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Home , Alexander Siloti, Gustav Mahler

Program Notes October 12, 2019 Rimsky-Korsakov said of his : “Slow by

Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18, * nature, maladroit and clumsy of movement, the maestro, (1873 - 1943) speaking slowly and in a low voice, manifestly displayed little ability either for conducting rehearsals or for hile the incidence of depression among swaying the during concert performances.” Wis probably statistically no greater than for A description of the premiere by Rachmaninoff’s the population as a whole, we tend to think of it as friend, the conductor Alexander Khessin, sums up pervading the lives of many Romantic composers. the performance succinctly: “The was ’s descent from melancholy into insufficiently rehearsed, the orchestra was ragged, madness (including his attempt to drown himself basic stability in was lacking, many errors in in the Rhine) is well-documented, as is the mental the orchestral parts were uncorrected; but the chief breakdown of , who spent the last three thing that ruined the work was the lifeless, superficial, years of his life in an asylum. We know Gustav bland performance, with no flashes of animation, was well aware of the increasingly frequent turmoil enthusiasm or brilliance of orchestral sound.” The of his mental state, as witnessed by his meeting with performance was so bad that Rachmaninoff fled the in Leyden in the Netherlands in concert hall before the conclusion of the work, unable 1910. With the hindsight of psychoanalysis, similar to bear the thought of being brought on stage to tendencies were manifest in the lives of Gesualdo, acknowledge the audience’s response. Rachmaninoff, Handel, Berlioz and many others. too, laid the blame for the failure at the feet of While one could debate at length the causes of these Glazunov: “How could so great a musician as conditions in all of these composers, one particular Glazunov conduct so badly? It is not even a question case of depression and mental block resulted in a of his conducting technique, poor as that is, but of happy ending, completely reversing the fortunes of his musicianship; he beats time as if he had no the sufferer, and creating one of the most famous feeling for at all.” piano concertos in the literature, Rachmaninoff’s Piano The aftermath of the concert was even worse for Concerto No. 2. Yet the genesis of that concerto begins the young . The audience reaction was with a symphony and the “perfect storm” of bad luck tepid at best, a combination of apathy, confusion that befell its premiere. and hostility. The critics in attendance were equally If ever a symphony were jinxed at its first antagonistic, unsparing in the vitriol they heaped performance, it would be Rachmaninoff’s Symphony upon Rachmaninoff’s new work. Even Cesar Cui, No. 1. The circumstances surrounding the 1897 the composer and critic who ardently championed premiere read like every composer’s worst nightmare. new Russian music throughout his career, seemed The symphony received insufficient rehearsal time, to dip his pen in a special blend of poison to savage largely due to the incompetence of conductor Alexander Rachamaninoff’s symphony:

Glazunov, the Director of the . If there were a conservatory in Hell, and While Glazunov was a musician of considerable gifts, if one of its talented students were to he was at best a mediocre conductor, and at worst a compose a programme symphony based fatal hindrance to any ensemble he directed. Nikolai

theFSO.org | 2019 – 20 13 Program Notes October 12, 2019 on the story of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, three years, Rachmaninoff began composing again, and if he were to compose a symphony like producing his Second Piano Concerto within the Mr. Rachmaninoff’s, then he would have space of several months. fulfilled his task brilliantly and would Rachmaninoff regained his confidence as a performer delight the inhabitants of Hell. as well as a composer, appearing as soloist in the final two movements of the work in December of The psychological trauma of the symphony’s 1900 and in the world premiere of the entire concerto premiere flung Rachmaninoff into a deep depression. in November 1901 in Moscow, with the orchestra He battled the demons of self-doubt on a daily basis, conducted by his friend and cousin, Alexander Siloti. usually with the aid of alcohol, and in the subsequent The work bears a dedication to Dr. Dahl in deep three years barely a note of music left his pen. The appreciation for bringing Rachmaninoff back to life sketches for another symphony were abandoned and both personally and professionally. later destroyed. He stopped working on his opera Part of the change in Rachmaninoff’s psyche can Francesca da Rimini and waited nearly nine years perhaps be seen in the unconventional opening of the before resuming work on it. Much later he recalled: concerto: the piano begins alone, not by pronouncing “The despair that filled my soul would not leave me. a main theme, but with a sequence of sonorous chords, My dreams of a brilliant career lay shattered. My like the tolling of Russian church bells. Strings and hopes and confidence were destroyed.” enter with the yearning first theme, supported Rachmaninoff’s career and possibly his life were by rolling cascades of arpeggios from the soloist. While saved by what we would now call an intervention. maintaining the outlines of a conventional concerto A group of his friends recommended that he visit the movement, Rachmaninoff’s first movement gives the psychologist Dr. Nikolai Dahl, an internist and avid impression of an improvised dialogue between piano amateur musician who successfully treated patients orchestra, which builds to a massive climax that ushers through hypnosis and psychotherapy. After a great in a grand restatement of the opening theme, again led deal of hesitation and continued pressure from his by the orchestra and accompanied by the piano. closest friends, Rachmaninoff scheduled a session The slow movement begins much like the first, with with Dahl in January of 1900. Dahl worked closely the piano accompanying the solo flute and clarinet, the with Rachmaninoff to restore his health by establishing latter singing an achingly poignant melody to which regular patterns of sleeping and nourishment. He the piano responds and eventually takes over. By worked to help Rachmaninoff restore his skills as turns wistful, melancholy, unsettled and impassioned, a musician through hypnotic and conversational the movement builds to an impassioned climax before suggestions that Rachmaninoff would soon write a settling back into the serenity of the opening, and successful piano concerto. Over the next four months, closing as it began, with the piano spinning quiet Dahl instilled Rachmaninoff with affirmations of his arpeggios beneath a final nostalgic appearance of forthcoming success: ““You will begin your concerto . . . the principal theme in the violins. you will work with great facility . . . the concerto The finale opens with a vigorous march in the will be of excellent quality . . .” Dahl’s treatments orchestra, which the piano interrupts in brilliant succeeded to perfection: after a dry spell of nearly cascades of arpeggios. The piano kicks off main

14 theFSO.org | 2019 – 20 Program Notes October 12, 2019 part of the movement with the muscular main theme, Handful (Moguchaya kuchka)” to describe the five which is contrasted with one of Rachmaninoff’s Russian composers who best evoked the nationalist most famous outpourings of passionate lyricism. Russian spirit in their music: Mili Balakirev, Alexander The piano and orchestra battle through the stormy Borodin, Cesar Cui, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and march music throughout the movement, but it is the Mussorgsky. Hartmann’s own work mirrored that great beautiful tune which carries the day in a final of the five composers in his use of distinctly Russian presentation in full Hollywood technicolor (though, to themes and symbols in his art. Despite his favorable be fair, it was Hollywood who imitated Rachmaninoff, reputation and prolific output, his position in the and not vice-versa), leading to the final exuberant history of Russian painting and architecture has surge to the finish.▪ remained one at best. Hartmann’s premature death from an aneurysm

Pictures at an Exhibition in 1873 at the age of 39 came as a shock to the St. (Ravel ) Petersburg art world, and to his musical companions. Mussorgsky was stupefied by the sudden passing of (1839 - 1881) his close friend. “Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, and creatures like Hartmann must die?” very composer expresses grief in their music in he said, echoing Shakespeare’s King Lear. their own fashion. ’s E The city’s cultural leaders responded immediately was not only an expression of personal sorrow at the in presenting tributes to his memory. Stassov quickly death of a friend and mentor, but an expression of organized a retrospective exhibition of Hartmann’s the public sorrow of a nation over the loss of one of paintings, drawings and sketches, assembling a its literary and political guiding lights, the poet and collection of over 400 works to be displayed at the novelist . ’s Violin Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg through the Concerto, dedicated to “the memory of an angel,” auspices of the St. Petersburg Society of Architects. is an anguished and heartbreaking homage to Manon When Mussorgsky strolled through the exhibit, he Gropius, the 18-yr. old actress who was the daughter realized that the best memorial for his friend would of the architect and , be musical sketches of some of Hartmann’s paintings Gustav Mahler’s widow. Even ’s and drawings. Mussorgsky completed the piano suite excruciatingly uncomfortable Threnody to the Victims Pictures at an Exhibition in June of 1874, yet there is of Hiroshima achieves a degree of solace beyond its no record that it was performed during the composer’s shrieking, dissonant surface of tone clusters and lifetime, even though Mussorgsky performed regularly percussive sound effects. as a until shortly before his death. Rimsky- Yet of all the works written in memory of another, Korsakov discovered the manuscript of Pictures at Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition remains a an Exhibition in the papers Mussorgsky left behind, unique musical tribute because it is not just an homage and it was Rimsky-Korsakov who edited the piano to the deceased, but it also includes the composer’s suite and prepared it for publication. own part in the grieving process. Mussorgsky may have considered Pictures to have The Russian painter and architect Viktor Hartmann been too personal a work to ever consider orchestrating had met Mussorgsky through Vladimir Stassov, the it. Composers and arrangers from Mussorgsky’s music critic who had coined the term “The Mighty student Mikhail Tushmalov (1886) to Tomasz Golka

theFSO.org | 2019 – 20 15 Program Notes October 12, 2019 (2019) have tried their hand at adapting it for symphony II. Il vecchio castello (”The Old Castle”). A painting of orchestra, and other musicians have created versions a troubadour holding a lute standing before a crumbling for concert band, piano trio, jazz orchestra, organ, brass old castle. Ravel gives voice to the troubadour through ensemble, percussion ensemble, accordion duo, glass the saxophone, who sings over a lilting accompaniment. harp, and even expanded rock band (Emerson, Lake III. Tuileries. Hartmann’s painting sketches a scene and Palmer’s landmark version from 1971). in the gardens of the Tuileries Palace in Paris, to this The one orchestral version of Pictures that has day a popular spot for parents and nannies to bring maintained its place in the concert hall and on young children to play. Mussorgsky portrays a game recordings is ’s 1922 orchestration, that begins with a slight quarrel and appears destined which we will hear this evening. Ravel’s version was to escalate into a full-blown argument, but the tension commissioned by conductor Serge Koussevitzky and evaporates (perhaps under the watchful eye of an the Symphony Orchestra, who premiered it in adult?) into an elegant woodwind arabesque. 1924 and recorded it in 1930. Ravel omitted the fifth IV. Bydlo. Mussorgsky uses the Polish word for iteration of the opening Promenade (heard between “cattle” to describe a rumbling cart with enormous “Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle” and “Limoges”) wheels drawn by oxen. While Mussorgsky originally and made some other adjustments to Mussorgsky’s wanted a fortissimo beginning, Rimsky-Korsakov original, but his orchestration gives vivid life to changed the dynamics so we see the cart approaching Mussorgsky’s masterpiece in its mastery of from afar, passing by our vantage point, and then orchestral color. vanishing in the distance. Ravel gives the voice of the The opening Promenade lends a personal note oxcart driver to the solo . to Mussorgsky’s tribute to Hartmann. In it, the V. Ballet of the Chicks in their Shells. In Hartmann’s composer portrays himself strolling between paintings, sketches for the 1871 ballet Trilbi, young dancers wore sometimes strutting pompously, sometimes meandering costumes depicting them as newly-hatched canaries. reflectively. In the Promenade’s asymmetrical meters, They dance across the stage wearing remnants of their Mussorgsky portrays his own rolling gate realistically shells, which resemble armor. – in Ilya Repin’s famous portrait of the composer, VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle. Hartmann Mussorgsky resembles nothing so much as a disheveled created a series of sketches in the Jewish ghetto of Russian bear. Yet Mussorgsky uses the Promenade not Sandomierz in southern Poland, which he and his just as a transition, but as a structural device for the wife visited in 1868. Mussorgsky owned some of the work, heard not just between the other movements, sketches that Hartmann had titled “A Rich Jew in a but often within them (as in Catacombs), and finally Fur Hat” and “A Poor Jew”; it was Mussorgsky who emerging triumphantly in The Great Gate at Kiev, assigned the characters names. Ravel portrays the clothed by Ravel in blazing brass and surrounded by lugubrious Goldenberg with weighty string sonorities; a joyous swirl of bells. the more excitable and talkative Schmuyle chatters The ten sections of Pictures at an Exhibition appear through the voice of the muted trumpet. as follows: VII. The Marketplace at Limoges. Mussorgsky I. Gnomus. Hartmann’s sketch was for a nutcracker brings the Limoges marketplace to vivid life in a riotous in the shape of a gnome with huge jaws. Mussorgsky musical setting of chaotic shopping, depicting the portrays it coming to life, full of sinister intent and conflicting cries and conflicts of a noisy throng of gnashing its enormous teeth. French merchants and customers. An upward rush

16 theFSO.org | 2019 – 20 Program Notes October 12, 2019 of the entire orchestra leads directly into: central section (ominous woodwinds answered by VIII: Catacombs. Implacable and unyielding brass strings) contrasts with the brutal percussive chords, contrasted with softer responses, usher us into figures and brass fanfares of the faster outer sections. the repository of the dead under the streets of Rome Baba Yaga’s final cackling upward rush into the (though Stassov thought the intended catacombs were stratosphere leads directly to: in Paris). Hartmann’s picture of the scene portrays X. The Great Gate at Kiev. A majestic brass , a pile of human skulls in one corner. String tremolos later taken up by the rest of the orchestra, depicts introduce a mysterious woodwind utterance of the Hartmann’s 1866 design to honor Czar Alexander Promenade, over which Mussorgsky wrote “Con II: an enormous city gate in the style of an ancient mortuis in linga mortua” – “With the dead in a dead Slavonic war helmet. The opening chorale is language.” A final shimmering woodwind chord is contrasted with a more subdued woodwind hymn brutally shattered by: bearing resemblance to Russian liturgical chant. IX: Baba Yaga (The Hut on Fowl’s Legs). Hartmann’s These two ideas alternate, but it is the brass theme painting portrays the hut of Baba Yaga (the legendary that eventually emerges triumphant, gradually witch of Slavic folklore) as a clock mounted on feet growing in power and majesty to an exultant shaped like bird’s legs. Mussorgsky’s depicts conclusion, punctuated by bells and percussion.▪ the witch flying through the night. The music’s eerie

Program Notes by Dr. David Cole © 2019

r. David C. Cole, the program annotator for the Flint Symphony Orchestra, has had a distinguished Dcareer as a conductor, violinist, music educator and writer. He served as the conductor of the Southwest Florida Symphony’s Youth Symphony, the top ensemble of the three in the Southwest Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra program, from 2012 - 2017. He also served as the conductor for the Symphony’s Young People’s Concerts and Majors for Minors programs, and he has also served as the Symphony’s Education Director and Youth Orchestra Manager. In his tenure with the Southwest Florida Symphony’s Youth Symphony, he led them in appearances at in in April of 2014, and at the Capital Orchestra Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in February of 2016. Dr. Cole’s recent guest conducting appearances include concerts with the Marquette Symphony (Michigan), the Colombian National Conservatory Orchestra, the Pleven Philharmonic (Bulgaria), the Orquestra de Camera de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), the Baylor Symphony Orchestra, the El Alto Municipal Youth Orchestra (Bolivia) and the Cincinnati Metropolitan Orchestra.

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