UMS Concert Program, December 4, 1919: Choral Union Series -- Jascha Helfetz

Season: 1919-1020
Concert: THIRD
Complete Series: CCCXXXIII
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

F. W. KELSEY. President
A. A. STANLEY, Director
FORTY-FIRST SEASON THIRD CONCERT
No. CCCXXXIII COMPLETE SERIES
I
Sonata for Pianoforte and Violin, No. IV, D major . . Handel
(1685-1759) Largo maestoso--Allegro; Larghetto--Allegro con brio
II Concerto for Violin, No. 2, D minor, Op. 22
Allegro moderato ; Andante non troppo ; Allegro a la Zingara
III Ave Maria.......
Menuf.tto ......
Nocturne in E minor ....
Wicniawski (1835-1880)
Chorus of Dervishes (Etude) March Orientals (Scherzo)
On Wings of Song La Ronde des Lutins
I "Ruins of Athens" IV
Schubert-Wilhelmj (1797-1828) (1845-1908) Mozart (1756-1791) Chopin-Auer (1810-1849) (1845------)
Beethoven-Aiter (1770-1827)
The Piano used is a Stcitnvav
Mendelssohn-A chron (1809-1847)
Bazcini (1818-1897)
The next concert in the EXTRA CONCERT SERIES will be given by the NEW YORK
CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 15, 1919. The next concert in the MATINEE MUSICALE SERIES will be given by the YPSILANTI
NORMAL CHOIR, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1919 in St. Andrew's
Episcopal Church. The next concert in ihe CHORAL UNION SERIES will be given by RICCARDO STRAC-
CIARI, BARITONE, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 15, 1920. Traffic Regulation.--By order of the Police Department, on the nights of Concerts, vehicles of all kinds will be prohibited on North University Avenue between Thaycr and Ingalls Streets: Taxi-cabs must park on the West side of Thayer Street, facing South between North University Avenue and Washington Street; Private autos may be parked on Ingalls and Washington Streets. Persons on foot are requested to refrain from leaving from the Taxi-cab entrance at the Thayer Street side of the Auditorium.
Special Interurban Cars.---East for Detroit and West for Jackson and intervening points will leave the Auditorium immediately after all concerts.
Lost Articles should be enquired for at the office of Shirley W. Smith, Secretary of the University, in University Hall, where articles found should be left.
ANALYSES
Sonata for Pianoforte and Violin, No. IV, in D major . Handel
Largo maestoso--Allegro; L,arghetto--Allegro con brio
George Friedrich Handel was born February 23, 1685 at Halle; died April 14, 175a, at London.
None of Handel's biographers give data from which accurate and detailed information can be secured as to the exact date of the composition of works which, like the one on our program, must be included among his minor works. Even as a composer of opera he is now simply an historic personage, for his reputation as the creator of a series of immortal oratorios has overshadowed his activity in all other fields.
Clearness of form, simplicity of harmonic structure, and clarity of melodic utterance, the union of which in his greater works won for him the title "The People's Composer", characterize this example of a lesser form, in which he displays the noble qualities found in many of the works of the Italian composers of his day, and earlier. These characteristics of his style are so in evidence throughout this sonata that it is unnecessary to give a formal analysis of its structure, other than to point out that in his day the sonata form was in process of development and was interpreted with considerable freedom.
Concerto for Violin, No. 2, D minor, Op. 22 ... Wieniawski Allegro moderato; Romanze--Andante non troppo; Finale--Allegro moderato a la Zingara
Henri Wieniawski was born July 10, i8.ii, at Lubin, Russia; died March 31, 1881, at Moscow.
In a letter to Nadja von Meek, dated March 22, 1880, Tschaikowsky writes:--"Your benevolence to poor, dying Wieniawski touches me deeply. In him we shall lose an incomparable violinist and a gifted composer. The beautiful "Legende" and parts of the D minor concerto show a true creative spirit."
In the first movement of the Concerto--D minor, Allegro moderato, 4-4 time--after the customary orchestral introduction (67 measures) the solo instrument states the principal subject, which, after continuing 48 measures, through a section bristling with brilliant passagework leads into the second theme in F major. The remainder of the movement follows the usual sequence of the sonata form.
The second movement--B flat major. Andante 11011 troppo, 12-S time--is dominated by an expressive melody which conveys all the implications of its title--Romanze.
Following passages for the solo violin ending in a cadenza, the principal theme of the third movement--D minor. Allegro moderato, a la Zingara, 2-4 time--is set forth, and the second subject--E flat major--follows in due course. After the "development" section, with its suggestions of the qualifying a la Zingara, the "recapitulation" brings in its train a statement of the principal subject. The second subject, now appears in the key of D major, and the work closes with suggestions of the principal subject and a coda. This concerto has been heard frequently in this series, but repeated hearings of worthy works result in added pleasure and appreciation.
"AvE Maria" ....... Schubert-Wilhelmj
Menuetto ......... Mozart
Nocturne in E minor ...... Chopin-Auer
Chorus of Dervishes (Etude)) ,,-r, r A,, ? D ., ,
March Orientals (Scherzo) Rums of Athens Beethoven-Auer
This group of smaller forms is calculated to display not only the interpretative powers of the distinguished virtuoso to whom we are privileged to listen this evening, but the wonderful resources of his instrument as well, especially in cantabile. The perennial "Ave Maria"
of Schubert has been heard frequently, but its appeal shows no diminution with the passage of the years; the Menuetto is so Mozartian in form and content that it must be equally welcome; the beautiful melody of Chopin's Nocturne will be doubly attractive when sung by the violin, and, finally, the two selections from Beethoven's "Ruins of Athens" (1811) give us some very inspiring music, and, at the same time, display the admirable art of Leopold Auer who, through his arrangements makes these excerpts sound as though they had originally been written for a solo instrument. The same may be said of his adaptation of the Chopin number, while equal praise must be accorded August Wilhelmj for his masterly version of the first number of this interesting group. In this connection it must be stated that to make successful adaptations of compositions written for the voice, or for some instrument other than the one for which the arrangement is intended, calls for the exercise of sound judgment and musical scholarship of the highest grade. To furnish additional accompaniments for earlier choral works calls for the same qualifications in a higher degree.
On Wings 01 Song ..... Mendelssohn-Achron
La Rondk des Lutins ....... Bazzini
The characteristics of the two closing selections will be obvious, and the contrast between Mendelssohn's suave "On Wings of Song" and the demoniacal Rondo des Lutins of Bazzini will be no less clearly in evidence.
THE NEW YORK CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY
IN EXTRA CONCERT SERIES
HILL AUDITORIUM, MONDAY, DEC. 15, 8:00 P. M.
CAROLYN BEEBE Pianist and Director
PIERRE HENROTTE, First Violin HERBERT SOMAN, Second Violin SAMUEL LIFSCHEV. Viola PAUL KEFER, Cellist EMIL MIX, Double Bass
GUSTATE LANGENUS, Clarinet WILLIAM KINCAID, Flute HENRI DE BUSSCHEE, Oboe UGO SAYOLINA, Bassoon JOSEPH FRANZL, French Horn
The following notes on the unusual program to be given December i=i, by the New York Chamber Music Society, are preliminary only, and are intended to give an idea of the range of the compositions to be set forth at that time. The house programs for that evening will contain full analyses of the works.
Quintet for Pianoforte, Clarinet, Oboe, French Horn and
Bassoon, E flat major, Op. 16 . . . . Beethoven
Grave--Allegro ma non troppo; Andante cantabile; (1770-1827)
Allegro non troppo
This work, written for an unusual combination of instruments and first produced at a concert of Schuppanzig's on April 6, 171Q. was a product of the winter of 170.6-7. Beethoven had already written a Trio, Op. 11 (published Oct. 3, 17Q6), in which the clarinet was substituted for the violin, and the Quintet on our program is an extension of his instrumental scheme indicative of his fondness for wind instruments, a fondness further dispayed in his Septet, Op. 20.
Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, B minor, Op. 115 . . Brahms
(1833-1897) Allegro; Adagio; Andantino; Presto non assai; Con moto
Brahms, like Beethoven, had a peculiar fondness for the clarinet as is shown by the fact that this Trio, written in 1892, was preceded by the Trio in A minor for pianoforte, clarinet, and violoncello, Op. 144 (also written in T892) and followed (in 1895) by two sonatas for pianoforte and clarinet--in F minor, and E flat major, Op. 120. His warm personal friendship for Professor Miihlfeld (Meiningen), a remarkable clarinet virtuoso, may have influenced him in his choice.
"Five Impressions of a Holiday" for Pianoforte, Flute and
Violoncello, Op. 7 ..... Eugene Goosscns
(1893--------)
In the Hills By the Brook
The Waterwheel The Village Church
At the Fair
Eugene Goossens and Lord Berners (Gerald Tywhill) are instanced by Ernest Newman as "The two chief representative modernist composers in England who succeed best of all in that attempt to translate into music by means of a subtle realism those visualized effects" which Mr. Newman considers "the main object of music today."
It will be interesting to compare Mr. Goossens's methods with those employed by composers who, in the past, have attempted to give expression to this "subtle realism."
Sinfonia da Camera for Pianoforte, Strings, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet,
Bassoon and French Horn, B flat major, Op. 8 . Wolf-Ferrari
Allegro moderate; Adagio; Vivace con spirito; (1876------)
Finale; Adagio--Allegro moderate
The combination of instruments and the implications of the title of this unusual example of a genre the possibilities of which are not always realized, remove the imminent dangers attending any attempt to extend the range of chamber-music forms. The majority of compositions in which the number of instruments exceeds five have been written for strings. The loss of the individuality we find in the string-quartet, in such cases is not made good by the added color and sonority of the orchestra. Bearing in mind the creative power of Wolf-Ferrari we are justified in assuming that he has struck a happy medium. If so, it may be considered a prophecy of still other similar attempts in the future, but, judging by the past, and present, one may be forgiven for contemplating such a future with somewhat of reserve.
HEREAFTER the same special car service for out-of-town Patrons will be provided for the concerts in the EXTRA CONCERT SERIES as is provided on the occasion of the concerts in the CHORAL UNION SERIES.
THE AHN ARBi