BOB COLE CONSERVATORY SYMPHONY JOHANNES MULLER STOSCH, CONDUCTOR SHUN-LIN CHOU, PIANO FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 8:00PM CARPENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER PLEASE SILENCE ALL ELECTRONIC MOBILE DEVICES. PROGRAM Overture ........................................................................................................................................... Dmitry Kabalevsky from Colas Breugnon (1904-1987) Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23..............................................................Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Allegro non troppo (1840-1893) Andante semplice Allegro con fuoco Shun-Lin Chou—piano INTERMISSION * Lento .......................................................................................................................................................... Amy Beach from Gaelic Symphony, Op. 32 (1867-1944) Dances ................................................................................................................................................ Leonard Bernstein from West Side Story (1918-1990) *You may text: (562)-774-2226 or email: [email protected] to ask question about the orchestra or today’s program during intermission. A few of the incoming questions will be addressed at the second half of the program. PROGRAM NOTES Colas Breugnon Overture Dmitry Kabalevsky was among the most influential composers in Soviet Russia. Born in Saint Petersburg, he was raised by a mathematician father who was not entirely approving of his son’s budding fascination with music and the arts. However, the young Dmitri developed into a promising pianist, as well as an amateur poet and painter. After an early career performing as a pianist in silent movie theatres, he graduated from the Academic Music College in Moscow in 1925 and then continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory. There he studied composition for five years with Nikolai Myaskovsky and piano with Alexander Goldenweiser. After completing his studies, he began teaching at the Moscow Conservatory in 1932 and achieved professorship in 1939. It was during this time, in 1937, that he composed Colas Breugnon. Kabalevsky’s opera Colas Breugnon proved to be a landmark in his early career. The work is based on the Burgundian story of the same name by the French writer, Romain Rolland. The tale depicts a free- spirited Burgundian woodcarver, Colas Breugnon, who lives a carefree life indulging in all the joys around him. This three-act opera vividly depicts this romantic tale by using mass scenes, particularly in the choral finales. The overture, a high-energy sonic compilation of all these features, is largely the most recognizable movement. Pervasive use of folk themes throughout are another defining feature of the work, which surface frequently throughout the overture. As such, the opera won the approval of Rolland himself, and served as a catalyst for Mr. Kabalevsky’s long and illustrious compositional career. —note by Chris Brown Piano Concerto No. 1 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was one of the most famous figures of romantic music. Many music scholars proclaim and praise Tchaikovsky as the “lord of romantic music.” In a program booklet from Carnegie Hall he was listed as one of the three greatest composers of the time and ranked among Brahms and Saint-Saëns. He is a national treasure in his home country of Russia and his music is enjoyed throughout the world. Though Tchaikovsky died at the early age of 53, his works had a significant impact on the future of musical composition. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor was premiered in Boston, Massachusetts in 1875. Nikolay Rubinstein, the original pianist whom Tchaikovsky had hoped to premier it, criticized it heavily, even refusing to play it unless Tchaikovsky revised it. This put Tchaikovsky in an emotional turmoil which lead to three revisions of the concerto. It's final revision was completed in 1888 and it became the version most often performed. Ultimately, the concerto was premiered by German pianist Hans von Bülow and was received well with immediate success. Years later, Rubinstein had a change of heart and withdrew his criticism of the concerto. It is considered one of Tchaikovsky’s best compositions and among the most-loved piano concertos ever written. The first movement begins with a four-note motive in the key of B-flat minor, which flourishes into a long lyrical melody and theme in the key of D-flat major. The introduction’s main theme is known for its independence from the rest of the movement, since the given key is in B-flat minor. This theme is only heard twice throughout the entire movement and never reappears anywhere in the concerto. The second movement, in D-flat major, begins with a pizzicato introduction. The flute begins with the opening statement of the theme. The piano then carries the melody from the flute and modulates to F-major. The third movement commences with a brief introduction from the orchestra. The piano begins with a fast and rhythmic melody. The second theme is lyrical and is introduced by the violins. The recapitulation reintroduces the first theme, but instead of the orchestra going back into the original variation heard first, it is instead replaced by a climatic episode triumphantly stated in B-flat major. Lento —note by Sam Hernandez-Yanes Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was the first successful female composer of large-scale art music. Living from 1867 to 1944, Amy Beach was not only a composer, but also one of the first successful pianists without a formal European education in music. She was an acclaimed child prodigy in piano performance, and also was a self-taught composer due to societal gender restrictions in education at the time. Beach composed the Gaelic Symphony at the age of twenty-seven, making history with the first symphony to be composed and published by an American woman. With this triumph, she became a prominent composer, teacher, and women’s rights advocate later in her career. Despite receiving recognition during her lifetime, Beach was largely neglected after her death in 1944; her popularity has been revived within the past few decades, including a recent celebration of her 150th birthday this past September 5th, 2017. 3 Gaelic Symphony debuted in 1896 and consists of four movements. Beach channeled inspiration from old English, Irish, and Scottish folk tunes and melodies, thus the term, “Gaelic.” The third movement of this symphony is marked Lento con Molta Espressione, meaning "with great or much expression." This movement contains two prominent Irish tunes as themes throughout the movement: Cushlamachree, and Which Way Did She Go? The two themes contain widely different characteristics and are portrayed through the solo violin and the dark tones of the cello section. These themes are both lyrical and somber as they represent what Beach described as, “the laments of a primitive people, their romance, and their dreams.” Dances —note by Natalie Do Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Inspired and voracious in his conducting style, Bernstein got his big break conducting the New York Philharmonic in 1943 and became one of the first American-born conductors to lead a world-class orchestra. In the first few years with the Philharmonic he composed the scores for the musical West Side Story and his first operetta Candide. Bernstein's collaboration with choreographer Jerome Robbins, writer Arthur Laurents, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim became the musical West Side Story. It premiered on Broadway in 1957 and has since become Bernstein's most popular and enduring score. Although originally a staged musical, the "Symphonic Dances" from West Side Story would be rearranged into an orchestral piece that still contained the main content of the dances that are found in the musical. Leonard Bernstein and his collaborators wanted to preserve the lively energy of rhythms, and did so by using vibrant instrumental combinations and incorporating a huge percussion section. West Side Story is inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but unlike the love story, the "Symphonic Dances" shifts the narrative's focus on the rivalry between the two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. This conflict is heard at the very beginning of the piece and as it grows, develops the building tension between the two, resolving in a dreamlike state, as though to indicate that the gangs were at peace with each other. However, the rivalry reignites as both groups begin their competitive dances. A hint of the love story does appear in the score for the star-crossed lovers, but it is used in contrast to showcase the hostile dance sequence of the Jets, and then the climactic gang battle that would result in two deaths from both sides. It then ends with the music from the previous love theme, revealing love lost and the tragedy of the situation. —note by Georgette Patricio ABOUT JOHANNES MULLER STOSCH German-born conductor Johannes Müller Stosch serves as Director of Orchestral Studies and Director of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSULB. He has established the Bob Cole Conservatory Symphony as one of the largest and finest in the region. The conservatory orchestra toured in South Korea in 2013. Stosch also serves as Music Director and Conductor of Holland Symphony Orchestra in Michigan which has seen unprecedented growth in size and quality of performances, as well as record numbers of season subscriptions. It has become one of Michigan’s healthiest arts organizations. During his doctoral studies he served as