Music of Friendships – Chamber Concert

Clinton Symphony Chamber Concert January 15, 2023 2:00 PM Zion Lutheran Church, Clinton, IA

Join us on Sunday, January 15 at 2:00pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 439 3rd Ave S in Clinton, to enjoy chamber music featuring members of the Clinton Symphony Orchestra. Tickets are available online or at the door. Learn more about the musicians and the music in the following program notes:

Gabriel Fauré……………………..“Pie Jesu” from the Requiem
arranged for Violas by Tracey Rush


Elaine Fine……………………..Three Dances for Five Violas

Habanera
Saltarello
Rigadoon

Jotham Polashek • Ann Duchow • Natalie Delcorps • Hana Velde • Tracey Rush

Vasyl Barvinsky……………………..Piano Trio in A Minor
Second Movement – Andante

Nadia Wirchnianski, piano • Asa Church, violin • Avery Kerley, violoncello

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart…………………………………….Piano Quartet in G Minor
Allegro
Andante
Allegro (Rondo)

Nadia Wirchnianski, piano • Asa Church, violin • Julie Marston, viola • Avery Kerley, violoncello

JANTH Quintet

The quintet of violists on today’s program are all residents of Dubuque and active musicians in the area.
Jotham Polashek is from Ames, and attended University of Northern Iowa. He
teaches strings in the Dubuque Schools.


Ann Duchow has a teaching studio and teaches strings in the Dubuque area
colleges. She serves as principal second violin with Clinton Symphony.


Natalie Delcorps is from the Chicago area, and attended Luther College. She
teaches strings in Dubuque Schools, and is a regular member of Clinton Symphony’s
viola section.


Hana Velde is a native of Seattle, and regular in the Symphony’s violin section. She
holds a degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and teaches
mathematics at University of Dubuque


Tracey Rush is founder of the Northeast Iowa School of Music and the Dubuque
Community String Orchestra, has taught in the public schools, and is presently
conductor of the University of Dubuque String Ensemble. She is a widely recognized
composer.

Piano Trio and Quartet

Pianist Nadia Wirchnianski has been an enthusiastic contributor to our chamber
music programs, and is pianist for Clinton Symphony. She is a native of Chicago with
degrees from DePaul University and Northwestern University. She lives in Lanark and
teaches in Dixon Schools and Highland Community College in Freeport.


Violinist Asa Church is a member of Clinton Symphony’s violin section, and a native
of Normal, Illinois, where he graduated from Illinois State University. He is an orchestra
teacher in the Sterling Public Schools.


Violist Julie Marston is an orchestra teacher in the Clinton Schools and a graduate
of Eastern Michigan University. She is a violinist with Clinton Symphony and performs
with other area orchestras and ensembles as well.


Cellist Avery Kerley is new to Clinton Symphony, a resident of Dixon, Illinois, and teaches
music classes in the Amboy, Illinois schools. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University and
a native of Vienna, Illinois.

“Pie Jesu” from REQUIEM
by Gabriel Fauré
arranged for Violas by Tracey Rush

Gabriel Fauré was a French composer, renowned organist and teacher, one of the
most influential composers of his generation.
This much-loved movement from Fauré’s magnificent Requiem is known for its
profound feelings of hope and loss depicted with simplicity. Fauré eliminated the
traditional movements of a requiem which depicted hell and damnation in favor of an
emphasis on the hope of eternal peace for the loved one.
The Pie Jesu is arranged here for violas by Dubuque comoser/arranger Tracey Rush.

THREE DANCES for Five Violas
by Elaine Fine

Playing violin and flute, Elaine Fine graduated from Julliard, playing and teaching in
Austria before eventually relocating to Eastern Illinois University where she found a
vibrant artistic community in the small collegiate town. She made a career in music
performance and instruction, volunteering for benefit concerts to ensure public music
accessibility. Performing with the LeVeck String Quartet from 1994 to 2005, she began
composing over 70 pieces of chamber music, 3 operas and many arrangements, which
she has made available in the public domain to help other musicians.


“Andante” from PIANO TRIO in A Minor
by Vasyl Barvinsky

Composed in 1910 when Barvinsky was only 21, the Piano Trio illustrates the
composer’s late romantic and impressionistic style underscored with local folklore,
marking him one of Ukraine’s first composers to receive worldwide recognition. Referred
to as “the composer without notes” he was brutally imprisoned for 10 years by the
Soviets who burned his scores in public in 1948. Now known for his music of resilience
despite repression, he was able to reconstruct some of his lost works, and many others
were rediscovered after his death in 1963.

PIANO QUARTET in G Minor
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart himself loved to play viola with small chamber groups, and added this
instrument to the usual piano trio of his time. Filled with complexity, drama and operatic
conversations between the instruments, his composition was initially deemed too difficult
for most casual musicians. The stormy G minor key, his famous “key of fate”, was one
Mozart reserved for his most turbulent music.
The work consists of 3 movements, beginning with a large sonata form as the
instruments play in unison. A melodious slow movement follows with an exuberant rondo
finale.

Program notes by Karin Anderson-Sweet

Holidays with the Symphony

7:30 p.m. — Saturday, December 10, 2022

Vernon Cook Theater at Clinton High School

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Join us for a night of holiday favorites this coming Saturday, December 10, as we gather at 7:30pm in CHS’s Vernon Cook Theater. We’ll be ringing in 100 years since the “Carol of the Bells” was introduced to America by a choral group from Ukraine. For Charles Schulz 100th birthday, we will enjoy the music written by Vince Guaraldi for the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Many other favorites, including a carol sing-along are on this year’s program, detailed below.

This is a wonderful concert to introduce people to symphonic music, so round up your friends and family! Students always enjoy free admission, and one adult brought by the student may enjoy a 50% discount on their ticket….ask at the ticket table!

Program:

Bells of Christmas
Skater’s Waltz
Sleigh Ride
Charlie Brown Christmas
A Christmas Festival
Carol of the Bells
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
The Nutcracker
Polar Express

Please enjoy the following program notes:

The Bells of Christmas, arranged by Bob Kronstadt
A collection of traditional holiday favorites, this creative mix of styles and treatments
includes Ding Dong Merrily on High, The Carol of the Bells, Silver Bells, I Heard the
Bells on Christmas Day and Jingle bells.

Les Patineurs (“Skater’s Waltz”)
by Emille Waldteufel

One of the most famous wintery pieces in classical music, The Skaters’ Waltz was written in 1882 and inspired by the sight of Parisians skating on the frozen Seine river. Waldteufel wrote over 200 works, but this is the piece he is best remembered for.

Waldteufel set out to capture the atmosphere of a winter day in Paris, with ice-skaters venturing onto the frozen Seine River. In the manner of his older rival Johann Strauss, Waldteufel’s piece offers a sequence of contrasting serene and exuberant waltz themes, rather than just a single melody. A slow opening passage for solo horn is followed by graceful rising and falling lines in the strings and woodwinds that lead to the first waltz theme. There, again, the horn takes the central role. The wintry ambience of the piece is enhanced by the use of sleigh bells in the percussion section.

Sleigh Ride and A Christmas Festival
By Leroy Anderson
Famously beloved as the “voice of the Boston Pops” and composer of light concert
music, Leroy Anderson displayed his musical talent early to his Swedish immigrant
parents. His first composition at the age of 12 led him to study piano at the New
England Conservatory of Music and later, Harvard. Also adept at languages, he
became fluent in at least 9, making the practical decision for a regular salary by
becoming a language teacher. Conducting and composing for popular orchestras on the
side soon spread his musical reputation until he was discovered by Arthur Fiedler of the
Boston Pops.
Many of his clever, inventive compositions have been used as themes for radio and
TV shows. Deemed an American original, he 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.”
Composed on a hot summer day in July, Sleigh Ride remains the most popular of
holiday music. With its cheerful melody and the sounds of sleigh bells, horse whinnies
and a whip, it has been recorded over 8000 times. Any
musician will insist they can play it without a conductor, and the horse whinny
has become a must-learn skill for every fledgling trumpet player.
For A Christmas Festival, Anderson chose 8 popular Christmas songs to represent
the spirit of the holidays. Composed for the Boston Pops, it has become a Christmas
staple, inviting audiences to sing along to familiar
melodies.


A Charlie Brown Christmas, by Vince Guaraldi and
Lee Mendelson, arranged by David Pugh
On December 9, 1965, nearly half the TV sets in America tuned into a Christmas
special based on a popular comic strip that CBS executives predicted to flop. But by

1966 A Charlie Brown Christmas would go on to earn a Peabody and an Emmy for
outstanding children’s programming. It then ran annually on CBS for 35 years and
became the first of more than 45 animated Charlie Brown television specials featuring
the hapless little round-headed boy.
The popular cartoon strip Peanuts had been a staple of American newspapers since
1950, its characters giving readers the chance to relive childhood angst through the
antics and quips of Charlie Brown and his gang for the next 50 years.
Peanuts creator Charles Schulz called on pianist Vince Guaraldi and his trio to
compose and perform music that would reflect the humor, charm and innocence of the
gang. Guaraldi strung together elegant, enticing arrangements that reflect the spirit of
Schultz’s work while introducing graceful contemporary jazz to youngsters.
Simple drawings and a meandering storyline tell of Charlie Brown discovering the
true meaning of Christmas, the image of his forlorn but endearing tree cleverly
paralleling his character. As that sad fir is brought to life, Charlie’s melancholy lifts with
a timeless message of holiday spirit.
Songs include Lucy and Linus with its fresh, energetic feel and tantalizing meter
changes. Christmas Time is Here, the album’s most endearing moment, is a soft lullaby
with percussive flavors. The romantic gem Skating blends musical references to falling
snowflakes with a dashing feel of swing. Christmas is Coming brings the listener into the
joyous light of the Christmas spirit.

Carol of the Bells, by M. Leontovich and P. Wilhousky
Arranged by Richard Hayman

Carol of the Bells has its roots in old Ukrainian folk songs, a way of blessing one’s
neighbors or worshiping ancient gods before the advent of Christianity. In 1899,
Mykolaiv Leontovych was supposed to become a priest, but when the choir director of
his seminary died, he was put in charge 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”, what we know today as Carol of the Bells.
Ukrainian conductor Oleksander Koshyts liked it enough to make it his choir’s signature
piece for its first international tour. The driving, dancing energy of the arrangement
found its way to the United States, eventually making its way to a performance at
Carnegie Hall.
Peter J. Wilhousky, a popular American composer of the time among Ukrainian
ethnicities, wrote English lyrics for the song in 1936. Renaming it into Carol of the Bells
for American audiences, it quickly became associated with Christmas in widespread
performances all through the 1940s recorded by well- known groups such as Fred
Waring and the Roger Wagner Chorale.
This year, on December 4, Carnegie Hall hosted a holiday celebration to benefit
Ukraine as choral groups from North America and Europe honored the 100th
anniversary of Carol of the Bells.

Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, by Leon Jessel,
Arranged by Morton Gould
This sprightly march was originally written as a solo piano piece in 1897 by the
German composer Leon Jessel, then titled Parade of the Tin Soldiers. In 1905, Jessel
orchestrated it, and it became a popular favorite worldwide. John Phillip Sousa’s band
played it with the name changed to Wooden Soldiers, and it was published in many
different arrangements used in vaudeville routines, Broadway shows, films and
cartoons.
Since 1933 the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes have marched to this tune in their
Christmas Spectacular. Renowned American composer and pops orchestrator Morton
Gould worked as a pianist at Radio City Music Hall and later made his own colorful
arrangement.
The charming fantasy-like quality of the music has become a beloved children’s
Christmas tradition.

The Nutcracker by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

In his last years, Tchaikovsky earned his greatest successes matched only by his
growing depression. He was to die less than a year after The Nutcracker ballet debuted
in 1891 at the height of his career. Arguably the best known Russian composer of all
time, his works include 7 symphonies, 11 operas, 3 ballets, 3 piano concertos, a violin
concerto, 4 cantatas, 20 choral works and over 100 songs and piano pieces. Although
his operas had limited success, he was able to transform ballet into staged musical
drama, revolutionizing the genre. He took ballet seriously, seeing it as an art form equal
to all others when detractors were writing it off.
Nutcracker is based on the romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffman’s tale of Clara and the
nutcracker she receives as a Christmas gift. After Clara saves the nutcracker in a fight
with the mouse king, he transforms into a handsome Prince and sweeps her off to the
magical Kingdom of Sweets. Coming off his tremendous success with Swan Lake, a
weary Tschaikovsky found the structure difficult and limiting and even asked to be
removed from the project. Instead, he was given an extension and was able to create
another masterpiece. It has become a ritual for the Christmas season among children
and adults alike.


The Polar Express, by Alan Silvestri and Glen
Ballard, arranged by Jerry Brubaker
The soundtrack for this 2004 film based on the book by the same name, was written
by prolific American composer- arranger Alan Silvestri. Nominated 4 times for a
Grammy Award, Silvestri also wrote music for Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger
Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, the Avenger series, and many more films.
The book’s author, Chris Van Allsburg, won the Caldecott Medal in 1985 for his
haunting tale showing it’s never too late to dream. The storyline involves a young boy
who sees a mysterious train outside his bedroom window on Christmas Eve. Other
children also embark on the train’s journey to the North Pole to visit Santa as he
prepares for Christmas.
The first all-digital capture film, it features human characters animated using live-
action and motion-capture CGI animation. Although underperforming initially at the box
office, later re-releases helped propel the
film’s gross to $324 million worldwide. The soundtrack is the best-selling
soundtrack/holiday album in history.
Songs in this arrangement include Believe, which won a Grammy in 2006, The Polar
Express, When Christmas Comes to Town, and Spirit of the Season.

Program notes by Karin Anderson-Sweet

Friends of the Clinton Symphony partner with Applebee’s

Friends of the Clinton Symphony invite you to take part in Applebee’s Together We Care Tuesday.  On Tuesday, December 6, Applebee’s will donate 50% of orders of five favorite entrees: Three Cheese Chicken Penne, Fiesta Lime Chicken, Classic Bacon Cheeseburger, Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, and the Chicken Tenders Platter.  The event lasts the entire day….11 am to 11 pm, and is valid for dine in and out.

November 5 Clinton Symphony Concert features Sirena Huang

7:30 p.m. — Saturday, November 5, 2022

Centennial Auditorium – Sterling High School

Violinist Sirena Huang is the 2022 winner of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and was the 2017 first prize winner of the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition. She is one of her generation’s most celebrated violinists, praised by The Baltimore Sun for her “impeccable technique….deeply expressive phrasing….and poetic weight.” She will play the Dvořák “Violin Concerto” with us. Also on the program is Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll” and Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 3 (Scottish Symphony)”.

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

Learn more about Ms. Huang’s recent win, and enjoy video of the competition, including the Dvořák piece she will play with the Clinton Symphony. https://theviolinchannel.com/violinist-sirena-huang-1st-prize-indianapolis-international-violin-competition-2022/

Praised by The Baltimore Sun for her “impeccable technique…deeply expressive phrasing…and poetic weight,” Sirena Huang is one of her generation’s most celebrated violinists. She brings not only technical brilliance and powerful artistry to the stage, but also a profound sense of connection to her audience.

Sirena made her solo debut with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in 2004 at the age of nine, and, since then, has performed in seventeen countries across three continents. She has been featured as a soloist with more than fifty prestigious ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestras of Cleveland, Baltimore, Shanghai, Russia, and Singapore, and the Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany. She has appeared as a guest artist at the Verbier Music Festival, Ravinia Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Sarasota Arts Series, Albuquerque Chamber Music Festival, “The Great Music for a Great City” series in New York City, and many others.

Motivated by a deep wish to inspire peace and harmony with her music, Sirena has performed before world leaders, thinkers and humanitarians. At age eleven, she gave a TED talk that garnered more than 2.5 million views. In 2006, she received the honor of playing for thirty Nobel Prize Laureates at the World Peace Conference held in Petra. In 2007, she played in the Opening Ceremony of the “Forum 2000 World Conference” in Prague. In 2008, she was invited to perform during the ceremony in which the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity presented its Humanitarian Award to President Sarkozy of France.

Please enjoy the following Program Notes:

Richard Wagner 1813-1883
One of the world’s most famous and controversial composers, Richard Wagner is famous for
his epic operas, including the four-part, 18-hour Ring Cycle. He is also known for his tumultuous
love life involving several scandalous affairs.
Born Wilhelm Richard Wagner in Leipzig, Germany, he displayed none of the expected
musical genius of major composers, but apparently quickly made up for that with confident
ambition. Although an early piano teacher said he “tortured the piano”, at 11 he wrote his first
drama and at 16 he was already composing music. On his death, a New York Times obituary
noted that “even in the face of mortifying failures and discouragement, he never lost
confidence in himself.”
Attending Leipzig University, his first symphony was performed in 1833, inspired by
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which Wagner called “that mystic source of my highest ecstasies.”
Th following year he became chorus master of the Wurzburg Theater and wrote his first opera,
Die Feen. In 1836 he married the singer and actress Minna Planer, and his Das Liebesverbot was
produced. Wagner called his concept “Gesamtkunstwrek” (total work of art) – a method he
often used of weaving German myths with larger themes of love and redemption.
After moving to Russia, he began work on his next opera, Rienzi, but had to flee to avoid
creditors. In Paris he took whatever work he could find and became part of the revolutionary
“young Germany” movement, his leftist politics reflected in his opera. He sent his score to
Dresden, Germany, where it premiered successfully. The Flying Dutchman followed the next
year to great critical acclaim and he was on his way. Appointed director of the Dresden Opera,
in 1845 Wagner completed Tannhauser and began Lohengrin. Politically vocal, Wagner was
forced to flee to Switzerland, unable to return to Germany for 11 years. He began work on his famous
Ring Cycle which anticipated the future of film by combining literature, visual elements, and music.
His use of leitmotifs would influence composers including John Williams and film scores such as
Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
In 1862 Wagner was invited to return to Germany by King Ludwig II, an ardent admirer who
financially supported him. Separating from his wife, he famously conducted several notorious
affairs, finally marrying Cosima van Bulow in 1870 after they had two children together while
she was still married to her conductor husband Hans. The first two operas of the Ring Cycle, Das
Rheingold and Die Walkure, were presented in Munich by 1870, and the entire 18-hour
performance was staged in 1876 – all 18 hours. His last opera, Parsifal, was performed in 1882
followed by Wagner’s death in 1883 at age 69.
Because Hitler was such a fan, Wagner’s legacy became all the more controversial, leading a
New York Times article to write, “How did such sublime music come from such a warped man?
Maybe art really does have the power to ferret out the best in us.”

Siegfried Idyll
Tribschener Idyll, the original name, is a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra presented to
Wagner’s second wife after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first performed in
typical Wagnerian elan by a small ensemble on the stairs outside the new mother’s room. His
opera Siegfried premiered in 1876, incorporating the Idyll’s theme sung by Brunhilde in a love
duet with Siegfried. Also incorporating a German lullaby, the piece first intended as a tender,
private tribute was later sold to help cover the composer’s many debts.
Most of the musical themes in Siegfried Idyll relate to pastoral passages in the third act of
the opera Siegfried, although far differently in an untraditional three-part sonata form.
Wagnerian fans will recognize Familiar horn calls, bird songs and bucolic contours. Ecstatic and
flowing, it begins at sunrise with beautiful shades of tone using clever combinations and bold,
simple colors. Unlike operatic Wagner, the mighty, heroic melodies are transformed here into
gentle, intimate poetry.
A brief motif in the first entrance of the flute in counterpoint against the main theme recalls
Brunhilde’s magic sleep from the opera as she awaits Siegfried. A gentle refrain in the horn
against the upper strings leads into the second theme group. A new theme, introduced by the
oboe, is from a German lullaby. After further theme development, the clarinet introduces yet
another theme portraying the lovers in their final duet. Next is the theme of the forest bird who
leads Siegfried to Brunhilde’s rock protected by a magic ring of fire, combined with one of
Siegfried’s horn motifs. The Idyll ends by very gradually and dramatically slowing down and
fading to a whisper.

Felix Mendelssohn 1809-1847
A German composer, pianist, conductor and teacher, Felix Mendelssohn is one of the most
celebrated figures of the early Romantic period. Born into a prosperous middle-class family,
Felix had already composed four operas, 12 string symphonies and many chamber and piano
pieces by the age of 12. Four years later he had written an accomplished String Octet and, only
a year later, the magical overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, considered two of the most
stunning displays of youthful talent in western music.
He traveled widely, and often to Britain. In 1829 Mendelssohn conducted his Symphony No. 1
at the London Philharmonic, visiting Scotland that summer. Merging pictorial and musical
elements, he described the waves breaking on the Scottish coast in the opening bars of The
Hebrides. Between 1830 and 1832 he traveled in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland,
publishing his first book of piano music, Song Without Words. In 1842 he enjoyed his first
personal contact with Queen Victoria, dedicating his ‘Scottish’ Symphony to her. Britain loved
him, and in 1846 he directed the first performance of his oratorio Elijah as the chief attraction
of the Birmingham Festival. The Queen referred to him as “the greatest musical genius since
Mozart”.
Mendelssohn gradually became the most popular of 19 th century composers in England. The
fashion for playing the Wedding March from his Midsummer Night’s Dream originated from its
performance at the wedding of the Princess after Mendelssohn’s death. He was the first to
conduct Beethoven’s Emperor and was among the first to play a concerto from memory as well
as becoming known for his organ works. The popularity of his oratorio Elijah established him as
a composer equal to George Frederic Handel. In 1843 he founded a conservatory of music in
Leipzig where he taught composition along with Schumann. After the death of his beloved
sister his energies deserted him and he died at only 38 of a ruptured blood vessel.

Symphony No.3 ‘Scottish’
Dedicated to Queen Victoria, the symphony opens with a dark and brooding introduction in
the rich, mid-range orchestration of the oboe, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and violas. The violins
enter, then the full orchestra with impassioned strains, at the same time, quiet, yet simmering
with loud outbursts. The introduction fades, then builds volume and texture into a full gallop.
The Scherzo features repeated staccato strings until the winds enter with fanfare-like outbursts.
A solo clarinet takes up the main theme. The Adagio movement mixes Mendelssohn’s signature
sweet, songlike melodies with darker passages. A breathless, energetic Finale switches to a
brighter A major near the end as low woodwinds, horns, and violas conclude with a hymn of
victory.

Antonin Dvorak 1841-1904
One of the best-known composers of all time, Antonin Dvorak contributed to the
dissemination and appreciation of Czech music throughout the world. Applying the Romantic
tradition, he used the rhythms and other aspects of his country’s familiar folk music. His
portfolio includes around 200 works in all genres including 9 symphonies, 14 string quartets and
12 operas.
Born September 8, 1841, in Bohemia, his early musical talent was recognized and nurtured;
by the age of six he had begun violin, and at 12 he moved in with an aunt and uncle to begin his
formal musical studies of harmony, piano and organ. His first professional years were lean as he
played viola in inns and theater bands and took on private students to augment his small salary.
But even in those early years he had composed 2 symphonies, an opera, chamber music and
numerous songs, yet to be heard. The first public performance of his work in Prague was in
1872, impressing Johannes Brahms who became a close personal friend.
As an adult, he eventually earned worldwide attention with his Moravian Duets and Slavonic
Dances. Although suffering from an unrequited love, Dvorak eventually married and settled in
the small village of Vysoka where he composed some of his best-known works. His fame spread
quickly abroad, leading to successes in England, Russia and eventually the United States where
he famously made his way to Spillville, Iowa, the inspiration for his New World Symphony. He
had become director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York in 1892 but became
homesick and returned to Czechoslovakia in 1895.
Dvorak’s nationalist movement in music quickly came to rank in popularity with those of his
great German contemporaries, his talent for melody and fresh character in music offering a
welcome contrast to the heavier fare of many other composers.


Violin Concerto in A Minor
Composed in 1879, Dvorak’s Violin Concerto in A Minor finally premiered in Prague in 1883.
Written in the classic concerto structure, it features three movements: fast – slow – fast. The
Allegro opens with a bold orchestral fanfare introducing the first half of the movement’s theme,
followed by the soloist who enters with the graceful second portion. The Adagio follows
without pause as the soloist introduces the flowing, expressive principal melody, contrasting
with episodes of bravura passages. The Finale most reflects the spirit of Czechoslovakian folk
music. The soloist sings the principal theme, a vigorous dance taken up by the orchestra. The
piece concludes with a solo flourish and four emphatic chords to a vibrant finish.

Compiled by Karin Anderson-Sweet

A Cold Mountain Premiere

7:30 p.m. — Saturday, October 1, 2022

Vernon Cook Theater – Clinton High School

Clinton Symphony Orchestra has joined a consortium of other orchestras around the country to commission a suite of music by Jennifer Higdon from her award-winning opera Cold Mountain. The suite uses dramatic themes highlighting the emotional throes of love, war, and the journey of a Confederate soldier making his way back home to Cold Mountain. The program will also feature a Rhapsody for Violin and Strings by American composer David Stern and the glorious Symphony No. 1 by Johannes Brahms.

Season Tickets and individual concert tickets are available at the door, or avoid the wait at the concert and order them for Will Call here on our website.

Program Notes:

Johannes Brahms  May 7,1833 – April 3, 1897 

     The German pianist and composer Johannes Brahms, permanently enshrined as one of the “Three B’s” (Bach, Beethoven and Brahms), mastered nearly every type of classical music in his lifetime; 4 great symphonies, chamber music, fine music for piano, choral compositions and over 200 songs. “This is the chosen one,” Robert Schumann wrote to introduce Brahms to the public, beginning a career as the last great successor of musical Classicism.

     Growing up in Hamburg, Germany, Brahms learned piano by 8, improvised a piano sonata at 11, and made his public concert debut at 14 conducting a choir. Johannes was even able to supplement his family’s income by playing piano in inns in the rough dock area. In 1850 he met and gave concerts with Eduard Remenyi, a Hungarian violinist who introduced him to one of his strongest influences, Roma music.  His first break came in 1853 when he met violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim who recognized his talent and recommended him to Robert Schumann. A friendship ensued and Brahms’ reputation spread via Schumann’s enthusiastic support.

     From 1857 to 1860, posts teaching piano and conducting gave him time to compose 2 serenades, a string sextet and his turbulent Piano Concerto No.1. He eventually settled in Vienna by 1863 directing a choral society. As his reputation grew, so did rivalry between his supporters and those of the new Romantic school such as Wagner and Buckner who found him too old-fashioned, but by 1872 he was directing the Vienna Philharmonic. His composing skills flourished during this period, including his most famous choral work, hisGerman Requiem, based on the Bible story of Good Friday. This is still seen today as one of the most significant works of 19th century choral music. Lighter works from this period included his Hungarian Dances for piano duet, a brilliant arrangement of Roma tunes which enjoyed phenomenal success. He also published his Liebeslieder (love songs) for vocal quartet, using Viennese dance tunes with sparkling humor. 

     By the 1870s he was moving to purely orchestral works, including Variations on a Theme by Haydn which gave him confidence to continue work on his tempestuous 1st Symphony which was finally completed in 1876. His 2nd Symphony followed in a more serene, idyllic mood. Six years later he finished his 3rd Symphony which begins calmly, but ends in a gigantic conflict of elemental forces. His Symphony No. 4 was inspired by Sophocles’ Greek tragedies, and he took a simple theme of a Bach Cantata and spun it into 30 intricate variations.

     His fame spread and he toured to great acclaim all over Europe. He composed his Academic Festival Overture in 1881 as a thank you to Poland. Brahms never married, and some blamed his “immense reserve” on an inability to express emotion except through his music. Brahms dedicated his later years to composing and died in Vienna.

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, op.68

     Brahms began his 1st Symphony in 1854, but it was not premiered for 22 years after numerous severe edits. A work of heroic pathos, his orchestral works display highly distinctive use of tone color in his use of woodwinds and brass instruments. Although a traditionalist in his reverence for the subtlety of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, his music complemented and counteracted the rapid growth of Romantic individualism which often lacked structure. His compositional style is in developing variations, a combination of profound, emotional feeling combined with eloquent restraint.

     His first movement with the persistent pounding of tympani and a long, dramatic single bass, is one of the more exciting introductions of any symphony. The opening promises a moody, portentous work punctuated with short thematic fragments. The second movement, a tender, wistful Andante Sostenuto, contrasts with a series of dialogues among sections of the orchestra, concluding with a duet between solo violin and horn. The third movement begins with a long, melancholy violin before the song- like Allegretto relaxes into easy, lilting themes for strings and woodwinds.  A long introduction signals the fourth movement with a strong, mournful horn, becoming more agitated leading to a majestic theme. A lovely, dark melody in the darkest strings transforms and embellishes, concluding with a loud brass utterance of the chorale first introduced softly by the trombones at the beginning and ending the work with an overwhelming statement of joy, power, and triumph.

Jennifer Higdon — December 31, 1962

     Jennifer Higdon is one of America’s most acclaimed and frequently performed living composers. A major figure in contemporary Classical music, she has received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto, a 2010 Grammy for her Percussion Concerto, a 2018 Grammy for her Viola Concerto and another Grammy for her Harp Concerto in 2020.

     Born in 1962 in Brooklyn, New York, Jennifer taught herself to play flute at the age of 15 and began formal musical studies at 18. Later, she began studies in composition at 21. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in music from Bowling Green State University, an Artist Diploma from The Curtis Institute of Music, and an M.A. and Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania.  She received the prestigious Nemmers Prize from Northwestern University in 2018, awarded to contemporary classical composers of exceptional achievement who have significantly influenced the field of composition. 

     Higdon enjoys several hundred performances a year of her works; her Blue Cathedral is today’s most performed contemporary orchestral work, with more than 600 performances worldwide. She has been a featured composer at many festivals including Aspen, Tanglewood, and Vail, and has served as composer-in-residence with several orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony. She was honored to serve as the Creative Director of the Boundless Series for the Cincinnati Symphony as well as the prestigious Barr Laureate Scholar at the University of Missouri.

Cold Mountain Suite

     Based on Charles Frazier’s National Book award-winning novel, Jennifer Higdon’s opera Cold Mountain was a hit that sold out performances across the country, garnering 2 Grammy nominations, and winning the International Opera Award for best new opera, the first American opera to do so in the award’s history. A consortium including Clinton Symphony commissioned her to compose a suite using dramatic musical themes from the opera to highlight the emotional throes of love, war, and the journey of a soldier making his way back home to Cold Mountain.  Premiere performance of the suite is scheduled for Delaware on September 23. Clinton Symphony’s performance will be the second.

     The composer writes: “While creating this suite, it was a wonderful challenge to determine which music to feature in order to create a dynamic and engaging orchestral work. Because Cold Mountain is about love, war and death (imagine that in an opera!) there was a lot of dramatic music from which to pick. I chose various arias, duets and quintets, with the idea that they would be arranged not in story order, but in a manner to create the greatest contrast for the listener.

    “ The beginning and end of the suite come from the opening of Act 2 and the closing of Act 1– purely for its style of ramping up. It then quickly moves into the Storm Music; followed by the quintet I Should be Crying; the duet Orion (which I calculated would need two weeks to write, but in an amazing fit of inspiration, came to me in one day. — the very thing creative types dream about); the fiddling duet Bless You Ruby; Ada’s contemplative aria, I Feel Sorry For You; then music from the scene where Inman and Ada finally get together after 4 years of his being away at war; and finally to the music that ends Act 1 to close out the suite.

     “After taking 28 months to write this opera, and having lived with the characters so deeply in my heart and soul, it is truly a privilege to share this music with you. Thank you for joining us on this journey through Cold Mountain.”  -Jennifer Higdon

David Stern —  May 21, 1963

     An American conductor, director and founder of the Paris-based opera studio and period-instrument ensemble Opera Fuoco, David Stern has been the chief conductor and artistic director of Palm Beach Opera since 2015. Born in New York City, Stern’s musical leadership has spread across three continents conducting major symphonies, baroque opera, teaching vocal masters classes and defending cultural activities. In 1918 he was named the Program Director of the Heifetz International Music Institute’s inaugural Baroque Vocal Workshop.          

     Known for his extensive range of repertoire, Stern championed eclectic works such as Simone Mayr’s Medea, Berg’s Wozzeck and Britten’s Turn of the Screw as music director of the Israel and St. Gallen Opera houses. He has also premiered four new operas since 2010; Gil Shochat’s A Child Dreams, Nicolas Bacri’s Cosi Fanciulli, Ben Moore’s Enemies, A Love Story, and Jan Sandstrom’s The Rococo Machine. He has also collaborated with many international stage directors creating iconic settings received with acclaim.

     Committed to developing young voices, he created Opera Fuoco as a platform for young professional singers in France, producing concertante and staged projects both nationally and internationally. He works regularly with the Young Artists Program in Palm Beach

     Stern is a frequent guest conductor around the globe.from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Russia to Sweden, Boston, Vienna and Denmark. Our own maestro Brian Dollinger has premiered Stern’s beautiful Rhapsody for Violin and Strings with the Muscatine Symphony. Dollinger states, “I have had the honor and pleasure of not only performing a number of his compositions, but have also given a number of premieres for his works. His music has always reached inside listeners in such personal ways with profound impact.”

                                                                        Compiled by Karin Anderson-Sweet

Birdies for Clinton Symphony

Enjoy the John Deere Classic? We have a great way FORE! you to support your favorite Symphony! Simply click through to the Birdies for Charity site to make your donation and guess at the number of Birdies. You’ll be entered for prizes, plus your guess at the number of birdies during the tournament could win the grand prize of a free 2 year lease on a Lexus RX 350! (Entries are due June 10 to be eligible for prizes.)

It is gratifying to know that 100% of every pledge collected goes directly to the Clinton Symphony Orchestra. The John Deere Foundation covers all administrative costs to make that possible. Plus, the tournament takes its profits each year and delivers a second check from between 5% and 10% of that charity’s final total to make the deal even sweeter. There is no more impactful way for you to help your favorite organization!

Online Pledge to Birdies for Charity for the Clinton Symphony

Or print and mail the form below. Please mark Clinton Symphony Orchestra as the charity, and Bird Number 1411 so the CSO will receive your donation and the match!

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