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SYMPHONY HALL, BOSTON HUNTINGTON AND MASSACHUSETTS AVENUES Branch Exchange Telephone, Ticket and Administration Offices, Com. 1495 FIFTY-SIXTH SEASON, 1936-1937 CONCERT BULLETIN of the Boston Symphony Orchestra INCORPORATED SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY, Conductor Richard Burgin, Assistant Conductor with historical and descriptive notes By John N. Burk COPYRIGHT, 1936, BY BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. The OFFICERS and TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Bentley W. Warren ...... President Henry B. Sawyer ........ Vice-President Ernest B. Dane Treasurer Allston Burr Roger I. Lee Henry B. Cabot Richard C. Paixe Ernest B. Dane Henry B. Sawyer Alvan T. Fuller Pierpont L. Stackpole N. Penrose Hallowell Edward A. Taft M. A. De Wolfe Howe Bentley W. Warren G. E. Judd, Manager C. W. SPALDING, Assistant Manager L 253 ] . Old Colony Trust Company 17 COURT STREET, BOSTON The principal business of this company is 1 Investment of funds and management of property for living persons. 2. Carrying out the provisions of the last will and testament of deceased iersons. Our officers would welcome a chance to dis- cuss with you either form of service. ^Allied with The First National Bank of Boston 2 L 54 "J Contents Title Page Page 253 Programme ......... 257 Analytical Notes: Vivaldi: "La Primavera," Concerto No. 1 from "The Four Seasons" . 259 Satie: "Gymnopedies" ...... 266 Mendelssohn: Scherzo in G minor from the Octet, Op. 20 276 Josten: Symphojiy in F . 280 Franck: Symphony in D minor ..... 284 Announcement to the "Friends of the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra" ....... 278, 279 The Next Programme . .... 297 Concert Announcements ..... 299, 300 Teachers' Directory . 302-304 Personnel Opposite page ^>QA 055] CJjanbler & Co. TREMONT AND WEST STREETS Royal Mink in a Collection noteworthy for its unusually large number of models— the well matched perfection of the skins! $ 995 to $ MOO to *M65 Fur Coats may be purchased on our convenient budget plan SECOND FLOOR AT CHANDLER'S [256] FIFTY-SIXTH SEASON, NINETEEN HUNDRED THIRTY-SIX AND THIRTY-SEVEN Sixth Programme FRIDAY AFTERNOON, November 13, at 2:30 o'clock SATURDAY EVENING, November 14, at 8:15 o'clock Vivaldi "La Primavera" ("Spring") Concerto No. 1 from "The Four Seasons" (Edited by Bernardino Molinari) (First performances at these concerts) Satie "Gymnopedies" (Orchestrated by Debussy) Mendelssohn Scherzo in G minor from the Octet, Op. 20 (arranged for orchestra by the composer) Josten Symphony in F I. Allegro vivace II. Andante III. Allegro giusto (Conducted by the composer. First performances) INTERMISSION Franck Symphony in D minor I. Lento. Allegro non troppo II. Allegretto III. Allegro non troppo STEINWAY PIANO This programme will end about 4:25 on Friday Afternoon, 10:10 o'clock on Saturday Evening Water-colors by Frederick Eldridge Lowell, together with music, autographs, and pictures of the composers whose works are in the current repertory, may be seen in the first balcony gallery. (See page 298.) [257] JORDA^MARSH coitltflkjinr RECORDED BY THE BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA UNDER THE DIRECTION OF ^^EXCjE KoU±±£(jltzklj Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B Minor . "the Unfinished Symphony" ...on three double t^. C^ Victor records . MUSIC • THIRD FLOOR • ANNEX Mail or telephone orders filled (Call HUBbard 2700) [258] 1 "LA PRIMAVERA" ("SPRING"): No. i of "Le Quattro Stagioni ("The Four Seasons"), for Strings, Cembalo and Organ (Edited by Bernardino Molinari) By Antonio Vivaldi Born about 1680, at Venice; died there in 1743 The Opus 8 of Vivaldi, published in Amsterdam at a date not pre- cisely known, was a series of 12 concerti grossi for strings, entitled "II Cimento dell' Armonia e dell' Inventione" ("The Trial of Har- mony and Invention"). Of these he called the first four "Le Quattro Stagioni." The first is entitled "La Primavera" ("Spring"); the second "U Estate" ("Summer"); the third "L' Autunno" ("Autumn"); the fourth "IS Inverno" ("Winter"). These four concertos have been edited by Mr. Molinari for present usage.* Vivaldi made use of a descriptive programme in these four con- certos with an explicitness which the writers of symphonic poems two centuries later might have carefully avoided. The fashion of his time * The four concertos thus edited had their first performances in this country under Mr. Molinari's direction at concerts of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra through the month of January, 1928. "L' Estate" was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, March 15, 1928. EDWARD MacDOWELL COMPOSITIONS ARRANGED FOR FULL ORCHESTRA AND SMALLER INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLES From SEA PIECES, Op. 55 Net Full Orchestra $1.50 a r> ifi9n S ' D I Small Orchestra 1.00 TO THE SEA and NAUTILUS j ^llO^U lit WOODLAND SKETCHES, Op. 51 Book I : Containing a W 0S ™U °' the WisP - T? S !,7- ) Full Orchestra 2.25 At an ^Old Trystmg Place— „ ,, [ bmaU OrchestraGrrhp<ifra 1.50-, 50 In Autumn — From an Indian Lodge ) Book II : Containing To a Water Lily-From Uncle Remus- j FuU 0rcheiara 2.25 a uesertea *aim , 8 u 0rche8tra 1#50 By a Meadow Brook — Told at Sunset ) (The above can be played by any combination which includes piano and first violin) Two Pieces for String Orchestra {From Woodland Sketches, Op. 51) AT AN OLD TRYSTING PLACE Score and Parts 1.00 FROM UNCLE REMUS Score and Parts 1.25 THE ARTHUR P. SCHMIDT CO, 120 Boylston St. [259] is discernible in the fanciful titles of such composers as Couperin in France, or Johann Kuhnau in Germany, composer of the Biblical sonata which specifies each incident in the struggle between David and Goliath. A sonnet which Mr. Molinari attributes to Vivaldi himself appears at the head of each concerto. In "La Primavera" each line has its place clearly marked with a letter in the course of the score. The references are as follows: (a) Spring is come. (b) The festive birds salute it with their merry songs, (c) and the fountains run with a soft murmur under the breath of the zephyrs. (d) The sky becomes overcast, and thunder and lightning follow. (e) When calm is restored, the birds resume their singing. (/) On the flowery meadow, amidst the rustling of leaves and plants, sleeps the goatherd with his faithful dog at his side. (g) To the festal sounds of pastoral piping, nymphs and shepherds dance on their beloved heath to celebrate the coming of the radiant spring. The following description of "La Primavera" was written by Law- rence Gilman for the programmes of the Philharmonic Symphony So- ciety of New York: "The music begins (Allegro, E major, 4-4 time) with a joyous out- burst for the full orchestra of strings, cembalo and organ. Above the first bar duly appears Vivaldi's key-letter (a), and its corresponding TO ORDER Order your new beauty today. Begin with a series of face treatments. Give your complexion the smooth freshness required by subtle costume colors. Get to work on your figure too. Have it Shad-O-Graphed. Then with a concrete picture to show you just what you need, start a course of exercise and have Ardena Baths to mold you into slim young curves. 24 NEWBURY STREET, BOSTON KENMORE 4783 [26o] line from the prefatory poem: 'Spring is conic' Naive, no doubt] But clear, definite, honest and unmistakable. "By the fourteenth measure, the orchestra has (aimed down to piano, and all the instruments fall silent except three solo violins, which trill and warble unmistakably beneath the caption (b). 'The festive birds salute it with their merry songs.' The joyous 'Spring' theme of the opening measures returns for three forte bars of the full orchestra. There is a sudden drop to piano, and the caption (c). 'The foun- tains run with a soft murmur under the breath of the zephyrs,' makes clear the meaning of the gentle figure in sixteenth-notes for the violins. "And now Vivaldi brings on his storm. We read this caption in the score: (d). 'The sky becomes overcast, and thunder and lightning follow.' The unison strings sound the formula of the repeated note which for so many years has signified musical rain; the lightning flashes in violin runs; we hear some gentle eighteenth century thunder, (e) . 'When calm is restored, the birds resume their singing.' Three solo violins carol above a pedal C-sharp of the 'celli, and the opening Spring song bursts from the full orchestra. The Allegro ends on a long- held tonic chord, fortissimo. '. T "We reach letter (/) . On the flow ery meadow, amidst the rustling of leaves and plants, sleeps the goatherd with his faithful dog by his side.' This caption introduces a Largo (C-sharp minor, 3-4). The solo violin, dolce, espressivo, sings above an accompaniment of muted strings. The whole of this brief slow7 movement (thirty-nine bars) is 1 ' I - - . "BLACK" — IS THE IMPORTANT NOTE FOR EVENING — IT WILL PROBABLY BE A DINNER DRESS THAT JUST COVERS YOUR SHOULDERS OR HAS VERY SHORT SLEEVES — ITS UTTER SIMPLICITY WILL BREATHE SOPHISTICATION — IT WILL NOT BE DEVOID OF COLOR AS IT WILL HAVE A TOUCH OF EMBROIDERY— 1 "Hurtuitch Bros : \ /wcnm/ / * at " \ MUilMSISM»l:aa*J»>W(«YJ*:Wl . [261] devoted to an evocation of the picture of the tranquil, blossoming meadow, the sleeping shepherd, the lazily outstretched dog. "The final Allegro (the most elaborate movement of the concerto) '. is summed up by the caption (g) . To the festal sounds of pastoral piping, nymphs and shepherds dance on their beloved heath to cele- brate the coming of the radiant spring.' This movement is not only captioned by the excerpt from the sonnet, but Vivaldi adds the super- scription, 'Pastoral Dance.' The opening measures are in the typical manner of the eighteenth century 'Pastorale' — a movement in rondo- form, in 6-8 time, E major, over a drone bass, for the full band, forte.

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