UMS Concert Program, October 2, 1964: The London Symphony Orchestra --

Season: Eighty-sixth
Concert: First
Complete Series: 3436
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

1964 Eighty-sixth Season 1965
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Charles A. Sink, President Gail W. Rector, Executive Director Lester McCoy, Conductor
First Program Nineteenth Annual Extra Series Complete Series 3436
The London Symphony Orchestra
GEORG SOLTI, Conductor
Diamond Jubilee World Tour 1964 under the gracious patronage of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Friday Evening, October 2, 1964, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Sinfonia da requiem, Op. 20........Britten
Lacrymosa (Andante ben misurato) Dies irae (Allegro con fuoco)
Requiem aeternam (Andante piacevole)
Symphony No. 104 in D major (London Symphony) . . Haydn
Adagio: Allegro Andante
Menuetto allegro Allegro spiritoso
INTERMISSION
Concerto for Orchestra..........Bartok
Introduzione (Andante non troppo--Allegro vivace) Giuoco delle coppie (Allegretto scherzando) Elegia (Andante, non troppo) Intermezzo intcrrotto (Allegretto) Finale (Presto)
London, Mercury, Philips, RCA Victor and Angel Records
The Steinway is the official piano of the University Musical Society ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS
PROGRAM NOTES
Sinfonia da requiem, Op. 20.....Benjamin Britten
Britten completed his Sinfonia da requiem at Amityville, L.I., in the spring of 1940. The first performance was conducted by Sir John Barbirolli with the New York Phil?harmonic-Symphony on March 29, 1941.
The work has a curious history: commissioned by the Japanese Government in connection with the celebration of the 2,600th anniversary of the foundation of the Mikado's dynasty in 660 B.C., it was rejected by the Japanese Embassy, some months after the completed score had been handed over, with a complaint that the Christian ideology that formed the basis of the work was a calculated insult to the Mikado. Britten drafted a dignified reply; but shortly afterwards the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and all communication ceased.
Though short for a symphony, the work was "conceived on festival proportions" according to its composer who has supplied the following analysis of the work:
I. Lacrimosa (Andante ben misurato). A slow marching lament in a persistent 68 rhythm with a strong tonal center on D. There are three main motives: (1) a syncopated, sequential theme announced by the cellos and answered by a solo bassoon; (2) a broad theme, based on the interval of a major seventh; (3) alternating chords on flute and trombones, outlined by the piano and harps. The first section of the movement is quietly pulsating; the second, a long crescendo leading to a climax based on the first cello theme. There is no pause before
II. Dies irae (Allegro con fuoco). A form of Dance of Death, with occasional moments of quiet marching rhythm. The dominating motif of this movement is announced at the start by the flutes and includes an important tremolando figure. Other motives are: a triplet repeated (note figure in the trumpets), a slow smooth tune on the saxophone, and a livelier syncopated one on the brass. The scheme of the movement is a series of climaxes of which the last is the most powerful, causing the music to disintegrate and to lead directly to
III. Requiem acternam (Andante piacevole). Very quietly over a background of solo strings and harps, the flutes announce the quiet D major tune which is the princi?pal motif of the movement. There is a middle section in which the strings play a flowinc melody. This grows to a short climax, but the opening tune is soon resumed and the work ends quietly in a long sustained clarinet note.
Symphony No. 104 in D major (London Symphony) Franz Josef Haydn
The "London" Symphony is one of twelve that were commissioned by J. P. Salomon, an impresario of London, who had on several occasions invited Haydn to London in the capacities of composer and conductor. It was composed during Haydn's second visit to the city (178S), at a time when he was the idol to the throngs that crowded the concert halls each time he appeared.
Fresh and spontaneous, and contrapuntally a masterpiece, the D major Symphony shows Haydn at the highest pinnacle of his genius. At the first presentation, with the composer at the harpsichord, the several movements were received with noisy demon?strations of enthusiasm. Haydn allowed the orchestra to repeat the Adagio section--an unusual occurrence.
Concerto for Orchestra........Bela Bartok
(1881-1945)
The Concerto for Orchestra was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Founda?tion in memory of the conductor's wife, Natalie Koussevitzky. The score is dated October 8, 1943. The first performance was given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky, conductor, on December 1, 1944.
Bartok wrote his Concerto for Orchestra during a period of convalescence from a serious illness--a fact that is reflected in his own characterization of the work, written for the program book of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the time of the first per?formance: "The general mood of the work represents, apart from the jesting second movement, a gradual transition from the sternness of the first movement and the lugubrious death-song of the third to the life-assertion of the last."
He thus explained his title and the structure of his score:
"The title of this symphony-like orchestral work is explained by its tendency to treat the single instruments or instrument groups in a 'concertante' or soloistic manner. The 'virtuoso' treatment appears, for instance, in the fugalo sections of the develop?ment of the first movement (brass instruments), in the 'perpetnum mobile'-likc passage of the principal theme in the last movement (strings), and, especially, in the second movement, in which pairs of instruments consecutively appear with brilliant passages.
"As for the structure of the work, the first and fifth movements are written in a more or less regular sonata form. The development of the first contains fugato sections for brass; the exposition in the finale is somewhat extended, and its development consists of a fugue built on the last theme of the exposition. Less traditional forms are found in the second and third movements. The main part of the second consists of a chain of independent short sections by wind instruments, consecutively introduced in five pairs (bassoons, oboes, clarinets, flutes, and muted trumpets). Thematically, the five sections have nothing in common. A kind of 'trio'--a short chorale for brass instru?ments and side-drum--follows, after which the five sections are recapitulated in a more elaborate instrumentation. The structure of the third movement likewise is chain-like; three themes appear successively. These constitute the core of the movement, which is enframed by a misty texture of rudimentary motifs. Most of the thematic material of this movement derives from the 'Introduction' to the first movement. The form of the fourth movement--'Intermezzo inlerrotlo' ('Interrupted Intermezzo')--could be ren?dered by the letter symbols 'ABA--interruption--BA.' "
Columbia Artists Management Inc. acknowledges with thanks the co-operation of the American Federation of Musicians in making possible the appearance in the United States of The London Symphony Orchestra.
1964 UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY PRESENTATIONS 1965
All presentations are at 8:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
In Hill Auditorium OCTOBER
8 Antonio and the Ballets de Madrid
14 Warsaw Philharmonic; and Wladyslaw Kedra, Pianist Stanislaw Wislocki, Conductor
Program: "Roman Carnival" Overture.......Berlioz
Piano Concerto No. 2, F minor, Op. 21 .... Chopin Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica")......Beethoven
NOVEMBER
4 Leonid Kogan, Violinist
9 Irina Arkhipova, Mezzo-soprano (American debut) 14 Raduga Dancers, from six Soviet Republics
20 Die Fledcrmaus (Strauss) New York City Opera Company
22 Merry Widow (Lehar) New York City Opera Company (2:30 p.m.)
22 Faust (Gounod) New York City Opera Company
JANUARY
30 Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, Conductor
FEBRUARY
8 Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra,
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Conductor
23 Polish Mime Theatre
MARCH
1 Rosalyn Tureck, Pianist 12 Robert Merrill, Baritone
APRIL
3 National Ballet of Canada
Tickets: $4.50--$4.00--$3.50--$3.00--$2.25--$1.50
Messiah (Handel).........Saturday, December 5
and (2:30 p.m.) Sunday, December 6 Tickets: $2.00--$1.50--$1.00--$.75 (Now on sale)
In Rackham Auditorium CHAMBER DANCE FESTIVAL
Paul Taylor Dance Company......Friday, October 23
Jean-Leon Destine and his Haitian Dance Company Saturday, October 24 First Chamber Dance Quartet . . (2:30 p.m.) Sunday, October 25
Series tickets: $6.00--$5.00--$4.00 Single performances: $3.50--$2.50--$2.00
For tickets and information, address UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY, Burton Tower