BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOUNDED IN I88I BY HENRY LEE HI ..iiii'i^iii ;^^^Wj SEVENTY-FIRST SEASON 1951-1952 Sanders Theatre, Cambridge \:^arvard University] Boston Symphony Orchestra (Seventy-first Season, 1951-1952) CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director RICHARD BURGIN, Associate Conductor PERSONNEL Violins Violas Bassoons Richard Burgin, Joseph de Pasquale Raymond AUard Concert-master Jean Cauhape Ernst Panenka Alfred Krips Georges Fourel Theodore Brewster Gaston EIcus Eugen Lehner RoUand Tapley Albert Bernard Contra-Bassoon Norbert Lauga George Humphrey Boaz Piller George Zazofsky Jerome Lipson Paul Cherkassky Louis Arti^res Horns Harry Dubbs Robert Karol James Stagliano Reuben Green Vladimk ResnikoS Harry Shapiro Joseph Leibovici Bernard KadinoflE Harold Meek Einar Hansen Vincent Mauricci Paul Keaney Harry Dickson Walter Macdonald Violoncellos Emil Kornsand Osbourne McConathy Carlos Pinfield Samuel Mayes Alfred Zighera Paul Fedorovsky Trumpets Minot Beale Jacobus Langendoen Mischa Nieland Roger Voisin Herman Silberman Marcel Lafosse Roger Schermanski Hippolyte Droeghmani Karl Zeise Armando Ghitalla Stanley Benson Rene Voisin Zimbler Gottfried Wilfinger Josef Bernard Parronchi Trombones Clarence Knudson Enrico Fabrizio Marjollet Pierre Mayer Leon Jacob Raichman Lucien Hansotte Manuel Zung Flutes John Coffey Samuel Diamond Georges Laurent Josef Orosz Victor Manusevitch James Pappoutsakis James Nagy Phillip Kaplan Tuba Leon Gorodetzky Vinal Smith Raphael Del Sordo Piccolo Mclvin Bryant George Madsen Harps Lloyd Stonestreet Saverio Messina Oboes Bernard Zighera Sheldon Rotenberg Ralph Gomberg Olivia Luetcke Leo Panasevich Jean Devergie William Waterhouse John Holmes Timpani Roman Szulc English Basses Horn Charles Smith Georges Moleux Louis Speyer Willis Page Percussion Clarinets Ludwig Juht Max Polster Irving Frankel Gino Cioffi Simon Sternburg Manuel Valerio Henry Harold Farberman Greenberg Pasquale Cardillo Henry Portnoi £b Clarinet Henry Freeman Librarians Henri Girard Bass Clarinet Leslie Rogers John Barwicki Rosario Mazzeo Leonard Burkat Sanders Theatre, Cambridge {harvard University] SEVENTY-FIRST SEASON, 1951-1952 Boston Symphony Orchestra CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director Richard Burgin, Associate Conductor Concert Bulletin of the Second Concert TUESDAY EVENING, December 11 with historical and descriptive notes by John N. Burk The trustees of the BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Inc. Henry B. Cabot . President Jacob J. Kaplan . Vice-President Richard C. Paine . Treasurer Philip R. Allen M. A. De Wolfe Howe John Nicholas Brown Charles D. Jackson Theodore P. Ferris Lewis Perry Alvan T. Fuller Edward A. Taft N. Penrose Hallowell Raymond S. Wilkins Francis W. Hatch Oliver Wolcott George E. Judd, Manager T. D. Perry, Jr. N. S. Shirk, Assistant Managers [1] ; _ i RCA VICTOR RECORDS BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Recorded under the direction of Charles Munch Beethoven ** Symphony No. 7 Beethoven *'*Gratulations" Minuet Berlioz *Beatrice and Benedict Overture Brahms ** Symphony No. 4 Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, in G minor Soloist, Yehudi Menuhin Haydn ** Symphony No. 104 ("London") Ravel *La Valse Schubert ** Symphony No. 2 Among the recordings under the leadership of Serge Koussevitzky Bach * Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, Mozart Eine kleine Nachtmusik; in F; **Brandenburg Concerto No. ** Serenade No. 10, in B-Flat, K. 6, in B-Flat; ** Suite No. 1, in C; 361; * Symphony No. 36, in C, K. ** Suite No. 4, in D 425, "Linz"; * Symphony No. 39, in E-Flat, K. 543 Beethoven * Symphony No. 3, in E- Flat, "Eroica"; ** Symphony No. 5, Prokofieff Concerto No. 2, in G Minor, in C Minor, Op. 67; ** Symphony Op. 63, Heifetz, violinist; Sym- No. 9, in D Minor, "Choral" phony No. 5 ; I?eter and the Wolf, Op. 67 , Eleanor Roosevelt, narrator Brahms ** Symphony No. 3, in F, Op. 90 Ravel Bolero; Ma M6re L'Oye Suite Haydn ** Symphony No. 92, in G, "Ox- ford"; ** Symphony No. 94, in G, Schubert Symphony No. 8, in B Minor, "Unfinished" "Surprise" ; *Toy Symphony Khatchaturian **Concerto for Piano Tchaikovsky Serenade in C, Op. 48 and Orchestra, William Kapell, Symphony No. 4, in F Minor, Op. pianist 36; Symphony No. 5, in E Minor, Op. 64 Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4, "Ital- ian" Wagner Prelude to "Lohengrin" COMMEMORATIVE ALBUM— (to be available this Fall) Sibelius Symphony No. 2, in D, Op. 43 R. Strauss Don Juan, Op. 20 Wagner Siegfried Idyll Recorded under the leadership of Pierre Monteux Stravinsky "Le Sacre du Printemps" (Oct. 1951) * 45 r.p.m. **3S 1/S (L.P.) and J^5 r.p.m. [«] . Sanders Theatre, Cambridge [Harvard Unmrsity\ Boston Symphony Orchestra SEVENTY-FIRST SEASON, 1951-1952 CHARLES MUNCH, Music Director SECOND CONCERT TUESDAY EVENING, December 11 Program ERNEST ANSERMET Conducting Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a Mendelssohn Symphony in A major. No. 4, "ItaHan," Op. 90 I. Allegro vivace II. Andante con moto III. Con moto moderate IV. Saltarello: Presto INTERMISSION Faure "Pelleas et Melisande," Suite from the Incidental Music to Maeterlinck's Tragedy, Op. 80 I. Prelude: Quasi adagio II. "Fileuse": Andantino quasi allegretto III. Adagio Debussy "La Mer," Three Orchestral Sketches I. De I'aube a midi sur la mer II. Jeux de vagues III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer BALDWIN PIANO RCA VICTOR RECORDS week on The Friday and Saturday concerts will be broadcast each Station WGBH (FM) [3] E. POWER BIGGS '''''^' A BACH RECITAL Sinfonia to Cantata in G Major - Prelude Be JVier • Chorale-Prelude: O God No 106 156 • to Cantata No. riful To Me Sinfonia Be To God '. Chorale-Prelude: All Glory On High 2076 JJP Record ML ,-,-,-jnMEMT BACH'S ROYAL INSTRUMENT (Two Volumes) Symphony Hall. Boston) (Recorded in • in C Ma)or Toccata Adagio and Fugue ML 4284 a«id 4285 LP Records RECITAL E. POWER BIGGS • Mozart Wesley: Air and Gavotte Samuel (K. 355) Adacio for Glass Harmonica • Mozart: Prelude^a ^':fe°rin: Chaconne Corpus (K. 618) • Bou the Ave Verum Toccata baud: Pastorale • Mulet: ML 4331 LP Record ORGAN MUSIC^neir FRENCH •Gig- Toccata; Marche PontiEcale Widor: Marcel Choeur Dialogue • out Grand Suite Antiphon II • Boellmann: Dupr6 Vierne: GoSique . Jehan Alain: Litanies • MM-802 Record ML 4195 or 78 rpm Set MENDELSSOHN: SONATA NO. 6 IN D MINOR, Op. 65 rpm Set MX-324 LP Record ML 2076 or 78 MUSIC OF CESAR FRANCK Variation, Op. 18 Prelude, Fugue and ^r^eStfl^L 4329 or 78 rpm Set MX-350 ORGAN MUSIC OF BACH Chapel, Columbia (Recorded in St. Paul's • Fantasia and Fugue m G in D Minor • in F Major Minor Toccata MM;728 LP Record ML 4097 or 78 rpm Set POULENC: CONCERTO IN G MINOR FOR ORGAN, STRING ORCHESTRA AND TIMPANI the t.oi- (With Richard Burgin conducting umbia Symphony Orchestra) 'pm Srt MM-951 LP Record ML 4329 ^r 78 WESTMINSTER SUITE Arranged by (English Music for the Organ E. Power Biggs^ MM.954,^-. q, # LP Record ML 4331 or 78 rpm Set COLUMBIA RECORDS LONG PLAYING Masterworks Lp MICROGROOVE w.,.-.,.. .. ..»„....^w. -.^ r„^. »-..... «.,, n. S. P^. Of. Uarca. R.,i«^ (g) Tr<^ >^ VARIATIONS ON A THEME BY HAYDN, Op. 56a By Johannes Brahms Born at Hamburg on May 7, 1833; died at Vienna on April 3, 1897 These variations, composed in the year 1873, were first performed at a concert of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Vienna, Felix Dessoff conducting, November 2, 1873. The first performance in Boston is on record as having been given by Theo- dore Thomas' orchestra, January 31, 1874. The first performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra took place December 5, 1884. The orchestration includes two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons and double-bassoon, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, triangle and strings. IN the year 1870, K. F. Pohl showed Brahms a Feldpartita in B-flat, published as Haydn's, one of six written for the military band of Prince Esterhazy, and scored for two oboes, two horns, three bassoons, and the now obsolete band instrument, the serpent. Brahms was much taken with the theme of the second movement, marked "Chorale St. Antonii," an old Austrian pilgrim's song. He copied it in his notebook and three years later made it familiar to the world at large in his set of variations.* From the time that Schumann proclaimed Johannes Brahms in his twenties as a new force in music, a torch-bearer of the symphonic •tradition, friends and foes waited to see what sort of symphony this "musical Messiah" would dare to submit as a successor to Beethoven's mighty Ninth. The "Hamburg John the Baptist" realized what was ex- pected of him, and after his early piano concerto, which no audience accepted, and his two unassuming serenades, he coolly took his time and let his forces gather and mature for some twenty years before yield- ing to the supreme test by submitting his First Symphony. This hap- pened in 1877. Three years earlier, he tried out his powers of orchestra- tion on a form less formidable and exacting than the symphony - a form which he had finely mastered in his extreme youth as composer for the piano - the theme with variations. In this, the first purely orchestral attempt of his maturity, Brahms, as usual when put on his mettle, took great pains perfectly to realize his aim. His abilities as orchestral colorist, so finely differentiated in each of the successive Variations on a Theme by Haydn, could not but be apparent even to its first audiences. divertimento was actu- * The theme was more notable than Haydn's treatment of it, if the article The True and ally Haydn's. H. C. Robbins Landon claims that it was not in his six Littauer False Haydn" in the Saturday Review of Literature (August 25, 1951). The Divertimenti" are in the Gymnasialbibliothek in the Saxon town of Littau. They come under suspicion because the collection of manuscripts contains some copies not so indicated. "It has now been established," writes Mr. Landon, "that the whole series is spurious and that not one note was by Haydn.