UMS Concert Program, September 13, 1967: New York Philharmonic -- Leonard Bernstein

Season: Eighty-ninth
Concert: Special
Complete Series: 3582
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

1967 Eighty-ninth Season 1968
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Charles A. Sink, President Gail W. Rector, Executive Director Lester McCoy, Conductor
Special Concert Eighty-ninth Annual Choral Union Series Complete Series 3582
Thirty-eighth program' in the Sesquicentennial Year of The University of Michigan
New York Philharmonic
LEONARD BERNSTEIN, Music Director
Wednesday Evening, September 13, 1967, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
?Overture to Candide.......Leonard Bernstein
Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93.....Beethoven
Allegro vivace e con brio Allegretto scherzando Tempo di menuetto Allegro vivace
Inscape...........Aaron Copland
World premiere (Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its 125th Anniversary Year)
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17
("Little Russian").......Tchaikovsky
Andante sostenuto; allegro vivo Andantino marziale, quasi moderato Scherzo: allegro molto vivace Finale: moderato assai
? Recorded by the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein
The Steinway is the official piano of the New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic records exclusively for Columbia Records
ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS
PROGRAM NOTES by
Edward Downes
Overture to "Candide"........Leonard Bernstein
Candide is operetta in the tradition of Offenbach and Gilbert and Sullivan. Its music has all the wit, elan and sophistication that is generally associated with that genre. This is immedi?ately apparent in the Overture (who ever wrote a special overture--not a potpourri of tunes-for a musical comedy). It begins with a fanfare built on the interval of a minor seventh, which serves as a kind of motto and a basis for musical development throughout the entire operetta.
The fanfare is immediately followed by what later becomes "Battle Scene" music, after which a lyrical contrast, from the duet "Oh Happy We," is stated. This entire section is then repeated, and is succeeded by a brilliant codetta derived from the end of the aria "Glitter and Be Gay." The Overture concludes with a shower of musical sparks utilizing fragments of every?thing already heard.
--Jack Gottlieb
Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93 .... Ludwig van Beethoven
At its first performance on February 27, 1814, in the Redoutensaal of Vienna, Beethoven's Eighth Symphony was sandwiched in between his Seventh Symphony and his thunderously popular Wellington's Victory, or the Battle of Vittoria. When a friend tactfully pointed out that the new Eighth had received less applause than the other works, Beethoven growled: "That's because it's so much better!" And although the Seventh is still the more popular of the two works, there is reason to believe that Beethoven meant what he said. For the whole texture of the Eighth Symphony is incomparably more sophisticated, and in certain ways it is even more adventurous, despite its delicacy and restraint.
I. Allegro vivace e con brio. The symphony begins innocuously enough, with a well-mannered, well-balanced little theme which might have come out of the workshop of many a delectable eighteenth century symphonist.
For a moment Beethoven seems to take on the Rococo elegance from which he had long since burst free. But hardly has he made his first bow, when he forgets the masquerade and goes surging ahead in his accustomed giant stride which leads him to his second theme. Here again he pauses to juggle with the old classical formulae. And so he continues, savoring each change of pace, which he manages with dexterity and wit.
Now he develops his principal theme by chopping it in half and tossing it from one instru?ment of the orchestra to another. His reprise of the opening material and an exuberant coda are rounded off with a quietly humorous surprise.
II. Allegretto scherzando. In place of the traditional slow movement Beethoven gives us a delicious little Allegretto scherzando, with the theme that he later improvised into his famous joking round: "Ta, ta, ta, ... my dear Miilzel, fare thee well, very well ..." The "Ta, ta, ta," which we hear in the measured tic-toe of the wood-wind chords, referred to the metronome, or rather to its predecessor, the "musical chronometer," which Malzel had perfected.
It was long believed, on the word of Beethoven's friend, Schindler, that the round had been improvised first and then used in the symphony. But Beethoven's sketches for the sym?phony, which have survived, make it clear that the theme was hammered into shape for the symphony, from which Beethoven lifted it to improvise his sociable round. In the symphony, the tic-toe of the wood-wind chords continues as an accompaniment for the dainty violin line.
III. Tempo di menuetto. In keeping with the lightness of the rest of this symphony, Beethoven returns here to the eighteenth century minuet tempo, though not entirely to the old style. Closest to the traditional minuet is the conventional, yet ravishingly beautiful duet for two French horns, which opens the middle, "trio" section.
IV. Allegro vivace. The glittering, dancing finale is a sort of cross between a rondo and traditional symphonic sonata form. The rondo refrain starts in a breathless whisper. It is full of formal surprises, violent harmonic twists that must once have seemed outrageous and still sound fresh and unhackneyed. On and on the music goes as if unable to stop for sheer delight in its own inventive zest.
Inscape.............Aaron Copland
The position which Aaron Copland has won for himself in the music of his native United States, in the affection and esteem of his professional colleagues, and in the interest of the general public is such that a new work from his pen is automatically a major event. Hardly any other native born composer seems so firmly established as a staple of our symphonic repertory. More than that, Copland has been a pioneer and leader, from his now popular Music for the Theater of 192S, through his powerfully individual Short Symphony (1933)
and Statements (the latter given its first complete performance by the New York Philharmonic in 1942 under Dimitri Mitropoulos); from his much imitated ballet, Appalachian Spring (1944) to his close-structured Connotations for Orchestra, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in celebration of its opening season in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Among American composers his influence on our younger artists has been unparalleled.
Almost since the beginning of his career he has been "honored" by many commissions. Today he honors those whose commissions he accepts. Mr. Copland has contributed the follow?ing characteristically modest notes concerning his new score:
"Inscape is one of a number of works commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in celebration of its one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary season, 1967-68. It was composed over a period of several months in 1967 at Peekskill, New York, and completed in July of that year. The first performances are scheduled during the orchestra's tour in the fall of 1967, the world premiere taking place at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on September 13.
"Two different series of twelve tones provide the materials from which is derived a major proportion of the entire composition. One of these dodecaphonic tone rows, heard as a 12-tone chord, opens and closes the piece. Another feature of Inscape is its greater leaning toward tonal orientation than is customary in serial composition.
"The title is borrowed from the nineteenth-century English poet-priest Gerard Manley Hopkins. To the uninitiated, the word "inscape" may suggest a kind of shorthand for "inner landscape." But Hopkins meant to signify a more universal experience by his privately invented word. W. H. Gardner, his editor, described the sensation of inscape (or "instrcss of inscape," as Hopkins termed it) as a "quasi-mystical illumination, a sudden perception of that deeper pattern, order and unity, which gives meaning to external forms." This description, it seems to me, applies more truly to the creation of music than to any of the other arts. Hopkins himself, incidentally, tried his hand more than once at musical composition.
"The orchestral score calls for the following instruments: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, tympany, 3 percussionists, harp, piano, celesta, and the usual strings."
Symphony No. 2, C minor, Op. 17 . . . Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony in C minor is also known as his "Little Russian" Sym?phony because of the use of a Little Russian folk-song in the finale. Tchaikovsky leaned particularly toward folk-music at the time this symphony was written perhaps under the influence of the Russian nationalist group, the "Mighty Five": Moussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Balakireff and Cui.
Nicholas Rubinstein conducted the Imperial Music Society in the world premiere of the Symphony in Moscow on February 7, 1873. "My Symphony met with great success," wrote Tchaikovsky on the following day, to his friend, the famous Petrograd critic, Vladimir Stassov. "So great, in fact, that N. Rubinstein is repeating it at the tenth concert 'by general request.'"
Yet Tchaikovsky mentions in the same letter that he himself is dissatisfied with the first two movements. And six years later we find Tchaikovsky writing his "beloved friend," Mme Von Meek (from Paris, December, 1879) that he is about to start the revision of his Second Symphony, "of which only the last movement can be left intact." The alterations were consid?erable, according to his brother Modest, and the first movement was entirely rewritten.
I. Andante sostenulo; allegro vivo. The slow introduction begins with a melancholy solo for French horn to which other instruments and choirs are gradually added. The lively main section opens with a principal theme which could easily be a Russian folk tune. A contrasting lyric theme sung by the oboe has a gracefully rising chromatic line. Both themes are developed )to a brilliant climax, followed by a reprise of the basic theme. A return of the slow opening tempo with horn solo and muffled echo in the bassoon, round off the movement.
II. Andantino marziale, quasi moderalo. The slow movement begins and ends with a soft, two note ostinato for the timpani, providing a sort of see-saw accompaniment to a march theme. This march comes from the last act of Tchaikovsky's unpublished opera of 1869, Undine
III. Scherzo: allegro molto vivace. The agitated scherzo has superb rhythmic drive which is interrupted only for a whimsical trio emphasizing the woodwinds.
IV. Finale: moderalo assai. Here, in the movement Tchaikovsky himself liked best of the four, he rings ingenious changes: harmonic, contrapuntal, instrumental, on the Little Russian folk tune, "The Crane." A second, more elaborate theme appears, is combined with "The Crane" and then swept aside again in the final exuberant climax of the Presto coda.
NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
The Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.
Philharmonic Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, N.Y. 10023
Carlos Moseley, Managing Director William L. Weissel and Albert K. Webster, Assistant Managers
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS--1967-1968
HILL AUDITORIUM EVENTS NOW ON SALE
CHORAL UNION SERIES
Chicago Symphony Orchestra .... (2:30) Sunday, October 1
Program: Chaconne..........Buxtehude-Chavez
Concerto for Trumpet in D major......Telemann
?Symphony No. 7.........Roger Sessions
Suite, Noblissima visione........Hindemith
La Valse..............Ravel
World premiere--commissioned by the University of Michigan for the Sesquicentennial celebration.
French National Orchestra, with
Eugene Istomin, Pianist......Monday, October 9
Vienna Symphony.........Thursday, October 19
"Carmina Burana"--opera by Carl Orff . . (8:00) Sunday, October 29
Expo '67 Production with Les Ballets Canadiens
Christa Ludwig, Mezzo-soprano.....Tuesday, October 31
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London . Wednesday, January 17
Nathan Milstein, Violinist.......Monday, January 29
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra .... Saturday, February 24
Van Cliburn, Pianist.........Friday, March 15
Toronto Symphony Orchestra......Thursday, March 28
Season Tickets: $30.00 (out)--$25.00--$20.00--$15.00--$12.00 Single Concerts: $6.00--$5.50--$5.00--$4.00--$3.00--$2.00
EXTRA SERIES
"Land of Smiles"--operetta by Franz Lehar . . Monday, September 25 (Original Viennese production starring Giuseppe di Stefano)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra.....Saturday, September 30
Program: Overture to Leonore, No. 3, Op. 72......Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 ("Reformation").....Mendelssohn
"Le Sacre du printemps.........Stravinsky
Yomiuri Japanese Orchestra......Friday, November 10
National Ballet from Washington, D. C. . . Wednesday, January 24 Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra .... Friday, March 8
Season Tickets: $15.00--$12.50--$10.00--$7.50--$6.00 Single Concerts: $6.00--$5.50--$5.00--$4.00--$3.00--$2.00
DANCE FESTIVAL
Harkness Ballet.........Friday, October 13
Oleata Basque Festival (from Bilbao) . . (2:30) Sunday, October 22
Jose Molina Bailes Espanoles......Friday, October 27
Season Tickets: $8.00--$6.00--$5.00 Single Performances: $4.00--$3.OO--$2.OO
Note: All programs begin at 8:30 p.m. unless otherwise indicated.
Brochures with complete list of presentations for next season, are available at the box office
tonight, or at
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