Boston Symphony Chamber Players 50th anniversary season 2013-2014 jordan hall at the new england conservatory october 13 january 12 february 9 april 6 BOSTON SYMPHONY CHAMBER PLAYERS Sunday, February 9, 2014, at Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Welcome 4 From the Players 8 Today’s Program Notes on the Program 10 Charles Martin Loeffler 12 Kati Agócs 13 Gunther Schuller 14 Hannah Lash 15 Yehudi Wyner 17 Amy Beach Artists 18 Boston Symphony Chamber Players 19 Randall Hodgkinson 19 Andris Poga 20 The Boston Symphony Chamber Players: Concert Repertoire, 1964 to Date COVER PHOTO (top) Founding members of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, 1964: (seated, left to right) Joseph Silverstein, violin; Burton Fine, viola; Jules Eskin, cello; Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flute; Ralph Gomberg, oboe; Gino Cioffi, clarinet; Sherman Walt, bassoon; (standing, left to right) Georges Moleux, double bass; Everett Firth, timpani; Roger Voisin, trumpet; William Gibson, tombone; James Stagliano, horn (BSO Archives) COVER PHOTO (bottom) The Boston Symphony Chamber Players in 2012 at Jordan Hall: (seated in front, from left): Malcolm Lowe, violin; Haldan Martinson, violin; Jules Eskin, cello; Steven Ansell, viola; (rear, from left) Elizabeth Rowe, flute; John Ferrillo, oboe; William R. Hudgins, clarinet; Richard Svoboda, bassoon; James Sommerville, horn; Edwin Barker, bass (photo by Stu Rosner) ADDITIONAL PHOTO CREDITS Individual Chamber Players portraits pages 4, 5, 6, and 7 by Tom Kates, except Elizabeth Rowe (page 6) and Richard Svoboda (page 7) by Michael J. Lutch. Boston Symphony Chamber Players photos on page 8 by Stu Rosner and on page 18 by Michael J. Lutch. Photos of Kati Agócs (page 12) by Samantha West; Gunther Schuller (page 13) by Michael J. Lutch; Hannah Lash (page 14) by Yvette D’Elia, and Yehudi Wyner (page 15) by Michael Lovett. Randall Hodgkinson photo on page 19 by Susan Wilson. Andris Poga photo on page 19 by Martins Silis. Program copyright ©2014 Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc. BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, MA 02115-4511 (617) 266-1492 bso.org 2 Welcome It is with great pride and excitement that the Boston Symphony Chamber Players welcome you to Jordan Hall as we continue our 50th Anniversary Season. Our concerts this season are designed to reflect the extraordinary diversity of programming and col- laborations that have marked the Chamber Players’ offerings for the past half-century. Today we could not be more pleased to present the world premieres of four works newly commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to celebrate our half-century of music-making. In April, for our final Jordan Hall program of 2013-14, we will play music of Milhaud and Schubert, and, as the centerpiece of that concert, the Boston premiere of Parallel Worlds, for flute and string quartet, co-commissioned by the BSO from the Grawemeyer Award-winning American composer Sebastian Currier. Throughout the season, the program books for our concerts continue to look closely at the extraordinary history of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, providing detailed information about repertoire, tours, and recordings, and drawing upon the vast variety of photographs, posters, past programs, and press clippings preserved in the Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives. Today’s program includes a list of all the repertoire pro- grammed in concerts of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players since the ensemble’s inaugural concert of November 8, 1964. It gives us enormous pleasure and satisfaction to share our music-making with such a devoted audience. We thank you for your continuing support of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and we invite you to join us not only for the remainder of this special season, but also in the years ahead. 3 From the Players... Malcolm Lowe Concertmaster Charles Munch chair, endowed in perpetuity Playing the violin in an ensemble is a very special and intimate aspect of music-making to me because of my family. My father was a violinist and my first teacher, and my mother is a singer, pianist, and violinist/violist who played the piano for hours with me when I was growing up. We would spend many winter nights on our farm in Manitoba reading music together with my uncles and cousins. Those nights were magical and are some of my best memories. They enriched my musical understanding of ensemble texture and voicing. When I joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra and became a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, I was excited to have the opportunity to play the great chamber music literature with these great musicians. The varied instrumen- tal makeup of the Chamber Players allows us to easily program chamber music beyond small ensembles, trios, and quartets, and to play great and significant chamber works— such as the Beethoven Septet, Schubert Octet, and Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat—that are frequently challenging to program because of the number of players and instrumentation involved. An added benefit of the permanent ensemble is that it allows us to perform these works many times, including on tours, with the same group, and develop a deeper relation- ship with each piece over many years. From my position as concertmaster, this chamber music playing, which includes all of the principal players, fosters a closer working relation- ship for ensemble playing within the orchestra. The existence of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players enriches a very difficult and demanding orchestral schedule. It helps maintain an individual musical perspective that impacts one’s spirit and inspiration. To be able to leave the controlled environment of con- ducted music-making allows every player to voice their ideas in the chamber rehearsal, making the time very provocative, confrontational, and focused in a way that develops and builds to a stimulating experience and better performances. Conversely, playing in a great orchestra and being influenced by many of the great musicians of the world—conductors and soloists—leads to a wealth of interpretive and practical experience that everyone brings to our chamber music. I gain much from listening to the ideas and thoughts of my colleagues. I experience moments of the humorously ridiculous and irresistible beauty in rehearsals and 4 performances. As with all worthwhile pursuits, the path is arduous, and my hope is that our audiences are inspired and spiritually uplifted at our performances. Chamber music is a great musical form to immerse oneself in and enjoy. Haldan Martinson Principal Second Violin Carl Schoenhof Family chair, endowed in perpetuity Performing with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players over the years has been a source of great pleasure as it has afforded me the special opportunity to play chamber music with my principal-player colleagues. Our concerts at Jordan Hall give us the chance to collabo- rate with each other on chamber repertoire involving a fascinating variety of small ensembles. Working “one-on-one” in this way with the BSO’s principal players, out- side the context of the orchestra, has served to further deepen my appreciation of their unsurpassed musicianship. I look forward to many more years of wonderful concerts! Steven Ansell Principal Viola Charles S. Dana chair, endowed in perpetuity The Chamber Players are not just a chamber music group and an adjunct of the BSO, they are a part of the organization that creates camaraderie both social and musical among the principals. In turn, this leads to a greater respect and mutual understanding that helps the communication and tenor of the orchestra, which inevitably has a positive effect on performance. In addition, by being able to explore many out-of-the-way places in the repertoire because of more extensive and flexible instrumentation, the Chamber Players contribute to the uncovering of little-known gems of the repertoire and also excel in commissioning new major works, a fine contribution indeed to musical life. Jules Eskin Principal Cello Philip R. Allen chair, endowed in perpetuity It’s amazing to me that I’ve been performing with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players for fifty years—and that I’m the only original member of the Chamber Players still playing in the BSO! There are so many memories it’s impossible to know where to start—the very first performances, private ones, before our official inaugural concert; the record- ings we’ve made, so many more than people realize; the incredible tours to the Soviet Union (five-and-a-half weeks in 1967), Japan, Europe, South America, and across the United States; our pianist colleagues Claude Frank, Richard Goode, and Gilbert Kalish, who traveled with us for so many performances throughout the country. And of course my BSO colleagues themselves—among them Sherman Walt, Ralph Gomberg, Gino Cioffi, James Stagliano, Harold Wright—colleagues not only in concert, but in traveling together, sometimes for weeks at a time, sharing meals, jokes, and so many unique and unforgettable experiences. I can’t begin to say how meaningful and gratifying it’s been to be part of all this for so long, and as it continues today. 5 Edwin Barker Principal Bass Harold D. Hodgkinson chair, endowed in perpetuity The musical and artistic resources of the Boston Symphony are significant, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players have acted over this last half-century as an important musical force for projecting the musical riches of the BSO on a more intimate level to audi- ences in Boston, North America, and internationally. The repertoire of the group is stimulating and varied. We perform pieces that highlight us as individual performing artists, but also show us in slightly larger ensemble settings that provide listeners with a more full-bodied “orchestral” palette of colors, while continuing to reflect a cham- ber-music sensibility. Elizabeth Rowe Principal Flute Walter Piston chair, endowed in perpetuity As the newest member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and having spent time in several other professional orchestras before joining the BSO, I have a great appreciation for how truly unusual the Boston Symphony Chamber Players are.