SHEPHERD SCHOOL ORCHESTRA

LARRY RACHLEFF, Music Director

Saturday, November 2, 2013 8:00 p.m. Stude Concert Hall PROGRAM

Symphonie: Mathis der Maler Engelkonzert. Ruhig bewegt – (1895-1963) Ziemlich lebhafte Halbe Grablegung. Sehr langsam Versuchung des heiligen Antonius. Sehr langsam, frei im Zeitmass

INTERMISSION

Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 Antonín Dvořák Allegro maestoso (1841-1904) Poco adagio Scherzo. Vivace Finale. Allegro

The reverberative acoustics of Stude Concert Hall magnify the slightest sound made by the audience. Your care and courtesy will be appreciated. The taking of photographs and use of recording equipment are prohibited. SHEPHERD SCHOOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA String seating changes with each concert. Winds, brass, percussion and harp listed alphabetically.

Violin I Viola(cont.) Clarinet Assistant Production Emily Nebel, Carey Skinner Samuel Almaguer Manager concertmaster Rebecca Gu Zachary Gauvain Brian Figat ANNE AND CHARLES Megan Wright Lin Ma Chris Lee DUNCAN CHAIR Francis Schmidt Andy Liang Christiano Rodrigues Juyong You Edward Schenkman Ben Odhner Bassoon Library Assistants Sarah Arnold Cello Conrad Cornelison Marie-Elyse Badeau Lijia Phang Matthew Kufchak, Sean Gordon Ryan Fox Anthony Bracewell principal Shuo Li Antoinette Gan Boson Mo ANNETTE AND HUGH Isaac Schultz Peter Garrett GRAGG CHAIR Michelle Black Alex Gonzalez Erik Wheeler Alex Gonzalez Horn Andy Liang Thomas Carpenter Ling Ling Huang Everett Burns Boson Mo Ariana Nelson MARGARET C. PACK CHAIR Jacqueline Kitzmiller Ben Odhner Antoinette Gan Jesse Clevenger Chaul Yang Dorothy Ro Joshua Halpern Joshua Horne Rebecca Reale Yvonne Smith Naomi Benecasa Markus Österlund Jing Zheng Anastasia Sukhopara Benjamin Francisco Spencer Park Carson Marshall Bing Wei Benjamin Stoehr Nathanael Udell Xin Liu Peter Garrett Stage Assistants Chelsea Sharpe Trumpet Daniel Kopp Thomas Carpenter William Gerlach Violin II Daniel Tavani Nicolas Chona Niccoló Muti, George Goad Double Jesse Clevenger principal Philip Hembree Nina DeCesare, Jing Duan Dorothy Ro David Sedgwick principal Michael Fuller Rhea Chung G. Paul Matz Trombone Victor Gomez Mary Edge Brandon Mason Madeleine Doyon- Stephen Houck Jing Duan Evan Hulbert Robitaille Sean Krissman Rebecca Nelson Michael Fuller Gregory Hammond Chi Lee Janny Joo Caleb Quillen Stephen Houck Shuo Li Caroline Ewan Renaud Boucher- Ryan Rongone Jeffrey Nesrsta Eva Dove Browning David Sedgwick Zoe Miller Bass Trombone Rudy Albach Richard Stiles Julian Nguyen Richard Stiles August Ramos Titus Underwood Laura Casarez Martin Kapsch Tuba Anya Wilkening Nathan Cunningham Giancarlo Latta Flute Mark Chien James Blanchard Timpani Jiayi Zheng Amanda Galick Colin Ryan Aaron Perdue Michael Stubbart Viola Kelly Zimba Meredith Kufchak, Percussion principal Piccolo Dino Georgeton Blake Turner James Blanchard Andrew Keller Jarita Ng Aaron Perdue Emma Terrell Chi Lee Oboe Orchestra Manager Sergein Yap Gina Ford and Librarian Jill Valentine Kelly Mozeik Kaaren Fleisher Daniel Wang Titus Underwood Bailey Firszt Production Manager Wei Wang Marie-Elyse Badeau Mandy Billings PROGRAM NOTES

Symphonie: Mathis der Maler ...... Paul Hindemith The German composer Paul Hindemith wrote his Mathis der Maler partially out of nostalgic interest in the Protestant , and partially as an autobiographical commentary about the importance of an artist who uses his craft to reach out to the public in times of struggle and war. The opera follows the life of German Renaissance painter Matthias Grünewald, who by popular (perhaps romanticized) belief had been stifled by Catholic rule and censorship, and had taken up arms to support his fel- low Protestant countrymen in a popular revolution. He ultimately realized, however, that his art would be the best means of mobilizing and inspiring his countrymen. Hindemith composed the opera in the 1930s, at a time when the Nazi party was using its power to harshly censor artists who, it believed, were rallying the public for their specific political aims. For example, it was widely known that Hindemith disapproved of the Nazi regime, and so, for half a decade, performances of Mathis were forbidden. Before he completed the opera, Hindemith had composed a truncated, symphonic adaptation that included some of the opera’s themes, and this was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1934 while on tour abroad. This derived symphonic work, which was meant to be a test run for the opera’s music, became much more popular than the opera in the end, and it is this version that the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra will play tonight. The first movement, “Angelic Chorus,” taken from the over- ture, has a traditional sequence of slow and fast sections but with distinctive quartal harmonies that color Hindemith’s panoramic opening. The second movement, “Entombment,” is a grand and solemn interlude from the final act. The third movement, “The Temptation of St Anthony,” is taken from a visionary and active conflict scene in the opera. Each of these program- matic titles corresponds to one of the three panels of Grünewald’s famous Isenheim Altarpiece, which had been a symbol of the resentment peasants had felt toward their oppressors in sixteenth-century Germany. Listen for the distinctive non-triadic harmonies, like quartal harmonies, and false tonalities created with repeated perfect fifths, for which Hindemith became so famous.

Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 ...... Antonín Dvořák Upon hearing the new third Symphony of his friend and benefactor Johannes Brahms in 1884, Anton Dvořák was deeply moved and inspired to write such a symphony himself. And so, with a commission from the Royal Philharmonic Society of London, Dvořák began work on this new symphony, his seventh. In it, Dvořák wished to commemorate the political struggles of his Czech countrymen against oppression, and also to reconcile his own personal struggles regarding his musical style at this important juncture in his career: should he stick to the folksy, distinctly Czech sound for which he was well known and loved locally; or should he adopt a more international (i.e. German) approach so as to appeal to a wider audience? Dvořák’s momentous Symphony No. 7 does both. Of all his major works, it is often said that this one comes as close to “tragic” as he would ever get; in other words, it was his heaviest, most deeply emotional work, very reminiscent of his German contemporaries. On the other hand, the symphony is, from beginning to end, a heartfelt struggle both of the Czech nation and of Dvořák’s stylistic loyalties. The first movement opens with a folk tune, a Dvořák trademark, which develops richly over a soaring water-like, fluttering accompaniment. The second movement, according to Dvořák, has “not a single superfluous note,” and harkens to folk melodies in a particularly operatic, melodramatic style. The scherzo evokes the sound of polkas and country dances in a thick, complex texture. A Slovak march and dancelike rhythmic excitement dominate the folk melodies in the fourth movement. The British musicologist Donald Francis Tovey aptly summariz- es the concept of Dvořák’s Seventh this way: “The solemn tone of the close is amply justified by every theme and every note of this great work, which never once falls below the highest plane of tragic music, nor yet contains a line which could have been written by any composer but Dvořák .”

–Notes by Jill Valentine THE SHEPHERD SOCIETY This performance is made possible in part by members of The Shepherd Society. Their gifts provide merit-based scholarships that attract the most promising young classical musicians to study at Rice. With your support, we can continue to offer our students the highest level of training from the finest faculty in the field. We hope you’ll take a moment to review the opportunities for support and the benefits of membership at www.theshepherdsociety.org. To join The Shepherd Society, call 713-348-3492 or visit the website above.

UPCOMING ORCHESTRA CONCERTS Sun., Nov. 3. 2:00 p.m. and Tues., Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m. – SHEPHERD SCHOOL OP- ERA and SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Richard Bado, conductor; Vera Calábria, stage director PROGRAM: Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro. Wortham Opera Theatre at the Shepherd School. Admission (general seating): $12; students and senior citzens $10. Ticket sales begin October 7. For tickets call 713-348-8000.

Thurs., Dec. 5, 8:00 p.m. – SHEPHERD SCHOOL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Larry Rachleff, music director. PROGRAM: Bartók Romanian Folk Dances (Thomas Hong, conductor); Nielsen Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (Thom- as Hong, conductor; Kayla Burggraf, soloist); and Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60. Stude Concert Hall. Free admission, no tickets required.

Fri., Dec. 6, 8:00 p.m. – SHEPHERD SCHOOL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Larry Rachleff, music director. PROGRAM: Walczak The Evening Shadow (2013; premiere; Thomas Hong, conductor) and Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C- sharp Minor. Stude Concert Hall. Free admission, no tickets required.