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Friday, February 25, 2011, 8pm (1797–1828) anything else, he learned it all from God him- Zellerbach Hall No. 2 in B-flat major, D. 125 self”) and the famed (“You can do everything, you are a genius”), but also by his Composed in 1815. fellow students. Josef von Spaun, who became a lifelong friend, wrote of their school days to- Philharmonic Probably no individual has ever en- gether, “I was leader of the second . Little gendered such an avalanche of new as Schubert stood behind me and fiddled. [Many Semyon Bychkov, conductor flowed from Franz Schubert’s pen in 1815. There , except for the cellists, performed are almost 200 separate works from that one standing until the mid-.] Very soon, year: the Second and Third , a string I noticed that the little musician far surpassed , two and four other large me in rhythmic surety. This aroused my interest PROGRAM piano works, two Masses, four choral composi- and made me realize with what animation the tions, five and 146 , eight coming in lad, who seemed otherwise quiet and indifferent, a single day in May. Schubert capped the year’s gave himself up to the impression of the beauti- Franz Schubert (1797–1828) Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, D. 125 (1815) activities by producing Der Erlkönig on New ful symphonies which we played.” The school or- Year’s Eve. He was 18. chestra tackled works by Haydn, Mozart (“You Largo — Allegro vivace A year earlier, in the autumn of 1814, could hear the angels sing,” Schubert wrote of Andante Schubert had been exempted from compul- the G minor Symphony) and early , Menuetto: Allegro vivace sory 13-year (!) military service because of his as well as such lesser masters as Krommer, Presto vivace short stature (barely five feet) and terrible eye- Kozeluch, Méhul and Weigl. Schubert wrote his sight. (Newman Flower, in his biography of First Symphony in 1813, the year his voice broke the gentle-natured Schubert, assessed that “as a and he left the Royal Chapel. INTERMISSION conscript it is very doubtful he would have been Schubert maintained many of his school worth the price of his uniform to the nation.”) friendships by taking part as violist and pia- Though intent on becoming a composer, he re- nist in informal amateur musical soirées which (1813–1883) Prelude and Liebestod from und Isolde luctantly took up a position as a teacher in his ranged from intimate evenings of to con- (1854–1859) father’s school in the Viennese suburbs to help certs for full orchestra. It was apparently for just the family and to earn a modest living. (“Better such gatherings that he wrote his Second and an impoverished teacher than a starving com- Third Symphonies during those stolen hours at Béla Bartók (1881–1945) Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19 poser,” Papa Schubert admonished.) He must the schoolhouse. The works clearly show the in- (1918–1919) have been just awful in the classroom. He cared fluence of the Classical models that formed the not a jot about teaching, and planned his classes basis of his education, while at the same time so that his students would spend as much time looking forward to some of the qualities of the quietly writing as possible—they scribbled away encroaching Romantic era. Formally, they are at their lessons, he jotted down masterpieces. indebted to Haydn and Mozart. Their har- His only real concern at that time and, indeed, monic language, however, shows an expanded ROLEX throughout his life was in composing and mak- range and fluidity, and their instrumental treat- Exclusive Partner of the Orchestra ing music with his friends. (“The state should ment, especially of the woodwinds, points to- keep me,” he once told Josef Hüttenbrenner. “I ward later developments, not least in Schubert’s have come into this world for no purpose but to own works. This is music of grace, warmth and compose.”) Within a couple of years, he had had youthful good humor which reflects the com- his fill of teaching, quit, and lived a seemingly poser’s style as surely as do any of his other These performances are made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Kathryn and Scott Mercer carefree, Bohemian existence for the rest of his compositions. While they lack the insight and and with the support of our Lead Community Partner, Bank of America. too-few days. profundity of his later realizations of the genre, Schubert’s interest in orchestral music first there is nothing immature or ill-considered Cal Performances’ 2010–2011 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. surfaced while he was a student at the Imperial about the early symphonies. They are bright, Chapel. His talents were recognized not only by melodious and ingratiating, and almost too easy his teachers, Wenzel Ruzicka (“I can’t teach him to love.

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Schubert’s Second Symphony is surpris- rousing closing section of the Symphony stays of the inner mind at the beginning of the cen- she allows the couple to taste of the love po- ingly large in conception and daring in its har- firmly rooted in the home key, except for two tury, most notably in the midnight conjurings tion which, in accordance with the custom of monic experiments. It opens with a stately slow brief detours through distant G-flat major. Solid of Fuseli and the disquieting visions of Goya, the times, and by way of precaution, the mother introduction reminiscent of that which begins cadential harmonies set against energetic rhyth- but it was Wagner who took it upon himself to had prepared for the husband who should marry Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major mic activity bring this buoyant and charming devise a tonal language that could open these her daughter from political motives, and which, (K. 543). The main body of the movement is a work to a close. same vistas to music. “Every theory was quite by the burning desire which suddenly inflames lengthy and tonally unconventional form forgotten,” he wrote. “During the working- them after tasting it, opens their eyes to the propelled by an almost incessant rhythmic mo- out, I myself became aware how far I had out- truth and leads to the avowal that for the future tion in the strings. The fleet main theme enters Richard Wagner (1813–1883) soared my system.” they belong only to each other. in the first violins, and is repeated immediately Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s new musical speech allowed an “Henceforth, there is no end to the longings, by the full orchestra. Moving by way of the key unprecedented laying-open of an unfathomed the demands, the joys and woes of love. The of , the music spills into E-flat major, in Composed 1854–1859. Premiered on June 10, 1865, emotional world. “Here,” he wrote, “I plunged world, power, fame, splendor, honor, knight- which tonality the lyrical second theme appears. in , conducted by Hans von Bülow. into the inner depths of soul-events and from the hood, fidelity, friendship—all are dissipated It is several pages before the expected dominant innermost center of the world I fearlessly built like an empty dream. One thing only remains: key of makes its entry, and when it fi- Not all revolutions are made with the gun— up to its outer form.... Life and death, the whole longing, longing, insatiable longing, forever nally arrives, it carries with it not a new melody some of the most important have been inspired meaning and existence of the outer world, here springing up anew, pining and thirsting. Death, but another foray by the main theme, now serv- by the pen. A pair of such nonviolent salvos were hang on nothing but the inner movements of which means passing away, perishing, never ing to round out the exposition. The brief devel- fired off in the year 1859 by two of the - great the soul.” It is wholly appropriate that Sigmund awakening, their only deliverance.... Powerless, opment section combines the rhythmic bustle of est intellectual giants of the 19th century— Freud, whose most important work was based the heart sinks back to languish in longing, in the main theme with the lyrical melody of the Charles Darwin and Richard Wagner. In that on this same belief in subconscious motivations, longing without attaining; for each attainment subsidiary theme. The recapitulation begins year, Darwin published his epochal The Origin should have been born in 1856, the year Wagner only begets new longing, until in the last stage plainly enough, with quiet strings followed by a of Species and Wagner finished his monumen- wrote the first notes of Tristan. As the of weariness the foreboding of the highest joy of full orchestral repetition of the main theme. Its tal music-drama Tristan und Isolde. Though a progressed, Wagner became aware of the power dying, of no longer existing, of the last escape key, however, is not the expected tonic of B-flat greater contrast in personalities could hardly be of his creation. To Mathilde Wesendonck, with into that wonderful kingdom from which we are major, but is rather the persistent E-flat major imagined than that between the gentle and re- whom he was having an extended affair while furthest off when we are most strenuously striv- carried over from the exposition’s second theme. tiring English naturalist and the wildly egocen- her husband and children grew suspicious in the ing to enter therein. Shall we call it death? Or After further peregrinations, B-flat is finally tric German composer, their works were related house next door, he admitted, “This Tristan is is it the hidden wonderworld out of which an achieved with the return of the second theme. in their examination of the human condition turning into something terrifying! I’m afraid the ivy and vine, entwined with each other, grew up Once again the main theme is heard, maneu- beyond the bounds previously explored. Darwin opera will be forbidden—unless it is turned into upon Tristan’s and Isolde’s grave, as the legend vered into B-flat major, as a bubbling close to set off a controversy about the essential nature of a parody by bad performances. Only mediocre tells us?” this most enjoyable and unusual movement. the physical constitution of man, and of man’s performances can save me!” Wagner’s description opens as many ques- The slow movement is a set of variations (in relationship to the world, which continues to Wagner provided a synopsis of the emotion- tions as it answers. Such ambiguity is one of E-flat) whose spirit and style have much in com- generate heated debate to this day. His theory, al progression of the action of Tristan whose vo- the most important characteristics of the opera, mon with the comparable movement of Haydn’s however, is a triumph of scientific observation luptuous prose is not only a sketch of the events which has inspired many learned treatises from “Surprise” Symphony. There are five variations, and empirical knowledge which has established of the story, but also a key to understanding the historians, philosophers, psychologists and mu- variation IV being an excursion into a darker the warp through which the weft of our modern surging sea of passion on which the entire world sicians over the years in attempts to explain its key; the last variation is followed by a tranquil biological understanding is threaded. of this opera floats: “meaning.” There will never be one single, “cor- coda. The blustery , yet another harmon- Wagner, too, was exploring. His journey of “A primitive old love poem, which, far from rect” explanation of Tristan because of the pro- ic surprise, is in the stormy key of C minor (a the mind, however, took him not on a trip of in- having become extinct, is constantly fashion- foundly individual manner in which this music close relative to E-flat major). The lightly scored numerable miles in a British trading ship, but on ing itself anew, and has been adopted by every affects each listener. In the words of Richard central trio is entrusted to the woodwinds with one of passion, into the deepest recesses of the European language of the Middle Ages, tells of Strauss, the inheritor of Wagner’s mantle as a delicate string underscoring. The finale, which human soul. Though “” in music Tristan and Isolde. Tristan, the faithful vassal, the pre-eminent composer of German opera, cracks along at a furious pace, mirrors the form had been the style for at least four decades before woos for his king her for whom he dares not “In Wagner, music reached its greatest capac- of the opening movement: main theme in B-flat, he launched out into the stormy world of Tristan, avow his own love, Isolde. Isolde, powerless than ity for expression.” This capacity grows chiefly second theme in E-flat, main theme repeated at no musician had plumbed the depths of swirling to do otherwise than obey the wooer, follows from the harmonic style of Tristan, its building the end of the exposition in F major. Unlike the emotion and white-hot eroticism that Wagner him as bride to his lord. Jealous of this infringe- of enormous climaxes through the continu- first movement, however, the recapitulation oc- exposed in this opera. In the visual arts, some ment of her rights, the Goddess of Love takes ing frustration of expected resolutions of chord curs here in the expected tonic key of B-flat. The painters had pierced into this twilight domain her revenge. As the result of a happy mistake, progressions. The lack of fulfillment creates an

6 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 7 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES overwhelming sense of longing until the mo- and legends and Hungarian prosody. The ballet depiction of a lurid tale, the vehemence of the ment when the pent-up yearning is finally re- The Wooden Prince (1915), Bartók’s second the- work also arose in part from Bartók’s reaction leased in a magnificent, cathartic outpouring, ater piece, is built around a silly fable in which a to the searing social and intellectual winds heightened by its long period of expectancy. beautiful princess falls in love—with the walking sweeping across in 1918: the politi- The sense of longing is generated right at staff of a handsome prince! Both of these works cal upheaval, particularly violent in , the beginning of the opera. Its Prelude is built, were banned after some initial success because following World War I; the exposure of deep- in the composer’s words, from “one long series their librettist, Béla Balázs, had been forced into seated personal motivations, often flamed with of linked phrases,” each of which is left hang- political exile. Bartók’s third and final stage ef- elements of sex and violence, by such scientists ing, unresolved, in silence. Of the remainder of fort was the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin. and artists as Freud, Klimt, Kokoschka, Berg, the Prelude and its progression to the Liebestod The following synopsis of the plot is con- Munch and Schoenberg; and the technical and (“Love-Death”), Wagner wrote, it moves from tained in the orchestral score: “In a shabby room expressive avenues opened by Stravinsky’s The “the first timidest lament of inappeasable long- in the slums, three tramps, bent on robbery, Rite of Spring, which greatly influenced The ing, the tenderest shudder, to the most terrible force a girl to lure in prospective victims from Miraculous Mandarin. Bartók realized that the outpouring of an avowal of hopeless love, tra- the street. A down-at-the-heels cavalier and a score deserved a life independent of the troubled versing all phases of the vain struggle against timid youth, who succumb to her attractions, productions of the complete ballet, so he derived the inner ardor until this, sinking back upon are found to have thin wallets, and are thrown a “suite” from it in 1928. Unlike most suites, itself, seems to be extinguished in death.” The out. The third ‘guest’ is the eerie Mandarin. His however, this one was not a series of scattered Prelude is constructed as a long arch of sound, impassivity frightens the girl, who tries to un- excerpts plucked from the score but was created beginning faintly and building to a huge climax freeze him by dancing—but when he feverishly simply by the elimination of the closing pages, near its center before dying away to silence. In embraces her, she runs from him in terror. After namely the scene of the Mandarin’s death, so Wagner’s concert version, the Liebestod follows a wild chase he catches her, at which point the that the Suite ends with the breathtaking music without pause, and it, too, generates a mag- three tramps leap from their hiding place, rob of the Mandarin’s pursuit of the girl, a passage nificent tonal gratification at the point near the him of everything he has, and try to smother that critic and musicologist Alfred Einstein con- end of the opera where the lovers find their only him under a pile of cushions. But he gets to his sidered “the wildest chase in modern music.” possible satisfaction in welcome death. Of this feet, his eyes fixed passionately on the girl. They The Miraculous Mandarin is an orchestral sublime moment, Wagner wrote, “What Fate run him through with a sword; he is shaken, but tour de force, Bartók’s ultimate achievement in divided in life now springs into transfigured life his desire is stronger than his wounds, and he sheer brilliance of sonority. The music vividly in death: the gates of union are thrown open. hurls himself on her. They hang him up; but it etches the characters and episodes of the story: Over Tristan’s body the dying Isolde receives is impossible for him to die. Only when they cut the opening rush of traffic on a gritty city street the blessed fulfillment of ardent longing, eter- him down and the girl takes him into her arms (the bass portrays the braying auto nal union in measureless space, without barriers, do his wounds begin to bleed, and he dies.” horns), the thrice-repeated propositions of the without fetters, inseparable.” Bartók had to take the courage of his ar- girl (solo ), the quasi-Oriental music in- tistic convictions firmly into hand when The troducing the Mandarin (trills and glisses for the Miraculous Mandarin was mounted in Cologne strings and woodwinds, with the in Béla Bartók (1881–1945) on November 27, 1926. He realized that its lu- weird parallel harmonies), the almost unbear- Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19 rid story and the graphic music that follows it able tension of the chase. Bartók intended that so closely would create problems, not only with this work arouse listeners not just because of its Composed in 1918–1919. Ballet premiered on the censors but also with other public officials. sordid story but also because of the richness of November 27, 1926, in Cologne, conducted by He had to wait only until the premiere to have its artistic conception and the excellence of its Hans Strohbach; suite premiered on October 15, his fears confirmed. The city fathers of Cologne execution. The fearsome and astonishing power 1928, in Budapest, conducted by Ernő Dohnányi. closed the show after just a single performance of the music is evidence that he succeeded. on the grounds that it outraged the moral stan- Bartók composed three works for the stage. The dards of the community. The ballet was not first,Duke Bluebeard’s Castle (1911), is a powerful staged until after Bartók’s death in Budapest, © 2011 Dr. Richard E. Rodda one-act opera packed with symbolism in which the composer’s home, and did not appear in the composer combined his interest in French New York until 1951. Impressionism (especially Debussy’s Pelléas et This tawdry story called from Bartók one Mélisande) with his vast knowledge of folk songs of his greatest scores. More than just a musical

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Saturday, February 26, 2011, 8pm (1810–1856) The mercury relieved the external signs of the Zellerbach Hall Symphony No. 2 in , Op. 61 disease—but at the cost of poisoning the pa- tient (victim?). Schumann, many years before Composed in 1845–1846. Premiered on November 5, his devoted marriage to Clara, had both the 1846, in , conducted by . infection and the treatment. The problems he Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra lamented—ringing ears, cold extremities, de- The years 1845 and 1846 were difficult ones for pression, sleeplessness, nerve damage—were Semyon Bychkov, conductor Schumann. In 1844, he had gone on a concert the result of the mercury poisoning. Sensitive as tour of Russia with his wife, Clara, one of the he was, Schumann first imagined and then was greatest of the era, and he was frustrated truly afflicted with his other symptoms until he and humiliated at being recognized only as the became ill in both mind and body. It was, how- PROGRAM husband of the featured performer and not in ever, an insidious physical problem that led to his own right as a distinguished composer and his psychological woes rather than the other way critic. The couple’s return to Leipzig found around, as he believed. Robert Schumann (1810–1856) Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61 Robert nervous, depressed and suffering from Seen against this background of pathetic suf- (1845–1846) occasional lapses of memory. He had a complete fering, Schumann’s Second Symphony emerges breakdown soon after, and his doctor advised as a miracle of the human spirit over the most Sostenuto assai — Allegro ma non troppo the Schumanns to return to the quieter atmo- trying circumstances. In his own words, “I was Scherzo: Allegro vivace sphere of Dresden, where Robert had known in bad shape physically when I began the work, Adagio espressivo happy times earlier in his life. They moved in and was afraid my semi-invalid state could be Allegro molto vivace October 1844, and Schumann recovered enough detected in the music. However, I began to feel to completely sketch the Second Symphony more myself when I finished the whole work.” in December of the following year. He began Of the philosophical basis of the Symphony, INTERMISSION the orchestration in February, but many times undoubtedly related to Schumann’s emotional found it impossible to work and could not finish state, Mosco Carner wrote, “The emotional the score until October. drama in this Symphony leads from the fierce (1833–1897) Symphony No. 2 in , Op. 73 (1877) Clara noted that her husband went night af- struggle with sinister forces (first movement) to ter night without sleep, arising in tears in the triumphant victory (finale), while the interven- Allegro non troppo morning. His doctor described further symp- ing stages are febrile restlessness (scherzo) and Adagio non troppo toms: “So soon as he busied himself with intel- profound melancholy (adagio).” This progres- Allegretto grazioso (Quasi Andantino) — lectual matters, he was seized with fits of trem- sion from darkness to light as a musical pro- Presto ma non assai — Tempo I — bling, fatigue, coldness of the feet, and a state of cess had its noble precedents in the Fifth and Presto ma non assai — Tempo I mental distress culminating in a strange terror Ninth Symphonies of Beethoven, a musician Allegro con spirito of death, which manifested itself in the fear in- whom Schumann revered, and it is probable spired in him by heights, by rooms on an up- that Schumann envisioned the construction of per story, by all metal objects, even keys, and his Second Symphony as a mirror of his return by medicines, and the fear of being poisoned.” to health during its composition. Schumann complained of continual ringing and This Symphony is the most formally tra- ROLEX roaring in his ears, and it was at times even pain- ditional of the four that Schumann wrote. It Exclusive Partner of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra ful for him to hear music. He was almost frantic comprises four independent movements closely for fear of losing his mind. His physical symp- allied to Classical models. The sonata-allegro toms, he was convinced, were a direct result of of the first movement is prefaced by a slow in- his mental afflictions. He was wrong. troduction that presents a majestic, fanfare-like These performances are made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Kathryn and Scott Mercer In an article in The Musical Times, Eric theme in the brass and a sinuous, legato melody and with the support of our Lead Community Partner, Bank of America. Sams investigated Schumann’s illness, and his in the strings. (The brass theme recurs several findings are both convincing and revealing. In times during the course of the work and serves Cal Performances’ 2010–2011 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. those pre-antibiotic times, a common treatment as a motto linking this first movement with for was a small dose of liquid mercury. later ones.) The tempo quickens to begin the

10 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 11 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES exposition, with the main theme heard in jag- a vivid impression of my latest work.” With the The lovely country surroundings inspired stream of invention has never flowed so fresh ged, dotted rhythms. The second theme contin- premiere of his pastoral Second Symphony only Brahms’s creativity to such a degree that he and spontaneous in other works by Brahms, and ues the mood of the main theme to complete a month away, Brahms served up this red her- wrote to the critic Eduard Hanslick, “So many nowhere else has he colored his orchestration the short exposition. The lengthy development ring in early November to his friend, correspon- melodies fly about, one must be careful not to so successfully.” To which critic Olin Downes section is mostly based on the second theme. dent and supporter Elisabeth von Herzogenberg tread on them.” Brahms plucked from the gentle added, “In his own way, and sometimes with The recapitulation employs a rich orchestral to playfully mislead her about the character of Pörtschach breezes a surfeit of beautiful music long sentences, he formulates his thought, and palette to heighten the return of the exposition’s this lovely work. He tossed another false clue for his Second Symphony, which was apparently the music has the rich chromaticism, depth of themes, with the fanfare-motto heard briefly in to when he told her that the written quickly during that summer—a great shadow and significance of detail that character- the coda to conclude the movement. halcyon first movement was “quite elegiac in contrast to the 15-year gestation of the preced- ize a Rembrandt portrait.” The scherzo (“Schumann’s happiest essay in character,” and, again to Elisabeth, that so sad ing symphony. He brought the manuscript with Its effortless technique, rich orchestral writ- this form,” according to Robert Schauffler) has a piece would require the orchestra to play with him when he returned to Vienna at the end of ing and surety of emotional effect make this two trios: the first dominated by triplet rhythms crepe bands on their sleeves and the printed the summer, and played it at an informal gath- composition a splendid sequel to Brahms’s First in the woodwinds, the second by a legato cho- score would have to bordered in black. “The new ering in a four-hand piano version with Ignaz Symphony. The earlier work, perhaps the best rale for strings. The horns and trumpets intone Symphony is so melancholy that you will not Brüll in September. Brahms kept the true na- first symphony anyone ever composed, is filled the motto theme at the end of the movement. be able to bear it,” he told his publisher, Fritz ture of the piece from the friends who were not with a sense of struggle and hard-won victory, The wonderful third movement is constructed Simrock. Such statements are characteristic at that gathering, and he was delighted by their an accurate mirror of Brahms’s monumental ef- around a nostalgic melody, one of Schumann’s of Brahms both in their eccentric, sometimes surprised response at the public premiere late forts over many years to shape a worthy succes- greatest inspirations, first presented by the vio- cranky humor, and their reticence to divulge in December. sor to Beethoven’s symphonies. (“You have no lins. A brief, pedantic contrapuntal exercise acts any information about a work that had not been Brahms’s misleading statements depicting idea how it feels to hear behind you the tramp of as a middle section, after which the lovely theme publicly displayed. He was always reluctant to the Second Symphony as a tragic work were a giant like Beethoven,” Brahms lamented.) The returns. The brilliant and vigorous finale is cast discuss or even mention new pieces to anyone, plausible in view of the stony grandeur of its Second Symphony, while at least the equal of in sonata-allegro form, with a second theme de- even to such trusted friends as Clara Schumann. predecessor. The premiere audience had ev- the First in technical mastery, differs markedly rived from the opening notes of the melody of (Clara begged him for years to complete his First ery expectation of hearing a grand, portentous in its mood, which, in Eduard Hanslick’s words, the preceding adagio. The majestic coda begins Symphony without knowing that the project statement similar in tone to the First Symphony, is “cheerful and likable…[and] may be described with a soft restatement of the motto theme by was almost constantly on his mind and on his but it was treated instead to the composer’s most in short as peaceful, tender, but not effeminate.” trumpets and trombone, and gradually blossoms desk during the time.) He usually destroyed all gentle and sun-dappled music. After their ini- So taken aback by the work’s pastoral quality into a heroic hymn of victory in the full brass his drafts and tentative sketches for a finished tial befuddlement had passed, they warmed to was the Leipzig critic Dörffel that he wrote of the . It is a grand conclusion to a work which composition so that his preliminary thoughts the occasion as the performance progressed, and performance conducted by the composer in his displays, in Philip Spitta’s ringing phrases, “grave and working procedures remain a mystery. He such was their enthusiasm at the end that they city only two weeks after the Viennese premiere, and mature depth of feeling, bold decisiveness of refused to be disturbed while composing. Once, demanded an encore of the third movement. “We require from him music that is something form and overpowering wealth of expression.” a youthful admirer, unable to gain an audience Brahms himself allowed, “[The work] sounded more than simply pretty…when he comes before with Brahms, set up a ladder to climb to the so merry and tender, as though it were especially us as a symphonist.” Though this Symphony is composer’s second-story window to deliver his written for a newly wedded couple.” Early listen- more “simply pretty” than any other by Brahms, Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) encomium. Brahms, deep in work and detesting ers heard in it “a glimpse of Nature, a spring day there is also a rich emotional vein and inevitable Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73 any distraction, angrily threw the ladder from amid soft mosses, springing woods, birds’ notes, structural logic that motivates the music. It is the sill, causing the young man no little harm. and the bloom of flowers.” Richard Specht, understandable that, of the four he wrote in the Composed in 1877. Premiered on December 30, It is because of such secretiveness that little is the composer’s biographer, found it “suffused genre, this one has probably had, over its history, 1877, in Vienna, by the Vienna Philharmonic known about the actual composition of the with the sunshine and warm winds playing the most performances. Orchestra conducted by . Second Symphony. on the waters.” Comparisons with Beethoven’s The Symphony opens with a three-note In the summer of 1877, Brahms repaired “Pastoral” Symphony were inevitable, though motive, presented softly by the low strings, “The new symphony is merely a ‘sinfonia,’ and to the village of Pörtschach in the Carinthian Brahms never revealed any specific program- which is the germ seed from which much of the I shall not need to play it for you beforehand. hills of southern . He wrote to a Viennese matic intention rippling among these notes. thematic material of the movement grows. The You have only to sit down at the piano, put your friend, “Pörtschach is an exquisite spot, and I Despite its exploration of a new, gentler world horns sing the principal theme, which includes, little feet on the two pedals in turn, and strike have found a lovely and apparently pleasant of emotions, the work displays again the peer- in its third measure, the three-note motive. The the chord of several times in succes- abode in the Castle! You may tell everybody less technical mastery that marked the First sweet second theme is given in duet by the cel- sion, first in the treble, then in the bass, fortis- this; it will impress them.... The place is replete Symphony. The conductor los and . The development begins with the simo and pianissimo, and you will gradually gain with Austrian coziness and kindheartedness.” thought it the best of the four symphonies: “The ’s main theme, but is mostly concerned with

12 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 13 PROGRAM NOTES CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS permutations of the three-note motive around Sunday, February 27, 2011, 3pm which some stormy emotional sentences accu- Zellerbach Hall mulate. The placid mood of the opening returns with the recapitulation, and remains largely un- disturbed until the end of the movement. The second movement plumbs the deepest Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra emotions in the Symphony. Many of its early lis- teners found it difficult to understand, because Semyon Bychkov, conductor they failed to perceive that, in constructing the four broad paragraphs that comprise the Second Symphony, Brahms deemed it necessary to bal- ance the radiant first movement with music of thoughtfulness and introspection in the second. PROGRAM This movement actually covers a wide range of sentiments, shifting, as it does, between light and shade—major and minor. Its form is sonata- (1860–1911) Symphony No. 6 in , “Tragic” allegro, whose second theme is a gently synco- (1903–1904) pated strain intoned by the woodwinds above the ’ pizzicato notes. Allegro energico, ma non troppo The followingAllegretto is a delightful musi- Scherzo: Wuchtig cal sleight-of-hand. The oboe presents a naive, Andante moderato folk-like tune in moderate triple meter as the Finale: Allegro moderato movement’s principal theme. The strings take over the melody in the first Trio, but play it in an energetic duple-meter transformation. The return of the sedate original theme is again in- This program will be performed without intermission. terrupted by another quick-tempo variation, this one a further development of motives from Trio I. A final traversal of the main theme closes this delectable movement. The finale bubbles with the rhythmic - en ergy and high spirits of a Haydn symphony. The main theme starts with a unison gesture in the strings, but soon becomes harmonically active and spreads through the orchestra. The second ROLEX theme is a broad, hymnal melody initiated by Exclusive Partner of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra the strings. The development section, like that of many of Haydn’s finales, begins with a statement of the main theme in the tonic before branching into discussion of the movement’s motives. The These performances are made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Kathryn and Scott Mercer recapitulation recalls the earlier themes, and and with the support of our Lead Community Partner, Bank of America. leads with an inexorable drive through the tri- umphant coda (based on the hymnal melody) to Cal Performances’ 2010–2011 season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. the brazen glow of the final trombone chord.

© 2011 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

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Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) Wagner at that time, Mahler thought of a sweet her own disappointments. Mahler adored his ahler, heir to two centuries of the Symphony No. 6 in A minor, “Tragic” joke. He composed for me the only love song daughters and loved the country, and he seemed Mgreatest and most profound German mu- he ever wrote, Liebst Du um Schönheit [‘If you contented. He was at the height of his creative sic, saw his symphonies as embodying an entire Composed in 1903–1904. Premiered on May 27, love for beauty, do not love me’], and he put it powers and work on the new Symphony went so world of experience and emotion—virtually a 1906, in Essen, conducted by the composer. between the title page and the first page of Die well that he even found time to compose some philosophy in tone. As did all of his sensitive Walküre. Then he waited day after day for me to songs. The music he wrote, however, was far re- European contemporaries, he perceived around Perhaps nowhere is the complex, fascinating, come across it, but for once I did not open this moved in mood from the halcyon happiness of him a cracking of his society, one that he felt was slightly disturbing character of Gustav Mahler score at that time. Suddenly he said: ‘Today I Maiernigg. Alma noted in September 1904, “He going to bring down the very political, social better seen than in the composition of his Sixth fancy having a look at Walküre.’ He opened the finished the Sixth Symphony and added three and artistic structures within which he had built Symphony: perfectionist conductor, obsessive book and the song fell out. I was happy beyond more to the two Kindertotenlieder (‘Songs on the his life. He could not, of course, foretell his own creator; doting father, loving but insensitive words and we played the song that day at least Death of Children’) he had composed in 1901. I calamities or the start of World War I in 1914 husband; universal philosopher, filled with self- twenty times.” found this incomprehensible. I can understand that realized his vision, but he could bring to doubt—all are reflected in this awesome work Yet this same man was just as often com- setting such frightful words to music if one had his works a sense of portentous uneasiness and which many regard as his greatest symphony in pletely insensitive to her needs. She had to miss no children, or had lost those one had.... What irreplaceable loss that mirror the era in which its masterful reconciliation of form and matter. many parties and receptions for lack of the I cannot understand is bewailing the deaths of he lived. “Mahler’s music expressed the intuitive In 1902, Mahler married Alma Schindler, proper evening clothes which it never occurred children who were in the best health and spir- forebodings of an artist listening to the distant daughter of the Viennese painter Emil Schindler. to him to provide for her. She had to manage its, hardly an hour after having kissed them rumblings of the future and, as such, formulat- Alma was a talented musician, a fellow pupil the household around his schedule and desires, and fondled them. I exclaimed at the time: ‘For ing the apprehensions of the suppressed and in- of the teacher Alexander von Zemlinsky with becoming a virtual sacrificial slave at the altar heaven’s sake, don’t tempt Providence!’” Of the articulate…who found in him, the Austrian Jew, Arnold Schoenberg, privy to the highest circles of his blazing ambition. One of the conditions Symphony, she said, “In the third movement, their most sympathetic spokesman,” commented of Austrian cultural aristocracy. She was said to of their marriage was that she give up compos- he represented the a-rhythmic games of the two Hans Redlich. The overwhelming poignancy of be the most beautiful woman in Vienna. Later ing, a field in which she had shown a fine talent little children, tottering in zigzags over the sand. his music arises from his juxtaposition of these in the year, their first child, Maria, was born. as a young woman and which was her primary Ominously, the childish voices become more and cosmic concerns with the simple, personal joys Little “Putzi,” as they nicknamed her, became creative outlet. Despite her loving devotion to more tragic, and at the end die out in a whim- of nature, family, love and the other values that the joy of Mahler’s life, and she was one of the Mahler and his work, she accumulated a burn- per. In the last movement he described himself nurture our humanity. two things that could get his mind off his work. ing anger with him during the years of their or, as he later said, his hero: ‘It is the hero, on With an insight and intensity of feeling (Strenuous physical exercise was the other. He marriage. It exploded when they were living whom fall three blows of fate, the last of which granted to few, Mahler perceived the great deli- was an inveterate swimmer and hiker.) Alma in New York City in the last years of his life, fells him like a tree.’ Those were his words.” cacy of life and the potentially overwhelming recalled the relationship of father and daughter and it came as a blinding revelation to him that Mahler’s explanation for writing such music? “I threats continually ranged against it, and this in her memoirs of her husband. “Each morning he had denied her a life of her own. He was so don’t choose what to compose. It chooses me,” proved almost more than he could bear at times. our child went into Mahler’s study,” she wrote. shaken that he agreed to an analysis by none he said, fatalistically. Alma believed that “not one of his works came “There they talked for a long time. Nobody other than Sigmund Freud. The two met in The visions of terror and death that Mahler so directly from his inmost heart as this Sixth knows what they said. I never disturbed them. Leyden, Holland, and Mahler regained much created on a beautiful Austrian summer’s day Symphony.” As he had done with earlier works, We had a persnickety English girl who always of his emotional equilibrium, but he carried a were more than simply upsetting—they were as soon as the Symphony was completed he led brought the child to the door of the study clean massive guilt with him for the rest of his days. prophetic. The finale’s “three blows of Fate,” por- her to his isolated little composer’s cottage and and neat. After a long time Mahler came back, The afternoon that he finally sat at the piano and trayed by a shattering cry from the full orchestra played it for her. “These occasions were always hand-in-hand with the child. Usually she was played the lovely songs Alma had written some and the strongest possible clap from a hammer very solemn ones.... We both wept that day. plastered with jam from head to toe, and my first ten years earlier, but which he had refused until (usually played on the bass drum), befell Mahler The music and what it foretold touched us so job was to pacify the English girl. But they both then to acknowledge, must have been a time of in 1907. Early in the year, a serious heart ailment deeply.” They shared a similar experience when came out so close to each other, and so content intense regret. was discovered; on June 15, his darling “Putzi,” the work was being premiered in Essen in 1906. with their talk, that I was secretly pleased. She The summers of 1903 and 1904, spent in not yet five years old, died; one month later, he “None of his works moved him so deeply at its was absolutely his child.” the country at Maiernigg, when he was work- was forced from his directorship of the Vienna first hearing as this,” Alma wrote. “We came to Mahler loved Alma as well, and he often ing on the Sixth Symphony, were times of ap- Opera. In her preface to Mahler’s letters, Alma the last rehearsals, to the dress rehearsal—to the expressed his affection in charming ways, as parent happiness for Mahler and his family. commented, “He said so often: All my works are last movement with its three great blows of fate. she recounted: “In the summer of 1903, two Though Alma’s misgivings about their life to- an anticipando of the life to come.” When it was over, Mahler paced back and forth movements of the Sixth were finished and the gether were already beginning to fester, the in the artists’ room, sobbing, wringing his hands, ideas for the remaining movements were com- birth of a second girl, on June 15, 1904, gave 2 unable to control himself.... On the day of the pleted in his head. Since I was playing a lot of her a more pressing focus for her thoughts than concert Mahler was afraid that the agitation this

16 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 17 PROGRAM NOTES PROGRAM NOTES music caused him might make him break down which has previously absorbed and digested my in the work could do it justice. In addition, the Altväterisch—“in an antiquated manner.” These during the performance, so, out of shame and first five symphonies.” Since even Mahler him- Sixth is the most classical, most abstract in form are the mixed-meter strains that Alma believed anxiety, he did not conduct the Symphony well. self shied away from clarifying the message of of all his symphonies. It was as though he feared represented her children’s clumsy games, and He hesitated to bring out the dark omen behind the finale for the work’s premiere, it was only that his deepest, most moving thoughts would that so frightened her in their eventual disinte- this terrible last movement.” It is little wonder to be expected that this work was the one of fly apart into unintelligibility if they were not gration as the movement concludes. that Mahler appended the title “Tragic” to this his symphonies which took longest to achieve contained in the strictest structural molds. The The slow third movement, in the- har work, the only one of his symphonies that ends public acceptance. It did not achieve wide favor work’s “program” or “message” or “meaning” is monically distant key of E-flat major, is akin in a minor key. when it was first heard in May 1906 (Mahler just as ineffable as it is undeniable. in mood to the somber introspection of the So grand were the visions Mahler sought was deeply wounded by ’s criti- The first movement is in . A Kindertotenlieder. Its only clear musical connec- to condense into his symphonies that he seems cism of its “excessively noisy orchestration”), nor short, five-measure preface establishes the A tion with the rest of the work is the symbolic to have felt the music barely adequate to hold when it was played later that season in Munich, minor tonality and the violent, martial nature use of cowbells, and, taken by itself, it seems a them. Even after his thoughts were down on Vienna, Leipzig and Dresden. It seems not to that dominates much of the movement. The lovely, if somewhat hyper-emotional display of paper, he continued to refine and adjust them have been performed anywhere between 1907 wide leap of an octave characterizes the main Post-Romantic sensibility. In its larger aspect, because “he was always concerned above all and Mahler’s death four years later. The judg- theme, presented by the strings. As a transition however, as an integral part of the Symphony’s with the attainment of the maximum clarity; ment of Oskar Fried, one of the composer’s most to the contrasting theme, the timpani pound structure, it becomes a foil to the surrounding this was more important to him than the color important disciples, was called into question by out a heavy motive that Mahler designated as menace, an almost painfully beautiful inter- and charm of the sound,” explained the conduc- the critics when he conducted the Symphony in the “rhythm of catastrophe.” Above these omi- lude—a pale child’s wan smile amid the rubble. tor Klaus Pringsheim, a Mahler protégé. Mahler successive seasons in Vienna in 1919 and 1920. nous whacks, he placed another of his musical Formally, it is built around three returns of the tinkered with the Sixth Symphony for years. The work was not heard in America until 1947, codes for Fate, a loud major triad slipping into legato main theme separated by episodes that are, At one of the first rehearsals, for example, he the last of his completed symphonies to reach a soft minor one, here intoned by the trumpets. by turns, pastoral, mysterious and passionate. was dissatisfied because the bass drum was not this country. Yet Hans Redlich wrote in a 1920 Placed against these stern musical thoughts is In 1921, the distinguished scholar Paul thunderous enough to do justice to the fateful article that this work was “Mahler’s essential the sweeping second theme, in which, Mahler Bekker wrote of this work, “All the essentials of blows in the finale so he had a giant chest spe- heritage for the future.” The “Second Viennese told Alma, he tried to capture her youthful, the symphonic action are entrusted to the finale cially made and hide stretched across its open School” immediately adopted the piece. Alban exuberant personality. The exposition, as in the more decisively than ever.” This magnificent, side. Despite the most forceful blows of the per- Berg wrote to that it is “the Classical model, is directed to be repeated. The searing closing movement, almost a half-hour cussionist and of Mahler himself with a large one and only Sixth—despite the ‘Pastoral’ [of development, begun with the timpani strokes, is in length, culminates the vision that inspired club, this contraption yielded no more than a Beethoven].” Berg admitted that the Symphony’s an extended working-out of the earlier themes the work. The form is a large sonata structure of dull thud, and the original bass drum was al- finale was the starting point for the last of his into which is introduced another of Mahler’s enormous complexity, but the emotional thrust lowed to resume its place. Mahler adjusted the Three Orchestral Pieces, Op. 6, of 1914. Arnold musical symbols—the hollow-sounding tintin- of the music is organized around the three “blows instrumentation every time he returned to the Schoenberg wrote in 1913 and 1934 lov- nabulation of cowbells. This effect, “the last of Fate” and the bleak concluding dirge in the Symphony, often following the advice of young ingly analyzing the structural subtleties and earthly sounds heard from the valley below by low brass. Long developmental lines, perhaps répétiteurs he stationed in the auditorium to melodic construction of the Andante. It has the spirit departing from the mountain top,” representing rising hope and confidence, are cut judge the effect. Even the overall structure of the only been since the 1960s, when recordings first explained the composer, was meant to represent short by the sinister strokes. (Though Mahler work came into question. For a while he thought opened to the world the breathtaking scope of the most remote loneliness. It occurs again in the called them “hammer-strokes” in the score, he that the Adagio should precede the Scherzo, the Mahler’s achievement, that the Sixth Symphony Seventh Symphony. The recapitulation returns instructed that the timbre must be “short, pow- reverse of their order at the premiere, but finally has taken its proper place as one of his best— the martial main theme and Alma’s sweeping erful, but dull in sound…not of metallic charac- decided the original Scherzo–Adagio sequence some say his greatest—works. melody, and from them grows an extended coda ter,” so the part is usually played on bass drum.) was preferable. He vacillated on leaving intact which achieves a certain belligerent affirmation The third and final stroke, which is followed by the finale’s third hammer-blow—the death- 2 in its closing pages. the timpani’s “rhythm of catastrophe” from the stroke—for what seem to have been reasons of Hans Redlich wrote that the “chief charac- first movement and the major-minor chord shift, superstition. He never made a final decision on ahler did not give a written program teristic of the Scherzo is its sinister artificiality.” leads directly to the coda, a solemn threnody the matter, so conductors are today left with a Mor explanation for this Symphony. “No In place of the cheerful dance of the traditional murmured in sepulchral tones by the trombones perplexing problem. music is worth anything when the listener has to scherzo is a brutal essay in steely A minor that and tuba. A single, final cry from the full orches- Just before the short score of the Symphony be told what experience it embodies—in other is mocking and derisive in spirit, and even tra above the faltering heartbeat of the timpani’s was completed in September 1904, Mahler words, what he is expected to experience him- parodies fragments of the opening movement’s motive ends the Symphony. wrote to his biographer Richard Specht, “My self,” he said. He was right. No attempt to trans- themes to build its own melodic material. The Sixth will present riddles to the solution of fer into words Mahler’s eloquent expression of the more lightly scored trio, spun from motives which only a generation will dare apply itself vast, varied and powerful emotional resonances stated in the Scherzo’s opening pages, is marked © 2011 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

18 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 19 ORCHESTRA ROSTER ORCHESTRA ROSTER

VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Concertmaster Martin Klimek Jerzy (Jurek) Dybal Wolfgang Vladar Rainer Küchl Yefgen Andrusenko Alexander Matschinegg Thomas Jöbstl Rainer Honeck Shkëlzen Doli Michael Bladerer Wolfgang Lintner Volkhard Steude Dominik Hellsberg Bartosz Sikorski Wolfgang Tomböck Albena Danailova* Holger Groh Jan-Georg Leser Jan Jankovic* Maxim Brilinsky* Jedrzej Gorski Manuel Huber* First Eckhard Seifert Harp Trumpet Hubert Kroisamer Heinrich Koll Charlotte Balzereit Hans-Peter Schuh Josef Hell Tobias Lea Gotthard Eder Jun Keller Christian Frohn Flute Martin Mühlfellner Daniel Froschauer Wolf-Dieter Rath Wolfgang Schulz Reinhold Ambros Herbert Linke Robert Bauerstatter Dieter Flury Stefan Haimel Günter Seifert Gerhard Marschner Walter Auer Wolfgang Brand Gottfried Martin Günter Federsel Trombone Clemens Hellsberg Hans Peter Ochsenhofer Günter Voglmayr Dietmar Küblböck Erich Schagerl Mario Karwan Wolfgang Breinschmid Ian Bousfield Bernhard Biberauer Martin Lemberg Jeremy Wilson Martin Kubik Elmar Landerer Oboe Mark Gaal Setena Innokenti Grabko Martin Gabriel Karl Jeitler Martin Zalodek Michael Strasser Clemens Horak Johann Ströcker Kirill Kobantchenko Ursula Plaichinger Harald Hörth Wilfried Hedenborg Thilo Fechner Alexander Öhlberger Tuba Johannes Tomböck Thomas Hajek Wolfgang Plank* Paul Halwax Pavel Kuzmichev Daniela Ivanova Herbert Maderthaner* Christoph Gigler* Isabelle Ballot Andreas Großbauer Clarinet Percussion Olesya Kurylak* Franz Bartolomey Ernst Ottensamer Bruno Hartl Ondrej Janoska* Tamás Varga Matthias Schorn Anton Mittermayr Robert Nagy Daniel Ottensamer* Erwin Falk Second Violin Friedrich Dolezal Norbert Täubl Klaus Zauner Raimund Lissy Raphael Flieder Johann Hindler Oliver Madas Tibor Kovác Csaba Bornemisza Andreas Wieser Benjamin Schmidinger * Jörgen Fog Thomas Lechner Gerald Schubert Gerhard Iberer Bassoon René Staar Wolfgang Härtel Michael Werba Helmut Zehetner Ursula Wex* Stepan Turnovsky * An asterisk denotes a confirmed member of the Alfons Egger Eckart Schwarz-Schulz Harald Müller Orchestra who does not yet be- George Fritthum Sebastian Bru* Reinhard Öhlberger long to the association of the Vienna Philharmonic. Alexander Steinberger Stefan Gartmayer Wolfgang Koblitz Harald Krumpöck Benedikt Dinkhauser Michal Kostka Benedict Lea Herbert Mayr Horn Marian Lesko Christoph Wimmer Ronald Janezic Tomas Vinklat Ödön Rácz Lars Michael Stransky Johannes Kostner Wolfgang Gürtler Sebastian Mayr

20 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 21 HISTORICAL NOTES HISTORICAL NOTES

History of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra musical life, he revived Lachner’s idea and on Eckert, and since that time, the “Philharmonic the Orchestra, either as conductors or soloists. March 28, 1842, conducted a “Grand Concert” Concerts” have been staged without interrup- During Richter’s tenure, which has become in the Großer Redoutensaal, which was present- tion. The only significant change in all those known as the “Golden Age,” Brahms’s Second Origins ed by “all of the orchestra members of the im- years was to switch from having one conductor and Third Symphonies and Bruckner’s Eighth perial Hof-Operntheater.” This “Philharmonic for a complete season of subscription concerts to Symphony were premiered. Until the first Philharmonic concert on Academy,” as it was originally called, is rightly the present system of having various guest con- The Philharmonic performed abroad for the March 28, 1842, the city that gave its name to regarded as the origin of the Orchestra, because ductors within a season, as the following chro- first time at the World Exhibition in Paris in the Viennese classics­—works of , all of the principles of the “Philharmonic Idea,” nology demonstrates: 1900 with Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) conduct- and Ludwig van which still apply today, were put into practice ing. The Orchestra, officially recognized by the Beethoven—had no professional concert or- for the first time: 1860: Carl Eckert Austrian government as an association in 1908, chestra. Concerts of symphonic works were 1860–1875: Otto Dessoff did not start touring with any regularity until 1. Only a musician who plays in the played by ensembles specially assembled for 1875–1882: Hans Richter 1922 under Felix von Weingartner, who led the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (origi- the occasion. Orchestras composed entirely of 1882–1883: Orchestra as far afield as . nally the Court Opera Orchestra) professional musicians were found only in the 1883–1898: Hans Richter The Philharmonic’s close relationship to can become a member of the Vienna theaters. The logical step of playing a concert 1898–1901: Gustav Mahler Richard Strauss, of course, is of great histori- Philharmonic Orchestra. with one of these orchestras was taken at the 1901–1903: Joseph Hellmesberger cal importance, and represents one of the many end of the 18th century, when Mozart engaged 2. The Orchestra is artistically, organi- 1903–1908: guest conductors high points in the Orchestra’s rich history. the orchestra of the Vienna Court Theater for zationally and financially autonomous, 1908–1927: Felix von Weingartner Further musical highlights were artistic col- a cycle of six concerts in 1785. Beethoven also and all decisions are reached on a demo- 1927–1930: Wilhelm Furtwängler laborations with from 1933 to engaged this ensemble on April 2, 1800, for a cratic basis during the general meeting 1930–1933: 1937 and Wilhelm Furtwängler, who, despite concert in which he premiered his first sym- of all members. 1933–present: guest conductors the departure from the one-subscription-con- phony. On May 24, 1824, the orchestra of the cert conductor system, was in actuality the main 3. The day-to-day management is the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (“Society of conductor of the Orchestra from 1933 to 1945, responsibility of a democratically elected the Friends of Music”) and the court orchestra Otto Dessoff and again from 1947 to 1954. body, the administrative committee. joined forces with the court opera orchestra for In 1938, politics encroached on the the premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Thus, even before the political events of 1848, a Under the leadership of Otto Dessoff (1835– Philharmonic’s activities in the most brutal way. Despite these promising beginnings, however, revolutionary policy was adopted—democratic 1892) the repertoire was consistently enlarged, The National Socialists dismissed all Jewish art- the largest and finest ensemble in Vienna only self-determination and entrepreneurial initiative important organizational principles (music ar- ists from the Vienna State Opera and disbanded managed to become an organizer of classical undertaken by an orchestra as a partnership— chives, rules of procedure) were introduced and the association of the Vienna Philharmonic. It symphonic concerts in a very roundabout way. which laid the foundations for technically and the Orchestra moved to its third new home. At was only the intervention of Furtwängler that The Bavarian composer and conductor Franz musically superior performances of classical the beginning of the 1870–1871 season it began achieved the nullification of the disbandment Lachner, conductor at the court opera theater symphonic works. Of course, this was only the playing in the newly built Goldener Saal in the order and saved the “half-Jews” and “closely re- from 1830, played symphonies by Beethoven beginning. The association of musicians would Musikverein building in Vienna, which has lated” from dismissal and persecution. However, in the intervals of ballet performances. From suffer serious setbacks and learn painful lessons proved to be the ideal venue, with its acoustical the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra mourned these experiments to the court opera orchestra’s before it finally achieved true stability. characteristics influencing the Orchestra’s style the murder of six Jewish members in the con- first entrepreneurial activities was only a small and sound. centration camps as well as the death of a young step, and in 1833 Lachner founded the Künstler- violinist on the eastern front. Verein for this purpose. However, the society The Philharmonic Subscription Concerts disbanded after only four concerts due to orga- The “Golden Age”: Hans Richter nizational shortcomings. When left Vienna permanently in After World War II 1847, the young enterprise almost collapsed, hav- Under Hans Richter, the legendary conduc- ing lost in one person not only its artistic but also tor of the premiere of Wagner’s tetralogy The After World War II, the Orchestra continued The Birth of the Philharmonic Orchestra: its administrative leader. Twelve years of stagna- Ring of the Nibelungen in , the Vienna the policy it began in 1933 of working with ev- Otto Nicolai tion followed before a new innovation brought Philharmonic Orchestra finally established it- ery conductor of repute. Especially important to about the long-awaited change of fortune. On self as an ensemble of world renown and unique the Orchestra after 1945 were the artistic col- Otto Nicolai (1810–1849) was appointed January 15, 1860, the first of four subscription tradition. This was helped through its associa- laborations with its two honorary conductors, conductor at the Kärntertortheater in 1841. concerts took place in the Kärntnertortheater tions with Wagner, Verdi, Bruckner, Brahms, Karl Böhm and , and with Encouraged by influential figures of Vienna’s under the baton of then opera director Carl Liszt and others, all of whom performed with its honorary member, .

22 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 23 HISTORICAL NOTES NOTES ON THE ORCHESTRA

Through its busy concert schedule, record- ings on film and record, tours all over the world, and regular appearances at major international festivals, the Vienna Philharmonic meets all the requirements of the modern multimedia music business while still managing to emphasize its unique individuality, perhaps best exemplified in the annual New Year’s Concert, and in the pivotal role it plays each summer at the Festival. Although the Orchestra has moved with the times, it remains faithful to traditional principles by retaining its autonomy and the subscription concert series as the artistic, orga- nizational and financial basis of its work. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is not only Austria’s most highly coveted “cultural export,” it is also an ambassador of peace, hu- manity and reconciliation, concepts which are inseparably linked to the message of music itself.

In 2005, the Vienna Philharmonic was named Terry Linke Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organisation. For its artistic achievements, the Orchestra has received numerous awards, gold The Viennese sound Viennese woodwinds and brasses and platinum disks, national honors, and honor- ary membership in many cultural institutions. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra sees itself There are significant differences between as having inherited a body of instrument types Viennese woodwind and brass instruments which at the end of the 18th century reflected and those of other symphony orchestras. The Dr. Clemens Hellsberg the prevailing intellectual spirit and value sys- fingering on the clarinet is different, and the tem, not only of central Europe, but to a certain mouthpiece has a different form, which in turn extent of the entire continent. The emergence of requires a special kind of reed. The bassoon has national schools of composition in various coun- essentially the same form as the German version, tries at the beginning of the 19th century led to but with special fingering and reeds. The trum- variations in the way instruments were con- pet has a rotary valve system and, in places, a structed. The works of the French impression- narrower bore. ists, for example, and their underlying sound The trombone has a narrower bore as well, concepts required not only modified instru- which enables improved tone color and dynam- ments but also reflected a change in the attitude ics, as does the Viennese tuba, which also has a behind the music, which had been dominated all different valve system and fingering. The flute is over Europe, at least until the , largely the same as the conventional Boehm flute by the idea of musical rhetoric. In Vienna, this that is widely used all over the world. However, it change did not take place. Viennese music re- did not replace the wooden flute in Vienna until mained essentially faithful to concepts of sound the 1920s. Here, too, as with all wind and brass originating in the Viennese classics, although instruments in the Viennese classics, vibrato is there were some developments. used very sparingly. Up to that time, vibrato

24 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 25 NOTES ON THE ORCHESTRA ABOUT THE ARTISTS was regarded as a form of embellishment rather Viennese percussion than a permanent way of beautifying the note and it was reserved almost exclusively for the Viennese percussion has the following unusual strings. It is interesting to note that an increas- features: The skin of all the membraned instru- ing number of international wind instrument ments is genuine goat parchment, which gives soloists are rejecting vibrato as stylistically inap- a richer range of overtones than artificial skins. propriate in their interpretations of the Viennese The adjustable kettle of the Viennese timpani is classics. Of course, the Vienna Philharmonic pressed against the skin. The manually operated winds use vibrato in pieces where it is intended tuning screws allow greater tuning accuracy as a element. compared to instruments that are tuned with The greatest differences between Viennese foot pedals. Of the various types of drum, pref- and internationally used instruments are to be erence is given to those which have a cylinder found in the Viennese horn, which has a narrow with no draw-bar/tie-rod mounting and can thus bore, an extended leadpipe and a system of pis- vibrate freely. Since these instruments developed ton valves. The advantage of these valves is that from clapperless handbells, they are cast and not the individual notes are not so sharply detached, made of sheet metal like today’s instruments. making smoother legato playing possible. The tonal differences between these and instru- Viennese horns are also constructed of stronger ments used internationally can be measured and materials than conventional double horns. charted using digital analysis. The Viennese oboe, played only in Vienna, differs from the internationally played French oboe in that it has a special bore shape, a special Viennese strings Terry Linke reed and special fingering. here is perhaps no other musical en- was correct in more ways than one. One notable With the exception of the flute and, to some In the field of the Viennese strings, which are semble more consistently and closely associ- aspect of this incomparability is certainly the extent, the bassoon, the typical differences in justly famous for their sound, in-depth studies T ated with the history and tradition of European unique relationship between the Vienna State tone of Viennese instruments can be described have yet to be carried out. Although there is a than the Vienna Philharmonic Opera Orchestra and the private association as follows: They are richer in overtones, i.e., the clearly perceptible continual development, there Orchestra. In the course of its 168-year his- known as the Vienna Philharmonic. In accor- sound tone is brighter. They have a wider - dy is no fully standardized Viennese violin school. tory, the musicians of this most prominent or- dance with Philharmonic statutes, only a mem- namic range, thus making possible greater dif- There can be no doubt that the Viennese string chestra of the capital city of music have been an ber of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra can ferences between piano and forte. They enable instruments themselves, unlike the winds, are integral part of a musical epoch that—thanks become a member of the Vienna Philharmonic greater modulation of sound: The musician can not of prime importance in producing the or- to an abundance of uniquely gifted Orchestra. Before joining the Philharmonic, alter the tone color in many ways. chestra’s unique sound. With a few exceptions, and interpreters—must certainly be regarded therefore, one must first successfully audition The way an orchestra sounds is a result of the quality of the instruments of the string sec- as unique. for a position with the State Opera Orchestra tradition and the concepts of sound arising tion is not particularly outstanding. More im- The Orchestra’s close association with this and prove oneself capable over a period of three therefrom. The roots of the Viennese brass tradi- portant is that the string section of the Vienna rich musical history is best illustrated by the years before becoming eligible to submit an ap- tion are to be found in Germany. Hans Richter Philharmonic is more like a workshop in the statements of countless pre-eminent musical per- plication for membership in the association of played a vital role in the development of this Middle Ages, in which newly arrived musicians sonalities of the past. Richard Wagner described the Vienna Philharmonic. The engagement in tradition. Because of him, a great many Vienna are initiated into and absorb the secrets of the the orchestra as being one of the most outstand- the Vienna State Opera Orchestra provides the Philharmonic brass players have been invited orchestra’s special musical style. ing in the world; called it “the musicians a financial stability that would be to play at the , and numer- Thus, an orchestral sound is created which most superior musical association”; Johannes impossible to attain without relinquishing their ous German brass players, mainly trombone essentially corresponds to that which the great Brahms counted himself a “friend and admirer”; autonomy to private or corporate sponsors. The and tuba players, have been engaged to play composers of the Viennese classics, Viennese Gustav Mahler claimed to be joined together independence that the Philharmonic musicians in Vienna. Romanticism and the through “the bonds of musical art”; and Richard enjoy through the opera is returned in kind by intended when they were writing their works. Strauss summarized these sentiments by saying, a higher level of artistic performance gained “All praise of the Vienna Philharmonic reveals through the Orchestra’s experience on the con- itself as understatement.” cert podium. When said that the Since its inception through Otto Nicolai Philharmonic was “incomparable,” his comment in 1842, the fascination that the Orchestra has

26 CAL PERFORMANCES CAL PERFORMANCES 27 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS exercised upon prominent composers and con- has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the His performances of Lohengrin in 2009 were ductors, as well as on audiences all over the World Health Organisation, and in 2006 the a highlight of the season. His recording of the world, is based not only on a homogenous musi- Orchestra became a supporter of the “Hear opera for Profil was released in 2009 shortly be- cal style carefully bequeathed from one genera- the World” initiative, a hearing awareness fore the Covent Garden production opened, and tion to the next, but also on its unique structure campaign. As of November 2008, Rolex is the it later won two BBC Music Magazine Awards: and history. The desire to provide artistically worldwide presenting sponsor of the Vienna Opera of the Year and Disc of the Year 2010. worthy performances of the symphonic works Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Bychkov begins 2011 with back-to- of Mozart and Beethoven in their own city led The musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic back European tours: first in Amsterdam and to the decision on the part of the court opera Orchestra endeavor to implement the motto Spain with the Royal Orchestra, musicians to present a “Philharmonic” concert with which , whose sym- and later with the Vienna Philharmonic series independent of their work at the opera, phonic works served as a catalyst for the creation Orchestra in Vienna, Cologne and on the and upon their own responsibility and risk. The of the Orchestra, prefaced his : West Coast of the United States. Programs for organizational form chosen for this new enter- “From the heart, to the heart.” the concerts feature the second symphonies prise was democracy, a concept that in the politi- of Brahms, Schumann and Schubert, as well cal arena was the subject of bloody battles only Semyon Bychkov as works by Wagner, Bartók, Beethoven and six years later. has served as Chief Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. Over the course of one-and-a-half centuries, Conductor of the Maestro Bychkov has worked with the this chosen path of democratic self-adminis- WDR Symphony Vienna Philharmonic on many occasions: at tration has experienced slight modifications, Orchestra in the Vienna State Opera, where he conduct- but has never been substantially altered. The Cologne for 13 ed Elektra, Tristan und Isolde, Daphne and foremost ruling body of the organization is the years. This season, Lohengrin; and at the , where Orchestra itself. Maestro Bychkov he conducted Der Rosenkavalier. He first worked The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has conducts tours to with the orchestra in symphonic repertoire in a made it its mission to communicate the hu- , the United performance of Bach’s Mass in 2002, manitarian message of music into the daily lives States and Europe and was subsequently invited to the Salzburg and consciousness of its listeners. With con- with the Vienna Sheila Rock Festival. In 2008, Maestro Bychkov conducted certs at home and on tour around the world, Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw the Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 for today’s Vienna Philharmonic is much more Orchestra and Filarmonica della Scala, relishing the opening of the Wiener Festwochen. than Austria’s most coveted “cultural export.” prolonged periods with old colleagues, as well as Following this U.S. tour, Maestro Bychkov The Orchestra’s members are considered ambas- an increased presence in the United States, returns to Europe for concerts with the BBC sadors, expressing through their performances where he was based for ten years after leaving the Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic the ideals of peace, humanity and reconciliation former Soviet Union. Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus and RAI with which music is so inseparably bound, and Opening the 2010–2011 season in Milan, Torino, and a concert tour with the Filarmonica regularly donating services to create events that where he established his reputation with perfor- della Scala to Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece. promote peace through music. Examples of this mances of and Elektra, Maestro Bychkov While in Italy, Maestro Bychkov will conduct include the Orchestra’s historic performance of conducted the Filarmonica della Scala for the performances of Britten’s War with the Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Sir Simon first of four concerts in Italy before leaving for Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome Rattle in 2000 at Mauthausen, the former site China with concerts in Beijing and Shanghai. and Maggio Musicale in Florence, with a further of Austria’s largest concentration camp during Returning from Asia, Maestro Bychkov crossed performance at the Festival de Saint Denis in World War II; the 2002 concert in New York to the United States, where he conducted the Paris. His final concert of the 2010–2011 season City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral in remembrance of orchestras of Cleveland, San Francisco and is at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, where he victims of terrorism; annual benefits in New York Philadelphia before landing in , where he will conduct the NDR Symphony Orchestra. benefiting the American Austrian Foundation/ spent the final weeks of 2010 a new Salzburg Cornell (Medical Seminars); and, be- production of Tannhäuser at Covent Garden. ginning in 1999, the annual donation of partial Tannhäuser is the second opera by Wagner proceeds from the Philharmonic’s New Year’s and sixth opera that Maestro Bychkov has con- Concerts to a variety of humanitarian organi- ducted at the since making zations. Since 2005, the Vienna Philharmonic his debut at Covent Garden with Elektra in 2003.

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