Chicago Symphony Winds

UMS PRESENTS CHICAGO SYMPHONY WINDS Elizabeth Tiscione, Xiomara Mass, Oboes John Bruce Yeh, Teresa Reilly, Clarinets David Tuttle, Susan Warner, Basset Horns Miles Maner, Drew Pattison, Bassoons Daniel Gingrich, James Smelser, Oto Carrillo, David Griffin,Horns Daniel Armstrong, Double Bass Sunday Afternoon, March 22, 2015 at 4:00 Rackham Auditorium • Ann Arbor 61st Performance of the 136th Annual Season 52nd Annual Chamber Arts Series Photo: Clarinets, 1952; photographer: © The Brett Weston Archive/CORBIS. 15 UMS PROGRAM Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Serenade No. 12 in c minor, K. 388 Allegro Andante Menuetto and Trio Allegro INTERMISSION Mozart Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, K. 361 Largo: Molto Allegro Menuetto Adagio Menuetto: Allegretto WINTER 2015 Romance: Adagio Tema con variazioni Finale: Molto Allegro Endowed support from the Charles A. Sink Memorial Fund. Media partnership provided by WGTE 91.3 FM. Special thanks to Kipp Cortez for coordinating the pre-concert music on the Charles Baird Carillon. CHICAGO SYMPHONY WINDS SYMPHONY CHICAGO 16 BE PRESENT NOW THAT YOU’RE IN YOUR SEAT… Serenades and divertimentos — the two terms cannot always be clearly separated — were music for entertainment in the 18th century. Often performed outdoors, they were not expected to plumb great emotional depths or display rare levels of compositional sophistication. They were functional pieces, often serving as background music and quite happy in that subordinate role — except, that is, when the composer’s name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote his first serenade at the age of 13. Orchestral serenades were extremely popular in his native Salzburg, where they were regularly used at weddings, birthday parties, and university functions. After his move to Vienna, Mozart wrote compositions of this type only occasionally. Therefore, the two great serenades performed at this afternoon’s concert, both products of the Vienna years, occupy a special place among Mozart’s works. Serenade No. 12 in c minor, this wind octet, an ambitious work written K. 388 (1782) for the Harmoniemusik, or wind ensemble, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the court of Emperor Joseph II. Born January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria The work’s serious character is Died December 5, 1791 in Vienna reflected by the fact that it is in four movements like a symphony, rather than WINTER 2015 UMS premiere: Stratford Festival six or more like most serenades and Orchestra of Canada conducted by Oscar divertimentos. The frequent unisons, Shumsky, July 1967 at the UMS Fair Lane diminished-seventh sonorities and Festival in Dearborn. sudden sforzatos (accents) are typical features of the dramatic “storm and SNAPSHOTS OF HISTORY…IN 1782: stress” style found in many minor-mode • The Postal Service Act, establishing the US Post Office symphonies and chamber works from the Department, is signed by President Washington 1770s and 1780s. It should come as no • Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, the last emperor, takes office surprise that of all of his wind serenades, • US President George Washington vetoes a bill designed this is the one that Mozart reworked five to apportion representatives among US states, the first years later, in 1787, as a string quintet time the presidential veto is used in the US • Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of with two violas (K. 406). Woman is published The third-movement “Menuetto” is a strict canon between the oboes and Serenades are not usually written in the bassoons. Haydn’s Symphony No. 47 c minor. A serenade in c minor is even may have served as a model for the “Trio something of a contradiction in terms, in canone al rovescio” (Trio in inverted given the light-hearted nature of the canon) in the third movement of Mozart’s genre, usually destined for some type of work. In this trio, the first oboe’s melody festive, celebratory occasion and the dark, is an inversion of the second oboe part — even tragic connotations carried by the that is, each ascending interval is replaced minor mode, and c minor in particular. Yet of a descending interval of the same size, Mozart would not let his imagination be and vice versa. The two bassoons play restricted by such considerations, and he their own inverted canon against that of attempted a bold stylistic “crossover” with the oboes — a learned artifice not usually 17 UMS associated with the serenade genre. (but not written in Mozart’s hand) refers The other movements are in standard to outdoor music for winds according to forms: sonata form in the first two, and a the usage of the day. theme-and-variation in the finale, where The work has seven movements. the previous tensions are finally resolved The first, a sonata allegro, begins with by a much-awaited switch to the major a striking “Largo” introduction that mode — though not before the very end of combines solemn and lyrical elements. the piece. The second-movement “Menuetto” has two trios, resulting in the scheme Minuet – Trio I – Minuet – Trio II – Minuet. The Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major, second trio is in the darker minor mode. K. 361, “Gran Partita” (1781) The third movement is the heartpiece Mozart of the work. Even among Mozart’s compositions, this “Adagio” stands out for UMS premiere: Netherlands Wind its atmospheric beauty, the unique sound Ensemble, February 2005 in Rackham colors resulting from the alternating solos Auditorium. for clarinet, basset horn, and oboe against a palpitating rhythmic accompaniment. SNAPSHOTS OF HISTORY…IN 1781: The fourth movement, another • Christian Gottlob Neefe takes on the young Ludwig van Beethoven as a pupil ”Menuetto,” differs in character from • Felix Fontana uses a microscope to describe the axon the first one: the earlier movement of a brain cell emphasized grace and suppleness while • The Articles of Confederation are ratified by Maryland, the 13th and final state to do so the second one is more determined and • The city of Los Angeles is founded by a group of 44 energetic. Again, there are two trios, the Spanish settlers first of which is in the key of b-flat minor, WINTER 2015 a key Mozart almost never used. It is a The Serenade in B-flat Major for 13 dramatic and turbulent episode in an instruments is the last Mozart work to otherwise cloudless movement. use that title (recent research indicates The fifth movement is a “Romance” in that it was written after the c-minor adagio tempo with a faster middle section Serenade, which Köchel had placed later that sounds light and playful despite its in his chronological catalog.) The work c-minor tonality that is usually associated was commissioned by clarinetist Anton with more somber moods. Next comes a Stadler, for whom Mozart later wrote his theme with six variations that puts the clarinet quintet (K. 581) and concerto (K. virtuosity of the entire ensemble to a 622). Stadler’s group performed four of test; the closing rondo “Finale,” finally, is the movements in Vienna in March 1784. sparkling and cheerful throughout, with a Scored for two oboes, two clarinets, minor-mode episode in Mozart’s so-called two basset horns (lower-pitched “Turkish” idiom (well-known from the clarinets), four horns, two bassoons, A-Major Piano Sonata, the A-Major Violin and double bass, the Serenade uses an Concerto, and the opera The Abduction instrumentation eminently suited for from the Seraglio). outdoor performances (although Stadler’s partial premiere took place at the Program notes by Peter Laki. National Court Theater). The title “Gran Partita,” which appears in the manuscript CHICAGO SYMPHONY WINDS SYMPHONY CHICAGO 18 BE PRESENT ARTISTS he CHICAGO SYMPHONY monumental wind symphonies of Richard WINDS (CSW) were organized in Strauss. The Chicago Symphony Winds’ T 1978 by then-principal oboist of 1983 recording of Mozart’s Serenade the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ray K. 375 and Willard Elliot’s delightful Still. During the subsequent decades, the transcription of Grieg’s Four Lyric Pieces CSW has performed on chamber music was performed direct-to-disc for Sheffield series and at universities around the Lab Records on the historic movie US and made two recordings, including soundstage in Culver City, California, site the 1986 Grammy Award-nominated of so many legendary MGM film classics. Mozart: Music for Basset Horns album The Chicago Symphony Winds, now on CBS Masterworks. A landmark project in their fourth decade, together with a of the group was the presentation of new generation of Chicago Symphony the complete wind music of Mozart at Orchestra wind players and distinguished the University of Chicago. This project colleagues, continue to breathe life into was so successful that a return visit the great masterpieces of the repertoire. was arranged in order to present the WINTER 2015 UMS ARCHIVES This afternoon marks the second UMS performance by the Chicago Symphony Winds following the ensemble’s April 1993 debut at Rackham Auditorium. Members of the ensemble have also appeared in numerous UMS performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as part of the Orchestra’s past visits to Ann Arbor. 19 TONIGHT’S VICTORS FOR UMS: MASCO CORPORATION FOUNDATION — LINDA SAMUELSON AND JOEL HOWELL — GARY AND DIANE STAHLE — ANN AND CLAYTON WILHITE — MARINA AND ROBERT WHITMAN SUPPORTERS OF THIS EVENING’S PERFORMANCE BY THE ACADEMY OF ST. MARTIN IN THE FIELDS AND JEREMY DENK. Immersed in Community Spirit. At Masco, we share the belief that a strong supportive presence in the areas where we live, work, and do business is vital. We salute UMS for its continued support of outstanding musicianship and service to our community. www.masco.com.

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