CLASSICAL FOUR Ravel & SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020 • 7:30 p.m. • MARK C. SMITH CONCERT HALL, VON BRAUN CENTER Róbert Káip and Prentiss Hobbs, • Huntsville Community Chorus • Ian Loeppky, Artistic Director Huntsville Symphony Orchestra • GREGORY VAJDA, Music Director & Conductor

Maurice Ravel Une barque sur l’océan (A Barque on the Ocean) (1875–1937)

Claude Debussy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) (1862–1918)

Ravel Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 1 Nocturne – Interlude – Danse guerrière (Warrior Dance) Huntsville Community Chorus

INTERMISSION

Ricardo Mollá Concerto for Two Trombones and Orchestra (2015) (b. 1992) I. Maestoso—Presto II. Lento III. Vivo Jeremy Wilson and Prentiss Hobbs, trombone

Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2 Lever de jour (Sunrise) – Pantomime – Danse générale (Company Dance) Huntsville Community Chorus

Davidson Classical Series Concert Sponsor: SHIRLEY AND GEORGE MCCRARY

Guest Artists Sponsor: CLAUDIA CONN

Production Sponsor: TELEDYNE BROWN ENGINEERING

42 • HSO SEASON 65 • SPRING The plot of Daphnis and Chloe is minimal enough: the titular shepherd is in love with the titular shepherdess, but in a mo- Program Notes ment of confusion she is swept away by marauding pirates. The wood-god Pan must be summoned to help rescue her, and the reunion of the lovers is marked by a grand baccha-nale in the concluding dance for full company.

RAVEL Ravel called his work a “choreographic symphony,” sig-naling an early intention to adapt Daphnis for the concert hall. In Une barque sur l’océan 1912-13, he extracted two concert suites from the score. They are usually performed as a pair since they are fairly brief. This Of the five pieces in Miroirs, Ravel’s suite for , the music calls for the largest assemblage of musicians Ravel composer chose to dress up two for the orchestra: The would ever employ, but it is characteristic of the composer Jester’s Aubade and this one, A Barque on the Ocean. that the orchestra is often treated as a group of sensitively These orchestrations are early milestones for Ravel’s work interacting chamber ensembles rather than a single sonic in the field. Today he is remembered and revered as per- juggernaut. Individual instrumental colors are allowed to shine haps the greatest orchestrator of his era, an unparalleled and to combine in novel ways. The score contains some of master of sonority and color. Ravel’s most creative and effective writing for strings, and at various points makes use of a wordless chorus “behind the Dedicated to the painter and set designer Paul Sordes, A scenes,” harkening to a classic device of early Greek drama. Barque on the Ocean is a canvas brought to life through [ca. 13’, 15’] music right from the first bar. Shimmering strings evoke the salty sea-spray, flutes provide a calm maritime breeze, and the horns suggest the call of gulls on the horizon. The melod- ic elements, while clearly traceable, are only fragmentary; MOLLÁ this piece is all about sensuous atmosphere and energy. It is a thoroughly impressionistic offering from a composer who Concerto for Two Trombones thought of himself primarily as a Neoclassicist. [ca. 8’] and Orchestra (2015)

The young Spanish trombonist and composer Ricardo Mollá RAVEL Albero has made a name for himself internationally in Daphnis et Chloé Suites recent years, and the Concerto for Two Trombones and Orchestra, commissioned for the 2015 International Trom- Among the private passions of were fine bone Festival, is presently his most demanded piece. chocolates, French cigarettes, handmade figurines, and the culture and art of Classical Greece. When Diaghilev Mollá has studied with contemporary luminaries including and his choreographer Michel Fokine asked him to score Pierre Boulez, Peter Eötvös, and Matthias Pintscher, but his a ballet on the legend of Daphnis and Chloe, Ravel was fundamental musical language has remained conser- de-lighted. Not only did a lucrative commission from the vative. Mollá himself has described his style as “jazzy, neo- Ballets Russes telegraph to and the world his “arrival” Romantic.” as a serious composer—the subject itself could not have more neatly aligned with Ravel’s aesthetic interests. This is certainly apt to the duo concerto heard this eve-ning: the unhurried, suspenseful introduction recalls film noir, or Initial negotiations and artistic planning were slow and perhaps a gumshoe mystery, before launching into a series fraught with difficulties. The production was postponed of lyrical episodes of refreshing intimacy. It more than once. “Fokine does not speak a word of is the softer, less brassy side of the trombone that Mollá French,” Ravel wrote to a friend, “whereas my Russian is seeks to explore here; the legacy of players like Tommy limited to cursing.” The 1912 premiere was a mixed bag. Dorsey and Frank Rosolino can be detected. The jaunty Ravel’s impossibly lush and vibrant score was well finale compels the soloists to let loose in a carnival atmo- received, but it contrasted too starkly, some thought, with sphere brimming with Iberian rhythm and flair, reprising the Fokine’s hyper-modern choreog-raphy and a purposefully jovial mood from the conclusion of the first movement and ascetic set design by Léon Bakst. closing the concerto with a big, bright smile. [ca. 20’]

HSO SEASON 65 • SPRING • 43 Guest Artists

Jeremy Wilson, trombone • Featured guest artist, International Trombone Festival and American Trombone Workshop • Former member, Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera; performances with Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra • Associate Professor of Trombone and Chairman of the Brass Department, Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University

Prentiss Hobbs, trombone • Principal Trombone, Huntsville Symphony, Symphony Orchestra Augusta • Performances with Baton Rouge Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Louisville Orchestra • Featured on over 1,000 recordings, including Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Wynona Judd, and Alan Jackson

Ian Loeppky Artistic Director, Huntsville Community Chorus • Director of Choral Activities, University of North Alabama; founder, Florence Camerata • Member, American Choral Directors Association, National Collegiate Choral Organization, Alabama Vocal Association, Choral Canada • Internationally recognized choral scholar, clinician, adjudicator, and arranger

Huntsville Community Chorus Ian Loeppke, Artistic Director Eric Wilson, Principal Accompanist • Established in 1946, the HCCA is Huntsville’s longest continuously running performing arts group • The Symphonic Chorus, Chamber Chorale, Children’s Chorale, Youth Chorale, and other ensembles perform throughout the year • Summer musical theater productions provide a creative outlet for area youth • Pro information, visit thechorus.org.

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