PROGRAM NOTES for “French Connection with Isabell Lippi” by Daniel Maki
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PROGRAM NOTES for “French Connection with Isabell Lippi” by Daniel Maki Tromba lontana by John Adams (1947- ) Duration: Approximately 4 minutes First Performance: April 4, 1986 in Houston, Texas Last ESO Performance: February, 1989; Robert Hanson, conductor Tromba lontana (The Distant Trumpet) is one of a series of fanfares commissioned by the Houston Symphony Orchestra in celebration of the sesquicentennial of the state of Texas and was first performed by that orchestra in April of 1986. Fanfares being usually rather noisy affairs, one might expect that a fanfare in honor of the entire state of Texas might be unusually so. In fact, however, this one is quiet and meditative in character, almost a kind of anti-fanfare which the composer himself described as “ slowly moving, mysterious, almost ethereal.” The scoring is for an orchestra of strings, percussion, harp, piano, and a small group of woodwind and brass instruments, which serve as a backdrop for two solo trumpets which are placed far away from the orchestra as well as from each other. Although John Adams’ enormously successful career has embraced a wide range of styles and techniques and he has said that he no longer likes to be identified as a “minimalist” composer, this fairly early work clearly contains many of the features of the minimalist style. Marked by a consistently steady pulse and the systematic repetition of simple melodic and rhythmic figures, this style contributes greatly to the ethereal quality of the music. Although most fanfares with their forceful statements seem to suggest little doubt about anything , this one ends quietly and enigmatically, leaving questions unanswered. * * * Poème for Violin and Orchestra, op.25 by Ernest Chausson (1855 -1899) Duration: Approximately 16 minutes First Performance: December 27, 1896 in Nancy, France Last ESO Performance: These are the first ESO performances of the work Until his untimely death in a bicycle accident at the age of 44, Ernest Chausson had lived a remarkably fortunate life. He was born into a wealthy bourgeois family that had profited greatly from the ambitious new undertakings of France’s Second Empire. His father earned a substantial fortune as a building contractor working for Baron Haussman in his plan to redesign Paris as the most beautiful city in the world. Chausson’s privileged and rather sheltered upbringing gave him ample opportunity to explore his artistic interests, which, in addition to music , included both literature and the visual arts. Like many artistic young people before and since, in order to please his elders Chausson pursued a practical education, studying law and ultimately receiving an appointment as a barrister at the court of appeals in Paris. Having fulfilled his family’s wishes, however, he abruptly gave up his legal career and at the age of 24 enrolled at the Conservatoire in Paris, where he would learn from two of France’s leading composers, Jules Massenet and César Franck. Chausson’s good fortune followed him into a happy marriage that produced five children. Also fortunate was the opportunity to be in the midst of the amazingly rich artistic life in late nineteenth century Paris. The Chausson household would become renowned for its salons , which were frequented by the most important artists and intellectuals of the time. To drop just a few of the most exalted names, one might mention artists such as Manet, Degas, and Rodin, writers such as Mallarmè, Gide, and Colette, and composers such as Franck, Faurè, Dukas, Chabrier, and Debussy. Despite such important contacts, Chausson was not good at self promotion, and it took many years before this gentle, generous, and humble man began to achieve the recognition that he deserved. His career was just beginning to blossom when it was cut off by the tragic accident. Incidentally, there is a small park, called the Square Ernest Chausson , in his memory in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. Chausson’s brief career produced works in a number of genres, including opera, art song, religious music, chamber music, and symphony. His best known work, however, is the hauntingly beautiful Poème for Violin and Orchestra, which has occupied a special place in the violin repertoire since its premiere in 1896. That premiere was given by the man to whom the work was dedicated, the legendary Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe, who was a close friend of the composer and another frequent visitor at his home. Considered by many to be the greatest violinist of his time as well as a fine composer himself, Ysaÿe inspired a number of composers to write for his famously grand, romantic style of playing. The Poème was originally titled Le Chant de l’amour triumphant (The song of Love Triumphant), after a story by Ivan Turgenev, another distinguished friend of the composer as well as one of his favorite authors. Set in 16th century Italy, the novella is the story of a love triangle between a beautiful young woman and her two suitors, one a painter and the other a musician. When the woman chooses the painter as a husband, the devastated musician journeys to Asia to forge a new existence. He eventually returns as a fascinatingly different person, bringing with him an Asian, three stringed violin and exotic melodies which win back the heart of his beloved. Although attempts have been made to read the story directly into the music, Chausson made it quite clear that the story functions only as a kind of atmospheric background and that the work should be heard as pure music. The poetry begins with an atmospheric introduction in low strings and winds. The deliberate omission of orchestral violins prepares the dramatic entry of the soloist, playing all alone the melancholy theme which dominates the entire work. After the orchestra states the theme again, we hear a violin cadenza, which, incidentally, features double stops which were suggested by Ysaÿe himself. Although one might expect a highly expressive, one movement composition from the high romantic period to be in free form, and many program annotators have called it a free form work, Chausson has very carefully structured the work in nearly classical fashion. The theme just mentioned returns twice, once in the middle of the work and once at the end, creating a kind of arch form. In between those sections is heard other thematic material in faster tempos. The harmonic language of the Poème is the advanced, highly chromatic style that Wagner had established and which Chausson’s teacher César Franck had absorbed , the language which according to the thinking of the time could most eloquently express the depths of the human soul. The magical effect of the Poème combines the power of Wagnerian harmony with French sensuousness and a beguiling exoticism. It is also, of course, a remarkable testament to the amazing expressive power of the violin, that remarkably versatile instrument which has touched so many different cultures. * * * Rêverie et Caprice, op.8 by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Duration: Approximately 11 minutes First Performance: February 1, 1842 in Paris Last ESO Performance: These are the first ESO performances of the work Recycling seems to be a sensible practice in many areas of human activity and has certainly been so in music. From time immemorial composers have cheerfully stolen from other composers as well as from themselves. Hector Berlioz’s only composition for solo violin aptly illustrates the point. Rêverie et Caprice was originally written as an aria for the 1838 premiere of his opera Benvenuto Cellini, which, just for the record, proved to be a resounding flop. As it happened, the soprano who was to sing the aria found reasons, as sopranos sometimes do, to be displeased with it and a new one had to be quickly supplied. Never one to waste good material, Berlioz later rearranged the original for violin and in that form it was premiered in 1842 by the young Delphin Alard, who would go on to become one of France’s leading violinists and teachers. Although the leading Berlioz scholars have not been particularly kind to this work, it undeniably has its own charms and has over time been played by many leading violinists. As the title implies, there are two primary moods, the first being dreamy and in slower tempo, and the second, in quicker tempo with unpredictable rhythms, capricious. Slight though it may seem, this elegant little work with its sudden changes of key, tempo, and mood, beautifully illustrates the new Romanticism which , barely a decade after the death of Beethoven, transformed the language of music. * * * Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 43 By Jean Sibelius (1865 -1957) Duration: Approximately 43 minutes First Performance: March 8, 1902 in Helsinki Last ESO Performance: February, 2003; Robert Hanson, conductor It has been said that Finland is perhaps the only country in the world whose single best known citizen is a musician. Whether or not that is literally true, there is no doubt that Jean Sibelius , to an extraordinary degree for a musician, became a symbol of his nation and an embodiment of an entire culture. His death at the age of 92 in 1957 was mourned by the entire nation in a way usually reserved for statesmen, and until Finland adopted the Euro, his picture was on the 100 markka bill. As someone who grew up in Finnish speaking communities in this country, this writer can attest to the fact that the name of Sibelius has been treated by ordinary Finns with a reverence surpassed only by Jesus of Nazareth. The composer’s continuing profound effect on the musical life of his country is symbolized by the fact that the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, one of Europe’s leading music schools, continues to produce musicians of international stature at a rate disproportionate to Finland’s small population.