and dramatically, podium for the first, and only as if it were the introduction to an operatic scene. A other, Philadelphia Orchestra religious tone arrives when the chorus enters with the performance of the Mass, in simple plea (Lord, have mercy upon us), which is answered 1991 at the Mann Center. The by the soprano soloist (Christ, have mercy upon us). The soloists were soprano Christine Brewer, mezzo-soprano next two movements are the wordy ones of the liturgy. Marietta Simpson, tenor Jon Slava (Gloria) starts with the soprano in an aria-like Fredric West, bass-baritone section then joined by the chorus. A fast orchestral John Cheek, and the Montreal interlude, including brass fanfares, leads to exclamations Symphony Chorus. of joy for the “Amen” conclusion. Věruju (Credo) features the full chorus in a proclamation of belief, using The score calls for four flutes a graceful motif on the opening word (I believe) that (II, III, and IV doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three recurs throughout the movement. An extended orchestral clarinets (III doubling bass interlude builds to a brilliant organ solo and dramatic clarinet), three bassoons (III section associated with the words “He was crucified also doubling contrabassoon), four for us.” Svet (Sanctus) is more subdued, with a violin horns, four trumpets, three solo ushering in soprano, tenor, bass soloists and chorus, trombones, tuba, timpani, turning joyous for “Heaven and earth are full of Thy Glory.” percussion (chimes, cymbals, The slow Agneče Božij (Agnus Dei) is the last sung , snare drum, movement, starting with the soloists, and ending with a final tam-tam, triangle), two harps, choral entreaty for mercy. Varhany sólo (Postludium) celesta, organ, strings, four offers a thrilling organ voluntary at a quick tempo. The vocal soloists, and mixed choir. piece concludes with the Intrada, a brief final movement Performance time is for orchestra, again with processional brass fanfares, and a approximately 40 minutes. bright, festive, joyous mood that ends the piece, as Janáček promised, without gloom. —Christopher H. Gibbs

Program notes © 2014. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association. 46

Mša glagolskaja Glagolitic Mass

II. Gospodi pomiluj Kyrie Gospodi pomiluj. Lord, have mercy upon us. Chrste pomiluj. Christ, have mercy upon us. Gospodi pomiluj. Lord, have mercy upon us.

III. Slava Gloria Slava vo vyšńich Bogu Glory be to God on high, i na zeml’i and peace on earth mir človekom blagovol’enja. to men of good will. Chvalim Te, blagoslovl’ajem Te, We praise Thee, we bless Thee, klańajem Ti se, slavoslovim Te. we adore Thee, we glorify Thee, Chvali vozdajem Tebě we give Thee thanks velikyje radi slavy tvojeje. for Thy great glory.

Bože, otče vsemogyj, Lord God, heavenly King, Gospodi Synu jedinorodnyj, God, the Father Almighty. Isuse Chrste! Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, Gospodi Bože, Agneče Božij, Lord God, Lamb of God, Synu Oteč! Son of the Father,

Vzeml’ej grěchy mira, Thou, who takest away the sins of the world, pomiluj nas, have mercy upon us; primi mol’enija naša receive our prayer. Sědej o desnuju Otca, Thou, who sittest at the right hand of the Father, pomiluj nas! have mercy on us.

Jako Ty jedin svět, For Thou alone art holy, ty jedin Gospod, Thou alone art Lord, ty jedin vyšńij, Thou alone art most high, Isuse Chrste. Jesus Christ, Vo slavě Boga Otca together with the Holy Ghost, so Svetym Duchom in the glory of God the Father. Amin. Amen.

IV. Věruju Credo Věruju v jedinogo Boga, I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Otca vsemoguštago, tvorca nebu i maker of heaven and earth, zeml’i, vidimym vsěm of all things visible i nevidimym. and invisible. I v jedinogo Gospoda Isusa Chrsta, I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, Syna Božija jedinorodnago, the only-begotten Son of God; i ot Otca roždenago born of the Father prěžde vsěch věk. before all ages. Boga ot Boga, svět ot světa, God from God, Light from Light, Boga istinna, ot Boga istinnago, true God from true God; roždena, ne stvor’ena, begotten, not made; 46A jedinosuštna Otcu, consubstantial with the Father, jimže vsja byše by Whom all things were made; Iže nas radi who for us men člověk i radi našego and for our salvation, spasenja. Snide s nebes came down from heaven, I voplti se and became incarnate ot Ducha sveta by the Holy Ghost iz Marije děvy. of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

Raspet že zany, He was crucified also for us; mučen i pogreben byst suffered and was buried. I voskrse v tretij And the third day He arose again den po Pisaniju, according to the Scriptures. I vzide na nebo, And ascended into heaven, sědit o desnuja Otca, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father. i paky imat priti sudit žyvym, And He is to come again, with glory, mrtvym so slavoju, to judge both the living and the dead; jegože cěsarstviju nebudet konca. of whose kingdom there shall be no end. I v Ducha Svetago I believe in the Holy Ghost, gospoda i živototvoreštago the Lord and Giver of life, ot Otca i Syna ischodeštago, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; s Otcem že i Synom kupno, who, together with the Father and the Son, poklanájema i soslavima, is adored and glorified; Iže glagolal jest Proroky. who spoke by the prophets.

I jedinu svetuju, katoličesku I believe in one holy Catholic i apostolsku crkov. and Apostolic Church. I spovědaju jedino I confess one baptism krščenje votpuščenije grěchov, for the remission of sins. I čaju voskrsenija mrtvych And I expect the resurrection of the dead, i života buduštago věka and the life of the world to come. Amin. Amen.

V. Svet Sanctus Svet, svet, svet! Holy, holy, holy Gospod, Bog Sabaoth, Lord God of Sabaoth. Plna sut nebo, Heaven and earth zemlja slavy tvojeje! are full of Thy Glory. Blagoslovl’en gredyj Blessed is he who cometh vo ime Gospodňe. in the name of the Lord. Osanna vo vyšńich! Hosanna in the highest.

VI. Agneče Božij Agnus Dei Agneče Božij, vzeml’ej Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of grěchy mira, the world, pomiluj nas! have mercy upon us. 46B Musical Terms

GENERAL TERMS other voices in succession, refer to parts of purely Aria: An accompanied reappearing throughout instrumental works that solo song (often in ternary the entire piece in all the resemble vocal recitatives. form), usually in an opera voices at different places Symphonic poem: or oratorio Harmonic: Pertaining to A type of 19th-century Cadence: The conclusion chords and to the theory symphonic piece in one to a phrase, movement, and practice of harmony movement, which is based or piece based on a Harmony: The upon an extramusical idea, recognizable melodic combination of either poetic or descriptive formula, harmonic simultaneously sounded Tone poem: progression, or dissonance musical notes to produce See symphonic poem resolution chords and chord Timbre: Tone color or tone Cantata: A multi- progressions quality movement vocal piece Legato: Smooth, even, Voluntary: An organ solo consisting of arias, without any break between before, during, or after recitatives, ensembles, and notes divine service choruses and based on a Meter: The symmetrical continuous narrative text grouping of musical THE SPEED OF MUSIC Chorale: A hymn tune rhythms (Tempo) of the German Protestant Op.: Abbreviation for opus, Allegro: Bright, fast Church, or one similar in a term used to indicate Largamente: Broadly style. Chorale settings are the chronological position Largo: Broad vocal, instrumental, or both. of a composition within a Moderato: A moderate Chord: The simultaneous composer’s output. Opus tempo, neither fast nor sounding of three or more numbers are not always slow tones reliable because they are Dissonance: A often applied in the order TEMPO MODIFIERS combination of two or more of publication rather than Assai: Much tones requiring resolution composition. Fugue: A piece of music Recitative: Declamatory DYNAMIC MARKS in which a short melody singing, free in tempo and Dolcissimo: Very softly is stated by one voice rhythm. Recitative has also and then imitated by the sometimes been used to 46C October/November The Philadelphia Orchestra

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