UMS Concert Program, January 25, 1964: The Zurich Chamber Orchestra --

Season: Eighty-fifth
Concert: Fifth
Complete Series: 3413
Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

1963 Eighty-fifth Season 1964
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Charles A. Sink, President Gail W. Rector, Executive Director Lester McCoy, Conductor
Fifth Program Chamber Arts Series Complete Series 3413
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra
EDMOND de STOUTZ, Conductor
Saturday Evening, January 25, 1964, at 8:30 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 3, No. 2.....Geminiani
Largo--Allegro
Adauio Allegro
Sinfonia in E for String Orchestra
and Flute, Op. 53......Paul Muller-Zurich
Allegro energico Molto tranquillo Allegro vivace
Flute soloist: Ajndre Jaunet
INTERMISSION
Divertimento in F major, Op. 3, No. S......Haydn
Presto
Andante cantabile (Serenade) Menuetto Scherzando
Suite for String Orchestra: "The Married Beau" . . . Purcell
Ouverture Hornpipe Slow Air Trumpet Air
Jig
Hornpipe
March
Hornpipe on a Ground
ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS
PROGRAM NOTES
Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 3, No. 2 . . Francesco Geminiani
(1667-1762)
Francesco Geminiani was born in Lucca, Italy, and died in Dublin. He studied violin with Carlo Ambroggio Lunati and with the great Corelli, and composition with Alessandro Scarlatti. He began his career first in the Lucca orchestra, then conducted the one in Naples. He was above all a violin virtuoso, however. He developed the technique of his instrument and increased greatly its possibilities of expression. It was in England that he had a most successful career as soloist and professor.
In his compositions Geminiani was opposed to classical beauty, to the imperturb?able dignity of Corelli's style, because of the vivacity of his own temperament and a very personal sensitivity. The first movement of this Concerto grosso (Largo) re?sembles a bridge between Corelli and Handel. In the second (Allegro) which is intro?duced by rapid triplets, the composer establishes a dialogue in which the violas take part after a solo by the first violins. Then follows the entire quartet that forms the framework of the Adagio. From the harmonic point of view there is contrast between the simplicity of the opening motive, utilizing the notes of the arpeggio, and the modulations which progress far from the initial theme. The Finale begins with a classical fugue and finishes as a dance. The German composers of the late Baroque period often used this device.
Sinfonia in E for String Orchestra
and Flute, Op. 53......Paul Muller-Zurich
(b. 1898)
Paul Miiller, a native of Zurich, studied there and later in Paris and Berlin. His creative talent shows a reaction against over-romantic lushness coupled with a sym?pathy for the clean lines of classical form and texture. He also turned to the study of the old Italian and Netherlands schools, which resulted in a string polyphonic vigor becoming a feature of his own music, but he has avoided both yielding to influences from the past and experimenting for experiment's sake. In his work there is a serious concern for elegance of style and clarity of thought, combined with a sober, but not severe, quality of music invention.
A number of Muller's works have been styled for small orchestra, among them this Sinfonia, completed on January 20, 1953, which is closely related to the eighteenth-century concerto grosso. It is scored for flute and string orchestra, or rather, as the score specifically states "for string orchestra and flute," the flute having a true concer-tante part, as distinct from a real solo. The idiom too, unlike Bartok's, is very markedly neoclassical. There are passages that might almost be mistaken for part of a Branden?burg Concerto, or some work of that date. This illusion is heightened by Muller's choice of the flute, an instrument much favored by eighteenth-century composers for works of this type. More careful attention to the musical texture, however, soon reveals that, in spite of this first impression, Muller's music, in idiom, belongs very much to our own time. Although simple and austerely diatonic, it makes use of dissonances that would have been inconceivable in the nineteenth century, let alone the eighteenth. Their modernity is concealed by the composer's masterly absorption of them into a traditional tonal scheme, and by the flowing contrapuntal texture and figuration, which, especially in the quick movements, are more authentically archaic. In this par?ticular work the modernities are further softened by the medium of the string orchestra, which is a great leveler of harmonic intensities and can make a chord containing all the notes of the chromatic scale sound hardly more dissonant than a unison.
In the brisk first and third movements of the Sinfonia, Miiller shows himself to be like a slightly more conservative Hindemith, a superb craftsman, master of his medium, always able to devise something interesting and satisfying. Their thematic material is lively and distinctive, their formal outline beautifully planned, and the detail of their thematic development and formal construction full of skill and invention. In the slow movement the composer sounds a more personal note. It consists of an extended melodic arch, slowly built up over a simple harmonic foundation, sustained by a slow but steady increase of tension to the climax, followed by an equally surely controlled relaxation. It is a beautiful and expressive movement, the highlight of an aesthetic and stimulating work that has a personality of its own in the music of today.
Divertimento in F major, Op. 3, No. 5 . Franz Josef Haydn
(1732-1809)
The Divertimento, as well as the Serenade, Cassation and Notturno, was a favorite form of the rococo era. Haydn wrote many of them and Mozart, especially in his beautiful "Eine kleine Nachtmusik," raised it to the realm of highest art.
The word "Divertimento" means diversion. These delightful compositions were frequently played during opera performances as an interpolated attraction which the composer used to postpone an interesting moment. Listeners and performers alike-the first seated, the latter standing--were requested to be patient and listen to the added piece.
Played as a Serenade at night in the dark streets, the Divertimento assumed a different character. The opening and closing movements consisted mostly of marches, symbolizing the arrival and departure of the musicians. In between were movements in dance form, generally minuets, including, as the most important part, the actual Serenade. Haydn's Divertimento in F major is a delightful example of this type of music.
Suite for String Orchestra: "The Married Beau" . Henry Purcell
(c. 1659-1695)
"The Married Beau" Suite by Purcell was taken from a musical scene for the piece of the same name, concerning a certain Crowne. It belongs very definitely to the "masque" form, a sort of comic opera, very much in favor in the England of Charles II. Compositions for the theater of that time represent a very important part of Purcell's work. "These stage works," says Riemann, "include a large collection of airs, duos, vocal ensembles, symphonic pieces of the greatest variety. In them Purcell shows the influence of Lully, very well-known composer of the same period. Nevertheless, because of his own accomplishments, Purcell remains the most typical English composer not only of his time, but of all time."
MEMBERS OF THE ZURICH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
First Violins Elemer Glanz,
C oncer tmaster Herbert Scherz Gertrud Stiefel Rodolphe Gregoire Rene Mens Hannelore Langmeier
Second Violins Ernst Langmeier Mathilde Svoboda Hilde Nilius Frank Gassmann Waldwela Veit Hildburg Scholz
Violas
Walter Eichert Heinz Marti
Heinrich Forster Ruggero Pezzini Helene Margenfeld
Cellos
Guy-Claude Burger Ruth Spinas-Haab Ida Lindauer Peter Doberitz
Contrabasses Victor Steinaucr Rolf Drenkhahn
Cembalo
William T. VVenrich
Flute
Andre Jaunet
1963 UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY PRESENTATIONS 1964
All presentations are at 8:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
Remaining Presentations in Hill Auditorium
Mazowsze Dance Company......Thursday, January 30
Vienna Symphony Orchestra.....Thursday, February 20
Program: Concerto Grosso, Op. 4, No. 10 .... Locatelu
Six Pieces for Orchestra.......Webern
Symphony No. 8 in B minor.....Schubert
Macbeth.........Richard Strauss
Teresa Berganza, Coloratura-mezzo . . . Wednesday, February 26 Program: Songs and arias by
Haydn, Handel, Mozart, Donizetti, Toldra, Obradors, and Turina
Chicago Opera Ballet........Friday, March 13
Anna Moffo, Soprano.........Friday, April 3
Tickets: $4.50--$4.00-$3.50--3.00--$2.25--$1.50
Remaining Presentations in Rackham Auditorium
Sahm-Chun-Li Dancers of Seoul, Korea . . . Sunday, February 9 New York Pro Musica (Chamber Music Festival
of three concerts)........Friday, February 14
Saturday, February 15 2:30, Sunday, February 16
Orchestra San Pietro of Naples.....Thursday, March 19
Tickets: $3.50--$2.50--$2.00 (Scries tickets for Chamber Music Festival: $6.00--$5.00--$4.00)
ANN ARBOR MAY FESTIVAL April 30, May 1, 2, 3
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA AT ALL SIX CONCERTS THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 3:30 P.M. Eugene Ormandy, Conductor.
Soloist: Joan Sutherland, Soprano.
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 8:30 P.M. Thor Johnson, Conductor. Charles Treger, Violinist. University Choral Union, Saramae Endich, John McCollum, and Ralph Herbert. SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2:30 P.M. William Smith, Conductor.
Soloist: Philipi'e Entremont, Pianist. SATURDAY, MAY 2, 8:30 P.M. Eugene Ormandy, Conductor.
Richard Strauss Program. Soloists: Mason Jones, Horn; and Anshel Brusilow, Violin. SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2:30 P.M. Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Guest Conductors. University Choral Union; John McCollum, Tenor; and Vera Zorina, Narrator. SUNDAY, MAY 3, 8:30 P.M. Eugene Ormandy, Conductor. Soloist: Van Cliburn, Pianist. All-Rachmaninoff Program.
Season Tickets: $22.00--$18.00--$15.00--$12.00--$9.00
Single Concerts: Beginning March 2, any remaining tickets will be
placed on sale for single concerts.
For tickets and information, address UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY, Burton Tower