sign in sign up
<<
Home , Arnold Jacobs, Chic Lady, Concerto in F (Gershwin), Sinfonia antartica, Tuba Concerto (Higdon), War Music (composition)

Program

One HundRed TWenTy-FiRST SeASOn riccardo muti Music director Pierre Boulez Helen Regenstein Conductor emeritus Yo-Yo ma Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant Global Sponsor of the CSO

Tuesday, May 15, 2012, at 1:30 Thursday, May 17, 2012, at 8:00

Jaap van Zweden Conductor gene Pokorny Shostakovich Chamber Symphony for Strings in C Minor, Op. 110a Largo— Allegro molto— Allegretto— Largo— Largo Vaughan Williams Tuba Prelude: Allegro moderato Romanza: Andante sostenuto Finale (Rondo all tedesca): Allegro Gene POkORny

IntermISSIon

Beethoven Symphony no. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 Poco sostenuto—Vivace Allegretto Presto Allegro con brio

This evening’s concert is generously sponsored in part by the Audrey Love Charitable Foundation.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 6:30 (Afterwork Masterworks, performed with no intermission)

Jaap van Zweden Conductor gene Pokorny Tuba Shostakovich Chamber Symphony for Strings in C Minor, Op. 110a Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto in F Minor Beethoven Symphony no. 7 in A Major, Op. 92

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is grateful to WBBM Newsradio 780 and 105.9 FM for its generous support as the media sponsor for the Afterwork Masterworks series.

This program is partially supported by grants from the Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts. CommentS by PHiLLiP HuSCHeR

Dmitri Shostakovich Born September 25, 1906, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Died August 9, 1975, Moscow, Russia.

Chamber Symphony for Strings in C minor, op. 110a

n the summer of 1960, in just three days, is his Eighth, IShostakovich went to Dresden to and it is one of the most powerful write the score for a new film by the and personal works of twentieth- director Lev Arnshtam. Five Days, century art—a score that, behind Five Nights tells the story of eight its dark and troubled façade, is Soviet soldiers who are charged unmistakably autobiographical—a with tracking down the priceless true measure of life. Dresden art treasures stolen by the Publicly, Shostakovich said the Nazis under orders from Goebbels. quartet was inspired by the sight of The film, Arnshtam later told Dresden—“He walked among the The New York Times, focuses on a ruins of Dresden, shaken by the German painter, wounded during scenes of devastation,” Arnshtam combat, “who feels that art should remembered—and that he decided depict suffering and therefore a to dedicate the score to “the memory measure of life.” of the victims of fascism and war,” “Everything there was very a line that ran atop the published well set up for me to work,” score. But his letter to Glikman tells Shostakovich wrote to his lifelong another side of the story: friend, the Leningrad literary critic Isaak Glikman, as soon I’ve been thinking that when as he returned from Dresden. I die, it’s hardly likely that “Conditions for composing were anybody will ever write a work ideal . . . . However, try as I might dedicated to my memory. I was unable to compose the film So I have decided to write music, even in rough. And instead one myself. The dedication I wrote a quartet that’s of no use could be printed on the cover: to anybody and full of ideologi- “Dedicated to the memory of cal flaws.” The quartet, composed the composer of this quartet.”

ComPoSeD onlY PreVIouS CSo InStrumentatIon 1960, as String Quartet PerformanCeS strings no. 8. Arrangement for March 6-8, 2008, Orchestra string orchestra by Rudolf Hall. Sir John eliot aPProxImate barshai and approved Gardiner conducting PerformanCe tIme by Shostakovich 22 minutes

2 The autobiographical nature of The first movement, a mea- the music was hardly secret, for, as sured elegy, is a fugato based Shostakovich told Glikman, the entirely on the four-note motif of main theme of the quartet, boldly Shostakovich’s musical monogram, stated in the opening measures interrupted by fragments of his and woven into nearly every page First Symphony. The brutal force of of the score, consists of his initials, the second movement—it inter- D, S, C, H [see sidebar, below]. rupts the opening Largo without Anyone who knew Shostakovich’s warning—recalls the composer’s catalog would also recognize, famous war music, particularly that scattered throughout the quartet, of the Eighth Symphony, and con- quotations from his other works, cludes with the great surging theme including his First Symphony, his from one of his most celebrated breakaway composition written works, the Second Trio. The thirty-five years earlier; the opera middle movement is a sour waltz, a Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, which kind of dance of death. The fourth had famously invoked Stalin’s is an amazing collage—the opening fury in 1936; and the First Cello chords, like gunshots, recalling the Concerto, composed for Mstislav grand, slashing chords of Siegfried’s Rostropovich just one year before funeral march; a haunting melody the quartet. sung by Katerina in Lady Macbeth of “The pseudo-tragic side of this Mtsensk; hints of the Dies irae chant quartet,” Shostakovich wrote to for the dead; a popular Russian folk Glikman, “is so powerful that when dirge, “Tormented by Grievous I was writing it, tears flowed as Bondage,” which ends, pointedly, freely as water passed after a few with Shostakovich’s own initials beers. Since coming home, I’ve lightly etched in the music. The last tried to play it through twice, but movement, slow and desolate yet again the tears started flowing.” filled with intimate asides, is too Written as five connected move- numb even for recollection—there ments, the quartet as a whole is a are no quotations here, just the hol- kind of lament. low sound of inconsolable sorrow.

ShoStakoVICh’S muSICal monogram in several compositions, of 1948, transliteration of the beginning with the First Shostakovich spells out composer’s own name, his initials d. SCHostakowitsch. in in musical German notation, e-flat is notation. called “es” and b-natural is This four- H. Thus, dSCH is d, e-flat, C, note motif b. The tradition for this kind is derived of musical signature dates from the back at least to the time German of bach.

3 The entire quartet has the years after that summer, the Eighth sense of a confession, or, perhaps, String Quartet was performed to more appropriately, a requiem. honor the memory of the com- According to Shostakovich’s friend poser, as Shostakovich himself had Lev Lebedinsky, the composer prophesied. “It was his farewell to was so distraught after he returned life,” Lebedinsky said later. from Dresden with the finished In the Suite on Verses of quartet in his luggage that he Michelangelo Buonarroti, com- bought a bottle of sleeping pills, pleted shortly before his death, talked about suicide, and spoke Shostakovich set these words by the of the score as his last work. sixteenth-century artist: (Lebedinsky removed the pills and gave them to the composer’s I am as though dead son Maxim.) After a few days, his But as a comfort to the world spirits lifted; he eventually returned With thousands of souls, to the routines of his daily life— I live on and to writing music, including In the hearts of all the incidental music for Five Days, loving people. Five Nights. That means I am not dust, The day of Shostakovich’s Mortal decay does not funeral, in August 1975, fifteen touch me.

4 Born October 12, 1872, Gloucestershire, . Died August 26, 1958, London, England.

tuba Concerto

rom the beginning of his enhanced his understanding of Fcareer, in the first years of the color and sonority, only served to twentieth century, Ralph Vaughan sharpen his own individual style Williams was seen as a composer and to ground him more firmly in rooted in the past. His first signifi- the sensibilities of his musical heri- cant large-scale work, the Fantasia tage. (Years later, Ravel would call on a Theme of Thomas Tallis com- him “the only one of my pupils who posed in 1910, is indebted to the does not write my music.”) In fact, music of his sixteenth-century pre- Vaughan Williams was one of the decessor and to the great English first composers of the new century tradition. His entire upbringing who managed to forge a strong was steeped in tradition—he personal style almost exclusively was related both to the pottery from the materials of the past. “My Wedgwoods and Charles Darwin. advice to young composers,” he (“The Bible says that God made the wrote, “is learn your own language world in six days,” his mother told first, find out your own traditions, him. “Great Uncle Charles thinks it discover what you want to do.” took longer: but we need not worry Despite his reputation as a about it, for it is equally wonderful traditionalist, in the last decade of either way.”) He became a serious his life Vaughan William showed student of English folk song and a great interest in unusual instru- edited . ments and sonorities, and in shin- Even the experience of studying ing the spotlight on instruments with Ravel in 1908, which clearly not known for their solo roles. In

ComPoSeD moSt reCent aPProxImate 1953–54 CSo PerformanCe PerformanCe tIme december 11, 1978 (Special 12 minutes fIrSt PerformanCe concert) Orchestra Hall. June 13, 1954, London, Arnold Jacobs, tuba; Henry CSo reCorDIngS england Mazer conducting 1977. Arnold Jacobs, tuba; conduct- fIrSt CSo InStrumentatIon ing. deutsche Grammophon PerformanCe solo tuba, two and A 1978 performance with January 27, 1968 (Popular piccolo, , two , Arnold Jacobs, tuba, and concert), Orchestra Hall. , two horns, two Henry Mazer conducting Arnold Jacobs, tuba; Morton , two , is included on From the Gould conducting , percussion, strings Archives, vol. 2.

5 1951, he composed a Romance The Rite of Spring, The Planets, and for harmonica, strings, and piano, Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. for the harmonica virtuoso Larry Vaughan Williams himself had Adler. A and wind worked a tuba solo into the scherzo figure prominently in of his F minor symphony in the the Sinfonia antartica of 1953. In 1930s. But no major composer had his Eighth Symphony, finished in put it center stage in a concerto- 1956, he wrote an important part like setting. for vibraphone, and his final Ninth Written in the three conventional Symphony includes a movements of concerto tradition, and three saxophones. He treated and comfortably anchored in the these instruments not as novelties key of F minor, Vaughan Williams’s but as sources of unexplored expres- score is, nonetheless, a pioneering sive and technical potential. work—not just the first important The idea of writing a concerto tuba concerto, but, above all, a for bass tuba was not Vaughan piece that demands unprecedented Williams’s, but came as a request virtuosity and expression from from Philip Catelinet, the principal this unlikely solo instrument. At tuba of the London Symphony the age of eighty-two, Vaughan Orchestra—the orchestra the com- Williams proved himself a true poser himself had conducted in the explorer. He seemed determined to premiere of his first great success, show sides of this grand instrument the Thomas Tallis Fantasy, in 1910. that music lovers were not used to The new concerto was intended hearing, realizing that, despite its to honor the orchestra’s fiftieth cumbersome appearance, the tuba anniversary celebration. Vaughan actually is an instrument capable Williams immediately embraced of surprising agility (the the idea and began a serious study at the end of the first movement of an instrument for which he had includes highly florid writing, so often written without thinking enormous leaps, and wide dynamic of its complete soloistic possibilities. shifts through the tuba’s full range), He began the concerto shortly after and also that it is capable of warm, finishing an arrangement of the poetic lyrical playing (the second Old Hundredth psalm tune that movement Romanza is a lovely, was performed for the coronation of expansive aria). Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Vaughan Williams and Catelinet Abbey in June of 1953. were in frequent contact through- At that time, the tuba (a regular out the composition of the score. member of symphony for This is one of the great collab- scarcely a century), had been given orative (following the prominent cameo roles in several tradition of Joachim and Brahms major works, including Wagner’s working closely on the latter’s Ring cycle, Ravel’s of Violin Concerto), in the sense of Pictures from an Exhibition, several a composer wanting to push the tone poems by Richard Strauss, boundaries of the instrument but

6 needing at the same time to know “It appeared to me, in that hall, what was, in fact, playable, and that I gave out a sound similar to what was not. The premiere in the that of a sick cow,” he later wrote Royal Festival Hall in London, in his article, “The Truth about the with Catelinet as the soloist and Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto.” Sir conducting, was Many works showcasing the a triumph, although Catelinet’s tuba have been written since, but own self-effacing appraisal of his Vaughan Williams’s brilliant score playing would suggest otherwise: remains the tuba concerto.

Symphony Center Information

The use of still or video cameras Please turn off or silence all and recording devices is prohibited personal electronic devices in Orchestra Hall. (pagers, watches, telephones, digital assistants). Latecomers will be seated during designated program pauses. Please note that symphony Center PLease nOTe: some programs is a smoke-free environment. do not allow for latecomers to be seated in the hall. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. Please use perfume, cologne, and all other scented products sparingly, as many patrons are sensitive to fragrance.

Note: Fire exits are located on all levels and are for emergency use only. The lighted exit sign nearest your seat is the shortest route outdoors. Please walk—do not run—to your exit and do not use elevators for emergency exit. Volunteer ushers provided by The Saints—Volunteers for the Performing Arts (www.saintschicago.org)

7 ludwig van Beethoven Born December 16, 1770, Bonn, Germany. Died March 26, 1827, Vienna, Austria.

Symphony no. 7 in a major, op. 92

ere is what Goethe wrote after stepped aside, tipping his hat and Hhe first met Beethoven during bowing deeply; Beethoven, indif- the summer of 1812: ferent to mere nobility, walked on. This was a characteristic Beethoven His talent amazed me; gesture: defiant, individual, unfortunately, he is an utterly strongly humanitarian, intolerant of untamed personality, who is hypocrisy—and many listeners find not altogether in the wrong its essence reflected in his music. in holding the world to be But before confusing the myth with detestable, but surely does not the man, consider that, throughout make it any the more enjoyable his life, Beethoven clung to the either for himself or for others “van” in his name because it was so by his attitude. easily confused with “von” and its suggestion of lofty bloodlines. We’re told that the two men Without question, Beethoven’s walked together through the contemporaries thought him a streets of Teplitz, where Beethoven complicated man, perhaps even had gone for the summer, and the utterly untamed personality exchanged cordial words. When Goethe found him. He was a true royalty approached, Goethe eccentric, who adored the elevated

ComPoSeD moSt reCent CSo A 1954 performance (for 1811–April 13, 1812 SuBSCrIPtIon ConCert television) conducted by Fritz PerformanCe Reiner was released by VAi, fIrSt PerformanCe June 15, 2010, and a 1979 performance december 8, 1813, Vienna. Orchestra Hall. bernard conducted by János The composer conducting Haitink conducting Ferencsik is included on Chicago Symphony Orchestra fIrSt CSo CSo reCorDIngS in the Twentieth Century: PerformanCe 1955. Collector’s Choice. november 28, conducting. RCA 1892, Auditorium InStrumentatIon 1971. Carlo Maria Giulini Theatre. Theodore two flutes, two , two conducting. Angel Thomas conducting clarinets, two , 1974. Sir Georg Solti two horns, two trumpets, conducting. London timpani, strings 1988. Sir Georg Solti aPProxImate conducting. London PerformanCe tIme 36 minutes

8 term Tondichter (poet in sound) and Beethoven had finished the A major refused to correct a rumor that he symphony three months earlier— was the illegitimate son of the king envisioning a premiere for that of Prussia, but looked like a home- spring that did not materialize— less person (his outfit once caused but the first performance would not his arrest for vagrancy). There were take place for another year and a other curious contradictions: he was half, on December 8, 1813. disciplined and methodical—like That night in Vienna gave the many a modern-day concertgoer, rest of the nineteenth century he would rise early and make coffee plenty to talk about. No other by grinding a precise number of symphony of Beethoven’s so openly coffee beans—but lived in a squalor invited interpretation—not even his he alone could tolerate. Certainly Sixth, the self-proclaimed Pastoral modern scholarship, as it chips Symphony, with its bird calls, away at the myth, finds him ever thunderstorm, and frank evocation more complex. of something beyond mere eighth We don’t know what Goethe notes and bar lines. To Richard truly thought of his music, and Wagner, Beethoven’s Seventh perhaps that’s just as well, for Symphony was “the apotheosis of Goethe’s musical taste was less advanced than we might hope (he later admitted he thought little of Schubert’s songs). The general perception of Beethoven’s music in 1812 was that it was every bit as difficult and unconventional as the man himself—even, perhaps, to most ears, utterly untamed. This is our greatest loss today. For Beethoven’s widespread familiarity—of a dimension known to no other composer—has blinded us not only to his vision (so far ahead of his time that he was The Incident at Teplitz. Goethe bows to passing royalty, while Beethoven walks on. thought out of fashion in his last years), but to the uncompromis- ing and disturbing nature of the the dance.” Berlioz heard a ronde music itself. des paysans in the first movement. His Seventh Symphony is so (Choreographers in our own time well known to us today that we have proven that this music is not, can’t imagine a time that knew however, easily danceable.) And Beethoven, but not this glorious there were other readings as well, work. But that was the case when most of them finding peasant the poet and the composer walked festivities and bacchic orgies where together in Teplitz in July 1812. Beethoven wrote, simply, vivace.

9 The true significance of entire movement. The development Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony section brings new explorations of is to be found in the notes on the C and F, and the coda is launched page—in his distinctive use of by a spectacular, long-sustained rhythm and pioneering sense of crescendo that is said to have con- key relationships. By the time it’s vinced Weber that Beethoven was over, we can no longer hear the “ripe for the madhouse.” ordinary rhythm of a dotted eighth The Allegretto is as famous as any note followed by a sixteenth note music Beethoven wrote, and it was a in the same way again, and—even success from the first performance, if we have no technical terms to when a repeat was demanded. At explain it—we sense that our basic the indicated tempo, it is hardly a understanding of harmony has been slow movement, but it is sufficiently turned upside down. slower than the music that precedes Take Beethoven’s magnificent it to provide a feeling of relaxation. introduction, of unprecedented size By designing the Allegretto in and ambitious intentions. He begins A minor, Beethoven has moved one decisively in A major, but at the first step closer to F major; he now dares opportunity moves away—not to to write the next movement in that the dominant (E major) as histori- unauthorized, but by now familiar, cal practice and textbooks recom- key. And he can’t resist rubbing it mended, but to the unlikely regions in a bit, by treating A major, when of C major and F major. Beethoven it arrives on the scene, not as the makes it clear that he won’t be lim- main key of the symphony, but as ited to the seven degrees of the A a visitor in a new world. We don’t major scale (which contains neither need a course in harmony to recog- C- nor F-natural) in planning his nize that Beethoven has taken us harmonic itinerary. We will hear through the looking glass, and that more from both keys, and by the everything is turned on its head. time he’s done, Beethoven will have To get back where we belong, convinced us not only that C and F Beethoven simply shatters the glass sound comfortably at home in an A with the two fortissimo chords major symphony, but that A major that open the finale and ushers us can be made to seem like the visitor! into a triumphant fury of music so But that comes later in his scheme. adamantly in A major that we for- First we move from the spacious get any past harmonic digressions. vistas of the introduction into the When C and F major return—as joyous song of the Vivace. Getting they were destined to do—in the there is a challenge Beethoven development section, they sound relishes, and many a music lover every bit as remote as they did has marveled at his passage of in the symphony’s introduction, transition, in which stagnant, and we sense that we have come repeated E’s suddenly catch fire full circle. with the dancing dotted rhythm Phillip Huscher is the program annota- © 2012 Chicago Symphony Orchestra © 2012 Chicago that will carry us through the tor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

10