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UC San Diego | Division of Arts & Humanities | Department of Music XENAKIS Dikhthas (1979) ALFRED SCHNITTKE Sonata No. 3 (1994) 1. Andante 2. Allegro (molto) 3. Adagio 4. Senza tempo (tempo libre, ma inquieto) KAIJA SAARIAHO Calices (2009) 1. Rubato, dolce 2. Lento. Misterioso 3. Agitato Intermission STEPHEN HARTKE Netsuke (2011) DAVIDOVSKY Synchronisms #9 (1988) JOHN ADAMS Road Movies (1995) I. Relaxed Groove II. Meditative III. 40% Swing Midori, Violin Özgür Aydin, Piano PROGRAM NOTES the form of his first violin sonata, this final sonata, from 1994, is written as a sonata da chiesa ("chiesa" meaning "church"), a slow-fast-slow-fast format ALFRED SCHNITTKE following baroque and classical practices. For the (born 1934 in Engels, Latvia; died 1998 in Hamburg) borrowing, Schnittke's sonorities are his own. They can at times be simple, but his music never allows Sonata No.3 (1994) for easy listening. Cynicism, discomfort, passion, and dark nostalgia, imbued with almost irksome Alfred Schnittke had a special affinity for the violin, humor, co-exist throughout. an instrument that, to his ear, had a sound close to that of the human voice. His violin oeuvre spans Alfred Schnittke's later years were troubled by a almost his entire career, including three sonatas, series of near-fatal strokes, rendering him partially four violin concerti, concerti grossi that prominent- paralyzed. The physical act of writing became a great ly feature the instrument, as well as assorted solo challenge and, as a result, this late sonata's score is works and miniatures, etc. Schnittke, a Russian Jew sparsely notated for both instruments. It is some- of German descent who converted to Catholicism, times so spare, with extremely sporadic markings, is generally described as a "polystylist" - a compos- that players have to interpret broadly, based on er who brought various musical styles, past and their knowledge of the Schnittke style. The pitches contemporary, into complex combinations within a sound to the ear as though they were leaping across single work. Though that might give the impression registers, but in fact he employs step-wise motions, that Schnittke's identity as a composer is indistinc- akin to a chromatic scale, which through skipping tive, on the contrary, his music is always identifiably registers sound anything but simple. unique, notable for its combination of cynical mood, simple yet dramatic presence, and emotionally grip- First movement: Basically a series of ascending lines ping expression. played on the violin that escalate in speed, leading to an increase in tension, while the piano accompa- While his works invariably offer something new nies with dissonant chords. Quarter-tones create an to explore, both for the listener and the player, and uncomfortable dissonance, as notes glide from one while his language is so much his own, given its to the next, causing the notes to feel "stretched" and multiple cultural and artistic influences, Schnittke maximized, another manner of increasing intensity. can also be considered a type of "classicist". Schnit- tke's musical education began in Vienna, where Second movement: An almost Prokofiev-like spirit his family was living when he was a boy, and he sounds throughout, wicked mischief tempered considered himself to be a musical child of the Ger- by a sense of innocence. Rhythmically jaunty and manic masters, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, sprightly, the mood is both comical and dark-hu- rather than the Russian romantics Tchaikovsky and mored. The entire movement consists, almost exclu- Rachmaninoff. Schnittke learned from Shostakov- sively, of short, articulated notes. ich, particularly in terms of how a modern, Soviet composer might relate to musical history, but his Third movement: The most somber and romantic of mature sound world answers to his own, complex, the four movements, this is the section of the sonata worldly perspective. in which the two instruments give their strongest sense of being in dialogue with each other. The Just as the 1953 Fuga, for solo violin, was one of movement's general mood is of quiet passion; its Schnittke's first published compositions, the Violin underlying nostalgia never sugar coated. Sonata No.3 lists among his last works. Repeating Fourth movement: Schnittke marks this movement Calices, written in 2009, was commissioned by the “Senza tempo,” the suggested “lack” of tempo creat- Reina Sofia Music School, of Madrid, Spain. To ing a quiet tension. Outbursts of energy increase in honor the school’s director, a financial gift secured intensity all the way to the work's conclusion, those a number of commissions for Spanish and interna- outbursts finally ceding into a nonstop, high-pitched tional composers to write for Reina Sofia’s talented intensity. The movement's beginning is almost student musicians. The goal was to encourage the inquisitive, whereas its climax is unforgivingly school’s young artists to connect to the music of unrelenting and definitive. The music's irregularity, their time, and commissioned composers were its unmooring from time, leaves its listeners with a allowed total freedom in determining the length, mood of profound unease and nervousness. instrumentation, and format their work was to take. Saariaho chose to re-work portions of her 1994 Alfred Schnittke's Violin Sonata No.3 was dedicat- violin concerto, Graal Théâtre, which had been ed to the violinist Mark Lubotsky, who premiered premiered by its dedicatee, Gidon Kremer, with it with the pianist Irina Schnittke in Moscow on Esa-Pekka Salonen leading the BBC Symphony October 10, 1994. during the 1995 Proms. Notes © 2014 by Midori, OFFICE GOTO Co.,Ltd. The Graal concerto was inspired, in part, by a series of ten plays, the Graal Théâtre, by Florence Delay and Jacques Roubaud. The plays retell the epic story of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail. The cycle begins with the conflict of Joseph of Arimathea and Merlin. That conflict, KAIJA SAARIAHO which is symbolic of two opposites, of the delicate (born 1952 in Helsinki; currently lives in Paris) and spiritual (also suggested in the work’s title by “Graal,” i.e. the Grail) versus the profane and phys- Calices (2009) ical, i.e. real and tangible, and perhaps superficial at times (as represented by “Theatre” in the title), is The sound world of the Finnish composer Kaija mirrored in the construction of Calices. Saariaho is identifiably unique, taking the listen- er to a world of elegant mystique. As one of most It is worth noting that Saariaho’s much performed decorated living composers, especially prized for opera, L’amour de loin - “love from afar” - is set in four sensually evocative operas, Saariaho has re- medieval times, also evoked by Graal Théâtre and ceived awards including the Polar Music Prize, the Calices. She explores the mystery of times so dif- Grawemeyer Award, and a commission from the ferent from today’s world by plunging listeners into Koussevitzky Music Foundation. Born in Helsinki music inspired by cybernetics, thus the ultramodern and now living in Paris, her early musical training transporting modern imaginations to very different began at the Sibelius Academy on both the violin realities, in this case to a lost time when magic was and the piano. Her tonal language is influenced by key to life. her study of electronics at the French new music institute IRCAM, and a large number of her works In Calices - the word means “chalices,” or goblets, combine traditional instruments with computer-ma- as was the Holy Grail - a three-movement work nipulated and created sounds. She has also written totaling about 15 minutes, static sections contrast completely for electronics or for traditional instru- with rapidly moving, “active,” linear-note (scale- ments alone, but her musical sonorities invariably like) areas. The dialectic of stasis versus activity is evoke the sonic capacities of computerization. paralleled by a contrast of the “smooth” and “noisy,” established in this work by several special bow in which a person could keep personal belongings, techniques. For the quiet, sul tasto is often utilized, onto a kimono’s sash or obi. While originally serving while the impetuous sections are distinguished by - that utilitarian purpose, over time netsuke became extreme - ponticello and a prominent tremolo. Saari- rather elaborate in design and construction. They aho's use of harmonics provides added eeriness and were typically made from delicate materials such as dreaminess. Throughout, the rhapsodic handling of ivories and lacquer, while the subjects they depicted the musical materials - in a somewhat post-serialist often derived from Japanese folklore. manner - enhances Saariaho's various instructions to either pick up intensity or to calm down. Hartke’s composition, Netsuke, is inspired by six figurines in the permanent collection of the Los Beyond the walls of the Reina Sofia Music School, Angeles County Museum of Art. They are, in order: Calices' professional premiere was given in Ham- burg, in November 2009, as part of NDR's Das Neue 1. Tengu, the shapeshifter that feeds on the falsely Werk, Norddeutscher Rundfunk's contemporary holy. music series, by violinist Carolin Widmann and 2. Tadamori and the Oil-thief. pianist Dénes Várjon. 3. Tanuki playing the samisen. 4. Baku, the monster that devours nightmares. Notes © 2014 by Midori, OFFICE GOTO Co.,Ltd. 5. Demons carrying a rich man to hell. 6. Jewel of Wisdom with mountain pavilions. STEPHEN HARTKE The following is excerpted from Hartke’s own notes (born 1952 in New Jersey, USA; currently lives in on the piece: California) “In the first movement, a tengu, a hawk-like goblin, Netsuke (2011) takes on the appearance of a monk to lure a religious hypocrite to his doom. The second carving, Tadam- Stephen Hartke, a master of a range of composi- ori and the Oil-Thief, is a wonderfully kinetic depic- tional styles, is one of the most respected American tion of a midnight scuffle between a samurai and a composers of his generation.

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