Classical Series Sunday, February 21, 2021 at 5:00 p.m. Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Michael Stern, conductor ARTHUR FOOTE Air and Gavotte from Serenade for Strings in E Major, op. 25 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Air from Suite No. 3 in D Major for Orchestra, BWV 1068 ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Serenade in E Major for String Orchestra, op. 22 I. Moderato II. Tempo di valse III. Scherzo: Vivace IV. Larghetto V. Finale: Allegro vivace The 2020/21 Season is generously sponsored by The Classical Series is sponsored by SHIRLEY AND BARNETT C. HELZBERG, JR. Additional support provided by R. CROSBY KEMPER JR. FUND Classical Series Program Notes February 21, 2021 Orchestra Roster MICHAEL STERN, Music Director JASON SEBER, David T. Beals III Associate Conductor FIRST VIOLINS Lawrence Figg HORNS Sunho Kim, Acting Concertmaster Rung Lee* Alberto Suarez, Principal Miller Nichols Chair Meredith McCook Landon and Sarah Rowland Chair Stirling Trent, Allen Probus David Sullivan, Associate Principal Acting Associate Concertmaster Elizabeth Gray Chiafei Lin, DOUBLE BASSES David Gamble Acting Assistant Concertmaster Jeffrey Kail, Principal Stephen Multer, Gregory Sandomirsky‡ Evan Halloin, Associate Principal Associate Principal Emeritus Associate Concertmaster Emeritus Brandon Mason ‡ Anne-Marie Brown Caleb Quillen TRUMPETS Betty Chen Richard Ryan Julian Kaplan, Principal Anthony DeMarco Nash Tomey James B. and Annabel Nutter Chair Susan Goldenberg* Steven Franklin, Associate Principal Tomoko Iguchi FLUTES Brian Rood ‡ Dorris Dai Janssen Michael Gordon, Principal Vladimir Rykov Marylou and John Dodds Turner Chair TROMBONES Alex Shum* Shannon Finney, Associate Principal Roger Oyster, Principal Kayla Burggraf SECOND VIOLINS Porter Wyatt Henderson, Associate Principal Tamamo Someya Gibbs, Principal PICCOLO Adam Rainey Kristin Velicer, Acting Associate Principal Kayla Burggraf Minhye Helena Choi, BASS TROMBONE Acting Assistant Principal OBOES Nancy Beckmann Adam Rainey Kristina Fulton, Principal Mary Garcia Grant Shirley Bush Helzberg Chair TUBA Kevin Hao ‡ Alison Chung, Associate Principal Kazato Inouye Joe LeFevre, Principal Rena Ishii Frank Byrne Chair CLARINETS Stephanie Larsen Francesca Manheim Raymond Santos, Principal TIMPANI Bill and Peggy Lyons Chair Timothy Jepson, Principal VIOLAS Silvio Guitian, Associate Principal Michael and Susan Newburger Chair Matthew Sinno, Acting Principal John Klinghammer Jessica Nance, Acting Associate Principal PERCUSSION Duke Lee, Acting Assistant Principal E-FLAT CLARINET Josh Jones^Principal Kent Brauninger Silvio Guitian David Yoon, Associate Principal Sean Brumble Marvin Gruenbaum BASS CLARINET HARP Jenifer Houck John Klinghammer Katherine Siochi, Principal Jesse Yukimura BASSOONS LIBRARIANS CELLOS Ann Bilderback, Principal Elena Lence Talley, Principal Mark Gibbs, Principal Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Chair Fabrice Curtis Robert A. Kipp Chair Thomas DeWitt, Associate Principal Susie Yang, Associate Principal Maxwell Pipinich Richard Hill Chair * Non-Rotating Musician Alexander East, Assistant Principal CONTRABASSOON ^ New Member Maria Crosby Thomas DeWitt ‡ On Leave of Absence John Eadie Classical Series Program Notes February 21, 2021 ARTHUR FOOTE Air and Gavotte from Serenade for Strings in E Major, op. 25 (1891) 10 minutes Many composers — from Bach, Handel and Beethoven to Alicia Keys, David Bowie and Nas — have enthusiastically sampled and reused music. In 1891, Arthur Foote reworked music from two earlier pieces he had written into the charming Serenade in E Major, not to be confused with his Suite in E Major, op. 12 (1886) or the Suite in E Major, op. 63 (1907-09). E major is a brilliant key, especially for violin, and offers numerous harmonic possibilities that would have appealed to such a fine music theorist as Foote, so it is not surprising he used the key often. This Serenade was premiered by the Baltimore Symphony in January 1893. Today’s program excerpts two of the Serenade’s five movements: Air and Gavotte. The Air is a thinly veiled homage to Bach’s famous Air from the Third Orchestral Suite. German violinist August Wilhelmj had arranged Bach’s Air in 1871, popularizing it to millions of people the world over. It was in this milieu that Foote composed his Air. While bearing some degree of similarity to Bach, Foote’s Air is solidly Romantic in nature, with lush string writing and highly expressive melodic contours. The gavotte originated as a peasant dance in southern France and became more ornate as it achieved popularity in the 17th- and 18th-century French aristocratic courts. Foote’s Gavotte preserves the dance’s formal structure, with an elegant melody depicting finery and flourishes bookending a more pastoral section replete with distant drone. He also retains the two upbeats that are characteristic of gavottes and provide a coquettish lilt to this delightful gem. Together, the Air and Gavotte are quite complementary and suggest that further exploration of Foote’s compositions may reveal other jewels, hidden only by the passage of time. ETW ARTHUR FOOTE (1853-1937) Born in 1853 to Caleb and Mary Foote, Arthur William Foote’s musical training included work at the newly founded New England Conservatory of Music before he entered Harvard College in 1870. There he studied with John Knowles Paine, the first music professor at an American university. Foote led the Harvard Glee Club for two years, developing practical experience working with voices. Following his graduation from Harvard in 1874, Foote took organ lessons from Benjamin Lang, one of Boston’s most distinguished musicians. Lang convinced Foote to abandon his plan to pursue a career in law, opting instead for another year of music study at Harvard. In 1875, Foote received the first Master of Arts degree in music to be awarded by an American university. Thus credentialed, Foote opened a private teaching Classical Series Program Notes February 21, 2021 studio on Beacon Hill and began his career as a church organist in Boston, first at the Church of the Disciples and then at the First Unitarian Church, where he remained for 32 years. He edited two Unitarian hymnals (1890 and 1896) and was one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists in 1896. He went on to serve as its national president from 1909 to 1912. Foote was most prolific writing vocal pieces and composed more than 100 songs as well as three choral-orchestral works. He sought to write pieces that were enjoyable for a congregation and technically manageable for singers. Thus, many of his vocal works have a narrow compass and feature conventional harmonies. Foote’s chamber music compositions were well regarded during his lifetime and he frequently joined Boston’s Kneisel Quartet on piano to perform the works. Although sparse in quantity, his orchestral music was similarly appreciated and often performed by the Boston Symphony. A respected teacher and writer, Foote was a guest lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley in 1911 and taught piano at the New England Conservatory from 1921 to 1937. He also co-authored a music theory textbook that remained in publication for more than 70 years. His honors included a fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and honorary doctorates from Trinity College (Connecticut) and Dartmouth College. A leading figure in the flourishing 19th-century American classical music scene, Arthur Foote was not radical, choosing instead a conservative middle path firmly based on tradition. His music is rooted in the Germanic style, which was commonplace during the era due to the influx of German musicians immigrating to the U.S. to escape the political upheaval pervading much of Europe in 1848-49. Foote and his colleagues in the “Boston Six” — John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, George Chadwick, Edward MacDowell and Amy Beach — shared similar training and appreciation for the Germanic tradition. Together, they were responsible for helping build a substantial body of American classical music, albeit with a decidedly European flavor. Foote married Kate Grant Knowlton in 1880 and they had one daughter, Katharine Foote Raffy, who convinced her father to write his autobiography. ETW JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Air from Suite No. 3 in D Major for Orchestra, BWV 1068 (c. 1730) 6 minutes A true masterwork in 18 concise and elegant measures, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Air encompasses the full gamut of emotions, inspiring a sense of peace and tranquility. The Air was composed as the second movement of Bach’s Third Orchestral Suite and likely premiered during one of the popular Collegium Musicum concerts at Zimmermann’s Coffee House in Leipzig in 1730 or 1731. Instrumental suites were quite common at this time, typically comprised of Classical Series Program Notes February 21, 2021 stylized dances, with some flexibility as to the particular dance forms chosen for a specific work. Instrumental airs, derived from song form rather than dance, were frequently included in suites and offered composers a marvelously broad palette for their melodic brush strokes. The Air is written solely for strings, in marked contrast to the other movements of the suite, which include parts for two oboes, three trumpets and timpani. This oasis of reflective calm in the midst of more boisterous sections provides balance to the work as a whole but also stands alone rather eloquently. The piece is resolutely in the key of D, begging the question why it is often called “Air on the G String.” The answer is that a 19th-century violinist named August Wilhelmj arranged the work, transposing it to the key of C and indicating the first violin part should be played on the G string, the instrument’s lowest string. While a bravura technical feat, it is not in keeping with Bach’s composition or the character of the piece. Nonetheless, the name has endured. ETW JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) So much has been written about this extraordinary man who occupies pride of place in the pantheon of great composers. This multitude of worthy praise would seem overwhelming for a lesser individual but Johann Sebastian Bach wore the mantle lightly, noting: “I was obliged to be industrious.