Yo-Yo Ma, Cello
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CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS Tuesday, August 12, 2014, 8pm Hearst Greek Theatre Yo-Yo Ma, cello PROGRAM Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Suite No. 1 in G major, bwv 1007 Prélude Allemande Courante Sarabande Menuett I Menuett II Gigue Bach Suite No. 5 in C minor, bwv 1011 Prélude Allemande Courante Sarabande Gavotte I Gavotte II Gigue INTERMISSION Bach Suite No. 6 in D major, bwv 1012 Prélude Allemande Courante Sarabande Gavotte I Gavotte II Gigue This performance is made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Diana Cohen and Bill Falik. Cal Performances’ 2014–2015 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. CAL PERFORMANCES 3 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) entrusted to the viola da gamba. The earliest follow the old custom of pairing a slow dance Suites Nos. 1, 5, and 6 for Unaccompanied solo works known to have been written specifi- with a fast one: an Allemande (here marked by Cello, BWV 1007, 1011, and 1012 cally for the instrument, from the 1680s, are wide-ranging figurations and swiftly flowing by Domenico Gabrieli, a cellist in the orches- rhythms) is complemented by a Courante, a Composed around 1720. tra of San Petronio in Bologna (unrelated to dance type originally accompanied by jump- the Venetian Gabrielis); notable among them ing motions; a stately Sarabande is balanced by In 1713, the frugal Friedrich Wilhelm I of are his Ricercare for Unaccompanied Cello of a pair of Minuets (the second of which, in G Prussia dismissed his household musical es- 1689. The first concerto for cello seems to be minor, exhibits a delicious, haunted languor) tablishment in Berlin. The young, cultured that composed by Giuseppe Jacchini in 1701. and a spirited Gigue of vibrant character. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen took the op- The instrument gained steadily in popularity The Suite No. 5 (C minor), often character- portunity to engage some of Friedrich’s finest as it displaced the older gamba, a circumstance ized as the most profound and austere of the set, musicians, and provided them with excellent evidenced by the many works for it by Antonio begins with a Prélude reminiscent of a French instruments and established a library for their Vivaldi and other early–18th-century Italian Overture: a slow, deeply melancholic opening regular court performances. In December 1717, composers. When Bach proposed to write mu- section with dotted rhythms is followed by Leopold hired Johann Sebastian Bach, then sic for unaccompanied cello sometime around quickly moving music whose subtle shifts of organist and Kapellmeister at Weimar, as his 1720, however, there were few precedents for register imply the intertwining of fugal voices. director of music. Inspired by the high qual- such pieces. The examples with which he was The ensuing movements use the forms and ity of the musicians in his charge and by the most familiar were by a tiny enclave of com- styles of the traditional dances, though their Prince’s praise of his creative work, Bach pro- posers (Westhof, Biber, Walther, Pisendel) expressive state is not one of diversion but of duced much of his greatest instrumental music centered around Dresden who had dabbled in sadness in the slow movements (Allemande, during the six years of his tenure at Cöthen, compositions for solo violin, and it was prob- Sarabande) and firm determination in the fast including the “Brandenburg” Concertos, ably upon their models that Bach built his six ones (Courante, Gavottes, Gigue). Suites for Orchestra, Violin Concertos, The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin and the half- The Suite No. 6 (D major) was originally Well-Tempered Clavier, many chamber and dozen Suites for Cello. In comparing these two composed for a now-obsolete instrument with keyboard compositions, and the works for un- series of Bach’s works, Philipp Spitta wrote, an added fifth, high E string. The extended up- accompanied violin and cello. The six Suites “The passionate and penetrating energy, the per register that this configuration prompted for Unaccompanied Cello were apparently inner fire and warmth which often grew to be from Bach make the D major the most overtly written for either Christian Ferdinand Abel painful in its intensity [in the violin works], virtuosic of the six suites, a quality reinforced (whose son Carl Friedrich became the partner is here softened down to a quieter beauty and by the music’s many string crossings, elabo- of Sebastian Bach’s son Johann Christian in a generally serene grandeur, as was to be ex- rate figurations and frequent double stops. The an important London concert venture in the pected from the deeper pitch and fuller tone Prélude is given a glistening sonorous sheen by 1760s) or Christian Bernhard Linigke, both of the cello.” its many cross-string bowings. The Allemande, master cellists in the Cöthen court orchestra. Bach’s Solo Cello Suites, like his contem- the largest movement in the Suites, is spacious The cello in Bach’s time was still an in- poraneous English Suites for Harpsichord and smoothly lyrical. The Courante is imbued strument of relatively recent origin. It was the (bwv 806–11), follow the traditional form of with the leaping energy of its model dance. The Cremonese craftsman Andrea Amati who first the German instrumental suite—an elaborate Sarabande moves through long arches of care- brought the violin, viola, and cello to their prélude followed by a fixed series of dances: fully embellished melody. The first Gavotte is modern configurations around 1560 as the allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. joyous and energetic; the second imitates the successors to the old, softer-voiced family of Between the last two movements of the cello drone of the musette, a small French bagpipe. viols. (The modern double bass, with its tun- works are inserted additional pairs of minuets The Gigue provides a brilliant close to one of ing in fourths and its sloping shape—com- (Suites Nos. 1 and 2), bourrées (Nos. 3 and 4), Bach’s most remarkable achievements. pare its profile with the square shoulders of or gavottes (Nos. 5 and 6). the other orchestral strings—is the only sur- The First Suite (G major) opens with a © 2014 Dr. Richard E. Rodda vivor in the modern orchestra of that noble fantasia-like Prélude whose steady rhythmic breed of earlier instruments.) For the first motion and breadth of harmonic inflection century of its existence, the cello was strictly generate a sweeping grandeur that culmi- confined to playing the bass line in concerted nates magnificently in the heroic gestures of works; any solo passages in its register were the closing measures. The ensuing movements 4 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 5 ABOUT THE ARTIST ABOUT THE ARTIST programming. With ongoing partnerships Appalachian Journey with Mark O’Connor in countries including Lithuania, Korea, with arts and educational organizations in and Edgar Meyer, and two Grammy-winning Lebanon, Azerbaijan, and China. Mr. Ma New York City, it continues to expand Silk tributes to the music of Brazil, Obrigado Brazil serves as a U.N. Messenger of Peace and as a Road Connect, a multidisciplinary educational and Obrigado Brazil: Live in Concert. Mr. Ma’s member of the President’s Committee on the initiative for middle-school students in the recent recordings include the Mendelssohn Arts and the Humanities. He has performed city’s public schools. Developing new music Trios with Emanuel Ax and Itzhak Perlman. for eight American presidents, most recently at is also a central undertaking of the Silk Road His recent album, The Goat Rodeo Sessions, the invitation of President Obama on the occa- Project, which has been involved in commis- with Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, and Stuart sion of the 56th Inaugural Ceremony. sioning and performing more than 60 new Duncan, received the 2013 Grammy for Best Mr. Ma and his wife have two children. musical and multimedia works from compos- Folk Album. Also in 2013, the Silk Road He plays two instruments, a 1733 Montagnana ers and arrangers around the world. Ensemble released its latest recording, A cello from Venice and the 1712 Davidoff As the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Playlist Without Borders. Across this full range Stradivarius. He is managed exclusively by Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant, of releases, Mr. Ma remains one of the bestsell- Opus 3 Artists, 470 Park Avenue South, Ninth Mr. Ma is partnering with Maestro Riccardo ing recording artists in the classical field. All Floor North, New York, New York 10016. Visit Muti to provide collaborative musical lead- of his recent albums have quickly entered the www.opus3artists.com. ership and guidance on innovative program Billboard chart of classical bestsellers, remain- development for the Institute for Learning, ing in the Top 15 for extended periods, often Access and Training at the Chicago Symphony with as many as four titles simultaneously on Orchestra, and for Chicago Symphony artis- the list. In fall 2009, Sony Classical released Todd Rosenberg Todd tic initiatives. Mr. Ma’s work focuses on the a box set of over 90 albums to commemorate transformative power music can have in indi- Mr. Ma’s 30 years as a Sony recording artist. o-yo ma’s multifaceted career is testa- viduals’ lives, and on increasing the number Mr. Ma was born in 1955 to Chinese par- Yment to his continual search for new and variety of opportunities audiences have ents living in Paris. He began to study the ways to communicate with audiences, and to experience music in their communities. cello with his father at age four and soon came to his personal desire for artistic growth and Mr. Ma and the Institute have created the with his family to New York, where he spent renewal.