Quad City Symphony Orchestra PROGRAM NOTES Masterworks III: Celebrating Bernstein’s Centennial

By Jacob Bancks Associate Professor of Music Augustana College

LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) paced environment proved extremely form- Three Dance Episodes from On the ative for all three, who would each eventu- Town ally make lasting contributions to American musical theatre. Instrumentation: Flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling English horn), 3 clarinets (first dou- Their first formal collaboration on a Broad- bling e-flat clarinet, second doubling alto saxo- way musical was On the Town of 1944, with phone, and third doubling bass clarinet), 2 music by Bernstein and book and lyrics by horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, per- Comden and Green. Premiered during the cussion, piano, strings. last days of World War II, it told the story of Premiere: February 3, 1946. Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA. The San Francisco Sym- three sailors on 24 hours leave in New York phony, the composer conducting. City, and the women they eventually fall in QCSO Performance History: The QCSO’s sole love with. On the Town made the move to prior performance of music from On the Town film in 1949, starring Gene Kelly and Frank was with Kim Allen Kluge conducting in 1995. Sinatra. Unfortunately, in a ruling we might find disputable, the film’s producers As is nearly always the case with great mu- deemed Bernstein’s music too complex and sic, the works of Leonard Bernstein were inaccessible, and most of it was replaced for products not of a single man, but of the ar- the film version. tistic milieu or “art world” that fostered them. In Bernstein’s case, that world encom- Though offended enough to boycott the passed many close collaborators and film, Bernstein remained close to the com- friends, including a remarkable number of edy duo, collaborating with them again in big name American artists: composers like 1953 on Wonderful Town. Comden and Mark Blitzstein and Aaron Copland; jazz mu- Green went on to write book and lyrics for sicians like Dave Brubeck; and musical thea- many musicals, including Singin’ in the Rain tre luminaries like Jerome Robbins and Ste- and the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan. phen Sondheim. Their last collaboration was The Will Rogers Follies of 1991, and both outlived Bernstein Among this latter group were two of Bern- by more than a decade. In addition to stein’s oldest friends, the comedy duo of Broadway revivals of the entire show in Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The three 1971, 1998, and 2014, Bernstein’s suite of knew each other before any of them was fa- dance music from On the Town has become mous, performing together in a Greenwich a staple of the orchestral pops repertoire. Village cabaret during the 1930s. That fast- Things to Listen for in LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) the Three Dance Episodes Serenade after Plato’s Symposium from On the Town First Episode: The Great Lover Displays Instrumentation: Solo violin, percussion, harp, Himself and strings. ¯ Throughout this work, watch the Premiere: September 11, 1954. La Fenice, Venice, Isaac Stern, violin, the composer conducting. trumpets and trombones navigate their QCSO Performance History: The QCSO’s sole wide variety of mutes. As with strings, prior performance of Bernstein’s Serenade was brass mutes are not simply to make the with David Loebel (guest) conducting in 2008, instrument softer, but to radically alter with Phillipe Quint, violin. their timbre (“tone-color”). ¯ In keeping with the showtune style, Though his early successes were in musical notice that one of the percussion parts theatre, Bernstein saw himself as a classical is written entirely for trap set. composer-conductor in the tradition of Gus- Second Episode: Lonely Town (Pas de tav Mahler. A line connecting the two is apt Deux) for a number of reasons: they both served ¯ The Pas de Deux is, of course, a as music director for the New York Philhar- dance for two; perhaps fittingly, the be- monic, and Bernstein is credited with reviv- ginning and end of this episode are ing and sustaining American interest in Mah- marked by dark, mellow clarinet and ler’s symphonies. Unfortunately, compared bass clarinet duets in parallel motion. to Mahler, Bernstein had less success bal- ¯ Bernstein’s sweeping and emotive ancing performing and composition, writing music depicting the loneliness of the city relatively few major concert works, most be- at night might owe something to his fore the he turned 40. friend Aaron Copland’s work Quiet City from a few years prior, especially in the Had Bernstein found more time and will to poignant English horn solos that draw compose concert works, he might have the episode to a close. given us more pieces like the Serenade after Third Episode: Times Square, 1944 Plato’s Symposium. Written when the com- ¯ Bernstein clearly evokes the swing poser was just 36 years old, the work has the style of Benny Goodman at this epi- marks of a “serious” concert piece, and sode’s opening; the two men worked to- largely employs musical sounds more native gether multiple times, and Bernstein to Tanglewood (the crucible of conducting composed a well-known work, Prelude, and composition in western Massachusetts Fugue and Riffs, for Goodman. where Bernstein spent his summers) than to ¯ The free-wheeling form of this epi- Broadway or Hollywood. Most importantly, sode is not unlike the “street-scenes” of in a program note, Bernstein makes an un- some classical ballets, where frequent convincing attempt to describe the piece as changes of texture and tempo depict independent of extra-musical associations, the dizzying effect of whirling crowds. declaring, “There is no literal program for this Serenade.”

2 QCSO Program Notes 2018-19, Masterworks III And in almost the same breath, he goes on continues by describing the duality of to describe the work’s literal program: a fa- lover and beloved. This is expressed in a mous banquet of ancient Greek philoso- classical sonata-allegro, based on the ma- phers offering lengthy speeches on the terial of the opening fugato. topic of love, as transcribed by Plato. “The ¯ Bernstein describes this passage as music, like the dialogue, is a series of related “Fugato”, meaning “like a fugue, but statements in praise of love.” Try as he not strictly.” Actually, as fugato pas- might to write a work with “no literal pro- sages go, this one is on the strict side! gram”, to Bernstein art imitated life; purely The melody (“subject”) introduced by abstract, absolute music eluded him. the solo violin is taken up by each sec- tion in turn in various keys. Hungarian As we repeatedly see in Bernstein’s music, composer Béla Bartók, another Kous- the contributions of other artists are essen- sevitsky beneficiary, opened his 1937 tial to the constitution of this work. Most ob- work Music for Strings, Percussion and viously, the piece was commissioned by the Celesta with a very similar fugue. great conductor-benefactor Serge Kous- ¯ Unlike the near-constant rhythmic sevitzky, a fixture at Tanglewood and a close support they provide in his Broadway mentor to the much younger Bernstein. music, in this work Bernstein uses the Koussevitsky long served as music director percussion instruments primarily to de- of the Boston Symphony, and had a part in lineate the formal sections of the work. commissioning many of the notable orches- When the percussion enter, you can usu- tral works of the first half of the twentieth ally expect the end or beginning of a century (including Ravel’s orchestration of phrase or section. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, ¯ In the quicker music following the which we heard this season on Masterworks fugue, Bernstein constantly changes the I). But aside from the commission, the work meter, or number of beats per bar (and also benefitted from the oversight of none sometimes the length of those beats). other than Isaac Stern, the virtuoso violinist As a rising star conductor, one can im- for whom the work was commissioned, and agine he would have relished the chance who played the premiere. In a somewhat un- to show off his rhythmic virtuosity with usual gesture, Bernstein had Stern’s bow- Isaac Stern watching! ings, fingerings, and other performance Second movement: “Aristophanes” (Al- suggestions actually printed in the score. legretto) Bernstein’s description: Aristophanes Things to Listen for in does not play the role of clown in this dia- Bernstein’s Serenade logue, but instead that of the bedtime First movement: “Phaedrus; Pausanias” story-teller, invoking the fairy-tale mythol- (Lento; Allegro) ogy of love. Bernstein’s description: Phaedrus opens ¯ All of the string instruments are the symposium with a lyrical oration in muted at the opening of this movement. praise of Eros, the god of love. (Fugato, In electronic music terms, a mute is a begun by the solo violin.) Pausanias “low pass filter”; the higher overtones that give string instruments their sparkle

QCSO Program Notes 2018-19, Masterworks III 3 are blocked; the mellower, lower over- Fourth movement: “Agathon” (Adagio) tones remain. Bernstein’s description: Perhaps the most ¯ Notice the difference in color as the moving speech of the dialogue, Aga- soloist removes her mute and the rest of thon’s panegyric embraces all aspects of the strings keep theirs on. love’s powers, charms and functions. This ¯ Like the percussion in the first move- movement is a simple three-part song. ment, the harp is used here in a very ¯ Notice the beautiful, highly multifac- sparse manner, completely unlike its eted texture: below the legato solo vio- typical scoring in Bernstein’s show mu- lin, Bernstein places pulsing repeated sic. chords, oscillating thirds, low pizzicato ¯ After a more resonant middle sec- with timpani, and little melodies that im- tion, the string mutes return at the itate each other. movement’s end. Remember that mutes ¯ Though this is clearly not a traditional are not just to make the sound softer, concerto, Bernstein does give the solo- but to alter its color; notice especially ist a cadenza, underlined with tremolo the intense timbre of the muted strings string chords, an effect similar to rapid during loud passages. but quiet shivering in the cold. Third movement: “Erixymathus” Fifth movement: “Socrates; Alcibiades” (Presto) (Molto tenuto; Allegro molto vivace) Bernstein’s description: The physician Bernstein’s description: Socrates de- speaks of bodily harmony as a scientific scribes his visit to the seer Diotima, quot- model for the workings of love-patterns. ing her speech on the demonology of This is an extremely short fugato scherzo, love. This is a slow introduction of greater born of a blend of mystery and humor. weight than any of the preceding move- ¯ As instrumental doublings go, the xy- ments; and serves as a highly developed lophone and the timpani don’t often reprise of the middle section of the Aga- play the same melody, but here they fi- thon movement, thus suggesting a hidden nally get their chance! Notice through- sonata-form. The famous interruption by out the movement how the functions of Alcibiades and his band of drunken revel- these two instruments evolve, both to- ers ushers in the Allegro, which is an ex- gether and separately. tended Rondo ranging in spirit from agita- ¯ As Bernstein mentions, here we have tion through jig-like dance music to joyful a “fugato” passage similar to the first celebration. If there is a hint of jazz in the movement, but this time blazingly fast. celebration, I hope it will not be taken as One of the melodic transformations anachronistic Greek party-music, but ra- common to fugues is augmentation, ther the natural expression of a contem- where the subject is drawn out in longer porary American composer imbued with durations. For an example of this, listen the spirit of that timeless dinner party. to the long notes which show up first in ¯ The tense and severe introduction is the solo violin; these notes actually com- relieved by a poignant moment be- prise a slowed-down version of the tween solo violin and solo cello. fugue subject. ¯ Bernstein himself designates this movement as a Rondo; quite simply,

4 QCSO Program Notes 2018-19, Masterworks III rondos are movements where a promi- Rhapsody in Blue. According to Ramin, he nent melody (let’s call it “A”) returns and Bernstein orchestrated the Symphonic many times, alternating with other sub- Dances from West Side Story together; ordinate melodies (“B,” “C,” and even though the first page of the score credits the “D”) which may or may not be repeated work only to Bernstein, he dedicated it to themselves. Following a rondo is simple: Ramin. when a passage begins, try to recognize whether you are hearing something Theirs turned out to be a collaboration that new, or something returning from earlier continued even beyond the grave. After in the movement. Bernstein’s death, clarinetist Richard Stoltz- ¯ Here, Bernstein finally brings out the man asked Ramin to revisit Bernstein’s first jazzy style we love him most for. To that published composition, the Sonata for Clar- end, this movement includes the piece’s inet and Piano, written in 1942, when the fullest and most typical use of percus- composer was only 24. Unlike his expansive sion and harp, including an idiomatic and flashy orchestrations for West Side harp glissando. Story, Ramin’s transcription of the Sonata is sparse and minimalist. It was premiered by LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) Stoltzman at the Pacific Music Festival in Ja- pan, a festival which Bernstein himself Sonata for Clarinet and Piano founded in 1990. Orchestrated by SID RAMIN (b. 1919)

Instrumentation: solo clarinet, percussion, piano, Things to Listen for in and strings. Bernstein’s Clarinet Sonata Premiere (orchestral version): July 23, 1994. En- First Movement (Grazioso) iwa Shimin Kaikan, Hokkaido, Japan. Richard ¯ This early chamber piece is written in Stoltzman, clarinet, Pacific Music Festival Or- a tonal but sparse and contrapuntal style chestra, Yutaka Sado, cond. generally popular in mid-century Ameri- QCSO Premiere. can chamber music, including in the

works of Walter Piston and Aaron Cop- The least famous but perhaps the most im- land. Compared to the other works on portant of Bernstein’s collaborators may this program, the sonata is rather sub- have been the orchestrator Sid Ramin. With dued throughout. few composition credits of his own (his most ¯ Though orchestral versions of piano notable original work seems to be the music are extremely common (remem- theme to Candid Camera), Ramin was an ex- ber Pictures at an Exhibition), it is quite tremely gifted orchestrator, and a hidden rare for the resulting orchestration to hand in many well-known musicals, includ- also include a piano part. In this sense ing West Side Story. It may strike some lov- Ramin’s orchestration is rather unusual; ers of classical music as strange that a com- especially since much of the original pi- poser would outsource so essential a task as ano part remains in the orchestral piano orchestration, but this was the standard ar- part as well. rangement on Broadway and even some- times in crossover music, as in Gershwin’s

QCSO Program Notes 2018-19, Masterworks III 5 Second Movement (Andantino—Vivace popular, but not generally the kind of genre e leggiero) where a “great” composer aimed to make a ¯ After a slow introduction, the second profound artistic contribution. movement is set predominantly in 5/8 meter. Each bar has two beats, but the That was, at least, until Mozart came along. second beat is longer than the first. As he had done already for opera seria and ¯ Having sat out the first movement, opera buffa, Mozart took the pre-existing the percussion moves to prominence in genre of Singspiel and completely trans- the second. The part begins on wood- cended it, preserving its charming, populist based instruments (xylophone, wood qualities while imbuing it with previously-un- block) before moving to metal (glocken- imaginable depth and profundity. Anybody spiel, triangle) and finally skin (timpani). familiar with Singspiel attending a perfor- Like in the first movement, Ramin ex- mance of Mozart’s last opera, Die Zauber- cludes the percussion from the more lyr- flöte (“The Magic Flute”), would have rec- ical middle section. ognized this immediately, which is perhaps why the work’s initial production ran for hun- LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990) dreds of performances, well past the com- Symphonic Dances from West Side Story poser’s untimely death.

Instrumentation: Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, Eng- In his own place and time, Leonard Bern- lish horn, e-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, bass clari- stein aimed similarly to transcend the Amer- net, alto saxophone, 2 bassoons, contrabas- ican Broadway musical. Like Mozart’s earlier soon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, Singspiele, Bernstein’s first musicals On the timpani, percussion, harp, piano/celesta, and Town and Wonderful Town were excellent strings. but generally conventional examples of the Premiere: February 13, 1961, Carnegie Hall, New York. New York Philharmonic, Lukas Foss con- genre. His operetta Candide of 1956 was in- ducting. deed a distinctive and unique work, but his QCSO Performance History: 1971 and 1990 first truly transcendent theatrical work came (James Dixon, conductor); 1995 (Kim Allen a year later. West Side Story, Bernstein’s in- Kluge, conductor); 2013 (Mark Russell Smith, comparable adaptation of Shakespeare’s conductor). Romeo and Juliet, premiered in 1957 to enormous critical and popular acclaim. Had you visited the suburbs of Vienna at the end of the eighteenth century, you might Called East Side Story in its earliest stages, have attended a Singspiel performance at Bernstein and his collaborators originally the Theater auf der Wieden. In contrast to sketched the Montagues as Irish Catholics the elite genres of opera seria and opera and Capulets as Jews on the Lower East buffa, Singspiel was a more popular form of Side. But around that time, gang turf wars in musical theatre, sung in German (rather than major American cities became a hot topic aristocratic Italian) with spoken dialogue (ra- (think of Rebel Without a Cause, released in ther than formal sung recitative). In effect, 1955), so Tony promptly became Polish- Singspiele were the mass-appeal Broadway Irish, Maria became Puerto Rican, and the musicals of their time; entertaining and story was moved to the Upper West Side

6 QCSO Program Notes 2018-19, Masterworks III neighborhood of Lincoln Square, near Mambo (Meno Presto) where Lincoln Center stands today. ¯ Notice the intense, percussive energy of the very fast string melodies. Bern- The concert-suite Symphonic Dances from stein amplifies this urgency doubling West Side Story was released in 1961, four these figures in the piano. years after the premiere of stage musical ¯ As in On the Town, watch the brass and immediately on the heels of the much- for their wide variety of mute changes. lauded film version. (Illustrating how the mu- Cha-cha (Andantino con grazia) sical had taken the nation by storm, even the ¯ In a manner similar to that used in the Tri-City Symphony performed the suite in earlier scherzo section, Bernstein trans- 1961). As Bernstein’s orchestrator Sid Ramin forms various motives from the song pointed out, the concert version provides “Maria” to accompany the star-crossed the luxury of a very large orchestra, forces lovers’ first dance together. well beyond what would typically occupy a Meeting Scene (Meno mosso) Broadway pit. ¯ For this intimate, almost otherworldly dramatic moment, Bernstein uses solo Things to Listen for in strings combined with vibraphone. Symphonic Dances Cool Fugue (Allegretto) from West Side Story ¯ In case you haven’t noticed, Bern- Prologue (Allegro moderato) stein liked fugues. Here he transforms ¯ The piece’s opening gesture features motives from the cynical song sung to the whole orchestra in unison: a quick gang members by Tony’s friend Riff. upward perfect fourth to a long note, ¯ The sting of the muted trumpets can then a quick upward leap of a “tritone” be particularly felt during its long notes; (a jazzy, almost sinister interval slightly this, as in the Serenade, is an “augmen- larger than a perfect fourth). Many of tation” of the fugue subject. the musical’s important melodies fea- Rumble (Molto allegro) ture prominent tritones, including the ¯ All that teenage angst boils over into first interval of the ultra-famous show- actual rumble between rival gangs. stopper “Maria”. ¯ The dramatic action ends with heart- ¯ To substitute for the ballet-dancing breaking, extremely low flute solo. gangsters that would otherwise be on- Finale (Adagio) stage, all available orchestra members ¯ Listen to the long, low repeated are asked to snap their fingers in time. notes in the bass near the end; this is Somewhere (Adagio) called a “pedal tone”, and here it pro- ¯ The first statement of the musical’s vides a quiet but ominous shadow under most heart-wrenching song is entrusted the suite’s (and the musical’s) somber to none other than the solo viola, dou- conclusion. This note moves up a whole bled by harp harmonics. step in the final bars; the two notes to- Scherzo (Vivace e leggiero) gether comprise a very long, drawn-out ¯ This brief passage is a coquettish de- version of the song’s last two notes. velopment of melodic motives from “Somewhere”.

QCSO Program Notes 2018-19, Masterworks III 7