UMS Concert Program, September 24: Detroit Symphony -- The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Inc.

Season: 1972-1973
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor

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detroil symphony orchestra 1972-1973 season
nun arbor, September 24
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TRUST DEPARTMENT NATIONAL BANK OF DETROIT
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
(Founded 1914) SIXTEN EHRLING, Music Director and Conductor
OFFICERS 1972-1973
John B. Ford, chairman Robert B. Semple, president Walker L. Cisler, vice president William M. Day, vice president Ralph T. McElvenny, vice president Alan E. Schwartz, vice president Raymond T. Perring, vice president ?Mrs. Theodore O. Yntema, vice president David D. Williams, treasurer
Donald S. Green, assistant treasurer C. Grant Barnes, secretary
Peter P. Thurber, assistant secretary
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 19721973
Mrs. Sidney J. Allen
Wendell W. Anderson, Jr.
Philip C. Baker
C. Grant Barnes
Andrew W. Barr
A. J. Berdis
Norman A. Bolz
Lem W. Bomen Rinehart S. Bright
Mrs. C. Henry Buhl
Philip Caldwell
Ferdinand Cinelli
Walker L Cisler
Mrs. Frank W. Coolidge
Mrs. Abraham Cooper
Mrs. Bernard N. Craig
Harry B. Cunningham
William M. Day
Anthony De4_orenzo
Robert Dewar
Frank W. Donovan
Mrs. Robert Fife
E. Dawson Fisher
Max M. Fisher
Mrs. Edsel B. Ford
John B. Ford David L. Gamble
Mrs. Daniel W. Goodenough
Mrs. John F. Gordon
Berry Gordy, Jr. Executive Committee
William T. Gossett Hon. Roman S. Gribbs Karl Haas
Mrs. Rhoda Newberry Hansen Mrs. Hugh Harness G. Robert Harrington Firman H. Hass Pierre V. Heftier Lee Hills
Hudson Holland, Jr. Mrs. Horace R. Holloway Mrs. Henry C. Johnson Ernest A. Jones Mrs. Harry L. Jones Maxwell Jospey Tom Killefer -Mrs. Kim Khong Lie Mark D. Littler Thomas V. Lo Cicero Harold 0. Love Wilber H. Mack Hon. Wade H. McCree, Jr. Ralph T. McElvenny Hon. William G. Milliken Rev. J. Stanley Murphy, C.S.B. Miles M. O'Brien Donald D. O'Dowd W. Calvin Patterson Raymond T. Perring John Prepolec
Hon. Mel Ravitz Mrs. Jerome H. Remick, Jr. Dean E. Richardson Hon. George W. Romnoy Alan E. Schwartz Arthur R. Seder, Jr. S. Prewitt Semmes Robert B. Semple Nate S. Shapero Mrs. Allan Shelden Walter J. Simons Mrs. Florence Sisman Dr. Austin Smith Mrs. Howard F. Smith Bert L. Smokier Gari M. Stroh, Jr. Robert M. Surdam Mrs. S. Pinkney Tuck Mrs. Richard W. Tucker Donald F. Valley Mrs. Joseph A. Vance, Jr. Jack J. Wainger Harold G. Warner David D. Williams Mrs. Delford G. Williams Mrs. R. Jamison Williams Mrs. Leon G. Winkelman Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley Mrs. Theodore 0. Yntema
HONORARY MEMBERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mrs. Warren S. Booth Mrs. Joseph B. Schlotman
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Marshall W. Turkin, general manager
Haver E. Alspach, comptroller
Wesley DeLacy. public relations director
Stewart Comer, projects development
Michael A. Smith, assistant manager
Joseph Variot, box office manager
Maureen Giordano and Isabel Cleveland, season tickets
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
FIRST VIOLINS
Gordon B. Staples Concertmaster
Frank Preuss
Associate Concertmaster
Bogos Mortchikian Elias Friedenzohn
Assistant Concertmasters
Santo Urso Jack Boesen Emily Mutter Austin Derek Francis James Bourbonnais Nicholas Zonas Gordon Peterson Beatriz Budinszky Ralph Shiller Richard Margitza Linda Snedden Smith Paul Phillips
SECOND VIOLINS
Edouard Kesner Felix Resnick Alvin Score Lillian Downs James Waring Margaret Tundo Walter Maddox Roy Bengtsson Malvern Kaufman Thomas Downs Larry Bartlett Joseph Striplin
VIOLAS
Nathan Gordon Meyer Shapiro David Ireland Eugenia Staszewski Philip Porbe Taras Hubicki Walter Evich Anton Patti Gary Schnerer LeRoy Fenstermacher
VIOLONCELLOS
Italo Babini Thaddeus Markiewicz Edward Korkigian Mario DiFiore David Levine William Horvath John Thurman Susan Weaver Barbara Fickett William Graham
'Assistant Principal
SIXTEN EHRLING
Music Director and Conductor
PIERRE HETU
Associate Conductor
PAUL FREEMAN Conductor-in-Residence
BASSES
Robert Gladstone Raymond Benner Frank Sinco Maxim Janowsky Christopher Brown Donald Pennington Stephen Edwards Albert Steger
HARPS
Elyze Yockey Ilku Carole Crosby
FLUTES
Ervin Monroe Shaul Ben-Meir 'Robert Patrick Clement Barone
PICCOLO
Clement Barone
OBOES
Arno Mariotti 'Ronald Odmark Harold Hall Robert Cowart
ENGLISH HORN Robert Cowart
CLARINETS
Paul Schaller Douglas Cornelsen "Brian Schweickhardt Oliver Green
BASS CLARINET Oliver Green
E-FLAT CLARINET
Brian Schweickhardt
BASSOONS Charles Sirard Phillip Austin Paul Ganson Lyell Lindsey
CONTRABASSOON Lyell Lindsey
FRENCH HORNS Eugene Wade Charles Weaver Edward Sauve Willard Darling "Thomas Bacon Keith Vernon
TRUMPETS Frank Kaderabek Gordon Smith Alvin Belknap Donald Haas
TROMBONES
Raymond Turner Joseph Skrzynski Elmer Janes
TUBA Wesley Jacobs
TIMPANI
Salvatore Rabbio
PERCUSSION
Robert Pangborn Norman Fickett Raymond Makowski Sam Tundo
PIANO
Marcy Schweickhardt
HARPSICHORD
Alice Lungershausen
ORGAN
Frederick Marriott
LIBRARIANS Albert Steger Malvern Kaufman
PERSONNEL MANAGER Paul Schaller
ASSISTANT
PERSONNEL MANAGER Oliver Green
HILL AUDITORIUM, ANN ARBOR
detroit symphony
SIXTEN EHRLING, Music Director
Sunday afternoon, September 24 at 2:30
Rafael I riihfoeek tie Burgos, guest conductor
BEETHOVEN Overture to "Egmont," Opus 84
BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 8, F major, Opus 93
Allegro vivace e con brio Allegretto scherzando Tempo di menuetto Allegro vivace
INTERMISSION
WAGNER Music from "Der Ring cles Nibehmgen"
"Entrance of the Gods'' from Das Rheingold -"The Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walkiire "Dawn" -"Siegfried's Rhine Journey" -"Siegfried's Funeral Music" -"Closing Scene" from Gdtterddmmerung
The Steinway is the official piano of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
This afternoon marks the Orchestra's fiftieth appearance in Hill Auditorium
Forthcoming Detroit Symphony Orchestra Concerts FORD AUDITORIUM 8:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted)
THURS., SEPT. 28 SAT., SEPT. 30
PIERRE HETU, conducting MAUREEN FORRESTER,
contralto GEORGE SHIRLEY, tenor
BoccheriniSymphony in A major MahlerDas Lied von der Erde
THURS., OCT. S SAT., OCT. 7
PIERRE H?TU, conducting CHARLES TREGER, violinist
Saint-SaensV'ioUn Concerto No. 3 BrucknerSymphony No. 6
SUN., OCT. 8 -3:30 p.m.
KRESGE CONCERT
ALL-GERSHWIN PROGRAM
PAUL FREEMAN, conducting EUGENE HAYNES, pianist CONWELL CARRINGTON. baritone
THURS., OCT. 12
FRI., OCT. 13--10:45 a.m.
CHARLES MACKERRAS.
guest conductor EUGENE ISTOMIN, pianist WaltonPortsmouth Point Overture ChopinPiano Concerto No. 2 .S'cwSymphony No. 9 ("Great")
SAT., OCT. 14 -11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
YOUNG PEOPLE'S CONCERTS PAUL FREEMAN, conducting EUGENE ISTOMIN, pianist
THURS., OCT. 19 SAT., OCT. 21
SiXTEN EHRLING, conductor JOHN OGDON, pianist
Schumann Symphony No. 3
("Rhenish") GrVgPiano Concerto RespighiFeste Romane
WKI)., NOV. 15-1 p.m.
LECTURE-OPEN REHEARSAL SIXTEN EHRLING, conductor OPEN REHEARSAL (of repertory from Nov. 16-18 concerts) begins at 2 p.m.
THURS., NOV. 16 SAT., NOV. 18
SIXTEN EHRLING, conductor BarberSymphony No. 1 FramASymphony in D minor
SUN., NOV. 19 SPONSORED CONCERT Zionist Organization of Detroit (Balfour Concert) SIXTEN EHRLING, conductor
BEVERLY SILLS, soprano MozartSymphony No. 40, K. 550 Ben HaimFrom Israel Arias of Massenet, Thomas, Rossini,
Bellini, and Donizetti
., NOV. 24 SAT., NOV. 25
SIXTEN EHRLING, conductor BRUNO LEONARDO GELBER, pianist
HoneggerP-dciftc 231 RavelPiano Concerto in G BeethovenSymphony No. 3 ("Eroica")
PROGRAM NOTES
by Robert Holmes
Dean, College of Fine Arts, Western Michigan University
OVERTURE TO "EGMONT," OPUS 84......LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Born Bonn, 1770; died Vienna, 1827
Beethoven began the overture and incidental music to Egmont in October, 1809, and completed it in May, 1810 It was first performed at a production of Goethe's play by Hartl in the Hofburg Theater in Vienna, May 24, 1810.
First performance of the Overture in this series: March 16. 1917; Weston Gales conducted Last performance in this series: September 26, 1968; Sixten Ehrling conducted.
It is scored for 2 flutes and piccolo. 2 clarinets, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings.
The significant feature of the Beethoven overtures is the singularly effective manner in which they state the basic conflict of a drama, in fact so effective are they that they have outlived the dramas which inspired them.
(Harry Elmer Barnes. An Intellectual and Cultural History of the Western World,
Vol. III. Dover, 1965.)
1775, the year of revolution, the beginnings of democracy and the rise of the lower classes, the year of the Pugachev rebellion in Russia, the year that the Lexington colonists fired the "shot heard round the world," and, in Vienna, the year that marked, with the great Patent during the reign of Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph, the beginning of the end of serfdom. In Germany it was the period of Frederick the Great and the eve of German nationalism, the conscious transmogrification of the Volksgeist. And it was the year that Goethe wrote his tragedy Egmont.
Highly expressive of the time. Egmont is a story of freedom, of the tyran?nical Duke of Alva who terrorizes the burghers of Brussels, and sets a trap for his enemy Count Egmont. soldier and hero of the people. Egmont is captured; his love, Clarchen, commits suicide; and Egmont goes to his death confident that his martyred execution will lead to the freedom of his people.
1809. the year that Beethoven wrote the Overture to Egmont, was no less a year in history, particularly in his city, Vienna. From that city the French charge d'affaires wrote to Paris of the zeal for war which permeated the populace: "In 1805 the war spirit was alive in the government but not in the army or the people. In 1809 the war is popular with the administration, the army, and the populace."1
But that was early in the year. Subsequently the Austrians had their go at Napoleon, lost 10.000 men a day, and, by the end of the summer the Viennese
1 Geoffrey Bruun. Europe and the French Imperium, Harper and Row, 1938.
PROGRAM NOTES -continued
were burning candles in their windows in honor of Napoleon's birthday (August 15), tended to by 100,000 French troops making sure that the candles were bright. The Viennese had been easily subdued but they lived with their quiet hatred of oppression and with a greater love of freedom than ever. It was then, in October, not far from Vienna, that Beethoven's music, inspired by Goethe's tragedy and the psyche of the times, found its expression in this Overture. For its theme is freedom, the noble defiance of tyrannical oppression.
It is in sonata allegro form and it begins with a slow introduction (Sostenuto ma non troppo, F minor, 22) which leads to the exposition with its principal and subsidiary themes. The development section concentrates on the first of these while the recapitulation displays a typical Beethovenian trick: he balances the matter (the meek shall be heard) by creating a semi-development section in the recapitulation which features the subsidiary subject. The so-called "victory" coda ends the piece in the triumphant key of F major.
SYMPHONY NO. 8, F MAJOR, OPUS 93.....LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Beethoven completed his Eighth Symphony at Linz in October, 1812 The com?position was first performed at the Redoutensaal in Vienna on February 27, 1814; the composer conducted. (That concert began with Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and ended with his Wellington's Victory.) The score was published in 1816.
First performance in this series: January 29, 1920: Victor Kolar conducted Last performance in this series: September 17, 1970; Sixten Ehrling conducted.
The work is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns. 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings.
"My little one" was the way in which Beethoven referred to his Sym?phony No. 8. Yet he was displeased when, following the premiere, the reviewer of the Allegemeine Musik-Zeitung referred to "the faulty judgment which per?mitted his Symphony [the Eighth] to follow that in A major [the Seventh]." Beethoven's response to this appraisal and to the cold public reception was typical of him. for he defensively and peevishly asserted that the Eighth was in reality "much better" than the Seventh.
Whether it is really "better" or not, who is to judge It is different, far different from the Seventh, which was completed just four months prior, and certainly far different from the Ninth, which was still a decade away. Whereas the Seventh and Ninth Symphonies are epochal, staggering masterworks of in?credible grandeur, the Eighth is small in dimension, more concise in expression, and more subdued in content. Hence it has been the victim of such epithets as "humorous," a "graceful basilica standing beside the two cathedrals of the Seventh and the Ninth," a "peaceful valley between two passionate mountains." But such oversimplifications hardly suffice. Wagner described it well when he compared the Eighth Symphony with the Seventh Symphony in the following way:
Nowhere is there greater frankness, or freer power, than in the Sym?phony in A. It is a mad outburst of superhuman energy, with no other object than the pleasure of unloosing it like a river overflowing its banks and
flooding the surrounding country. In the Eighth Symphony the power is not so sublime, though it is still more strange and characteristic of the man, mingling tragedy with force and a Herculean vigor with the games and caprices of a child.
CODETTA WAGNER AND BEETHOVEN
The musician, then, being at the basis of all his aesthetics, all his theories of opera and drama, the question arises: what sort of musician was he He was the spiritual son of Beethoven . . . This is the cardinal fact in the psychology of Wagner.
These two sentences, written by the incomparable British Wagner scholar Ernest Newman, sum up the incalculable influence that Beethoven had on Richard Wagner. Newman even goes so far as to assert that:
Beethoven . . . had it not been for Wagner, would probably not have meant as much to us as he does now . . .
Wagner's own deep awareness of the legacy permeates his essays, letters, and treatises as much as his compositions. He wrote, for example, of:
... the inexpressible effect the Ninth Symphony, performed in a way I had hitherto had no notion of, that gave real life to my new-won old spirit; and so I compare this -for me -important event with the simi?larly decisive impression made on me, when I was a boy of sixteen, by . . . Fidelio.
And:
The deed of the unique Shakespeare, which made a universal man, a very god of him, is yet only the deed of the solitary Beethoven, that re?vealed to him the language of the artistic manhood of the future. Only when these two Prometheuses -Shakespeare and Beethoven -shall reach out hands to one another; when the marble creations of Phidias shall become living, marry flesh and blood; when Nature, etc.
His references to Beethoven as procreator are endless. We know, too, that Wagner actually learned the art of composition by copying out the full scores of Beethoven's nine symphonies.
The manifestations of the influence are far too many to sort out in this program book, but a few observations are possible. To begin with, Wagner's Beethoven was the Beethoven of the Eroica, the Pastorale, the Ninth Symphony and the overtures, in other words the programmatic Beethoven, the Beethoven whose penchant for poetic imagery held sway. Wagner wrote: "The essence of the great works of Beethoven is that they are only in the last place Music, but contain in the first place a poetic subject." He was convinced that '"Beethoven was completely possessed by a subject: his most significant tone pictures are indebted almost solely to the individuality of the subject that filled him . . ." He explained Beethoven's (absolute) works by rationalizing: "The consciousness of [the subject] made it seem to him superfluous to indicate his subject otherwise than in the picture itself . . . The absolute musician, that is to say the manipulator
Kreqe Conceit
m Sunday afternoons at 3:30. A 5-star family entertainment offering at Jr popular prices. Featuring the Detroit Symphony and outstanding guest attractions.
OCTOBER 8
DECEMBER 17
JANUARY 21
APRIL 1
APRIL 29
MUSIC BY GEORGE GERSHWIN
Paul Freeman, conducting
Eugene Haynes, pianist
Conwell Carrington. baritone
Rackham Symphony Choir
Soprano to be announced
Gershwin's Concerto in F, the Cuban Overture and excerpts from the opera "Porgy and Bess" are featured at this open?ing program of the sixth season of Kresge Concerts. This will be a Detroit Symphony debut for the young American pianist Eugene Haynes and a return visit for Oetroiter Con-well Carringlon.
HANDEL'S "MESSIAH"
A Special Christmas Program Pierre Hetu, conducting Kenneth Jewell Chorale
Soloists to be announced
"I think God has visited me." said Hande! when he com?pleted the "Messiah" in 1742, only some 25 days after he had begun work on the best-known and best-loved oratorio ever written.
MUSIC BY FRANZ LISZT
Sixten Ehrling, conductor
James Tocco, pianist
Young pianist James Tocco. a native of Detroit and the only American winner in the prestigious Tchaikovsky International Competition of 1970, assists Maestro Ehrling in a program devoted to the colorful Romantic music of Franz Liszt. Works will include the Second Piano Concerto, three symphonic poems {"Battle of the Huns." "Orpheus." and "Mazeppa"), and the popular Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.
APRIL FOOL'S DAY CONCERT Sixten Ehrling, conductor
This program will be a unique do-it-yourself affair, with members of the audience deciding by ballot what the Or?chestra will perform. You'll be amazed at the breadth of choice. Come prepared for a few other surprises, too. It will be good music and good fun.
AN AFTERNOON OF BALLET
Pierre Hetu, conducting
Detroit Severo Ballet Company
A truly memorable occasion. A refreshingly unique ballet company is featured in two brand new and brilliantly con?trasted productions -Adolphe Adam's Romantic fairy-tale "Giselle," -one of the most celebrated and enduring of all ballet scores, and a new jazz ballet set to the music of Aaron Copland's "Music for the Theater," specially choreographed for this program.
Season tickets for all five concerts are available at the Ford Auditorium Box Office at $7.50, $10.00 and $12.50.
Tickets for individual concerts are available at Ford Auditorium Box Office and all J. L. Hudson's and Grinnell's stores at $1.50, $2.00 and $2.50.
1972 DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE FUND
Robert B. Semple Chairman
John B. Ford
Honorary Chairman
LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE
Wendell W. Anderson, Jr. Chairman of the Board Bundy Corp.
Walker L. Cisler Chairman of the Board Detroit Edison Co.
Robert E. Dewar Chairman of the Board S. S. Kresge Co.
Charles T. Fisher III President National Bank of Detroit
Max M. Fisher
Chairman of the Board Fisher-New Center Co.
John B. Ford
Richard C. Gerstenberg Chairman of the Board General Motors Corp.
Joseph L. Hudson, Jr. President J. L. Hudson Co.
Lee A. Iacocca President Ford Motor Co.
Ralph T. McElvenny President
Michigan Consolidated Gas Co.
Ray W. Macdonald President Burroughs Corp.
Raymond T. Perring Chairman of the Board Detroit Bank & Trust Co.
Alan E. Schwartz Senior Member Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn
Robert B. Semple Chairman of the Board BASF Wyandotte Corp.
Lynn A. Townsend Chairman of the Board Chrysler Corp.
The Quest for Excellence Fund is administered as an annual fund-raising drive and is the Orchestra's principal source of contributed support. The total amount raised in each campaign is used to help close the gap between earned income and expense for the concurrent fiscal year. The fund is and will remain the key to the Orchestra's survival.
GOAL: $1,500,000
WELCOME!
To Our Ticket Subscribers and Contributors . . . The Detroit Symphony Orchestra needs both.
Many in the audience tonight contribute to the Maintenance Fund as well as purchase tickets because they know that no orchestra in the world earns enough at the box offiice to pay all expenses. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra -in line with other major orchestras of similar size -has an earned income amounting to only 40 of its total budget. The balance must come from women's associations' projects, special grants, endow?ment earnings and contributions.
For
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? education of our y
? involvement in cjjui
? enjoyment of grpi
? AND PERSONA)
Make Your Contribution Tod
IWe wish to be a contributing member -an "Impresario" -of the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra and hereby subscribe the total sum of $___________to the
Quest for Excellence Fund.
? Payment enclosed
? Bill me on__________________________(date)
NAME.
NO. & STREET, CITY & STATE_
Quest for Excellence Fund
detroit symphony CONTRIBUTORS to the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra Quest for Excellence Fund -"Impresarios" -help make possible
? Subscriptions concerts ? Cabaret concerts
? Meadow Brook concerts ? Student concerts
? Inner city school concerts ? State Fairgrounds concerts
? Summer Music Theatre ? The Detroit Symphony
Youth Orchestra
Dmmunity ur youth
4]ur cultural heritage mtat music NAL SATISFACTION
oday -Be An "Impresario
PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERSHIP
? Invitations to receptions with visiting guest artists
? Advance pre-public ticket sale notices for major concerts
? Invitations to Annual Meeting -with voting privileges (for all contributors of $150 and above)
? Personal recognition in all Subscription Concert Programs (for all contributors of $150 and above)
LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP SUPPORT
Your tax-deductible contribution may be made payable to:
"Quest for Excellence Fund" Ford Auditorium Detroit, Michigan 48226
For further information call 961-0700 To become effective January 1, 1973. Until that time all contributors of $100 will be listed.
$ 25.00--Individual Membership $ 75.00--Family Membership $ 150.00--Active Membership $ 250.00--Associate Patron $ 500.00--Patron Membership $1000.00--Sponsoring Membership
ENDOWMENT FUND
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is grateful to its friends
whose concern for the Orchestra's future has been
expressed through gifts to the Symphony Endowment
Fund. With such contributions, they seek to provide
a permanent base of support to perpetuate
the Orchestra as a resource for the community.
Endowment Fund income helps offset the
Symphony's ever-increasing need for annual support
but will not at all diminish the requirement for
an annual Maintenance Fund Campaign.
Ralph Ainsworth Estate
Mr. and Mrs. John W. Anderson II
Mr. and Mrs. Wendell W. Anderson, Jr.
Philip C. Baker
In Memory of
Florence Taylor Bodman Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Borman Mr. and Mrs. C. Henry Buhl Bundy Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Walker L Cisler Detroit Community Trust Estate of Marjorie C. Deyo
Estate of
Mrs. Horace Elgin Dodge D. M. Ferry, Jr. Trustee Corp. Estate of Beatrice Fletcher Mr. and Mrs. Benson Ford Eleanor Clay Ford Fund The Ford Foundation Estate of James A. Ford Mr. and Mrs. John B. Ford Estate of Ossip Gabrilowitsch Mr. and Mrs. Aaron A. Gershenson Josephine E. Gordon Foundation In Memory of Robert Grant Mrs. Tobey Hansen Grinnell Foundation of Music--
Ira Leonard Grinnell and his wife,
Emily Lightfoot Grinnell Mr. and Mrs. Pierre V. Heftier James and Lynelle Holden Fund Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Johnson Junior Women's Association for
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Barbara Holton Kammer Trust Estate of Ethel M. Keen Mr. and Mrs. Semon E. Knudsen Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Koebel
John and Rhoda Lord Family Fund Estate of Harry A. McDonald Mr. and Mrs. Ralph T. McElvenny McGregor Fund Mrs. Rogers I. Marquis Michigan Consolidated Gas Co.
& Affiliates
Mrs. Sidney T. Miller, Jr. Estate of Louise Tuller Miller Januarius A. Mullen Estate of Lauraine S. Parker Mr. and Mrs. Raymond T. Perring Mrs. Joseph B. Schlotman Alan E. and Mariane S. Schwartz
Foundation Prewitt and Valerie D. Semmes
Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Semple Mrs. Wesson Seyburn Elizabeth, Allan, and
Warren Shelden Fund Mr. and Mrs. Allan Shelden III Leonard N. Simons Estate of
Mrs. Nelle Herman Stannard Estate of
Mrs. Mark Burnham Stevens Robert H. Tannahill Foundation In Memory of Three Individuals In Memory of Mrs. Arthur Tilton Katherine Tuck Fund Mrs. Joseph A. Vance, Jr. The Richard H. and Eloise Jenks
Webber Charitable Fund, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander L. Wiener Estate of A. D. Wilkinson Mr. and Mrs. David D. Williams Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Williams Matilda R. Wilson Fund Anonymous
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
SEASON 1971-72
detroit symphony
THE 1971-72 SEASON was a significant year for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Our expanded and varied concert series reached more people than ever before on a broad community base. We achieved new heights of artistic success and received very fine recognition for the stature of the Orchestra. We did however reach a crisis in our financial affairs which led to a thorough reevaluation on the part of the officers and the Board of Directors of the basic goals and challenges of the Orchestra as well as consideration of the cultural needs of our community. The result of this was a renewed dedication to a long-term commitment to maintain a top-rank Orchestra for our great community.
It was not nearly so clear at the outset of the season what direction the course of Symphony affairs would take, however. Despite the promise of record attendance and a brilliant concert agenda, it was apparent that we were headed for a serious operational deficit -and indeed we did exhaust our long-held though modest cash reserves and had to obtain bank loans in order to finish out the season -while at the same time the three-year master contract for members of the Orchestra was approaching expiration and required a new round of negotiations. Such elemental considerations as ... can the Symphony survive, can Detroit afford to keep a first-class orchestra, where can we obtain the added funding so necessary, how long will our generous supporters tolerate rising operational costs, and are we maximizing our cultural contributions to the broad reaches of our community ... all of these and other questions were very much in order.
The answers would be crucial and it was essential that we find
Robert B. Semple President
John B. Ford Chairman of the Board
a broad consensus before further planning of the Orchestra's future. The "Symphony story" was presented in detail to Common Council of Detroit, the Board of the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce, Detroit Renaissance, as well as other groups and community leaders in order to get their views on the role of the Symphony in our city.
It is heartening to report that not one person anywhere suggested that it was time to close shop or give up on attempts to fund the Orchestra -despite the obvious facts that costs would continue to rise and our financial needs would become greater. Indeed, there was a growing conviction that somehow this time and age require all the more that we must have a truly fine orchestra here, contributing as much to the quality of life as our community can offer.
Thus, we have now embarked on a new long-range course for the good of the Orchestra and Detroit, reflected in some of the steps recently taken as described in the section below entitled "Beginning a New Chapter." All of the other information herewith is a review of 1971-72, including some details on the problem that was and still remains our most pressing challenge: the funding of the Orchestra.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PAST SEASON
The 1971-72 subscription season was launched with enthusiasm for it promised outstanding programming, a brilliant roster of guest performers and visits to the podium by such important guest conductors as Istvan Kertesz, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Dean Dixon, Rafael Friihbeck de Burgos and Georg Semkow. We are again grateful to Sixten Ehrling for his important contributions to the artistic achievement of the Orchestra and
the overall quality of our programming.
The subscription series showed a 30 increase in the number of season tickets sold, accounted for in part through the introduction of a four-program Coffee Concerts series presented in cooperation with the National Bank of Detroit. Season ticket sales income rose 13 ($210,588 to $238,960) while attendance increased 9 (92,016 to 100,260). Total box office revenue for the concerts was $306,428 -a record amount for these programs.
Among other major series presentations, both the Cabaret "Pops" Concerts and Symphony appearances at the Meadow Brook Music Festival (1971) showed identical attendance gains of 6 compared with the previous year.
Attendance at the 1971 free outdoor summer performances at the Michigan State Fairgrounds, Belle Isle, and other city locations was estimated to be approximately double that of the previous summer.
Public Service Activities
Educational and public service programs continued with growth and vitality. It may not be generally recognized that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has one of the most broad-based community concert programs in the country. The whole-hearted cooperation of the Department of Music of the Detroit Public Schools helped to produce another successful series of 16 educational concerts in Ford Auditorium, with funding assistance from the City of Detroit and National Endowment for the Arts, giving some 48,000 children of various ages and backgrounds a fine listening experience. The Orchestra also "toured" 30 inner-city schools to perform before approximately 10,000 youngsters. This project
was financed in part by the Music Performance Trust Funds of the American Federation of Musicians. We were particularly pleased with the increase in attendance at the public State Fairgrounds programs supported by the Detroit Edison Company and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Both these series this year gave special emphasis to music by black composers and performances by black soloists.
Financial assistance from the City of Detroit helped in producing perhaps the most exciting addition to our 1971 summer musical fare, the introduction of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Theatre. Under the direction of Paul Freeman, the Orchestra traveled to different park sites and performed free concerts to new and large audiences. Operatic and Broadway show music were features. (The music theatre concept was repeated in summer 1972 and again received funding from Detroit's Department of Parks and Recreation.)
Other unusual and interesting performances last season included the debut concerts of the Detroit Symphony Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Pierre Hetu, performances by the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra directed by Paul Freeman, and the avant-garde Kaleidoscope Concerts which attracted primarily the "under 30's" segment of the public.
The Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra, led by Mr. Freeman, again brought together many of the finest young musicians of Southeastern Michigan for a full season of weekly rehearsals and several concert presentations. Distinguished musicians visiting in Detroit were invited to work with the young players, including some of the Detroit Symphony's guest
Maestro Ehrling
conductors, and we were especially pleased to see many members of our own Orchestra contribute many hours to coaching and instructing the talented young players. The Youth Orchestra, founded only two years ago, continues to be one of our most gratifying community-service programs.
Of unique interest was the first appearance of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on a national television commercial sponsored by the Foundation for Commercial Banks as well as two performances for WWJ-TV audiences, including the "Nutcracker" ballet and a concert performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.
State and National Activities
The Worcester (Massachusetts) Festival, with which we have long been associated, again warmly welcomed the Orchestra during its annual week of concerts in October just before our annual fall tour highlighted by concert performances (to rave reviews) in Carnegie Hall and in the new Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. We were particularly delighted to have some 100 Detroiters join a Women's Association "airlift" for our Kennedy Center debut performance.
Residency programs were a new and interesting addition to our touring activities. The first was presented at Williams College in Massachusetts. In this experiment the students and community were exposed to new educational programs with musicians of the Orchestra. Workshops, chamber music recitals, panels and lecture-demonstrations augmented the concert and rehearsal schedule. A second residency occurred some months later at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and was in many respects an expansion of
the Williams College experiment. This residency was our first at a Michigan university. It was truly an in-depth educational endeavor and was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. We are encouraged by the results of the program and are anxious to conduct similar sessions on other Michigan campuses as part of our goal of greater outstate participation.
In the development of other outstate activities, major steps were taken this past season with the inauguration of a new series of Detroit Symphony concerts in Midland and Port Huron, which met with great enthusiasm. A mini-residency program also was presented at Alpena where various facets of the lengthier residencies were combined within a one-and-a-half day's stay.
Single engagements in cities such as Bay City, Mt. Pleasant, and Royal Oak rounded out the state visiting program.
Our long productive relationship with Windsor, Ontario was continued with two concerts in that city and we also honored a request to perform a special concert at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
In order to find time for these new activities which are largely community and state oriented, we limited our national touring to the fall tour.
Women's Committees
Over the years we have recognized the great importance of our women volunteers who spend countless hours in presenting various functions to raise support funds for the Orchestra and to encourage interest in and appreciation of fine music. Their support has been essential to the viability of the
Summer Music Theatre scene
At Belle Isle Music Shell
Orchestra. We are continually grateful for their help.
Major new projects of the Women's Association this past season included participation in the season ticket campaign and in the annual maintenance fund drive. With the assistance of the Junior Women's Association a total of 630 new season ticket orders were obtained through these volunteer efforts. The Women's Association again had notable successes in the Rotogravure and Fashionscope projects and added a Cognac Festival to their list of fund-raising activities. Also introduced were the "Symphony Preludes" luncheons, at which Maestros Ehrling, Hetu and Freeman spoke.
In addition to assisting with season ticket sales, the Junior Women's Association also gave spirited support to our Open Rehearsal program. Their enthusiasm helped generate large audiences, averaging some 1500 persons (mostly students) for each rehearsal. The annual issue of the traditional souvenir program brought added good will as well as more dollars to help support the Orchestra.
The Detroit Symphony Summer Committee again involved many members of the community in such projects as the inner-city school concerts, State Fairgrounds and Summer Music Theatre programs. This was of great assistance in our attempt to "reach out" to many of the young and old who have never heard their city's symphony orchestra. This committee, which began as an experiment two years ago, will become an ongoing activity of the Symphony to help strengthen our public service programs throughout the summer months.
THE ECONOMIC PICTURE
Maintaining the Orchestra's wide variety of services to the community
has always involved dedication in time and money on the part of a host of volunteers and generous contributors. Yet 1971-72 expenses exceeded all income by a significant margin, more than our modest reserves, which left us in a deficit cash position at the end of the fiscal year on April 30, 1972. Only by borrowing on future Endowment Fund earnings were we able to carry on operations and start the new fiscal year in May.
The increase in our operating gap was caused by two factors: one, the continued acceleration in costs due to the general inflation in our economy and, second, the loss of some important sources of revenue including the Ford Foundation five-year annual grant of $100,000 to the major orchestras and their endowment fund matching program, and a cut in support by the City, and some loss of accustomed income in the business sector, while at the same time having reached a plateau in our maintenance fund capability campaign. This led to the decision on the part of the Board, after receiving a favorable community consensus for the Orchestra as described above, to do what is necessary to achieve financial viability.
To this end the fund-raising firm of C. W. Shaver & Co., Inc. was engaged to help us plan and execute a "Quest for Excellence" Campaign. This new effort boldly sets our sights on raising $4.5 million -an average of $1.5 million in each of the next three years -to close the gap between income and expense and restore working capital to a modest level to assure continuity of operations in the years ahead.
This is a giant step forward. The annual goal of $1.5 million, which we hope to reach through substantial increases from present
Paul Freeman leads in-school performance
Pierre Hetu leads Chamber Orchestra concert
givers and a doubling of the number of gifts, is twice the level of recent years.
A new aspect of the campaign is to alleviate the near-crisis approach to financing each spring by expanding the three-year pledge approach from the Corporate Sponsors to all categories and levels of giving.
Your Board feels this is the only practical way to keep the Orchestra among the leaders in the symphonic field and its finances sound over the next three years. We have organized a Leadership Committee to help with the planning and to lend moral support. The largest force of volunteer solicitors since the Golden Anniversary Campaign is being organized.
As a major asset, the Kresge Foundation has generously given us a challenge grant of $150,000 for each of the next three years, provided we obtain 150 gifts of $1,000 or more from individuals.
A number of individuals and foundations have already doubled their substantial gifts to the Orchestra. The business community, which has always been the keystone of the Orchestra's support, has responded positively. But the most difficult part of the effort lies ahead and the response of those individuals who have an interest in keeping the Orchestra must be generous. Only if we are able to expand the base of support can we continue to expect others to contribute as Major Sponsors. We must have a generous response from those who are approached by a member of the campaign team.
An Income and Expense Statement for the 1971-72 season follows.
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
INCOME AND EXPENSE STATEMENT
(Thousand $)
Operating Income
Home Ticket Sales
Concert Fees
Grants and Other Income
TOTAL
Actual Budget 197172 197273
$ 470 $ 488
341 356
370 330
1,181 1,174
Expense
Concert Expenses (Salaries, Benefits, Travel)
Publicity and Promotion Administrative Student Orchestra Miscellaneous
TOTAL Operating Deficit
2,211 2,392
132 139
231 198
22 25
106 90
2,702 2,844
(1,521) (1,670)
Other Income and Contributions
Endowment Funds 349 312
Women's Association
(Exclusive of Maintenance
Fund solicitation) 80 100
Junior Women's Association 43 45
Miscellaneous 96 55
Maintenance Fund 743 1,209
TOTAL
1,311 1,721
Net Gain or Loss for Year 210 51
From Prior Years 159 51
Carry Forward Gain or Loss
51 -
BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER
In addition to the launching of the "Quest for Excellence" Campaign, there have been other significant developments this season that can make our next chapter one of significant progress.
The appointment of Aldo Ceccato as Principal Conductor of the Orchestra for a two-year period beginning in 1973, to take over from Maestro Sixten Ehrling after his ten-year stay with us, is the culmination of a diligent search by a special Board committee. Mr. Ceccato's name was entered as an "outstanding dynamic young conductor" on a list of possible candidates from the very beginning, and we are pleased that he was also the ultimate first choice for the post. A number of our Board members heard Mr. Ceccato appear as a guest conductor with several major orchestras and were deeply impressed by his great successes with audiences, critics, and orchestral musicians alike. In our own apppraisal, Maestro Ceccato stood out as the most impressive young talent on the international conducting scene and as one uniquely qualified to enhance our Orchestra's prestige among the world's major symphonies. We look forward to his visits to Detroit in the coming season and know that he and his family, which includes his wife, Eliana, and their two sons, Christiano, 4, and Francesco, 2, will be accorded a warm welcome here.
We are happy to report that agreement on a new master contract was reached in time to continue our concert activities without interruption. The new contract is now in effect through summer 1975. It does place the Orchestra players on an economic level more consistent with their peers in other orchestras in comparable cities and in keeping with the
stature of Detroit as one of the nation's most important cities. Annual minimum salaries will move from $11,515 for the past year to $15,555 by the end of the new contract period in 1975. This agreement provided added flexibility in the scheduling of the Orchestra which is of real importance in forward planning.
Through the combination of the resolution of new contract terms for the Orchestra, the appointment of Maestro Ceccato, and the implementation of the "Quest for Excellence'" Campaign, we have an impressive coordinated commitment to the long-term growth and excellence of the Orchestra. Surely this helps pave the way for a new chapter of success.
Another major challenge faced during the year but not finalized was a positive program to provide the Orchestra with an acoustically outstanding auditorium. Substantial progress was made, however, in the form of research, consultation with acoustical and architectural authorities, and the analysis of options that must be considered. We have found that the field of
Marshall W. Turkin General Manager
Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra, led by Paul Freeman
At the Michigan State Fairgrounds
acoustics is still perhaps as much art as science, but we did find enough consensus from respected authorities to chart an action course. To summarize, while Ford Auditorium presently is seriously deficient acoustically, it is otherwise the logical home for the Orchestra, and can be made into an excellent hall acoustically, at comparatively modest expense. It seems evident also that a truly exciting concert hall could be envisaged with some major changes in style. Resolution of all this is one of the major goals for the coming year.
ACCOLADES
The community owes debts of gratitude to many who worked through the year in the Orchestra's behalf:
To Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley, president of the Women's Association, Mrs. Charles M. Endicott, president of the Junior Women's Association, and all of their colleagues for their many achievements to benefit the Symphony.
To the Maintenance Fund Committee, led by David D. Williams, for its year-long effort and vital contributions.
To Mrs. C. Henry Buhl for a fine job as student ticket chairman.
To Mrs. Edward Davis and Mrs. Roman S. Gribbs, the advisor and the honorary chairman, respectively, of the Summer Committee, and their workers.
To Thomas V. Lo Cicero who headed management's negotiating team to obtain a new player contract with the union.
To Pierre Heftier and the Acoustics Committee for their continued study and resolution of many recommendations to improve the hall.
To Oakland University and the Meadow Brook Festival for their cooperation in connection with our summer programs there.
To the Executive and Board Committees, including the Music Advisory Committee, which led us to what we believe is the choice of an outstanding Principal Conductor for 1973-75.
To General Manager Marshall W. Turkin and the administrative staff whose devotion, expertise and happy relationships we greatly value.
A special word of appreciation is in order for Saul Bernat who retired at the end of the season after 21 years of faithful service. We shall miss him.
And finally, though the words here are insufficient, a warm thank-you to Maestros Ehrling, Hetu and Freeman and the members of the Orchestra for making everyone's participation in season 1971-72 a worthwhile, proud experience.
President
bund e Concert
Four Saturday excursions into a colorful world of music and pageantry. A delight for children through junior high age. Earlybird Series: Performances 11 a.m. Lazybird Series: Performances 2 p.m.
PAUL FREEMAN, conducting EUGENE ISTOMIN, pianist
A visit by one of America's most acclaimed pian?ists inaugurates our popular children's series this year. Eugene istomm, who is as at home among big-league ball players as he is among famous musicians, plays the first movement of the Robert Schumann Piano Concerto. Mr. Freeman, Con-ductor-in-Residence with the Symphony, con?ducts Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide 10 the Orchestra" and other favorites selected to ""turn on" the young set.
CHRISTMAS SEASON SPECIAL PIERRE HETU, conducting
DETROIT SEVERO BALLET COMPANY in Tchaikovsky's "THE NUTCRACKER"
This is the same magnificent "Detroit produc?tion" that was brought to commercial television last Christmas by U.S. Steel -a refreshing, colorful event presented by a brilliant dance company and a great symphony orchestra.
"MULTI-MEDIA MIX"
PAUL FREEMAN, conducting
THE JUST MOVING COMPANY
A mod adventure, requiring keen eyes and noses as well as ears. Merrill Ellis' "Mutations" is fea?tured. Also Gershwin's "An American in Paris" with special choreography developed by a lively new dance group from the University of Mich?igan.
PIERRE HETU, conducting HEIKEN PUPPET THEATRE
A trip to "The Hall of the Mountain King" and other magical locations in a new production of Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt." enacted by the en?chanting, life-size Heiken Puppets to music by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. "The children like it, so do their older brothers and sisters and. I must add. so do the adults," wrote one reviewer of this presentation.
OCTOBER 14
DECEMBER 9
FEBRUARY 17
APRIL 14
Season tickets are available through the Symphony Office (961-0700) at $4.00, $6.00 and $8.00.
NATHAN GORDON
SOLO VIOLA--Detroit Symphony Orchestra Teacher and Conductor --
Wayne State U.
Dearborn Orchestra Excursions in Music, Coordinator
MARJORIE GORDON
LYRIC COLORATURA SOPRANO Teacher and Opera Producer
Wayne Slate U.
Piccolo Opera Company
State Chairman of Voice, M.M.T.A.
By Appointment Only: UN 1-6930
FREDERICK MARRIOTT
Organist -Detroit Symphony Orchestra
INSTRUCTION -CONCERTS -ORGAN CONSULTANT MAyfair 6-2385
MISCHAKOFF STUDIOS
18695 Fairfield
Former Concertmaster -Detroit Symphony Orchestra Instruction in Violin Viola
MISCHA MISCHAKOFF -Violin and Viola UNiversitV 1 2840
HORTENSE MISCHAKOFF -Violin 7
AVERY CREW
TENOR Teacher of Singing
STUDIO: PARK SHELTON, ROOM 231 TRinity 1-4531
Residence Phone KE 3-0636
DAVID KAHN
Distinguished Piano Instruction
Primary Intermediate Advanced
Special Courses for Adult Beginners
16145 CARRIAGE TRADE LANE SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN PHONE 557-2032
ALICE LUNGERSHAUSEN
Harpsichordist -Detroit Symphony Orchestra
INSTRUCTION -CONCERTS
821 -6922
MISCHA KOTTLER
Former Pianist -Detroit Symphony Orchestra INSTRUCTION IN PIANO
18665 Fairfield Tel. 862-1886
PROGRAM NOTES -continued
of absolute music, could not understand Beethoven, because this absolute musician fastens on the 'How,' and not the 'What,' etc, etc." (The reader should keep in mind that Brahms inferred just the opposite from Beethoven, went a separate route, that of absolute music, and that both Wagner and Brahms were right, for the implications of Beethoven's accomplishments were indeed manifold.)
Moving from that point, Wagner developed the Beethovenian principle of imagery into his own aesthetic, that of the Gesamtkunstwerk (total art work). This meant many things, among them that opera, or music drama as he called it, could be treated symphonically. Thus, in his music dramas, text and voice are not primary but only part of the total synthesis. Wagner's music dramas begin and end with orchestra, not with voices, and complete symphonic tone poems constitute integral portions of each work. This is why Wagner is as well-known to symphony-goers as he is to opera audiences.
He also adopted Beethoven's principle of working with short motives, of total evolution from a melodic cell, and developed the leitmotif (leading motive), melodic formulae which symbolize specific thoughts, moods, people, objects, etc. He restates, alters, and manipulates them as the drama unfolds.
There are countless other manifestations. Beethoven was, for example, the originator of the modern orchestra, and Wagner took up where Beethoven left off in the art of orchestration. And the same may be said of all other syn?tactical aspects. Newman even holds that the form of the Ring is based on the Beethoven symphony with Das Rheingold being the expository section: "The main motives, psychological and musical, are here set forth, to be worked out in detail in the later movements, blended, contrasted, and at last brought triumphantly to their logical conclusion." Die Walkiire would thus be the "Adagio," Siegfried the "Scherzo." and Gotterdcimmenmg the finale.
Before moving on to the specific discussion of the Ring excerpts, here is a final quotation from this brilliant scholar:
Wagner had first-rate luck m this as in everything else in his life that really mattered to him as an artist; not only had he the right dynamic spark within him, but he was born into an atmosphere made electrically ready by the passionate soul's cry of Beethoven. The explosion came -a cataclysmic upheaval leading to a new geological formation, as it were, in music, new geographical delineations, a new fauna and flora."
MUSIC FROM "OER RING DES NIBELUNGEN".....RICHARD WAGNER
Born Leipzig, 1813; died Venice, 1883
"Entrance of the Gods" from Das Rheingold. "The Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walkure.
"Dawn." "Siegfried's Rhine Journey." "Siegfried's Funeral Music." and "Closing Scene" from Gdtterddmmerung.
Wagner's tetralogy. Der Rint; des Nibelungen, "a Stage Festival for three days and one preceding night." was conceived in 1848 and completed in 1871 It con?sists of Das Rheingold, Die Walkiire, Siegfried, and Gdtterddmmerung.
11
PROGRAM NOTES -continued
Wagner worked backwards in developing the texts for his "Ring" epic. He com?pleted the poetry for Gdtterddmmerung (originally called Siegfried's Death) in 1848. He then decided to set the stage for this drama with a preliminary one: Siegfried (originally called The Young Siegfried). This in turn suggested to that incredibly fertile mind Die WalkUre and then Das Rheingold and he published the entire set of poems in 1853.
He was then ready to compose the music and did so in proper dramatic order, finishing Das Rheingold in 1854. Die WalkUre in 1856, and one act of Siegfried in 1857. He then left the gigantic task for twelve years, composing Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger in the interim. He finally attacked the project again and com?pleted Siegfried in 1869 and Gotterdiinwieritng in 1874. Two years later the entire cycle was presented on August 13-17 at Wagner's Bayreuth Festspielhaus, built espe?cially for the presentation.
First performance of the "Entrance of the Gods" and "The Ride of the Valkyries" in this series: October 19. 1917: Weston Gales conducting Last performance of the "Entrance": January 4. 1964. under Valter Poole Last performance of "The Ride": March 11, 1967. under Paul Paray.
"Dawn" has never been performed on this series. First performance of "Siegfried's Journey" in this series: December 15, 1927; Gabrilowitsch conducting Last performance: May 13, 1965, under Sixten Ehrling.
First performance of the "Funeral Music" and "Closing Scene": March 30, 1917: Weston Gales conducting Last performance: March 11. 1965, under Sixten Ehrling.
Wagner specified in detail the instrumentation. He called for 16 first violins. 16 second violins. 12 violas. 12 cellos. 8 double basses. 3 flutes and 2 piccolos, 3 oboes and English horn. 3 clarinets and bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 8 horns. 4 Wagnerian tubas, tuba, 3 trumpets and bass trumpet. 3 tenor trombones, bass trombone and contrabass trombone, 2 pair of timpani, triangle, cymbals, side drum, glockenspiel, tam-tam, and 2 harps.
WAGNER'S TEXTS
Wagner wrote dramatic poems, not opera librettos. There is not a decent "libretto" per se in all of his music dramas. As G. B. Shaw neatly put it, Wagner made "the words all-important by putting the poem in the first place as the seed of the whole music drama," and then turned around and made "a clean sweep of the dictionary by insisting that it is only the language of feeling that craves for musical expression, or even is susceptible to it."
Unlike a typical libretto, Wagner's text is only a vehicle to serve the pur?poses of the total art work. Nevertheless, it is also rilled with complex symbolisms, and labyrinthic personality and casual interrelation. Observed apart from the orchestral setting, these plots appear absurd, unduly complicated, and ill-paced. Considering them in their total, grandiose, symphonic and visual context is quite another matter.
To give a complete blow-by-blow synopsis of what happens throughout The Ring oj the Nibelung in order to enhance the listening experience of just these six excerpts would be confusing. So this writer will confine the descriptions to only the immediately pertinent narrative sections. (By way of further explana?tion it might be helpful to point out that the "Ring" cycle runs over fifteen per?formance hours and has been called "the most monumental single achievement in all the arts in the last hundred years.")
12
"Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla" from Das Rheingold. The '"Entrance of the Gods" comes at the very end of Das Rheingold. Valhalla is the heavenly home of gods and heroes. The "Entrance of the Gods" begins with a storm as Donner, the storm god, climbs a cliff and summons thunder, light?ning, wind, and rain. The storm subsides, a rainbow appears and beyond it, in the clouds, Valhalla. Wotan leads his gods majesticaUy across the rainbow bridge to the gleaming portals of the godly castle.
"The Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walkiire. In Scandinavian mythology the Valkyries ("choosers of the dead") were Odin's nine daughters, whose privilege it was to serve the heroes of Valhalla at the banquet table. Their duties also included the responsibility of electing those heroes who were to fall in battle, and afterward to bear them to Valhalla where the slain warriors were restored and equipped to fight the battles of Odin.
Each of the acts of the four music dramas which make up the Nibelungen Ring is prefaced by an introduction devised to set the mood of the subsequent dramatic action. The third act of Die Walkiire opens with the gathering of the nine daughters of Odin on the dark, stormy summit of a rocky crag. They arrive one by one on winged horses, fully armed, each bearing a slain hero, and as each arrives she sends forth an eerie, piercing cry through the night skies to her sisters.
"Dawn," "Siegfried's Rhine Journey," "Siegfried's Funeral Music," and "Closing Scene" from Gotterdammerung.
"Dawn." The Prologue of this final music drama, "The Twilight of the Gods." begins with three Norns sitting on the cliff of the Valkyrie in pre-dawn gloom, holding destiny in their hands and predicting the ultimate destruction of the gods, Siegfried's betrayal and death, and Brunnhilde's self-immolation. Dawn comes slowly over the crag with the Norns gently intoning the leitmotifs of Sieg?fried and Briinnhilde.
"Siegfried's Rhine Journey." As the mists of night finally clear, Siegfried and Briinnhilde come forth from the cave which has been their bridal chamber, he in full armor. They exchange vows, Briinnhilde urges him to new exploits and conquests, and gives him her warrior horse, Grane, in exchange for his ring, which unknown to each is the curse of the gods. She watches from the cliff as he disappears down the mountainside to begin his Rhine-journey, which is to be filled with betrayal and ultimate assassination. His horn call is heard from afar as Briinnhilde stands alone.
This is a superb tone poem that also contains leitmotifs symbolizing Love's Resolution, the Rhine, the song of the Rhine-maidens, the cursed Ring, the Rheingold. and Servitude.
"Siegfried's Funeral Music." Siegfried's assassination takes place in Act II. He is on a hunting party and is slain with a spear through the back. The funeral music takes place as his body is being carried on a litter by vassals. This is a godly lament rather than a funeral march and it is highly complex in its melodic construction and evolution. The whole life of the hero is retraced in this section by the use of all the leitmotifs related to him, not in their original form, but tragically veiled. First the heroism of his race, then his murder, his
13
J72 Announcing a one-day only
MELODY MART
The Junior Women's Association for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
invites you to visit Ford Auditorium on Thursday, September 28 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
DSO Christmas cards decorations candles needlepoint macrame hand-made jewelry toys hand-painted items -from $2 to $20 -all handcrafted by members of the Junior Women's Association!
." Proceeds to benefit the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
J1 Master Charge BankAmericard
; Snack bar available
J1 $1 all-day parking at Bob-Lo lot
Items will also be on sale from 7:30 to 8:30 and during the intermission of the Detroit Symphony concert in Ford Auditorium that evening.
LECTURE OPEN REHEARSALS
3 Wednesdays, 1 p.m.
presented under auspices of the Junior Women's Association for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
November 15: Guest Artist to be announced
SIXTEN EHRLING, conductor
February 21: ISRAELA MARGALIT, pianist ALDO CECCATO, conducting
March 211 ALEXIS WEISSENBERG, pianist SIXTEN EHRLING, conductor
Each Open Rehearsal (beginning at 2 p.m.) is preceded by an explanatory lecture (beginning at 1 p.m.) given by Mrs. Robert Kaiser. Tickets arc $2 per person ($1 for students and senior citizens) for each afternoon, avail?able by writing LectureOpen Rehearsals, 874 Lakeland, Grossc Pointe 48230. Group discounts available (phone TU 5-2473 or 886-6829).
Proceeds to Orchestra Supplemental Pension Plan
THE WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION FOR THE DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
presents
DETROIT SYMPHONY PRELUDES
A Mini-Musicale Luncheon Series
at the
GROSSE POINTE WAR MEMORIAL
32 Lakeshore Road
Mini-musicales: 11:15 a.m. Luncheons: 12:15 p.m.
Friday, February 9, 1973
THE STRINGS
GORDON STAPLES, Concertmaster, Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Friday, March 16, 1973
THE WOODWINDS Detroit Symphony Woodwind Quintet
ERVIN MONROE. Flute PAUL SCHALLER, Clarinet
ARNO MARIOTTI. Oboe CHARLES SIRARD. Bassoon
EUGENE WADE, French Horn
Friday, April 6, 1973
THE PERCUSSION
Members of the Percussion Section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
SALVATORE RABBIO. Timpani
ROBERT PANGBORN. NORMAN FICKETT. SAM TUNDO
The musicians will demonstrate their instruments, perform and answer questions
Series of Three Mini-musicales and Luncheons, $20.00 Series of Three Mini-musicales only, $8.00
For Additional Information Call 821-6922 or 961-0700
DETROIT SYMPHONY PRELUDES
III') Berkshire Road, Grosse Pointe, Mich. 48230
Enclosed find check lor money order! payahle to Detroit Symphony Preludes for $______________ for ____________
? Mini-musicale-Luncheon Series at $20 per person ] Mini-musicales only Series at $8 per person
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City__________________________Zip____________Phom
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the GM mark
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MARK OF EXCELLENCE
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