PROGRAM NOTES DSO Showcase WILLIAM INTRILIGATOR, Music Director & Conductor
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SAT Feb 25 at 7:30pm SUN Feb 26 at 2:00pm Five Flags Theater Downtown Dubuque PROGRAM NOTES DSO Showcase WILLIAM INTRILIGATOR, Music Director & Conductor Konzertstück for Four French Horns & Orchestra in F Major, op. 86 Robert Schumann One of the best-loved sonorities in German Romantic-era music was the warm, noble sound of horns, which, because of their hunting-horn origins, seemed to conjure the unspoiled forests of the German landscape. In the winter of 1849, Robert Schumann celebrated this sonority in his Konzertstück or Concert Piece for Four Horns. Despite its name, it is a true concerto in three movements for not one soloist — but in the spirit of the old concerto grosso form like Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos — a quartet of them. Robert Schumann In the first half of the 19th century, the horn was undergoing revolutionary changes. Formerly, b. 1810, Zwickau, Saxony, hornists had been forced to create their pitches by skillful hand adjustments within the bell now Germany; of the instrument, which led to many out-of-tune notes and uneven-sounding scales. Now d. 1856, Endenich, near Bonn, Germany valves were added to the instrument to facilitate the production of all pitches in a smooth and reliable way, although it must be said that this valve horn is still one of the trickiest Instrumentation: instruments in the entire orchestra to play well. 4 solo horns, 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, In 1849, Schumann was living in the city of Dresden, whose orchestra boasted one of 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, Europe’s greatest masters of the new valve horn: French-born Joseph-Rudolph Lewy. His 3 trombones, timpani, and strings virtuosity inspired Schumann to write the Konzertstück as well as a chamber work the Adagio and Allegro for horn and piano. As Schumann scholar John Daverio wrote, “The piece is just as impressive from a visual as from an aural standpoint: the sight of four horns arranged in front of an orchestra creates an image not easily forgotten.” The opening movement, marked “Lebhaft” or “lively,” is an exuberant, extraverted sonata form. Virtually all of its melodic material is derived from the two elements in the four horns’ opening cry: a triplet-rhythm fanfare followed by a swinging four-note idea leaping upward at the end. Despite the energy and intensity of this music, the middle development section introduces some lovely, lyrical interludes for the horns showing off their most mellow tones. That lyricism and emphasis on mellow sonorities really comes to the fore in the second- movement Romanze. Schumann’s popular “Rhenish” Symphony has a remarkable movement that describes the composer’s memories of attending a service in Cologne’s magnificent Gothic cathedral; this movement captures some of that entranced, mystical feeling as well. The four horns are layered in call-and-response contrapuntal lines; this cathedral echo-effect is also shared between the quartet and the orchestra. The middle section features a warm, very Brahmsian melody, introduced by the orchestra and then given to the horns over a subtle plucked accompaniment. Trumpet calls suddenly intrude, and the entrance of the Finale breaks off this beautiful reverie. Marked “Sehr lebhaft” or “very lively,” this is a fiery movement driven by a relentless rhythm. A gentler reminiscence of the Brahmsian melody from the Romanze in the horns during the middle development section provides a bit of relaxation before the music rollicks to its hyper-energetic conclusion. Concerto for Marimba & String Orchestra - Emmanuel Séjourné The national instrument of Guatemala, the marimba is a percussion instrument developed in Central America by African slaves inspired by memories of their native instruments in Africa. It has wooden bars, arranged like piano keys but in two rows, above metal tubes serving as resonators and is played with mallets. In the Concerto we will hear, the player uses four mallets, two for each hand. The marimba’s round, deep, bell-like sound has been prized by both contemporary classical and jazz composers. Based in Strasbourg, France, Emmanuel Séjourné is a master of both the marimba and its cousin the vibraphone and performs as orchestral soloist and in recital throughout Europe, Emmanuel Séjourné b. 1961, Limoges, France Asia, and North America. Also a professor of these instruments at the Conservatory of Strasbourg, he composes extensively, often writing music for films and television. He has Instrumentation: been as active in jazz as in classical music, and both these worlds can be heard in his Solo marimba and strings Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra, which was premiered in Linz, Austria in July 2005 and has since been played regularly around the world. The Canadian percussionist Anne-Julie Caron describes it as “unique because it is one of the rare pieces to put the marimba in a romantic context.” This is very much a concerto that emphasizes the soloist, while the orchestra plays a supporting role. The more subdued first movement is introduced by very romantic, melancholy-sounding music for the strings, against which the crisp entrance of the marimba makes a sharp contrast. Soon, however, the soloist adopts the opening mood and adds a blues influence to it. A very quiet, very beautiful marimba solo closes this movement. Marked “rhythmic, energetic,” movement two has a very different mood. The emphasis now is on the soloist’s rapid-fire virtuosity. A middle section is more relaxed, showing off the marimba’s haunting colors; the orchestra also reprises briefly the romantic opening music. Mallets fly again for the Concerto’s fast, exciting finish. Sinfonia for Small String Orchestra - Paul Alan Price-Brenner Paul Alan Price-Brenner may be most familiar to Dubuque audiences as a viola player with the DSO, but he is also a busy composer whose music has been played all over the Midwest. Beginning composing when he was 13, in high school he won the Wisconsin School Music Association’s State Composition Contest an unprecedented four years in a row. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at the University of Iowa and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a master’s in composition from DePaul University. He is also a founding member and violist of the Kipperton String Quartet. The music in Price-Brenner’s Sinfonia for String Orchestra was originally the first movement Paul Alan Price-Brenner of his Two Movements for String Quartet, written when he was only 19. In 2002, he b. 1976, Brookfield, Wisconsin transformed its first movement into the one-movement orchestral Sinfonia, adding double basses to create a fuller sound. This new arrangement won the first-ever DePaul University Instrumentation: Chamber Orchestra Composition Contests in Chicago and was premiered by that orchestra Strings in Spring 2004. It was also selected to be performed at the Midwest Composers Symposium held at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2006. As Price-Brenner explains, the Sinfonia “utilizes harmonies constructed from traditional major and minor scales to create an almost modal sound. [It] explores the use of ostinato [rhythmic] figures and [different] bow techniques through a traditional sonata-allegro movement.” Making fine use of the sonorities of string instruments, this rhythmically energetic piece sounds very American, but also is colored exotically by little figures from Spanish music. Ballettmusik in G from Rosamunde - Franz Schubert It is one of music’s ironies that Franz Schubert, probably the greatest songwriter of all time and one who could pack a whole drama into one lied (as in his famous “Earl King” ballad), should have been so unsuccessful writing for the theater. At the height of Rossini’s popularity in Vienna’s opera houses, Schubert longed to make his fame and fortune with operas of his own. His lack of success was no reflection on his musical ability; instead, it was due to his careless choice of inept librettos that were laughed off the stage by contemporary audiences. Franz Schubert Today his theatrical and operatic scores are largely forgotten except for the wonderful b. 1797, Vienna, Austria; incidental music he wrote for the play Rosamunde in 1823 and the vivacious overture d. 1828, Vienna mistakenly associated with it. Billed as a “Grand Romantic Drama in Four Acts,” Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus was written by Wilhelmina von Chézy, who had already Instrumentation: created an equally bad libretto for Weber’s opera Euryanthe (now remembered only for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, its impressive overture). Premiered in Vienna on December 20, 1823, it was savaged by 2 bassoons, 2 french horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, the critics and lasted only two performances. timpani, and strings The ten modest and infectiously melodious pieces Schubert wrote for the play, however, have lasted much longer. We will hear the lovely Ballet Music in G Major from Act IV, which has the ingratiating charm of Austrian rural folk dances. Symphony No. 4 in A Major, “Italian”, op. 90 - Felix Mendelssohn “This is Italy! And now has begun what I have always thought … to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it. Today was so rich that now, in the evening, I must collect myself a little, and so I am writing to you to thank you, dear parents, for having given me all this happiness …” Thus the 21-year-old Felix Mendelssohn wrote his family on October 10, 1830 after arriving in Venice. He did well to remember to thank his parents, for it was their wealth that had made possible this second installment of his Grand Tour of Europe. The previous year had taken him to the British Isles and sown the seeds for his “Scottish” Symphony; his Felix Mendelssohn journeys in and around Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples from October 1830 to July b.