27 Season 2013-2014

Thursday, November 14, at 8:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Friday, November 15, at 2:00 Saturday, November 16, Manfred Honeck Conductor at 8:00 Christian Tetzlaff Violin

Strauss Overture to Die Fledermaus

Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 I. Allegro aperto II. Adagio III. Rondeau: Tempo di menuetto

Intermission

Dvorˇák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 (“From the New World”) I. Adagio—Allegro molto II. Largo III. Scherzo: Molto vivace IV. Allegro con fuoco—Meno mosso e maestoso— Un poco meno mosso—Allegro con fuoco

This program runs approximately 1 hour, 50 minutes.

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. 228 Story Title The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin

The Philadelphia Orchestra community itself. His concerts to perform in China, in 1973 is one of the preeminent of diverse repertoire attract at the request of President orchestras in the world, sold-out houses, and he has Nixon, today The Philadelphia renowned for its distinctive established a regular forum Orchestra boasts a new sound, desired for its for connecting with concert- partnership with the National keen ability to capture the goers through Post-Concert Centre for the Performing hearts and imaginations of Conversations. Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra audiences, and admired for annually performs at Under Yannick’s leadership a legacy of innovation in while also the Orchestra returns to music-making. The Orchestra enjoying annual residencies in recording with a newly- is inspiring the future and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and at released CD on the Deutsche transforming its rich tradition the Bravo! Vail festival. Grammophon label of of achievement, sustaining Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring Musician-led initiatives, the highest level of artistic and including highly-successful quality, but also challenging transcriptions. In Yannick’s Cello and Violin Play-Ins, and exceeding that level, by inaugural season the shine a spotlight on the creating powerful musical Orchestra has also returned Orchestra’s musicians, as experiences for audiences at to the radio airwaves, with they spread out from the home and around the world. weekly Sunday afternoon stage into the community. Music Director Yannick broadcasts on WRTI-FM. The Orchestra’s commitment Nézet-Séguin triumphantly to its education and Philadelphia is home and opened his inaugural community partnership the Orchestra nurtures an season as the eighth artistic initiatives manifests itself important relationship not leader of the Orchestra in numerous other ways, only with patrons who support in fall 2012. His highly including concerts for families the main season at the collaborative style, deeply- and students, and eZseatU, Kimmel Center but also those rooted musical curiosity, a program that allows full- who enjoy the Orchestra’s and boundless enthusiasm, time college students to other area performances paired with a fresh approach attend an unlimited number at the Mann Center, Penn’s to orchestral programming, of Orchestra concerts for Landing, and other venues. have been heralded by a $25 annual membership The Orchestra is also a global critics and audiences alike. fee. For more information on ambassador for Philadelphia Yannick has been embraced The Philadelphia Orchestra, and for the U.S. Having been by the musicians of the please visit www.philorch.org. the first American orchestra Orchestra, audiences, and the 8 Music Director

Nigel Parry/CPi Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra 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 Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton “the ensemble … has never sounded better.” In his first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His second builds on that momentum with highlights that include a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three leading composers have been commissioned to write solo works for three of the Orchestra’s principal players; the next installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré’s Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of Strauss’s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production with Opera Philadelphia.

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. In addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music’s fellows program in the fall of 2013. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on that label of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin; the London Philharmonic 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, awarded by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor. 29 Conductor

Felix Broede Manfred Honeck has served as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony since 2008 and has twice extended his contract, which now runs until the end of the 2019-20 season. He has served as music director of the Swedish Radio Symphony in Stockholm (2000- 06) and the Staatsoper Stuttgart (2007-11), and as principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic (2008-11), a position he resumes this season for another three years. As a guest conductor he has worked with leading international orchestras including the London and Bavarian Radio symphonies; the Deutsches Symphonie- Orchester ; the Royal Concertgebouw and Gewandhaus orchestras; the Dresden Staatskapelle; the Orchestre de Paris; the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome; and the Philharmonic. In the U.S. he has conducted the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics; the Chicago and Boston symphonies; and the . These current concerts mark his Philadelphia Orchestra debut. Other highlights of Mr. Honeck’s 2013-14 season include return engagements in Bamberg, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Rome. In February 2013 he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, which resulted in a recording with violinst Anne-Sophie Mutter of works by Dvorˇák for Deutsche Grammophon. With the Pittsburgh Symphony he has recorded Mahler’s Symphony Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 5; Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5; and Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben for the Japanese label Exton. Mr. Honeck and the Symphony have also undertaken regular successful tours, mostly recently performing in Grafenegg, Berlin, Bucharest, Paris, Düsseldorf, , Lucerne, and Bonn. Born in Austria, Mr. Honeck received his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. Many years of experience as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, and at the helm of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra, have given his conducting a distinctive stamp. He began his career as assistant to Claudio Abbado in Vienna and was subsequently engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was bestowed the prestigious European Conductor’s Award in 1993. He has also been artistic director of the International Wolfegg Concerts in Germany for more than 15 years. 30 Soloist

Giorgia Bertazzi Violinist Christian Tetzlaff made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1993 and is making his sixth subscription appearance with the ensemble at these concerts. In demand as a soloist with most of the world’s leading orchestras, he has also appeared with the Vienna, Berlin, Rotterdam, New York, and Los Angeles philharmonics; the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Toronto, London, and Bavarian Radio symphonies; and the Cleveland and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras. In addition to these current performances, highlights of Mr. Tetzlaff’s 2013-14 season include return visits to the Vienna and Munich philharmonics; tours with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra under Andris Nelsons; recitals with pianist in Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Montreal, Quebec City, and at the Schubert Club in St. Paul; and two appearances at Carnegie Hall. Born in in 1966, Mr. Tetzlaff began playing the violin and piano at the age of six but did not begin intensive study of the violin until making his concert debut playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto at the age of 14. Since then he has performed and recorded a broad spectrum of the repertoire, ranging from Bach’s unaccompanied sonatas and 19th-century masterworks by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Brahms to 20th-century concertos by Bartók, Berg, and Shostakovich and world premieres of contemporary works. A dedicated chamber musician, Mr. Tetzlaff frequently collaborates with other artists, including the Tetzlaff Quartet, which he founded in 1994 with violinist Elisabeth Kufferath, violist Hanna Weinmeister, and his sister, cellist . Mr. Tetzlaff’s latest recordings include Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Vienna Philharmonic led by for Deutsche Grammophon; the Schumann and Mendelssohn concertos with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and Paavo Järvi for Edel Classics; Jorg Widmann’s Violin Concerto, written for Mr. Tetzlaff, with the Swedish Radio Symphony and Daniel Harding for Ondine; and Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1 and Sibelius’s Op. 56 String Quartet with the Tetzlaff Quartet on the AVI label. Mr. Tetzlaff currently performs on a violin modeled after a Guarneri del Gesù made by the German violinmaker Peter Greiner. 31 Framing the Program

The program today features three works that demonstrate Parallel Events how composers often find inspiration in music from 1775 Music foreign lands and succeed in making other musical styles Mozart Haydn their own. Violin Concerto Symphony No. No. 5 58 Following in the footsteps of his illustrious father, Johann Literature Strauss Jr. emerged as an enormously popular composer Beaumarchais of Viennese dance music that captivated international The Barber of audiences. He decided in the early 1870s to expand his Seville horizons by writing musical theater and took as a principal Art model Jacques Offenbach’s French operettas. With Reynolds Die Fledermaus (The Bat) Strauss did for Vienna what Miss Bowles Offenbach had done for Paris: create musical champagne. History The sparkling Overture previews some of the best Paul Revere’s moments in the piece. Ride When it came to writing concertos Mozart won his 1874 Music greatest acclaim for the many ones he wrote for piano, Strauss Musorgsky pieces that provided ample opportunities to display Overture to Pictures from an his compositional and performing gifts. He also wrote Die Fledermaus Exhibition a handful of concertos for violin, which was another Literature instrument he played with virtuoso flair. His last Violin Hugo Concerto, written at age 19, is known as the “Turkish” Ninety-Three because the final movement has a long middle section in Art the so-called Turkish style. Degas The Dancing In 1892 a visionary American music patron named Lesson Jeannette Thurber enticed Antonín Dvorˇák to move History to New York to direct a conservatory she had just First American founded. In addition she hoped he would make a lasting zoo est. in contribution to the enhancement of musical life here Philadelphia through his own compositions. Dvorˇák’s great Ninth Symphony, “From the New World,” was immediately hailed 1893 Music Dvorˇák Sibelius as a masterpiece upon its premiere at Carnegie Hall in Symphony Karelia Suite December 1893. Part of the inspiration for the Symphony No. 9 Literature came from his encounter with African-American spirituals Wilde and with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Song A Woman of No of Hiawatha. Importance Art Munch Scream History Ford builds his first car 32 The Music Overture to Die Fledermaus

When Johann Strauss Jr.’s stepdaughter once asked Brahms for an autograph, the illustrious composer wrote out the opening measures of the “Blue Danube” Waltz and signed it “Alas, not by Johannes Brahms.” The incident suggests that Strauss’s enormous fame and success may even have evoked some little envy from his friend Brahms, and more importantly that the brilliance, appeal, and spirit of his music could win the genuine admiration of such a prominent composer. It would be difficult to overstate how popular and influential Strauss became in Johann Strauss, Jr. the late 19th century. He was hailed as “The Waltz King,” Born in Vienna, October 25, as the composer who virtually apotheosized the waltz into 1825 something more resembling a concept than a dance, in Died there, June 3, 1899 the process becoming the very personification of Vienna. The Golden Age of Viennese Operetta The legendary Strauss dynasty began in the 1820s with Johann Strauss (1804-49), whose three sons—Johann Jr., Josef, and Eduard—perpetuated the family business. Johann Junior led Vienna’s foremost dance orchestras and expanded the franchise with prominent appearances in cities abroad, including Paris, London, Berlin, Boston, and New York. After composing hundreds of dances of all varieties he started in the early 1870s to write operettas for the Theater an der Wien. His third, Die Fledermaus (The Bat), proved a smash hit in 1874. Little wonder: The plot centers around a masked ball, hence a golden opportunity for dances of all kinds, as well as for sparkling arias, choruses, and a brilliant overture. Light musical theater of different sorts dated back for centuries. The most successful in the mid-19th century originated in Paris with the phenomenally popular operettas of Jacques Offenbach. His irresistible confections spread across Europe, captivating Vienna in the process, and other composers began to take note. Franz von Suppé led in Central Europe, paving the way in certain respects for Strauss and the “Golden Age” of Viennese operetta. (The “Silver Age,” at the turn of the century, included figures such as Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán, Oscar Straus, and Leo Fall.) From Paris to Vienna Strauss’s Fledermaus transplants Offenbach’s Parisian magic to Vienna in a work that has 33

Die Fledermaus was come to define the popular image of the city with its composed in 1874. waltzes, champagne, masked balls, and political intrigues. Eugene Ormandy was on the Strauss based the libretto on one by Offenbach’s own podium for the first Philadelphia creative team, Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, using Orchestra performance of a German adaption of their light comedy Le Réveillon (a the Overture, in November midnight dinner party). As Egon Gartenberg has observed: 1933. The most recent Strauss’s operetta “had enough esprit de Français left appearance of the work on in it to bubble, but the music was wholly, unmistakably subscription performances was Viennese.” in November 1994, with Franz Welser-Möst. Fledermaus proved an immediate triumph and has never ceased to be so. Its success proved easily exportable The Orchestra has recorded and Strauss particularly savored the welcome reception the Fledermaus Overture three in Paris. It is said that while attending a performance of times, all with Ormandy: in a new Offenbach operetta Strauss turned to his wife and 1947 and 1952 for CBS, and in 1974 for RCA. whispered “Fledermaus.” (He later perceived his influence on the music of the flower maidens in the second act The score calls for two flutes (II of Wagner’s Parsifal.) Brahms was not the only fervent doubling piccolo), two oboes, Strauss admirer; and two clarinets, two bassoons, conducted revivals of Fledermaus in Vienna and both paid four horns, two trumpets, three compositional homage to the Waltz King’s music in their trombones, timpani, percussion own pieces. (bass drum, orchestra bells, snare drum, triangle), and A Closer Look The operetta centers around the strings. entanglements of a rich husband (Eisenstein) and wife Performance time is (Rosalinde), who each pursue romantic trysts on the night approximately nine minutes. of a masked ball given by the Russian Prince Orlofsky. Their maid, Adele, gets into the act as well and no one is sure who is who once the masks are put on. Mistaken identities land Alfred, Rosalinde’s singing teacher (and lover), in prison when he is thought to be Eisenstein, who is himself taken off there in the final act. Ultimately it all gets sorted out as everything is blamed on the champagne, the “King of all Wines.” As with many operetta overtures, that for Fledermaus offers a sampling of some of the best parts of the piece, a potpourri. After a lively and loud opening that gets everyone’s attention come the previews of coming attractions, including the striking of six chimes indicating that dawn arrived and music associated with the prison scene near the end of the opera when Eisenstein reveals his identity. We also hear a drinking-song (praising champagne, of course), the so-called Fledermaus Waltz from the second-act masked ball, and the famous “Csárdás” that Rosalinde sings at the ball in her disguise as a Hungarian countess. The piece bubbles along until its sparkling conclusion as the curtain rises. —Christopher H. Gibbs 34 The Music Violin Concerto No. 5

“You yourself do not know how well you play the violin; if you will only do yourself credit and play with energy, with your whole heart and mind, yes, just as if you were the first violinist in all Europe.” This wise advice to the young Mozart came from a leading expert on the instrument, the author of one of the most celebrated instrumental how-to manuals ever written, entitled A Treatise on the Fundamentals of Violin Playing (1756). The expert also happened to be Mozart’s father, the formidable Leopold.

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart We so associate Mozart the performer with his astonishing Born in Salzburg, January 27, powers as a pianist, widely hailed as one of the great 1756 virtuosos of his day, that it is easy to forget his renown Died in Vienna, December 5, as a violinist. He was already astounding contemporaries 1791 with his fiddling skills at age seven and by 14 he was the concertmaster of the Salzburg Court Orchestra. He frequently performed concertos, his own and those by others, and while on tour always knew he could substitute a violin concerto if the available keyboard instrument proved unsatisfactory. Although he did not write nearly as many concertos for strings as he did for keyboard, nor did he retain much interest in the instrument in his later years, he nonetheless made an important contribution to the concerto repertoire. Mozart’s Violin Concertos There are various confusions about the chronology, numbering, and authenticity of Mozart’s violin concertos. Traditionally only five are acknowledged, all thought to have been written in a miraculous six-month period from June to December 1775. The first of them, the Concerto in B-flat, K. 207, has recently been re-dated to April 1773, which makes it the earliest of any of Mozart’s original concertos. (His earliest piano concertos were arrangements of solo keyboard sonatas by various composers, including C.P.E Bach, for which Mozart provided orchestral accompaniments.) And although the remaining four violin concertos (K. 211, 216, 218, 219) were indeed composed in the latter half of 1775, Mozart also wrote what are in essence further three-movement violin concertos inserted within larger multi-movement serenades. The issue of how many violin concertos Mozart wrote is further complicated by incomplete, lost, and doubtful works, as well as by an outright forgery, the so-called Adelaide. 35

Mozart’s A-major Violin In any event, Mozart composed all the authentic violin Concerto was composed in works before his 21st birthday and then concentrated on 1775. concertos for piano, wind, or brass instruments for the rest Alexander Petschnikoff was the of his life. There are no reports of him playing the violin in soloist in the first Philadelphia later years, as once he left Salzburg and settled in Vienna Orchestra performances of he seems to have preferred the viola when given the the Fifth Violin Concerto, in chance. He would participate on occasion in string quartet December 1906 with Fritz readings with composers Franz Joseph Haydn and Johann Scheel on the podium. The Baptist Vanhal as violinists and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf most recent subscription as cellist. performances were in June 2010, with Arabella Today we hear the last of Mozart’s official violin concertos, Steinbacher as the soloist and dated December 20, 1775. It is his longest and most Charles Dutoit conducting. elaborate, the finale of which provides its unofficial nickname: “Turkish.” Like the conclusions of the other violin Mozart scored the work for two oboes, two horns, strings, and concertos, Mozart employs a rondo form that alternates a solo violin. polite minuet theme with various contrasting sections. In this case the form is quite extended (ABACADABA) and The Concerto runs the long D section in the middle is the “Turkish” part. approximately 30 minutes in performance. A Fascination with the Exotic Why was Mozart fascinated with “exotic” music, and what exactly did he, Beethoven, and other composers really know of it? Nearly 50 years ago the Hungarian musicologist Bence Szabolcsi made a compelling case that what they knew was actually Hungarian and gypsy music, some of which was itself inflected by music from the Ottoman Empire. When Mozart said he wrote something alla turca (in the Turkish manner), he was saying the same thing as Hungarian peasants who used the term Törökös. As musicologist Neal Zaslaw puts it, what Mozart creates is “a parody of a parody. Although this music is in a completely Western manner, it evokes something foreign that is simultaneously the subject of admiration, fear, and ridicule.” Zaslaw speculates that Mozart might have heard some of this music on his early travels to or, more likely, from composer Michael Haydn (brother of Franz Joseph), who had spent years there before becoming Mozart’s superior in Salzburg. Mozart had used one of the final movement’s melodies three years earlier in a ballet entitled Le gelosie del serraglio (Jealousy in the Seraglio). Although most of the music for this ballet is lost, sketches confirm the melodic affinity. “Turkish” music usually makes prominent use of brass instruments and percussion (as Beethoven shows in his Ninth Symphony); Mozart produces something of the same percussive effect by having the lower string instrumentalists bounce the wood of their bows on the strings. —Christopher H. Gibbs 36 The Music Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”)

The moving Czech national anthem opens with a question: “Kde domov mu˚j?” (Where is my Home?). Antonín Dvorˇák, the most famous of all Czech composers, might well have asked the same thing given the course of his career. Born in a provincial town in Bohemia, he was initially educated in Zlonice, a town not much bigger, before moving to Prague to complete his studies. He started his career there as violist at the Provisional Theater under the direction of Bedrˇich Smetana, the country’s leading composer. Soon his own compositions began to pour Antonín Dvorˇák forth and get noticed. Powerful figures from Vienna’s Born in Nelahozeves, musical scene repeatedly awarded him a state stipendium Bohemia, September 8, and Brahms arranged a crucial introduction to his own 1841 German publisher. Died in Prague, May 1, 1904 Within two decades Dvorˇák’s fame and popularity extended far beyond his homeland. The English became particularly enamored of his music. Dvorˇák made eight trips there, was awarded an honorary doctorate from Cambridge University, and basked in the adulation of enormous audiences. His longest time abroad was the two and a half years he spent in America beginning in September 1892. He came at the invitation of a visionary music patron, Jeannette Thurber, who made such a lucrative offer to become director of the National Conservatory of Music that Dvorˇák felt he could not turn it down. He spent the academic year in , living with his wife and children in a brownstone at 327 East 17th Street. In the summer they all traveled to Spillville, Iowa, which boasted a large Czech community. Creating American Music The Symphony in E minor was the first of a series of important works Dvorˇák wrote in America, and was followed by such pieces as the String Quartet in F major (the “American”), the String Quintet in E-flat major, the Violin Sonatina in G major, and the magnificent Cello Concerto. Composing such substantial music was one of the reasons Thurber sought out Dvorˇák in the first place. She was interested not only in finding someone to lead the Conservatory, but also in a figure who could make a lasting contribution to the enhancement of American musical life. As Dvorˇák wrote in a letter to a friend back home: “The Americans expect 37 great things of me. Above all, I am to show them the way into the Promised Land, into the realms of a new independent art—in short, to create a national music.” Thurber provided him with American poems and other materials, and even took him to see Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Dvorˇák began writing a new symphony less than four months after his arrival and made rapid progress. By mid-April he reported in a letter: “I have not much work at school now, so that I have enough time for my own work and am now just finishing my E-minor Symphony. I take pleasure in it, and it will differ very considerably from my others. Indeed, the influence of America in it must be felt by everyone who has any ‘nose’ at all.” In another letter two days later he repeated how pleased he was with the piece and how different this symphony was from his earlier ones, adding “It is perhaps turning out rather American!!!” Shortly before the premiere Dvorˇák gave the Symphony the subtitle “Z nového sveˇta” (“From the New World”), by which he explained he meant “Impressions and Greetings from the New World.” The eminent Wagnerian conductor Anton Seidl led the premiere performances with the at Carnegie Hall on December 15 and 16, 1893. Dvorˇák recounted that “the newspapers are saying that no composer has ever had such a triumph. I was in a box, the hall was filled with the highest New York society, the people clapped so much that I had to acknowledge the applause like a king!” One prominent critic declared it “the greatest symphony ever composed in this country.” Some of the reviewers raised the issue of writing a distinctively American symphony, commented on the mood of the work, and noted its use of indigenous sources. A Story Within? Dvorˇák had indeed been influenced by his surroundings and his exposure to a new culture and its music. He noted that the famous second movement Largo “is in reality a study or a sketch for a longer work, whether a cantata or an opera which I propose writing, and which will be based upon Longfellow’s Hiawatha.” It seems that among the materials Thurber had given him was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Song of Hiawatha, first published in 1855, which Dvorˇák had long known in a Czech translation. Although he never wrote a cantata or opera on this story, he acknowledged that at least two of the Symphony’s movements, the middle ones, are based on parts of it. The fascinating detective work of musicologist Michael Beckerman has revealed some of the 38

many unknown layers and influences that helped form this remarkable symphony. Dvorˇák also called upon American musical resources. He read an article that included musical examples of spirituals and heard some sung by an African-American student at the National Conservatory, Harry T. Burleigh (1866–1949). In an interview he gave to the New York Herald Dvorˇák discussed the influence of music by Native Americans: I therefore carefully studied a certain number of Indian melodies which a friend gave me, and became thoroughly imbued with their characteristics—with their spirit, in fact. It is this spirit which I have tried to reproduce in my Symphony. I have not actually used any of the melodies. I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of Indian music, and, using these themes as subjects, have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, and orchestral color. Listeners have long been fascinated by Dvorˇák’s references to these American sources, presented with a heavy Czech accent. That Czech musical accent is, of course, just as much a construction as the American idiom. In his Czech pieces Dvorˇák also invented his own tunes and resented insinuations that he was calling upon actual folk material. In its formal construction and ambition, the “New World” Symphony calls on a Germanic heritage drawn both from the symphonies of Brahms and the symphonic poems of Liszt—there is even a brief allusion in the last movement to Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser. A Closer Look The four-movement Symphony begins with a mournful Adagio introduction that builds to an Allegro molto initiated by a prominent horn theme. One of the “Germanic” features of the Symphony is the recycling of themes between and among movements, leading to a parade of them in the fourth movement finale. The second theme is given by the flute and bears some resemblance to the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The famous Largo second movement relates to Hiawatha, although there is some debate about exactly which part of the story; a lamenting section in the middle seems to allude to the funeral of Minnehaha. The well-known English horn solo that opens the movement is not an actual spiritual, although through Dvorˇák’s invention it has in some ways become one—a student of his, William Arms Fisher, provided words for it in the 1920s as “Goin’ Home.” 39

Dvorˇák’s Symphony No. 9 was The Molto vivace scherzo opens with a passage that composed in 1893. seems to refer to the scherzo of Beethoven’s Ninth Fritz Scheel conducted the Symphony. Dvorˇák again acknowledged the influence of first Philadelphia Orchestra Longfellow: “It was suggested by the scene at the feast in performances of the “New Hiawatha where the Indians dance, and is also an essay I World” Symphony, in November made in the direction of imparting the local color of Indian 1902; most recently on character to music.” The finale (Allegro con fuoco) subscription it was presented provides a grand conclusion in its propulsive energy and by Marin Alsop, in December review of themes from the previous movements. 2011. —Christopher H. Gibbs The Philadelphians have recorded the complete Ninth Symphony seven times: in 1925, 1927, and 1934 with Leopold Stokowski for RCA; in 1944 and 1956 with Eugene Ormandy for CBS; in 1976 with Ormandy for RCA; and in 1988 with Wolfgang Sawallisch for EMI. The Orchestra also recorded the famous “Largo” second movement in 1919, with Stokowski for RCA. The score calls for two flutes (II doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (cymbals and triangle), and strings. Performance time is approximately 40 minutes.

Program notes © 2013. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association. 40 Musical Terms

GENERAL TERMS of a composition within a Sonata form: The form in Aria: An accompanied composer’s output. Opus which the first movements solo song (often in ternary numbers are not always (and sometimes others) form), usually in an opera reliable because they are of symphonies are usually or oratorio often applied in the order cast. The sections are Cadenza: A passage or of publication rather than exposition, development, section in a style of brilliant composition. and recapitulation, the improvisation, usually Recitative: Declamatory last sometimes followed inserted near the end of a singing, free in tempo and by a coda. The exposition movement or composition rhythm is the introduction of Cantata: A multi- Rondeau: A term used in the musical ideas, which movement vocal piece France for a composition, are then “developed.” In consisting of arias, instrumental or vocal, the recapitulation, the recitatives, ensembles, and based on the alternation exposition is repeated with choruses and based on a of a main section with modifications. continuous narrative text subsidiary sections Sonatina: A diminutive Chord: The simultaneous Rondo: A form frequently sonata, with fewer and sounding of three or more used in symphonies and shorter movements than tones concertos for the final the normal type Coda: A concluding movement. It consists THE SPEED OF MUSIC section or passage added of a main section that (Tempo) in order to confirm the alternates with a variety of Adagio: Leisurely, slow impression of finality contrasting sections (A-B- Allegro: Bright, fast Counterpoint: A A-C-A etc.). Allegro aperto: A definite term that describes Scherzo: Literally “a allegro tempo the combination of joke.” Usually the third Con fuoco: With fire, simultaneously sounding movement of symphonies passionately, excited musical lines and quartets that was Largo: Broad K.: Abbreviation for Köchel, introduced by Beethoven Maestoso: Majestic the chronological list of all to replace the minuet. The Meno mosso: Less the works of Mozart made scherzo is followed by a moved (slower) by Ludwig von Köchel gentler section called a trio, Tempo di menuetto: Meter: The symmetrical after which the scherzo is Tempo of a minuet grouping of musical repeated. Its characteristics Vivace: Lively rhythms are a rapid tempo in triple Minuet: A dance in triple time, vigorous rhythm, and TEMPO MODIFIERS time commonly used up to humorous contrasts. Molto: Very the beginning of the 19th Sonata: An instrumental Un poco: A little century as the lightest composition in three or movement of a symphony four extended movements Op.: Abbreviation for opus, contrasted in theme, a term used to indicate tempo, and mood, usually the chronological position for a solo instrument 41 November/December The Philadelphia Orchestra

Jessica Griffin Enjoy the ultimate in flexibility with a Create-Your-Own 4-Concert Series today! Choose 4 or more concerts that fit your schedule and your tastes. Hurry, before tickets disappear for this exciting season.

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Perlman Returns November 21 & 23 8 PM November 22 & 24 2 PM Itzhak Perlman Conductor and Violin Beethoven Romance No. 1, for violin and orchestra Beethoven Romance No. 2, for violin and orchestra Dvorˇák Serenade for Strings Beethoven Symphony No. 2 Brahms Academic Festival Overture Vivaldi’s Four Seasons November 29 & 30 8 PM December 1 2 PM Richard Egarr Conductor Giuliano Carmignola Violin Vivaldi The Four Seasons Purcell Suite No. 1 from The Fairy Queen Haydn Symphony No. 101 (“The Clock”) The November 29 concert is sponsored by MEDCOMP.

TICKETS Call 215.893.1999 or log on to www.philorch.org PreConcert Conversations are held prior to every Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert, beginning 1 hour before curtain. All artists, dates, programs, and prices subject to change. All tickets subject to availability. 1642 Story Title Tickets & Patron Services

TICKETS & PATRON PreConcert Conversations: Ticket Philadelphia Staff SERVICES PreConcert Conversations are Gary Lustig, Vice President held prior to every Philadelphia Jena Smith, Director, Patron Subscriber Services: Orchestra subscription concert, Services 215.893.1955 beginning one hour before curtain. Dan Ahearn, Jr., Box Office Call Center: 215.893.1999 Conversations are free to ticket- Manager holders, feature discussions of the Catherine Pappas, Project Fire Notice: The exit indicated by season’s music and music-makers, Manager a red light nearest your seat is the and are supported in part by the Michelle Parkhill, Client Relations shortest route to the street. In the Wells Fargo Foundation. Manager event of fire or other emergency, Mariangela Saavedra, Manager, please do not run. Walk to that exit. Lost and Found: Please call Patron Services 215.670.2321. Gregory McCormack, Training No Smoking: All public space in Specialist the Kimmel Center is smoke-free. Web Site: For information about Samantha Apgar, Business The Philadelphia Orchestra and Operations Coordinator Cameras and Recorders: The its upcoming concerts or events, Elysse Madonna, Program and taking of photographs or the please visit www.philorch.org. Web Coordinator recording of Philadelphia Orchestra Patrick Curran, Assistant Treasurer, concerts is strictly prohibited. Subscriptions: The Philadelphia Box Office Orchestra offers a variety of Tad Dynakowski, Assistant Phones and Paging Devices: subscription options each season. Treasurer, Box Office All electronic devices—including These multi-concert packages Michelle Messa, Assistant cellular telephones, pagers, and feature the best available seats, Treasurer, Box Office wristwatch alarms—should be ticket exchange privileges, Patricia O’Connor, Assistant turned off while in the concert hall. guaranteed seat renewal for the Treasurer, Box Office following season, discounts on Thomas Sharkey, Assistant Late Seating: Latecomers will not individual tickets, and many other Treasurer, Box Office be seated until an appropriate time benefits. For more information, James Shelley, Assistant Treasurer, in the concert. please call 215.893.1955 or visit Box Office www.philorch.org. Tara Bankard, Lead Patron Accessible Seating: Accessible Services Representative seating is available for every Ticket Turn-In: Subscribers who Jayson Bucy, Lead Patron Services performance. Please call Ticket cannot use their tickets are invited Representative Philadelphia at 215.893.1999 for to donate them and receive a Meg Hackney, Lead Patron more information. You may also tax-deductible credit by calling Services Representative purchase accessible seating online 215.893.1999. Tickets may be Julia Schranck, Lead Patron at www.philorch.org. turned in any time up to the start Services Representative of the concert. Twenty-four-hour Alicia DiMeglio, Priority Services Assistive Listening: With the notice is appreciated, allowing Representative deposit of a current ID, hearing other patrons the opportunity to Megan Brown, Patron Services enhancement devices are available purchase these tickets. Representative at no cost from the House Maureen Esty, Patron Services Management Office. Headsets Individual Tickets: Don’t assume Representative are available on a first-come, first- that your favorite concert is sold Brand-I Curtis McCloud, Patron served basis. out. Subscriber turn-ins and other Services Representative special promotions can make last- Scott Leitch, Quality Assurance Large-Print Programs: minute tickets available. Call Ticket Analyst Large-print programs for every Philadelphia at 215.893.1999 or subscription concert are available stop by the Kimmel Center Box in the House Management Office Office. in Commonwealth Plaza. Please ask an usher for assistance.