UMS Concert Program, February 22, 1956: Seventy-seventh Annual Choral Union Concert Series -- Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Season: 1955-1956
Concert: Seventh
Complete Series: 3178
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Charles A. Sink, President Thor Johnson, Guest Conductor
Lester McCoy, Associate Conductor
Eighth Concert 1955-1956 Complete Series 3179
Seventy-seventh Annual
Choral Union Concert Series
S. Hurok presents
ARTUR RUBINSTEIN, Pianist
Thursday Evening, March i, 1956, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Chaconne...........Bach-Busoni
Sonata in E-flat major, Op. 31, No. 3.....Beethoven
Allegro
Scherzo: allegretto vivace
Menuetto: moderato e grazioso Presto con fuoco
Intermezzo in B-flat minor, Op. 117 1
Capriccio in B minor, Op. 76 ......Brahms
Rhapsody in E-flat major, Op. 119 J
INTERMISSION
Sonata in three movements from Petrouchka .... Stravinsky
Russian Dance
In Petrouchka's Room Russian Fair
(Dedicated to and written for Artur Rubinstein) Played without pause
Barcarolle, Op. 60 1
Valse in A minor, Op. 34 V.......Chopin
Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. S3 J
The Steinway is the official piano of the University Musical Society.
GIESEKING CONCERT postponed to May 16, 8:30 p.m. ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS
CONCERTS
TERESA STICH-RANDALL, operatic soprano, who has made a sensa?tional success in famous European opera houses, will give the following program in one of her four American concerts, Friday, March 9, at 8:30, in the Extra Concert Series. She will be assisted by Arpad Sandor, pianist.
Misera, dove son, K. 369
Abendempfindung [...........Mozart
Oiseaux, si tous les ans Der Jungling und der Tod Heimliches Licben Nacht und Traume Seligkeit
"Ah, fors e Iui," from La Traviata...........Verdi
An die Nachtigall
Wenn du nur zuweilen lachelst R
Tut j i . f .......... ORAIIMa
Mondnacht
So willst du des Armen J
"So anch'io la virtu magica," from Don Pasquale......Donizetti
Four Songs of Solomon...........George Rochberg
Rise Up, My Love
Come, My Beloved
Set Me as a Seal
Behold Thou Art Fair
THE VIRTUOSI Dl ROMA--Tuesday, March 13, 8:30 p.m.
WALTER GIESEKING--Postponed to Wednesday, May 16, 8:30 p.m. TICKETS: $3.50--$3.00--$2.50--$2.00--$1.50
MAY FESTIVAL
MAY 3, 4, 5, 6, 1956
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA AT ALL CONCERTS
SOLOISTS
INGE BORKH HAROLD HAUGH
Dramatic Opera Star Distinguished American Tenor
HILDE GUEDEN LAWRENCE WINTERS
Metropolitan Opera Soprano New York Opera Baritone
LOIS MARSHALL ZINO FRANCESCATTI
Canadian Concert Soprano World-renowned Violinist
JANE HOBSON BYRON JAMS
American Mezzo-Soprano Brilliant American Pianist
MARTHA LIPTON VITYA VRONSKY and VICTOR BABIN
Metropolitan Opera Contralto Eminent Duo-Pianists
RUDOLF PETRAK ERIKA von WAGNER STIEDRY European Operatic Tenor "Gurre-Lieder" Narrator
SEASON TICKETS: $13.00--$10.00--$9.00--$8.00
SINGLE CONCERTS (on sale beginning March 12):
$3.50--$3.00--$2.50--$2.00--$1.50
For tickets or information address: Charles A. Sink, President, University Musical Society, Burton Memorial Tower.
Hudson river. It opens with some singularly beautiful linear writing which is only incidentally archaic. When the bassoon enters with a second tune we realize how strik?ingly individual are the voices in Mr. Dello Joio's orchestra. The rhythms tend to be easy-going, conformable to a New Yorker's background. As the music proceeds, counter?point gives way to slightly dissonant harmonies, and the work builds to a climax. Archaic voices return, this time in a more ghostly context.
In the second section, The Park, we encounter broken rhythms, light, tuneful fragments. Children's voices, at first out of key, come gradually into focus as playful suggestions are bandied around. Aided by an authoritative trumpet the rhythms become first clear then insistent. Voices take on a choral as well as an individual character-a delightful touch.
The Tomb, a slow movement in the nature of a choral fantasy, refers to Grant's Tomb. The tragedy rather than the glory of war--a hint at the fearfulness of things long ago and not to be forgotten--informs this curious, composite work. Only tra?ditional means are employed; the mild dissonances are never unresolved. At one point modal harmonies behind a flute tune create a most poignant effect. To close there is a reference to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Little Italy brings the composer back to his Italian-American community and, no doubt, the happiness of childhood. Kettle drums give out the tune. Neopolitan dance rhythms gradually emerge and take command. Above them lifts a singing, appealing melody. The air is full of evocations and memories. Childish voices recall The Park. The simple opening theme returns in power, and this very personal, truly American suite closes on a note of abounding vitality.
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43......Sibelius
Sibelius' Second Symphony has been seriously reconsidered during the last few years. This is partly because, as Louis Biancolli noted for the New York Philharmonic, "no symphony since Tchaikovsky's Pathetique--with the possible exception of Shosta-kovitch's Fifth--has won such popularity in America."
All four movments may be said to evolve from one "thematic germ," the interval of a falling fifth, in which invariably the accent falls on the higher note (to some extent the same principle applies to the first movement in Beethoven's C minor). Music, as we know, is the language of the unconscious, and at first this basic pattern escapes our notice. Later, after many near-repetitions, there is the peculiar feeling of disturbance and pleasure with which one says, "I have been here before; all this happened at another time." It should be added that the opening three melodic notes of the sym?phony, which come at once and unexpectedly off beat, have tremendous importance for the rest of the work. They form what might be called the upper surface of repeated chords; and this chord group provides material for three descending notes played by oboes and clarinets later on. By such processes Sibelius reveals "the natural conforma?tions of an utterance which is not only logical but passionate; and the passion, far more readily grasped, is really the essential matter."
Less obvious factors lend weight to Sibelius' writings of the period. For one thing he leaned heavily on the Kalcvala for inspiration. This Saga of the Finns is available (in a translation that attracted Longfellow when he wrote Hiawatha) in two volumes of Everyman. Witty, profound, with Lemmenkainen as a figure of deviltry matching Till Eulenspiegel, the Kalevala provides symbols for most of Sibelius' Tone Poems.
The Second Symphony is compact of folklore, of appealing, easily recognizable tunes. Only their use is a bit startling. This is hardly surprising when we consider how Number One followed a tradition, whereas its successor, of necessity, pointed the way to new symphonic patterns. Sibelius wrote of his later symphonies that they were "acts of faith," that he was "hammering at an ethical line," and adds, "in this way utterly unlike the first four." Too much has, perhaps, been said of the composer's sombre hues, his icy harmonies. Without exaggeration his Second Symphony could be described as rhapsodic; unreservedly, passionately expressive of the joy of living. Because it is made up so largely of sensuous, even delicious sounds, and because its affirmation is that of youthful vigor (appreciative even of the darker mood, the nostalgic dissonance) this work is likely to join the ranks of the few most memorable works of art.
MAY FESTIVAL
MAY 3, 4, 5, 6, 1956
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA AT ALL CONCERTS
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 8:30 P.M. SATURDAY, MAY 5, 8:30 P.M.
EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor
INGE BORKH, Soprano EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor
Concerto for Orchestra, ZINO FRANCESCATTI, Violinist
A major.....Handel-Ormandy
Symphony No. 7......Sibelius Overture to Oberon.....Weber
Cleopatra's aria from Julius Caesar . Handel Symphony No. I in C major . . . Bizet "Abscheulicher wo eilst du hin" Concerto in D major, Op. 77,
from Ftdelto . . . . . Beethoven for violin and Orchestra . . . Brahms
Inge Borkh Monologue from Elektra . . . R. Strauss
Miss Borkh Symphonic Variations, "Paganiniana" . Blacher
FRIDAY, MAY 4, 8:30 P.M. SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2:30 P.M.
UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION THOR JOHNSON, Guest Conductor THOR JOHNSON, Conductor
,.,..,.?.?.,, UNIVERSITY CHORAL UNION
LOIS MARSHALL, Soprano
JANE HOBSON, Mezzo-soprano LOIS MARSHALL, Soprano
RUDOLF PETRAK, Tenor MARTHA LIPTON, Contralto
VRONSKY and BABIN, Pianists RUDOLF PETRAK, Tenor
Overture to Tie Magic Flute . . . Mozart HAROLD HAUGH, Tenor
"Davidde penitente"..... Mozart LAWRENCE WINTERS, Bass
Choral Union and Soloists ERIKA VON WAGNER STIEDRY, Narrator
Concerto in F major..... Mozart
Vronsky and Babin "Gurre-Lieder" . . . Arnold Schoenberg
University Choral Union and Soloists
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 2:30 P.M.
EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor HILDE GUEDEN, Soprano
FESTIVAL YOUTH CHORUS SUNDAY, MAY 6, 8:30 P.M.
MARGUERITE HOOD, Conductor
Adagio and Fugue.....Mozart EUGENE ORMANDY, Conductor
Aminta's Aria from Re Pastori . . Mozart BYRON JAN IS, Pianist
''Non temer amato bene" . . . Mozart
Hilde Gueden "Cantus animae et cordis"
Songs by Robert Schumann for String Orchestra . . . Yardumian
Festival Youth Chorus Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30,
Zerbinetta's aria from Ariadne . . R. Strauss for pian? a""1 Orchestra . Rachmaninoff
Miss Gueden Byron Janis
Concerto for Orchestra . . . von Einem Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 . Brahms
SEASON TICKETS: $13.00--$10.00--$9.00--$8.00
SINGLE CONCERTS (on sale beginning March 12):
$3.50--$3.00--$2.50--$2.00--$1.50
Artur Rubinstein, Pianist......Thursday, March 1
Teresa Stich-Randall, Soprano.....Friday, March 9
Virtuosi di Roma........Tuesday, March 13
Walter Gieseking, Pianist . . Postponed to Wednesday, May 16 TICKETS: $3.50-$3.00-$2.50-$2.00--$1.50
For tickets or information address: Charles A. Sink, President, Univer?sity Musical Society, Burton Memorial Tower.