UMS Concert Program, May 9, 10, 11, And 12, 1934: The Forty-first Annual May Festival -- Glenn D. Mcgeoch

Season: 1933-1934
Complete Series: 2198
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Official Program
orty-first c4nnual
May Festival
9 3 4
University of Michigan
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Official Frogram of
orty-first clnnual
May Festival
May 9, 10, u, and 12, 1934 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Published by
The University Musical Society
Ann Arbor, Michigan
1934
THE 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.
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 tax admissions to concerts given under its auspices.
[2]
UNIVERSITY MU SI CAL SOCIETY
CHARLES A. SINK, PRESIDENT
EARL V. MOORE, MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Fifty-Fifth Season
First May Festival Concert
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan Wednesday Evening, May 9, at 8:15
SOLOIST
Rosa Ponselle, Soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Frederick Stock, Conductor
PROGRAM
Prelude and Fugue ("St. Anne's"), E-flat major ..... Bach-Stock
Aria, "Bel Raggio Lusinghier" ("Serniramide") Rossini
Rosa Ponselle
"La Mer" (The Sea) Debussy
From Dawn to Noon at Sea
Gambols of the Waves
Dialogue Between the Wind and Sea
Arias, "Addio del Passato" ("La Traviata") Verdi
"Chanson Boheme" ("Carmen") Bizet
Miss Ponselle
intermission
Rapsodie Espagnole Ravel
Prelude a la Nuit; Malaguena; Habanera; Feria
Songs with Piano:
Freschi Luoghi Prati Aulenti . . . ... . Stefano Donaudy
Marietta's Lied ("Die Tote Stack") Erich Korngold
Rispetto E. Wolf-Ferrari
Si Tu Le Voulais F. Paolo Tosti
My Lover He Comes on a Ski; Clough--Leighter
Miss Ponselle Mr. StuarV Ross at the Piano
Encores only after the conclusion of the -program. ¦
The Steinway Piano and the Skinner Organ are the official concert instruments of the University Musical Society
The Second May Festival Concert will takfc=place Thursday evening, May 10, at 8:15 o'clock. The public is respectfully requested to be in their seats at the beginning of the concert, as the doors will be closed during numbers.
IMPORTANT NOTICES
HOLDERS OF SEASON TICKETS are respectfully requested to detach and present for admission at each concert the respective individual coupons from their season tickets instead of presenting the entire season ticket.
INQUIRY REGARDING lost and found articles should be made at the office of Shirley W. Smith, Vice-President and Secretary of the University, in University Hall.
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 amusement tax admissions to concerts given under its auspices.
THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION of the University School of Music will hold its annual luncheon (open to faculty, graduates, former students and friends) at the Michi­gan League, Saturday, May 12, at 11:30 o'clock. Tickets, including dues, $ .75.
THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC will conduct a summer session of eight weeks as a part of the regular Summer Session of the University of Michigan, beginning June 25. Courses in all branches of music will be provided. The courses during the summer session are designed to meet the needs of two types of students : those who wish to con­tinue their regular studies during the summer, and secondly, those who are profession­ally engaged during the academic year but who wish to take special work, or to coach along some particular line. A copy of the summer school announcement, or the annual Announcement for 1934-1935, will be sent to any address upon application.
TRAFFIC REGULATIONS: By direction of the Ann Arbor Police Department and the Buildings and Grounds Department of the University, traffic regulations will be enforced hereafter, as follows:
Through traffic will be prohibited on North University Avenue in front of the Audi­torium during concerts. Taxicabs and buses will be permitted to unload and load on North University Avenue in front of the Auditorium. Private cars will unload and load at the side entrances on Thayer and Ingalls Streets.
Also, on the occasion of intermissions, concert attendants who step outside the building, intending to return for the balance of the concert, will be required to present their ticket stubs to the officers at the outer doors on reentering the building.
The Ann Arbor Police Department, the Buildings and Grounds Department, and the University Musical Society will appreciate the sympathetic cooperation of concert goers in conforming with these regulations which are intended to facilitate and simplify the problem of handling the large audiences.
EXHIBITION--May Festival guests are invited to visit the Fifth Annual Exhibi­tion of Sculpture sponsored by the Division of Fine Arts. Display of creative studies by Professor Avard Fairbanks and students. Daily in Michigan League Building.
THE FORTY-FIRST MAY FESTIVAL
CONDUCTORS
Earl V. Moore, Musical Director
Frederick Stock, Orchestral Conductor
Eric DeLamarter, Associate Conductor
Juva Higbee, Conductor of Young People's Festival Chorus
SOLOISTS
Sopranos
Lucrezia Bori Rosa Ponselle
Jeannette Vreeland
Contralto Coe Glade
Arthur Hackett
Tenors Paul Althouse
Baritone Theodore Webb
Bass Chase Baromeo
Pianist Mischa Levitzki
Violinist
GUILA BUSTABO
Organist Palmer Christian
Stuart Ross
Accompanists
Mabel Ross Rhead
@@@@ORGANIZATIONS
Chicago Symphony Orchestra University Choral Union Young People's Festival Chorus Stanley Chorus
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Notices and Acknowledgments
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 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 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 Young People's Chorus, 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; and to Miss Mar­garet Martindale, Director of the Stanley Chorus, for the training of that organization for its initial Festival appearance.
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 9, at 8:15
SOLOIST
Rosa Ponselle, Soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Frederick Stock, Conductor
PROGRAM
Prelude and Fugue ("St. Anne's"), E-flat major .... Bach-Stock
Aria, "Bel Raggio Lusinghier" ("Semiramide") Rossini
Rosa Ponselle
"La Mer" (The Sea) . Debussy
From Dawn to Noon at Sea
Gambols of the Waves
Dialogue Between the Wind and Sea
Arias, "Addio del Passato" ("La Traviata") Verdi
"Chanson Boheme" ("Carmen") Bizet
Miss Ponselle
intermission
Rapsodie Espagnole Ravel
Prelude a la Nuit; Malaguena; Habanera; Feria
Songs with Piano:
Freschi Luoghi Prati Aulenti Stefano Donaudy
Marietta's Lied ("Die Tote Stadt") Erich Korngold
Rispetto E. Wolf-Ferrari
Si Tu Le Voulais F. Paolo Tosti
My Lover He Comes on a Ski Clough-Leighter
Miss Ponselle Mr. Stuart Ross at the Piano
Encores only after the conclusion of the ¦program.
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SECOND MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Thursday Evening, May io, at 8:15 soloists
Jeannette Vreeland, Soprano Paul Althouse, Tenor
Palmer Christian, Organist University Choral Union
Chase Baromeo, Bass Mischa Levitzki, Pianist
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Earl V. Moore and Frederick Stock, Conductors
PROGRAM
"The Seasons" Haydn
An Oratorio for Soprano, Tenor, and Bass Soli, Mixed Chorus, Orchestra, and Organ
Jeannette Vreeland, Paul Althouse, and Chase Baromeo, and the University Choral Union
SPRING
Overture
Behold where surly Winter flies, Recitative
Come, gentle Spring, Chorus
At last the bounteous sun, Recitative
With joy th' impatient husbandman, Air
Laborious man hath done his part, Recitative
Be propitious, bounteous Heaven, Trio and Chorus
Our fervent pray'rs are heard, Recitative and Air
God of light, Chorus
SUMMER
Her face in dewy veil conceal'd, Recitative
Lol now aslant the glitt'ring earth, Recitative
Haill 0 glorious sun!, Chorus
O how pleasing to the senses, Air
Behold! slow settling o'er the lurid grove,
Recitative Hark! the deep tremendous voice, Chorus
AUTUMN
Overture
Ye swains, now hasten, Recitative
Ye gay and painted fair, Duet
Lol where the plenteous harvest wav'd,
Recitative
Ere yet the orient sun, Recitative Hark! the mountains resound, Chorus
WINTER
Introduction
Now sinks the pale declining year, Recitative
A crystal pavement lies the lake, Recitative
The trav'ller stands perplex'd, Air
Here grey-hair'd father sits, Recitative
Let the wheel move gaily, Chorus
Truth only lasts, Recitative
Then comes the dawn, Trio and Double Chorus
INTERMISSION
Concerto in G minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 22 . . . Saint-Saens Andante sostenuto; Allegro scherzando; Presto
Mischa Levitzki
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THIRD MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Friday Afternoon, May ii, at 2:30
SOLOIST
Guila Bustabo, Violinist Young People's Chorus Stanley Chorus
Orchestral Accompaniment Eric DeLamarter and Juva Higbee, Conductors E. William Doty, Organist
PROGRAM
Allegro from Concerto No. 2 in F major for Trumpet
and Strings ("Brandenberg") Bach
Songs:
On Wings of Song Mendelssohn
Hedge Roses Schubert
Blue Danube Waltz J. Strauss
Young People's Chorus
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for
Violin and Orchestra, Op. 28 Saint-Saens
Guila Bustabo
Cantata, "The Ugly Duckling" English
Young People's Chorus
intermission
Premiere Symphonie ("Le Printemps") Milhaud
Allant; Chantant; Et vif
By the Rivers of Babylon Loeffler
The Stanley Chorus
Andante and Rondo-Allegro from "Symphonie Espagnole"
for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 21 Lalo
Miss Bustabo
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FOURTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Friday Evening, May it, at 8:15
SOLOIST
Lucrezia Bori, Soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Frederick Stock, Conductor
. PROGRAM Fantaisie, "A Night on a Bare Mountain" Moussorgsky
Aria, "Voi che sapete" ("Marriage of Figaro") Mozart
Lucrezia Bori
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 Brahms
Allegro non troppo; Andante moderato; Allegro giocoso; Allegro energico e passionato
INTERMISSION
Recitative and Aria of Lia ("L'Enfant Prodigue") ..... Debussy
Miss Bori
Sailor's Dance ("Pavot Rouge") Gliere
Aria, "Depuis le Jour" ("Louise") Charpentier
Miss Bori
Encores only after the conclusion of the program.
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FIFTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Saturday Afternoon, May 12, at 2:30
soloists
Jeannette Vreeland, Soprano Arthur Hackett, Tenor
Coe Glade, Contralto Theodore Webb, Bass
University Choral Union Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Frederick Stock, Conductor
PROGRAM
Overture to "Coriolanus," Op. 62 Beethoven
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 Beethoven
Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso; Molto vivace; Adagio molto e can-tabile; Choral finale: Schiller's "Hymn to Joy"
Miss Vreeland, Miss Glade, Mr. Hackett, and Mr. Webb University Choral Union
intermission
Tone Poem, "Ein Heldenleben," Op. 40 Strauss
The Hero
The Hero's Adversaries
The Hero's Companion
The Hero's Battlefield
The Hero's Mission of Peace
The Hero's Escape from the World--Conclusion
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SIXTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
Saturday Evening, May 12, at 8:15
SOLOISTS
Jeannette Vreeland, Soprano Coe Glade, Contralto
Palmer Christian, Organist University Choral Union
Paul Althouse, Tenor Chase Baromeo, Bass
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Earl V. Moore, Conductor
PROGRAM
A Song of Peace ("Ein Friedenslied"), Op. 19 Heger
American Premiere
An Oratorio in Five Songs for Soli, Chorus, Orchestra, and Organ The English Version arranged from Holy Writ by Earl V. Moore
part 1
FIRST SONG
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, Chorus
The Heavens declare the glory of God, Tenor Solo
O the depth of the riches, Quartet
He is a jealous God, Chorus
Praise ye the Lord, Quartet
For He is gracious, Quartet and Chorus
SECOND SONG
Woe, woe to those that dwell, Chorus And there arose up a war, Tenor Solo There arose up a tumult, Chorus 0 Lord how are they increased, Tenor Solo
Yea the sword is made sharp, Chorus Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, Bass Solo Woe, woe to those that dwell, Chorus A voice was heard, Alto Solo Weep ye with the weepers, Quartet And many heroes, Chorus
THIRD SONG
Lord thou hast shown harsh things, Chorus
All things that befall Thee, Bass and Tenor Duet
It is a goodly thing, Quartet
But they that wait upon the Lord, Chorus
For by our faith. Quartet and Chorus
INTERMISSION PART II
FOURTH SONG
How lovely are, Alto and Soprano Duet Look ye, from the mountains, Chorus How lovely are, Quartet and Chorus Blessed are the peace makers, Chorus The Lord is my Shepherd, Soprano Solo I will lay me down, Chorus In that day shall the branch of the Lord,
Tenor Solo
Make yourselves glad, Chorus He shall speak peace unending, Quartet and Chorus
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FIFTH SONG
Lord, God, wherefore hast thou smitten us,
Chorus
I am the Lord, Bass Solo and Chorus Lord, God, Thou hast been our refuge, Tenor Solo Whom have I in Heaven,
Soprano Solo and Quartet Lord, as the Heavens are wide, Chorus Lord Thy glorious Name, Quartet and Chorus
DESCRIPTIVE PROGRAMS
BY
GLENN D. MCGEOCH
COPYRIGHT
By the University Musical Society 1934
FIRST CONCERT
Wednesday Evening, May 9
Prelude and Fugue ("St. Anne's"), E-flat major .... Bach (Transcribed for Modern Orchestra by Frederick A. Stock)
Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 21, 1685, at Eisenach; died July 28, 1750, at Leipzig.
The Prelude and Fugue on this program was composed for organ by Bach during his residence at Leipzig and was included in the third part of the master's "Clavieriibung," a collection of instrumental works which Bach began publish­ing in 1726. The third part, that containing the E-flat major prelude and fugue, appeared in 1739.
The title "St. Anne," which has been given to Bach's E-flat major fugue in English-speaking countries, is concerned with the circumstance that the sub­ject of the work is identical with the opening of the hymn "St. Anne," set to the text "O God our help in ages past." The composer of the tune is supposed to have been Dr. William Croft.
"The Prelude," wrote Sir C. H. H. Parry (Johann Sebastian Bach, Lon­don, 1909), "is indeed massive and dignified, but unusually harmonic and melo­dious in style, and the details of the texture are by no means so characteristic as is usual in Bach's organ works. It was certainly written under Italian influences and contains many traces of the Italian concerto type in passages which suggest alternations of tutti and soli. The Fugue is certainly one of the most perfect and finished of Bach's works of the kind. It has the peculiarity of being in three defi­nite portions--all centralizing on the same subject, though presenting different treatment of it, and at the same time manifesting a gradual growth of complexity and vivacity up to the majestic and imposing close."
The arrangement of the E-flat major prelude and fugue by Mr. Stock was made in 1931. The work is scored for four flutes (two of them interchangeable with piccolos), three oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bas­soons, double bassoon, four horns, four trumpets, four trombones, two tubas, kettledrums, side drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, sleigh bells, gong, glocken­spiel, celesta, harp, and strings. The score bears the following inscription:
"To Eric DeLamarter, artist par excellence, and faithful friend."
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Aria, "Bel Raggio Lusinghier" ("Semiramide") .... Rossini
Rosa Ponselle
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born February 29, 1792, at Pisaro, Italy; died November 13, 1868, at Passy, France.
Semiramide was Rossini's last Italian opera. The work, the text of which was based by Rossini on Voltaire's "Semiramis," took Rossini only a little more than a month to compose. Much of Rossini's work was incredibly hasty in execu­tion and shallow in artistic purpose, so that its great popularity with a thoughtless public tended to turn operatic art back into the mere sensationalism of the old seventeenth and early eighteenth century Neapolitan style at its worst, and direct­ly away from the dignified reform ideas of Gluck and the dramatic veracity of Mozart.
Rossini's art and career present many contradictory elements, however. He had tremendous native verve and vivacity, coupled with obvious gifts of melody and movement in his expression. He greatly extended the range of Italian operatic technique, both on the side of lyric ornamentation and in enriching the orchestral texture of his accompaniments. In fact, so far did this opera Semi­ramide depart from the conventional Italian style that he was charged by his critics of "imitating the Germans, and smothering his concerted pieces and cho­ruses by the overwhelming weight of his orchestra." It was probably for this reason that the opera when first performed did not meet with a kindly reception from the Venetians. But what would these critics have said, could they have heard the instrumentation of a Wagner or a Strauss before Semiramide! Al­though Rossini did display a sparkling genius, a raciness of humor, a daring in discarding conventions, and an invention in construction that reminds one of Mozart at times, his appreciation for the higher values of the musical drama was slight, if indeed he was capable of understanding it at all. The charm of lyricism for its own sake, the unblushing attempt to captivate audiences by brilliant and unexpected effects, the typical Italian love for delectability of melody, for bril­liant embellishment, for momentum and dash--these were his dominating artis­tic impulses.
The action of Semiramide takes place in Babylon. Semiramide, the queen, assisted by her lover, Assur, has murdered her husband, King Ninus. One of the queen's warriors, Arsaces, in reality her own son, returns victorious from the wars. Semiramide, ignorant of his parentage, has a secret passion for him and is about to elect him as heir to her throne. At midnight Semiramide, Assur, and Arsaces meet at the tomb of Ninus, and by mistake Assur stabs Semiramide in­stead of Arsaces, who in turn kills Assur.
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FIRST CONCERT
The Aria, "Bel Raggio Lusinghier" (Bright Gleam of Hope) occurs in the eighth scene of Act I and is sung by Semiramide as she is about to welcome Arsaces. It is a brilliant and imposing aria in Rossini's best style. A free trans­lation from the Italian text follows:
"Bright hope bids sorrow fly, for Arsaces has returned to me. Once more my heart is free from pain, and my grief and sadness, like stormy clouds, break and depart."
La Mer (The Sea) . Debussy
From Dawn to Noon at Sea
Gambols of the Waves
Dialogue Between the Wind and Sea
Claude Debussy was born August 22, 1852, at Saint Germain; died March 26, 1918, at Paris.
Debussy's Style is eminently individual and poetic. He became the leader in the movement toward impressionistic expression not simply for its pictorial effect but as the embodiment of delicate and subtle inner experience. For the accom­plishment of this highly subjective conception of music, he did not hesitate to di­verge from established notions of tonal construction, utilizing scale series that were unusual (whole-tone scale), seeking novel harmonic procedures, tending toward plastic and even vague rhythmic patterns, and was in all his work more interested in color and contrast than in design and contour.
"The Sea" is scored for the following orchestra: two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, three bassoons, double bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two cornet-a-pistons, three trombones, bass tuba, three kettle­drums, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, gong, glockenspiel, two harps, and strings. An analysis of the three movements of "The Sea" is neither possible nor desirable. Form, as such a thing was understood by the classical masters, did not ordinarily enter into Debussy's artistic calculations. "No fixed rule," said the composer of "La Mer," "should guide the creative artist; rules are established by works of art, not for works of art. One should seek discipline in freedom not in the pre­cepts of a philosophy in its decline--that is good only for those who are weak. I write music only in order to serve Music as best I can and without any other intention; it is natural that my works should incur the risk of displeasing people who like 'certain' music, and perseveringly stick to it alone."
Debussy set forth his attitude to academic music in another statement made in 1911 to an interviewer for the Paris paper Excelsior. "It is for love of music," he said, "that I strive to rid it of certain sterile traditions that enshroud it. It is a free, a spontaneous art, an open-air art, an art to be measured with the
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
elements--the winds, the sky, the sea. It must not be made confined and scho­lastic." This doctrine sounded more revolutionary in the early years of the cen­tury than it does today; and the music of "La Mer" itself will prove similarly clear and reasonable by comparison with many more adventurous pieces which have since been produced.
We have never been able to translate into words the tongue of winds and waves, but it may be that Debussy, through the mysterious power of music, has here caught for us the true intimations of its meaning.
Aria, "Addio del Passato" "(La Traviata") Verdi
Rosa Ponselle
Giuseppi Verdi was born October 9, 1813, at Roncole, Italy; died January 17, 1901, at Milan.
Like Rossini, Verdi possessed the ardor of his race, but he united with it decided intellectual acumen and studiousness and large resources of imagination and constructive judgment. His natural Italian gift for melody was vivified by fresh devices of rhythm and harmony, and was energized by an outstanding command of counterpoint and instrumentation which he developed as a result of coming into the musical shadow of Richard Wagner.
The opera La Traviata is a transitional work in Verdi's artistic develop­ment. It followed his early traditional Lombardi and heroically melo­dramatic Ernani and preceded his mature masterpieces, A'ida, Otello, and Fahtajf. The plot of ha Traviata is drawn from the well-known novel by Dumas, Camille. The aria on this evening's program occurs at the end of Act III when Violetta sings her pathetic farewell to life. The text in free trans­lation is as follows:
"World of sorrow, I leave you forever. Hope has perished, and I dream in vain. From sorrow and pleasure I take my leave to seek salvation and consolation. The grave shall hide me in oblivion and no cross nor flower shall betray me to the scorn of the world."
Aria, "Chanson Boheme ("Carmen") Bizet
Miss Ponselle
Georges Bizet was born October 25, 1838, at Paris; died June 3, 1875, at Bougival.
Georges Bizet was not a prolific composer. He wrote few works. Yet, had he created nothing but his immortal Carmen, his fame would still be as great. With this amazing work he presented a most significant contribution to operatic literature. Here is in truth a drama in music. His genius was most distinctive in
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FIRST CONCERT
his vivid characterizations, in a certain intensity of imaginative delineation, and in a brilliant orchestration full of scintillating color and capable of graphic descrip­tive powers.
The aria on tonight's program appears at the very opening of Act II. The scene is the tavern of Lillas Pastia in the suburbs of Seville. As the curtain rises upon a riotous scene of color and movement, Carmen is heard singing this wild gypsy song, amid the reckless merriment and gaiety of the crowd, which joins her in its exhilarating refrain. A free translation follows:
"At the sound of gay guitars, the gypsies spring up and dance merrily. The tam­bourines beat in rhythm to their music, and every voice is raised in gladsome song."
Rapsodie Espagnole Ravel
Prelude a la Nuit; Malaguena; Habanera; Feria
Maurice Ravel was born March 7, 1875, at Ciboure.
(Descriptive Analysis by Felix Borowski)
The fondness of Ravel for Spanish themes--as exemplified in this rhapsody, in the Alborado del grazioso, the Habanera, the opera "L'Heure Espagnole," the Bolero, and in other works--is reasonably explained by the circumstance that he was born practically on the Spanish border, and in his childhood, as his biog­rapher Roland Manuel has said, was "lulled to sleep by the ancient songs of Spain." The Rapsodie Espagnole was written in 1907 and was published with a dedication to Charles de Beriot--Ravel's piano teacher at the Paris Conserva­toire--the following year. The first performance of the work was given at Colonne Concert, Paris, March 19, 1908. The Rapsodie Espagnole was re­ceived with considerable applause, and, indeed, the enthusiasm which followed the interpretation of the second movement--the malaguena--was so great that Colonne was constrained to repeat it.
I. Prelude a la Nuit. Almost the entire movement is based on the figure set forth at the commencement by the muted violins and violas. Fourteen measures later the clarinet brings forward a short subject, which is also repeated at the end by solo strings. The movement is twice interrupted by cadenzas for two clarinets and for two bassoons respectively, the latter being curiously accompanied by arpeggios in harmonics for solo violin, and trills for three other violins. The movement ends with a chord in harmonics for the divided violoncellos and doublebasses, leading into the next division.
II. Malaguena. This form belongs to the dance songs of southern Spain, which include also fandangos and rondinos. These are written usually in 3-8 time; Ravel's malaguena is, however, in 3-4.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
The movement opens with a figure in the double-basses which plays an important part in the construction of the piece, being repeated for twenty-nine measures, somewhat in the style of a basso ostinato. Shortly after the cessation of this figure the key changes from A minor to D major, and a new idea is brought forward by a muted trumpet, accompanied by the tambourine and pizzicato choirs in the strings. This having been worked over and brought to a climax, there is a sudden pause, and a declamatory solo is set forth in slow tempo by the English horn. There is a suggestion of the rhythmic figure of the opening movement given to the celesta and to solos in the strings. The figure in the basses, with which the movement had begun, now returns with chromatic de­scending figures in the flutes and clarinets above it.
Habanera. This movement was originally conceived in 1895. The ha­ banera, sometimes called contradanza criolla (Creole country dance), is Cuban, but it is said to have been introduced into Cuba by negroes who came to that island from Africa. The actual subject of the movement is heard in the wood­ wind after an introduction of eight measures, in which a syncopated figure for the clarinet plays; an important part. The theme is continued by a solo viola, and its opening portion repeated by the strings. A new idea is then brought for­ ward by the woodwind and first harp, its rhythm punctuated by the strokes of i. tambourine, the syncopated figure being constantly in evidence in the strings. This theme is worked over almost to the end of the movement, which comes with softly played harmonics in the harp with the syncopated rhythm at first in the violins, and lastly in the celesta.
Feria (The Fair). The movement is divided into three parts. The opening division is based on two ideas, the first of which, two bars long, is given out after four introductory measures by the flute. There is a curious passage for divided celli and double-basses. Some twenty-seven measures after the begin­ ning of the piece thq second idea is heard in three muted trumpets, its rhythm being reinforced by a tambourine. The figure is repeated by the oboes and English horn, the xylophone now accentuating the rhythm. This thematic idea is eventually brought forward, , by the full orchestra, and with this and the foregoing material the remainder of the division of the movement is occupied.
The second part of the piece opens with a solo for the English horn in slower temfo. This is continued by the clarinet. The third division consists of a re­development--it is not altogether a repetition--of the material of the opening portion of the movement.
[18]
FIRST CONCERT
Songs with Piano:
Freschi Luoghi Prati Aulenti Donaudy
Marietta's Lied ("Die Tote Stadt") Korngold
Rispetto Wolf-Ferrari
Si Tu Le Voulais Tosti
My Lover He Comes on a Ski .... Clough-Leighter
Miss Ponselle
Freschi Luoghi Prati Aulenti Donaudy
Stefano Donaudy was born in 1879 at Palermo.
It has been the artistic aim of Donaudy in his songs to re-create for the modern world the exquisite lyricism of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Italy. This particular period in the history of Italian song was outstanding, for it saw not only the inception of the opera as a new art form, but its rapid spread throughout the whole world of music. The musical world owes a great debt to Italy of this period, for it was she who did so much to free melody from the fetters of medieval counterpoint and to popularize music generally. Donaudy has, with great respect and feeling for the old masters of this school, infused into their style an element of modernity in the freedom of his accompaniments and in new harmonic devices which he uses with subtle restraint.
"Freschi Luoghi Prati Aulenti" brings with it the flavor of the old Italian masters, in its easy-flowing, delectable, and essentially vocal melody. A free translation follows:
"Beloved retreat, serene and calm, once again I seek you, as in the days of my youth. The same dear objects greet me, even as then. And yet nothing stirs within me save bitter­ness for those dark hours when in the anguish of betrayal I learned that the first fruit of life is sorrow. I fled from your quiet shades. I crossed far seas and found love in others' eyes. But nothing can assuage the living grief of a heart that is betrayed when it turns to love as trustfully as to its God in prayer."
Marietta's Lied ("Die Tote Stadt") Korngold
Eric Korngold was born in 1897 at Briinn.
The action of Korngold's Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City) takes place near the end of the nineteenth century in the city of Bruges. There Paul lives in a secluded manner, cherishing the memory of his dead wife, Marie. In his house is a room consecrated to relics of the adored one. A company of players comes to the city, among them a dancer, Marietta, who bears a remarkable re­semblance to Paul's dead wife. Fancying that she is his wife's reincarnation, Paul transfers his affections to Marietta. At his invitation she comes to his house
[19]
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
and appears in the wife's sanctuary, wearing garments and speaking with a voice that calls to mind the dead Marie. Paul gives her his wife's lute, and, to humor him, the astonished Marietta agrees to sing an old ballad to its accompaniment-a song that Marie sang to him in the distant past.
"Joy, that true didst prove, Hold me fast, my faithful love. Evening closes grey Thou'rt my light and day.
"I remember the song: I heard it sung so often, In happier days gone by. It has another verse. Can I recall it
"Clouds may loom above, Hold me fast, my faithful love. Lie close on my heart, Death can never part. When the hour comes you must go, You will rise again, I know!"
Rispetto Wolf-Ferrari
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was born in 1876 at Venice.
The works of Wolf-Ferrari show a notable delicacy and refinement of con­ception and execution, combined with fine melodic invention and subtle use of rhythms. Nowhere are these characteristics more apparent than in his too-seldom-heard collection of art songs known as "Rispetti" ("Love Songs"). A free translation of this "Rispetto" follows:
"When your fair beauty appeared before me, you were as great as the sun in his glory. Scarce could I look upon you; silence came upon me. I knew then that my poor heart had flown to you. Do not deny me yours, my gentle young lover."
Si Tu Le Voulais Tosti
Francesco Paolo Tosti was born in 1847 at Ortona; died in 1916 at Rome.
Tosti was a noted Italian vocal teacher and song composer who wrote many effective songs in French, Italian, and English. He was not interested in the larger musical forms, but chose to work in the narrower field of the art song. A free translation of the text of "Si Tu Le Voulais" follows:
"Had you wished it, I would have lived again for you. My heart would have for­gotten its sorrows, and I would have had love and faith. Had you wished to possess my soul, it would have been yours. You could have had its dream and faith. Had you wished it, I would have smiled at all times, whether gay or sad. For I know of sweet songs to sing to lull the spirit and invite to dreams."
[20]
SECOND CONCERT
Thursday Evening, May 10
The Seasons Haydn
Jeannette Vreeland, Paul Althouse, Chase Baromeo, and the University Choral Union
Joseph Haydn was born March 31, 1732, atRohrau; died May 31, 1809, at Vienna.
Five years before the birth of Haydn in 1732, Alexander Pope had written the first version of the "Dunciad." When Haydn died in 1809, Walter Scott had just finished "Marmion," William Wordsworth was thirty-nine years of age and had eleven years before published his Romantic Manifesto in the "Lyrical Ballads." Haydn saw the birth and death of Mozart and lived until Beethoven was thirty-nine years of age.
In the seventy-seven years of his life, Haydn had witnessed and helped shape the great classic tradition in musical composition, and had lived to see his formal and serene classic world sink under the surging tide of Romanticism. He, himself, however, played no part nor reflected in his art that period of deep unrest at the end of the eighteenth century that resulted in the literary and philosophical insur­rection of which Goethe in Germany and Rousseau in France were representa­tive. Rousseau and the "Sturm und Drang" period in Germany had announced that an old civilization had broken up, and that a new one was about to appear. Swift progression was seething all over Europe; Beethoven had caught this spirit in his Eroica Symphony (1805) and the Appassionata Sonata (1806). But Haydn, living with his memories and gathering the few last laurels that were thrown at his feet, heard only the faintest echoes of these great works which tore at the very roots of musical expression and rent the whole fabric of musical forms.
The bombshells of Napoleon's army could be heard by Haydn as he lay dying near Vienna. He mitigated his servants' fear by confidently saying "There can come no evil where Haydn is," and, calling upon all of his strength, lie seated himself at his clavichord and played his Austrian hymn, "God Save the Em­peror," through three times. A few days later he was dead, and with him dis­appeared the even tenor and calm serenity of existence, so beautifully symbolized by his own life and so confidently expressed in his music. With Haydn died the classical tradition in music.
[21]
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Music was late in responding to the violent note of revolt against tradition for the sake of emotion, chiefly because music, in the eighteenth century was in a transitional state of technical development and was attempting to gain articula­tion and freedom through the cultivation of forms and designs that were unique to it. The opposition between classic and romantic principles in the second half of the eighteenth century, for this reason, was not as clearly defined in music as in literature. Haydn represents this period in music history; he systematized musical forms and he secularized expression. Not only did he realize the unique powers of music as an art in itself and evolve new forms, but he was the first composer to achieve the glorification of the natural music which exists in the hearts of the people, by elevating its essentially healthy and vigorous qualities into the realm of high art. It is beyond controversy that of the great masters of the German genius epoch, Haydn was the first to make himself intelligible to the masses. He spoke a musical language that appealed with the same directness to the skilled artist as to the merest layman. He disseminated his art among all. He was its true secularizer; he brought it to earth.
Haydn is the first master who in his character drawing introduces us to men and women like ourselves. He does not strive after the high ideals of his pred­ecessors. His characters live and move with us. The animating spirit of Bach is strong Lutheranism. Handel presents us to heroes of the Old Testament, to the classico-mythological era. Gluck's dramatis personae are Trojan warriors, priests, kings, and heroes of the antique tragedy. It is not until we come to Haydn that we witness the joy and sorrows of men and women of our own time and dwellers in our own land--the tiller of the soil, the wine presser, the shepherd, or homely figures like Simon the farmer, his daughter Anna, and the peasant Lucas in "The Seasons." But Haydn is more than the systematizer of form and the secularizer of expression. By token of his instrumentation he is in­deed the father of the modern orchestra. His predecessors, Bach and Handel, treated the instruments as though they were chorus, voice, or organ parts, which, according to their register, move in unison or octaves or are interwoven with the other parts. Haydn was the first master to treat the orchestra as a distinct factor, as one opposed to soli and chorus. With him the orchestra is an independent entity and when put in juxtaposition with the vocal element still moves its own way. His tone coloring is more massive, his combination more multiple, and the num­ber of his instruments is greater than that of his predecessors.
Haydn outlived Mozart eighteen years and it was during these years that he conceived "The Creation" and "The Seasons" and many of the symphonies that immortalize his name. The influence that his pupil Mozart exerted upon him cannot be ignored. Haydn's use of the clarinet (a favorite instrument with Mo[22]
SECOND CONCERT
zart), the more frequent use of muted strings, and the specific employment of particular instruments for special effects arising from combination of groups or portions of them all bear witness to the fact that Mozart's innovations in the manipulation of orchestral colors did not go to the grave with him.
To the true tone poet, orchestral music is the medium by which he can con­jure up in the mind of his audience the effect of external impressions on his own mind. If he wishes to present to the mental gaze pictures of landscapes or any of the multitudinous varying aspects and sounds in nature, he will not think of imitating them realistically. He will be unable to produce them with any approach to realism because the material of his art will not admit it. What he will endeavor to do will be to produce in the minds of others something of the same impres­sions and emotions which the subject has produced in him. Instances in the his­tory of vocal music are not wanting. The Elizabethan composers often made ingenious attempts at it, and the Italian masters of the same period excelled in it. But it was Haydn who transferred this vocal painting of nature and of impres­sions received from the external to the orchestra. He continually depicted the external with the orchestra alone. His presentation of chaos at the beginning of the "Creation" and the departure of winter storms in the opening measures of the "Seasons," painted in masses of tone color, produces in us clear impressions of these things. The "Creation" is full of naive attempts at picturing the phe­nomena in the world--the blast, the thunder, soft rain, beating hail, flaky snow, foaming billows, and softly purling streams. All this seems treason against the true spirit of music, but it is all so exquisitely executed that we can excuse the too literal imitation that is often attempted, for Haydn's whole heart was in nature. He loved to depict her in her various aspects and at all her seasons.
The "Seasons" not only reflects Haydn's love for nature, but it re-echoes one dominant note of his age and time--the universal demand for the return to everything identified with nature. "Lyric art can never be good where there is no intention to imitate nature," said Diderot. In France, Diderot, d'Alembert, Gluck, and others championed free thought in social, political, artistic, and moral questions, which protested against eighteenth century conceptions. In Haydn's Germany this protest was twofold. On the one hand it was negative against established authority, on the other, positive in favor of nature. Goethe, Kant, Herder, the criticisms of Lessing, the return of an enthusiasm for Shakespeare, the mania for Ossian literature and northern mythology, the revival of ballad literature--all expressed one universal cry for a return to the natural. For the young German writers, contemporary with Haydn, nature meant volcanoes and moonlight; to be insurgent, sentimental, explosive, and lachrymose. But for Haydn, nature meant the combination of the greatest variety into a perfect unity
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
and, as in nature, the giving to every part its individuality and separate life. Haydn's is the music of one who loves the earth and is sensitive to every impres­sion. He loses himself in its sights and sounds, gives himself up to the sensations and simple feelings they awaken. But unlike Lear, he makes no attempt to im­pose his moods upon nature. He is never introspective and his music is never subjective. He does not, in the Ossianic phrase, indulge in the "luxury of grief." He catches, rather, the harmony, the joy of nature, and we enjoy him as we do an easy conversation, or a morning walk, or the objective beauty that lies in any object's shape or color. His beauty is direct and obvious. There are those who believe there is more in the beauty of nature than can be perceived immediately, that nature is more than merely refreshing. For them Beethoven has written. Haydn's one theme is the charm, the worth, and the beauty of reality at the moment. His music does not attempt to express the passionate, striving soul, but rather the calm soul that finds joy and satisfaction in what it knows it already possesses.
In the "Seasons" as in the "Creation" Haydn caught the significance of every part of the text in his orchestra. His music is naively descriptive and full of nat­ural charm when it attempts to re-create the abundant imagery that is to be found in Thompson's colorful descriptions of nature.
In his music every thought takes on a grace of form. With a wholeness of impression, there is a lucidity in details, a neatness and elegance, and a perfect ease and clearness in the exposition of his ideas. All who enjoy clear writing, who rejoice to see expression achieved within the limits of graceful certainty, can feel comfortable with Haydn. He is always consistent, if not greatly original. His materials are used with strict economy; his perception is shrewd and business­like. He saw things simply, but he saw them well, and he recorded his impres­sions frankly, honestly, and without clouding them with too much imagination.
It is from Heinrich Heine that we shall take a definition of Haydn's poetic quality, altering the bearing of the passage which the author of "Reishilder" wrote about Monsigny. In the music of the "Seasons" we find "the serenest grace, an ingenuous sweetness, a freshness like the perfume of the woods, and natural truthfulness, and even poetry. No, this last quality is not absent, but it is poetry without the charm of mystery, without bitterness, irony, or morbidity. I might almost say the poetry of perfect health." In the "Seasons" Haydn re­stores us then to the glory of the commonplace; he refreshes our wearied spirits with his placid and even vivacity. Perhaps the splendors of expression to which masters of modern orchestral music have accustomed us have caused us to forget with what admirable simplicity of means old "Papa Haydn" has achieved so difficult a task. Let us not bring then too much modern criticism into our exam[24]
SECOND CONCERT
ination of the "Seasons" but rejoice with him in the beauty of the world.
It is particularly fitting that at this season of the year a work which depicts the passage from winter to spring and contains all the verdant freshness, the op­timism, and the vitalizing power of new life should be performed. The text fol­lows:
THE SEASONS Characters Represented
Simon (A Farmer) Bass Chase Baromeo
Jane (His Daughter), Sofrano Jeannette Vreeland
Lucas (A Young C'ountryman), Tenor Paul Althouse
Chorus of Country People and Hunters . . University Choral Union
SPRING
Overture
expressing the passage from winter to spring
Recitative
Simon
Behold where surly Winter flies! Far to the north he passes off. He calls his ruffian blasts: His ruffian blasts obey, And quit the howling1 hill.
Lucas
Behold, from craggy rocks the snow In livid torrents melted runs!
Jane
Forth fly the tepid airs,
And from the southern shores allure
The messenger of Spring.
Chorus
Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness,
come, And from her wintry grave bid drowsy
nature rise.
Girls and Women
See, gentle Spring delightful comes! The softness of its breath we feel,-The joy of renovating life!
Men
As yet the year is unconfirm'd, And oft the cold's returning blast With black envenom'd fog the bud and bloom destroys.
Chorus
Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness,
come!
And smiling on our plains descend; Come, gentle Spring, while music wakes
around.
Recitative, Simon
At last the bounteous sun
From Aries into Taurus rolls,
Wide spreading life and heat;
Up rise the fleecy clouds sublime,
And stretch their thin and silver wings
O'er all-surrounding heav'n.
[25]
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Air
With joy th' impatient husbandman
Forth drives his lusty team
To where the well-us'd plough remains,
Now loosen'd from the frost.
With measur'd step he throws the grain
Into the bounteous earth.
O sun, soft show'rs, and dews!
The golden ears in plenty bring. With joy th' impatient husbandman Forth drives his lusty team, To where the well-us'd plough remains, Now loosen'd from the frost j There freely yok'd, their toil begins, Cheer'd by the rustic lay.
Recitative, Lucas
Laborious man hath done his parts
And while his heart with hope expands,
That nature's friendly aid will richly
crown his toil, His ardent vows to Heav'n ascend.
Trio and Chorus Lucas
Be propitious, bounteous Heaven; O'er die hills and vales luxuriant Spread the rich autumnal feast!
Chorus Be propitious, etc.
Lucas O let the gales of grey-ey'd morning,
Simon Upon refreshing dewdrops breathing,
Jane
The genial sun and ev'ning show'r, With pow'r of produce bless the land.
Trio
The hopes of man shall then be crown'd, And songs of joy Thy praise shall tell.
Chorus Be propitious, etc.
Men
O let the gales of grey-ey'd morning, The genial sun and ev'ning show'r,
Women
The ev'ning show'r and genial sun, With pow'r of produce bless the land.
Chorus The hopes of man, etc.
Recitative (Accompanied), Jane
Our fervent pray'rs are heard;
Th' effusive southern breeze
Warms the wide air, with vernal show'rs
distent.
In heaps on heaps the vapours sail; And now their genial stores descend, Wide spreading o'er the freshen'd world.
Chorus
God of light! God of life! Hail, gracious
Lord!
Endless praise to Thee we'll sing, Almighty Lord of all.
SUMMER
Recitative
Lucas
Her face in dewy veil conceal'd, The meek-ey'd morn appears. With quicken'd step, at her approach, The lazy night retires.
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To gloomy cells repair The dismal tribes of fun'ral birds, And with their mournful cries No more the tim'rous heart appal.
Simon The crested harbinger of day
SECOND CONCERT
With lively chant the swain awakes,
Who from his cottage hies
To breathe the freshness of the morn.
Recitative, Jane
Lo, now aslant the glitt'ring earth,
In boundless majesty he looks;
And o'er the mountains, tow'rs, and
wand'ring streams, Resplendent glowing, spreads ethereal
gold.
Trio and Chorus
Hail, O glorious sun!
Thou source of light and life, all hail!
Let shouts of joy resound
Thy name throughout the world.
Air
O how pleasing to the senses Comes the sweet and cooling breeze! Beams the eye with joy expanded, As the stream of life pervades Th' invigorated frame. Delight uplifts the heart, And fancy's magic pow'r O'er nature bears the soul On sweet enchanted wing.
Recitative, Simon
Behold! slow settling o'er the lurid grove, Unusual darkness frowning broods; Through awful gloom the lightning
gleams
Eruptive from the clouds, And hark! from heaven's dark canopy The thunder growls.
Chorus
Hark! the deep tremendous voice
Of awful thunder roars!
The tempest howls around.
Away; ah, let us fly!
Flashes of livid flame dart thro' the air,
And from the bursting clouds the flood
In sundry torrents pours.
Heaven protect us!
Dreadful rage the winds; the sky is all in
flames.
Oh, what horror! O God! O God! The firm and deep foundations Of earth itself are moved. Peal on peal, with fearful crash, Convulsing heav'n, the thunder rolls!
AUTUMN
Overture
Recitative
Jane
Ye swains, now hasten to the bank, Where falls the winding brook; Ye virgins, come, their latest song For you the woodlands raise,-For you, amid the secret shade, The lover finds the clust'ring nuts!
Simon
And where the topmost bough Spreads forth its tempting fruit, He crushes down the tree, Or shakes a glossy show'r;
Then thro' the foliage spies The maid he loves approach, And sportive at her feet The rolling nuts he flings.
Lucas
Beneath the orchard's bending tree The smiling damsels stand, All like the fruit they gather up, Fair, ruddy, fresh, and sweet.
Duet Lucas
Ye gay and painted fair, O come, And mark the simple child of truth! No tricks of art her charms deform:
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Behold my Jane, behold!
The bloom of youth glows on her cheek;
Her smilingeye beams happiness;
And faith sincere breathes from her lips
When love to me she vows.
Jane
Ye false and idle swains, away!
Here lures of fraud are spread in vain;
And wily tales of passion feign'd
No list'ning ear shall find.
My eye no gaud of dress entices,-An honest heart is what I prize;
Fulfill'd are all my fondest wishes,
Whilst Lucas true remains.
Lucas
Leaves will fade and fall, Flow'rs and fruit decay, Days and years elapse; Not so my constant love.
Jane
Greener grows the leaf, Sweeter breathes the flow'r, Brighter shines the day, When love beams in thine eye.
Both
What delight, where mutual fervour Binds two hearts in fond affection! Death alone such bonds can break. Dearest maiden! Dearest Lucas! Love to faithful love responsive Is the highest pitch of rapture Heav'n bestows on mortal life.
Recitative, Simon
Lo! where the plenteous harvest wav'd, A dreary waste the plains appear; And where the cheerful song was heard, The fields, forsook, in silence lie. Now thro' the stubble limps the hare, With timid eye and doubtful step;
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Or moveless, with attentive ear, Sits fearful in her form. Anon the sportsman's voice Along the sounding vale is heard, And ready in the healthful chase The lusty swain assists his lord.
Recitative, Lucas
Ere yet the orient sun
Above the mountain's summit peers,
His fellow sportsmen to the chase
The early huntsman calls. Around his steps the busy pack With cheerful voice delighted throng.
Chorus
Hark! the mountains resound!
The vales and forests ring!
It is the shrilly-sounding horn!
The cry of the hounds and the huntsman!
The fear-aroused stag is up,
And eager men, horses, and dogs pursue.
He flies, he flies! behold how he bounds!
His rapid flight outstrips the wind.
Thro' copse and thicket, behold, now he
bursts!
And skims o'er the plains to the shelt'ring wood.
The pack are now at fault; And doubtful where to bend their course, They stray dispers'd around.
Tally ho! Tally ho! The hunter's voice and sounding horn Have brought them back again.
Ho! Ho! Ho! Tally ho! Tally ho! With ardour elated, rashly pours along O'er the plains the rejoicing throng.
Tally ho! Tally ho! Surrounded now on ev'ry side, His spirits and his vigour lost, Exhausted drops the trembling deer. And now the merry horn resounds, And clamorous shout the joyous crowds.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
SECOND CONCERT
WINTER
Introduction
expressing the thick fogs at the approach of winter
Recitative, Simon
Now sinks the pale declining year, And vapours, clouds, and storms descend; Thick mists pour down the mountain's side, Which soon envelop all the plain, And shroud the noontide sun, With mantle of impervious gloom.
Recitative, Lucas
A crystal pavement lies the lake; Arrested stands the rapid stream; And o'er the lofty cliff the torrent hangs With idle threat and seeming roar, The leafless woods no more resound, The fields are hid, the valleys chok'd With heaps immense of drifted snow; The dreary earth appears a grave, Where nature's splendour lies conceal'd; A death-like hue o'er all prevails, And o'er the wild and bleak expanse Pale desolation spreads her wings.
AlR
The trav'ller stands perplex'd
Uncertain and forlorn,
Which way his wand'ring steps to turn
Across the trackless waste.
And now reviv'd he springs,
With joyful panting breast,
To gain the welcome cot
Where all his pains may find relief!
Recitative, Simon
Here grey-hair'd father sits
And talks of years long past,
Of feats of valour in his youth perform'dj
Whilst round him clam'rous play
The wanton laughing boys.
The mother spins on the distaff,
On wheels the smiling daughters,
And render light their task With simple artless melody.
Chorus
Let the wheel move gaily, Singing as it circles.
Jane
Quickly, cheerly, let it turn. Twisting fine and tender threads, Virgin cheeks to shelter.
Chorus
Let the wheel move gaily, etc. Jane
Gentle weaver, make thy web Clear and fine, of dext'rous art, Gracing her that wears it.
Chorus
Let the wheel move gaily, etc. Jane
Pure within as fair without, Modest, gentle, heedful minds, Best secure affection.
Chorus Pure within, etc.
Recitative, Simon Truth only lasts, and like a light that
meets the eye Of shipwreck'd mariners, directs us thro'
life's storms, To everlasting peace and joy.
Trio and Chorus Simon
Then comes die dawn of that great morn, The Saviour's mighty voice awakes The dawn of second life, From pain and death for ever free.
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Lucas and Simon
The heavenly gates are lifted up, The hallow'd mount appears! And on its brow the holy seat, Where peace eternal dwells.
Jane, Lucas, Simon May we a like reward deserve! May our wishes, ev'ry action,
Chorus
All our labours, still unwearied, To that glory only tend,
Direct us in Thy ways, O God! Support us in the strife! In triumph thus may we ascend The holy mount of heav'nly bliss. Amen.
Concerto in G minor, No. 2, for Piano and Orchestra,
Op. 22 Saint-Saens
Andante sostenuto; Allegro scherzando; Presto
Mischa Levitzki
Camille Saint-Saens was born October 9, 1835, at Parii; died December 16, 1921, at Algiers.
The creation of Saint-Saens' second concerto was due to the suggestion made to the French master in April, 1868, by Anton Rubinstein, who proposed that the two should give a concert which Rubinstein should conduct. The first per­formance took place May 13, 1868. Saint-Saens himself played the solo part. Rather more than a year later Saint-Saens forwarded the score to Liszt, who was living at Rome. The interest of the Hungarian master's opinion of the work, sent to Saint-Saens in July, 1869, warrants its reproduction here:
"Your kind letter," wrote Liszt, "promised me several of your compositions; I have been expecting them, and, while waiting, I want to thank you again for your second con­certo, which I greatly applaud. The form of it is new and very happy; the interest of the three portions goes on increasing, and you take into just account the effect of the pianist without sacrificing anything of the ideas of the composer, which is an essential rule in this class of work. At the very outset the prelude on the pedal G is striking and imposing) after a very happy inspiration you do wisely to reproduce it at the end of the first move­ment and to accompany it this time with some chords. Among the things which particularly please me I note: The chromatic progression (last line of the prelude) and that which al­ternates between the piano and orchestra (from the last measure of page 5--repeated then by the piano alone, page 15) ; the arrangement of thirds and sixths in thirty-second notes, charmingly sonorous, pages 8 and 9, which opens superbly on the entry of the subject, fortissimo; the piquant rhythm of the second subject of the rfllegro scherzando, page 25. Possibly this would have gained somewhat by more combination and development, either of the principal subject or of some secondary subject; for instance, a little anodyne counter­point, it seems to me, would not be out of place on pages 26, 27, etc., etc., and so on.
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SECOND CONCERT
Idem for pages 50 to 54, in which the simple breadth of the period with the holding on of the accompaniment chords leaves rather a void. I should like there to be some incidence and polyphonic entanglement, as the German Polyphemuses say. Pardon me this detailed re­mark, dear Monsieur Saint-Saens, which I venture to make only while assuring you in all sincerity that the totality of your work pleases me singularly. I played it again the day before yesterday to Sgambati, of whom Plante will speak to you as an artist above the common run, and even more than ordinarily distingue. He will let the public hear your concerto next winter, and it ought to meet with success in every country."
The following analysis was made for the program book of the Boston Sym­phony Orchestra by Mr. Philip Hale:
The first movement opens with a free contrapuntal cadenza for pianoforte alone, Andante sostenuto, G minor, 4-4 time, but no bars are marked in the score until the orches­tra enters. The cadenza grows more and more brilliant until the orchestra enters with two mighty chords, which are followed by a sturdy phrase in strongly marked rhythm. The oboe has a recitative-like phrase, which is accompanied first by the pianoforte, then by the strings, fizzicati. The first theme is announced by the pianoforte alone. The strings come in with an accompaniment during the development. Imitations between pianoforte and strings and woodwind instruments lead to a subsidiary theme (B flat major), given out by the pianoforte with certain phrases reinforced by the woodwind. The clarinet has an epi­sodic phrase with accompaniment of chords for flutes and horns and with running passages for the pianoforte. There is a change of tempo, fiu animato. The pianoforte begins meas­ures of brilliant passage-work. There are sustaining harmonies for the strings and the woodwind, and later for the full orchestra. There is a steady increase in pace and force until the tempo becomes twice as fast as before. Suddenly there is a return to the original slower tempo, and the first theme is given out (G minor, fortissimo) by violins, violas and 'cellos against furious octaves and double arpeggios for the pianoforte, which continues the theme with the melody in octaves. This melody passes to the flute, oboe and clarinet, while the piano keeps up the arpeggio accompaniment. The pianoforte has an unaccompanied ca­denza, with a development of figures from the first theme. Toward the end the orchestra enters, and it leads to a coda, in which the contrapuntal passage with which the movement opened is now accompanied by the orchestra. The end is a repetition of the sturdy orches­tral passage which first introduced the chief theme. This movement is not in the symphonic form usual in first movements of concertos. It might be called the "slow movement" of the composition.
The second movement, Allegretto scherzando, E flat major, 6-8 time, corresponds to a scherzo in character, but its form is that of a first movement. After a pizzicato chord in the strings and quick rhythmic beats of kettledrums a nimble theme is announced by piano­forte alone. It is developed by pianoforte and orchestra, either in alternation or together. The second theme appears in B flat major; the melody is sung by various wind and stringed instruments against a sort of guitar accompaniment with a peculiar rhythm in the piano­forte. The pianoforte soon takes part in the development. There is a light little conclusion theme for pianoforte, accompanied by a tremolo in the strings, with occasional soft chords in the woodwind. There is a short free fantasia. The third part bears the conventional rela­tions to the first. The scherzo ends, -pianissimo, with a short coda.
The third movement, Presto, G minor, 4-4 (practically 12-8) time, is not unlike a
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
dashing saltarello. Two measures of rapid triplets in the bass of the pianoforte are followed by a repetition of this figure by the strings against a chord for wind instruments and kettle­drums. The piano has the first theme, and develops it with slight assistance from the or­chestra. The second theme enters in A major, and the saltarello rhythm disappears. The pianoforte has this melody, and the accompaniment is for woodwind instruments and horns. The saltarello rhythm comes back. In the free fantasia the two chief themes are worked out by the pianoforte. The development is followed by an episode in which wind instru­ments, aided later by strings, play a chorale in full harmony, while the pianoforte has a persistent trill figure, which is derived from the second theme. The chorale is first played through in even whole notes; then it is repeated more strongly in half notes, while the pianoforte persists in the repetitions of the trill. Passage-work for the pianoforte leads to the third part of the movement, which is in orthodox relations to the first. The second theme is now in D major. There is a dashing coda.
THIRD CONCERT
Friday Afternoon, May 11
Allegro from Concerto No. 2 in F major for Trumpet and
Strings ("Brandenberg") Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was born at Eisenach, March 21, 1685; died at Leipzig, July 28, 1750.
Christian Ludwig Markgraf of Brandenberg was a Prussian prince who lived about two centuries ago. He loved music so much that he spent a good part of his fortune on it. This eccentric Markgraf had a fetish for concerti, and had acquired a most remarkable collection of them by famous contemporary composers. He is supposed to have met Bach in Carlsbad about 1719, and to have commissioned him to write some music. Bach leisurely fulfilled the com­mission and on March 24, 1721, he presented the Markgraf with a set of six works, now known as the Brandenberg Concerti, with the following touchingly modest dedication in French: Monseigneur,
Two years ago, when I had the honour of playing before your Royal Highness, I experienced your condescending interest in the insignificant musical talents with which heaven has gifted me, and understood your Royal Highness' gracious willingness to accept some pieces of my composition. In accordance with that condescending command, I take the liberty to present my most humble duty to your Royal Highness in these Concerti for various instruments, begging your Highness not to judge them by the standards of your own refined and delicate taste, but to seek in them rather the expression of my profound respect and obedience. In conclusion, Monseigneur, I most respectfully beg your Royal Highness to continue your gracious favor toward me, and be assured that there is nothing I so much desire as to employ myself more worthily in your service.
With the utmost fervour, Monseigneur, I subscribe myself your Royal Highness' most humble and obedient servant,
Jean Sebastian Bach.
And in Bach's "expression of profound respect and obedience," the name of Christian Ludwig Markgraf of Brandenberg lives today. Strange are the ways in which man can achieve immortality!
The Brandenberg Concerti are Bach's first essays in the realm of absolute symphonic instrumental music. Although he had previously written instrumental works of importance, these Concerti easily surpass anything he had done before. No doubt Bach wanted to show that he could write concerti for all the different
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kinds of solo instruments available in his day, and not restrict himself to the usual solo strings. This feat was accomplished by writing each concerto for a different group of instruments.
Today we think of the "concerto" as a display piece for a solo instrument, accompanied by the orchestra; that is to say, as a contrast in the tone color of a solo instrument as opposed to the orchestra with its infinite color combinations. The eighteenth century concerto was very different. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Corelli, and their contemporaries wrote orchestral "concerti" for a small group of principal instruments called the "concertino," assisted by the full orchestra or "concerto grosso" of strings only or strings and woodwind with harpsichord. The contrast lay then between two groups of instruments, in the case of the concerto on this program, between a quartet (concertino) composed of trumpet, oboe, flute, and viola, against the strings (tutti).
This Allegro from the F-major Concerto is a buoyant, swift, and vigorous movement, full of an indescribable wealth of episodical invention. The trumpet is the leader of the quartet, and engages in a simple and elastic combination with the tearful voice of the oboe, and the brilliant flute, the result being a movement of sprightly rhythm, sparkle, and marvelous variety.
Bach may not have been able to avail himself of the color variety of later composers, yet these Concerti are steeped in the true spirit of German romance.
Songs:
On Wings of Song Mendelssohn
Hedge Roses Schubert
Blue Danube Waltz J. Strauss
Young People's Chorus
On Wings of Song Mendelssohn
On melodies' bright pinions Beloved we will fly Far to the distant meadows Where loveliest gardens lie. There roses red are now blooming To greet the soft moonbeams, While lotus flowers are waiting To greet their sister of dreams.
The violets whisper and sigh, dear, And smile at the stars above;
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Roses are telling their story In fragrant words of love. And playfully bounding about us Are graceful tinted gazelles, While murm'ring in the distance The river its legend tells.
There we will rest forever
Beneath the palm tree shade
And dream in love and in rapture
Whence our blissful dreams are made.
THIRD CONCERT Hedge Roses Schubert
Spied a boy a rosebud rare,
Rosebud of the wildwood,
Fresh as dew and passing fair,
Swift he ran to see it there,
Dancing up so joyously.
Rosebud red, rosebud of the wildwood.
Said the boy, "I'll gather thee,"
Rosebud of the wildwood.
Cried the rose, "My thorns thou'll see,
If thou dar'st to injure me, I will never bend to thee." Rosebud red, rosebud of the wildwood!
Heedlessly the bud he gain'd
Rosebud of the wildwood,
Quick she stings but all in vain,
Useless all her cries of pain,
Yields at last so scornfully.
Rosebud red, rosebud of the wildwood.
Blue Danube Waltz J. Strauss
Come away
Make no delay
'Tis break of day,
The hills are gay,
And we hasten to crown the Queen of May.
And with glances bright,
And with joyous song,
We will crown her.
And with dances light,
And in merry throng,
We will greet her our Queen of May.
Away, away,
For this is the gladsome month of May.
These moments such happiness bring,
With joy we greet the spring.
With friendship we'll gladden the hours,
And strew our path with flow'rs.
Away, away,
For this is the gladsome month of May.
The morn breaks clear and bright, And hails spring with delight, Flow'rs she brings rich and rare, And drives away dull care. Oh, charming, charming May. La la la la la la.
Then we will laugh and sing all day.
Yes, we'll laugh and sing all day,
And we'll make the hills ring with our
glee,
Oh, then come to the hills with me. Come, come away to the hills, Come, come away.
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and
Orchestra, Op. 28 Saint-Saens
GuiLA BUSTABO
Camille Saint-Saens was born at Paris, October 9, 18355 died at Algiers, December 16, 1921.
Camille Saint-Saens was not only a composer; he was also a distinguished pianist, organist, conductor, and author. During his long life of eighty-six years, he was the recipient of many honors. In 1868 he was admitted to the Legion d'Honneur and in 1913 won the Grand Croix. Cambridge University conferred upon him the Mus.D. in 1892. His literary productions were considerable and
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
of a high quality. He published a book of poems, three comedies, and several scientific studies.
As a composer, he displayed a command of the technical processes of expres­sion, including every aspect of form, extreme readiness of thematic development, and a superb orchestration. His genius, great and varied as it was, falls short of the highest achievements in profound feeling and conviction, however.
The "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" for violin was composed in 1863. The score bears a dedication to Pablo de Sarasate, the great violinist, who performed it for the first time in Paris on April 4, 1867. Sarasate read the work from manuscript, for it was not published until 1870. The orchestral accompani­ment is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, kettledrums, and strings.
Cantata, "The Ugly Duckling" English
Young People's Chorus
Granville English was born at Louisville, Kentucky, January 27, 1895.
Mr. English obtained his early musical education at the Chicago Musical College, Chicago, Illinois. His teachers in that institution were Felix Borowski and Adolph Weidig in composition and Rudolph Reuter and Glenn Dillard Gunn in piano. Mr. English now resides in New York City, where, as a com­poser and accompanist, he has won distinction.
The text of the cantata is by Mrs. Isabel Buckingham.
TEXT OF "THE UGLY DUCKLING" Argument
In a barnyard in the far northland, a mother duck in her nest in the reeds found one egg among those she was hatching which was quite unlike the rest. All the downy duck­lings broke their shells in the usual time, except this one. The mother duck continued to keep the nest warm, however, in spite of her discouragement, and, at last, a big, ugly duckling pecked his way out. He was so ugly that the whole barnyard scouted and ill-treated him, so that he ran away. Wherever he went, he received the same unkind treat­ment, and he suffered many hardships, cold and hunger, and danger. A peasant found him, at last, almost frozen to death in the ice, and rescued him.
One day, in the spring, three beautiful white swans flew to the marsh in which he was hiding. He heard their call and, unconsciously, uttered the same cry. His ecstasy knew no bounds when they came to him. In his joy, he looked in the water and saw his own re­flection, white and beautiful, and realized that he was a swan like them. The ugly duck­ling found himself and his happiness was more than he had ever dreamed.
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THIRD CONCERT
Prologue
In the land of the stork long years ago
Was born a poet kind
Who thought this life a fairy tale,
The best of every kind.
He found in every common thing,
The birds, and beasts, and flowers,
The stories that all people love
In sad or happy hours,
'Tis his own life he tells to us
In this story of the duck
For he was poor and wretched, too,
And had the worst of luck.
But through all time his name will be
Remembered to the end,-The poet who wrote fairy tales,
The children's dearest friend.
So, as you sing this story,
Do not forget he said
That it doesn't matter where you're born
If you keep a level head
And are certain that your birthright
Will surely all come true,
If you work and wait and still believe
That it belongs to you.
The Story
How wondrous fair the fields were,
How yellow ripe the corn! The circling green of forests
Made fair the summer morn.
Blue lakes and emerald meadows
In varied color shone; The sunlight made the picture
A joy to look upon.
There stood a rambling farm house
Upon a sunny hill That led down to the water
Where reeds grew tall and still.
Within their cool shade hidden,
As in a forest glade, A mother duck was sitting
On the nest that she had made.
One happy day a shell went--crack! Out popped a downy head,
Another and another one.
"Peep! peep!" each duckling said As he went out into the world
And left his cosy bed.
When all were out save only one, The egg both large and queer,
The mother called the wisest in And said to them with fear,
"Oh, what is wrong A foolish child How can I bear to rear"
They all agreed she should give up
And quit the nest, but no, She would not yield, but stayed right on
And kept it warm, when lo! A great brown duck came out, at last,
So strangely dull and slow.
"How ugly!" said the ducks and hens,
"Let's fly at him in spite, We'll bite his neck and push him out,-He can't put up a fight. Ha! ha! he is a funny chap.
He surely can't be right."
His brothers and his sisters, too,
Were all ashamed of him. He differed from them every way
Except that he could swim. His mother feared the barnyard fowls
Would tear him limb from limb.
Tired of their cruel taunts and jeers
He gave his feelings vent And flew across the paling low
To the marsh, where, sad and spent, He sought a home in that lone spot
Where only wild things went.
They flew away and left him there
Until some wild geese came; The hunters followed, too, because
They were in search of game. Pop! pop! all day the guns went bang,
Till terror shook his frame.
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Wild geese were falling all about;
The water turned to red; The dogs splashed through the reedy-marsh ;
He saw a shaggy head With open jaws and cruel teeth-He wished that he were dead.
He tried to swim and then,--splash! splash!
A dog went by. "Dear me! I am so ugly that a dog
Won't even bite," said he. "I'll hide in here and starve." Just then
A faint light he could see.
The light led to a cottage door,
A woman took him in. She had a hen and an old tom-cat
And they began to grin "We'll scratch his eyes and peck his neck.
For he's ugly as old sin."
"Can you throw sparks and purr" said the cat.
"Can you lay eggs" said the hen. "If you can't purr, nor yet lay eggs,
What use are you to men Forget your silly wish to swim
Or out you go again."
"Begone! begone!" the woman said) "Since you like to swim and dive
And won't be like the cat or hen, How can you hope to thrive"
The duck said, "No one understands, O, why am I alive"
And oh, the winter days were cold And winter nights were long,
And even the bird left on the tree Forgot to sing a song.
For the duck so unlike other ducks Everything went wrong.
But once he saw a splendid flock
Of birds of dazzling white. Their strange cry made his heart beat fast,
His little head grow light,
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And when they stretched their mighty
wings, He watched their seaward flight.
He knew the strangest feeling, then;
He spun round like a wheel; He gave a weird cry just like theirs;
It made his body reel. He never could forget the way
That vision made him feel.
Before the winter days had gone, The ice closed round him quite.
A peasant found him dying there,-It was a sorry sight.
Poor little duck! he wandered still For many a day and night.
And there was none to comfort him, And there was none to cheer,
He wandered here, he wandered there-'Twould pain you all to hear
The sorrows and the cruelties Of all that long sad year.
At last, he found that spring had come, The larks sang from the blue.
He flapped his wings. How large they
were! And oh, how high he flew!
He saw the apple trees in bloom, The elder bush he knew.
He came down in a lovely pond Where floated great birds three.
Oh happiness, the swans again! What could this feeling be
That made him almost gasp for joy And breathe so rapidly
"Dare I go near those mighty ones
What rapture it would be. I'll swim close up to them, although
They strike me dead," thought he, And as they rushed to meet him,
He bent his head, you see.
Because he thought himself too low,
Too ugly for their care, And he saw his image in the stream,
THIRD CONCERT
And then he was aware He was a lovely swan like them, As graceful, white and fair.
Joy! joy! to find his brothers' love, Joy for the children's praise,
Joy that spring was walking Along the world's highways,
Scattering flowers everywhere To gladden all the days.
This story ends with love and joy
As stories should, you know,
Exactly as it really chanced
So many years ago
To the man who told this story true
Which we have put in rhyme.
His fame and memory dearer grow
Throughout the changing time.
It gives one's heart a bit of cheer,
It gives one nerve and pluck,
This tale which proves that no swan's egg
Can ever grow a duck.
Symphony No. I Milhaud
Darius Milhaud was born at Aix-en-Provence, September 4, 1892.
Darius Milhaud obtained his musical training at the Paris Conservatory, which he entered in 1909 as a student of Leroux in harmony, of Gedalge in counterpoint, and of Widor in composition. His advanced thought in musical composition soon identified him with that little coterie, which, under the name "Groupe de Six," aroused considerable attention in Paris and elsewhere. Writ­ing of the period in his life immediately preceding the World War, Milhaud said:
At this time some of the younger men (between twenty and twenty-five) were pur­suing their work and their music was beginning to be heard in the smaller halls of Paris through the efforts of Felix Delgrange, who organized many concerts for this purpose. Erik Satie, whose youthful spirit had always been alive to the needs of the younger men, helped greatly in organizing these affairs. He started the Society of the Younger Men which in­cluded Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Roland Manuel and one woman, Germaine Taillefer. The concerts of the Vieux Colombier, given by Mme. Bathori, whose interest in, and enthusiasm for the new music are inexhaustible, were also in full swing. It was she who gave the music of Francis Poulenc its first hearing when Ricardo Vines played it. At this time I was in Rio de Janeiro as attache to the French Legation. I returned to Paris in 19095 my comrades asked to hear what I had been doing and I joined their group and their programs.
One evening, during an intermission at the Ballet Russe, a gentleman addressed us, saying that he had followed our concerts, that he was the critic of "Comoedia" and that he wished to have a list of our works and some personal information about us. He was Henri Collet. We gladly answered his questions and several days later read an article in his paper called "The Five Russians and the Six Frenchmen." The names of these six Frenchmen that Mr. Collet chose from the group of "young men" (one of them a woman) were Durey, Poulenc, Auric, Taillefer, Honegger and Milhaud--"Les Six." This title has remained with us. So the group of six was formed, as such, without our personal knowledge, and we have kept together as a means to organize our musical activities. Since that time we have called our concerts "concerts of the group of six," where not only our works have
?The five Russians refer to Moussorgsky, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, and Balakirev. See notes on Moussorgsky's "Night on Bare Mountain," Fourth Concert, page 44.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
been heard, but also music of little-known foreigners. Jean Cocteau, our friend (the poet and essayist), often availed himself of the opportunity of discussing us and our work in the various articles he wrote for musical and other papers on contemporary French musicians. We have, individually, very different musical traits, which give us, as a group, the independence we need, and which permit us to develop as individuals along our own lines; and it is just this freedom of thought of which we are so proud.
The work heard on this program is the first of five small symphonies: I. "Le Printemps" (1917); II. Pastorale (1918); III. Serenade (1921); IV. Dix-tour a cordes (1921); V. Dixtour a veut (1922).
These compositions are not symphonies in the ordinary sense of the word, but are short pieces which are made up of more than one section.
The "Spring Symphony" heard this afternoon is a good answer to those critics of modern music who accuse it of being complex. There is in this little symphony a simplicity and purity of style, a directness and clarity that decidedly links it with the classic school. With an almost Haydnesque objectivity and Mo-zartian sensibility nevertheless the work is conceived in a thoroughly modern way. Today we are closely attuned to the bright, ironic, and formal eighteenth century. We like its sensibility because we dislike excessive emotion. We like to place emphasis upon form, and our approach is mental and formal, rather than emotional. But we strive in our formalism for no delicate or precise perfection. There is no fragility in the modern aim. Today we welcome a hard, puritanical strength; we have broadened our understanding of the ugly and have accepted it because of its combination with strength. We reject beauty that is soft and lacking in vitality. It is this very return to the eighteenth century point of view, plus the substitution of strength and vitality for delicacy and perfection, that makes Milhaud an outstanding modernist. The dominant modern factors in Milhaud's music are his almost constant use of polytonality (simultaneous sounding of several keys), his rhythmic energy, and his talent for form. Of these, polytonal-ism as a fundamental of composition is perhaps the most dominant. It is so abso­lutely dominant that one becomes a little too much aware of it, and begins to wonder what Milhaud would have done without it.
By the Rivers of Babylon (Psalm 137) Loeffler
The Stanley Chorus
For four-part chorus of women's voices with accompaniment of organ, harp, two flutes, and violoncello obbligato.
Charles Martin Loeffler was born at Miilhausen, Alsace, January 30, 1861.
At the age of 14, Mr. Loeffler decided that music was to be his career. He became a pupil of Edward Rappoldi, who played second violin in Joachim's
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THIRD CONCERT
quartet in Berlin. In harmony he was given instruction by Friederick Kiel. In Paris, later, Loeffler studied violin playing with Massart, who was the teacher of Sarasate, Wieniawski, Marsick, and other noted virtuosi. At the same time he studied composition with Ernest Guirand, the friend of Bizet. In 1881 he de­termined to create a career for himself in the United States. Upon arriving in New York he played in performances conducted by Damrosch and on occa­sions in theater orchestras. In 1882 Henry Lee Higginson, who had founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, heard of Loeffler's abilities as a violinist and engaged him for his organization, which at that time was conducted by George Henschel. For twenty years he sat at the first desk of the first violins with Franz Kneisel as concertmeister. When in 1903 Kneisel resigned in order to devote himself to string quartet, Loeffler left with him to concentrate his energies on composition.
Martin Loeffler is today among the aristocrats of musical style. He is a com­poser of marked and indisputable originality, and his music is characterized by an exquisite refinement of thought and expression. Working in a contemporary medium, he is not a "modern composer" in the disquieting sense of the term, although his music is unique and different. His colorful handling of the orches­tra, his skillful blending of timbres, his feeling for contrast in color, often remind one of Debussy, but his ability to dismiss the unessential, the delight he takes in developing his materials, the way in which he shuns the obvious, the freedom from that which is deliberately bizarre, the logical arrangement and clarity of his thoughts, link him as much with the Teutonic school. Yet there is no music quite like his, with its finesse of fiber, its uncompromising distinction, and its blending of subtlety and passion. It is music which defies in a way any classifica­tion. No set term or formula will fit it. It falls decidedly into the period of na­tional awakening. He is, as Mr. Carl Engel once happily called him, "that rare and comforting thing in life and art, a perfect anomaly."
"By the Rivers of Babylon" (Psalm 137) was composed in 1906. It is a work typical of its composer. There is no unnatural striving for new effect, to titillate the aural nerve with harsh harmony and bizarre effects, yet, where the moving voices of his marvelous polyphony demand and justify it, discords are introduced.
The text is as follows:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
Yea, we wept, when we remember'd Zion.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof,
For they that carried us away captive required of us a song;
And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
How shall we sing the 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;
If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy,
Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south,
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Andante and Rondo-Allegro from "Symphonie Espagnole"
for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 21 ........ Lalo
Miss Bustabo
Edouard Lalo was born at Lille in 18235 died at Paris in 1892.
Coming from a family of Spanish origin, Edouard Lalo inherited a native talent for the colorful, vivacious, and piquant, which he infused into his music with fanciful charm. His first musical studies were with a German musician named Baumann who did much to temper his excesses and discipline him in the rigors of composition technique. Upon Baumann's advice, Lalo decided upon a musical career. In 1847 ne won ne Prix de Rome, but it was not until 1872 that he secured much recognition as a composer. During this period, in great discouragement, he gave up composing for several years. Upon the return to his chosen profession, he was almost immediately successful, and after the perform­ance of his violin sonata by Sarasate in 1874, his genius was generally acknowl­edged.
The "Symphonie Espagnole" was dedicated to Sarasate, was performed by him in 1874, and immediately attracted the attention of the Parisian public. Strictly speaking the work is not a symphony, but rather a suite or collection of characteristic pieces for the violin and orchestra, full of native fire and vivacity, with a wealth of languorous melody, piquant rhythm and stunning color com­binations.
Only the last two movements are to be played on this program. They in­clude the Andante (D minor, 3-4 time) beginning in the orchestra with a grace­ful flowing melody, the solo violin entering with a more intense and declama­tory phrase which expands into a dynamic climax. A brief cadenza precedes the return of the first phrases of the solo violin, adding to the orchestral accompani­ment a richer and more vivid instrumentation.
The last movement (Allegro, D major, 6-8 time) is a rondo, with a prin­cipal and, of course, recurrent subject in a vital dance rhythm. The second sec­tion, or digression, indicates a retarded tempo, after which the dance motive is recapitulated in a brilliant and sweeping finale.
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FOURTH CONCERT
Friday Evening, May 11
Fantaisie, "A Night on a Bare Mountain" .... Moussorgsky Orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov
Modeste Petrovich Moussorgsky was born at Karevo, March 28, 1839; died at Leningrad, March 28, 1881.
Fof Moussorgsky, art was so valuable a means of human intercourse that to treat it merely as a vehicle for the glorification of the beautiful world would fall little short of prostitution, or at least a perversion of its power to effect human improvement. For him art was an expression of humanity, and like humanity it is in a constant state of evolution. Art as such can therefore have no arbitrary, formulistic boundaries. As the expression of humanity is an office which ought to be carried out with a full sense of responsibility attached to those entrusted with it, the artist is called upon to be sincere in any work he undertakes. For Moussorgsky, "art for art's sake" becomes "art for life's sake."
Hard things have been said of him as an artist. He has been accused of crude realism, of a lack of any sense of real beauty, of creating clumsily, laboriously, and imperfectly. It is true that he is a thoroughgoing realist in music, but for him realism was not only an essential and indispensable quality in art, but it also ren­dered to art an instrument through which the masses could be brought to a real­ization of their social and moral duties. This attitude, contrary to the common conception of art, as appealing primarily to the cultivated, is comparable to that of Tolstoy.
The music of Moussorgsky brings varying and confused impressions to the mind. Considering his work as a whole, everything is imperfect, incomplete, and careless. It is marked by a rugged crudeness and by unprecedented and quite intuitive audacities with their constant adaption to the special needs of his own creative temperament. And yet, we must acknowledge a genius of colossal in­spiration and awful power. To his more conservative contemporaries, Tchai­kovsky and Rubinstein, Moussorgsky was a musical nihilist, and his music filled them with misgivings. In a letter written by Tchaikovsky to Mme. Meek, No­vember 27, 1878, we meet with an interesting characterization of Moussorgsky. As far as talent goes, he is perhaps the most important of all, only his is a nature in which there is no desire for self-improvement--a nature too absorbed with the absurd theo[43]
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ries about him. Moreover, his is a rather low nature, that loves the uncouth, coarse and ugly. He prides himself on his ignorance, and writes down what comes to his head, believ­ing blindly in the infallibility of his genius.
The reference to the "absurd theories of those about him," refers to the group of young Russian contemporary composers who banded themselves to­gether in opposition to Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein, who, they thought, were more Teutonic than Russian. Other members of this chauvinistic coterie were Cesar Cui, Borodin, Balakirev, and Rimsky-Korsakov (teacher of the modern Strawinsky). This group known as "The Five" were the young radicals in their day, looking with scorn upon the whole musical world. None looked with more contempt than Moussorgsky, who was "always ready to sacrifice poetry and mu­sical charm to realism, and never recoiled from shocking rudeness."
His obvious incorrectness at times, his ultracrude realism, and his insistence upon preserving his originality at the cost of discipline do not destroy in any way his position as perhaps the most gifted of the neo-Russian School, overflowing with vitality and reckless in his daring. His powerfully spontaneous and startlingly free and unfettered music submerges all weaknesses of detail. Claude Debussy has exactly defined his music in these terms: "It resembles the art of the enquir­ing primitive man, who discovers music step by step, guided only by his feelings." He is in truth the Dostoyevsky of music, and his music is a poetic evocation to nationalism.
The program; for "The Night on a Bare Mountain" is as follows: "Sub­terranean sound of supernatural voices. Appearance of the spirits of darkness, followed by that of the God Chernobog. Glorification of Chernobog and the celebration of the Black Mass; the Sabbath revels. At the height of the orgies, the bell of the little village church sounding in the distance disperses the spirits of darkness. Daybreak."
Aria, "Voi che sapete" ("The Marriage of Figaro") . . Mozart
Lucrezia Bori
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born at Salzburg, Jan­uary 27, 1756; died at Vienna, December 5, 1791.
The Marriage of Figaro was composed by Mozart in 1785-86, to a text by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based upon Beaumarchais' comedy by the same name.
The aria on tonight's program, "Voi che sapete" ("What is this feeling") comes from the first scene of Act II. The Countess Almaviva insists that her lovesick page Cherubino sing a song which he has previously given to her maid Susanna, with whom he is desperately in love. Cherubino, stammering and
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blushing at first, sings it to Susanna's guitar. The song is in ballad form, to suit the situation, the voice executing the clear, lovely melody, while the string instru­ments carry on a simple, pizzicato accompaniment to imitate the guitar. This delicate outline is, however, shaded and animated to a wonderful degree by solo wind instruments. Without being absolutely necessary for the progress of the melodies and the completeness of the harmonies, they supply those delicate touch­es of detail that distinguish the music of Mozart. We don't know whether to admire most the gracefulness of the melodies, the delicacy of the disposition of the parts, the charm of the tone coloring, or the tenderness of the expression--the whole is of entrancing beauty.
A translation of the Italian text is as follows:
What is this feelingthat makes me so sad Pain that delights me,--how can it be Pleasure that pains me! Fettered though
free! Whence, too, these yearnings, strange to
myself
Tell me their meaning, spirit or elf! Why am I burning Why do I freeze
Restless forever, never at ease. All is so altered, nothing's at rest, Or are these changes just in my breast Gentler the breezes, day is more bright; Fairer the moonbeams shine on the night j Greener the forest, greener the hill, Soft, too, the music that flows from each rill.
Symphony in E minor, No. 4, Op. 98 Brahms
Allegro non troppo; Andante moderato; Allegro giocoso; Allegro energico e passionato
Johannes Brahms was born at Hamburg, May 7, 1833; died in Vienna, April 3, 1897.
It is amazing in the light of the attempts of modern composers to stretch be­yond their predecessors in search of new effects, sometimes having more interest in the intellectual manipulation of their materials than in the subjective, emo­tional expression achieved by them, to come into contact with the old, yet still prevailing idea, that the music of Brahms is "heavy," "pedantic," "opaque," "unemotional," and "intellectual."
It is true that the music of Brahms has none of the overstimulating and ex­citing quality of his more emotional contemporaries, Tchaikovsky and Richard Wagner, but this fact does not reduce Brahms' music to mere cerebration. One has only to hear the glorious "Introduction to the C-minor Symphony" to realize that he is experiencing emotion itself. If there is anything cerebral or intellectual in Brahms, it lies in the manner in which he controls the excessiveness and overwelling of his emotion. One reason that criticism has placed upon Brahms' head the condemnation and terrible burden of cold intellectuality lies
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in the fact that there are none of the sensationally or popularly used devices to catch immediate response. There are no tricks to discover in Brahms; there is no assailing the judgment in the attempt to excite sudden enthusiasm. We are, however, more and more impressed with the infinite wealth of profound beauty that is to be found in his pages. Critics may have been bewildered at times by his rich, musical fabric, often lost and confused in the labyrinth of his ideas, but again, in the light of contemporary attempts at musical expressiveness at all cost, Brahms appears today with an almost lucid transparency, and as a master of emotional power.
Brahms has survived the years and the changing norms of criticism, and re­mains today a master whose art has its roots in humanity. He speaks to the heart, soul, and mind with the variety of feeling that is found in human nature itself, now vigorous and buoyant, now tender to the point of poignancy, cou­rageous and often tragically tortured, but always noble and impressively inspiring.
While the Third Symphony at once took hold of the musical world, the Fourth long remained misunderstood, and down to the present day has never been truly loved; perhaps for the reason that it is the most personal and pro­found of all, and next to the First, the weightiest. Incomprehensible though it seems today, even the sworn followers of Brahms had difficulty in understanding it. Kalbeck positively entreated the master to withhold the work from the public and so to save himself an inevitable and conspicuous failure. Hanslick, after a first hearing of it in a performance for two pianos, declared with a heavy sigh when the first movement was over, and everyone remained silent, "You know I had the feeling that two enormously clever people were cudgelling each other."
It is hard to understand such criticism today as we hear the pale, autumnal, elegiac first movement with its gentle, caressing, zephyr-like melody. Still less would it apply to the quiet andante with its firm and exhalted rhythm.
The following analyses are by Felix Borowski:
I. {Allegro non troffo, E minor, 2-2 time.) The principal subject is announced at once by the violins:
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After this theme has been presented, a sequence of scale-like passages is brought forward in the violas, and successively in the woodwind instruments, and portions of the principal sub­ject are worked over in the strings. A marked, emphatic figure--the second theme--now makes its appearance in the woodwind and horns:
and this is succeeded by a second section given to the violoncellos and horns (pizzicato in the violins), the melody being taken up later by the first and second violins in octaves:
The first section of the theme is given further hearing. There is no repetition of the first part of the movement, and the Development begins with a working out of the principal theme, eight measures of which are repeated exactly as they stood at the beginning of the work. Nearly all this section of the movement is concerned with the development of the principal theme and the first section of the second subject. The Recapitulation which fol­lows is constructed in the orthodox fashion. The coda is constructed from material of the principal theme.
II. (Andante moderato, E major, 6-8 time.) Two horns announce the motive of the first subject of the movement, these being reinforced in the second and third measures by the flutes, oboes and clarinets. The subject begins in the fifth measure with the melody in the clarinet (pizzicato in the strings) :
The second theme, in B major, presents itself in the violoncellos, thirty-seven mea­sures after the first has been announced:
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This is developed at some length, and the first subject returns in the strings with a mov­ing figure against it in the wind. Elaboration of this takes place, following which the second subject--now in E--is set forth by the first violins. A short coda is founded on the opening theme.
III. {Allegro giocoso, C major 2-4 time.) This is, in reality, the scherzo of the sym­phony, although it is not so named on the score. The principal theme is announced at once by the full orchestra as follows:
The second subject, in G major, is heard in the first violins, the rhythmical figure of its accompaniment suggesting the outline of the opening subiect of the first movement.
Development of the principal subject now takes place, and following' it there sets in the Recapitulation. In this the principal subject is modified at the beginning, the first ten bars having been changed. The second theme (first violins and oboe) appears in C major. A long and brilliant coda is built on the material of the principal theme.
IV. {Allegro energico e fassionato, E minor, 3-4 time.) The finale of the E minor symphony is not cast in the rondo or sonata form peculiar to the closing movements of other symphonies, but it is a passacaglia, in which a theme of eight bars--this is quoted below-is given thirty-two variations.
The passacaglia and the chaconne--forms almost identical--were originally dances, ! and as such were written by Gluck and other dramatic composers of the eighteenth century. Yet at that period and before it the passacaglia was treated also as a purely musical form, as may be seen in the works of Mazzella, Buxtehude, Frescobaldi, Bach, Handel and other composers. Passacaglias and chaconnes were written in triple time--3-2 or 3-4--but ex­ceptionally other times were used.
Brahms made use of trombones for the first time in his symphony in this passacaglia, which forms its closing movement.
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Recitative and Aria of Lia ("L'Enfant Prodigue") . . . Debussy
Miss Bori
Claude Debussy was born at St. Germain, August 22, 1862; died at Paris, March 26, 1918.
With his scene lyrique, "L'Enfant Prodigue," Debussy won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1884. The story is simple. Lia, the mother of Azael bemoans the loss of her wayward son. As she expresses her grief, Simeon, her husband, gently upbraids her and he exhorts Lia to hearken to the music of the merrymakers and to partake of their joy. A procession of the revelers enters, and Simeon and Lia join the throng. Azael, who has returned home, exhausted and repentant, has, unobserved by the people who pass by, seen his brother and sister amid the joyous crowd. He falls unconscious outside the home which had once sheltered him, and is discovered by Lia and his father. Forgiveness is extended to the erring wanderer, and all thank Heaven for his restoration.
The following is a free translation and condensation of the French text. Lia calls in anguish for the return of her son.
Year follows year and each succeeding season brings only grief and sorrow, which I must hide within my heart. I walk alone along this wild shore to seek surcease from this heavy woe. But my heart still mourns the child I have no more. Azael, Azael, my beloved one, why have you forsaken me
Sailor's Dance ("Pavot Rouge") Gliere
Reinhold Moritzovich Gliere was born at Kiev, January 11, 1875.
Gliere was educated at the Moscow Conservatory, which he entered in 1894 as a pupil of Johann Hrjimaly in violin playing, and of Taneiew and Ippolitow-Ivanow in musical theory. His career at the Conservatory was dis­tinguished, and he won the gold medal given to the best student in the compo­sition class. For some time Gliere lived in Berlin, but shortly before the Russian Revolution he moved from there to Kiev, where he took up the directorship of the Conservatory of the Imperial Musical Society. The Kiev Conservatory went through various vicissitudes during the war, and, for a period, was removed to Kostof-on-Don. Under Gliere's direction it became a flourishing and im­portant institution. The composer is now teacher of composition at the Moscow Conservatory.
"Pavot Rouge" ("The Red Poppy"), a ballet in three acts and a prologue, was published in 1930. When Ivan Narodny, one of the writers on the staff of
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Musical American visited Russia in 1930, he wrote in his paper (January 25, 1931): "I asked one of the music critics of Moscow, D. Obolinsky, who was the most popular Soviet composer, broadly speaking. 'Rheinhold Gliere,' replied Mr. Obolinsky, 'His "Red Poppy," "Esmeralda" and "Zaporoshtzy" are the biggest public attractions throughout the country. He is our contemporary Glin­ka, a composer of the people, as well as the intellectuals.' "
"The Sailor's Dance" is scored for three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, double bassoon, bass tuba, kettle drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, side drum, tambourine, and strings.
Aria, "Depuis le Jour" ("Louise") Charpentier
Miss Bori
Gustave Charpentier was born at Dienze, June 25, i860.
Charpentier's opera Louise was produced for the first time February 2, 1900, at the Opera Comique, Paris. The composer wrote the text, many of its situations having been derived from his own experiences when he lived in an attic in Montmartre.
The story of the work is concerned with Louise, the daughter of a French working man, who loves and is loved by Julien, a young poet. The parents do not regard the man favorably and they refuse their consent to a marriage. In spite of this obstacle Julien continues his pursuit of Louise, who, intoxicated part­ly by love and partly by the vista of joy and the gay bohemianism of the city, which companionship with Julien will bring to her, leaves the drab life of her parents' home and casts her lot with the poet.
"Depuis le Jour" is sung by Louise in the third act of the opera, as she stands with her lover, Julien, in the garden of the little house on the Butte de Montmartre.
The text, freely translated from the French, is as follows:
From the day I gave myself to love my destiny has been florescent. I seem to be dreaming under a magic sky. My soul still thrills to your first kiss. Life has become a thingof beauty and I am happy as love covers me protectingly with his wings. Joy sings in the garden of my heart. All around me is laughter, light and happiness. I still tremble with ecstasy at the memory of that first day of love.
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Saturday Afternoon, May 12 Overture to "Coriolanus," Op. 62 Beethoven
Ludwigvan Beethoven was born at Bonn, Decem­ber 16, 1770; died at Vienna, March 26, 1827.
Beethoven based his overture "Coriolanus" upon the drama by the same name by Heinrich Joseph von Collin and not, as Richard Wagner believed, upon Shakespeare's tragedy. There is no great similarity between these two works, for Shakespeare's version is based in a large part upon Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch, while the von Collin drama is more or less independent of that source.
The semihistorical Coriolanus was supposed to have been given his name on account of his capture of the Volscian town, Corioli. By reason of his haughty defiance of the plebians, he was impeached and banished from the state about the year 491 B.C. Coriolanus then took refuge with the Volscians and aided those enemies of Rome by leading their armies against those of his own people. The Romans, panic-stricken at the approach of Coriolanus and his Volscian cohorts, sent out deputations to plead with him to spare their city. But the exiled leader had long brooded over the vengeance that he had determined should be his. The deputations were sent back, and Coriolanus prepared for his onslaught upon Rome. The citizens then played their last throw for clemency. The noblest ma­trons of the city, at their head Veturia, the mother, and Volumnia, the wife of Coriolanus, came to the tent of the warrior and entreated him for mercy. Their tears and pleadings moved the angry soldier's heart. He took his Volscians back to their own territory and there, after many years, he was carried to a hero's tomb. There are other versions of the death of Coriolanus. According to Plu­tarch--and Shakespeare--he died at the hands of the Volscian general, Aufidius. With some writers the end of Coriolanus was that of a suicide.
Beethoven's overture is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, and kettledrums and strings.
After a fortissimo unison on C, repeated three times in all the strings, on each occasion interrupted by an incisive chord in the full orchestra, the first theme, consisting of an agitated figure in the strings, is worked up into a dra Named Volumnia and Virgilia in Shakespeare's tragedy.
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matically intense climax, no doubt significant of the ruthless power of Coriolanus. The second theme in the first violins, announced softly and in an expressively lyric melody (in E flat), pictures the fond pleading of his mother's love. But Beethoven, true to the genius of music and never content to be a mere illustrator, shattered with one fierce blow the chains which bound the descriptive overture to the rock of literalism. In so doing he universalized his matter, so that it may stand as you please for the conflict of such fundamental antitheses as love versus hate, good versus evil, cruelty versus kindness, egoism versus altruism, or almost any other of those fundamental conflicts which constitute the primordial stuff of drama.
The development section is concerned with the working out of a two-note motive taken from the end of the second theme, under which a restless move­ment in celli and violas persists. There is in the recapitulation of the two sub­jects a considerable amount of modification, and new key levels are maintained. There is a coda make-up, with typical Beethoven conservation of material, of the second subject and the vigorous unison and resounding chords which an­nounced the opening of the work. The close of the coda is supposed by many to depict the death of Coriolanus, with its continuous diminuendo and fragmen­tary gasps of the principal theme. At any rate, here is music starkly simple, dramatic, and full of tragic conflict.
Symphony in D minor, No. 9, Op. 125 Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was born at Bonn, Decem­ber 16, 1770; died at Vienna, March 26, 1827.
There was something emancipatory about the year 1770, for in this year William Wordsworth, too, was born. What he did to free English poetry from its moss-covered conventions, Beethoven did to liberate music from the fetters of classicism.
It is difficult to decide whether the man creates the age or the age the man, but in the case of Beethoven each is true to some extent. Certainly, as far as music is concerned, he created the age of Romanticism to such a degree that the new movement which began in the nineteenth century could be called "Bee-thovenism" as well. On the other hand, there is no more decided proof to be found, in music history, of the fact that the age produces the man than the case of Beethoven. Certainly Beethoven in his life and in his works is the embodi­ment of his age. Born at the end of the eighteenth century, he witnessed, dur­ing the formative period of his life, the drastic changes that were occurring
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throughout central Europe; changes which affected not only the political but the intellectual and artistic life of the world as well. The French Revolution an­nounced the breaking; up of an old civilization and the dawn of a new social regime. Twice during the most productive period of Beethoven's career, Vienna was occupied by the armies of Napoleon. The spirit, or call it what you will, that caused the Revolution and brought the armies of Napoleon into existence is the very root of Beethoven's music. The ideas which dethroned kings, swept away landmarks of an older society, changed the whole attitude of the individual to­ward religion, the state, and tradition ultimately gave birth to the inventive genius of the nineteenth century, which brought such things as railroads, reform bills, trade unions, and electricity. The same spirit animated the poetic thought of Goethe, Schiller, Wordsworth, and Byron, and it infused itself into the music of Beethoven, from the creation of the Appassionata Sonata to the Choral Ninth Symphony.
During this period of chaos and turmoil, Beethoven stood like a colossus, bridging with his mighty grasp the two centuries in which he lived. In his one person he embodied the ideas of both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,, became the sage and prophet of his period, and the center of the classic and ro­mantic spirit.
These two elements were mutually helpful in making him the outstanding representative of each. His romantic tendencies helped him to infuse Promethean fire into the old, worn-out forms, and endow them with new passion. His re­spect for classic norms made him the greatest of the early Romanticists, for it aided him in tempering the fantastic excesses and extremes of his radical con­temporaries. Thus, this harmonious embodiment of opposing forces, controlled by an architectonic intelligence that molded and fused them together into one passionate, creative impulse, resulted in the production of epoch-making master­pieces, built upon firm foundations, but emancipated from all confining elements of tradition and set free to discover new regions of unimagined beauty.
The following history and analysis of the Choral Ninth Symphony is taken from the Chicago program notes by Felix Borowski:
"When Beethoven finished his eighth symphony in 1812, no other symphony came from his pen until at least eleven years had passed. But, although the Choral Symphony was completed as late as the end of 1823 or the beginning of 1824, the work had long been maturing in Beethoven's brain. In a sketchbook of the year 1816, there stands a passage which ultimately became the subject of the first movement, as well as one which was afterward employed for the scherzo. The intention of utilizing Schiller's poem, "An die Freude," dates, however, from the earliest years of Beethoven's career. We know that he had this inten[53]
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tion in 1793. The text occurs again in a sketchbook of 1798; some of it is in­termingled with sketches for the seventh and eighth symphonies made in 1811, and from this time on they occur with ever-increasing frequency. We may take it that the actual composition of the ninth symphony was begun in 1817, the sketches for this year being confined to the first movement and the scherzo. In the following year Beethoven appears to have conceived the plan of writing two symphonies, one of which was to be a curious combination of Greek myth and what he called "Cantique Ecclesiastique." This project came to nothing. In 1822 much progress was made with the ninth symphony, and in the sketchbook belonging to this year, the choral movement is freely outlined.
Although Beethoven had received money from the Philharmonic Society of London for a first performance of the Ninth Symphony under the auspices of that organization, the premiere took place in Vienna instead, on May 7, 1824. It is reported that there were numerous difficulties at the rehearsals, as the solo­ists, chorus, and orchestra were unaccustomed to the unusual tasks which the composer had set for them. The music itself was more difficult to sing and play .and to present understandingly than these musicians had known before. The work was conducted by Kappelmeister Umlauf; Beethoven, attired in a green coat, stood beside the conductor, a touching figure; for, being totally deaf, he was unable to hear his own music; he was not aware of the applause with which the work was received, until he was turned by Umlauf to face the audience. London heard this Symphony in the Philharmonic Society Series on March 21, 1825, with Sir George Smart as the conductor.
The exigencies of space not permitting a detailed analysis of the first three movements of the symphony, these are set forth with an explanation of their sig­nificance as it appeared to Richard Wagner. The choral finale will be more fully discussed.
I. "A struggle, conceived in the greatest grandeur, of the soul contending for happi­ness against the oppression of that inimical power which places itself between us and the joys of earth, appears to be the basis of the first movement. The great principal theme, which, at the very beginning, issues forth bare and mighty, as it were, from a mysteriously hiding veil, might be transcribed, not altogether inappropriately to the meaning of the whole tone poem, in Goethe's words: 'Renounce thou must--renounce!' Power, resistance, to strive, to long, to hope, almost to attain, again to vanish, to search for anew, to struggle again--these ideas form the elements of the restless movement of this wonderful tone pic­ture. At times, however, they sink into a lasting condition of complete unhappiness. At the close of the movement this somber, unhappy mood seems to assume gigantic grandeur, to encompass the universe in order to take possession in terribly sublime majesty of this world which God created for joy.
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II. "Wild delight seizes us at once with the first rhythms of this second movement. It is a new world which we enter, one in which we are carried away to dizzy intoxication. With the abrupt entrance of the middle part there is suddenly disclosed to us a scene of worldly joy and! happy contentment. A certain sturdy cheerfulness seems to address itself to us in the simple, oft-repeated theme.
III. "How differently these tones speak to our hearts! How pure, how celestially soothing they are as they melt the defiance, the wild impulse of the soul harassed by de­ spair into a soft, melancholy feeling! It is as if memory awoke within us--the memory of an early enjoyed, purest happiness. With this recollection a sweet longing, too, comes over us, which is expressed so beautifully in the second theme of the movement."
IV. Wagner, whose reading of the foregoing movements has been given quotation, said of the finale: "A harsh outcry begins the transition from the third to the fourth move­ ment, a cry of disappointment at not attaining the contentment so earnestly sought. Then, with the beginning of the Ode, we hear clearly expressed what must appear to the anxious seeker for happiness as the highest lasting pleasure."
Presto, D minor, 3-4 time. A boisterous passage seven measures long, given to all the wind instruments, precedes a recitative for the violoncellos and double-basses. Following this comes another outburst in the wind, with another recitative and a section in which por­tions of the previous movements are reviewed. Fragments of the first movement, the scherzo, and the slow movement are presented in turn, each being, as it were, discussed by the violoncellos and double-basses in recitative and then dismissed. A suggestion of the opening theme of the movement appears in the woodwind, this, also, being considered by the basses. The principal subject then enters in the violoncellos and double-basses, as fol­lows:
The violas and violoncellos take it up, the basses playing an independent part, and a counterpoint appearingin the bassoon. The first violins enter with the theme, which then is given out by the full orchestra, forte. There is interpolated {Presto, D minor, 3-4 time) the boisterous cry which opened the finale, whereupon a baritone solo enters this reproach:
"O brothers, these tones no longer! Rather let us join to sing in cheerful measures a song of joyfulness!"
This connection of the preceding material with the setting for chorus of Schiller's poem gave the master much trouble. Schindler, his biographer, narrates the story of Bee­thoven's perplexity. The composer, he said, paced up and down the room endeavoring to discover a suitable linking passage. At length he cried: "I've got it! I've got it!" and holding out his sketch-book for Schindler's inspection, the latter read, "Lass uns das Lied
These are, of course, not Schiller's words, but Beethoven's.
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des unsterblichen Schiller singen" ("Let us sing the song of the immortal Schiller"). But this was afterward changed.
I. Quartet and Chorus (Allegro assai, D major, 4.-4 time) :
Hail thee, joy! from heaven descending-,
Daughter from Elysium! Ecstasy our hearts inflaming,
To thy sacred shrine we come.
Thine enchantments bind together Those whom custom's law divides;
All are brothers, all united, Where thy gentle wing abides.
He whom fickle fortune blesses,
Giving friendship firm and strong,
Who a loving wife possesses, Let him join our joyful song.
Even he to whom one being
In the whole world may belong.
He who never knew this, weeping, Let him leave our happy throng.
Pleasures every creature living
From kind Nature's breast receives;
Good and wicked, all are walking In the rosy path she leaves.
Vines and kisses she is giving,
Friendship, fearless of death's hand;
E'en the worm has joy in living, While near God the cherubs stand.
II. Tenor Solo and Chorus (Allegro assai vivace, alia marcia, B-flat major, 6-8 time). Forty-four measures of orchestral material precede the tenor solo. This material is a variation, of martial character, of the opening theme, and almost entirely for wind in­struments. The tenor solo then enters, the wind instruments continuing the march-like theme above it, and the chorus coming in at the conclusion: Joyful, like his suns so glorious, Fly through heaven day by day, Hasten, brothers, on your way Like a hero, e'er victorious.
Another lengthy orchestral interlude ensues, at the close of which the chorus repeats, forte, the principal theme to the first two verses of the poem.
III. Chorus (Andante maestoso, G major, 3-2 time). A new theme is introduced at this point. A quotation is subjoined:
The chorus is divided into two portions, the first of which is sung to the following text:
Millions, loving, I embrace you,
All the world this kiss I send.
Brothers, o'er yon starry tent
Dwells a God whose love is true.
The second division {Adagio ma non troffo, ma divoto, G minor, 3-2 time) opens with four introductory measures for the orchestra, the chorus then singing:
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Millions, bow ye down in wonder!
Earth, feel'st thou thy Maker nigh
Seek Him o'er the starry sky! He must dwell in glory yonder.
IV. Chorus {Allegro energico sempre ben marcato, D major, 6-4 time). Both the themes already quoted are employed in this division, which opens with a variation of the first theme sung by the sopranos to the words of the first stanza, and with the second soprano singing the second theme to the text "Seid umschlungen, Millionen," etc.
V. Quartet and Chorus {Allegro ma non tanto, D major, 2-2 time). The entrance of the solo voices is preceded by four measures of orchestral material in which the principal theme is given out in diminution. The quartet sing the text of the opening stanzas; sixteen measures after the solo voices begin there is introduced a canon between the soprano and tenor. A cadenza for the solo voices is introduced at the end.
VI. Chorus {Prestissimo, D major, 2-2 time). This division, practically the coda of the movement, makes use of the second theme in diminution to the text of "Millions, lov­ing, I embrace you." Near the close there is an impressive introduction of a -maestoso set to the first two lines of Schiller's Ode, this being immediately followed by the original tempo, in which the full orchestra brings the symphony to a conclusion.
Tone Poem, "Ein Heldenleben," Op. 40 Strauss
The Hero
The Hero's Adversaries
The Hero's Companion
The Hero's Battlefield
The Hero's Mission of Peace
The Hero's Escape from the World--Conclusion
Richard Strauss was born at Munich, July n, 1864.
One of the most interesting and extraordinary personalities in the world of music today is Richard Strauss. Whatever his antagonistic critics say of him, he remains one of the greatest living composers. Trained during his formative years in the classical musical traditions of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, he exerted his individuality and independence of thought and expression with such daring and insistence that at his mature period he was considered the most modern and most radical of composers. Critics turned from their tirades against Wagner to vent their invectives upon him. They vilified him as they had Wagner, with a fury and persistence that seems incredible today. Although time has not caused this radicalism to disappear completely, Strauss is today slipping comfortably into the ranks of the Conservatives. The progressive unfolding of his genius has aroused much discussion, largely because it has had so many sudden shifts. From the first his extraordinary mastery of technical procedure has been manifest. He has again and again shown his power to create beauty of rare freshness, and then
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
has dropped to the commonplace of the merely sensational. This lack of consis­tency and earnestness still keeps him from taking his place as the true successor of Wagner, to which his skill seems to entitle him.
In "Ein Heldenleben" the true powers of Strauss are displayed, however. In the greatness of its general conception, in the fine sense of form that controls the vast design, and in the skill with which the themes are made, in this or. that metamorphosis, to play organic parts in the development of the work, it stands at the head of all the symphonic poems we know. Its exciting episodes, the rich­ness of its instrumentation, its high peaks of emotional intensity, and its infinite contrasts satisfy completely the demands of the modern ear for color, movement, and strength.
The following are six connected sections of the tone-poem:
The Hero
The music here suggests the character of the hero, courageous, sensitive, intelligent, and full of an all-embracing enthusiasm for life.
The Hero's Adversaries
The piercing, penetrating, and snarling phrases of the woodwind section signify the criticism and mockery of the world. The hero theme is heard, gently protesting at first, but soon asserting itself with strength into opposition.
The Hero's Companion
This section is introduced by the solo violin. It pictures the coy, demure, petulant, tender, and coquettish "loved one," and the hero's sincere, at first inarticulate, but quietly passionate pleading.
The Hero's Battlefield
The calm serenity of love is disturbed by the hero's adversaries. The mockery of the world intrudes upon his peace. Inspired by love, he enters the battle with olympian rage. (Fanfare of trumpets.)
The Hero's Mission of Peace
This section describes the growth and ripening of the hero's soul and his intellectual and spiritual accomplishments. It is this section that gives rise to the belief that Strauss is himself the hero. He has made use of thematic material from his earlier works. Fragments from "Don Juan," "Also Sprach Zarathustra," "Tod und Verklarung," "Till Eulenspiegel," and the song, "Traum durch die Dammerung," are woven into this section with aptness, subtlety, and coherence.
The Hero's Escape from the World--Conclusion
The hero is resigned to the indifference of the world. With his memories he builds up a world within himself which protects him from all harm, and with this, "Ein Helden­leben" comes to a majestic and serene end.
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SIXTH MAY FESTIVAL CONCERT
A Song of Peace ("Ein Friedenslied") Heger
First Performance in America
An Oratorio in Five Songs for Soli, Chorus, Orchestra, and' Organ.
Text from the Scriptures, English Version arranged by Earl V. Moore
Robert Heger was born at Strassburg, August 19, 1886.
The tempo and pace of the three past decades of the twentieth century have left their impression on most of the traditional art forms. Poetry, drama, architecture, painting, and sculpture have undergone changes in subject matter as well as manner of expression. Directness of approach to the underlying idea or function, boldness of statement, omission of details that are merely decorative, condensation and concentration of expression--these are some of the characteristics of artistic technical procedure in this century in the fields of fine arts and music. In the programs of these concerts, compositions by contemporary composers have been presented from time to time to indicate the present trends in the art of music. Instrumental music--symphonies, con­certos, overtures, ballet music, etc.--first exploited the new ideas of boldness and directness of statement, of dissonance in harmony, rhythm, and color; vocal music responded to the new influences slowly and reluctantly. Com­posers experimented with short choral works until something resembling a rude pathway was "carved out of the forest" of new musical expressions. It is not surprising, then, that such a clearly defined and traditional art form as the oratorio should resist the intrusion of the new dynamic and dramatic style. Honegger's King David, Hoist's Hymn of Jesus, Hanson's Lament of Beo­wulf, Strawinsky's Symphony of Psalms, and Walton's Belshazzar's Feast are some of the guideposts on this new highway of choral music that have been heard in these concerts. King David was the most pretentious as to length; Belshazzar's Feast, the most completely and consistently advanced as to new requirements in choral technique.
Heger's A Song of Peace is of oratorio proportions not only in the require­ments for performance--four soloists, large chorus, orchestra and organ--but
A Song of Peace was first performed at the Academy of Music, Munich, November i, 1924, the composer conducting. Subsequent performances were given in the leading musical centers of Germany and Austria. Performance in Vienna was given by the Society of the Friends of Music; in Berlin the late Siegfried Ochs presented the work with his famous Hochschule fur Musik chorus in 1926.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
in the scale in which it is cast., Each of the five "songs" is comparable to an extended movement in a symphony, a complete art work in itself yet related to the others in sequence. Compared with the traditional oratorio -Seasons, Creation, Messiah, etc.--Heger's work has more unity and cohesion of material, owing, no doubt, to the influence of instrumental music on choral composition; themes are stated and developed; form is apparent; soloists are given oppor­tunities for individual effort equivalent to those in the traditional arias; ensem­bles for soloists are written in the style of Beethoven; in the Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis; the chorus is brought to the fore as in Haydn, Mendels­sohn, or Brahms, and sings fugues that are Handelian in their vigor and rugged-ness. Thus Heger has not broken completely with oratorio tradition; rather has he preserved the "eternal verities" of the form, but expressed them in the idiom of speech, in the mood and pace and in the color palette, of the twentieth century.
This work differs from the usual oratorio, then, in a number of ways: in texture, in color, and in mood. The texture of Heger's stream of sound is frequently the result of many independent tone lines moving with more or less individual freedom and impinging one on the other with the result that, if the ear "stops to listen" to that impingement, dissonance is pronounced; however, if the horizontal and linear motion is observed, the clash of sounds seems logical and necessary. Where the classicists thought a single melody and chordal accompaniment to be sufficient (except in a fugue), modern composers (fol­lowing the precedent of Bach) are using many melodies simultaneously; the sum total of these, as they weave in and out, creates the mood of expression. To be sure, there are many areas in each of the "songs" in which Heger reverts to the simplicity and directness of classic harmony as a contrast to the modern polyphony; he writes many clear-cut, definite melodies which are essentially vocal in character. Moreover, his rhythmic patterns are "romantic" or "classic" and in no wise are akin to the rhythmic intensity in Belshazzar's Feast.
It is perhaps in "color" that A Song of Peace differs most from the tra­ditional oratorio. Throughout the nineteenth century the orchestra was develop­ing by leaps and bounds as a medium of delineative or narrative expression. The two Richards--Wagner and Strauss--completely overturned the tech­nique and function of the orchestra, whether it be used in the concert hall (Don Juan, Heldenleben) or in the theater (Tristan, Parsifal). The color plan of most traditional oratorios, if indeed a color plan can be said to exist in them, was so routined that whether the accompaniment to arias and choruses was played by orchestra, or piano, or organ, little was lost. The musical material
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SIXTH CONCERT
assigned to the orchestra was "noncommittal," not individualistic. In spite of the general misconception, it can be shown that Bach had a finer sense of "color" than many of the later classicists; e.g., St. Matthew Passion and some of the sacred cantatas. Heger has employed the resources of a Wagner or Strauss orchestra; the orchestral portion of A Song of Peace is not to be con­sidered as an accompaniment to solos or choruses. Neither vocal nor instru­mental portions are complete by themselves; the orchestral effects enhance the meaning of the text; yet voices and instruments unite to give a truly symphonic character to the whole mood.
Mood--subject matter--aesthetic effect--these are the criteria by which a composition is judged by the listener, rather than by the composer's technical facility in harmony, counterpoint, or orchestration. Obviously a single hearing of a new work is insufficient to grasp all its implications. It is suggested, therefore, that the text of each song be read immediately before it is sung, and that the listener first allow the full import of the biblical phrases to awaken his imagi­nation; then as he listens to this composer's interpretation of the moods, he will be more alert to the musical symbolization. It should be recalled that oratorio calls for a "grand style"--a broad, expansive interpretation of a musical idea which typifies an extensive mood--rather than the short, paragraphic, journalis­tic style prevalent in many present-day compositions, in which ideas (musical and otherwise) are merely stated or juxtaposed without development or expan­sion or restatement. For example, the introductory section of the First Song is concerned with an expanding conception of the holiness of the Lord, his glory, his wisdom, and, finally, his power and might; the music reaches its climax with the words "Who can the thunder of his might understand " The solemn, minor character of the first phrase--"Holy is the Lord," the beating of drums, the mystic chords of the violins in the high registers, give an initial mood of awe and of mystery. Each of the succeeding sections represented by chorus or solo or ensemble is an expansion of a mood through a musical phrase as an embodiment of the essential character of the text. Only one musical motif is carried throughout the work: i.e., the motif of peace which is first announced by the orchestra (solo violin, viola, oboe, and clarinet) when in the First Song the chorus sings: "And freely he giveth peace." Other motifs are restated within a particular song, and some are heard in two or three songs. Generally speaking, each song is thematically independent as in the several divisions of the Brahms "Requiem," yet bound together by a unifying mood and style.
The vocal and instrumental resources demanded by the score are as follows: soprano, alto, tenor, bass soli, mixed chorus; three flutes, two oboes, English horn, heckelphone, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, six horns, four
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
trumpets, three trombones, tuba, four tympani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, tamtam, small drum, glockenspiel, xylophone, celesta, two harps, strings, and organ.
The rise of Robert Heger to a position of prominence in the European musical world has been consistent but unostentatious. His early musical educa­tion was obtained in his natal city, Strassburg, where he gained experience as a conductor of opera, as well as at Barmen and Ulm. In 1911 he was called to Vienna as first conductor of the Volks-Oper. His capacities and musician­ship having been thus brought into prominence in one of the leading music centers of the world, he was offered the post of Director of Opera in Nurem-burg, which he held from 1912 to 1919. The years 1919-25 saw him at Munich as conductor at the Royal Opera with Bruno Walter and other dis­tinguished European conductors. In 1925 when Richard Strauss withdrew from the post as first conductor at the Vienna State Opera House, Heger was appointed to succeed him and, although placed in a very difficult situation because of the strong partisanship of the proand anti-Strauss factions in Vienna, he established his reputation and rose to a position of responsibility and authority.
For almost a decade he has been one of the conductors of the German opera repertoire at the Covent Garden season in London and has made numerous appearances as guest conductor with the symphony orchestras in Germany and Austria. In 1933, despite the fact that his contract in Vienna had several years to run, he was appointed state conductor for opera in Germany, a title shared by Furtwangler. Heger now divides his time between Berlin and Vienna and London. As a composer he has published a trio for piano, two symphonies, two operas, a violin concerto, nine songs, and the choral work on this evening's program.
The English translation of the text of A Song of Peace is as follows:
TEXT OF "A SONG OF PEACE"
FIRST SONG Chorus
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord;
All the earth is full of His glory.
He is wise in heart.
He is mighty.
He stretcheth out the darkest night over waste places
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.
He bindeth the water in thick clouds
And maketh the rain to fall with light­ning.
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He bringeth forth the wind from His treasures.
Who can the thunder of His might under­stand
Tenor Solo
The heavens declare the glory of God
And the firmament showeth His handi­work.
Day unto day and night unto night
Sheweth knowledge.
For all His signs, they are great,
And all His wonders are mighty!
SIXTH CONCERT
And His kingdom is an everlasting king­dom And His dominion endureth for ever and
ever. Quartet
O the depth of the riches of wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His ways and past
understanding His judgments!
Chorus He is a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers on the children unto
the third and the fourth generations. He will repay the sins of the people with
war and with pestilence and hunger And shall hold judgment by fire and
by sword over those who take His
name in vain But God the Lord rules His children with
grace and is full of compassion. Like as a father pitieth his children, So pitieth the Lord all them that fear
Him, And freely He giveth peace to those who
in His words do trust.
Quartet
Praise ye the Lord, call upon His name, Sing ye, praise ye, and speak ye of all
His wondrous works.
Quartet and Chorus For He is gracious, His truth and mercy
are everlasting.
SECOND SONG
Chorus
Woe, woe to them that dwell upon the earth.
Tenor Solo
And there arose up a war. And God, in His righteous wrath, hath kindled a fire that burned unto the nethermost hell, and consumed the earth with all her increase, and kin­dled to flames the foundations of the mountains.
Chorus
There arose a tumult among the many nations that upon the earth dwell;
and nation destroyed nation; and cities wrecked each other.
The earth shook and trembled, the foun­dations also of the hills and moun­tains were moved because God was wroth.
Jehovah hath hurled forth his thunderbolt
With hailstorms and lightnings;
He shot forth His arrows and dispersed them.
Tenor Solo
0 Lord, how are they increased that
trouble me; and those that rise against me, they are many.
Behold, waters rise up from darkest night and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow all the parched land, the city, and those that dwell therein.
And I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty. Chorus
Yea, the sword is made sharp and is keen,
1 have set its point against them, that
their hearts may falter, and that their ruin may be multiplied. Bass Solo
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion
And call ye in my holy mountain
For the day of the Lord comes and is nigh-A darker day!
Before the Lord is a devouring fire
And after the Lord goes a burning flame.
The day of the Lord is great and fright­ful.
Who can abide that day Chorus
Woe, woe to them that dwell upon the earth.
Behold, the Lord laid waste the earth
And scatt'reth them that dwell therein.
The new wine mourneth
The vine languisheth
And all the merry-minded do sigh.
The mirth of the tabrets ceaseth,
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
The festive rejoicing endeth
And the song of the harps is vanished. Alto Solo
A voice was heard in mournful lamenta­tion and in bitter weeping from the heights: A mother weeping for her children and will not be comforted for them.
Quartet
Weep ye with the weepers.
The righteous perish and are snatched away from the evil.
Each one walking in his uprightness cometh to peace and resteth in his chambers.
Chorus
And many heroes that in the dust of the earth lie asleep shall awaken to life everlasting.
. THIRD SONG Chorus
Lord, Thou hast shown harsh things to thy people,
Thou hast made us to drink wines so heady that we stagger and reel;
Thou hast visited us with terror, fear, and fever j
Thou hast set thy countenance against us,
And our spirit languisheth.
Thou hast cast us off and hast dispersed us.
Turn unto us, again.
Help us, Lord, that we may be healed;
Give us help in time of trouble,
And deliver us from all evil,
For we offer before thee our supplica­tions, not because of our unright­eousness, but because of thy great mercies.
Bass and Tenor Duet
All things that befall thee shalt thou en­dure,
And be thou patient in all tribulation. Quartet
It is a goodly thing for man to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
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Chorus But they that wait upon the Lord shall
renew their strength; and shall
mount up on their wings like eagles;
they shall go forth and not falter;
they shall run and not be weary. The bruised reed shall not be broken, the
smoking flax shall not be quenched. Compassionate and gracious is the Lord, Forbearing and of great goodness, Death will He swallow up in victory. The Lord God will wipe away all tears
from all faces and shall take from
off the earth the rebuke of His
people.
Now brighten the arrows and gather to­gether the battle shields; Be strong in the Lord and draw on the
armour of God the Lord. With truth shall tliou be girt about, yea
and with righteousness; Lay hold on the helmet of salvation and
the sword of the spirit, Fight the good fight, the fight of faith, For by our faith shall be the victory that
overcomes the world.
FOURTH SONG Alto and Soprano Duet How lovely are the feet of him that bringeth news of peace, that publish-eth good tidings.
Chorus
Look ye, from the mountains messengers are coming, bringing news of peace and publishing good tidings.
Quartet and Chorus How lovely are the feet of him that bringeth news of peace, that publish-eth good tidings.
Chorus
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called God's own children.
Soprano Solo The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pas­tures;
SIXTH CONCERT
He leadeth me beside the still waters; He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteous­ness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Chorus
I will lay me down in peace and slumber
For Thou, Lord, only maketh me to dwell in safety.
Tenor Solo
In that day shall the branch of the Lord be glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely.
And Jehovah will create upon each dwell­ing clouds and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.
And it shall come to pass that then the mountains of the Lord's house shall be established upon the mountain top and shall be exalted above the hills.
And into ploughshares shall they beat their swords, and into pruning hooks their lances.
No more shall nation lift up the sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more
And of peace shall there be no end. Chorus
Make yourselves glad; rejoice greatly and shout ye.
Be joyful, rejoice and sing praises with psalt'ries
For now he cometh, thy King cometh unto thee,
He shall cut off the chariots and the coursers.
The battle bow shall be broken. Quartet and Chorus
He shall speak peace unending unto all the peoples, and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, unto the ends of the earth.
FIFTH SONG
Chorus Lord! God! Wherefore hast thou smitten us, and
there is no healing for us God, O our God, hast thou forsaken us
Bass Solo and Chorus I, even I, am the Lord of Heaven and
Earth.
My ways are wonderful. Have faith in God.
Tenor Solo Lord, thou hast been our refuge in all
generations; Ere the mountains were brought forth
or ever thou the earth and the world
had formed,
Thou art God, from everlasting to ever­lasting.
Soprano Solo Whom have I in heaven but thee, and
there is none on earth that I do
desire than thee. My flesh and my heart cry out unto thee,
O Lord, in whom is the strength of
my heart, for evermore.
Quartet
For I am persuaded neither death nor life, neither angels nor powers, neither things present nor future, neither height nor depth shall sepa­rate us from the love of God.
Chorus
Lord, as the Heav'ns are wide, so is thy mercy great, and thy truth reach-eth up unto the clouds. And blessed be his glorious name eter­nally.
Chorale
To the Lord God on high, Be praised and thanks for his great mercy. With us his peace will now abide All strife and fear is at an end. Quartet and Chorus Lord, thy name be forever blessed.
[65]
THE UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION
Founded in 1879 Fifty-fifth Season, 1933-1934
Earl V. Moore, Conductor
E. William Doty, Assistant Conductor
Mabel Ross Rhead, Pianist
Palmer Christian, Organist
Otto J. Stahl, Librarian
Sopranos
Amendt, Mrs. Dorothy S. Anderson, Emiline June Anderson, Marion L. Archer, Herma Mabel Arthur, Winifred Frances Backus, Catherine E. Backus, Dorothy L. . Beckler, Ruth P. Bell, Elizabeth L. Bentley, Helen A. Benz, Margaret M. Bertsch, Marion L. Blodgett, Eleanor M. Bradley, Mrs. Helen S. Bradstreet, Lola M. Burgoyne, Bessie Elizabeth Burke, Margaret E. Campbell, Emily F. Case, Marion E. Casper, Barbara Chambers, Charlotte E. Chapel, Rosalyn L. Clark, Mary Jane Clarke, Helen C. Cook, Nancy E. Cowin, Roxy E. Cowles, Dorothy B. Cox, Ruth F. Crow, Harriet A. Daugherty, Margaret A. Day, Dorothy E.
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Decider, Dorothy C. Dickes, Marianne F. Dixon, Alma K. Engels, Martha D. Fagg, Shirley J. Felker, Jean B. Fuller, Marjorie L. Funkhouser, Katharine E. Galvin, Emma J. Gassner, Hildegarde Gee, Merle L. Goddard, Marjorie R. Gould, Helen M. Graiziger, Lydia C. Guthrie, Frances L. Hackett, Julia M. Hall, Winifred I. Hardy, Ardell L. Hawley, Evelyn W. Haxton, Helen E. Hertrich, Margaret H. Hildebrand, Kathryn M. Hilpert, Myra M. Horr, Phyllis J. Houck, Helen M. Howarth, Alice M. Hutchins, Maxine M. Jackson, Katharine E. Jean, Gertrude S. Johnstone, Mrs. Jennie Jones, Gwynneth E.
Kapp, Josephine M. Kappler, Janet M. Kiest, Mary E. Kim, Mary C. Koch, Catherine Virginia Kohlhaas, Mary A. Leddick, Eleanor R. Leslie, Mrs. Betty A. Loucks, Frances Lucas, Lucille M. Maclntyre, Kathleen MacLaren, Helen L. Malve, Suzanne Martinek, Maretta Maulbetsch, Arlene M. Mayo, Virginia Merrell, Betty T. Miller, Elizabeth Newell, Thelma U. Nichols, Ruth J. Nyland, Helen M. O'Conner, Mrs. Edna Paalman, Hazel M. Park, Dorothy E. Patten, Vida M. Prochnow, Violet A. Purcell, Rosemary R. Rabinowitz, Jeanette X. Roop, Maryetta J. Rorick, Frances E. Rowell, Ruth E.
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Sawyer, Gertrude Saxton, R. Leone Schmidt, Margaret L. Scholl, Evelyn H. Schultz, Gladys R. Seeley, Jean A. Shaben, Margaret C. Sisson, Clarawanda Slosson, Lucy D. W. Smith, Betti A. Smith, Dorothy L. Smith, Vera J. Solomon, Virginia L. Stamper, Mary K.
Stanger, Gerde H. Starr, Margaret L. Steffen, Gertrude C. Strand, Barbara Straw, Mrs. Hilda Jackson Stroup, Mildred N. Swetnam, Margaret Thompson, Catherine L. Thompson, Harriet C. Thurston, Mrs. Jessie Tice, Ruth L. Trunk, Myrtle C. Van Evera, Louise Vann, Rose E. Vogel, Ruth F.
Wadsworth, Alma M. Walker, Alfreda L. Walker, Dorothy L. Walz, Elizabeth L. Weinman, Lillian D. Weitbrecht, Carlotta R. Welz, Caroline R. Westveer, Mae E. Wheeler, Helen C. Whitman, Eleanor F. Wikel, Dorothy E. Wilson, Calla J. Wyman, Alice E. Young, Vivian F.
Altos
Aldrich, Blanche E. Anderson, Helen Austin, Mrs. Genevieve D. Austin, Margaret I. Barnes, Mary M. Baxter, Mary A. Beers, Eleanor Beyer, Marion A. Boomhower, Ruth E. Chulock, Violet E. Clark, Helen Cohn, Jane P. Cowin, Gladys J. Cramton, Clara E. Dell, Frances M. Eager, Grace Earnshaw, Mary E. Eddy, Hope B. Emerich, Dorothy A. Evans, Marguerite L. Farquhar, Anne L. Ferguson, Mrs. Catharine Y. Forsythe, Edith M. Frazee, Eudora B. Gerhard, Selma W. Gnodtke, Lucile H. Goodwin, Alice A. Graiziger, Edith M. Gram, Helene Graves, Lois M.
Hamill, Doris L. Harris, Helen L. Hawley, L. Margaret Hoffman, Alice M. Hoover, Jean E. Hussey, Ruth C. Ives, Margaret Johnson, Eleanor I. Kabrisky, Ruth Karpinski, Ruth Kimball, Margaret Lacey, Sarah E. Lease, Rachel D. Leopold, Catherine L. Leve, Gertrude J. Little, Betty G. McCallum, Elizabeth P. McLean, Jeane Martindale, Margaret May, Marian G. Miler, Ruth T. Moe, Ragnhild Mohler, Gladys M. Myers, Jacqueline O. Osborne, Rosemary R. Pardec, Ruth A. Pray, Ellen B. Pray, Ruth A. Pulfrey, Margaret E. Reed, L. Jane
Reeverts, Emma M. Robinson, Barbara A. Rose, Barbara F. Sauls, Miriam S. Shapland, Helen C. Sheehan, Agnes Simpson, Rosemary B. Smith, lone L. Smith, Mary E. Song, Kyung-Shyn Spoeneman, Lydia Springer, Eleanor C. Stockwell, Priscilla T. Talcott, Elizabeth L. Toteff, Victoria B. Waggoner, Ruth L. Walker, Mary E. Ward, Virginia B. Weinert, Mrs. Hilda M. Weyrich, Irmtraud R. Whitman, Charlotte Wightman, Mrs. Bertha W. Wilson, Clara M. Wilson, Laila L. Wolter, Helen A. Wood, Mrs. Neva R. Woodhams, Elizabeth E. Woodworth, Alta I. Young, A. Eleanor Zbinden, Helen L.
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UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION Tenors
Barone, Anthony J. Boyse, John W. Bulmer, Dan J. Casner, L. Fred Chen, Ren-Bing Clemes, Lome L. Collins, Maxwell R. Crosby, John S. Curtis, Quin F. Dembinsky, Seymour H. Dixon, C. Merle Dudley, Winston M. Edmonds, John Eggebrecht, William M. Elder, John D.
Engel, Robert Fabrieant, Herbert J. Gaff, Jack B. Jean, Karl F. Klein, Maynard J. Knapp, William G. Kondratowicz, Raymond Light, Goddard Matthews, Ralph V. Meddaugh, David H. Meddaugh, Elijah B. Meyer, George Moudry, Ladimir M. Nelson, Carl A. Offenbach, Harry M.
Pfeifle, L. Ira Porter, Melzer R. Ryan, Milo S. Samuels, Burrel Schafer, Roland L. Schoen, Arthur M. Siegel, Harry D. Slack, Robert D. Smith, Harry C. Smith, Norman F. Stein, Edwin E. Weinert, Arthur A. Witheridge, David E. Zahnow, Robert H.
Basses
Aaron, Benjamin Austin, Henry R. Austin, Joseph P. Barnes, Hal Barnett, John A. Bauer, Paul I. Benner, Alvin N. Bourland, Philip E. Bourziel, Arnold E. Bovee, Kenneth L. Bradley, William H. Burchuk, David Callahan, Allen B. Carr, Arthur J. Chidester, F. E. Clark, Kenneth L. Conlin, Joseph Cook, Gerhard A. DeLine, Clifford A. Dudley, Richard Eager, Frank R. Fairbank, Chandler D. Firestone, Floyd A. Frey, John A. Garber, Robert Z.
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Gens, Charles A. Grushko, Theodore Hamilton, Francis R. Harris, Richard W. Hart, Thomas A. Haynes, Everett I. Hilty, Everett J. Houseman, Henry M. Isaacs, Morris M. Kimball, Robert L. Kincaid, Dean E. Kincheloe, Kenneth V. Klein, Harry Klute, Harold F. Kunin, Israel Liechty, Menno S. Lincoln, Philip T. McDonald, Thane E. MacKay, Stuait Mason, Henry L. Mastin, Glenn G. May, Robert C. Mayo, Warren H. Meyer, Henry J. Much, Wolf-Isebrand
Peck, Mordant E. Pierpont, John Polk, William M. Prator, Clifford H. Reinhart, Robert S. Rosenthal, James K. Ryan, Robert V. Schumann, Eugen E. Seeger, Nelson V. Shaffmaster, Frederic H. Sleet, Marshall C. Stallard, Charles Stavropoulos, Peter S. Stillman, Donald G. Straw, Harold T. Striedieck, Werner F. Underwood, Howard W. Wagenseil, William Welmer, Everett T. Wightman, Clifford B. Wolk, Sidney Woodburne, Lloyd S. Wragby, Arthur R. Zbinden, Albert T.
STANLEY CHORUS
Maxine Maynard, President Margaret Marti ndale, Director Margaret Kim ball, Accompanist
First Sopranos
Blight, Virginia Branagan, Marie Calcutt, Sue Clark, Harriet Deckler, Dorothy Falk, Esther Jean Gray, Helen
Bertsch, Marian Dietrich, Lillian Ferrin, Edith Guthrie, Frances Jean, Gertrude Kaser, Ruth Kiest, Mary
Baxter, Mary Bergener, Betty Brimijoin, Mary Chapman, Betty Earnshaw, Mary Farquhar, Ann Feltes, Carol Gram, Helene
Beckett, Margaret Beers, Eleanor Ferrin, Edith
Hertrich, Margaret Hildebrand, Katherine Lucas, Lucille Mathewson, Mary Ann Morrison, Mary Park, Dorothy Patten, Vida Rich, Ruth
Second Sopranos
Krause, Louise Mann, Eleanor Martinek, Maretta Olthoff, Ruth Osborn, Ann Purcell, Rosemary
First Altos
Heath, Eleanor Howarth, Alice McOmber, Betty Maynard, Maxine Moore, Elizabeth Moore, Eloise Oleksiuch, Harriet
Second Altos
Kimball, Margaret Morgan, Barbara Thompson, Catherine
Schultz, Gladys Stamper, Mary K. Stroup, Mildred Swift, Virginia Wadsworth, Alma Wikel, Dorothy Wilson, Calla Jean
Roop, Maryetta Sawyer, Gertrude Scherling, Betty Smith, Dorothy Strand, Helen Williams, Olwynne
Pardee, Ruth Rice, Janice Rose, Barbara Shapland, Dorothy Souls, Miriam Spiess, Harriet Whitman, Charlotte
Weis, Velda Wilson, Clara M. Woodhams, Elizabeth
THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Organized in 1879. Incorporated in 1881.
PRESIDENTS
Henry Simmons Frieze, 1879-1889 Alexander Winchell, 1889-1891 Francis W. Kelsey, 1891-1927 Charles A. Sink, 1927MUSICAL DIRECTORS Calvin B. Cady, 1883-1888 Albert A. Stanley, 1888-1921 Earl V. Moore, 1921THE MAY FESTIVAL
Founded by Albert A. Stanley in 1894
MUSICAL DIRECTORS Albert A. Stanley, 1894-1921 Earl V. Moore, 1922ORGANIZATIONS
Boston Festival Orchestra. Emil Mollenhauer, Conductor, 1894--1904 Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Frederick Stock, Conductor, 1904--; Eric DeLamarter, Associate Conductor, 1918-University Choral Union. Albert A. Stanley, Conductor, 1894-1921; Earl V.
Moore, Conductor, 1922Young People's Festival Chorus, trained by Florence B. Potter, and conducted by Albert A. Stanley, 1913-1918
Conductors: Russell Carter, 1920; George O. Bowen, 1921--24; Joseph E. Maddy, 1925-27; Juva N. Higbee, 1928-The Stanley Chorus, trained by Margaret Martindale, 1934
GUEST CONDUCTORS
Gustav Hoist (London, England) 1923, 1932 Howard Hanson (Rochester) 1926, 1927, 1933 Felix Borowski (Chicago) 1927 Percy Grainger (New York) 1928
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM
CHORAL WORKS
Manzoni Requiem, Verdi
Damnation of Faust, Berlioz
Lohengrin, Act I, Finale from Meistersinger, Wagner
Arminius, Bruch; Stabat Mater, Rossini
Manzoni Requiem, Verdi
German Requiem, Brahms; Samson and Delilah, Saint-Saens
Lily Nymph, Chadwick j Hora Novissima, Parker
Elijah, Mendelssohn; Golden Legend, Sullivan
Orpheus, Gluck; Faust, Gounod
Caractacus, Elgar; Aida, Verdi
Fair Ellen, Bruch; Dream of Gerontius, Elgar; Carmen, Bizet
St. Paul, Mendelssohn; Arminius, Bruch
Stabat Mater, Dvorak; A Psalm of Victory, Stanley; Aida, Verdi
Messiah, Handel; Samson and Delilah, Saint-Saens
Creation, Haydn; Faust, Gounod
Seasons, Haydn; Damnation of Faust, Berlioz
Fair Ellen, Bruch; Odysseus, Bruch5 New Life, Wolf-Ferrari
Judas Maccabeus, Handel; Eugene Onegin, Tchaikovsky
Dream of Gerontius, Elgar; Samson and Delilah, Saint-Saens; Chorus Triomphalis,
Stanley
1913 Laus Deo, Stanley; Manzoni Requiem, Verdi; Lohengrin Act I and Finale from
Meistersinger, Wagner; The Walrus and the Carpenter (Children), Fletcher
Caractacus, Elgar; Messiah, Handel; Into the World (Children), Benoit
New Life, Wolf-Ferrari; Children's Crusade, Pierne
Paradise Lost, Bossi; Samson and Delilah, Saint-Saens; Children at Bethlehem
(Children), Pierne
1917 Dream of Gerontius, Elgar; Aida, Verdi; The Walrus and the Carpenter (Children), Fletcher
The Beatitudes, Franck; Carmen, Bizet; Into the World (Children), Benoit
Ode to Music, Hadley; Faust, Gounod; Fair Land of Freedom, Stanley
Manzoni Requiem, Verdi; Damnation of Faust, Berlioz
Elijah, Mendelssohn; Aida, Verdi; Voyage of Arion (Children), Moore
New Life, Wolf-Ferrari; A Psalmodic Rhapsody, Stock; Tannhauser (Paris
Version), Wagner; A Song of Spring (Children), Busch
1923 B-minor Mass (Excerpts) Bach; fHymn of Jesus, Hoist; Dirge for Two Veterans,
Hoist; Samson and Delilah, Saint-Saens
1924 B-minor Mass (Excerpts), Bach; fLa Primavera (Spring), Respighi; fSea Drift,
Delius; Excerpts from Aida and La Forza del Destino, Verdi
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
1925 The Bells, Rachmaninoff; B-minor Mass (Excerpts), Bach; La Gioconda, Ponchielli;
Alice in Wonderland (Children), Kelley
1926 Elijah, Mendelssohn; Lohengrin, Wagner; The Lament of Beowulf, Hanson; The
Walrus and the Carpenter (Children), Fletcher
1927 Missa Solemnis, Beethoven; fChoral Symphony, 2d and 3d movements, Hoist; Carmen, Bizet; Heroic Elegy, Hanson; Voyage of Arion (Children), Moore
1928 St. Francis of Assisi, Pierne; Mardiing Song of Democracy, Grainger; Aida, Verdi;
Quest of the Queer Prince (Children), Hyde
1929 German Requiem, Brahms; New Life, Wolf-Ferrari; Samson and Delilah, SaintSaens; Hunting of the Snark (Children), Boyd
1930 Magnificat, Bach; King David, Honegger; Manzoni Requiem, Verdi; A Symphony
of Song (Children), Strong
1931 St. Francis of Assisi, Pierne; Boris Godounof (original version) Moussorgsky; Old
Johnny Appleseed (Children), Gaul
1932 Creation, Haydn; Symphony of Psalms, Strawinsky; fChoral Fantasia, Hoist;
fLegend of Kitesh, Rimsky-Korsakov; The Spider and the Fly (Children), Protheroe
1933 Belshazzar's Feast, Walton; Merry Mount, Hanson; Spring Rapture (Children),
Gaul
1934 The Seasons, Haydn; fEin Friedenslied, Heger; Ninth Symphony, Beethoven; By
the Rivers of Babylon, Loeffler; The Ugly Duckling, English
World Premiere at the May Festival Concerts
f American Premiere at the May Festival Concerts
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