UMS Concert Program, May 1, 1974: The Ann Arbor May Festival -- The Philadelphia Orchestra

Concert: First
Complete Series: 3882
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The University Musical Society
of
The University of Michigan
Presents
ANN ARBOR
THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
Eugene Ormandy, Music Director and Conductor
William Smith, Assistant Conductor
EUGENE ORMANDY, Conducting
Soloist YEHUDI MENUHIN, Violinist
Wednesday Evening, May 1, 1974, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Symphony Xo. 4 in Bflat major. Op. 60.......Beethoven
Adagio; allegro vivace Adagio
Allegro vivace
Allegro ma non troppo
Livre pour orchestre............Lutoslawski
INTERMISSION
Ann Arbor Sesquicenlennial recognition of the Philadelphia Orchestra
Mayor James E. Stcphenson Introduced by Douglas C. Crary, Chairman of the Sesquicentcnnial Commission
Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77.....Brahms
Allegro ma non troppo Adagio
Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo
Yehudi Menuhin Available on Columbia Records RCA Red Seal
First Concert Eightyfirst Annual May Festival Complete Concerts 3882
PROGRAM NOTES
by Glenn D. McGeoch
Symphony N'o. 4 in Bflat major, Op. 60 .... Ludwig van Beethoven
(17701827)
Beethoven had taxed his creative powers to the utmost in creating the stupendous Third Symphony in Eflat major ("Eroica"). With no signposts to guide him, he had reached panoramic heights which even his genius could not readily regain. Invariably, throughout his career, he sought momentary relaxation after expending his forces on works of such magnitude. Thus the relatively placid and traditional Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth symphonies separated the more imposing Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth, where compulsion to innovation and soaring flights of imagination again drove him to the creation of revolutionary works. From the stormy cloudcapped peaks of the "Eroica," he descended momentarily into the sundrenched valleys of the Bflat major Symphony. In the ordinary course of events, what we now know as the Fifth Symphony would have followed the Third, for he had by 1S05 almost completed its first and second movements. For reasons unknown he put it aside and turned to the less problematical material of the Fourth, which he treated with far less intensity of effort. It was composed in 1S06 at Martonvasar, a Hungarian village where Beethoven was a guest of Count Franz Brunswick and his two beautiful daughters, Therese and Josephine. Sentimental writers have identified Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved" with the elder Therese, with whom he was in love, and to whom he was, for a short period, betrothed. To the incurable romantic Romain Rolland, this "Symphony of Love" was "a pure fragrant flower which treasured up the perfume of those days." Nothing in truth is definitely known about the inception of the work beyond the inscription on the manuscript "Sinfonia 4'", 1S06, L v Bthvn." We are on safer ground to agree with Hector Berlioz that this symphony "is generally lively, nimble, joyous and of a heavenly sweetness," or with Beethoven's biographer Thayer, who declared it "placid and serene--the most perfect in form of them all," or with Sir George Grove that "a more consistent and attractive whole cannot be ... the movements fit in their place like the limbs and features of a lovely statue; and full of fire and invention as they are, all is subordinate to conciseness, grace and beauty." Referring to its position between the Third and Fifth, Robert Schumann called it "a Greek maiden between two Xorse giants."
What is beyond question is that the spring and summer of 1S06 were one of the happiest and most serene periods of relaxation in Beethoven's stormy career. It followed an experience of bitter disappointment at the miserable failure of his opera Fidelia in Vienna, November 20, 1805, amid the gloom, incident to the occupation of the city by the French troops of Napoleon. Beethoven, who, all through his life proved his resilience under the blows of adversity, rallied from this disaster and lost himself in the creation of a series of masterworks which were vehicles of defense against, or perhaps escape from, his personal frustrations. In a spirit of revived exhilaration, he produced the buoyant D major Violin Concerto, the cheerful Fourth Piano Concerto, Op. 58. the three "Rasumovsky" quartets. Op. 50, and the gay and spirited symphony on tonight's program. Perhaps some inner artistic necessity, rather than a passing love affair, compelled him to reject the powerful impulses of the Fifth Symphony so soon after the creation of the epic "Eroica," and to seek an emotional balance by finding refuge in the joyful and translucent pages that inspirit these optimistic works.
Livre pour orchestre..........Witold Lutoslawski
(1913 )
Early in his creative life, critics referred to Lutoslawski as the most widely popular living com?poser in Poland--to his "lack of startling originality" to "his genuinely personal melodic gift with its roots in Polish folk music," to "his convincing structure--harmonically unified," his "delicate orchestration," and his "successful combination of Polish folk idiom with sensitivity and directness of expression."
Today, he belongs to the avantgarde group in Poland which, responding to the shocking impact of Schonberg, Berg, and Webern in the decades between 1913 and 1933, continued to react violently against conventional nineteenthcentury music, inspired by the "renegades" of the middle 1950s-Boulez, Stockhausen, and Cage. He relentlessly pursues every facet of the rapidly changing idioms of our day. In an interview in 1962 in the New York Times, Lutoslawski revealed a critical change that was taking place in his style of composing. "I have just made what I regard as a new beginning, or, at least a new concretization of everything I believe about music. My new style dates from ray Jeux Venetiens which was done last year at the Warsaw Festival. This work makes considerable use of the technique of chance, or aleatoric music, and now I am working solely in that direction My early works I have now come to regard as passe."
In reference to the work on tonight's program, the composer wrote, "In my music up until the Livre pour Orchestre (196S) I realized that there was one element which was lacking--the irrational." The Book for Orchestra has, as the composer indicated on the score, four "chapters," each separated by brief interludes played "ad libitum"; the First, for three clarinets; the Second for two clarinets
The University Musical Society
The
of Michigan
The development of the program for gifts to the University Musical Society has, in five years, proved to be the added support needed to sustain our concert presenta?tions. This support has been through the generosity of benefactors, individuals, and some business firms who have responded to the notice of our need. Attendance, though good, is not enough to generate all the revenue required to meet the escalation of costs. The persons named in this program are not yet enough in number to cover the margin between costs and revenue. A broader base is essential and herewith solicited of the many others who have not yet indicated their support. We ask those among you to join the persons named herein.
Contributor categories are: Sustaining Member--Gift of $25; Patron--Gift of $100; Sponsor--Gift of $500; Guarantor--Gift of $1,000 or more.
All contributors recorded since January 1, 1973, are listed. The asterisks indicate those who have contributed both in 1973 and in 1974 (to April 1). Our next con?tributor listing will appear at the opening Choral Union concert in the fall.
GUARANTORS
Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Bergcr Mr. and Mrs. William L. Brittain Mr. and Mrs. Douglas D. Crary
Mr. and Mrs. Lou M. Dexter
Mr. Clarence R. Haas (from the estate of) Mr. and Mrs. Peter N. Heydon
Mr. Maurice B. Hodges Mr. and Mrs. John McCollum
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Meader
SPONSORS
Mr. and Mrs. George C. Cameron
Mrs. Fanni Epstein
Mr. and Mrs. Robhcn V. Fleming Mr. and Mrs. Harlan Hatcher
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Herbert
Mrs. Judith T. Manos
Mrs. Lester McCoy ?Mr. and Mrs. William B. Palmer
Dr. and Mrs. Bernard Patmos
CORPORATE SPONSORS
Liberty Music Shop
Northwestern Electric of Detroit, Inc.
The Power Foundation
PATRONS
Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Ackley Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Adams, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Robert G. Aldrich Mrs. Wyeth Allen Dr. and Mrs. David G. Anderson Mrs. Donald H. Bacon Mr. and Mrs. Raymond O. Bassler Mr. and Mrs. Leslie R. Beals Mr. and Mrs. Harrv B. Benford
Mr. and Mrs. William W. Bishop. Jr.
Mr. C. John Blanklcy
Mr. and Mrs. H. Harlan Bloomer Mr. and Mrs. Milford Bocrsma Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Bonistecl, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Allen P. Britton
Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Brown ?Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Brown Dr. and Mrs. K. M. Brownson
Mr. and Mrs. Wellington R. Burt
Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Y. T. Ching
Mr. and Mrs. Gage R. Cooper Mrs. Arthur H. Copeland
Mr. and Mrs. Cecil C. Craig
Mr. and Mrs. H. Richard Crane
Mrs. Earl H. Cress
Mr. and Mrs. William M. Cruickshank
Dr. and Mrs. James M. Dahl
Mr. and Mrs. John F. Daly
Mr. James A. Da vies
Dr. and Mrs. Russell Dejong
Mr. Richard Earhart Miss Linda Eberbach
Mr. and Mrs. Oscar A. Eberbach
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Evans
Mr. and Mrs. George H. Forsyth
Miss Florence B. Fuller Mr. and Mrs. Victor Gallatin
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph M. Gibson
Dr. William C. Gilkey
Mr. and Mrs. Britton L. Gordon
Dr. and Mrs. Alexander Gotz
Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Graham
Mr. Clare E. Griffin
Mr. and Mrs. Elmer F. Hamel Mr. and Mrs. J. Donald Hanawalt
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Haugh
Mr. Donald A. Hines Dr. and Mrs. John F. Holt
Dr. and Mrs. Frederic B. House
Dr. and Mrs. W. X. Hubbard, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. George J. Huebner
Mr. Frederick G. L. Huetwell Mr. and Mrs. Keith D. Jensen
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert V. Johc
Mr. Thor Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Kaplan
Mr. and Mrs. Paul G. Kauper
Mrs. Donald Kehl
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kempf
Mr. William R. Kinney
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen J. Kovacik, Jr.
Mr. Arthur T. Lanning
Mr. and Mrs. Paul V. McCracken
Mr. and Mrs. Glenn D. McGeoch Dr. and Mrs. Barry Miller Dr. and Mrs. Joe D. Morris
Mr. B. J. Naughton, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Xiehuss Mr. and Mrs. A. Geoffrey Norman Miss Ada L. Olson Mr. Jesse Ormondroyd Mrs. Erwin Overbeck Dr. and Mrs. Michael Papo Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Park Mr. and Mrs. Clair E. Paulson
Mr. and Mrs. D. Maynard Phelps
Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur K. Pierpont
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Power
?Mr. and Mrs. Millard H. Pryor Mr. Ernst Pulgram Dr. and Mrs. Gardner C. Quarton
Mr. and Mrs. Gail W. Rector Mr. and Mrs. William D. Revelli Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Richart, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Rigan
Miss Mary R. Romigde Young Miss Sara L. Rowe Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Schemm Dr. and Mrs. David VV. Schmidt Dr. and Mrs. Richard C. Schneider Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Sergeant Mr. and Mrs. Everett J. Soop Dr. and Mrs. Harvey Sparks, Jr. Mrs. James H. Spencer Mr. and Mrs. Neil Staebler Mr. and Mrs. John C. Stegeman Mr. and Mrs. Helmut Stern Mr. and Mrs. J. Wilner Sundelson Dr. and Mrs. E. Thurston Thieme Dr. and Mrs. Paul M. Vanek Mrs. Charles W. Wagner
?Mr. and Mrs. Paul C. Wagner Mr. and Mrs. Fred G. Walcott Mr. and Mrs. Erich A. Walter Mr. and Mrs. Russell West
Dr. and Mrs. Sherwood B. Winslow
?Mrs. Earl S. Wolaver Mr. and Mrs. Horace H. Work
CORPORATE PATRONS
American Metal Climax Foundation, Inc. Ann Arbor Bank Edwards Brothers, Inc. Ford Motor Company Huron Valley National Bank Jacobson's Stores, Inc.
Parke, Davis & Company Pittsficld Products, Inc. Sam's Stores, Inc. Swisher Realty Company University MicrofilmsXerox YpsiAnn Land Company
SUSTAINING MEMBERS
Acacia Fraternity, Ohio State Chapter Miss Adelaide A. Adams Mr. and Mrs. Edward Adams, Jr. Mrs. John Alexander Dr. and Mrs. Peter Aliferis Mr. and Mrs. Francis A. Allen Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Allington Mr. and Mrs. George Amendt Mr. and Mrs. Ernest E. Andrews Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Anpell Dr. and Mrs. Oliver C. Applegate Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Asleson Mrs. Stephen S. Attwood
Mr. and Mrs. Max Auprjerle
Dr. and Mrs. Noycs L. Avery, Jr.
Mrs. A. V. Baker
Mr. Harris H. Ball
Mrs. Jean Lynn Barnard Mrs. R. V. Barnard
Mrs. John Alton Barrett
Mrs. T. Howe Bartholomew
Mr. and Mrs. Gerald C. Beckwith
Mr. A. W. Bennett
Miss Alice R. Bensen
Mr. Viktors Berstis
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur L. Bert
Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Blackburn
Mr. and Mrs. W. Michael Blumenthal
Mr. and Mrs. Jay A. Bolt
Mrs. C. E. Bottum
Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Bottum, Jr.
Miss Elinor J. Boyd
Miss Lola M. Bradstrcet
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Brater
Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Briggs
Mrs. Joseph Brinkman
Mr. and Mrs. George W. Brooks
Mr. Robert H. Brower
Mr. and Mrs. Carl R. Brown Dr. and Mrs. Gordon C. Brown
Mr. and Mrs. Webster Brumbaugh Mr. and Mrs. Donald R. Brundage Mr. and Mrs. Donald Bryant Mr. and Mrs. Robbins Burling Mr. and Mrs. John S. Burtt Mrs. Helen S. Butz Mr. and Mrs. Richard Caldwcll Miss Ruby A. Campbell Dr. Ruth Cantieny Mr. Lee O. Case Dr. and Mrs. James T. Cassidy Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Chase Miss Hope H. Chipman Mr. and Mrs. Halvor N. Christensen Mrs. William S. Clarkson Mr. and Mrs. W. Oscar Collins Dr. and Mrs. Leslie Corsa, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Glenn M. Coulter Miss Marjorie A. Cramer Miss Grace Crockett Dr. and Mrs. Edward Curtis Mr. and Mrs. Horace W. Davenport Mr. and Mrs. Julio del Toro Miss Mildred F. Denecke Mr. and Mrs. David M. Dennison Mr. and Mrs. Gail E. Densmore Mr. and Mrs. Benning W. Dexter Mr. and Mrs. George Dibble Dr. and Mrs. Reed O. Dingman Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Dixon Mr. and Mrs. John S. Dobson Dr. and Mrs. Richard P. Dorr Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Gould Dow Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Draper Dr. and Mrs. Paul F. Durkee Mr. and Mrs. John F. Eley Mr. and Mrs. George A. Elgass Mr. and Mrs. Emil E. Engel, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Faber Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Feldman
Mr. and Mrs. Carl H. Fischer Miss Phyllis Foster Mr. and Mrs. Howard P. Fox Mrs. Thomas Francis, Jr. Mrs. William A. Frayer Dr. and Mrs. Warren S. Freeman
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Gallagher
Mr. and Mrs. Garnet Garrison Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Gault Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gebhart Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gies Dr. William C. Gilkey Mr. and Mrs. James Gilligan Mr. William Alexis Golz Mr. and Hrs. Otto Graf Mr. and Mrs. Serge Gratch Miss Pearl Graves Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore Gray
Miss Dorothy Greenwald
Miss Barbara J. Gross
Miss Margaret A. Harwick
Mrs. Joseph R. Hayden
Miss Ethel Hedrick
Mr. and Mrs. Albert E. Heins
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Henderson
Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Highhill
Mr. T. H. Hildebrandt
Mrs. Leonard E. Himler
Dr. and Mrs. Sibley W. Hoobler
Miss Marguerite V. Hood
Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Hooper
Mrs. John H. Hough Mrs. Virginia Hunt
Mr. and Mrs. David D. Hunting, Sr.
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Hurst
Miss Ella M. Hymans
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Jacobi
Mr. and Mrs. Albert C. Jacobs
Mr. and Mrs. Emil Jebe Mr. and Mrs. William Judson Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth L. Jones
Mr. and Mrs. Phillip S. Jones
Mr. J. Warren Kays
Mr. and Mrs. Leedom Kettell
Dr. and Mrs. William W. Kimbrough
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Klein
Dr. and Mrs. Karl S. Klicka
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold G. Kluge
Mr. and Mrs. Philip Kratzmiller
Mr. R. Hudson Ladd
Mrs. Gertrude Leidy
Mr. and Mrs. Donald J. Lewis
Miss Mildred Locffler
Mr. and Mrs. Donald S. Lowe
Mr. and Mrs. John Duer Ludlow
Miss Doris L. Luecke
Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Mack
Dr. and Mrs. Donald W. Martin Dr. and Mrs. Josip Matovinovic
Miss Joyce McFarlan
Mr. and Mrs. John A. McMillan Mr. and Mrs. F. N. McOmber
Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Meranda
Mr. and Mrs. F. R. Meyers Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rush Miller
Mr. and Mrs. John D. Mohler
Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Moon, III
Mrs. Robert W. Moss
Dr. Amir M. Mostaghim
Miss Dorothy V. Mummery
Miss Yoshiko Nagamatsu
Dr. and Mrs. James V. Neel
Mrs. Clifford T. Nelson
Miss Geneva Nelson
Mr. Kurt K. Neumann
Mrs. Gretchen Stanger Newsom
Dr. and Mrs. William R. Olsen
Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Oncley
Mr. and Mrs. David Osier
Dr. and Mrs. F. D. Ostrander
Mr. and Mrs. David Parkcs
Mr. and Mrs. Pedro Paz
Mr. John R. Pearson
Dr. and Mrs. Edwin P. Peterson
Dr. and Mrs. Charles W. Phillips
Miss Rita J. Pieron
Dr. and Mrs. Richard A. Pollak
Dr. and Mrs. H. Marvin Pollard
Mr. and Mrs. Eugene B. Power "Mr. and Mrs. Emerson F. Powrie
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Price, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Michael Radock Mr. Raymond N. Rapaport, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Robert Rapp Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence L. Rauch Mr. and Mrs. Oliver C. Reedy Mr. Harold Rothbart Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Roy Mr. Frank E. Royce Mr. Charles H. Rubin Miss Mabel E. Rugen Miss Margaret R. Runge Mr. and Mrs. Herbert O. Schlager Mrs. Herbert E. Schlesinger Mr. Neill R. Schmeichel Dr. and Mrs. Charles R. Schmitter, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Hazen J. Schumacher, Jr. Mr. James D. Shortt, Jr. Mr. Clifford R. Seppanen Dr. Bruce M. Siegan Mr. and Mrs. Keeve M. Siegel Dr. and Mrs. Vergil N. Slee Mr. and Mrs. Allan Smith Mrs. Helen M. Snyder Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Stanton Miss Wilma D. Steketee
Mrs. Mira Stoll
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Stubbins
Dr. and Mrs. Walter H. Swartz
Mrs. John S. Thomas
Miss Virginia W. Tibbals
Mrs. John E. Tracy
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert H. Upton, Jr.
Miss Rose Vainstein
Mr. B. Arnell Van Sickle Mrs. Elena Vlisides
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Vogt Mrs. George Wadley
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Wangberg
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Warschausky
Mr. and Mrs. Merwin H. Waterman Mr. and Mrs. J. Philip Wernette
Mrs. B. T. Whipple Mrs. Albert E. White
Mr. and Mrs. Allen S. Whiting
Mrs. George W. Willard
Dr. and Mrs. J. Robert Willson
Miss Charlotte Wolfe
Mr. and Mrs. David Wood Mr. and Mrs. Ernest A. H. Woodman
Dr. and Mrs. Bruce A. Work, Jr.
Since our Gift Program began, several thoughtful persons have wished to make their gifts in memory of family members or friends. Some bequests have also been formalized. For these generous contributors we owe our thanks, and list below the names in whose memory their gifts were made.
Wyeth Allen Elizabeth Falk Eberbach Florence P. Griffin Walter Laubengayer Lester McCoy
Eunice Mead Gwendolyn Powrie Richard Schneidewind Charles A. Sink Elizabeth Schieck Soop
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Gail W. Rector, President Harlan Hatcher, VicePresident Erich A. Walter, Secretary E. Thurston Thieme, Treasurer
Richard S. Berger Allen P. Britton Douglas D. Crary Robben W. Fleminj;
Peter N. Heydon Paul G. Kauper Wilbur K. Pierpont Sarah G. Power
DIRECTORS EMERITUS Oscar A. Eberbach Henry F. Yaughan Thor Johnson
and harp, piano, glockenspiel, and two solo violoncellos. The third interlude is uninterrupted and leads directly into the final section in which the other instruments of the orchestra join. During these moments the conductor is directed to lower his baton, leaving the performers to play anything they desire; their duration is approximately twenty seconds. "They are," writes the composer, "exactly the same as the pauses between movements--the moment for the audience to relax, change position, cough, etc." The conductor then interrupts these "irrational" sections, by lifting his baton to continue with the next chaper. Shorter "ad libitum" sections occur within Chapters one and three. For a few moments near the end, metrical rhythms are introduced, but soon become lost in the "ad libitum" effect of the total finale, overcome by the free "irrationality" that characterized the inter?ludes. Only in the final measures are the tensions that have been built up in the work, relieved. The work ends on a level of quiescence.
Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 77 . . Johannes Brahms
(18331897)
Brahms lived in a spiritually povertystricken and soulsick period, when anarchy seemed to have destroyed culture. Love of luxury and crass materialism brought in its wake dissolution, weari?ness, and indifference to beauty. It was an age which was distinctly unfavorable to genuinely great art, unfavorable because of its hidebound worship of the conventional. Its showy exterior did not hide the inner barrenness of its culture. Brahms, and his contemporary Wagner, so opposed in aesthetic theory, stood abreast of their times, disheartened with the state of the world, but not defeated by it.
Even as Beethoven before him, Brahms was essentially of a hearty and vigorous mind. Standing abreast of such vital spirits as Carlyle and Browning, he met the challenge of his age and triumphed in his art. By the exercise of a clear intelligence and a strong critical faculty he was able to temper the tendency toward emotional excess and to avoid the pitfalls of utter despair into which Tchai?kovsky was invariably led. Although Brahms experienced disillusionment no less than Wagner and Tchaikovsky, his was another kind of tragedy--the tragedy of a man born out of his time. He suf?fered from the changes in taste and perception that inevitably come with the passing of time. His particular disillusionment, however, did not affect the power and sureness of his artistic impulse. With grief he saw the ideals of Beethoven dissolve in a welter of cheap emotionalism. He saw the classic dignity of that art degraded by an infiltration of tawdry programmatic effects and innocuous imitation and witnessed finally its subjugation to poetry and the dramatic play. All of this he opposed with his own grand style--profoundly moving, noble, and dignified. "With a sweep and thrust he forced music out upon her mighty pinions to soar once more."
Great interest was aroused in the musical circles of Germany and Austria when it became known in 1878 that Brahms was at work on a violin concerto intended for the friend of his youth, Josef Joachim. The summer of 1878 the composer spent in Pbrtschach where the first draft was finished. Writing to his friend Hanslick, the Viennese critic, from Lake Worther in Carinthia, Brahms reports that "so many melodies fly about, one must be careful not to tread on them." The peace and tran?quillity reflected in the first movement of the concerto is somewhat similar to that of the Second Symphony, also in D major. To many, the sentiment is maintained at a loftier height in the con?certo, while the limpid grace of the meiodic line has an immediate fascination for the general audience.
After studying the violin part, Joachim replied from Salzburg, "I have had a good look at what you sent me and have made a few notes and alterations, but without the full score one can't say much. I can, however, make out most of it and there is a lot of really good violin music in it, but whether it can be played with comfort in hot concert rooms remains to be seen." After considerable correspondence and several conferences the score was ready and the first performance scheduled for January 1, 1879, in Leipzig.
It remains to be noted that the concerto was not published immediately. Joachim kept it and played it several times in England with much success. The performer on these occasions made alter?ations to the score which did not always meet with Brahms' approval, evidenced by excerpts from this letter of Brahms to Joachim: "You will think twice before you ask me for another concerto! It is a good thing that your name is on the copy; you are more or less responsible for the solo violin parts."
Brahms did not write out the cadenza at the end of the first movement. Originally. Joachim wrote one himself but since that time it has been provided with cadenzas by nearly all the violin masters.
ANN ARBOR SESQUICENTENNIAL
The year 1974 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of Ann Arbor. In recognition of the occasion the Sesquicentennial Commission has developed a yearlong celebration designed to ac?complish two major objectives. The first is to tell the story of Ann Arbor and what has made it what it is today; the second is to involve as many people and organizations as possible in the ob?servance of this celebration. The ceremony here tonight is a part of the University Musical Society's participation in the Sesquicentennial celebration.
INTERNATIONAL PRESENTATIONS197475
Choral Union Series Hill
London Symphony Orchestra ....
Jessye Norman, Soprano......
Warsaw National Orchestra .... Gewandhaus Orchestra from Leipzig Soviet Georgian Dancers and
Tbilisi Polyphonic Choir .... Detroit Symphony Orchestra ....
Czech Philharmonic......
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra Boston Symphony Orchestra .... Spanish RTY Symphony Orchestra of Madrid
Auditorium
Saturday, September 21
. Saturday, October 5
Thursday, October 17
Wednesday, October 23
Sunday, November 24
Saturday, January 11
Wednesday, February 12
Saturday, March 15
Saturday, April 5
Friday, April 11
Gregg Smith Singers.....
National Ballet of Washington, D.C.
Great Performers Series -"Pianists" Hill Auditorium
Andre Watts...........Wednesday, October 16
F.mil Gilels...........Monday, November 25
Vladimir Ashkenazy.........Wednesday, March 19
Choice Series Power Center
Ai.vin Ailey American Dance Theater . . . Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
October 18, 19 & 20 Tuesday, October 22 Saturday and Sunday October 26 & 21
Slask, Folk Company from Poland.....Wednesday. October 30
Jacques Loussier Trio, Jazzmen "Play Bach" . . Saturday, November 2
Carlos Montoya, Flamenco Guitarist.....Tuesday, November 19
Guarneri String Quartet and Gary Graffman, Pianist . Wednesday, January 8
Marcel Marceau, Pantomimist.....Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
January lo". 11, & 12
Moscow Chamber Orchestra......
Goldovsky Opera Theater ......
Harkness Ballet of New York.....
Moscow Balalaika Ensemble and Ludmila Zykina
Paul Taylor Dance Company......
Preservation Hall Jazz Band.....
Tuesday, February 11 Thursday, February 13 Thursday, February 20
Monday, February 24
Wednesday. March 12
Wednesday, April 9
Chamber Arts Series
concentus musicus, from vienna esterhazy string quartet Cleveland String Quartet Juilliard String Quartet . Syntagma Musicum, from Amsterdam Tokyo String Quartet .... JeanPierre Rampal, Flutist, and
Robert VeyronLa Croix, Keyboard Ars Antiqua de Paris ....
Rackham Auditorium
Wednesday, October 9
Thursday, October 24
Wednesday, November 13
Tuesday, December 3
Thursday, January 23
.....Sunday, February 2
Tuesday. February 18 Saturday, March 29
Asian Series Rackham Auditorium
National Shadow Theater of Malaysia.....Sunday, October 6
Heembaba and Dance Ensemble, Sri Lanka . . . Sunday, October 13
Chhau, Masked Dance of Bengal.....Saturday, February 22
Qawwali Music from Pakistan.......Sunday, March 16
Series ticket orders now being accepted and filled in sequence; new brochure with order form now available.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Kurton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Phone 6653717