UGA Orchestra and Choral Ensembles UGA Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles Program

Tuesday, April 17 2018 • 8:00 p.m.

University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra conductorMark Cedel assistant conductor Jean Gomez Alto Rhapsody, Opus 53 Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano UGA Hodgson Singers conductorDaniel Bara Brahms Nänie. Opus 82 assistant conductor Lee Wright

INTERMISSION University Chorus conductorJ.D. Burnett assistant conductor Christopher Mason Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Opus 73 Allegro non troppo UGA Men’s Glee Club Adagio non troppo conductorJ.D. Burnett Allegretto grazioso (quasi Andantino) assistant conductor Justin Bowen Allegro con spirito

UGA Women’s Glee Club conductorLee Wright assistant conductor Marshall Williams

with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wor

HODGSON CONCERT HALL 20 Performance UGA April May 2018 21 UGA Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles

some discomfort from the evident fervor of Program Notes Brahms’s interest in her well-being, though By Steven Ledbetter he never let her know his feelings explicitly. Out of his sadness at realizing he had lost Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) her, Brahms found words that perfectly ex- pressed his emotional condition and set Alto Rhapsody, Opus 53 them to music in one of his most moving scores. He presented the work as an expres- The Alto Rhapsody was composed in the sion of his own struggle with loneliness. A autumn of 1869; the first performance took week after Julie’s wedding on September place in Jena on March 3, 1870. The score 22, 1869, Brahms visited Clara and played calls for a solo alto voice, men’s chorus, and for her the work he called his “bridal song.” orchestra consisting of pairs of flutes, oboes, Clara’s response (in her journal): “It is long clarinets, bassoons, and horns, plus strings. since I remember being so moved by a depth Duration is about 14 minutes. of pain in words and music.” On May 11, 1869, had The text that Brahms chose for what be- happy news to share with her good friend came one of the most personal expressions Brahms when he visited her in Baden-Baden: of his life comprises the central part of a her daughter 24-year-old daughter Julie had difficult poem of Goethe’s, Harzreise im just become engaged. Brahms choked out a Winter (“Winter Journey Through the Harz few words and, to Clara’s surprise, promptly Mountains”). Of the poem’s 88 lines, Brahms disappeared. Perhaps only now did she un- set only about one quarter of the whole. Aber abseits, wer ist’s? But off apart there, who is that? derstand some of the ’s behavior Goethe’s poem was written after a 1777 visit Ins Gebüsch verliert sich sein Pfad, His path gets lost in the brush; during the previous half-dozen years. to the Harz Mountains, where he met a cor- Hinter ihm schlagen behind him the branches respondent of his, a misanthropic young Die Sträuche zusammen, close again, Julie was described as an ethereal beauty, fellow named Plessing, who had withdrawn and Brahms had evidently found her capti- Das Gras steht wieder auf, the grass stands straight again, from the world into the solitude of nature. Die Öde verschlingt ihn. the solitude swallows him up. vating as early as 1861, when he dedicated to Goethe’s poem describes one who goes “off her his Opus 23 Schumann Variations, on a apart,” praying that the Father of Love may theme composed by her father. At the time Ach, wer heilet die Schmerzen Ah, who can heal the pain have on his Psalter “a single tone perceptible Des, dem Balsam zu Gift ward? of one to whom balsam became poison? Clara evidently regarded it simply as hom- to his ear,” which might “revive his heart.” age to her family, because Robert, before his Der sich Menschenhass Who has drunk misanthropy Surely Brahms offered that prayer for him- Aus der Fülle der Liebe trank? from the fullness of love? death, had been the young Brahms’s best self. Goethe’s poem spoke to him with un- friend and strongest proponent. Julie was a Erst verachtet, nun ein Verächter, First despised, now despising, usual directness, and he responded to it with Zehrt er heimlich auf he secretly wastes beautiful but frail angel, who often suffered shattering, personal music. from illness. Brahms evidently felt a deep Seinen eignen Wert his own worth In ung’nügender Selbstsucht. in unsatisfying egoism. and growing affection for her, but his reac- The orchestral introduction shivers in its tion was complicated by the fact that his role chilly C-minor depiction of the winter Ist auf deinem Psalter, If there is in your Psalter, in helping to care for the family after Robert’s scene, interrupted by the alto soloist—enter- Vater der Liebe, ein Ton Father of Love, a single tone death made him a kind of surrogate father to ing suddenly as if overheard in the middle Seinem Ohre vernehmlich, perceptible to his ear, Julie, and his warm friendship with Clara— of a thought—who notices the solitary wan- So erquicke sein Herz! then revive his heart! twenty years older than he—made her a derer. A central section, actually an aria, de- Öffne den umwölkten Blick Open his cloud covered sight cross between a mother figure and a fan- scribes the one who, having been scorned, Über die tausend Quellen onto the thousand fountains tasy lover. Combined with these emotional now scorns all in return. The harmonic and Neben dem Durstenden beside the thirsting soul complexities was the fact that Brahms’s early rhythmic agitation of this section yields In der Wüste. in the desert. experiences playing the in the broth- magically at the entrance of the men’s voic- els of Hamburg led him to view the sexual es and a turn to a consoling C major and a side of human relations as something essen- warmly ardent melody praying for the rec- – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) – English translation by S.L. tially sordid. Julie herself occasionally felt onciliation of the wanderer.

22 Performance UGA April May 2018 23 UGA Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles

Brahms “heathenish” poem, especially as a memorial to Feuerbach, whose favorite subjects were Nänie, Opus 82 drawn from classical mythology. Nänie Nenia Auch das Schöne muss sterben! Das Men- Even Beauty must die; that which overcomes Nänie was composed in 1881, and the first In any case, Brahms completed his setting schen und Götter bezwinget, men and gods performance took place in Zurich on Decem- in the summer of 1881. It is one of his most Nicht die eherne Brust rührt es des stygischen Does not touch the iron breast of the Stygian ber 6 that year. The score calls for four-part exquisite creations, yet is performed surpris- Zeus. Zeus.1 mixed chorus and an orchestra consisting of ingly rarely. A musical setting of a text that Einmal nur erweichte die Liebe den Only once did love soften the ruler of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns laments the transitoriness of all things, life, Schattenbeherrscher, shadows, in pairs, three trombones, timpani, harp and love, beauty, and heroic glory might have Und an der Schwelle noch, streng, rief er And then, at the very threshold, he sternly strings. Duration is about 14 minutes. turned out profoundly gloomy—but it is not. zurück sein Geschenk. called back his gift.2 Brahms makes it serene and accepting, quite Nicht stillt Aphrodite dem schönen Knaben Aphrodite could not staunch the wound of the Nänie (the Greek word “nenia,” or “song in the spirit of Schiller’s poem and the gentle die Wunde, beautiful youth of lamentation”), Op. 82, is one of the least fatalism of Greek antiquity. Die in zierlichen Leib grausam der Eber which the boar savagely ripped in his delicate known of Brahms’s major works, and one of geritzt. body.3 the most exquisitely beautiful in its balance Schiller’s poem is cast in Greek hexameters— Nicht erettet den göttlichen Held die unster- Nor could the immortal mother save the and repose. Schiller’s classicizing poem, a long lines that Brahms found it a challenge bliche godlike lament that “Even Beauty must die,” was an to set, but they inspired him to create a long- Mutter, hero, obvious choice of text for a piece to memori- breathed flowing melody in 6/4 first heard in Wenn er, am skäischen Tor fallend, sein when he, falling at the Scaean gate, fulfilled alize the composer’s friend, the painter An- the oboe, then forming the basis of a gentle Schicksal his destiny.4 selm Feuerbach. canon in the voices—soaring, hovering, and erfüllt. But she ascends from the sea with all the intertwining from part to part. The text is 5 Brahms may have first encountered the Aber sie steigt aus dem Meer mit allen daughters of Nereus, filled with mythological references that few Töchtern des Nereus, and raises the lament for her glorified son. poem in a setting by Hermann Goetz, which will immediately recognize today (hence the happened to have been performed in Vienna Und die Klage hebt an um den verherrlichten footnotes added here), but Brahms either Sohn. Behold, the gods weep, and all the goddesses, in February 1880, within a month of Feuer- understood them or received an explana- bach’s death. He did not choose the text im- Siehe, da weinen die Götter, es weinen die too, tion before he set the poem to music. At Göttinnen alle, that Beauty must pass away, that the Perfect mediately, however. In July 1880 he wrote his the mention of Achilles’ mother Thetis ris- friend Elisabet von Herzogenberg, assuring Dass das Schöne vergeht, dass das Vollkom- must ing from the sea to lament the death of her mene die. her that he was “quite willing to write mo- son, the music moves to a bright and serene tets or anything else for chorus (I am heartily stirbt. To be even a song of lamentation in the F sharp major and a more homophonic tex- Auch ein Klaglied zu sein im Mund der mouth of sick of everything else!)”—but the problem ture. The final two lines round out the musi- was finding a text that could inspire his mu- Geliebten the beloved is splendid, cal shape with a return to the home key of 6 sical imagination. “They are not heathenish ist herrlich, for the Common goes down to Orcus D major and the opening material. Brahms Denn das Gemeine geht klanglos zum Orkus unsung. enough for me in the Bible. I have bought chooses to pass rather quickly over Schiller’s the Koran but can find nothing there either.” hinab. final line, “For the Common goes down to – – translation by Steven Ledbetter Elisabet’s suggestion that he look through Orcus unsung,” and to draw out and empha- the Psalms again bore no fruit. Instead, he size the next to last line, “To be even a song remembered Schiller’s poem, filled with of lamentation in the mouth of the beloved its classical Greek references—a perfect is splendid.”

1 Hades, the ruler of the Underworld, beyond the River Styx. 2 Orpheus was allowed to leave the Underworld with his beloved wife Eurydice, but when he looked back at her once before reaching the surface, he lost her again forever. “To be even a song of lamentation in 3 Adonis, loved by Aphrodite, found his death in a boar hunt. 4 Achilles, son of the sea nymph Thetis, who died at the hands of Paris before the gates of Troy. the mouth of the beloved is splendid.” 5 The father of Thetis and the other sea nymphs. 6 The Latin name for the kingdom of the dead, and its ruler.

24 Performance UGA April May 2018 25 UGA Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles

Brahms It feels much more relaxed than the tense, Symphony No. 2 in D, Opus 73 driven First Symphony. About the Soloist Nonetheless, the Second is, if anything, The Symphony No. 2 was composed in 1877, even more finely precision-ground than Magdalena Wór during a productive summer stay at Pörtschach, before; the parts fit as in a superbly made Carinthia (southern Austria); the first perfor- Polish born mezzo-soprano Magdalena Wór Swiss watch. Everything in the first move- is a winner, finalist and recipient of many mance took place under the direction of Hans ment grows out of some aspect of its open- Richter in Vienna on December 30, 1877. prestigious national and international com- ing phrase and its three component parts: a petitions and awards, such as the Marcello The symphony is scored for two each of flutes, three note “motto” in cellos and basses, the oboes, clarinets, and bassoons, four horns, two Giordani and Moniuszko International Vocal arpeggiated horn call , and a rising scale Competitions, Metropolitan Opera National trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and figure in the woodwinds. One of the loveli- strings. Duration is about 42 minutes. Council Auditions and Marcella Kochanska est moments in the first movement occurs Sembrich Vocal Competition, among oth- It is a well-known fact that Brahms put off at the arrival of the second theme in violas ers. Ms. Wór is an alumna of the Washington allowing a symphony to be brought to per- and cellos, a melting waltz tune that is first National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz and San formance until his forty-third year, so aware cousin to Brahms’s famous Lullaby. Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Programs. Over the last several seasons Ms. Wór has was he of the giant shadow of Beethoven. The second movement, a rather dark reaction worked with The Metropolitan Opera, the But once he had broken the ice, he did not to the sunshine of the first, begins with a step- National Symphony Orchestra and the Na- hesitate to try again. His First Symphony was wise melody rising in the bassoons against a tional Philharmonic in Washington, DC, completed in 1876; the Second came just the similar melody descending in the cellos, the the Washington National Opera, Atlanta following year, when Brahms spent the first two ideas mirroring each other. Rising and Symphony Orchestra, Baltic Opera, Wash- of three happy and musically productive falling in slow, graceful shapes, each grows ington Concert Opera, Atlanta Opera, Vir- summers at Lake Wörth, near Pörtschach in organically into rich and sinuous patterns. the southern Austrian province of Carinthia. ginia Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Memphis Between 1877 and 1879 he composed a ma- Beethoven would have written a scherzo for Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Mass in Eb Major, Grieg’s Peer Gynt, and jor work each summer—the Second Sym- his third movement. Brahms avoids direct Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Johannes-Passion, among others. phony, the , and the G ma- and New Trinity Baroque, among others. comparison by writing a lyrical intermezzo, Equally comfortable in opera, sympho- jor Violin . Richter’s performance of though shaped like a scherzo with two trios. Magdalena’s opera roles include those ny and chamber works, Ms. Wór is often the symphony in Vienna was an enormous A serenading 3/4 melody in the oboe opens of Carmen, Suzuki, Cherubino, Mad- praised by music critics and fans alike for success, and it received similar acclaim in the main section, which is twice interrupted dalena, Tisbe, Enrichetta, Orfeo, and Ro- the rich color of her voice, her vocal flex- Leipzig two weeks later. (To be sure, Vienna by Presto sections in different meters, the sina, and her orchestral repertoire includes ibility which allows her to sing low and high and Leipzig were the centers of the Brahms first in 2/4, the second in 3/8 time. A cen- Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Handel’s Messiah, mezzo repertoire from Baroque through cult, with critic Eduard Hanslick in the for- tury ago this was regarded as “the giddy fan- Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection,” 21st century, and for her complete devo- mer and Clara Schumann in the latter.) cies of a wayward humor.” It makes sense, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Bach’s Magnificat, Beach’s tion to both the music and the text at hand. though, when one realizes, as early listeners Elsewhere the notices were more varied. The did not, that each interruption is a variation criticism most frequently encountered was and further development of the oboe tune. that Brahms’s music was too intellectual, too calculated, had too little emotional quality. The final Allegro is a close knit as the first In the 1880s a Boston critic, W. F. Apthorp, movement and is based on thematic ideas wrote that it would take “a year of severe that can ultimately be traced back to the intellectual work” to “really fathom the Sec- very beginning of the symphony, includ- ond Symphony,” and he wondered whether ing the motto figure. Here Brahms’s lavish the effort was worth it. Today the reaction invention makes familiar ideas sound fresh is just the opposite; most listeners regard in new relationships. The great miracle of Brahms’s Second as the most spontane- the Second Symphony is that it sounds so ous, the most sheerly sensuous, a work that easy and immediate, yet turns out to be so pulses with the sounds of nature. Or, as the elaborately shaped, richly repaying the most title of a recent book about the Second by concentrated study, yet offering immediate Harvard musicologist Reinhold Brinkmann delight to the casual listener. puts it, the work is Brahms’s “late idyll.” JEJ Artists PHOTO: © Steven Ledbetter (www.stevenledbetter.com) 26 Performance UGA April May 2018 27 UGA Symphony Orchestra and Choral Ensembles University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra UGA Hodgson Singers conductor Mark Cedel conductor Daniel Bara assistant conductor Jean Gómez John D. Boyd UGA Foundation Professor of Choral Music assistant conductor Lee Wright pianist Elena Lyalina VIOLIN I VIOLA FLUTE TROMBONE Anastasia Petrunina, Nicholas Lindell, Lindy Thompson, Andrew Taylor, Principal SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS Concertmaster Principal Principal Luke Anders Sevda Arjomand Samantha Barnes Grant Allen Henry Adams Alexander Ambartsumian Kuan Huah Chen Hannah Peterson Kyle Moore, Tarryn Ballard Kathryn Buchanan Nikolos Bacote Justin Bowen Teresa Grynia Wesley Hamilton bass trombone Allison Collier Emily Carey Nick Byrd Eric Jasso Yeasol Kang Claudia Malchow OBOE Lauren Dempsey Naomi Goldstein Huston Collings David Johnson Serena Scibelli Elitsa Atanasova Remy Kepler, Principal TUBA Victoria Brianna Floyd Keyera Grant Antonio Del Sesto Jake Mappes Caroline Dorr Kaitlyn Gilmore Holly Huggins Eric Dowler Sebastian Nazaire Ava Cosman Nic Kanipe Nick Beltchev Sahada Buckley Campbell Harden-Allen Tori Langham Thomas Folger Harrison Stenson Joy Hsieh Felisha Jones Lourenço De Nardin Budó Abigail Jones Sidney Mulkey Chase Law Nathan Trivers Sarah Ewing Seonkyu Kim Timpani Liana Mosley Myah Paden Christopher Mason Marshall Williams Nicole Valerioti Sean Askin CLARINET Taylor Lents Laikin Morris Amanda Rockenbach Mitchell Powers Lee Wright Audrey Butler Will Ruff Greg Hamilton, Jordan Richey Shreya Visvanathan Austin Shively Monica Corliss Trey Golden Principal Harp Emma Robertson Adia Dukes Connor Croasmun Katie O’Shaughnessy Deborah Stephens VIOLIN II Jake Senter JP Brien-Slack, CELLO Library S S Principal Adriana Ceia, BASSOON Cláudia Amaral, Vivian Cheng Principal Joy Hoffman, Principal Head Librarian University Chorus RJ Gary Valentina Ignjic Carlee Woodring Catherine Cook Elizabeth Klingbeil Jackson Thompson Personnel conductor J.D. Burnett Gabriella Davis Michael Marra Manager assistant conductor Christopher Mason Kellie Shaw Jasmine Rhee HORN Adriana Ceia Meghan O'Keefe Jamie Mancuso Andrew Sehman, SOPRANO 1 Kelsie Kruskol ALTO 2 TENOR 2 Erin Lollar Jordi Lara Principal PRODUCTION Alissa Benkoski Katie Kuntsevich Carol Corina Richard Littlefield Ian Chen Julia Chun Maddi Dorrill, assistant Seonkyu Kim Natalie Bowen Vanessa Lewis Rebecca Emerson Grayson Pynn Olivia Curtis Anna Zurawski JP Brien-Slack Jackie Broadwell Jenny Mai Marjanne Goozé BASS 1 Ian Jones BASS Addison Whitney Helen Hill Caterina Villari Taylor Grant Leonard Ligon, Galit Shemesh Megan Kleinert Susan Virkler Kayla Hanner Jorge Lopez Sam Ferguson Alexander Miller Principal Diana Ricketts Victoria Hiten Jasmine Lau ALTO 1 Jackson Mitchell Mattia Beccari Sarah Sammons Ellie McQuaig TRUMPET Carla Cao Joseph Mullen Nahee Song Deborah Caldwell, Amber Tejeda Kathryn Miller Ching Yang Ashley Gable Karen Redwine Alexandre Tchaykov Cláudia Amaral Principal Amanda Gillis Marshall Williams Quentin Smith Tyler Jones Kate Sabey SOPRANO 2 Prishnee Goorah Hannah Stephen James West BASS 2 Alexa Ballew Mary Humble Sandy Woods Kelsey Barber Mary Hutcherson Frank Block Jr. Andrea Clements Alexis Kelson TENOR 1 Justin Bowen Elizabeth Dempsey Lauren McGahee Nicholas Clemm Gustavo Cervantes å Rebecca Dorrill Jamie Panarites Richard Gary Richard Hill Emily Germany Charlotte Riemersma Chun-Ju Lai David Maulding Rachel Jones Amy Savelle Christopher Mason William Schatzman Beata Kochut Olivia Soehner Andrew Miller Vern Sumner Garrick Widdowson

28 Performance UGA April May 2018 29 UGA SymphonyUGA SymphonyOrchestra and Choral Ensembles UGA Women’s Glee Club conductor Lee Wright assistant conductor Marshall Williams

SOPRANO Sky Kim ALTO Alexandra Mpofu Janine Albrecht Camille Lascala Isabel Arenas Madilyn Patterson Jennifer Aplin Karyn Lewis Cora Bauman Georgette Roty Ashlyn Baerwalde Allison Lindsey Brittany Borzillo Alison Schultz Chelsea Brown Mishael Mach Jessi Bowling Kate Templeton Jennillee Burton Gwen McMillan Catie Cawley Marta Torres Marion Cassim Jess Monachelli Madeline Danser Anna Wakeman Bella Castano Emma O’Neal Lizzie Digiovanni Julia Warren Abigail Childers Caroline Poole Sarah Dillon Leslie Wasendorf Maggie Christine Faith Powell Catalina Dulling Ashley Waterfill Brittany Clarke Rebekah Rexford Donna Ganjuee Martha Wier Sarah Corbin Sarah Schultz Laura Beth Garrett Sarah Willoughby Lauren Covington Clara Sims Grace Gerely Kenzie Day Katie Schumacher Felicity Guy Sarah Deal Kennedy Smith Sarah Gayle Hammond Isabel Flanagan Sydney Swinson Bri Hawkins Rachel Gadra Mallory Upton Jamie Jimenez Sophia Gao Cecelia Venditto Kaitlyn Jones Julia Garner Sydney Wakeford Erika Klar Madison Hagen Maddison Wilkes Virginia Kuester Amelia Johnson Chloe Lee S S UGA Men’s Glee Club conductor J.D. Burnett assistant conductor Justin Bowen

Tenor 1 Tenor 2 Bass 1 Bass 2 Kyle Aig-imoukhuede Caleb Anderson Wallace Arnold Justin Bowen Ethan Craft Ricardo Chavez Marc Biemiller Tom Connerly Tom Littlejohn Jacob Duke Nick Byrd Blake Davis Will McCarthy Cold Dziedzic Row Jerles Presley Flynt Austin Shively Thomas Folger Dylan Kilgore Keshav Kalathoor Jacob Smith Kaden James Nick Loudermilk Sam Kim Braden Traylor Chase Law Kaito Nagashima David Maulding Stevie Popovich Sebastien Nazaire Kelton McConnell Christian Poppell Hal Richards Nick Turner Josh Stewart Marshall Williams Overton Wright

30 Performance UGA