UMS Concert Program, March 31, 1966: Chicago Little Symphony -- Thor Johnson

Season: Eighty-Seventh
Concert: Seventh
Complete Series: 3512
Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

196S Eighty-Seventh Season 1966
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Charles A. Sink, President Gail W. Rector, Executive Director Lester McCoy, Conductor
Seventh Program Third Annual Chamber Arts Series Complete Series 3S12
Chicago Little Symphony
THOR JOHNSON, Conductor
Soloists
Harold Cruthirds, Violoncello Gary Sigurdson, Flute
Charles Geyer, Trumpet Don Jaeger, Oboe
Mitchell Ross, Trombone Raymond Gariglio, Clarinet
Thursday Evening, March 31, 1966, at 8:30 Rackham Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Serenade in C major............Ryba
Adagio maestoso
Scherzo: allegretto
Menuetto: allegro non molto Polonaise: andante Adagio
Finale: allegro
Poem for Flute and Orchestra.......Charles T. Griffes
Gary Sigurdson
Sonata for Chamber Orchestra, Op. 18......Richard Arnell
Triple Concerto for Clarinet, Trombone,
Trumpet, and Orchestra (1965).......Robert Starer
Allegro
Andante
Molto allegro e giocoso
Raymond Gariglio, Charles Geyer, and Mitchell Ross
INTERMISSION
Concertino for Violoncello and Orchestra, Op. 57 . . . Albert Roussel
Allegro
Marcia funebra Allegro vivace
Harold Cruthirds
Concerto in E-flat major for Oboe and Strings . . . Vincenzo Bellini Maestoso e deciso, larghetto cantabile Allegro
Don Jaeger
Serenade for Small Orchestra (1962).....Anthony Donato
Allegro
Moderato andante Allegro
PROGRAM
Serenade in C major.............Ryba
(1765-1815)
A Bohemian contemporary of Mozart, Ryba has only recently been rescued from obscurity through modern additions to his works. This typical orchestral serenade of the eighteenth century is a transitional work which retains many characteristics of the concerto grosso and also suggests the newer style of the sinfonia concertante, so popular with J. C. Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. The original score called for clarinets, horns, trumpets, timpani, and strings. The additional instrumentation of flute, oboe, bassoon, and trombone has been added by Mr. Johnson.
Poem for Flute and Orchestra......Charles T. Griffes
(1884-1920)
Griffes, perhaps one of the greatest (or at least the most promising) American composers, died at the age of thirty-six, just as he was beginning to realize his full powers. He was born in Elmyra, New York and, after graduating at the Academy there, went to Berlin for further study. While there he studied with and received great encouragement from Humperdinck.
His compositions of this period reflect the Post-Romantic influence. It was only after his return to the United States that he began to evolve the sensitive and poetic style that dis?tinguishes his later works. This unique quality was closely akin to French Impressionism, with an admixture of Russian orientalism. It is not too far from the mark to say that his compositions are to music what Whistler's pictures are to painting--exotic without being grotesque or freakish, carefully worked out yet free from dry intellectualism or over-fastidiousness.
Among the works he left us (alas, too few!) are some songs, piano pieces, a little chamber music, and the "White Peacock" (orchestrated from one of his piano numbers). The "Poem" and "Pleasure Dome" were his last compositions and are both indicative of his rapidly maturing genius. Had he lived his normal span of years, he undoubtedly would have reached heights of achievement that would have placed him among the foremost modern composers.
Sonata for Chamber Orchestra, Op. 18.....Richard Arnell
(1917-
Richard Arnell is a young British composer whose work is serious, impressive, and extremely well integrated. The late Sir Thomas Beecham was among the first to recognize his genius and encourage him. This single movement, concise and pertinent in its musical content, is unique in the literature for small orchestra. It says so much in such a short span of time.
Triple Concerto for Clarinet, Trombone,
Trumpet, and Orchestra (1965)......Robert Starer
(1924-
This triple concerto, featuring the three most popular wind instruments of the twentieth century, was composed in 1954. The opening allegro has elements of the concerto grosso in the juxtaposition of the solo trio against the string orchstra. The second movement, a lyrical andante, treats the solo instruments more in their individual capacities and the Finale is in a way comparable to a vocal terzetto. In a cadenza-like section, actually a "Trialogue," the instruments enter into purposeful conversation with each other.
Robert Starer was born in Vienna in 1924 and came to the United States in 1947. His works have been performed by Leonard Bernstein, Erich Leinsdorf, and other leading conductors.
Concertino for Violoncello and Orchestra, Op. 57 . . Albert Roussel
(1869-1937)
Like Rimsky-Korsakov, Albert Roussel began his career as a naval officer. He, too, was drawn toward composition and had an active life writing many important works in varied
media. The Concertino for Violoncello and Small Orchestra is compact, utilizing the solo instrument in a brilliant manner. In much of his music his harmonic idiom resembles that of Stravinsky. Because of his ease in handling symphonic forms, he may well be France's outstanding symphonist.
Concerto in E-flat major for Oboe and Strings . . . Vincenzo Bellini
(1801-1835)
The music of this delightful work for oboe and strings has recently been rediscovered in the Library of the Conservatory of Music in Naples, Italy. In 1819, Vincenzo Bellini, at the age of eighteen, entered the College of San Sebastian and was immediately recognized as a talent of great potential. It was probably during this early stage in his brief career that he composed this music. It is not surprising that his genius for florid, lyric writing, which would reach its zenith in his operatic masterpiece Norma, was already noticeable at this time.
Serenade for Small Orchestra (1962)......Anthony Donato
(1909-(Commissioned for the Chicago Little Symphony)
Born in Prague, Nebraska, Mr. Donato did his advanced study at the Eastman School of Music. After completing his doctoral studies in 1947 he assumed his present post as Professor of Composition at Northwestern University.
The Serenade was completed in the fall of 1961 and given its premiere by the Chicago Little Symphony in Traverse City, Michigan, in March, 1962. Dodecaphonic technique plays an important part in this work, but it is applied in a liberal-minded fashion. Sustained or reiterated tones give the music a kind of harmonic anchor, around which the chromatic tunes dance. In this way, Mr. Donato has managed to tame the chromatic richness of the method with clarity and wit.
The first movement prances along in rhythm not unlike a bourree. The second movement is a rather free set of variations in the nature of a passacaglia. The final movement's energy and zest amount to a summation of the basic thematic material in the entire work, but with a special racing figure added for the sheer thrill of it.
CHICAGO LITTLE SYMPHONY PERSONNEL
Violin Oboe
Oscar Chausow, Concertmaster Don Jaeger
Robert Snyder, Assistant Concertmaster
Rosemary Malocsay Clarinet
Marjorie Lin Raymond Gariglio
Joann Cruthirds, Principal
Jack Abel Bassoon
Artemus Edwards
Viola French Horn
Raymond Stilwell, Principal William Wilson Paul Tervelt
Violoncello Trumpet Charles Geyer
Harold Cruthirds, Principal
Melinda Dalley Ross Trombone
Mitchell Ross
String Bass
John Deak Harp Taka Kling
Flute Percussion
Gary Sigurdson Michael Ranta

1966-UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY PRESENTATIONS 1967
CHORAL UNION SERIES
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Emil Gilels, Pianist.....
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Andres Segovia, Guitarist
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