BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Seiji Ozawa, Music Director

Sir Colin Davis, Principal Guest Conductor

Joseph Silverstein, Assistant Conductor Ninety-Ninth Season, 1979-80

PRE-SYMPHONY CHAMBER CONCERTS

Thursday, 24 April at 6 Saturday, 26 April at 6

GERALD ELIAS, violin RONAN LEFKOWITZ, violin PATRICIA McCARTY, BETTY BENTHIN, viola JONATHAN MILLER, cello

BRUCKNER String Quintet in F

Gemassigt (Moderately) Scherzo: Schnell (Fast); Trio: Langsamer (Slower) Adagio Finale: Lebhaft bewegt (Lively, with motion)

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32 Anton Bruckner String Quintet in F

Chamber music was almost entirely neglected by a number of major orchestral composers in the nineteenth century, Berlioz, Wagner, Liszt, and Bruckner among them. Bruckner's output of major compositions was pretty much restricted to symphonies and masses; his smaller works were for the most part choral or organ compositions. Bruckner apparently wrote for the unusual (for him) medium of the string quintet at the invitation of Josef Hellmesberger, who in 1861 had been one of the examiners when Bruckner applied for a diploma that would qualify him to teach harmony and counterpoint in Austrian conservato- ries. The applicant passed the examination brilliantly and Hellmesberger invited him to compose a piece for his string quartet. The response was not forthcoming until June 1879, shortly after Bruckner had completed his Fifth Symphony, and even then he chose to write for the larger ensemble of quintet, including a second viola as the fifth instrument.

The resulting composition is one of those fascinating rare cases when a com- poser steps off his familiar and well-trodden paths to try a quite unusual line. Not that the quintet sounds like anyone but Bruckner: the thematic treatment that develops large forms out of small motives expanding and growing organically into new shapes, the wide-ranging chromatic harmony, and the con- trapuntal textures are equally characteristic of Bruckner the symphonist. Still, since this was his first venture into the realm of chamber music (with the excep- tion of a youthful string quartet from his student years), the wonder is that he so rarely fell into patterns of string writing characteristic of works composed for full orchestra. He does lapse noticeably at the very end, where he clearly tries to produce the kind of sonorous climax that a full orchestra is capable of, but for the most part the writing is detailed and intricate. A shift from F major to F minor in the opening bar generates much of the first movement — precisely the same shift (and in the same key) that opens the Third Symphony of , the greatest chamber music composer of Bruckner's time— and, ironically, the one composer least likely to have influenced him, since Bruckner was an ardent Wagnerite. The scherzo is a charmingly quirky movement, full of wide leaps and offbeat rhythms.

Hellmesberger said it was too difficult, and for a time it was replaced by an Inter- mezzo, but the original scherzo finally won out and returned to its position in the quintet. The adagio was originally the second movement, but Bruckner later exchanged its position with that of the scherzo. He often made slow movements into emotional highpoints of his works, and this one is no exception. It is richly and sensuously scored, calling up the world of the late Beethoven quartets. The finale opens with a search for the home key, tosses motives back and forth before setting out on a most unacademic fugato, and moves from its opening intima- tions of F minor to a massively scored F major conclusion. -S.L.

33 Gerald Elias

Gerald Elias joined the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra's violin section in 1975 shortly after graduating from Yale University, where he simulta- neously received degrees from Yale College and the Yale School of Music. Born in Westbury, New York, he began his private studies at the age of eight with A. William Liva; subse- quent teachers included Ivan Gala- mian of the and BSO concertmaster Joseph Silverstein. Mr. Elias has had considerable solo experience, having performed con- certos in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, and having given recitals in Ohio, Texas, and throughout New York and New England. A 1973 Berkshire Music Center fellow at Tanglewood, he has worked with the Guarneri String Quartet at Nor- folk, Connecticut, and he has performed in chamber music festivals at Sarasota, Florida, and Tanglewood.

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34 Ronan Lefkowitz

Born in Oxford, England, Ronan Lefkowitz joined the violins of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1976.

He is a graduate of Brookline High School and Harvard College, and he studied violin with Max Rostal, Joseph Silverstein, and Szymon Goldberg. He has been concertmaster and frequent soloist with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony, and was concertmaster under Leopold Stokowski of the International Youth Symphony Orchestra at St. Moritz, Switzerland in August 1969, for which he won first prize as the most promising young violinist at the International Festival of Youth Orchestras. A 1972 winner of the Gingold-Silverstein Violin Prize at Tangle- wood's Berkshire Music Center, Mr. Lefkowitz has performed chamber music at Tanglewood, with the Harvard Chamber Players, and at the Marlboro Music Festival, and he has made numerous recital appearances in the Boston area.

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36 Patricia McCarty

Assistant principal violist Patricia McCarty earned B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of Michigan, where she was a student of Francis Bundra. A prizewinner in numerous competitions, most nota- bly the 1972 Geneva Concours, she has appeared as soloist with the Houston Symphony, l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Ithaca College Orchestra in Lincoln Center, and many community orchestras in the U.S. Her recital appearances include the 1975 International Viola Con- gress, NET's Young Musical Artists Series, and campus guest residencies. A student at Tanglewood in 1975, she has also participated in the Marlboro and Interlochen festivals and performed before President Carter at the White House while on tour with Music from Marlboro. Before joining the Boston Symphony this season, Ms. McCarty was a member of the Lenox Quartet. She has held faculty positions at the University of Michigan, the National Music Camp, and Ithaca College.

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A native Oregonian, Betty Benthin is a violist, violinist, and pianist all in one. She came to the Boston Sym- phony's viola section in 1977 from the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, for which she was associate principal viola, extra violinist, and chamber pianist. At Idaho State University, she was an artist-in-residence and lecturer on her three instruments. She has studied at the Curtis Institute and the Yale School of Music, and her teachers have included violist , violinist Jascha Brodsky, and pianist Grant Johannesen.

Bequests to the BSO

Over the years, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has been the recipient of bequests from many friends who have in this way associated themselves with

the continuing life of the BSO. Every bequest, however modest, has been wel- come and important. The Boston Symphony Orchestra will be glad to assist in every possible way and review the phrasing of any proposed form of bequest to the BSO. A bequest to the Orchestra may take one of several forms. An unrestricted bequest to the BSO may be worded: "I give to the Boston Symphony Orchestra,

Boston, Massachusetts, the sum of . . . dollars. " A bequest for a specific purpose may be worded: "I give to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston, Massachusetts, the sum of ..." . . . dollars, the income to he used for A residuary bequest maybe worded: ''All

the rest, residue and remainder of my real and personal estate, I give to the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra, Boston, Massachusetts." A bequest to the BSO may save you many dollars in estate taxes and probate costs. For further information or assistance, please contact the Symphony Hall Development Office, Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, or call 266-1492, ext. 131.

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l Jonathan Miller

A two-week master class in the spring of 1961 at the Uni- versity of California at Berkeley led Jonathan Miller to abandon his study of literature there and to devote him- self to the cello. In the years follow- ing, he studied with and played for such masters of the instrument as Pierre Fournier, Raya Garbousova, his principal teacher Bernard Greenhouse, Gregor Piatigorsky, , Mstislav Rostropovich, and Harvey Shapiro, on scholarships and fellowships which took him to UCLA, Tangle- wood, the Hartt School, and Juilliard. He also studied chamber music with such teachers as Claus Adam, Lillian Fuchs, Felix Galimir, William Kroll, William Primrose, Joseph Silverstein, and David Soyer. Before joining the Boston Symphony in 1971, Mr. Miller held appointments as

principal cellist with the San Diego, Hartford, and Juilliard orchestras. He is a winner of the Jeunesses Musicales auditions, he has twice toured the country as a member of the New York String Sextet, and he has performed widely as soloist in recital. Until this year, he has performed on his Carlo Antonio Testore cello of 1742, but now plays his recently acquired Matteo Goffriller instrument of 1728.

Mr. Miller is founder and cellist of the GBH/Boston Artists Ensemble which

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