Join us for the annual Sunday Pops in Riverview Park concert! Enjoy a variety of music from light classical, Broadway, film, and television music. It is a free concert, open to the public and you are invited to bring along your whole family, friends and neighbors for this once-a-year festival of music.
Cellist Anthony Arnone, a member of the music school faculty at the University of Iowa, joins us to play the Elgar Concerto for Cello in E minor, one of the last and most beloved works by that composer. It will be complimented with the G major Symphony of Antonin Dvořák.
England has long been a welcomer of foreign composers to its shores. When Antonín Leopold Dvořák arrived for the first of his nine visits in March 1884, a chronicler of the period responded that Dvořák’s “reception was one of the most cordial ever offered by our land to a foreign artist.” From Henry Purcell (1659-1695) to Edward Elgar (1857-1934), the British produced no native-born composer of international rank, but in those years, the music-loving country made itself open to the talents from the continent. George Frederick Handel, for instance, German-born, Italian-trained, came for a visit and stayed as the country’s resident composer. And after he died, came a son of Bach, Johann Christian, German born, German trained, to live and prosper as the “English” Bach. Other European composers of note followed, not to live there but to thrive and burnish their reputations – Franz Joseph Haydn, Muzio Clementi, Ignatz Moscheles, and Felix Mendelssohn, to name a few. It might be said that Dvořák was the last notable continental composer to receive such unbounded approbation, for with Elgar, the British began to look inward to its own composers of rank – Ralph Vaughn Williams, Arnold Bax, William Walton, and Benjamin Britten.
Interest in Dvořák had been growing in England since the performance of selections from his first set of Slavonic Dances in 1879, an interest that only increased with succeeding performances of the Slavonic Rhapsodies, the String Sextet and the Symphony No. 6 in D major, followed in 1882 by a performance of the Piano Concerto in G minor. The event, however, that immediately prompted the London Philharmonic Society to formally invite Dvořák to England was the enthusiastic reception by a choral-loving public of the Stabat Mater, given its first English performance in March 1883.
When Dvořák arrived in London, he brought with him the hope that a “happier period is now beginning for me…a period which…will…bring good fruits for Czech art.” Ever the nationalist, Dvořák resisted the impulse to trade away his love of country, to become Germanized, so to speak, even at the behest of his publisher Simrock and his great benefactor Johannes Brahms. Brahms had written to Dvořák in 1882 an impassioned letter urging the Czech composer to move to Vienna in order to capitalize on the great successes of the first set of the Slavonic Dances, the Stabat Mater, and the Piano Concerto. Dvořák, while grateful to Brahms, would have none of it and looked to England for a broader recognition of his works.
The Czech composer was astounded at the reception he received when he arrived at Albert Hall to guest conduct his Stabat Mater. The orchestra and soloists had been so well prepared that the rehearsals went smoothly, which naturally pleased Dvořák, but what amazed him was
…the size of the orchestra and choir. Please do not be afraid! There are 250 sopranos, 160 altos, 180 tenors and 250 basses; 16 violins, 16 cellos, 16 double basses. The impression of such a mighty body was indeed enchanting. It is quite indescribable.
The following week (March 20, 1884) Dvořák directed his second concert at St. James’s Hall which featured the Hussite Overture, Slavonic Rhapsody and the Symphony No. 6 in D major; he even accompanied the tenor who sang a number of his Gypsy Melodies. These enthusiastic receptions of his music opened up English audiences to Dvořák and Czech music, an opening Dvořák took great pains to cultivate.
From this first venture and the three other trips Dvořák made to England between 1884-1886, the composer garnered commissions for three major works – an opera (The Spectre’s Bride), an oratorio (St. Ludmilla), and a symphony for the London Philharmonic Society. Dvořák began composing the symphony on his return to Bohemia following his first trip, and on April 22, 1885, he attended its premiere in London at St. James’s Hall, barely a month after its completion. Abandoning the usual British restraint, one music critic hailed the Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op 70, as “one of the greatest works of this kind that had been performed in the present generation.” Other critics were just as unbounded in their praise for the new symphony. Oddly, this Seventh Symphony is not the one subtitled ‘English.’
Dvořák, bolstered with the praise for his work, approached his publisher Simrock to increase the fees he was paid for new manuscripts. Dvořák was aware that Simrock paid him only a fifth of what he gave Brahms for a new work. A break between the composer and his publisher was avoided when Simrock agreed to pay Dvořák what the composer expected (half a Brahms’ symphony), and Dvořák offered to compose a new set of Slavonic dances. It was a tentative compromise, however, which the two parties made.
By 1890, Dvořák and Simrock were at loggerheads again over payment for a symphony, this time the Eighth Symphony. Simrock refused Dvořák’s demands, and the composer turned to Henry and Alfred Littleton, owners of the English music publishing firm Novello, who had been after Dvořák for new manuscripts. The two brothers paid Dvořák handsomely for the new symphony, which served the composer favorably in his further dealings with Simrock. Dvořák and Simrock made up after this fit of pique, and the two lived happily ever after. And, thus, it came about that the symphony carried the subtitle ‘English’ for several decades after its publication.
The Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op 88 is a stark contrast to the stormy Romanticism of the Seventh Symphony. The Eighth is bright, cheerful, and brimming with melodic invention spurred by the Bohemian folk music from which Dvořák drew his inspiration.
Edward Elgar
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85
Edward William Elgar (1857-1934) was emotionally devastated by the onset of World War I, and as the ‘war no one wanted’ dragged on through four long years, his depression deepened. In a letter to a friend, he wrote that he could not do “any real work with the awful shadow over us.” He was incensed and saddened that the flowers of British arts and letters were being cut down in the trenches on the battlefields of Europe. Young composers such as George Coles, Ivor Gurney, and George Butterworth sacrified much to defend England – Coles and Butterworh with their lives. It was after the war, in the spring of 1919, that Elgar found again the impulse to compose music of a grand nature.
Most of Elgar’s notable works were composed over a twenty-five year period, beginning around 1890. This was the period often referred to as the Late Romantic era, not only in music but in the other arts as well. From the turn of the century to the onset of war, Elgar’s music came into its own as a distinctive ‘British’ music, and he was hailed as the legitimate heir to Henry Purcell, the paragon of English music before the arrival of the Germans Bach and Händel and the Italian Clementi and the Czech Dvořák. England did, indeed, produce home-grown composers, Stanford and Parry and Bantock of Elgar’s youth, but they were more attuned to the influences from the continent, of Wagner and of Brahms. One can hear echoes of Wagner, for example, in Elgar’s Froissart Overture of 1890.
The orchestral work that established Elgar as truly ‘British’ is his 1899 work Variations on an Original Theme, Op 36, ‘Enigma Variations’. From that springboard, he went on to create other works with some international success including Symphony No 1 in A-flat major, Op 55, and a choral masterpiece, The Dream of Gerontius, Op 38.
The Cello Concerto in E minor, Op 85, is Elgar’s last major work. The theme for the concerto came to Elgar in March 1918 as in a dream; he awoke from a sedative-induced nap and asked his daughter for pencil and paper and wrote the melody down. At the time he was suffering intense pain from a tonsillectomy, which was considered a dangerous operation on a man of sixty years age. He did little with this first theme for over a year. Then during the family’s summer retreat in 1919 at a cottage along the Channel coast, he began to compose with a fervor that surprised his family; he seemed to have regained the vigor of the pre-War Elgar. By August, Elgar had completed the scoring and his daughter Alice posted the work to his publisher on August 8. Cellist and Elgar friend Felix Salmond served as soloist with the composer conducting when the concerto was premiered at the London Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert on October 27, 1919. Albert Coates, “that brutal, selfish ill-mannered bounder…that brute Coats”, according to Lady Elgar, conducted the rest of the program.
Lady Elgar was enraged that Coates had exceeded his rehearsal times, thus giving her husband inadequate time to prepare the orchestra and the soloist for his new work. As a result, the premiere of the concerto was a failure. The critic of The Observer Ernest Newman wrote,
There have been rumours about during the week of inadequate rehearsal. Whatever the explanation, the sad fact remains that never…has so great an orchestra made so lamentable an exhibition of itself. … The work itself is lovely stuff, very simple – that pregnant simplicity that has come upon Elgar’s music in the last couple of years – but with a profound wisdom and beauty underlying its simplicity.
Elgar later said that it was only because of the hard work his soloist Salmond had pored into the work that he went on with the performance. Unlike his other major compositions, the concerto did not have another performance in London for well over a year.
The Cello Concerto in E minor, Op 85, remained on the periphery of the ‘great cello concerto’ repertoire for half a century before it finally reached its rightful place among the hallowed works for the instrument. The work had its performances and recordings over the years, including two recordings with the composer conducting; but it was the 1960s before it became a popular success with an impassioned recording by Jacqueline du Pré with conductor Sir John Barbirolli. The concerto has now become a standard of the instrument’s repertoire and is widely performed.
As he lay on his death bed, Elgar hummed the concerto’s first theme to a friend: “If ever after I’m dead you hear someone whistling this tune on the Malvern Hills, don’t be alarmed. It’s only me.”
The whole family will enjoy this mix of new and old mystics and fantasy. Top of the list is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the music by Paul Dukas used for the Disney animated film Fantasia. It will be joined by two pieces by contemporary composers: The Three Virtues of Zarathustra, and Nimue and Her Fairies related to the legends of King Arthur. The overture to Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus will close the concert.
Students always attend free, Adult tickets are $20. An adult ‘brought’ by a student may enjoy a half-price ticket, please ask about this offer at the ticket table.
Program Notes
Paul Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice If not for Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney’s 1940 film Fantasia, modern audiences might know nothing of French composer Paul Dukas. Possibly the original “one- hit wonder”, Dukas burned most of his life’s work near the end of his life, his fame resting on a single orchestral work, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1897). Born in 1866, Dukas studied at the Paris Conservatory and established his position among younger French composers with his overture to Polyeucte and with the Symphony in C Major. The rest of his output was never large, due to his strict censorship of his own works, and consisted mainly of dramatic and program music as well as compositions for piano. A master of orchestration, Dukas served as professor of orchestra at the Paris Conservatory, and later, professor of composition. Despite his slender output, he was an influential figure on the French music scene in the early 20th century. Although his own music was firmly rooted in French Romanticism, his influence extended far into Modernism in his teaching. His extensive work as a music critic and his close friendships with important composers of his time such as Saint-Saens, D’Indy, Faure and Debussy (who famously had little regard for each other) likely prevented him from composing more of his own music. Dukas’ L’Apprenti sorcier based on Von Goethe’s Zauberlehrling is a piece of descriptive music written in a style similar to Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel. The poem tells of a sorcerer who can turn his broomstick into a real servant. Overhearing the magic formula, the old man’s apprentice decides to try it for himself when his master is out. Thrillingly, the broom comes to life and follows orders to bring water from a nearby river to fill the bath. Excitement turns to horror as the apprentice realizes he doesn’t know how to turn the magic off and the house fills up with water. Desperately, the boy chops the broom into pieces, only to have each piece continue bringing in more water. At the height of the chaos when all appears lost, the sorcerer returns home and order is restored, lesson learned. Dukas’ masterful music follows the narrative of the poem. In the introduction, soft strings hint at a magical and watery atmosphere while the clarinet, oboe and flute begin the theme of the unstoppable broom. A sudden quickening of the tempo portrays the disobedient apprentice, while the snarling muted brass intone the magic spell. After a sudden and eerie silence, the story begins again in earnest with bassoons taking over the broom theme. Soon enough, the music becomes chaotic as the beleaguered apprentice pleads with the rising waters. After the brass repeats the spell theme and a brief lull while the broom is hacked into pieces, the contrabassoon begins the tempest again. This time the orchestra gets even more frantic until the master returns to restore order. All is quiet until a final orchestral outburst signals the end of the story.
Daniel Perttu Nimuë and Her Fairies, a tone poem Dr. Daniel Perttu is Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Westminster College, where he has also served as Chair of the School of Music. His music has been performed by many orchestras and chamber groups on four continents and in over 40 of the United States. Many other performances have occurred in arts festivals, new music festivals and concerts, solo recitals and conferences. He has also received various commissions and awards throughout the country. He completed his doctorate at Ohio State, masters degrees at Kent State and bachelors at Williams College. Perttu describes his music as romantically-inspired. “Music with wonderfully lush melodies and harmonies with clear points of tension and release — that moves me”, he explains. Composers and writers whose works have influenced his music include Mahler, Shelley, Rautavaara, Barber and Keats. Critic Lee Passarella notes “the modal strains recall the works of… Ralph Vaughn Williams and Ernest Bloch.” Commissioned and performed by our own Brian Dollinger and the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra in 2021, “Nimue and her Fairies” is one of his tone poems based on an ambiguous figure from Arthurian legends. Nimue, or the Lady of the Lake is an enchantress with more power than typical fairies. Her motivations are often unclear— is she good or is she evil? In some accounts, she is the guardian of Sir Lancelot or the love interest of Merlin the magician. In one story she gives the sword Excalibur to King Arthur, yet in another legend she traps Merlin in a tree or tomb either because she hates him or wants to escape his advances. Perttu’s tone poem captures the mysterious qualities of Nimue and of the fairies associated with her. The music is meant to capture her multifaceted character as a sorceress and to convey an atmosphere of mystery and intrigue.
Irminsul The Three Virtues of Zarathustra
Irminsul is a Celtic harpist, keyboardist and award-winning composer with a background spanning classical to dark wave music. He has traveled with all sorts of acts from heavy metal to neon Celtic to World ensembles, and has written for piano, strings, woodwinds, mixed ensemble, orchestra and electronic studio arrays. He describes being raised in classical music and jumping to rock and prog rock, where he picked up his love and mastery of the synthesizer. Later he fell in with a group of Irish musicians which led him to his “bread and butter” instrument, the Celtic harp. He began with solo works on the brass wire strung harp, but then moved up to the bands Idlewild, Dal Riyadh’s and the electro-Celtic band Stonehenge.
The Three Virtues of Zarathustra was also premiered by conductor Brian Dollinger in January 2023 by the Kampala Philharmonic Orchestra in Hawaii. The composer describes the three-part suite for orchestra as a relatively new genre of music called neo-sacred. Applying a modernist-minimal approach to orchestral music, it melds the spiritual and the sacred, celebrating the often archaic and ancient principles of The Divine. The Three Virtues of Zarathustra presents to the listener the three pillars of Zoroastrian faith: the thinking of good thoughts (HUMATA), the speaking of good words (HUUKHTA), and the doing of good deeds (HUVARSHTA)
Ludwig van Beethoven Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus Beethoven put aside work on his Second Symphony in 1800 when he received an important commission for a ballet designed by famous ballet master Salvador’s Vigano, to be debuted in Vienna. He was thrilled to be composing for the court stage and embraced the scenario of the Greek Prometheus myth representing the spirit of the Enlightenment. Both composer and choreographer had lofty intentions for the collaboration combining allegorical pantomime and heroic ballet. The Prometheus of myth is horribly punished for stealing fire from the gods and gifting it to humans, but in the ballet, he brings two statues to life and enlightens them with knowledge and art, emphasizing Prometheus’ heroism celebrated by his creatures. Although the ballet was a modest success, the importance of the young composer’s music would later show up in the Eroica Symphony which shared the theme of the ballet’s final section as well as other borrowed movements which reflected the composer’s self-proclaimed “new artistic path”. Beethoven’s brilliance cannot be measured by his music alone. He brought to music the revolutionary spirit that created democracy in America and brought down the monarchy in France. Moreover, as someone who persevered despite isolation, illness and the catastrophic loss of his hearing, Beethoven embodied the sense of epic struggle and triumph, a heroic ideal which became a central theme of 19th century Romanticism. Prometheus begins in a slow tempo followed by a fast movement resembling the opening movement of a symphony. It opens with a series of stark chords propelling the music to more melodic sounds. What follows is a solemn theme led by oboes and horns which moves directly to the Allegro forming the main body of the piece. A running figure played by the violins is countered with a more relaxed idea introduced by woodwinds. A short development fantasy leads to a reprise of both subjects, then a coda passage of swelling volume and accelerating tempo.
Due to the heavy snow and blizzard conditions this weekend, and the bitter cold expected on Sunday, we have decided to postpone this concert until January 21st. The concert will now be hosted by St. Paul Lutheran Church, which is at the foot of the Highway 30 bridge at 715 S 3rd St in Clinton. Thanks for your patience, and stay cozy warm and safe this blustery weekend!
2:00 p.m. — Sunday, January 21, 2024
St. Paul Lutheran Church 715 S 3rd St in Clinton
Warm a Sunday afternoon in January with this performance of chamber music. Composers, musicians, and listeners alike consider chamber music to be the music of friendships. Composers write it with specific friends in mind, often writing a part for themselves in the ensemble. The group of friends gather to play it, and invite their closest friends to hear it. Join our musicians as we continue this great tradition of musical friendships!
Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 26 by Antonin Dvořák
Allegro moderato Largo Scherzo. Presto Finale. Allegro non tanto
Nadia Wirchnianski, piano Asa Church, violin • Ann Balderson, violoncello
– • –
El Grillo by Josquin Des Prez
Since First I Saw Your Face by Thomas Ford
Hard By a Fountain by Hubert Waelrant
April Is In My Mistress’ Face by Thomas Morley
Il et bel et bon by Pierre Passereau
Brooke Logan, soprano • Sara Dunne, alto Noah Strausser, tenor • Karl Wolf, bass
– • –
Miniatures for Woodwind Quintet by William Grant Still
I Ride an Old Paint (U.S.A) Adolorido (Mexico) Jesus is a Rock in the Weary Land (U.S.A) Yaravi (Peru) A Frog Went A-Courtin’ (U.S.A.)
Crystal Duffee, flute • Tamara Byram Mahl, oboe • Elizabeth Matera, clarinet Thomas Wood, bassoon • Bianca Sierra, horn
Program Notes:
Dvorak Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 26
The first Bohemian composer to achieve worldwide recognition, Antonin Dvorak turned his native folk music into 19th century romantic music. Born in 1841 in a village on the Vltava River north of Prague, Dvorak showed an unmistakable talent for music by age 12, and began formal study of harmony, piano and organ. His music teacher realized young Antonin had easily surpassed his lessons and had him enrolled at the Institute for Church Music in Prague where he took on private students and played viola in various inns to eke out a living. Although these were trying years for Dvorak, he composed two symphonies, an opera, chamber music and numerous songs . In 1873 he married Anna, a pianist and singer, but the couple tragically lost all 3 of their first children. However, they were eventually able to raise six more healthy children, spending summers in a small village where he was to compose some of his best-known works. He became close friends with Johannes Brahms who helped him technically and found him an influential publisher, attracting worldwide attention for his Slavonic Dances as well as his country’s music. His fame spread abroad as he made 10 visits to England where he was made an honorary doctor of music of Cambridge, as well as triumphant concerts in Moscow arranged by his friend Tchaikovsky. He became director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York in 1892, and traveled as far west as Iowa, finding much to stimulate him in the New World. Eventually he became homesick and returned to Bohemia where he died in 1904.
Piano Trio No. 2, Op.26 Dvorak composed four piano trios, each more celebrated than its predecessor. His Trio No. 2 in G Minor is imbued with his vivid musical personality: color, warmth, lyricism, melancholy, lively dance and Slavic folk tunes abound. Its composition came on the heels of his infant daughter’s death, and is thought to convey dark sorrow, flashes of rage, and deeply felt compassion, although the final movement breaks into bright play and sunny dance dispelling any lingering shadows. The trio is comprised of a full-scale, four-movement program reflecting the influences of Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn. The opening, a sprawling sonata with Slavic melodies and colorful, folk- inspired textures swirls between dark and light punctuated by a recurring motto of two fierce chords. By contrast, the second movement is slow, spacious and singing, a tender lullaby with wistfully wandering modulations concluding quietly in a major mode. The third movement scherzo gallops along urgently with rhythmic drive and transforms into a brighter, milder trio. With the finale, Dvorak leaves despair behind once and for all with humor, a touch of manic Figaro and lively dance. Beginning with a rondo, it hushes into a suspenseful theme until bursting into a polka and ending in jovial triumph.
RiverChor Quartet
Established in 2004 by Dr. Rob Engelson and a dedicated group of Messiah singers, RiverChor is currently under the direction of Karl Wolf with Christine Holmer as accompanist. The community choir consists of singers from many communities and ranges in age from teens to 80s, performing a wide variety of choral music as well as continuing Clinton’s Messiah tradition. Today’s quartet includes: Brooke Logan, soprano; Sara Dunne, alto; Noah Strausser, tenor; and Karl Wolf, bass.
El Grillo – Josquin Des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Pres (1440?-1521) is considered one of the greatest composers of the High Renaissance, greatly influencing the music of 16th century Europe. He is credited with developing the polyphonic style that utilized short, repeated motifs between voices. El Grillo,or the cricket, is a frottola likely written in the early 16th century, describing a cricket who sings for the sheer love of singing.
The cricket is a good singer Who can hold long notes After drinking the cricket sings But he doesn’t do like the other birds Once they’ve sung a little bit They go somewhere else The cricket instead stands firm When it’s very hot out He sings only for the love of it.
Since First I Saw Your Face – Thomas Ford (1580-1648) Although this piece is usually attributed to Thomas Ford, he didn’t compose it. A composer, singer and viola player in the service of the Prince of Wales, Ford is better known for publishing works by obscure songwriters and rearranging into his own interpretations. Since First appears in his 1607 collection, a miscellany of Elizabethan songs.
Hard By a Fountain – Hubert Waelrant (1517-1595) Hubert Waelrant was a Flemish composer, teacher, and music editor of the Renaissance. He was a contemporary of Palestrina. In this madrigal, the poor suitor sits by a fountain and pouts over the fact that the woman he was wooing has shown no interest in him.
April Is My Mistress’ Face – Thomas Morley(1557-1602) Thomas Morley was an English composer, theorist, singer, and organist. A significant member of the English Madrigal School, he was known for incorporating Italian influences into his compositions. This is one of his best-known (and shortest) madrigals.
Il Et Bel Et Bon – Pierre Passereau (1509-1547) A Renaissance composer from France, Passereau wrote light-hearted chansons and was fond of using nonsense language to represent animals. In this piece, two gossiping women are extolling the virtues of their husbands and the way they help with chores such as doing the dishes and feeding chickens. Note the clucking at the end of the piece.
“I tell you, girl, my husband is handsome and fine.” Once two women from the same village were gossiping. Saying one to the other, “Do you have a good husband?” “He doesn’t scold me, or beat me either. He does the chores, He feeds the chickens And I take my pleasure. Girl, you have to laugh To hear the cries of the chickens. ‘Little flirt (co, co, co, co, da) what is that?”
William Grant Still Miniatures For woodwind quintet
Known as the Dean of Afro- American composers, William Grant Still (1895-1978) was born in Mississippi and grew up in Arkansas. Early in his career he played for and arranged for W. C. Handy and attended the Oberlin Conservatory. Following World War I he studied composition with Edgar Varese and attended the New England Conservatory. He held a Guggenheim fellowship and was awarded honorary doctorates from Howard University, Oberlin, and Bates College. Still broke many barriers in his career, including being the first Afro- American composer to write orchestral works and have them performed by major symphony orchestras, as well as being the first to lead a major American symphony. His musical style incorporates a variety of Afro- American styles, from spirituals to blues and jazz, in addition to European, Latin American and other folk music genres.
I Ride an Old Paint (USA) This cowboy tune from Santa Fe, New Mexico was sung by a rider who so loved his horse that he begged that on his death his bones should be tied to the horse and the two of them set wandering with faces turned westward.
Adolorido (Mexico) Lacking newspaper, Mexican rural natives invented the ‘corridor’ – similar to the European ballad – to convey news of heroic deeds, accidents, love affairs, etc. Aldolorido is such a song, coming from the Bajio, or low, hot country around Guanajuato. It tells of sadness over betrayal by an ungrateful woman.
Jesus is a Rock in the Weary Land (USA) This Negro spiritual differs from those generally arranged for singers. Here it is given a rhythmic treatment corresponding to the way it would be heard in some of the more primitive churches today.
Yaravi (Peru) In the Quechua tongue – language of the ancient Incas- yaravi means lament. Known in Peru as a song of long ago, this poignant melody speaks to the absence of a dear one.
A Frog Went A-Courtin’(USA) There are many versions of this lilting tune, each one varying with the particular singer. The composer first heard it in a little village close to the mountainous section of Kentucky, and was told that it came from Virginia. Other regions claim it as well. The basic song is said to have been in continuous use for more than four hundred years.
The Holidays are a time for family, friends and music. On this special evening we gather many of our friends to perform for you, and we hope you will bring your family and friends to celebrate with us. Expect selections from the great music we associate with the season, including collaborations with other arts groups and a carol sing-along.
It’s a special time of year!
Program Notes:
There’s Christmas in the Air – arr. Carl Strommen The classics of the holidays come to life in this orchestral version of some of the most familiar and enduring popular songs of the season. Opening with I’ll Be Home for Christmas, continuing with the poignant Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas, then livening with Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman.
Christmas Song – Mel Torme/Robert Wells One of the most famous and favorite Christmas songs of all time, this classic was a signature song for Nat King Cole. The “Velvet Fog”, Mel Torme composed the lush orchestration in 1945 and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Torme, an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor and author, also won 2 Grammys for his work. According to Torme, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to “stay cool by thinking cool”, the most-performed song was written in 45 minutes. Lyricist Bob Wells said he didn’ think he was writing a song lyric; he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off.
Song of the Bells – Leroy Anderson Carol of the Bells has its roots in old Ukrainian folk songs,, a way of blessing one’s neighbors or worshiping the ancient gods before the advent of Christianity. Mykolaiv Leontovych was supposed to become a priest, but was put in charge of the choir in his seminary, and eventually became a music teacher, composer and arranger of his country’s ancient songs. One of these was a simple, four-note melody called Shchedryk. The driving, dancing energy of the arrangement made its way to the United States. Peter J. Wilhousky, a popular American composer of the time, wrote English lyrics for it in 1936. Renamed as Carol of the Bells, it quickly became associated with Christmas in widespread performances all through the 1940s. Last year Carnegie Hall hosted a holiday celebration to benefit Ukraine as choral groups from North American and Europe honored the 100th anniversary of the beloved song. Anderson’s arrangement swirls like a Viennese waltz, the bells represented on chimes and the glockenspiel.
Festive Sounds of Hanukah – arr. Bill Holcombe This lively medley of favorite selections includes joyous arrangements of Rock of Ages, Who Can Retell? Hanukah, Hanukah, My Dreidel, S’vivon, and Where Are You Christmas?
Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson Famously beloved as the “Voice of the Boston Pops”, Leroy Anderson is a favorite composer of light concert music. Displaying unusual early musical talent, Anderson wrote his first composition by age 12, which led to studies at the New England Conservatory of Music and Harvard. Equally adept at languages, he made the practical decision to become a language teacher, composing and conducting on the side, especially for the Boston Pops. Many of his clever, inventive compositions have been used as themes for radio and television shows. Deemed an American original, he even earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has been widely lauded as the “Norman Rockwell of American music” for his ability to capture the familiar and turn it into art. Sleigh Ride remains the most popular of Christmas music. With its cheerful melody and the sounds of sleigh bells, horse whinnies and a whip, it has been recorded over 8000 times. Orchestra members insist correctly that they can play it without a conductor, and every fledgling trumpet player must master the horse whinny.
Christmas at the Movies – arr. Bob Kronstadt Music from five classic holiday films are included in this medley, recalling some of the most memorable songs and themes from Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, The Polar Express and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Overture to “Messiah” – George Frideric Handel The German-born composer of the late Baroque period is known for his operas, instrumental compositions and his most famous oratorio, Messiah, written in 1741 and now a Yuletide staple. More than anyone else,, Handel democratized music, his best-known works achieving a social as well as musical significance. Born in Germany in 1685, he became a great master of choral music as well as one of the great instrumental composers of his age, his music becoming an indispensable part of England’s national culture. A lifelong lover of theatre, his oratorios were often performed on stage, not in a church. Handel first conceived of the Messiah as an Easter offering, first performed during Lent. The Victorians moved it to Christmas in an effort to revive interest in what had become a neglected holiday, and by the late 19th century, the Messiah had become regularly performed in December, especially in the United States. Handel had been going through some hard times just before he composed his landmark oratorio. Many of his musical works were not doing well, he was losing weight and suffering from depression. When a friend sent him some texts from the Bible, he was inspired and embarked on a fast and furious burst of creativity, writing the three-hour work in just 18 days. His servants said he hardly came down from his study except to get food which he ate while writing. The Messiah’s first third deals with the birth of Jesus. The second part covers the death of Jesus, and the third his resurrection. Audience members usually stand when the famous “Hallelujah” chorus begins. Supposedly, King George II was so moved during the London premiere of the Messiah that he rose to his feet, and then everyone else in the theater followed as a matter of royal protocol. Handel had a striking ability to depict human character musically in a single scene or aria, a gift used with great dramatic power in his oratorios. Beethoven himself, citing the Messiah, called Handel “the greatest composer who ever lived.” And Mozart declared, “Handel knows better than any of us what will make an effect. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.”
A Most Wonderful Christmas -arr. Robert Sheldon A fun medley of some of the most popular Christmas selections of all time. Includes Winter Wonderland, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
Midwinter Rose – Dana Calhoun Double bass player Dana Calhoun cut his symphonic teeth in the 1980s with Clinton Symphony. Now an organist with Faith Lutheran Church in Moline for almost 20 years, Dana enjoys trying out his compositions on his “unsuspecting” congregation, including works for piano, organ, various string instruments as well as school and church choirs. Early in his bass playing career, he remembers discovering the “ubiquitous, (in)famous Pachelbel Canon in D which contains a grand total of 8 notes for the lower strings.” With the piece firmly stuck in his brain, he composed a piano solo combining Pachelbel and the Holst tune “In the Bleak Midwinter”, which he later expanded into an orchestral work while adding the German Carol “Lo, How a Rose is Growing”, thus resulting in Midwinter Rose.
O Holy Night – Chip Davis Based on a French poem by Placide Coppeau written in 1843, O Holy Night was later set to music by composer Adolph Adam. Fast forward to 1974, a visionary musician, Chip Davis founded Mannheim Steamroller creating the best-selling Christmas music in history with over 35 albums. His landmark album, Fresh Aire melded elements of classical, rock and pop into something altogether unique, dubbed “New Age”.The Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Tour is the longest running consecutive tour in the music industry.
Christmas Festival – Leroy Anderson For A Christmas Festival, Anderson chose 8 popular Christmas carols and Jingle Bells to represent the spirit of the holidays. Composed for the Boston Pops, it has become a staple of holiday concerts, inviting the audience to sing along to familiar songs.
Three solid compositions for orchestra from three of the solid orchestra composers are featured on this November concert. First is Tchaikovsky’s brilliant Serenade for Strings, which he composed as a respect to Mozart, then Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, the two marvelous movements which stand majestically alone. And finally the overture of Mozart’s final opera The Magic Flute.
Tickets are available online, or at the door. Students are always admitted free, and the Symphony would also like to extend a half price ticket to one adult the student brings with them. Ask at the ticket table for this offer.
In partnership with Community State Bank, we offer a bus from Clinton, through Fulton and Morrison to the concert in Sterling. Reservations: 563-219-8084
Program Notes:
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. 1840-1893 The first Russian romantic composer to enjoy widespread international acclaim, Piotr Tchaikovsky was celebrated for his highly individual style, his own unhappy life reflected in his brooding music. He wrote many symphonies, operas and concerti, but only 3 ballets composed in the last years of his life; Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake. He remains the 19th century’s master of dance music with “ballet” synonymous with his name. Born in a small town in the Russian interior, he displayed musical genius early, composing his first song at age 4. High-strung and sensitive, his parents tried to prepare him for a career in civil service, but he eventually became one of the first students in the St. Petersburg Conservatory. After graduating, he moved to Moscow to teach at the Moscow Conservatory where he produced his first symphony and his first opera.Between 1871 and 1876 he produced a series of great works, including Swan Lake and the First Piano Concerto, establishing him as Russia’s leading composer. By 1887 he was conducting his own music to great acclaim and producing such works as the Sixth Symphony, Pathetique, and Sleeping Beauty. He toured the United States at the inauguration of Carnegie Hall and conducted before enthusiastic audiences. His private life, however, was beset with deep depression and a tragic, short-lived marriage. His music conveys the joys and sorrows of the human experience with poignant sincerity.
Serenade for Strings The word “serenade” has meant many things over time: music sung to a lover on a moonlit night, and later, it came to refer to a tuneful concert work. Tschaikovsky’s Serenade fits into both categories, a work with easy, joyful moments as well as a passionate love letter to a distant beloved. Tschaikovsky poured all of himself into his Serenade for Strings. “I am passionately in love with this work,” he wrote. “This is a piece from the heart.” It was performed for the first time in November 1880 at a private concert at the Moscow Conservatory as a surprise for the composer after a long absence. The first of the four movements, Pezzo in forma de sonatina, is a conscious reflection of his homage to Mozart. The powerful introduction begins with a big, lush string sound, the simple motif then repeated several times with his trademark heart-rending harmonies. A charming Viennese waltz characterizes the second movement, making use of the dance’s frequent little hesitations and stops, followed by a prayerful Elegie as the third movement. The final movement’s hushed mood and subsequent rollicking allegro are based on traditional Russian folk tunes, capped off in a scintillating rush to the conclusion.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791 Likely the best-known of all composers, Mozart created music in nearly every major genre, leaving behind compositions that serve as archetypes of the Classical period. A true child prodigy, he wrote his first piece of music at the age of five, published his first composition by the age of seven, and had written his first opera by his twelfth birthday. One of the most prolific and influential composers of all time, he composed over 600 works in his short lifetime and almost single-handedly developed the piano concerto. Born in Salzburg, Austria, Wolfgang was the youngest of seven and one of only two siblings to survive to adulthood. His father Leopold, one of Europe’s leading music teachers, conductors and composers, gave up his own career to become his son’s only teacher when Wolfgang’s musical genius was discovered by his third birthday. An older sister, Maria Anna, was also musically talented and their father traveled the two all over Europe to show off their precocious ability, allowing them to meet many musicians. When the touring ended, Wolfgang was hired as a court musician, performing and composing for Salzburg’s Prince. Popular and beloved in Salzburg, he composed in many genres; symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, serenades and operas. Eventually growing discontented with his low salary and few opportunities to work on his favorite form, the opera, he searched for jobs, settling in Paris only to fail to find success. He grudgingly returned to Salzburg where he continued to feel unappreciated and was finally fired by the Prince. Finally it was in Vienna where his career took off, and he established himself as the finest pianist in the city while continuing to compose, including a hugely successful opera, Abduction from the Seraglio. His reputation established, he married, fathered 6 children and began studying the works of Bach, Handel and Haydn, all of whom influenced his work. Mozart put on a very popular concert series as a piano soloist, writing three of four concertos each season. Finally attaining some wealth, the Mozart’s lived lavishly, leading to financial problems later. Shifting back to opera, he premiered The Marriage of Figaro to acclaim followed by Don Giovanni. By 1787 he had obtained steady work under the patronage of Emperor Joseph II who appointed him court composer. Unfortunately, Austria was at war a year later leading to a career decline. Moving to cheaper lodgings, he still was forced to send notes to friends begging for money. 1791 was his last year of great productivity, resulting in The Magic Flute, his final piano concertos, a clarinet concerto, his last great string quintets, the revision of his Symphony No. 40 and his unfinished Requiem. His finances began to improve, but he fell ill in September and died in December 1791.
The Magic Flute Die Zauberflote was premiered in 1791 in Vienna, the last year of Mozart’s life. It was immediately popular, with an entertaining cast of characters, including a comic, feathery pair of bird/human lovers, an evil Moor, a high priest, an evil queen, wraith-like woman, various enchanted animals as well as “magic” flutes and bells. What’s not to love! Despite the fun and games, the opera is an allegory, exploring life’s deep and essential issues; courage, transfiguration, wisdom, romantic love, illusion, freedom and brotherhood. Three majestic chords open the overture, underscoring the symbolic importance of the number three based on popular Masonic beliefs. These three chords will return three times each at the beginning of the development section. Following the grave introduction, the orchestra skips off in a vivacious Allegro, only to be interrupted by a repeat of the three solemn chords. The remainder of the Overture is notable for Mozart’s brilliant use of counterpoint and dynamic contrasts, building into a surprisingly complex piece.
Franz Peter Schubert The Austrian composer Franz Schubert was born in 1797 near Vienna and died tragically young in 1828. Schubert bridged the worlds of Classical and Romantic music, noted for the melody and harmony in his songs and chamber music, as well as symphonies, masses and piano works. Born into a musical family, Franz played viola in string quartets performed in his family home, eventually earning a scholarship for further music education under composer Antonio Salieri and the opportunity to sing in the imperial court chamber choir. Although reluctant to share his early compositions, the numerous works he wrote by 1815 are remarkable for their style, originality and imagination. Songs were his obsession, composing as astonishing 600 in his short lifetime, single-handedly creating the German lied, or art song. When popular baritone Johann Michael Vogl took up his songs, they became the rage of Viennese drawing rooms. During these musical soirées known as Schubertiads, Schubert would often sing his own songs while accompanying himself on the piano. Living quietly within a circle of close friends with few means beyond teaching, he began to produce a seemingly endless stream of masterpieces, most discovered after his short lifetime. During this period he not only composed 145 lieder, the second and third symphonies, two sonatas, a series of miniatures for piano, two mass settings, four stage works, and a string quartet among projects. This period of intense creativity remains one of the most amazing feats of productivity in musical history. Schubert’s health declined rapidly, although he was able to serve as a torchbearer in 1827 at Beethoven’s funeral. Just a year later, he was also laid to rest in the same cemetery. “The art of music here entombed a rich possession, but even fairer hopes,” reads the prophetic inscription on his tombstone.
Symphony No. 5, “Unfinished” Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 has a complex history. Written in 1822, the work lay undiscovered until the 1860s, containing fully scored movements plus sketches for a third. The two complete movements were premiered in 1865, adding a final movement from another one of Schubert’s works. In the ensuing decades, the practice of adding another movement stopped; it became clear that the two movements stand very well alone. Although he lived another 6 years after the work was begun, no one knows why he never returned to it. The opening of the first movement is dark, with a theme played by the oboe and clarinet. A secondary, well-known melody by the cellos reflects Schubert’s talent for melody. Dramatic turns throughout illustrate light and dark, gravity and playfulness. Schubert provides contrast in the second movement with a slightly slower tempo and bright major tonality. A clarinet solo again highlights his ability to write beautiful melodic lines, before the movement whips into emotional turmoil. A quiet conclusion brings serenity, etched with resignation.
