Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Programs, Season 70, 1950-1951

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Boston Symphony Orchestra Concert Programs, Season 70, 1950-1951 r" BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOUNDED IN I88I BY HENRY LEE HIGGINSON » / • Q '^^illl A' iiiii/i/ 77yPy<^ « H SEVENTIETH SEASON 1950-1 95 I Carnegie Hall, New York Boston Symphony Orchestra [Seventieth Season, 1950-1951] CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director RICHARD BURGIN, Associate Conductor PERSONNEL Violins Violas Bassoons Richard Burgin, Joseph de Pasquale Raymond Allard Concert-master Jean Cauhape Ernst Panenka Alfred Krips Georges Fourel Theodore Brewster Gaston Elcus Eugen Lehner Rolland Tapley Albert Bernard Contra-Bassoon Norbert Lauga George Humphrey Boaz Piller George Zazofsky Jerome Lipson Paul Cherkassky Louis Artieres Horns Harry Dubbs Robert Karol James Stagliano Reuben Green Vladimir Resnikoff Harry Shapiro Joseph Leibovici Charles Van Wynbergen Harold Meek Einar Hansen Siegfried Gerhardt Paul Keaney Harry Dickson Walter Macdonald Violoncellos Emil Kornsand Osbourne McConathy Carlos Pinfield Samuel Mayes Alfred Zighera Paul Fedorovsky Trumpets Minot Beale Jacobus Langendoen Mischa Nieland Roger Voisin Herman Silberman Marcel Lafosse Hippolyte Droeghmans Roger Schermanski Harry Herforth Karl Zeise Rene Voisin Clarence Knudson Josef Zimbler Pierre Mayer Bernard Parronchi Trombones Manuel Zung Enrico Fabrizio Samuel Diamond Leon Marjollet Jacob Raichman Victor Manusevitch Lucien Hansotte James Nagy Flutes John Coffey Josef Orosz Leon Gorodetzky Georges Laurent Raphael Del Sordo James Pappoutsakis Melvin Bryant Phillip Kaplan Tuba John Murray Vinal Smith Piccolo Lloyd Stonestreet Henri Erkelens George Madsen Harps Saverio Messina Oboes Bernard Zighera Stanley Benson Elford Caughey Sheldon Rotenberg Ralph Gomberg Devergie Gottfried Wilfinger Jean Joseph Lukatsky Timpani Basses Roman Szulc English Horn Georges Moleux Charles Smith Louis Speyer Willis Page Ludwig Juht Clarinets Percussion Irving Frankel Polster Gino Cioffi Max Henry Greenberg Manuel Valerio Simon Sternburg Henry Portnoi Pasquale Cardillo Victor di Stefano Gaston Dufresne E\) Clarinet Henri Girard Librarians Henry Freeman Bass Clarinet Leslie Rogers John Barwicki Rosario Mazzeo Leonard Burkat Carnegie Hall, New York Sixty-fifth Season in New York SEVENTIETH SEASON, 1950-1951 Boston Symphony Orchestra CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor Concert Bulletin of the Second Concert WEDNESDAY EVENING, December 6 AND THE Second Matinee SATURDAY AFTERNOON, December 9 with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk The TRUSTEES of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Henry B. Cabot . President . Vice-President Jacob J. Kaplan Richard C. Paine . Treasurer Philip R. Allen M. A. De Wolfe Howe John Nicholas Brown Charles D. Jackson Theodore P. Ferris Lewis Perry Alvan T. Fuller Edward A. Taft N. Penrose Hallowell Raymond S. Wilkins Francis W. Hatch Oliver Wolcott George E. Judd, Manager T. D. Perry, Jr. N. S. Shirk, Assistant Managers in I The Last Nail Is The One to Drive Home First Whether it's a ten-story building or a A contract bond, competently written hy twenty-mile highway, the best beginning The Man with The Plan, your local Em- for a happy ending is a bond ... a contract ployers' Group Insurance Agent, is sound bond . written by an Employers' insurance that guarantees that the last Group Agent. nail will be driven . that the job will Anyone who has invested money in any be completed ... no matter what unex- construction project can appreciate the pected trouble the contractor might importance of that bond. Without it, the have to face. complete job and all the money that goes Always drive the last nail first. Always into it are left to fate. It's a gamble. Many be sure a construction job will be finished unforeseen circumstances can mean noth- hy first insisting on an Employers' Group ing but ruin. But with an adequate bond Contract Bond . one that is large . there's no gamble, no fate involved. enough to cover all hazards completely. The Insurance Man Serves America The Employers' Group ^^^^fu^^a^ecc C^^/s^^tu^^e^^^ 110 MILK STREET, BOSTON 7, MASS. THE EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY ASSURANCE CORP., LTD. AMERICAN EMPLOYERS' INSURANCE CO. THE EMPLOYERS' FIRE INSURANCE CO, [2] Carnegie Hall, New York Sixty-fifth 5eason in New York Boston Symphony Orchestra CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director SECOND EVENING CONCERT WEDNESDAY, December 6 Program SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY (Music Director Emeritus) Conducting Sibelius "Pohjola's Daughter," Symphonic Fantasia, Op. 49 Sibelius Symphony No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 82 I. I Tempo molto moderato II. I Allegro moderato, ma poco a poco stretto III. Andante mosso, quasi allegretto IV. Allegro molto INTERMISSION Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 I. Un poco sostenuto; Allegro II. Andante sostenuto III. Un poco allegretto e grazioso IV. Adagio; Allegro non troppo, ma con brio BALDWIN PIANO RCA VICTOR RECORDS The music of these programs is available at the Music Library, 58th Street Branch, the New York Public Library. [3] On the announcement that Dr. Koussevitzky would terminate his conductorship in Boston after twenty-five years, he received invita- tions to conduct orchestras in North and South America, Europe, and the youthful state of Israel. Immediately after the 1949 Berkshire Festival, Dr. Koussevitzky fulfilled his first California engagement — a set of concerts in the Hollywood Bowl. In early October he con- ducted the Brazil Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro — his first appearance in South America. Beginning in January, 1950, he ful- filled engagements — lasting into June — in Havana, Israel (debuts in each case), Rome, Brussels, Paris, and London. He had not had the opportunity to conduct in Europe for years. The remark of a critic in Rome is typical: "Although 76, he put into his performance the vigor and enthusiasm of a man of 30, adding to that youthful vigor all the experience of a career of many years." From July 8 to August 13 last, he conducted at the Berkshire Festival. He flew from New York to Paris on September 21, and within the week had flown to Israel. After filling return engagements there until November, he flew on the sixth of that month to Paris, and whence to New York, arriving the eighth. From November 21 through December 9 he will conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra at home and on visits to Providence, Newark, New York, Brooklyn, and Washington. Subsequently he will conduct the Israel Philharmonic on its first American tour. [4] "POHJOLA'S DAUGHTER," SYMPHONIC FANTASIA, Op. 49 By Jean Sibelius Born at Tavastehus, Finland, December 8, 1865 Composed and published in 1906, Pohjola's Daughter was first performed under the composer's direction in St. Petersburg at a Siloti concert in December of the same year. Sibelius first conducted the work in Finland at a concert of the Helsingfors Orchestra, September 25, 1907. The first performance in this country was on June 4, 1914, at a concert of the Litchfield County Choral Union in Norfolk, Connecticut, the composer, on a visit to America, conducting this and others of his tone poems. The piece was first played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra January 12, 1917, under the direction of Karl Muck. The orchestration includes: two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contra-bassoon, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones and tuba, harp, timpani and strings. "ttjohjola's Daughter" was one of Sibelius' later settings of epi- X sodes from the "Kalevala," the mythological folk epic of Fin- land which was for long the bible and main resource of Sibelius, seeking poetical subjects for his descriptive music. The "Kalevala" furnished him abundantly with its exploits of gods and men, closely interwoven in the telling with images of nature, and destinies con- trolled by sorcery. The two characters concerned in this symphonic fantasia are the daughter of "Pohjola" (pronounced as if "Pohyola"). which was the name for the North Country, identified with Lapland, and Vainamoinen, one of the four heroes of the "Kalevala." "Pohjola's Daughter" is drawn from the eighth Runo, or canto, of the "Kalevala," which is called "Vainamoinen's Wound." Vainamoinen is a son of the Wind and the Virgin of the Air. He appears a vigor- ous old man: "Vainamoinen old and steadfast" is the constant refrain of the poem. Vainamoinen is a famous bard; he is also of great strength and skill, can accomplish Herculean labors. But when, on his sleigh journey homeward from the northland, he encounters the fair daughter of Pohja (the North) seated on a rainbow, spinning, he meets more than his equal. So runs the "Kalevala"*: * The strong suggestion of "Hiawatha" in this translation by W. F. Kirby ("Everyman's Library") recalls the fact that Longfellow modeled his poem on the metre and style of the Finnish "Kalevala," which had been assembled and published in 1835 (in its own language) by Elias Lonnrot. There arose a heated controversy in America and England as to whether Longfellow had borrowed too heavily from his Finnish source. Ferdinand Freiligrath settled the case to the apparent satisfaction of the literary world. He decided (in the "Athenaeum," London, December 29, 1855), that "Hiawatha" was written in "a modified Finnish metre, modified by the exquisite feeling of the American poet, according to the genius of the English language and to the wants of modern taste." He found "no imitation of plot or incidents by Longfellow." [5] Lovely was the maid of Pohja, Famed on land, on water peerless. On the arch of air high-seated, Brightly shining on the rainbow. Clad in robes of dazzling lustre. Clad in raiment white and shining; There she wove a golden fabric. Interwoven all with silver. And her shuttle was all golden, And her comb was all of silver. Verses, printed in the score in German, have been translated as follows: "Vainamoinen, leaving the gloomy Kingdom of Pohjola and the home of sombre songs, goes homeward on his sledge. Hark! What noise is that? He looks upward. There on the rainbow Pohjola's daugh- ter sits and spins, brilliant, high up in the blue air.
Recommended publications
  • Scaramouche and the Commedia Dell'arte
    Scaramouche Sibelius’s horror story Eija Kurki © Finnish National Opera and Ballet archives / Tenhovaara Scaramouche. Ballet in 3 scenes; libr. Paul [!] Knudsen; mus. Sibelius; ch. Emilie Walbom. Prod. 12 May 1922, Royal Dan. B., CopenhaGen. The b. tells of a demonic fiddler who seduces an aristocratic lady; afterwards she sees no alternative to killinG him, but she is so haunted by his melody that she dances herself to death. Sibelius composed this, his only b. score, in 1913. Later versions by Lemanis in Riga (1936), R. HiGhtower for de Cuevas B. (1951), and Irja Koskkinen [!] in Helsinki (1955). This is the description of Sibelius’s Scaramouche, Op. 71, in The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet. Initially, however, Sibelius’s Scaramouche was not a ballet but a pantomime. It was completed in 1913, to a Danish text of the same name by Poul Knudsen, with the subtitle ‘Tragic Pantomime’. The title of the work refers to Italian theatre, to the commedia dell’arte Scaramuccia character. Although the title of the work is Scaramouche, its main character is the female dancing role Blondelaine. After Scaramouche was completed, it was then more or less forgotten until it was published five years later, whereupon plans for a performance were constantly being made until it was eventually premièred in 1922. Performances of Scaramouche have 1 attracted little attention, and also Sibelius’s music has remained unknown. It did not become more widely known until the 1990s, when the first full-length recording of this remarkable composition – lasting more than an hour – appeared. Previous research There is very little previous research on Sibelius’s Scaramouche.
    [Show full text]
  • Sibelius Society
    UNITED KINGDOM SIBELIUS SOCIETY www.sibeliussociety.info NEWSLETTER No. 84 ISSN 1-473-4206 United Kingdom Sibelius Society Newsletter - Issue 84 (January 2019) - CONTENTS - Page 1. Editorial ........................................................................................... 4 2. An Honour for our President by S H P Steadman ..................... 5 3. The Music of What isby Angela Burton ...................................... 7 4. The Seventh Symphonyby Edward Clark ................................... 11 5. Two forthcoming Society concerts by Edward Clark ............... 12 6. Delights and Revelations from Maestro Records by Edward Clark ............................................................................ 13 7. Music You Might Like by Simon Coombs .................................... 20 8. Desert Island Sibelius by Peter Frankland .................................. 25 9. Eugene Ormandy by David Lowe ................................................. 34 10. The Third Symphony and an enduring friendship by Edward Clark ............................................................................. 38 11. Interesting Sibelians on Record by Edward Clark ...................... 42 12. Concert Reviews ............................................................................. 47 13. The Power and the Gloryby Edward Clark ................................ 47 14. A debut Concert by Edward Clark ............................................... 51 15. Music from WW1 by Edward Clark ............................................ 53 16. A
    [Show full text]
  • View List (.Pdf)
    Symphony Society of New York Stadium Concert United States Premieres New York Philharmonic Commission as of November 30, 2020 NY PHIL Biennial Members of / musicians from the New York Philharmonic Click to jump to decade 1842-49 | 1850-59 | 1860-69 | 1870-79 | 1880-89 | 1890-99 | 1900-09 | 1910-19 | 1920-29 | 1930-39 1940-49 | 1950-59 | 1960-69 | 1970-79 | 1980-89 | 1990-99 | 2000-09 | 2010-19 | 2020 Composer Work Date Conductor 1842 – 1849 Beethoven Symphony No. 3, Sinfonia Eroica 18-Feb 1843 Hill Beethoven Symphony No. 7 18-Nov 1843 Hill Vieuxtemps Fantasia pour le Violon sur la quatrième corde 18-May 1844 Alpers Lindpaintner War Jubilee Overture 16-Nov 1844 Loder Mendelssohn The Hebrides Overture (Fingal's Cave) 16-Nov 1844 Loder Beethoven Symphony No. 8 16-Nov 1844 Loder Bennett Die Najaden (The Naiades) 1-Mar 1845 Wiegers Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3, Scottish 22-Nov 1845 Loder Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 17-Jan 1846 Hill Kalliwoda Symphony No. 1 7-Mar 1846 Boucher Furstenau Flute Concerto No. 5 7-Mar 1846 Boucher Donizetti "Tutto or Morte" from Faliero 20-May 1846 Hill Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Choral 20-May 1846 Loder Gade Grand Symphony 2-Dec 1848 Loder Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor 24-Nov 1849 Eisfeld Beethoven Symphony No. 4 24-Nov 1849 Eisfeld 1850 – 1859 Schubert Symphony in C major, Great 11-Jan 1851 Eisfeld R. Schumann Introduction and Allegro appassionato for Piano and 25-Apr 1857 Eisfeld Orchestra Litolff Chant des belges 25-Apr 1857 Eisfeld R. Schumann Overture to the Incidental Music to Byron's Dramatic 21-Nov 1857 Eisfeld Poem, Manfred 1860 - 1869 Brahms Serenade No.
    [Show full text]
  • Visits to Tuonela Ne of the Many Mythologies Which Have Had an In
    ne of the many mythologies which have had an in­ fluence on Tolkien's work was the Kalevala, the 22000- line poem recounting the adventures of a group of Fin­ nish heroes. It has many characteristics peculiar to itself and is quite different from, for example, Greek or Germanic mythology. It would take too long to dis­ cuss this difference, but the prominent role of women (particularly mothers) throughout the book may be no­ ted, as well as the fact that the heroes and the style are 'low-brow', as Tolkien described them, as opposed to the 'high-brow' heroes common in other mytholog- les visits to Tuonela (Hades) are fairly frequent; and magic and shape-change- ing play a large part in the epic. Another notable feature which the Kaleva la shares with QS is that it is a collection of separate, but interrelated, tales of heroes, with the central theme of war against Pohjola, the dreary North, running through the whole epic, and individual themes in the separate tales. However, it must be appreciated that QS, despite the many influences clearly traceable behind it, is, as Carpenter reminds us, essentially origin­ al; influences are subtle, and often similar incidents may occur in both books, but be employed in different circumstances, or be used in QS simply as a ba­ sis for a tale which Tolkien would elaborate on and change. Ibis is notice­ able even in the tale of Turin (based on the tale of Kullervo), in which the Finnish influence is strongest. I will give a brief synopsis of the Kullervo tale, to show that although Tolkien used the story, he varied it, added to it, changed its style (which cannot really be appreciated without reading the or­ iginal ), and moulded it to his own use.
    [Show full text]
  • Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
    Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Friday, January 12, 2018 at 11 am Jayce Ogren, Guest conductor Sibelius Symphony No. 7 in C Major Tchaikovsky Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Gabriel Lefkowitz, violin Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto For Tchaikovsky and The Composers Sibelius, these works were departures from their previ- ous compositions. Both Jean Sibelius were composed in later pe- (1865—1957) riods in these composers’ lives and both were pushing Johan Christian Julius (Jean) Sibelius their comfort levels. was born on December 8, 1865 in Hämeenlinna, Finland. His father (a doctor) died when Jean For Tchaikovsky, the was three. After his father’s death, the family Violin Concerto came on had to live with a variety of relatives and it was Jean’s aunt who taught him to read music and the heels of his “year of play the piano. In his teen years, Jean learned the hell” that included his disas- violin and was a quick study. He formed a trio trous marriage. It was also with his sister older Linda (piano) and his younger brother Christian (cello) and also start- the only concerto he would ed composing, primarily for family. When Jean write for the violin. was ready to attend university, most of his fami- Jean Sibelius ly (Christian stayed behind) moved to Helsinki For Sibelius, his final where Jean enrolled in law symphony became a chal- school but also took classes at the Helsinksi Music In- stitute. Sibelius quickly became known as a skilled vio- lenge to synthesize the tra- linist as well as composer. He then spent the next few ditional symphonic form years in Berlin and Vienna gaining more experience as a composer and upon his return to Helsinki in 1892, he with a tone poem.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Program Notes
    Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43 Jean Sibelius hanks to benefactions arranged by Axel four tone poems based on characters from TCarpelan, a Finnish man-about-the-arts Dante’s Divine Comedy . But once Sibelius re - and the eventual dedicatee of this work, Jean turned to Finland that June, he began to rec - Sibelius and his family were able to undertake ognize that what was forming out of his a trip to Italy from February to April 1901. So sketches was instead a full-fledged sym - it was that much of the Second Symphony phony — one that would end up exhibiting was sketched in the Italian cities of Florence an extraordinary degree of unity among its and, especially, Rapallo, where Sibelius sections. With his goal now clarified, Sibelius rented a composing studio apart from the worked assiduously through the summer and home in which his family was lodging. fall and reached a provisional completion of Aspects of the piece had already begun to his symphony in November 1901. Then he form in his mind almost two years earlier, al - had second thoughts, revised the piece pro - though at that point Sibelius seems to have foundly, and definitively concluded the Sec - assumed that his sketches would end up in ond Symphony in January 1902. various separate compositions rather than in The work’s premiere, two months later, a single unified symphony. Even in Rapallo marked a signal success, as did three sold-out he was focused on writing a tone poem. He performances during the ensuing week. The reported that on February 11, 1901, he enter - conductor Robert Kajanus, who would be - tained a fantasy that the villa in which his come a distinguished interpreter of Sibelius’s studio was located was the fanciful palace of works, was in attendance, and he insisted Don Juan and that he himself was the that the Helsinki audiences had understood amorous, amoral protagonist of that legend.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of the Kalevala in Finnish Culture and Politics URPO VENTO Finnish Literature Society, Finland
    Nordic Journal of African Studies 1(2): 82–93 (1992) The Role of the Kalevala in Finnish Culture and Politics URPO VENTO Finnish Literature Society, Finland The question has frequently been asked: would Finland exist as a nation state without Lönnrot's Kalevala? There is no need to answer this, but perhaps we may assume that sooner or later someone would have written the books which would have formed the necessary building material for the national identity of the Finns. During the mid 1980s, when the 150th anniversary of the Kalevala was being celebrated in Finland, several international seminars were held and thousands of pages of research and articles were published. At that time some studies appeared in which the birth of the nation state was examined from a pan-European perspective. SMALL NATION STATES "The nation state - an independent political unit whose people share a common language and believe they have a common cultural heritage - is essentially a nineteenth-century invention, based on eighteenth-century philosophy, and which became a reality for the most part in either the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The circumstances in which this process took place were for the most part marked by the decline of great empires whose centralised sources of power and antiquated methods of administrations prevented an effective response to economic and social change, and better education, with all the aspirations for freedom of thought and political action that accompany such changes." Thus said Professor Michael Branch (University of London) at a conference on the literatures of the Uralic peoples held in Finland in the summer of 1991.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Symphonic Poems and Cantatas Mp3, Flac, Wma
    Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) Symphonic Poems and Cantatas mp3, flac, wma DOWNLOAD LINKS (Clickable) Genre: Classical Album: Symphonic Poems and Cantatas MP3 version RAR size: 1158 mb FLAC version RAR size: 1232 mb WMA version RAR size: 1143 mb Rating: 4.2 Votes: 668 Other Formats: MP4 AAC AHX MP3 MOD DXD DTS Tracklist 1 Cd 1: Kullervo - symphonic poem for soloists, chorus and orchestra Op.7 (Kalevala) [78:29] Cd2: Nightride and Sunrise Op. 55 [14:41]; Luonnotar Op. 70 [9:18]; Legends (Lemminkäinen Suite) Op. 22 2 (I.Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island [17:08]; II.Swan of Tuonela [9:49]; III.Lemminkäinen in Tuonela [15:54]; IV.Lemminkäinen's Return [6:32]) (1895-6) [49:23] Cd 3: Jungfrun i tornet (The Maiden in the tower): one act in overture and eight scenes (1895-6) [36:39] Pelléas et Mélisande - incidental music Op. 46 (At the Castle Gate [2:47]; Mélisande [3:49]; At the Sea 3 [1:59]; By a spring in the park [2:12]; The three blind sisters [2:08]; Pastorale [1:52]; Mélisande at the spinning wheel [2:03]; Entr'acte [2:53]; The death of Mélisande [6:01]) [25:48] Cd 4: Snöfrid Op. 29 [11.23]; Oma Maa Op. 92 [11.55]; Väinön Virsi Op. 110 [8.42]; Sandels Op. 28 (1898 rev. 1915) [9.09]; Maan Virsi Op. 95 [7.41]; Laulu Lemminkäiselle Op. 31 No. 1 [3.31]; Finlandia Op. 26 4 [8.36] Read more: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/DEC10/Sibelius_Jarvi_6484032.htm#ixzz4wj6wRM3U Notes Sibelius Barcode and Other Identifiers Barcode: 50999 6484032 1 Related Music albums to Symphonic Poems and Cantatas by Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
    [Show full text]
  • Hist Lab Esitelmä Ljubljana 10
    Sari Saresto, Helsinki City Museum A presentation in Ljubljana, AN hist lab, 10th March 2006 Pohjola Insurance Building (1899-1901) International concepts are conveyed as a synthesis of national motifs and genuine materials In search of national identity: Finland was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1809. Russia wished to sever Finland’s close ties with former mother country Sweden and thus designated Helsinki as the capital of the Grand Duchy. Under Swedish rule, Turku had been the seat of government and higher education. Helsinki was geographically closer to Russia than the west coast city of Turku, (which almost seemed to gravitate towards Sweden), and thus also more easily supervised from St Petersburg. The Grand Duchy was allowed to retain its laws dating back to the time of Swedish rule. The language of government was Swedish, which was only spoken by 5% of the nation’s population. In Helsinki, however, nearly the entire population was Swedish-speaking. Nor was Swedish the language only of the upper echelons of society; it was spoken even by menial labourers. It wasn’t until the 1860s and the 1870s that the proportion of Finnish-speakers began to rapidly climb in Helsinki. The exhortation of “Swedes we are no longer, Russians we can never become, so let us be Finns” was first heard back in the 1820s. Finnish was the language of the people and its status was only highlighted by the Kalevala, the national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot and published for the first time in 1835. This epic poem told, in Finnish, the tale of the world from its creation, speaking of an ancient, mystical past replete with legendary heroes, tribal wars, witches and magical devices.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Booklet
    8.570763 SIBELIUS bk EU.qxp:NAXOS 10/8/08 6:42 PM Page 6 Zealand composers, the orchestra records at least one CD of New Zealand music annually. The NZSO has a strong relationship with Naxos, recording repertoire as diverse as Elgar (three discs), Ferdinand Ries, Beethoven, Bernstein, Copland, Lilburn, Sculthorpe, Frank Bridge, Akutagawa, Mendelssohn, Honegger, Liszt, and Vaughan Williams. Over one million of these CDs have been sold internationally in the last decade and they have received critical acclaim. NZSO discs (Hummel, Elgar and Bernstein) were chosen for the “Editor’s Choice” section of SIBELIUS Gramophone in 2004 and Lilburn’s Orchestral Works (8.557697) was chosen in 2006. Also available: Website: www.nzso.co.nz Night Ride and Sunrise Photo by Jon Barraclough Belshazzar’s Feast • Kuolema New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Pietari Inkinen 8.570068 8.570069 8.570763 6 5 8.570763 8.570763 SIBELIUS bk EU.qxp:NAXOS 10/8/08 6:42 PM Page 2 Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) woodwind instruments. The music continues in its livelier major key and a theme for the cornets, a section Pietari Inkinen Night Ride and Sunrise • Belshazzarʼs Feast • Pan and Echo • Kuolema suggestion of a Nordic sunrise, in a language that is of the work that finds a place for castanets in Pietari Inkinen is fast establishing himself as one of the most exciting talents of Dryad and Tanz-Intermezzo immediately identifiable as that of Sibelius. reinforcement of the prevailing rhythm, as its takes its Pan and Echo (Tanz-Intermezzo No. 3) was written light-hearted course.
    [Show full text]
  • Program Notes November 9, 2019 Wagnerian Music Dramas
    Program Notes November 9, 2019 Wagnerian music dramas. Sibelius soured on Wagner’s The Swan of Tuonela from Four Legends compositional methods soon thereafter, and The Swan from the Kalevala, Op. 22 of Tuonela was published with three other short symphonic poems as the suite Four Legends from JEAN SIBELIUS (1965 - 1957) the Kalevala, Op. 22. Each of the four works depicts an adventure from the life of the mythic Finnish hero As Jean Sibelius came to maturity as man and Lemminkäinen, the central figure of the Kalevala, musician, his country lived under the growing A the national epic of Finland. threat of absorption into the Russian Empire. Finland Sibelius inscribed the following words on the score: had been a Grand Duchy of Russia since 1809, but “Tuonela, the land of death, the hell of it enjoyed a great degree of autonomous freedom, Finnish mythology, is surrounded by a with its own parliament and court system. Starting large river of black waters and a rapid during the reign of Czar Alexander III and continuing current, in which The Swan of Tuonela with Nicolas II, Russia began to limit the rights of glides majestically, singing.“ Finns, curtailing the authority of parliament, mandating Sibelius scores the work for solo English horn, military service and eventually dissolving the oboe, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three Finnish army. trombones, timpani, bass drum, harp and muted Rather than taking up arms, the Finns fought back strings – an ensemble of dark orchestral colors suitable with their culture against the encroachment on their for depicting the desolation of Tuonela.
    [Show full text]
  • Classical Music
    2020– 21 2020– 2020–21 Music Classical Classical Music 1 2019– 20 2019– Classical Music 21 2020– 2020–21 Welcome to our 2020–21 Contents Classical Music season. Artists in the spotlight 3 We are committed to presenting a season unexpected sounds in unexpected places across Six incredible artists you’ll want to know better that connects audiences with the greatest the Culture Mile. We will also continue to take Deep dives 9 international artists and ensembles, as part steps to address the boundaries of historic Go beneath the surface of the music in these themed of a programme that crosses genres and imbalances in music, such as shining a spotlight days and festivals boundaries to break new ground. on 400 years of female composition in The Ghosts, gold-diggers, sorcerers and lovers 19 This year we will celebrate Thomas Adès’s Future is Female. Travel to mystical worlds and new frontiers in music’s 50th birthday with orchestras including the Together with our resident and associate ultimate dramatic form: opera London Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, orchestras and ensembles – the London Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Awesome orchestras 27 Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Academy of Ancient Agile chamber ensembles and powerful symphonic juggernauts and conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Music, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Australian Choral highlights 35 Gustavo Dudamel, Franz Welser-Möst and the Chamber Orchestra – we are looking forward Epic anthems and moving songs to stir the soul birthday boy himself. Joyce DiDonato will to another year of great music, great artists and return to the Barbican in the company of the great experiences.
    [Show full text]