UMS Concert Program, May 17, 18, 19, And 20, 1933: The Fortieth Annual May Festival --

Season: 1932-1933
Hill Auditorium

Official Program
fortieth o4nnual
May Festival
University of Michigan
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Official Program of
fortieth clnnual
May Festival
17, 18, 19, and 20, 1933 Hill Auditorium
Published by
The University Musical Society Ann Arbor, Michigan
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Board of Directors
Charles A. Sink, A.B., M.Ed., LL.D President
Alexander G. Ruthven, Ph.D., LL.D. . . . Vice-President
Durand W. Springer, B.S., A.M Secretary
Levi D. Wines, C.E Treasurer
Oscar A. Eberbach, A.B. . . . Assistant Secretary-Treasurer
Junius E. Beal, A.B. Harley A. Haynes, M.D.
James Inglis Arnold H. Goss Earl V. Moore, A.M., Mus.D. Horace G. Prettyman, A.B. Shirley W. Smith, A.M. Albert A. Stanley, A.M., Mus.D.
The University Musical Society is organized under an Act of the state of Michigan providing for the incorporation of "associations not for pecuniary profit." Its purpose is "to cultivate the public taste for music." All fees are placed at the lowest possible point compatible with sound business principles, the financial side serving but as a means to an educational and artistic end, a fact duly recog­nized by the Treasury Department of the United States by exempting from war tax admissions to concerts given under its auspices.
Deceased.
[2]
THE FORTIETH MAY FESTIVAL
CONDUCTORS
Earl V. Moore, Musical Director Frederick Stock, Orchestral Conductor Eric DeLamarter, Assistant Conductor Howard Hanson, Guest Conductor Juva Higbee, Conductor of Children's Chorus
SOLOISTS
Sopranos
Leonora Corona Nina Koshetz
Grete Stueckgold
Contralto Rose Bampton
Tenor Frederick Jagel
Baritones John Charles Thomas George Galvani
Bass Chase Baromeo
Pianists Guy Maier Lee Pattison
Violinist Jascha Heifetz
Organist Palmer Christian
ORGANIZATIONS
Chicago Symphony Orchestra University Choral Union Children's Festival Chorus
[3]
Notices and Acknowledgements
All concerts will begin on time (Eastern Standard Time).
Trumpet calls from the stage will be sounded three minutes before the resumption of the program after the Intermission.
Our patrons are invited to inspect the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments in the Foyer of the First Balcony and the adjoining room.
To study the evolution, it is only necessary to view the cases in their numerical order and remember that in the wall cases the evolution runs from right to left and from top to the bottom, while the standard cases should always be approached on the left-hand side. Descriptive Lists are attached to each case.
The Musical Director of the Festival desires to express his great obligation to Miss Juva Higbee, Supervisor of Music in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, for her valuable service as Conductor of the Children's Concert 3 and to the several members of her staff for their efficient pre­paratory work, and to the teachers in the various schools from which the children have been drawn, for their cooperation.
The writer of the analyses hereby expresses his deep obligation to Mr. Felix Borowski, whose scholarly analyses, given in the Program Book of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, are authoritative contribu­tions to contemporary criticism and have been drawn upon for some of the analyses in this book.
The Steinway is the official concert piano of the University Musical Society.
[4]
FIRST MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Wednesday Evening, May 17, at 8:15
SOLOIST
Nina Koshetz, Sop-ano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Palmer Christian, Organist Frederick Stock, Conductor
PROGRAM
Overture to "Russian and Ludmilla" Glinka
Arioso of Jaroslavna ("Prince Igor") Borodin
Nina Koshetz
Tone Poem, "Thus Spake Zarathustra," Op. 30 Strauss
Aria, "Letter Scene" ("Eugene Onegin") . . . . . . Tchaikovsky
Mme Koshetz
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 12, G minor, Op. 35 Miaskovsky
Andante--Allegro giocoso; Presto agitato; Allegro festive e maestoso
Reverie and Dance ("The Fair of Sorotchinsk") .... Moussorgsky
Mme Koshetz
Polka and Fugue ("Schwanda, the Bagpipe-Player") . . . Weinberger
[5]
SECOND MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Thursday Evening, May 18, at 8:15
soloists Chase Baromeo, Bass Jascha Heifetz, Violin
Chicago Symphony Orchestra University Choral Union
Mabel Rhead, Piano Palmer Christian, Organ
Frederick Stock and Earl V. Moore, Conductors
PROGRAM
"In the Faery Hills" Bax
Aria, "Confutatis Maledictis" ("The Manzoni Requiem") . . . Verdi
Chase Baromeo
"Belshazzar's Feast" Walton
Mr. Baromeo, Chorus, Orchestra, Piano and Organ
intermission
Concerto for Violin, D major, Op. 77 Brahms
Allegro non troppo; Adagio; Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo; Vivace
Jascha Heifetz
[6]
THIRD MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Friday Afternoon, May 19, at 2:30
SOLOIST
Rose Bampton, Contralto
Children's Festival Chorus Orchestral Accompaniment
Eric DeLamarter and Juva Higbee, Conductors
Kenneth Osborn, Organist
PROGRAM
Overture, "The Marriage of Figaro" Mozart
Aria, "Che faro senza Euridice" ("Orpheus") Gluck
Rose Bampton
Symphony in G major (Oxford) Haydn
Adagio--Allegro spiritoso; Adagio; Menuetto; Presto Songs:
Serenade Tosti
Country Gardens Grainger
The Little Dust Man Brahms
Children's Festival Chorus
Aria, "II est doux, il est bon" ("Herodiade") Gluck
Miss Bampton
Elegy and Waltz from Serenade for Strings Tchaikovsky
Cantata, "Spring Rapture" Gaul
Children's Festival Chorus
[7]
FOURTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Friday Evening, May 19, at 8:15
SOLOIST
Grete Stueckgold, Soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Frederick Stock, Conductor
PROGRAM iciiart Wagner (18134883)
"The Flying Dutchman" Overture Senta's Ballad
Grete Stueckgold "Tannhauser"
Bacchanale and Finale from the Overture Elizabeth's Prayer
Mme Stueckgold "Tristan and Isolde"
Selections from Act III
Introduction--Tristan's Vision--Arrival of the Ships--Isolde's Love Death (Arranged for concert performance by Frederick A. Stock)
INTERMISSION
THE RING OF THE NEBELUNGS
"Rhinegold"
Finale and Entrance of the Gods into Walhalla "The Valkyrie"
"Sleep'st thou, Guest"
"Thou art the Spring."
Mme Stueckgold "Siegfried"
Siegfried in the Forest "The Twilight of the Gods"
Song of the Rhine Maidens
Siegfried's Death and Funeral March
In Memoriam -ALBERT AUGUSTUS STANLEY May 25,1851-May 19,1932
Finale
?Those takingpart in this number are:
Eva RofFer Bauer M. Frances Beswarick Marg-aret Elizabeth Burke Hope Bauer Eddy
[3]
Kate Keith Field Margaret Helen Hertrich Marjorie McClung Maxine Maynard
Mildred Naomi Stroup Margaret Keith Swetnam Helen Mary Van Loon Virginia Bel field Ward
FIFTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Saturday Afternoon, May 20, at 2:30
soloists Guy Maier and Lee Pattison, Pianists
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Frederick Stock, Conductor
PROGRAM
Overture to "The Improvisatore" d'Albert
Symphony in E minor, No. 1, Op. 39 Sibelius
Andante ma non troppo--Allegro energico; Andante, ma non troppo lento; Scherzo, Allegro; Finale, Andante--Allegro molto
INTERMISSION
Concerto in C minor, No. 1, for Two Pianos and Strings .... Bach Allegro; Adagio; Allegro
Guy Maier and Lee Pattison
"Natchez-on-the-Hill" (Three Virginian Country Dances), Op. 30 . Powell
Ballad, "King Estmere," for Two Pianos and Orchestra . . . Sowerby Mr. Maier and Mr. Pattison
[9]
SIXTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Saturday Evening, May 20, at 8:15
SOLOISTS
Leonora Corona, Soprano Rose Bampton, Contralto Chase Baromeo, Bass
Frederick Jagel, Tenor
John Charles Thomas, Baritone
George Galvani, Baritone
Palmer Christian, Organist
University Choral Union Chicago Symphony Orchestra Howard Hanson, Guest Conductor
PROGRAM
"MERRY MOUNT" Hanson
Opera in Three Acts of Six Scenes (Concert Form) Libretto by Richard L. Stokes
World premiere, by permission of the Metropolitan Opera Association
Cast of Characters
Faint-Not Tinker, a sentinel George Galvani
Samoset, an Indian chiej Herman Skoog
Desire Annable, a sinner Rose Bampton
Jonathan Banks, a Shaker Robert Miller
Wrestling Bradford, a clergyman John Charles Thomas
Plentiful Tewke Rose Bampton
Praise God Tewke, her father and elder of the congregation . Chase Baromeo
Myles Brodrib, caftain of the trainband George Galvani
Peregrine Brodrib, his son Marjorie McClung
Love Brewster j H Bauer Edd
Bridget Crackston, her grandmother
Jack Prence, a mountebank Robert Miller
Lady Marygold Sandys Leonora Corona
Thomas Morton, her uncle Herman Skoog
Sir Gower Lackland Frederick Jagel
Jewel Scrooby, a -parson George Galvani
First Puritan Herman Skoog
Second Puritan Nelson Eddy
Puritans, Men, Women, and Children;
Male and Female Cavaliers;
Indian Braves and Squazvs; . University Choral Union
May Pole Revelers; Princes, Warriors,
Courtesans, and Monsters of Hell
Act I "The Village" (Midday)
Act II Scene I, "The Maypole" (Afternoon)
Scene 2, "The Forest" (Twilight)
Scene 3, Bradford's Dream: "The Hellish Rendezvous" (Night) Act III Scene I, "The Forest" (Night)
Scene 2, "The Village" (Night)
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DESCRIPTIVE PROGRAMS
BY
EARL V. MOORE
COPYRIGHT
By the University Musical Society 1933
FIRST CONCERT
Wednesday Evening, May 17 Overture, "Russian and Ludmilla" Glinka
Michall Ivanovitch Glinka was born at Novapaski, Russia, Tune, 1804.; died at Berlin, February 15, 1857.
The opera Russian and Ludmilla (1842) was written as a result of the en­thusiasm with which The Life for the Tsar (1826) was received. The plot is based on one of those weird and complicated legends characteristic of pagan Russia. The heroine, Ludmilla, like all opera heroines, was exceedingly beauti­ful and had many suitors, of which three figure in the opera story. Russian was the favored one, and consequently was the object of the diabolical arts of one of his rivals, the wicked magician Chernomor. Another aspirant for the favor of Ludmilla was the benevolent magician Finn, who gave Russian his magic sword by means of which he ultimately triumphed and was the victor in the suit for Ludmilla. The overture expresses the joyous mood of the wedding scene with which the opera ends; the customary sonata allegro design is employed with skill.
Arioso of Jaroslavna from "Prince Igor" Borodin
Alexander Borodin was born November 12, 1834, and died February 27, 1887.
The following text is translated freely from the French version of the libretto:
It's a long time ago that Igor, my noble spouse, my gentle, dear Igor left, with his brother, for the war, yet no word has come from him. I'm in despair, sadly counting the days, hiding my tears. I beg the aid of heaven to calm my fears; that it may watch over him for whom I wait, a mourning wife, whose heart is wrung with anguish. Weep! Vain for you is the flight of the hours. Time passes; my heart still aches.
Gone are the days when my Igor was the idol of our home; when I was overjoyed. I mourn the vanished happiness; for me there is no comfort. Return my noble Igor; my heart is ever trusting and hoping. Towards you, my treasure, towards you far distant, vainly my lament is born. In the black night I dream sad dreams. I see Igor stretching out his arms and gently calling me. My heart flutters in the darkness, but soon the vision passes. Frozen with fear, I shudder on awakening, give way to grief. I sleep no more.
Prince, when will you return, be near again your wife I weep far from you; sad is my soul.
[13]
OFFICIAL PROGRAM Tone Poem, "Thus Spake Zarathustra," Op. 30 .... Strauss
Richard Strauss was born at Munich, June n, 1864.
For his several tone poems Strauss sought a variety of inspirational sources: Don Juan and Till Eulensfiegel came from folklore and legend; Macbeth from the drama. The present tone poem is based on a philosophical treatise: Thus Sfake Zarathustra--A Book for All or None, written by Nietzche in 1881-85. Strauss wrote his poem in 1896, and placed on the score the following para­graph, which is to be taken, not as a program which the work follows in de­tail, but a preface to prepare the listener for the music:
Having attained the age of thirty, Zarathustra left his home and the lake of his home and went into the mountains. There he rejoiced in his spirit and his loneliness, and for ten years did not grow weary of it. But at last his heart turned. One morning he got up with the dawn, stepped into the presence of the sun and thus spake unto him: "Thou great star! What would be thy happiness, were it not for those for whom thou shinest For ten years thou hast come up here to my cave. Thou wouldst have got sick of thy light and thy journey but for me, mine eagle and my serpent. But we waited for thee every morning, and receiving from thee thine abundance, blessed thee for it. Lo! I am weary of my wisdom, like the bee that hath collected too much honey; I need hands reaching out for it. I would fain grant and distribute until the wise among men could once more enjoy their folly, and the poor once more their riches. For that end I must descend to the depth, as thou dost at even, when, sinking behind the sea, thou givest light to the lower regions, thou resplendent star! I must, like thee, go down, as men say--men to whom I would descend. Thou bless me, thou impassive eye, that can'st look without envy even upon over-much happiness. Bless the cup which is about to overflow, so that the water golden-flowing out of it may carry everywhere the reflection of thy rapture. Lo! this cup is about to empty itself again, and Zarathustra will once more become a man." Thus Zarathustra's going down began.
The tone poem is a continuous piece of writing, although there are several divisions, each inspired by a particular topic selected by Strauss from the Nietzche book.
The work opens, at the fifth measure, with a trumpet call:
At the nineteenth measure a great climax is attained; immediately following this there stands as a heading in the score: "Of Back-World's Men"--those who seek consolation in religion and to whom Zarathustra, himself once a dweller in the "back-world," has gone to teach the "beyond-man," or as Mr. G. B. Shaw has it, the "superman."
[Hi
FIRST CONCERT
.... Then the world seemed to me the work of a suffering and tortured god. A dream then the world appeared to me, and a god's fiction; colored smoke before the eyes of a god-like discontented one. . . . Alas! brethren, that god whom I created was man's work and a man's madness, like all gods! Man he was, and but a poor piece of man, and the I. ... I overcame myself, the sufferer, and carrying mine own ashes unto the moun­tains invented for myself a brighter flame. And lo! the ghost departed from me.
The next heading is "Von der Grossen Sehnsucht" ("Of the Great Yearn­ing") with the following theme in the violoncellos and bassoons {tremolo in double-basses).
This reference is to the following passage:
. . . . O my soul, I understand the smile of thy melancholy. Thine over-great riches themselves now stretch out longing hands! Thy fullness gazeth over roaring seas and seeketh and waiteth. The longing of over-abundance gazeth from the smiling heaven of thine eyes! And, verily, O my soul! who could see thy smile and not melt into tears
The following division is headed "Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften" ("Of Joys and Passions"), its subject (oboes and violins) :
My brother, when thou hast a virtue, and it is thy virtue, thou hast it in common
with nobody Once having passions thou calledst them evil. Now, however, thou hast
nothingbut thy virtues; they grew out of thy passions. Thou laidest thy highest goal upon
these passions; then they became thy virtues and delights At last all thy passions
grew virtues, and all thy devils angels.
"Grablied" ("Grave Song"). The oboe sings a melody derived from the preceding subject (No. 3), the violoncellos and double-basses giving out the "Yearning" motive.
"Yonder is the island of graves, the silent. Yonder also are the graves of my youth. Thither will I carry an evergreen wreath of life." Resolving this in my heart, I went over the sea. Oh ye, ye visions and apparitions of my youth! Oh, all ye glances of love, ye divine moments! How could ye die so quickly for me! This day I think of you as my dead ones. From your direction, my dearest dead ones, a sweet odor cometh unto me, an odor setting free heart and tears. . . . Still I am the richest and he who is to be envied most--I, the loneliest! For I have had you, and ye have me still. . . .
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
"Von der Wissenschaft" ("Of Science"). Here is introduced a fugal epi­sode, based on the first theme (No. i) and first given out by the violoncellos and double-basses.
Thus sang the wizard. And all who were there assembled fell unawares like birds into the net of his cunning. . . . Only the conscientious one of the spirit had not been caught. He quickly took the harp from the wizard, crying: "Air! Let good air come in! Let Zarathustra come in! Thou makest this cave sultry and poisonous, thou bad old wizard! Thou seducest, thou false one, thou refined one, unto unknown desires and wilderness." ....
Eighty-seven measures after the opening of the preceding section another is introduced, "Der Genesende" ("The Convalescent"), its subject beginning thus in the violins and woodwind:
One morning .... Zarathustra jumped up from his couch like a madman. He cried with a terrific voice, and behaved as if some one else was lying on the couch and would not get up from it. And so sounded Zarathustra's voice that his animals ran unto him in terror, and that from all caves and hiding places which were nigh unto Zarathustra's cave all animals hurried away. . . . He fell down like one dead, and remained long like one dead. But when he again became conscious he was pale and trembled and remained lying, and for a long while would neither eat nor drink.
"Das Tanzlied" ("The Dance Song") begins with trill-like passages in the clarinets and flutes:
One night Zarathustra went through the forest with his disciples, and when seeking for a well, behold! he came unto a green meadow which was surrounded by trees and bushes. There girls danced together. As soon as the girls knew Zarathustra, they ceased to dance; but Zarathustra approached them with a friendly gesture and spake these words: "Cease not to dance, ye sweet girls!" But when the dance was finished and the girls had departed, sad he grew.
"The Song of the Night-Wanderer" is ushered in with a heavy stroke of the bell, the subject quoted below being played in octaves, , by all strings.
FIRST CONCERT
Twelve times the bell sounds, gradually dying away to the softest fumissimo.
The conclusion has puzzled many, inasmuch as it ends in two keys; the higher woodwind instruments and the violins playing in the key of B major, the basses in C. Strauss has not stated what is the innermost significance of this ending. Perhaps it suggests the discovery by Zarathustra that, after all, in spite of all his philosophy, life was as much a mystery to him as ever it had been.
Aria, "Tho' I Should Die For It," ("Eugen Onegin") Tchaikovsky
Mme. Koshetz
Peter Iljitsch Tchaikovsky was born at Wotkinsk, Russia, May 7, 1840; died at Petrograd, November 6, 1893.
No one can deny that Tchaikovsky is well-nigh universally considered the greatest of Russian composers, but there is little that is distinctively Russian in Eugen Onegin, either in musical themes or suggestion, though the score seethes at times with the unbridled emotional intensity of the Slav. All that Tchaikovsky poured into his symphonies he gave to this opera. In May, 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote his brother: "I know the opera (Eugen Onegin) does not give great scope for musical treatment, but a wealth of poetry and a deeply interesting tale more than atone for all its faults." Replying to a critic, he says, "Let it lack scenic effect, let it be wanting in action,--I am in love with Tatjana, I am under the spell of Pushkin's verse, and I am drawn to compose the music as it were by an irresistible attraction." Rose Newmarch says of the opera, "It defies criticism as do some charming but illusive personalities; it answers to no particular standard; it fulfills no lofty intention; Tatjana is a Russian Pamela; Onegin a Muscovite Childe Harold; Lenske is Byronic, and the whole story is as obsolete as last year's fashion-plate." But it still remains the most popular opera in Russia.
The English translation of the text (sung in Russian) is given herewith:
Tatjana {with elevated, force and. pas­sion).--Tho' I should die for it, I've sworn now,
I first shall live each heart-felt longing,
Dumb hopes that many a year1 I've borne now,
Which yet unstilled, to life are throng­ing.
I quaff the poison draft of passion!
Now let desire his shackles fashion,
I see him here,--in ev'ry place
I hear his voice and see his face!
I hear the tempter's voice and see his
face. {Goes to the writing table; writes, then
¦pauses!) No, 'twill not do! Quick, something
different. How strange it is! It frightens me!
How am I to begin it! {Writes. Pauses, and reads what she
has toritten.)
I write to you without reflection! Is that not all I need to say
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
What led you here to this our lonely
home
Or what inducement seem'd to offer Unknown by me, had not come, The hopes, the fears, for which I suffer! My unexperienc'd emotion And to thy words how did I lend me! And once!--No, no, it was no dream, I saw thee come, thou stood'st before me, My heart stopped beating; then 'twas
blazing, and then with rapture cried: 'Tis he! 'Tis he!
'Twas thou, in slumber, o'er me bending; 'Twas thou I met my way a-wending, Whom I, the poor and sick attending, Have always seen. Thy voice it was forever ringing, That in my heart was ever singing, Thy face that lulled to sleep at night. And many pretty names you'd make me, And then to new-born life awake me, And bring me hope so pure and bright.
{Pauses as if to reflect.) Art thou an angel watching by me Art thou a tempter sent to try me Give answer, drive these doubts away! The face I dreamt, was that delusion Art thou a freak of fancy Say! Was all my joy a mere illusion No, come what may to stand or fall, My dream-face be my revelation! Thou art my passion, thou my all!
In thee alone, in thee alone lies my sal­vation !
But think, ah! think, I've none but thee! With none to understand or cherish, With time would soon have passed away, I'd for another ta'en a notion, And loved him with supreme devotion, And learnt a mother's part to play-(Rising suddenly) Another! No, never any other, For any other I had loathed! Thou art by Fate for me appointed, I am by Heav'n to thee betrothed! No empty dream by fate was given When blessed hope to me it gave. Oft in my dreams did'st thou attend me; And tho' I knew thee not, I loved; How by thy glance was I moved, Alone and helpless, I must perish, Unless my saviour thou wilt be. I trust in thee, I trust in thee; be not
offended;
But speak one word to comfort me, But not reproach, as well might be, For at a single word my dreams were
ended!
(She stands up and seals the letter.) 'Tis finished ! Ah! this trust of mine Thou ne'er must punish, ne'er must chide
me.
To thee, my vision-face divine, To thee, thine honor, I confide me!
Symphony, No. 12, in G minor, Op. 35 Miaskovsky
Andante, Allegro giocoso; Presto agitato; Allegro festive e maestoso.
Nicholas Miaskovsky was born at Novo Georgievsk April 20, 1881.
It is characteristic of the Russian school of composers that its members have chosen the professions of law or science or military service as their vocations and have pursued music as an avocation so seriously as to have left no doubt of their artistic gifts and skills. Borodin was one of Russia's noted chemists; Cui was professor of fortification in the Artillery School; Rimsky-Korsakov served for many years as a naval officer, Moussorgsky was in the army; Stravinsky and Tcherepnin trained for the law. Miaskovsky prepared for a military career like his father before him but the call of the arts was stronger and he entered the
[18]
FIRST CONCERT
Conservatory at Petrograd in 1906 as a student of Liadov and Rimsky-Korsa-kov, completing his studies in 1911. Three years later fate threw him again into military service; he served with the Russian army on the Austrian fron­tier; after the war he continued in service until 1920, at which time he retired to private life and assumed the professorship of composition at the Conservatory at Moscow.
The Twelfth Symphony was composed for the fifteenth anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia. The Symphony was performed for the first time in America by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Frederick Stock, Conductor, at the pair of concerts December 22-23, 1932.
The score being unavailable for examination, the writer of these notes ap­pends the scholarly analysis prepared by Mr. Felix Borowski, eminent critic, composer, and teacher, for the Chicago performance.
I. Andante, G minor, 3-4 time. The movement opens with the follow­ing theme in the clarinet:
Later the English horn continues this subject:
The time now changes to 2-4 (Adagio severo) and the basses and bassoon give out a theme of their own. This is taken up by the clarinet and, following it, by the full orchestra. The main movement follows (Allegro giocoso, D major, 2-4 time) with its principal subject in the flute:
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
This is worked over, particular attention being given to the rhythmical idea in the fifth measure of the theme just quoted. An idea growing out of this is given out jeroce by the strings fortissimo and in octaves. This, too, is developed. The first theme and tempo then return, forte. The tempo changes to Andante and over a long pedal-point on G in the basses, the clarinet and flutes--later the strings--play a phrase from No. 3, Adagio severo. The former theme of this tempo returns, now in the bassoon, the double basses holding a long G beneath it. Soon the original tempo {Andante) comes back and over the gently gliding passages of the divided first violins the English horn repeats the theme quoted in No. 2. The clarinet, unaccompanied, follows immediately with that quoted in No. 1 and this brings the movement to an end.
II. Presto agitato, C minor, 3-4 time. The trumpet opens the movement with the successive notes of the chord of D major, forte. The double basses then give out the following subject of a fugato:
The violoncellos take up the theme and, after them, the violas and violins. This is worked over until the trumpet again enters with its chord--this time the successive notes of the chord of C major. The time changes to 2-4 and there are fiery protestations from the full orchestra, but these soon die down to a pianissimo and the English horn enters (Meno mosso) with the following theme:
The times 2-4 and 3-4 are now combined while the clarinet and horn repeat No. 5, the lower strings playing a counter-theme (derived from No. 4) against it. This is worked over to a climax and, after it has subsided, the tempo changes to Allegro agitato and the first theme (No. 4) is developed. In the midst of this No. 5 comes to attention in the oboes and trumpets, both themes being worked conjointly. There is a sonorous outburst from the orchestra, followed by a pause, the material of No. 4 being then given further development. To[20]
FIRST CONCERT
ward the close No. 5 returns, but the trumpet has the last word with its chord of C major.
III. Allegro jestivo e maestoso, 4-4 time. After five introductory meas­ures, the following subject is presented forte:
The full orchestra takes up the theme and it is developed. Soon a different mood is established and the violoncellos give out the second subject expressively:
This is worked over and later repeated with fuller instrumentation. The tempo changes to Adagio, the double basses giving out a new idea. When a more rapid movement (Allegro agitato) is established again, the violoncellos and double basses set forth softly the theme that had been employed in the first part of the second movement (see No. 4). Other strings take it up imitatively and it is developed. The music then returns to the original tempo, and the opening sub­ject of the movement (No. 6) is heard in woodwind instruments and horns. Soon the second theme (No. 7) is heard in the first violins and flutes and oboes continue it. Following a rallentando, the trumpets give out a new idea, the strings accompanying -pizzicato, and it is worked over to a great climax. There follows a general pause, after which the coda (Presto, 2-4 time) sets in with a gay subject in the first violins and thus continues to the end.
"Reverie and Dance" ("The Fair of Sorotchinsk") . Moussorgsky
Mme Koshetz
Modeste Moussorgsky was born at Karevo, March 28, 1838; died at Leningrad, March 28, 1881.
The Fair of Sorotchinsk is an unfinished comic opera on a subject drawn from Gogol's story of the same name. Moussorgsky did not achieve sufficient continuity to this work to give much evidence of his capacity as a writer of this
[21]
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
form of opera. Only a few fragments survive, among them the "Reverie and Dance," the text of which in translation is appended:
Grieve no longer, my beloved,
Grieving never banish'd sorrow,
There are other lovely maidens
Fairer far than thy Parasha.
Ah, how I love to hear thee say:
"Parasha, my little dove,
Fairest little queen of mine"
Ah, how I dearly love to see thy tender
glance When beneath thy raven brows thy eyes
gleam so falcon-like, Nay, Sorrow I must banish For despair I have no reason; I'm not old and hideous, Nay, forsooth, I'm youthful and pretty, Have not lost my charm yet! Let's dance! Hi! My young and black-eyed lover, Standing up so straight and tall, Come and tread a dainty measure With thy sweetheart slim and small. Pit, pit, go the little slippers Of the maiden slim and tall Don't be gloomy, don't be sad, Come again tonight, my lad!
To be coy would be a sin,
Just be bold and step right in.
Pit, pit, go the little slippers
Of the maiden slim and small j
Click, clock, go the heavy topboots
Of the lover straight and tall.
Don't be gloomy, don't be sad,
Come again tonight, my lad!
Hop! Hop! Hopak dance!
Hop! Hop! Gayly prance!
Pit, pit, go the little slippers,
Let us dance the Hopak gay.
Pit, pit, go the little slippers,
This is merry market day!
Hop! Hop! Hopak dance!
Hi, ho, market day!
Pit, pit, little slippers!
Hop, hop, Hopak gay!
Pitterpat go the little slippers,
Greetings to ray lover gay!
Hop, hop, let's be merry;
Let us dance till break of day!
Hi!
English Version by Deems Taylor and Kurt Schindler
Polka and Fugue ("Schwanda, the Bagpipe Player") . Weinberger
Jaromir Weinberger was born at Prague in 1896.
Produced at Prague in 1927, Schwanda was only a moderate success, but after the production at Breslau in 1928, it sprang into immediate popularity; more than two thousand performances were given in Central Europe in the next three years. The opera was produced at the Metropolitan (New York) in 1931 and this particular excerpt has since been played by practically all the major symphony orchestras from New York to Los Angeles. The sparkle of the orchestration, the infectious humor of the melodies, the vivid though not exotic or cacophonic harmonies combine to make of the Polka and Fugue a concert number of deserved popular appeal.
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SECOND CONCERT
Thursday Evening, May 18 "In the Faery Hills" ¦ Bax
Arnold E. Trevor Bax was born at London, November 8, 1883.
The names of two distinguished contemporary British composers--Bax and Walton---appear for the first time in these concerts on this evening's program in conjunction with nineteenth century representative composers of Italian and Teutonic racial attitudes, Verdi and Brahms.
Although English by birth and early training, after completing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Bax spent much of his time in Ire­land among the peoples of the west coast where fantasy, myth, and folklore abound, and later as a member of the literary and artistic circle at Dublin where was founded the "Irish Renaissance."
Bax admits that he is a "brazen romanticist and could not have been and never shall be anything else." His style is thus conditioned by his own interests and by the Celtic influences coming from his residence in Ireland during his impressionable period.
On the manuscript score of "In the Faery Hills" (completed in 1909 but not published until 1926), the composer states that the music attempts to sug­gest the note of the Hidden People in the hills of Ireland after twilight. He has "endeavored to shadow forth the atmosphere of mystery and almost of terror with which the Irish people regard their faery compatriots. The middle section was to some extent suggested by the passage of W. B. Yeat's 'Wander­ings of Oisin' in which a human bard, having strayed among the host of the Sidhe, is asked by them to sing a song for their pleasure. But when he sings a song of human joy, the faeries declare it the saddest song that was ever sung, and throw the harp away in sorrow and anger, while the harper is swept away into their revel."
"In the Faery Hills" was first performed at a Promenade Concert, Queen's Hall, London, August 30, 1910, with Sir Henry Wood conducting.
Pierre Monteux first presented it in this country at a concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston, December 17, 1920.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Aria, "Confutatis Maledictis" ("Requiem") Verdi
Chase Baromeo
Giuseppi Verdi was born at Roncole, October 9, 1813; died at Milan, January 17, 1901.
The Requiem was the final result of a suggestion of Verdi that a number of Italian composers should unite in writing a worthy requiem as a tribute to the memory of Rossini who had just died (1868). Each composer was to take one of the thirteen divisions of the text and had no other restrictions than that of key, which had been determined in advance to provide a slight basis of unity for the work. The text of the "Confutatis" in the key of D major was assigned to Bonchinon whose position as a composer does not warrant mention in a biographical dictionary. As might be anticipated, the work was an absolute failure, even though the final number "Libera Me (C minor)" as written by Verdi became the basis of the Requiem as we now have it. Upon the death of Alessandro Manzoni, Verdi was persuaded to compose an entire requiem in honor of the great statesman. The success of the Manzoni Requiem has been international; it is not oratorio, it is not opera; it is not church music or is it secular in its appeal. It is a composite in mood and in expression of the finest inspirations and finished technic of the great Italian composer.
The "Confutatis" is embedded in the section entitled "Dies Irae" (Day of Anger); it is immediately preceded by the solo for tenor "Ingemisco" (Sadly Groaning). In the opinion of many critics, these two solos contain the finest music of the whole work.
The text is as follows:
Confutatis maledictis, Flammis acribus abdictis, Voca me cum benedictis. Oro supplex et aclinis, Cor contritum quasi cinis, Gere curam mei finis.
When the wicked are rejected, And to bitter flames subjected, Call me forth with thine elected. Low in supplication bending Heart as though with ashes blending, Care for me when all is ending.
"BeJshazzar's Feast" Walton
University Choral Union, Mr. Baromeo, and Orchestra
William Turner Walton was born at Oldham, England, March 29, 1902.
This young composer, who at the age of twenty-nine created the work on this evening's program, has been practically self-taught as far as musical com­position is concerned. As a boy of ten he entered the choir school of Christ
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Church Cathedral at Oxford as probationer. The direct results of this first-hand acquaintance with the problems of choral music are reflected in the effects he creates in "Belshazzar's Feast," his first work in the field of oratorio. That he should have thrown aside the deadening traditions under which his country­men had labored for years, that he should have struck a new note, that he should have set a new pace and should have created a work which is certain to influence the future trends of the oratorio is in keeping with what British com­posers of the present generation are doing in other fields of musical activity. His lack of formal instruction--he passed the first two examinations for the Bachelor of Music degree at Oxford when, he was sixteen and seventeen years of age respectively, and he had some help from Sir Hugh Allen, Professor of Music at Oxford, and from Edward J. Dent, Professor of Music at Cambridge --is not apparent in the command of materials and resources which he displays in his works.
Walton has not been prolific in writing music; rather he has seemed con­tent to create few works and to assure himself that each represents a fulsome, sincere, and direct expression. The list of his compositions include: Quartet for piano and strings (1918); "Fagade" for declamation, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, violoncello, and percussion (1923); Toccata for violin and piano (1923); "Bucolic Comedies" for voice and piano (1924); Overture, "Ports­mouth Point" (1925) ; "Siesta" for chamber orchestra (1926) ; "Sinfonia Con-certante" for orchestra with piano (1927); Concerto for viola (1929); ora­torio, Belshazzar's Feast (1931). In this country his overture "Portsmouth Point" has been performed with success by the leading orchestras.
Belshazzar's Feast was just produced at the Leeds Festival (England) in 1931 and was immediately performed by other leading choral organizations in England. In America it has already been heard in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. This is a unique record for a new choral work, and is indicative of the virility and vitality of Walton's imagination and scholarship.
The text has been arranged by Osbert Sitwell from the story of Belshazzar as related by Isaiah and Daniel and in the 137th Psalm in holy writ. The score calls for the resources of an enlarged orchestra, an eight-part chorus, harp, piano, and organ.
The music moves at rapid pace almost continuously; it is full of rhythmic variety; cross accents, syncopation, measures of 3-4, 3-8, and 4-4 time in suc­cession, combined with orchestral colors and harmonic effects of strictly twen­tieth century intensity yield a work that is dynamic and brilliant in mood, power­ful and impressive in effect. The harmonic dissonances are consistent with the demands of the text; they are not interjected for superficial effect as is the case
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with some youthful composers. For example, the dissonance with which the initial phrase for male chorus is invested--"Thus spake Isaiah: thy sons that thou shalt beget"--serves to show at once the scorn and derision of the prophet as he adjures them: "Howl ye therefore, for the day of the Lord is at hand." Simple diatonic triads such as nineteenth century composers might have employed, or even the mild dissonances of that generation, would have seemed weak and sophisticated in comparison to the bold, barbaric, musical embodiment of the mood of the Prophet Isaiah as he delivered this dire warning. A plaintive mood follows as the mixed chorus, unaccompanied sings, by way of sharp contrast, a melodic fluent passage in modern counterpoint to the words "By the waters of Babylon." From this point the pictures of the despair of the Israelites in cap­tivity alternate with the orgiastic revels of the Babylonians. Climax is piled on climax, sometimes it is orchestral, at other moments it is choral; the two forces complement each other, yet maintain their individuality in a manner that is novel and breath taking.
The treatment of the solo baritone as, he narrates the qualities which made Babylon a great city, and, later, when he describes the handwriting on the wall is a vivid, bold conception, a definite break with traditional formulae, in which the unaccompanied voice stands out in marked contrast to the fury of the chorus as it tells its part of the story.
One of the most spectacular effects is that of the pagan march-dance in "praise to God of Gold, of Silver; Iron, Stone, Wood and Brass." Glitter, pomp, and festive orgy are reflected in the music; it is so vivid that the listener feels he has been transported back hundreds of years and is actually present at the scene of Belshazzar's feast to the strange gods and idols, and actually joins in the shout "O King, live forever." The handwriting scene, and thei death of the king, provide a moment of respite before the onward sweep of the music to the final climax which, is inspired by the phrase, "Then sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob."
The furor of enthusiasm which the performances of this work has created in England may be imagined when one of the most conservative of critics, Ernest Newman, writes in the Sunday Times:
"Nothing so full-blooded as this, nothing so bursting with a very fury of exultation in the power of modern music, has been produced in this or any other country for a very long time; by the side of it Stravinsky's Symfhonie de Psaumes is very anaemic stuff indeed. Mr. Walton works consistently at a voltage that takes our breath away.
"But it is not mere sound and fury; the astounding thing about it all is the
The Symphonic de Psmimes was performed in Ann Arbor at the Thirty-Ninth May Festival, 1932. [26]
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composer's musical control of the pounding, panting engine he has launched. It is difficult to realize that so young a man has so complete a, command of his subject, of his craftsmanship, and of himself; it is all new, all individual, yet all so thoroughly competent musically. After this, I should not care to place any theoretical bounds to Mr. Walton's possible development."
It will be apparent that a first hearing is not sufficient to recognize and en­joy all of the details which go to make up this dramatic and, at some places, brutal expression; it is to be hoped that Festival patrons will have availed them­selves of the privilege of hearing the rehearsals of Belshazzar's Feast in order that the fullest measure of understanding may be at hand for the performance.
The text is as follows:
Thus spake Isaiah:
Thy sons that thou shalt beget They shall be taken away, And be eunuchs
In the palace of the King of Babylon Howl ye, howl ye, therefore: For the day of the Lord is at hand!
By the waters of Babylon,
By the waters of Babylon There we sat down: yea, we wept And hanged our harps upon the willows.
For they that wasted us
Required of us mirth;
They that carried us away captive
Required of us a song.
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
How shall we singthe Lord's song In a strange land
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
If I do not remember thee,
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my
mouth. Yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my
chief joy.
By the waters of Babylon
There we sat down: yea, we wept.
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be
destroyed,
Happy shall he be that taketh thy children And dasheth them against a stone, For with violence shall that great city
Babylon be thrown down And shall be found no more at all.
Babylon was a great city,
Her merchandise was of gold and silver,
Of precious stones, of pearls, of fine linen,
Of purple, silk and scarlet,
All manner vessels of ivory,
All manner vessels of most precious wood,
Of brass, iron, and marble,
Cinnamon, odours, and ointments,
Of frankincense, wine, and oil,
Fine flour, wheat, and beasts,
Sheep, horses, chariots, slaves,
And the souls of men.
In Babylon
Belshazzar the King
Made a great feast,
Made a feast to a thousand of his lords, And drank wine before the thousand.
Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, Commanded us to bringthe gold and
silver vessels: Yea! the golden vessels, which his father,
Nebuchadnezzar,
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Had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem.
He commanded us to bring the golden
vessels
Of the temple of the house of God, That the King, his Princes, his wives, And his concubines might drink therein.
Then the King commanded us:
Bring ye the cornet, flute, sackbut,
psaltery, And all kinds of music: they drank wine
again And then spake the King:
Praise ye
The God of Gold Praise ye
The God of Silver Praise ye
The God of Iron Praise ye
The God of Stone Praise ye
The God of Wood Praise ye
The God of Brass
Thus in Babylon, the mighty city, Belshazzar the King made a great feast, Made a feast to a thousand of his lords And drank wine before the thousand.
Belshazzar whiles he tasted the wine Commanded us to bring the gold and
silver vessels That his Princes, his wives, and his
concubines Might rejoice and drink therein.
After they praised their strange gods, The idols and the devils. False gods who can neither see nor hear Called they for the timbrel and the pleas­ant harp To extol the glory of the King.
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Then they pledged the King before the
people, Crying, Thou, O King, art King of
Kings: O King, live for ever ....
And in that same hour, as they feasted Came forth fingers of a man's hand And the King saw The part of the hand that wrote.
And this was the writing that was written: 'mene, mene, tekel upharsin' 'thou art weighed in the balance
and found wanting.' In that night was Belshazzar the King
slain And his Kingdom divided.
Then sing aloud to God our strength: Make a joyful noise unto the God of
Jacob.
Take a psalm, bring hither the timbrel, Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, Blow up the trumpet in Zion For Babylon is fallen, fallen.
Alleluia!
Then sing aloud to God our strength: Make a joyful noise unto the God of
Jacob,
While the Kings of the Earth lament And the merchants of the Earth Weep, wail, and rend the raiment. They cry, Alas, Alas, that great city, In one hour is her judgment come.
The trumpeters and pipers are silent, And the harpers have ceased to harp, And the light of a candle shall shine no more.
Then sing aloud to God our strength. Make a joyful noise unto the God of
Jacob. For Babylon the Great is fallen.
Alleluia!
SECOND CONCERT
Concerto in D Major, for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77 . Brahms
Allegro non troppo; Adagio; Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace.
Jascha Heifetz
Great interest was aroused in the musical circles of Germany and Austria when it became noised abroad in the year 1878 that Brahms was at work upon a violin concerto, and that it was intended for the friend of his youth, the great violinist, Josef Joachim. The summer of 1878 the composer spent in Portschach where the first draft of the work was finished. Writing to his friend, Hanslick, the Viennese critic, from this beautiful summer place on Lake Worther in Carinthia, Brahms reports that "so many melodies fly about, one must be careful not to tread on them." The peace and tranquillity of these summer weeks is no doubt reflected in the first movement of the concerto which has a mood somewhat similar to that of the Second Symphony, like­wise in D major. To many, the sentiment is maintained at a loftier height in the concerto and the limpid grace of the melodic line has an immediate fascination for a general audience.
After studying the violin part of the concerto which the composer had sent him, Joachim replied from Salzburg, "I have had a good look at what you sent me and have made a few notes and alterations, but without the full score one can't say much. I can however make out most of it and there is a lot of really good violin music in it, but whether it can be played with comfort in hot concert rooms remains to be seen." After considerable cor­respondence and several conferences the score and parts were ready and the first performance scheduled for January 1, 1879 in Leipzig. Joachim, natural­ly, was the soloist on this occasion. In his sympathetic review of this first performance of the new work, Dorffel, in the Leifxiger Nachrichton, says:
No less a task confronted Brahms, if his salutation to his friend were to be one suit­able to Joachim's eminence, than the production of a work that should reach the two greatest, Beethoven and Mendelssohn. We confess to have awaited the solution with some heart palpitation, though we firmly maintained our standard. But what joy we experi­enced ! Brahms uts brought such a third work to the partnership. The originality of the spirit which inspires the whole, the firm organic structure which is displayed, the warmth which streams from it, animating the work with joy and life--it cannot be otherwise-the concerto must be the fruit of the composer's latest and happiest experiences.
It remains to be noted that the concerto was not published, immediately. Joachim kept it for a while and played it several times in England with much success. The performer on several of these occasions made alterations to the score which did not always meet withl the approval of the composer as is evi­denced by excerpts from a letter from Brahms to Joachim: "You will think
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
twice before you ask me for another concerto! It is a good thing that your name is on the copy; you are more or less responsible for the solo violin part." During the summer of 1879 a second violin concerto was commenced but was never finished.
Brahms did not write out the cadenza at the end of the first movement. Originally, Joachim wrote one for himself but since that time it has been pro­vided with cadenzas by nearly all of the great violin masters; at least sixteen cadenzas exist.
The following analysis by Mr. Borowski is presented for those interested in following the technical details of the construction of the concerto:
I. (Allegro -non tro-pfo, D major, 3-4 time.) The plan of this movement follows the classical construction of the first movement of a concerto, as that construction was em­ ployed in the concertos of Mozart, Beethoven and of contemporaries less famous than they. The first Exposition for orchestra begins, without any introduction with the principal subject (in D major) in the bassoons and lower strings. After a transitional passage, in which the material of the principal theme is worked over, fortissimo, in the full orchestra, the second subject, in the same key, enters tranquilly in the oboe, and is taken up by the first violins. Another and more marcato section of it is heard in a dotted figure, forte, in the strings. After the strings have played a vigorous passage in sixteenth notes, the solo violin enters with a lengthy section--composed principally of passage-work--introductory to its presentation of the main subject. This at length arrives, the theme being accom­ panied by an undulating figure in the violas. The second subject appears in the flute, later continued in the first violins, passage-work playing around it in the solo instrument. The second, marcato, section now is taken up by the violin. Development follows this--as is customary in older concertos--being introduced in an orchestral tutti. The Recapitulation (principal subject) is also announced by the orchestra, . The second theme occurs, as before, in the orchestra, but now in D major, the solo violin playing around it with passage-work, as in the Exposition. The second section of the theme is played by the violin in D minor. A short tutti precedes the cadenza for the solo instrument. The coda, which followsi it, begins with the material of the principal subject.
II. (Adagio, F major, 2-4 time.) This movement has the orchestral accompaniment lightly scored, merely the woodwind, two horns, and the usual strings being employed. It opens with a subject in the woodwind, its melody being set forth by the oboe. The solo violin takes up a modified and ornamental version of this theme. A second subject follows, also played by the solo instrument, and the first is eventually, and in modified form, resumed.
III. (Allegro giocoso, ma non troffo vivace, D major, 2-4 time.) The principal theme is announced at once by the solo violin, and it is taken up, , by the orchestra. A transitional passage leads to the second subject, given out, energicamente, by the violin in octaves; this is worked over and leads to a resumption of the main theme by the solo instrument. An episode (G major, 3-4 time) is set forth by the violin, suggestions of the opening subject occurring in the orchestra. The second theme is once more heard in the solo violin, and is, in its turn, succeeded by further development of the principal subject. A short cadenza for the solo instrument leads into the coda, in which the first subject is further insisted upon, now in quicker temfd and somewhat rhythmically changed.
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THIRD CONCERT
Friday Afternoon, May 19 Overture, "Marriage of Figaro" Mozart
Wolfang Amadeus Mozart was born January 27, 1756, at Salzburg; died December 5, 1791, at Vienna.
This overture is justly regarded as one of the best examples of Mozart's purest style. The opera to which it is an introduction was produced for the first time at Vienna, May 1, 1786. It came very near to failure on account of a conspiracy among the singers engaged in its production. At that time the feeling was very intense in Vienna among the singers, at least, in favor of the Italian composers Paisiello, Sarti, and Cimarosa, who were the arbiters of musical taste. The opera was received with great enthusiasm in Prague, and since then has always maintained its position on the stage as one of the brightest and most spontaneous productions of Mozart's genius.
Aria, "Che faro senza Euridice" ("Orpheus") .... Gluck
Rose Bampton
Christoph Willibald Gluck was born at Weidenwang, July 2, 1714-; died at Vienna, November 25, 1787.
This aria from the third act of Gluck's immortal opera, a work in which he fully enunciated his epoch-making musico-dramatic theories, has lost none of its freshness with the passage of the years. The situation is clearly depicted in the following stage directions and in the recitative leading into the aria. The text in translation is appended:
Recitative. Euridice--My Orpheus, I faint, I die.
Orpheus--What is this that I have done
Unto what am I driven by my love and grief!
Euridice! my beloved!
Ah, she hears not my voice, she returns not again.
'Tis I to whom her death is due;
More than ever do I repent me;
My grief is past endurance.
In such an hour nought is left except to die and make atonement.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Aria. She is gone, and gone forever,
All my joy, alas, is flown. Life without her, would I never,
Why on earth remain alone Euridice, Euridice, Make answer, I beseech thee, If truth and love can reach thee. She cannot hear me Vain expectation!
No consolation, nought to cheer me Nowhere relief!
Symphony in G major (Oxford) Haydn
Adagio--Allegro spiritoso; Adagio; Menuetto; Presto
Franz Joseph Haydn was born at Rohrau, March 31, 1732; died at Vienna, May 31, 1809. :
During the thirty years in which Haydn served Prince Esterhazy as master of his music, the composer took full advantage of the marvelous opportunities afforded him by the elaborate musical establishment at the court. He became the most significant figure in symphonic music, and his reputation as a composer spread to France, England, and other countries. A successful impresario in Eng­land, Salomon by name, had tried several times to secure his presence in London to conduct at his series of concerts, but it was not until after the death of Prince Esterhazy in 1790, and the dismissal of the entire musical entourage under Haydn's direction, that the composer looked with favor on this invitation, and came to London at the beginning of the year 1791 with a number of symphonies written especially for performance in the Salomon concerts.
The University of Oxford wished to honor this illustrious representative of art and to confer on Haydn the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. To be present at the conferring of the degree and to take part in the musical festivities incident thereto, which included the performance of some of his works, Haydn set out for Oxford, and notes in his diary that the trip cost him "six guineas and I had to pay one and one-half guineas for the bell peals at Oxforth when I received the Doctor's degree, and a half a guinea for the robe." In his honor three concerts were given in the Sheldonian Theater and it was at the second of these that the symphony now known as the "Oxford" was performed. The Morning Chronicle of July 11 reported that "a more wonderful composition never was heard. The applause given to Haydn who conducted this admirable effort of his genius was enthusiastic; but the merit of the work, in the opinion of all musicians present, exceeded all praise."
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The symphony conforms to the pattern of style and order of movements typical of the classic period and needs no technical analysis or explication of hidden meanings. It is an example of clear, crystal writing, balanced in "rhet­oric," conventional in "syntax," in a word, Haydn at his genial best.
Songs:
Serenade Tosti
Country Gardens Grainger
The Little Dust Man Brahms
Children's Festival Chorus Serenade Tosti
Fly now, O song I'm singing, To her who slumbers smiling, From dreams that fancy brings her now
beguiling!
Swift to her window calling, Fly, serenade I'm singing, Clear through the shadows ringing. Say the moonlight is glowing,
Tell her my boat is swaying,
Out where the murm'ring tide is gently
flowing
Breezes cool are playing. Song gently supplicating, Tell her that I am waiting! Tell her, O song I'm singing, Ah! fly!
Country Gardens Grainger
Whirlpool of color, flowing in eddies, Against my garden wall of stone. Wave upon wave of bright tinted flow'rs, That ripple in the breezes blown. Larkspur and columbine, Mignonette and trailing vine, Rainbow like colors flowing free. Fragrant, a bloom, my old-fashion'd
garden Is like a bit of heav'n to me.
Surely the fairies dance there at night, 'Neath the shifting shadows of the moon. Darkness is routed with golden light And the shy wind plays a whisp'ring tune. Poppies and hollyhocks Daffodils and brilliant phlox, Dimly each flow'r I can see. Fragrant, a bloom, my old-fashion'd
garden Is like a bit of heav'n to me.
The Little Dust Man Brahms
The flow'rets all sleep soundly
Beneath the moon's bright ray.
They nod their heads together,
And dream the night away.
The budding trees wave to and fro,
And murmur soft and low
Sleep on, sleep on, sleep on, my little one!
Now see, the little dustman
At the window shows his head.
And looks for all good children,
Who oug-ht to be in bed.
And as each weary pet he spies
Throws dust into its eyes.
Sleep on, sleep on, sleep on, my little one!
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Aria, "II est doux, il est bon" ("Herodiade") . . . Massenet
Miss Bampton
Jules Emil Frederic Massenet was born at Montreaux, France, May 12, 1842; died at Paris, August 13, 1912.
The plot of the opera from which this aria is taken is based on the novelette by Flaubert, Herodias; the scene of the first act is laid in the court of Herod's palace at Jerusalem. Salome tells Phanuel that she is seeking John the Baptist, and in this aria she describes how she was saved by him from the desert when a child, and how good and kind he is.
The text in translation is as follows:
He by whose mighty word is banish'd ev'ry
sadness,
The Great Prophet is nigh! 'Tis to him that I fly! He is kind, he is good, his words fill all
with gladness: He speaketh, all is still'd; Gently borne o'er the plain, Silent the winds list to his strain; He speaketh!
Ah! when will he return
When, O when shall I hear him
I was suff'ring, sad and lone, and my
heart found sweet peace In list'ning to his voice so full, so soft, so
tender,
My heart found sweet peace! O Prophet lov'd o'er all! can I live with­out thee
'Twas there! in yon wild waste where the
throng in amaze Had follow'd him for days, He receiv'd me one morn, a child by all
forsaken,
And ope'd to me his arms! He is kind, he is good, His words fill all with gladness, He speaketh, all is still'd; Gently borne o'er the plain Silent the winds list to his strain; He speaketh!
Elegy and Waltz ("Serenade for Strings") . . . Tchaikovsky
Peter Illich Tchaikovsky was born at Wotkinsk, May 7, 1840; died at Petrograd (St. Petersburg) November 6, 1893.
The Serenade in four movements for string orchestra was written in the same year as the 1812 Overture; two works more contrasting in style could scarcely be imagined. The composer states that the Overture was written "with­out much warmth of enthusiasm, therefore it has no great artistic value. The Serenade on the contrary, I wrote from an artistic impulse; I felt it and ven­ture to hope that this work is not without artistic qualities." It was first per­formed by the student orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory under the direc­tion of Nicholas Rubinstein, and was later included by Tchaikovsky on the pro­grams he conducted in Germany and England. No further annotations are nee[34]
THIRD CONCERT
essary since the music flows in the moods suggested by the titles "Elegy" and "Waltz."
Cantata, "Spring Rapture" Gaul
Children's Festival Chorus
Harvey B. Gaul was born at New York City in 1881.
The composer of Spring Rapture, and of Old Johnny Appleseed which was performed by the Children's Festival Chorus at the thirty-eighth Festival in 1931, received his musical training in his native city and at the Schola Cantorum and Conservatoire in Paris under Guilmant, Widor, Decaux, and d'Indy. He has held organ positions in New York, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh where he now resides. Formerly a member of the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh, he is now a member of the staff of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and oc­cupies the important post of critic of music, drama, and art for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
The text of the cantata is by Nelle Richmond Eberhart.
The thunder! Old Winter's enemy!
Soft from the south when the winds shall spread A verdant road for her feet to tread, Sweet from the vales of her balmy home The Spring will come.
Oh list! The thunder! Old Winter's enemy!
Here have they frolicked the winter long, Shouting with rapture their fairy song, Spirits of Ice on the snowy hills, Merrily, merrily taunting the frozen rills.
Ah, listen! What do you hear
Did you not hear a faint and fairy strain
We hear the whisper of die coming rain,
Winds of the south from their warm tropic home,
Straight at the thunder's calling come,
They come! They come! The clouds of Spring! With lightning flashing upon their way. The odors of flow'rs to their garments cling, And rainbow colors about them play.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
How warm it is! How beautiful! Ah! surely Spring is here! Across the land the blowing winds Are calling soft and clear.
How fresh it is! How wonderful! The green is on the trees. Across the sky the heavy clouds Are sailing airy seas.
Here comes the rain, the tender rain, To clear the clouded blue; To soften all the frosty earth, And coax the blossoms through. Here comes the rain!
Here comes the rain, the happy rain, The first wild rain of Spring; Here comes the rain, the happy rain, 'Twill not be long e'er full and clear The mating robins sing.
Surely you heard it then!
That happy note, that cry of rapture,
That cry from fairy throat,
We heard it not, but oh, we feel with you
The joy of Spring beneath these skies of blue.
The birds! The birds! Ah, surely Spring is here! The sun! The sun! The radiant atmosphere!
Soft from the south where the winds have spread A verdant road for her feet to tread, Sweet from the vales of her balmy home, The Spring has come!
Soft will she call and the violet
Will mark the spot where her foot is set;
Sweet will she laugh till the world shall sing:
"Welcome to Spring!
Old Winter's enemy, Spring,
Spring, hail, fair Spring!"
FOURTH CONCERT
Friday Evening, May 19
A PROGRAM OF MUSIC
from the Operas and Music Dramas of
RICHARD WAGNER
William Richard Wagner was born at Leipzig, May 22, 1813; died at Venice, February 13, 1883.
"THE FLYING DUTCHMAN"
First performed at Dresden, January 2, 1843
Overture
During his stormy voyage of three and one-half weeks on the Baltic Sea in 1839, Wagner had ample time to gather and have impressed upon him the de­tails of the legend of the "Flying Dutchman." The boat in which he made the sea journey from Pillau to London was a small merchant vessel; encountering violent storms, the captain sought shelter in the safety of Norwegian fiords. Wagner notes that "the passage through the fiords made a wondrous impression on my fancy; the legend of the Flying Dutchman as I heard it confirmed by the sailors (he already knew the Heine version) acquired a definite, peculiar color, which only my adventures at sea could have given it."
The legend can be traced as far back as the sixteenth century and seems to be an outgrowth of the state of feeling engendered by the two most significant facts of that period: the discovery of the New World by the Spaniards and of a New Faith by the Germans. Captain Vanderdecken attempted to round the Cape of Good Hope in the face of a heavy gale. The storm being too much for his craft, he swears that he will accomplish his purpose should it take him till Doomsday. The oath is overheard by the Evil One, who takes it literally and the unfortunate sailor is condemned to sail the Seven Seas forever. The denoue­ment of Wagner's opera follows the Heine version, in which the Captain may be released "by the love of a woman faithful unto death": the love of Senta, in the opera.
The Overture opens with phrases descriptive of a storm and soon is sounded the motive of the curse of the Dutchman--horns and bassoons against open fifths in the strings. As the storm dies down a pause ensues, and in a different key and rhythm a portion of
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Senta's Ballad (which, like Lohengrin's Narrative in Lohengrin, contains the musical germs of the opera) appears--a motive expressive of hope and faith, and contrasting with the restless music of the storm and the "eternal curse." These themes and a suggestion of the Sailor's Chorus from the Third Act are the musical materials out of which this vigorous overture is constructed.
Senta's Ballad
Grete Stueckgold
The scene of the Second Act is a large room in Daland's house; on the walls are pictures of ships, maps, etc. On the back wall hangs a portrait of a man, with pale face and dark beard, and wearing a black cloak. Mary and the maid­ens are seated round the stove, singing as the spinning wheels whirl. Senta, lean­ing back in her armchair is lost in dreamy contemplation of the portrait on the wall. As the song ends, the motive of open fifths, symbolic of the Dutchman, is heard in the orchestra, rousing Senta to muse aloud. The text in translation is appended:
Allegro non tropfo
Yo ho ho!
And hast thou seen the phantom ship,
Like blood the sails, and black the mast
Upon the deck the ghostly man,
His long hair streaming to the blast
Hui! pipes the wind! Yo--ho--hey!
Hui! how shrill it sings! Yo--ho--hey! Hui!
Like an arrow the ship flieth on,
Never resting, for aye!
Piu lento
Yet might a woman's hand the doomed man deliver,
Could he but find one true heart on earth to love him forever.
Ah pallid wand'rer, when wilt thou find her
Pray ye with me that heaven may send her to thee soon.
Allegro non troppo
The wind was wild, the sea was wroth, As once he strove to clear the bay; The baffled seaman swore an oath: "I will not rest till Judgment Day!" Hui! And Satan heard, Yo--ho--hey. Hui! the fatal word, Yo--ho--hey! Hui! He is doomed o'er the ocean to roam Never resting for aye!
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FOURTH CONCERT
Pitt lento
Yet from his doom will heaven the wretched man deliver,
Can he but find a maiden on earth to love him for ever.
Ah, pallid wand'rer, when wilt thou find her
Raise we our prayers that heaven may guide him to her soon! (Senta has risen from, her chair and. continues with increasing excitement.)
Tempo frimo
As oft as seven years are told,
He comes to land, a wife to woo;
But countless years have o'er him rolled,
And never yet has maid been true.
Hui! then hoist the sails, Yo--ho--hey! Hui!
Fickle heart! broken faith! sail away, ever on!
{Senta quite overcome sinks into the chair; after a fause she starts uf from the seat carried, away by sudden in­spiration!)
Mine be the faithful heart that shall redeem thee!
Yea! though for thine my life be given,
Through me shalt thou find grace with heaven!
"TANNHAUSER"
First performed at Dresden, October 19, 1845.
Bacchanale and Finale from Overture
For the performance of Tannh'duser at the Opera in Paris, which was ar­ranged for by Princess Metternich, wife of the Austrian ambassador to Paris, who secured the permission of Napoleon III for the performance, Wagner wrote the music to this "Bacchanale" which was no doubt inspired by his knowl­edge of the great interest the French opera-going public had in the ballet. The unvarying custom in French operas to introduce a ballet into the second or third act allowed the fashionable subscribers to finish dinner in comfortable time and arrive at the theater sufficiently early to see the ballet which, for many, was the most important portion of the evening's business. It was easy to under­stand the formidable opposition which Wagner encountered when his "Bac­chanale" took place early in the first act. He would neither consent to a short­ening of the scene, nor to an insertion of a portion of it later in the opera.
An examination of the first act of the Dresden and Paris scores of Tann­h'duser will indicate the growth in Wagner's style and in the facility with which he handles the materials of musical expression fifteen years after the work was first produced. In the opera, the "Bacchanale" does not come to a definite close, and on this occasion the music is made to lead into the last portion of the over­ture of the opera, which is based upon the famous "Pilgrims' Chorus."
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Elizabeth's Prayer
Mme Stueckgold
The scene of Act III, from which this excerpt is drawn, is the Valley be­neath the Wartburg as in Act I. Elizabeth kneels before the shrine in prayer as the Pilgrims pass by on their return from Rome. She rises and eagerly scans their faces closely to ascertain if Tannhauser has been pardoned and is amongst them. Finding no familiar face she becomes sorrowful, and falling on her knees again, pours forth her emotion in the Prayer, the text of which, in translation, is as
fnllnwO blessed Virgin, hear my prayer! Thou star of glory, look on me! Here in the dust, I bend before thee, Now from this earth, oh set me free!
Let me, a maiden, pure and white, Enter into thy kingdom bright; If vain desires and earthly longing Have turn'd my heart from thee away, The sinful hopes within me thronging
Before thy blessed feet I lay; I'll wrestle with the love I cherished Until in death its flame hath perished, If of my sin thou wilt not shrive me, Yet in this hour, oh grant me thy aid! Till thy eternal peace thou give me I vow to live and die thy maid. And on thy bounty I will call That heav'nly grace on him may fall! (Translated by Natalia Macfarren)
"TRISTAN AND ISOLDE"
First performed at Munich, June 10, 1865.
Selections from Act III
Introduction--Tristan's Vision--Arrival of the Ships--Isolde's Love Death. (Arranged for concert performance by Frederick A. Stock)
The dramatic action of the third act, which these excerpts epitomize, may be sketched briefly as follows:
Tristan, the lover of Isolde, lies on a couch beneath a lime tree; Kurneval, his faithful servant, bends over the half-unconscious form of his master, in whom the flame of life burns dimly. The mournful notes of a shepherd's pipe are heard, and at the sound Tristan awakens to consciousness. Kurvenal, eagerly welcom­ing the signs of life in his master, explains as he speaks, that Isolde is hastening to the side of her wounded lover. Tristan feverishly watches the sea. There is no sail in sight, and he urges Kurvenal to ascend the watch tower, the better to scan the horizon for the ship. The joyful sounds of the shepherd's pipe are heard. Kurvenal starts to his feet; the tune is a signal that the herdsman has sighted the sail of Isolde's boat. In feverish excitement Tristan tosses upon his couch, and finally, unable to bear suspense a moment longer, he springs to the ground to meet Isolde. As he reels forward he tears the bandage from his wound, and the blood streams out upon the earth. Isolde's voice is heard crying, "Tristan!
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FOURTH CONCERT
Tristan! Beloved!" and, as she hastens in, Tristan falls into her arms, and dies. Recovering, she fondles her dead lover, and sings the Liebestod. As she sings the last note she falls on his body and expires.
THE RING OF THE NEBELUNGS "The Rhine Gold"
First performed at Munich, September 22, 1869.
Finale and Entrance of the Gods into Walhalla
The story of The Rhine Gold is concerned with the gold that is in the keep­ing of the Rhine maidens and is stolen by Alberich, the Nebelung dwarf, who believes that if this treasure is fashioned into a ring, it will give him unlimited power. Wotan had had built for himself a great citadel, Walhalla, and had promised the giants Fafner and Fasolt, Freia, the goddess of youth and beauty, as a reward for their faithful service. Upon hearing of the mighty power of Alberich's ring, they prefer it to Freia, and demand that Wotan so pay them. The chief of the gods secures it from Alberich by cunning; the latter puts a curse upon it, saying that its possession shall bring pain, fear, and death. In the last scene of The Rhine Gold, this curse begins to work: the giants quarrel for the ownership of the ring and Fasolt is slain. Donner conjures up a thunder­storm to add to the horror and consternation of the gods. As the clouds disap­pear a rainbow, blindingly radiant, is seen to stretch from the valley to Walhalla, illumined by the setting sun. The music of the excerpt begins at this point. Wotan hails the castle, and led by Wotan and Fricka, the gods pass over the rainbow bridge to Walhalla.
"The Valkyrie"
First performed at Munich, June 25, 1870.
Schlafst du Gast
Du bist der Lenz
Mme Stueckgold
The two excerpts are drawn from the third scene of the first act, the action of which takes place in the interior of a dwelling, built around the trunk of a great ash tree; in the foreground is a hearth, near by is a table with wooden stools behind it. Siegmund, a warrior in flight, takes refuge one stormy evening in the house of Hunding, one of his enemies, whose wife, Sieglinda, arouses his interest and love. Hunding is bound by the laws of hospitality not to harm his guest till the morrow. Siegmund, alone, meditates upon his heritage; the rays of
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
the fire on the hearth light up the sword; he reflects upon this good omen and upon the beauty of Sieglinda, who now enters by a side door, robed in white. Sieglinda sings:
Sleep'st thou guest
See me; hear what I say!
In deepest sleep lies Hunding;
I mingled a drug with his drink.
Haste from this house without fear.
To a goodly weapon I'll guide thee: A glorious prize to gain! As highest hero then I might hail thee: The strongest only bears off that sword. O ponder well what I repeat to thee!
His people Hunding had in this hall with wassail his wedding to honor; he wedded a maid whom he ne'er had wooed; ravishers wrought her this woe. Misery filled me while all were merry, when sudden marked I a man: in garments grey and old (Walhalla motif--identifying Wotan) ; low hung was his hat, and one of his eyes 'twas over; but the other's flash forced awe on all men, ev'ry heart felt its mighty pover; howbeit I gleaned from that look a sweet solace and pain, gladness and grief in one. {Sword motif) On me smiling, he scowled at the others, as a sword he solemnly swung; then struck it deep in the ash tree's trunk with a blow buried it there. To none should the prize be fated, but could pluck it forth.
Then valiant heroes bestirred them all vainly, the wondrous steel none might win; warriors came here and warriors wended, the stoutest labored and strove, but they loosed it not from the trunk; yet bides the sword in its sheath. (Walmlla motif)
So, I know who 'twas that did greet me so gravely and I know well for whom that sword is withheld. {Sword motif) O! found I in need but now that friend! Came he from far my distress to find, whate'er I had suffered in anguish of soul, howe'er I had pined in penance and pain, sweet consolation surely would follow. Then all losses should I have retrieved, while erst I bewailed, well might be won me, found I this help-giving friend, and folded him in these arms!
The door at the back opens wide, revealing a lovely spring night, the full moon shines in on the pair of lovers. Siegmund sings a passionate song of love, to which Sieglinda answers:
Thou art the Spring, for thee have I sighed 'neath the frost-fettered winter's frown. Tow'rd thee leapt my heart with heavenly thrill when thy radiant glance on me rested.--Foreign seemed all until now, friendless I and forsaken; I counted strange and unknown each and all that came near.
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But thee, now, I thoroughly knew; when these eyes fell on thee wert thou mine own one. What my heart long had held, What was hid, clear as the day dawned on my eyes, the dulcet refrain fell on my ear, when in winter's frosty wild-ness a friend first awaited me.
FOURTH CONCERT "Siegfried"
First performed at Bayreuth, August 16, 1876.
Siegfried in the Forest
Can any one conversant with the "Ring" think of Siegfried in any environ­ment other than the forest Born in its depths, nurtured in one of its many caverns, skilled in woodcraft, on intimate terms with bird and beast, he was the personification of its ideals. He has arrived at the conviction that he cannot be the son of Mime--the Nebelung dwarf who found his mother dying, and who brought him up for an ulterior purpose--and now reclining in the shadow of a linden tree, he muses over the mother he never knew. Having conquered the dragon and possessed himself of the ring and tarnhelmet, he listens to the song of a bird, whose notes convey the information that on the flame-encircled rock, Brunnhilde sleeps till some hero comes who shall dare to break through the eternal flame to waken her. With the song of the bird leading the way, Sieg­fried joyfully departs in search of this wondrous being.
Music literature can offer nothing to compare with this exxerpt as a revela­tion of the spirit and atmosphere of the forest, and the moods of an untutored youth who has yet to come in contact with mankind.
"The Twilight of the Gods"
First performed at Bayreuth, August 17, 1876.
Song of the Rhinemaidens, Act III, Scene I.
Semichorus of Women's Voices
After a short orchestral prelude in which are heard three motifs, Siegfried's Horn Call, The Rhine, and The Rhinemaidens, the rising curtain discloses a wild, woody, and rocky valley on the Rhine, which flows past a steep cliff in the background. The Rhinemaidens rise to the surface and swim about, circling as in a dance. The translation of the text follows:
Fair Sunlight sendeth rays of splendor
Night lies in the waters.
Bright were they once
When through the waves
The radiant sun gleamed on the Rhine
gold!
Rhine gold, shining gold, How bright was once thy lustre Beauteous star of the waters.
Wei--a--la--la, hei--a, lei--a, wal-la--la.
Fair sunlight sendeth us now the hero Who again our gold shall give us! Let it be ours Then thy bright eye Will no more awaken our longing! Rhinegold, shining gold, How fair then thy Iu3tre, Glorious star of the waters!
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Siegfried's Death and Funeral March, Act III, Scene II
In the second scene of the final act of this music drama, Hagen, son of the dwarf Alberich, treacherously slays Siegfried in order to gain possession of the ring and its magic power. The procession bearing Siegfried's body slowly winds its way over the heights and is lost to view; the stage is darkened during the playing of the funeral music.
Finale, Act III, Scene III
The scene is the same as Act I. The hall of the Gibichungs, where Gutrune awaits the coming of Siegfried. Hagen tells her that the hero was killed by a wild boar; not convinced, Gutrune accuses her brother, Gunther, of Siegfried's murder. The body of the hero has now been brought into the hall by the at­tendants. Hagen boldly acknowledges that it was he who killed Siegfried, and claims the ring as his right of the spoil. Gunther disputes his claim and in the contest which ensues, he is pierced by the sword of Hagen.
At this point Brunnhilde enters, solemnly, and sits beside the dead body of her beloved, gazing on it with deep emotion. Soon she arouses herself, orders the men to build a pyre beside the banks of the Rhine, and Siegfried's body is placed upon it. As this is being done, Brunnhilde draws the ring from the hero's finger, places it upon her own and flings a burning brand into the pyre. The flames mount higher and higher, and the woman, swinging herself impetuously onto her horse, urges it with one bound into the burning pile. Immediately the fire mounts, crackling up, so that the blaze fills the whole space before the hall, which seems itself already breaking into flames. The women press, terrified, into the foreground. Suddenly the fire falls together, so that only a gloomy fire-cloud sweeps over the place. This rises and disperses entirely. The Rhine sweeps up from the shore, and rolls its flood over the wood heaps, vip to the threshold of the hall. On the waves are seen swimming the three Rhine daugh­ters. Hagen, who, since the occurrence with the ring, has observed Brunnhilde's conduct with anxiety, is filled with great terror on beholding the Rhine daugh­ters. He hastily throws aside his spear, shield, and helmet, and with the cry "Back from the ring!" falls, as if insane, into the stream. Woglinde and Well-gunde, the Rhine maidens, encircle his neck with their arms, and draw him into the deep. Flosshilde holds joyfully before them on high the recovered ring. At the same time a red light like the Northern Lights breaks out in the distance, and when the clouds break, Walhalla, the citadel of Wotan and the gods, is seen in flames, with the gods grouped around the central figure of Wotan.
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FIFTH CONCERT
Saturday Afternoon, May 20 Overture to "The Improvisatore" d'Albert
Eugene d'Albert was born at Glasgow, April 10, 1864; died at Riga, Latvia, March 3, 1932.
By heredity and environment, by birth and training, d'Albert justifies the use of the adjective "international." His father was a Franco-German mu­sician who was known as a composer of the sort of dance music, polkas and quadrilles, that was popular in the nineteenth century. Eugene was born in Scotland and at the age of twelve received a scholarship at the National Train­ing School in London, where he studied with Pauer, Sullivan, Stainer, and Prout. When he was fifteen an overture of his composition was publicly per­formed, and he gave piano concerts at the Crystal Palace. At seventeen he won the Mendelssohn Scholarship, which entitled him to continue his study on the continent, especially with Liszt. D'Albert became one of the well-known virtu­osos of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and eventually re­nounced his English citizenship to become a German. He made numerous tours of America from 1889 on, and has appeared with great success wherever he has played. He was heard here in Ann Arbor a number of years ago. As a com­poser he was prolific, though the field of opera commanded most of his atten­tion, his list numbering twenty.
The opera from which this afternoon's overture is drawn is his sixth, and was first performed in Berlin in 1902. In the overture, d'Albert gives a spirited picture of the carnival in an Italian city (Padua) in the sixteenth cen­tury, after the manner of Berlioz in the overture Carnival Romain.
Symphony in E minor, No. 1, Op. 39 Sibelius
Andante ma non troppo--Allegro energico; Andante, ma non troppo lento; Scherzo, Allegro; Finale, Andante--Allegro molto
Jan Sibelius was born at Tarastehus, Finland, December 8, 1865.
Seven symphonies now stand as the contribution of this composer in the most important field of orchestral writing; the eighth is promised for next year. Although Sibelius has been made known to the American public by his shorter
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and more popular compositions, Valse triste and Finlandia, the larger works evi­dence a thorough command of the resources of the modern orchestra, an ex­pert technic of expression, and, most important of all, an imagination and source of inspiration which has given vitality and beauty to his musical thought, and a freedom from imitation of tradition in matters symphonic. In the writing of the seven symphonies, he has shown a capacity for honest evaluation of what his predecessors had achieved in this form, balanced with the courage to discard outworn modes of expression and the intuition to create anew such forms as are adequate for his immediate aesthetic needs. In his hands, the symphony as an art form undergoes major transformations. Whether these changes are a permanent influence only time can tell; it is sufficient to know that he is not slav­ishly filling out a pattern that the writers of the past created to meet the needs of their age.
The first two decades of Sibelius' life were spent in preparation for a legal career, including study at the University of Helsingfors. Some early essays in the composition of music, after a study of a German textbook on composition, convinced him that his metier was in music, not law. He transferred to the Helsingfors Conservatory for intensive study, and later went to Berlin and Vienna where he worked with Becker, Fuchs, and Goldmark. He returned to his native land in 1892 and the impression that his first works created resulted in his being granted a life stipend by the Finnish Government, which enabled him to devote all his time to composition.
The first symphony was composed in 1899 an( performed for the first time in Berlin by Robert Kejanns in July, 1900. It was first heard in America in 1902. It is being performed this afternoon for the first time in the concerts of the Choral Union and May Festival Series.
The following detailed analysis of the Symphony was prepared by Mr. Borowski for the programs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
I. Andante, ma non troffo, E minor, 2-2 time. The main movement is preceded by introductory material, which opens with the following theme, heard in a clarinet over a roll, ff, on the kettledrum:
Employment is given to this theme later in the work. Twenty-eight measures are devoted to this Introduction, and following it there is given out by the first violins the principal theme of the main movement (Allegro energico, 6-4 time) :
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FIFTH CONCERT
A subsidiary portion of this subject appears in the woodwind and later by the strings. A crescendo leads back to the opening subject, now presented fortissimo by the full orchestra. There is a sudden subsidence, and over a rustling tremolo in the strings and soft harmonies in the harp there comes the following idea in the two flutes:
piano ma marcato.
This theme is developed, particularly in the woodwind over syncopated figures in the strings, with this material in the woodwind:
The time becomes more hurried, and there is a crescendo, ending in B minor. This brings the Exposition to an end, and the Development sets in with a working out of a figure which had been derived from the second theme and partly from a marked motive from the Introduction. There are many chromatic ascending runs in the strings against descend­ing chromatic passages in the woodwind, and much employment is given to the subsidiary idea which had immediately followed the principal subject. A crescendo leads into the Recapitulation, whose principal theme (No. 2) is heard in the full orchestra. The second subject is reheard, somewhat modified; sonorous calls are given to the brass, and with these the movement comes to a conclusion.
II. Andante, ma non troffo lento, E-flat major, 2-2 time. After two introductory measures in the harp and horns the muted first violins and violoncellos in octaves announce the following subject:
Andante, ma non troppo lento.
A more vigorous passage for the woodwind, derived from No. 5, succeeds the principal theme, and this is followed by a new idea (un foco meno andante) for the bassoons and
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
taken up by the clarinet. A forte phrase, derived from No. 5, is developed, and a solo violoncello sings snatches of the first subject, accompanied by very soft triplets in the woodwind. Soon a new tlieme presents itself in the horn:
accompanied by harp arpeggios and a wavy figure in the violins. This is developed, and the opening subject is reheard. A more impetuous mood follows (trills in the woodwind), and the material which opened the movement is stormily developed. The movement ends softly and tranquilly with the principal theme.
III. Scherzo. Allegro, C major, 3-4 time. The characteristic figure of this scherzo appears in its principal subject, given out, after three measures of chords thrummed fizzicato in the lower strings, by the kettledrums and, immediately after them, by the first violins:
There are subsidiary ideas, but the figure in No. 7 is given important development. The trio (Lento, ma non troffo, E major) presents a new theme in the horns. A short quota­tion is made:
The woodwind take up a continuation of this, and the strings bring forward No. 8 once more. Following a descending chromatic run in the violins and violas, the first part of the movement is given modified repetition. The scherzo ends as it began, with the pizzicato chords in the strings.
IV. Finale (quasi una fantasia), Andante, E minor, 2-2 time. The movement opens with introductory material which is drawn from the melody which, in the first section of the symphony, had been announced by the clarinet (see No. 1). The main body of the movement begins (Allegro molto, 2-4 time) with its subject in the woodwind. A phrase is quoted:
FIFTH CONCERT
A derivative motive is bandied about by the strings, and after a vigorous working over of this the second theme {Andante assai, C major) is broadly presented by the violins:
Following this there comes a restatement of the first theme of the slow movement (No. 5) in the first violins and violoncellos (harp passages and a syncopated figure in the other strings against it). The former temfo returns (Allegro molto), and the principal subject is made the basis of a fugato. This is worked up to a great climax and, after a sudden subsidence, the clarinet sings the second theme (No. 10) with a triplet figure buzzing against it in the violoncellos. All the strings (except the double-basses) take up this theme forte, and it is passionately developed. Another great climax is attained, but the move­ment ends with a sudden fiano.
Concerto in C minor, No. 1, for Two Pianos and Strings . . Bach
Allegro; Adagio; Allegro Guy Maier and Lee Pattison
Johann Sebastian Bach was born at Eisenach, March 21, 1685; died at Leipzig, July 28, 1750.
Bach evinces considerable interest in the concert as a form for the expres­sion of his ideas for instruments. For the harpsichord or clavichord of his day he wrote seven concertos for a single performer with accompaniment of strings; for zwei Claviere with strings, he left three, No. I in C minor, No. 2 in C major, and No. 3 in C minor; for three solo instruments with strings he com­posed two. As Bach left no indications on the scores as to the dates of com­position, it is difficult to place the concerto on this afternoon's program in a par­ticular year of his development. From the evidence in the welding together of the keyboard instruments and strings into a complementary unity, it is safe to assume that the concerto No. I belongs to his mature period or was at least revised during those years. The free flow of the counterpoint between soloists and strings, the compactness of the structure and the absence of fantasia or bravura passages to exploit the capacity of the keyboard instruments, at the ex­pense of the accompanying instruments, suggests that Bach conceived the con­certo of his day as a problem in chamber music rather than a means of glori­fication of the technical skill of the solo performer. The three movements are: Allegro, 4-4 time, C minor; Adagio, 12-8 time, E-flat major; Allegro, 2-4 time, C minor.
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"Natchez-on-the-Hill" (Three Virginian Country Dances),
Op. 30 Powell
John Powell was born at Richmond, Virginia, September 6, 1882.
An impressive and diversified list of compositions has placed Powell in a con­spicuous place among contemporary American composers, and his recital tours have made him known to lovers of piano music throughout the country. His early musical training in his native city was supplemented by the study of the piano with Leschetizky and composition with Nawratil in Vienna. Mr. Powell is a graduate of the University of Virginia with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and by avocation is an astronomer.
For the first performance of "Natchez-on-the-Hill" at the Worcester (Massachusetts) Festival, October, 1931, the composer contributed the follow­ing material:
This piece is a setting of three traditional Virginia fiddle tunes: "Natchez-on-the-Hill," "The Hog-Eyed Man," and "The War-Whoop." All three are authentic old dance tunes in particularly fine versions and unusually well preserved. They came to Mr. Powell from Mrs. John Hunter, just as she used to dance them, when--as Miss Polly Boston-she heard them played by her grandmother in Louisa County, Virginia.
The tunes are remarkable not only for their charm of local color, their ear-taking melodiousness, their foot-compelling lilt, which are irresistibly captivating to all hearers whether musically versed or not, but even more on account of aesthetic qualities which only the trained musician can appreciate. In beauty of melodic line and structure, in sustained length of phrase, with delightful surprise of punctuation by emphasis on unexpected degrees of the scale, the unfailing pointing of climax with cunning preparation therefor, the inex­haustible diversity, freshness, and vigor of rhythmic effects both in measureand phrase-rhythms, keep the interest continuously tense and alert. Most remarkable, however, is the organic quality of their structure. These tunes are not the result of accretion, not pieced together in mechanical sequences, but living entities that grow into being like organisms. That is the reason why, with all their saucy nonchalance and their exuberant spontaneity, the ultimate impression is that of a gracious elegance of a chaste and classic nobility.
The tune, "Natchez-on-the-Hill," is one of a large group of variants deriving from the old (probably Tudor) English country dance, "Old Mother Oxford." It is in every way worthy of its ancient and honorable lineage, although I feel sure it would never deny its close kinship with its more boisterous cousin, "Turkey in the Straw." The name re­calls an interesting and forgotten bit of last century history, when Mississippi was the frontier of this country, and conditions there were similar to those in California some­what later. A short quotation from "High Stakes and Hair Trigger," by R. W. Winston of Williams College, will vividly present the picture:
"On Mississippi soil, indeed, long before the Civil War everything converged to a mighty tragedy. Time, place and circumstances had met. The actors, too, were fitted to play their parts. Thither adventurers had flocked by thousands. Mississippi was the melting-pot of America; aristocrats from the worn-out lands of Virginia and Carolina settled near Natchez, Washington, and Woodville; roughnecks from Georgia, Tennessee and Pennsyl[50]
FIFTH CONCERT
vania, and from foreign lands, pre-empted the rich bottom lands. Today we drink, tomor­row we die! was the Mississippi motto. Duels were of frequent occurrence. Natchez-under-the-Hill typified the times--barrooms, dives, brothels, gamblinghells, courtesans, murderers, highwaymen--the offscourings of the earth--thugs from the four corners of the world, made up Natchez-under-the-Hill. And yet, just above the bluff was Natchez proper, Natchez-on-the-Hill, a comely city with banks, churches, residences ornate and beautiful, and a theater where Booth and Barrett filled an engagement of nine nights."
The sordid criminal background so dramatized and threw into vivid relief the refine­ment and elegance of Natchez-on-the-Hill that it came to personify these qualities, highly prized throughout the South, and gave its name to the widely-loved folk-tunes, which so aptly embodied them. In a way, "Natchez-on-the-Hill" typified the whole South, led by its "quality," dancing gaily and gallantly on the verge of the abyss. And this condition left its impress on the tunes to which they danced--certainly not to their aesthetic detriment.
"The Hog-Eyed Man" is of even greater antiquity than the preceding tune, as evinced by the fact that it is in the Aeolian mode. More vigorous in rhythm, its minor third and flatted seventh keep it hovering between plaintiveness and whimsicality with an effect not unlike that of certain Celtic dance tunes.
"The War-Whoop," sturdiest and most unrestrained of the three, is nevertheless of far more complicated anatomy, and more than the other suggests Beethoven in a rollicking mood.
Ballad, "King Estmere," for Two Pianos and Orchestra . Sowerby Mr. Maier and Mr. Pattison
Leo Sowerby was born at Grand Rapids, Michigan, May i, 1895.
"King Estmere" was one of the compositions written by Mr. Sowerby while he was the holder of the Prix de Rome in the first few years of the decade just past. Both Mr. Sowerby and Mr. Hanson were recipients of this most dis­tinguishing award to young Americans and were in Rome together during a portion of their periods of study. The Ballad was written in 1922 and first per­formed at the Augusteo Rome, April 9, 1923, under the baton of Albert Coates. The interpreters of the, pianoforte parts were the composer and Mr. Carlo Zeechi.
Mr. Sowerby derived his inspiration for this composition from the poem "King Estmere," which is to be found in the collection "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry" edited by Thomas Percy. The orchestral score contains a statement by the composer of the "plot" of the literary poem and the moods he has selected for the basis of his tone poem.
The ballad of King Estmere tells of the love of King Estmere for a bright and shining princess, the daughter of King Adland. This love is contested by the paynim King of Spain, but King Estmere and his brother and constant companion Adler, by means of a certain magic, disguise themselves as harper and servant and boldly make their way into the hall where the wedding between the paynim and the princess is about to be
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
celebrated. By their playing and singing, which become ever more passionate, they en­chant the fair lady, and after a struggle kill the "foule Sowdan," whose soldiers are put to flight.
The music makes little attempt at being descriptive, but gives only a tone picture of the different characters. For example, the first part of the piece presents to us the youth­ful, frank, and jovial brothers, Estmere and Adler, while the succeeding quiet section is a presentation of the "bright and sheene" princess. Then there is a motive which represents the "gramarye" or magic which served the brothers so well, and then we hear the harp and song which it accompanied. This mounts ever higher, and though from time to time it is interrupted by the Spanish king's coarse exhortation to his followers to give fight to the charmed brothers. The struggle ensues, and at the climax this "leever on Mahomed" receives his death blow. The close of the piece is only the "happy ever after" conclusion which all of us who have loved these old tales have known from our childhood.
SIXTH CONCERT
Saturday Evening, May 20
"MERRY MOUNT" (Concert Form) Hanson
An opera in three acts and six scenes
Libretto by Richard L. Stokes
World premiere, by special permission of the Metropolitan Opera Association
Conducted by the Composer
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Faint-Not Tinker, a sentinel George Galvani
Samoset, an Indian chief Herman Skoog
Desire Annable, a sinner Rose Bampton
Jonathan Banks, a Shaker . . . . . . . Robert Miller
Wrestling Bradford, a clergyman . . . John Charles Thomas
Plentiful Tewke Rose Bampton
Praise God Tewke, her father and elder of the congregation . Chase Baromeo Myles Brodrib, captain of the trainband .... George Galvani
Peregrine Brodrib, his son Marjorie McClung
Love Brewster ) Â