SSI lirP .^v&t&iZcs ' BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOUNDED IN 1881 BY HENRY LEE HIGGINSON THURSDAY EVENING SERIES „,?" ^ESSEi™ ?./j*>- 4' • 6 ~-~-.j^ \ta //-' // (\>A EIGHTY-FOURTH SEASON 1964-1965 TAKE NOTE The precursor of the oboe goes back to antiquity — it was found in Sumeria (2800 bc) and was the Jewish halil, the Greek aulos, and the Roman tibia • After the renaissance, instruments of this type were found in complete families ranging from the soprano to the bass. The higher or smaller instruments were named by the French "haulx-bois" or "hault- bois" which was transcribed by the Italians into oboe which name is now used in English, German and Italian to distinguish the smallest instrument • In a symphony orchestra, it usually gives the pitch to the other instruments • Is it time for you to take note of your insurance needs? • We welcome the opportunity to analyze your present program and offer our professional service to provide you with intelligent, complete protection. We respectfully indite your inquiry i . , ... CHARLES H. WATKINS CO. & /oBRION, RUSSELL 8c CO. Richard P. Nyquist — Charles G. Carleton / 147 milk street boston 9, Massachusetts/ Insurance of Every Description 542-1250 EIGHTY -FOURTH SEASON, 1964-1965 CONCERT BULLETIN OF THE Boston Symphony Orchestra ERICH LEINSDORF, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk The TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Henry B. Cabot President Talcott M. Banks Vice-President Richard C. Paine Treasurer Abram Berkowitz Henry A. Laughlin Theodore P. Ferris John T. Noonan Francis W. Hatch Mrs. James H. Perkins Harold D. Hodgkinson Sidney R. Rabb E. Morton Jennings, Jr. John L. Thorndike Raymond S. Wilkins TRUSTEES EMERITUS Palfrey Perkins Lewis Perry Edward A. Taft Oliver Wolcott Thomas D. Perry, Jr., Manager Norman S. Shirk James J. Brosnahan Assistant Manager Business Administrator Rosario Mazzeo Harry J. Kraut Orchestra Personnel Manager Assistant to the Manager SYMPHONY HALL BOSTON [3] (gliburn, <with the^oston Symphony meterJamdorfin a U^tabk^irst Collaboration ^jrahms ^QoncertoTNo. when artists of the stature of Cliburn and Leinsdorf address themselves to the recording of such a noble work, it is an event of major significance. Moreover, the collaboration here is one that is es- pecially appropriate, as both are masters of the Romantic repertoire and style. Brahms' First Concerto is a "big" concerto, originally con- ceived as a symphony, that imposes heavy demands on both soloist and orchestra. Cliburn, Leinsdorf and the Boston Sym- phony meet this challenge in a re- cording that captures all the essen- tial passion and intensity of Brahms' score. This first collaboration between Cliburn, Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony is also a "first" in two other respects : it is the first record- ing of this work by Cliburn, and the first recording of this impor- tant work in Dynagroove sound. Liner notes by Pulitzer Prize win- ner James A. Michener. \ctor jThe most trusted name in sound Leinsdorf, Cliburn, Concertmaster Silverstein: "intense, intelligent Van Cliburn Brahma Concerto No. 1 Boston Symphony Orchestra Erich Leinsdorf 4l CONTENTS Program 9 ©itaftarmcdnc. Notes cThc cfro«sscau3 House op3oslon Strauss ("Don Juan") n Piston (Symphony No. 8) . .31 Entr'actes Strauss at the Crossroads (J.N.B.) 16 Stuffed Owls and Stiff Composers (By Alan Rich) . 42 Notes Brahms (Piano Concerto No. 2) . 52 WATERCOLORS The exhibition now in the Gallery is loaned by the Boston Society of Water- color painters. THE SOLOIST Grant Johannesen is appearing for the second time in this series. Born in Salt Lake City of Norwegian parents, he gave his first concert in New York in 1944. Since then he has toured this country a number of times. He first visited Europe in 1949, playing in France, Belgium, Hol- land, Germany and Norway. He was the soloist in the shorter series of this Or- chestra in 1953 and 1964. A LETTER FROM ERICH LEINSDORF TO THE SUBSCRIBERS It seems appropriate that from time to time the Music Director of your Or- chestra should give you a report on his stewardship. The final program of my ZJahina a ^JvipC third season with the Boston Symphony You will love our printed acetate Orchestra presents such a natural check- washes beau- point. rorje—that packs and First I want to thank you for your tifully. Pink or Yellow. Small, Me- support. Seven different subscription dium, Large. $25.00 series in Boston plus the eight re- open STREET 416 BOYLSTON STREET 54 CENTRAL hearsals and the two cycles of Lincoln BOSTON 02116 WELLESLEY Center concerts in New York have been KEnmore 6-6238 CEdar 5-3430 fully subscribed for these three years. To such a loyal public much gratitude [5] is due. This letter is first and foremost a thank-you, or, if you please, a return acknowledgment. (onrad Your support gives us freedom to plan artistically instead of looking anxiously handler to the day-to-day box office. Your trust liberates musical policies from that kind of reliance. Feeling gratitude and re- sponsibility, I want to tell a few things which might be of interest as a subject for reflection during the summer months. Our activities are many. Even those among you who attend twenty-four pro- grams each season witness only about one-fifth of all the concerts which the Boston Symphony Orchestra plays each winter. The scheduled events for the Orchestra in Boston and out-of-town amount to one hundred and fifteen and one Pension Fund concert, these in ad- dition to the Pops, Tanglewood and Es- planade seasons. Our regular work in- cludes four or five rehearsals each week, recording sessions, and a weekly "free day" which the members of the Orches- tra must have if they are to meet the requirements of their most distinguished and exceedingly taxing job. (There is also the new schedule of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players.) This is what happens in all fields of endeavor, once you get into the upper reaches of women the "major league." When I first came to Boston I prom- salute the ised to plan programs on a long-range basis, to give our audiences an overall costume in acquaintance with music of the last two hundred years, to avoid excessive spe- Spring navy cialization, to combine the great master- works with new music and with some- what lesser-known works of the past repertoire. I have been helped, and in- deed much cheered, by a great volume Refreshing Spring-weight master of personal correspondence from listen- sheer, eloquent ribbon flowers ers—by no means all of them approving and cartridge pleating trimming everything performed. This was to be expected, for honest debate and thought- the gored skirt dress and cardi- ful controversy are most welcome. I gan jacket. 1 4 % -24 V2 . 29.95 have greatly enjoyed, and hope to enjoy Better Dresses — Third Floor in the future, the comments, wishes, sug- gestions, complaints, admonitions, and BOSTON • BELMONT recipes of our thoughtful and kind • PEABODY FRAMINGHAM audience. [6] . There are two overriding motivations for this program policy: the desire to keep the greatest of the masterworks as fresh as they were on the day when the 1 world first heard them; and to establish the Boston Symphony Orchestra as one of the very few which play the most varied repertoire with complete stylistic differentiation. In a similar way, a great actor in the best tradition of repertory theatre can portray many roles of differ- ent styles, eras, and demands with equal conviction. The second objective is actually easier to obtain than the first. To keep the greatest masterworks fresh and to pre- vent their being taken for granted, to have all of us—performers and audi- ences alike—approach them as if they were new, requires an amount of pa- tience and understanding from all of you. It may seem to many members of the public a problematic procedure to spend some of our time in preparing and performing works which are pleasant and beautiful, but not necessarily great masterworks. It is so much easier, these arguments run, and so much more grati- fying to cultivate only the summit of the repertoire. Not so if we produce a minimum of twenty-four programs each year. I have made it my particular concern to keep sufficient space between performances of the four Brahms symphonies, the nine Beethoven symphonies, the three GAD! Could you believe it popular Tchaikovsky symphonies, and So this is what I get with similar "super" works of the symphonic little repertoire. My task thereby is much those stamps they more difficult, and your range of interest gave me. On top of real quality is challenged. But I am deeply con- at truly low prices . vinced that in the long run we together contribute to a greater life-expectancy for the nonpareil musical scores than if we played them "around the clock." It is a fact that the masterworks are not numerous. If they were put on pro- Stop Shop grams as an exclusive diet, we surely SUPER MARKETS could not go through more than one season without immediately repeating ourselves. Thus after the end of three seasons we have still not had all nine of (Continued on page 40) [7] "I'm sure Father would have wanted me to have a Rolls." We're used to being given plenty of rope in our work as trustee. And most of the time the requests we get are reasonable. But every once in a while, a beneficiary throws us a curve. Then we have to be firm. That's why this young man probably won't get his Rolls Royce.