UMS Concert Program, January 11: Detroit Symphony Orchestra -- Aldo Ceccato

Season: Sixty-second
Ford Auditorium, Ann Arbor

DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Aldo Ceccato Music Director
sixty-second season, 1975-76 ford auditorium January 11, ann arbor
detroit symphony
Aldo Ceccato Music Director
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Inc.
(Founded 19!4) ALDO CECCATO, music director
OFFICERS 1975-76
John B. Ford, chairman Robert B. Semple, president
Norman A. Bolz, vice president Walker L. Cisler, vice president ?William M. Day, vice president Pierre V. Heftier, vice president Ralph T. McElvenny, vice president Raymond T. Perring, vice president
Alan E. Schwartz, vice president Harold G. Warner, vice president Mrs. Theodore O. Yntema, vice president David D. Williams, treasurer Dennis E. Kembel, assistant treasurer Peter P. Thurber, secretary
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1975-76
Andrew W. Barr
Edward A. Baumann Norman A. Bolz
Lem w. Bowen Rinehart S. Bright
J. Lawrence Buell, Jr.
Mrs. C. Henry Buhl
Philip Caldwell
E. Paul Casey
Ferdinand Cinelli Walker L. Cisler
Mrs. Frank W. Coolidge
Mrs. Abraham Cooper
Michael Counen
Rodkey Craighead
Harry B. Cunningham William M. Day
Anthony DeLorenzo
Robert Dewar
Mrs. Henry M. Domzalski
Frank W. Donovan
David K. Easlick
Mrs. Charles M. Endicott
Mrs. Charles T. Fisher III
Max M. Fisher
Mrs. Edsel B. Ford Gordon T. Ford
Mrs. Henry Ford II John B. Ford
Edward P. Frohlich
David L. Gamble
Hans Gehrke
A. L. Glancy III
Mrs. Daniel W. Goodenough
William T. Gossett
Karl Haas
Executive Committee
Mrs. Hugh Harness
G. Robert Harrington
Martin Hayden Pierre V. Heftier
Lee Hills
Hudson Holland, Jr.
Mrs. Horace R. Holloway
Mrs. J. V. Jenks
Mrs. Henry C. Johnson
Ernest A. Jones
Mrs. Harry L. Jones
Maxwell Jospey
Marvin Katke
Tom Killefer
Mrs. Tom Killefer
Hon. Carl Levin
Walton Lewis
Thomas V. Lo Cicero
Harold O. Love
Wilber H. Mack
Hon. Wade H. McCree. Jr. 'Ralph T. McElvenny
Mrs. John T. McMullen
Dr. Marjorie Peebles Meyers
Hon. William G. Milliken
Paul S. Mirabito
Rev. J. Stanley Murphy, C.S.B.
Miles M. O'Brien
Donald D. O'Dowd
Peters Oppermann
W. Calvin Patterson Raymond T. Perring
John Prepolec
Mrs. Jerome H. Remick, Jr.
Dean E. Richardson
J. Marshall Robbins
Marshall W. Turkin, executive director
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 Mrs. Howard F. Smith, Jr. Bert L. Smokier Arthur F. F. Snyder Gari M. Stroh, Jr. Robert M. Surdam Mrs. Harry W. Taylor Richard L. Terrell
Peter P. Thurber Mrs. S. Pinkney Tuck Mrs. Richard W. Tucker Mrs. Joseph A. Vance, Jr. Mrs. Richard Van Dusen Jack J. Wainger
Harold G. Warner Mrs. Clifton Wharton
David D. Williams Mrs. Delford G. Williams Hon. G. Mennen Williams Joseph Williams
Mrs. R. Jamison Williams Richard E. Williams Mrs. Isadore Winkelman
Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley
Mrs. Theodore O. Yntema Hon. Coleman A. Young Mrs. John E. Young, Jr.
THE DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. INC.
OPERATING BOARD
Norman A. Bolz
Rinehart S. Bright
Philip Caldwell
Walker L. Cisler
Mrs. Abraham Cooper
William M. Day
Frank W. Donovan
Gordon T. Ford
John B. Ford
Edward P. Frohlich
David L. Gamble
Mrs. Daniel W. Goodenough
William T. Gossett
Mrs. Hugh Harness
Pierre V. Heftier Mrs. Henry C. Johnson Ernest A. Jones Mrs. Tom Killefer Thomas V. Lo Cicero Harold 0. Love Wilber H. Mack Ralph T. McElvenny Miles M. O'Brien Donald D. O'Dowd W. Calvin Patterson Raymond T. Perring John Prepolec Alan E. Schwartz
Robert B. Semple
Walter J. Simons
Bert L. Smokier
Mrs. Harry W. Taylor
Richard L. Terrell
Mrs. Joseph A. Vance, Jr.
Harold G. Warner
David D. Williams
Mrs. R. Jamison Williams
Richard E. Williams
Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley
Mrs. Theodore O. Yntema
Mrs. John E. Young, Jr.
FINANCIAL POLICY COMMITTEE
Clinton J. Allen, Jr. Richard H. Black Norman A. Bolz, chormon James B. Bonner Joseph G. Conway Mrs. Charles M. Endicott John B. Ford
Roman S. Gribbs
Robert W. Hartwell
Ray Kooi
Robert F. Magill
W. Calvin Patterson
Mel Ravitz
Dean E. Richardson
Robert B. Semple
Walter J. Simons
C. Boyd Stockmeyer
Gari M. Stroh, Jr.
Gordon A. Weller
Mrs. R. Alexander Wrigley
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Norman A. BolZ, chairman J. Lawrence Buell, Jr. Gordon T. Ford
Hans Gehrke Miles M. O'Brien Robert B. Semple
Harold G. Warner
Mrs. R. Jamison Williams
PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
G. Robert Harrington Gerald Lundy Robert F. Magill
John Mayhew
E. Harwood Rydholm
William S. Schindler
Gerald E. Warren, chairman;
ad hoc member, Executive Committee
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Marshall W. Turkin, executive director
Michael A. Smith, operations manager Noel F. Duncan, development director Bruce Carr, program editor Rose Dabanian, executive secretary
Haver E. Alspach. business manager
Sylvia Espenschade, communications manager
Joseph Variot, box office manager
Isabel Cleveland, season tickets administrator
Wayne S. Brown, administrative assistant
Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra
Philip Greenberg, conductor Paul Freeman, guest conductor Raymond Turner, administrator
MICHIGAN OUTSTATE ASSOCIATES
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra continues to bring its accomplishments to other Michigan communities and is expanding its outstate activities. Appreciation is extended especially to those individuals and organizations listed below who are this season presenting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in concerts in their communities. All appearances are made possible with the support of the Michigan Council for the Arts.
ALBION
Mr. Barry Lyerly
Director of Student Activities
Albion College
ANN ARBOR
Mr. Gail Rector, president
University of Michigan Musical Society
BIG RAPIDS
Dr. Richard A. Santer, chairman General Education Convocation Council Ferris State College
CALUMET
Dr. Donald J. Murtonen, president
Coppertown, USA
FLINT
Mr. Fredrick W. Peryer, managing director
Flint Institute of Music
GRAND RAPIDS
Dr. Howard J. Slenk
Calvin College
HARBOR BEACH
Mr. C. Dean Atkins
Harbor Beach Community Schools
INTERLOCHEN
Mr. Roger E. Jacobi, president
Interlochen Arts AcademyNational Music Camp
IRON MOUNTAIN
Mrs. Lorn Johnson, chairman
Dickinson County Council for the Arts
IRONWOOD
Mr. Carl Mockross, president
Gogebic County Council for the Arts
MARQUETTE
Mr. Harold Wright, chairman
Music Department
Northern Michigan University
SAULT STE. MARIE
Dr. Kenneth Shouldice, president
Lake Superior College
Mrs. John A. Rapanos, president Michigan Orchestra Association
Women's Association for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mrs. Harry W. Taylor, president
Mrs. John T. McMullen, first vice president
Mrs. John D. French, vice president
Mrs. Robert E. Dewar, vice president
Mrs. Norman A. Bolz, vice president
Mrs. John L. Denman
Mrs. Charles M. Endicott
Mrs. Robert Kaiser
Mrs. Ray W. Macdonald
Mrs. Ralzemond B. Parker
Mrs. Robert J. Crossen, recording secretary
Mrs. Joseph G. Juett, ass't recording secretary
Mrs. Donald Glossop, corresponding secretary
Mrs. H. Wayne Nelson, treasurer
Mrs. Bernard Craig, ass't treasurer
Mrs. Ray W. Macdonald, endowment chairman
Mrs. John W. Griffin, parliamentarian
Mrs. Winfield S. Jewell, Jr., president emeritus
Mrs. Thomas V. LoCicero,
maintenance fund chairman
Junior Women's Association for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mrs. John E. Young, Jr., president
Mrs. Henry M. Domzalski, first vice president
Mrs. Charles E. Tholen, second vice president
Mrs. Daniel R. Gallagher, third vice president
Mrs. Ram B. Fahim, recording secretary
Mrs. Paul A. Eagan, corresponding secretary
Mrs. Arthur R. Geiger, Jr., treasurer
Mrs. Howard S. Harris, program chairman
Mrs. John A. Courson, publicity chairman
Mrs. Samuel G. Salloum, records chairman
Mrs. William G. Denomme, social arrangements
Mrs. William B. Dunn, Symphony co-ordinator
Mrs. William A. Waggoner, yearbook chairman
DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
FIRST VIOLINS Gordon Staples Concertmaster
Bogos Mortchikian
Associate Concertmaster
Joseph Goldman Gordon Peterson
Assistant Concertmasters
Santo Urso Jack Boesen Emily Mutter Austin Derek Francis Alan Gerstel Nicholas Zonas LeAnn Toth Beatriz Budinszky iv'aivern Kaufman Richard Margitza Linda Snedden Smith Paul Phillips Elias Friedenzohn
SECOND VIOLINS Edouard Kesner Felix Resnick Alvin Score Lillian Downs James Waring Margaret Tundo Walter Maddox Roy Bengtsson Thomas Downs Larry Bartlett Joseph Striplin Robert Murphy Bruce Smith Gabriel Szitas
VIOLAS
Nathan Gordon David Ireland Philip Porbe Eugenia Staszewski LeRoy Fenstermacher Hart Holtman Walter Evich Anton Patti Gary Schnerer Catherine Compton
VIOLONCELLOS
Italo Babini
James C. Gordon Choir Thaddeus Markiewicz Edward Korkigian Mario DiFiore David Levine John Thurman Barbara Fickett Marcy Schweickhardt Susan Weaver William Graham
?Assistant Principal
ALDO CECCATO Music Director
PAUL FREEMAN Conductor-in-Residence
PHILIP GREENBERG Conducting Assisrani
BASSES
Robert Gladstone Raymond Benner Frank Sinco Maxim Janowsky Linton Bodwin 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
Donald Baker Ronald Odmark 'Robert Sorton Treva Womble Harold Hall
ENGLISH HORN Treva Womble
CLARINETS Paul Schaller Douglas Cornelsen Brian Schweickhardt Oliver Green
BASS CLARINET Oliver Green
E-FLAT CLARINET Brian Schweickhardt
BASSOONS
Rooert Williams Fhillip Austin Paul Ganson Lyell Lindsey
CONTRABASSOON Lyell Lindsey
FRENCH HORNS
Eugene Wade Charles Weaver Edward Sauve Willard Darling Lowell Greer Keith Vernon
TRUMPETS
Donaid Green
Gordon Smith
Alvin Belknap
TROMBONES
Raymond Turner Joseph Skrzynski Elmer Janes
TUBA Wesley Jacobs
TIMPANI Salvatore Rabbio Robert Pangborn
PERCUSSION
Robert Pangborn Norman Fickett Raymond Makowski Sam Tundo
LIBRARIAN Albert Steger Elmer Janes, assistant
PERSONNEL MANAGER Oliver Green
HILL AUDITORIUM
detroit symphony
Alclo Ceccato Music Director Sunday afternoon, January II at 2:30
Aldo Ceccato, conductor GIN A BACHAUER. pianist
BEETHOVEN
Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra, C minor, Opus 37
Allegro con brio
Largo
Rondo: Allegro
G1NA BACHAUER
BEETHOVEN
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 3, E-flat major, Opus 55 ("Eroiea")
Allegro con brio Marcia funebre: Adagio assai Scherzo: Allegro vivace Finale: Allegro molto
This evening marks the Orchestra's fifty-fourth appearance in Hill Auditorium The Steinway is the official piano of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
THIS WEEK'S GUEST ARTIST
Gina Bachauer has thrilled audiences around the world for more than 20 seasons and has drawn the ultimate in accolades from the press wherever she plays. She has made coast-to-coast tours of the United States in all those seasons, each lasting four to five months, with numerous repeat engagements each season. She first appeared with the DSO in February 1954, and has returned many times since, most recently in March 1974. Born in Athens, Miss Bachauer studied in Paris with Alfred Cortot, and later with Sergei Rachmaninoff. She made her New York debut in 1950 and has become a world-wide favorite, traveling over 100,000 miles every year to pursue her concert and recital career.
ARTHUR LUCK
July 7, 1892 January 4, 1976
Arthur Luck was a musician of particular significance in the history of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and indeed of Detroit. He grew up in Philadelphia and joined the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski in 1913; after a year of service in the U.S. Navy he was invited to join the DSO by Gabrilowitsch in 1919. He played the bass for us from 1919 to 1952, and was a percussionist as well from 1923 to 1942 and again from 1952 to his retirement in 1964. For his final DSO concert he once again took up the bass. An active composer and arranger, he was also the Orchestra's librarian from 1921 to 1964 and even in a sense beyond, for his own massive library of scores continues to be one of our major sources. Arthur Luck's inestimable service to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will long be remembered, and we extend our heartfelt sympathy to his widow, to his nephew Albert Steger our current librarian, to his family, and to all his friends. This week's performances of the Beethoven Funeral March, one of Arthur's favorite pieces, arc dedicated to his memory.
PROGRAM NOTES
by Robert Holmes
Dean, College of Fine Arts, Western Michigan University
CONCERTO NO. 3 FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA,
C MINOR, OPUS 37........LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Born Bonn, 1770; died Vienna, 1827
Beethoven composed his Third Piano Concerto in 1800 at the age of 30; the manuscript bears the inscription: "Concerto 1800 da L. v. Beethoven." The first performance took place in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien on 5 April 1803; Beethoven was the soloist The second performance took place more than a year later with Beethoven conducting and Ferdinand Ries1 playing the solo part It was published in 1804 by the Vienna Bureau of Arts and Industry The score bears a dedication to Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia.
First performance in this series: 6 April 1922; William Bachaus was soloist and Ossip Gabrilowitsch conducted Last performance in this series: 8 April 1972; Gina Bachauer was soloist and Sixten Ehrling conducted.
The score calls for 2 flutes. 2 oboes, 2 clarinets. 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings.
Movement I. C minor; 22; Allegro con brio; sonata-allegro form.
Movement II. E-flat major; 38; Largo; arch form.
Movement III. C minor; 24: Allegro; rondo form (A B A C A B A).
Beethoven completed seven concertos: one for violin; one for piano, violin and cello; and five for piano.All seven were composed during the 14-year period 1795-1809. One might wonder why he stopped writing piano concertos at the age of 39. particularly since many of his greatest masterpieces were written later in life and since, for example, his immediate predecessor, Mozart, wrote 23 concertos. There are three possibilities: (1) he may have outgrown the pleasure of pitting solo instrument against orchestra: (2) he was prevented by his deafness (he stopped performing in public in 1808. the year of his last piano concerto); (3) he chose not to continue to earn money by. continuing to perform concertos.
The first two piano concertos are in typical 18th-century style with the solo part easy enough to be read at sight by a reasonably competent pianist and with
1 Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) was a successful pianist, conductor, composer, one of Beethoven's most talented pupils, and co-author of the Biographische Nolizen iiber Ludwig van Beethoven, which is generally considered to be one of the most important documents for facts regarding Beethoven's youth.
-There is extant a manuscript containing just the piano part of a concerto which Beethoven wrote when he was 14. Another one in D major, formerly thought to be an early Beethoven piano concerto (1802), was proved by Hans Engel to be spurious.
NEXT WEEK'S CONCERTS
Music Director Aldo Ceccato will lead the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in three concerts next week in Ford Auditorium: a pair of regular subscription concerts on Thursday and Saturday evenings (January 15 and 17) at 8:30, and a Kresge Family Concert on Sunday afternoon (January 18) at 3:30. Rudolf Serkin will be the guest soloist at the Thursday-Saturday pair, performing the Schumann Piano Concerto. Sunday's concert will be an all-Tchaikovsky program, featuring DSO concertmaster Gordon Staples in the Violin Concerto, Opus 35.
Rudolf Serkin made his New York debut in Carnegie Hall on 20 February 1936 with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony playing Mozart's Concerto in B-flat, K. 595 and Beethoven's Concerto No. 4 in G at the invitation of Arturo Toscanini. In the course of his 1975-76 American concert tour, Serkin celebrates his 40th anniversary with a recital on 28 January 1976 in the same hall. He first played with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in February 1945, and next week makes his first DSO appearance since 1957. Salutes to Serkin by The New York Philharmonic, Harvard University, and the United States Government characterize fully his unique position in the field of music and humanities: "With infinite gratitude for this
succession of memorable events dating back to 1936, and in affectionate admiration for this titan among pianists for his greatness of spirit that has so cnobled the world of music," Amyas Ames, Chairman of the Board of Lincoln Center and The New York Philharmonic Society on conferring Honorary Membership in The New York Philharmonic, 9 March 1972. "A many-sided artist -teacher, interpreter, performer; his deep knowledge and passionate devotion to his calling encompass the generations and happily affect both listeners and learners." President Derek Bok of Harvard University on conferring Honorary Degree, Doctor of Music, 14 June 1973. "Artist and teacher, he has given the classical traditions of the piano new life in a disordered age." President Lyndon B. Johnson presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 6 December 1963.
Violinist Gordon Staples has been concertmaster of the DSO since 1968 and frequently appears as soloist with the Orchestra. He has concertized extensively in the USA, Canada, and in Latin American countries, and has been soloist with the New York Little Symphony, the New Orleans Philharmonic, and the Vancouver Symphony. Staples is a graduate of the Philadelphia Academy of Music, where he studied with Jani Szanto, later continuing his studies with D. C. Dounis in New York City. He plays the world-famous "Salabuc' violin, made in 1779 by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in Turin.
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PROGRAM NOTES -continued
the orchestra playing a subservient, accompanimental role. The fourth and fifth concertos are thoroughly mature works, coming after his Eroica Symphony and the final determination of his new path. The Third Piano Concerto is the bridge between the first pair and the second pair; it has neither the eclecticism and complacency of the first two nor the power and romantic characteristics of the last two. It is a forceful work in which both protagonists play powerful roles and in which one detects a hint of the notes that were yet to come from this pen.
The first performance of this concerto is documented abundantly and entertainingly. It was the first of the legendary all-Beethoven programs that the composer engineered. With this concerto on that program in the spring of 1803 were his first two symphonies, and his oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. Ferdinand Ries described the final rehearsal as follows:
"The rehearsal began at eight o'clock in the morning. It was a tcrrib!c rehearsal, and at half after two everybody was exhausted and more or less dissatisfied. Prince Karl Lichnowsky,:who attended the rehearsal from the beginning, had sent for bread and butter, cold meat and wine in large baskets. He pleasantly asked all to help themselves and this was done with both hands, the result being that the good nature was restored again. Then the Prince requested that the oratorio be rehearsed once more from the beginning so that it might go well in the evening and Beethoven's first work in this genre be worthily presented. And so the rehearsal began again."
But apparently Beethoven was still not prepared when curtain time arrived. The conductor Ignaz Seyfried later recorded that:
"At the performance of the Concerto, Beethoven asked me to turn the pages for him: but -heaven help me! -that was easier said than done. I saw almost
:!Friend of both Mozart and Beethoven, Lichnowsky (1756-1814) was a nobleman of Russian origin who remained faithful to the master in spite of quarrels. Beethoven in turn dedicated four compositions to this aristocrat.
THE TYPOCRAFT COMPANY
Printers -Publishers
OFFSET LETTER PRESS
445 YORK STREET
TRinity 2-2501
FIVE-YEAR REPORT
The past few months have produced increased public interest in the operation of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Below is a Five-Year Report on our two main sources of support from the Detroit community: ticket sales and contributions.
TICKET SALES FOR ADULT SUBSCRIPTION CONCERTS
SEASON TICKETS
A--Regular Thursday and Saturday series
B -Coffee I series (new in 1971)
C -Kresge, Zodiac, and Thursday Sampler series (new in 1973)
D -Coffee II and Weekender Pops series (new in 1975)
1971-2 1972-3 1973-4 1974-5 1975-6
A 5401 5055 5236 5020 5545
3 937 1458 1841 2450 1421
C -- -- 3733 3857 3519
D -- -- -- -- 4691
Total 6338 6513 10,810 11,327 15,176
TOTAL PAID ATTENDANCE
100,260 126,500 148,768 147,502
ANNUAL MAINTENANCE FUND
A -Number of contributors B -Total contributed
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
(through Dec. 18)
A 1335 1334 2130 2902 2347 B $748,182 $1,308,164 $1,350,142 $1,362,182 $1,073,809
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PROGRAM NOTES -continued
nothing but empty leaves; at the most on one page or the other a few Egyptian hieroglyphs wholly unintelligible to me scribbled down to serve as clues for him: for he played nearly all of the solo part from memory ... He gave a secret glance whenever he was at the end of one of his invisible passages and my scarcely concealed anxiety not to miss the decisive moment amused him greatly . . . ."
Of the works presented on that program, the oratorio was received most favorably while the concerto was least successful, probably owing to the critics' reaction to Beethoven's then unorthodox piano playing. But the concert was important for many reasons: it netted Beethoven 1800 florins; it prompted a commission from the Theater an der Wien for an opera (it turned out to be Fidelia): and it gave the conservative Viennese their first sizeable exposure to their newly adopted prodigal Prometheus, who was to shape the future of his art.
SYMPHONY NO. 3, E-FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 55 ("EROICA") . . LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Beethoven composed the "Eroica" Symphony during the years 1802-1804 The composition was first performed at a private concert at the home of Prince Lobkowitz in Vienna in December 1804 The first public performance took place at the Theater an der Wien on 7 April 1805. The program booklet carried the following announcement: "A new grand symphony in D sharp by Herr Ludwig van Beethoven, dedicated to his Serene Highness Prince Lobkowitz.. The composer has kindly consented to conduct the work."1
First performance in this series: 30 January 1919; Ossip Gabrilowitsch conducted Last performance in this series: 25 November 1972; Sixten Ehrling conducted.
The orchestral parts, also dedicated to Lobkowitz. were published by the Bureau of Arts and Industry. Vienna, in October 1806.
The score was published by Simrock in 1820. It carried the following inscription: Sinfonia Eroica, Composta per festeggiare i! souvenire di un grand' Uomo, e dedicaia A Sua Altezzo Serenissima il Principe de Lobkowitz da Luigi van Beethoven, Op. 55 (Heroic Symphony--Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man. and dedicated . . ." etc.)
The score calls for 2 flutes. 2 oboes. 2 clarinets. 2 bassoons. 3 horns. 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings.
Movement I. E-flat major; 34; Allegro con brio; sonata-allegro form. Movement II. (Marcia junebrej.C minor; 24; Adagio assai; arch form (ABA coda).
?Prince Josef Max Lobkowitz ( 1772-1816). was described by one of his contemporaries as "the most foolish music enthusiast . . . [who] played music from dusk to dawn and spent a fortune on musicians [whom he] treated regally." Respectful of men he enjoyed regardless of social rank. Lobkowitz was an advisor and benefactor of Beethoven and was one of the aristocrats who promised the composer an annual pension. During the 1811 depression, the Prince found it difficult to make good his promise and it was Beethoven's wont to refer to him as "that princely scoundrel." and "absent-minded jackass." He did however, dedicate several works to this beneficent and colorful aristocrat.
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DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ALDO CECCATO, Music Director
CONCERT CALENDAR FOR THE COMING WEEKS
AT FORD AUDITORIUM UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
Thursday evening, January 15 at 8:30 Saturday evening, January 17 at 8:30
ALDO CECCATO, conductor
RUDOLF SERKIN, pianist
BRAHMS SCHUMANN
BRAHMS
Tragic Overture Piano Concerto Symphony No. 1
Sunday afternoon, January 18 at 3:30 (Kresge Family Concert)
ALDO CECCATO, conductor GORDON STAPLES, violinist
TCHAIKOVSKY TCHAIKOVSKY
Violin Concerto Symphony No. 4
Thursday evening, January 22 at 8:30 Saturday evening, January 24 at 8:30
ALDO CECCATO, conductor
BENITA VALENTE, soprano
MAUREEN FORRESTER, alto
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY SYMPHONIC CHOIR
MAHLER
Symphony No. 2
Sunday evening, January 25 at 7:30 Pension Fund Concert
ALDO CECCATO, conductor LOUISE RUSSELL, soprano
Thursday evening, January 29 at 8:30 Saturday evening, January 31 at 8:30
ALDO CECCATO, conductor FRANCO GULLI, violinist GORDON STAPLES, violinist BOGOS MORTCHIKIAN, violinist JOSEPH GOLDMAN, violinist
BACH COLGRASS
BEETHOVEN 12
Concerto for Two Violins, BWV 1043 Concertmasters
(World Premiere)
Violin Concerto
PROGRAM NOTES -continued
Movement III. (Scherzo). E-flat major; 34; Allegro vivace; arch form. Movement IV. Finale. E-flat major; 24; Allegro niolio; theme and variation form.
THE HEILGENSTADT TESTAMENT
1802, the year that Beethoven started his Third Symphony, was the most critical year of his life and hence one of the most critical years in music history. Had Beethoven not dealt with his crisis as he did, 19thand 20th-century music would have been decidedly different. Beethoven's problem was psychological and had to do with the final realization that he would soon be deaf -a well-romanticized story but one which is yet worthy of re-examination.
Beethoven had been aware of an increasing problem since 1798 but had not become alarmed until 1800. A letter dated 1 June of that year from the composer to Karl Amcnda makes clear his awareness of his fate and begs his friend to maintain secrecy. A small portion of it reads:
"How often do I wish you were with me for your Beethoven is most unhappy ... the noblest part of me, my sense of hearing, has become very weak. Already when you were with me I noticed traces of it, and I said nothing. Now it has become worse, and it remains to be seen whether it can be healed . . . What a sad life I am now compelled to lead; I must avoid all that is near and dear to me ... I must now have recourse to sad resignation."
He also confided to his good friend the physician Franz Wegeler in two letters of 1801. In his Biographische Notizen iiber Ludwig van Beethoven, Wegeler noted: "Beethoven is much occupied with doctors and treatments; it was believed for a time that the deafness arose from his chronic dysentery; the dysentery was relieved by treatment, but the deafness remained; he has had to avoid social gatherings, to behave like a misanthrope; he would be forced to give up lucrative tours; he was 'the unhappicst of God's creations.'"
Finally, in the summer of 1802, when complete deafness was inevitable, Beethoven retreated to the village of Heiligenstadt where he brooded and wrestled with his fate.2 The climax came with his writing what has become known as the Heiligenstadt Testament. Addressed to "ye who consider or declare me to be hostile, obstinate, or misanthropic." this single statement represents complete emotional catharsis, the turning point between despair and conquest. Though musicologically significant, this document is too long to reproduce here and the
-The totality of Beethoven's affliction is made certain by a few contemporary remarks which are still extant. Here are some lines from an entry dated Friday. 16 September 1825. in the diary of Sir George Smart. Sir George describes an informal dinner following a concert of Beethoven's chamber music at Schlesinger's home. Beethoven was among the nine guests. Smart writes: "We had a most excellent dinner, healths were given in that English style. Beethoven was delightfully gay .... After dinner he was coaxed to play extempore . . . he played for about 20 minutes in a most extraordinary manner, some times very fortissimo, but full of genius. When he arose he appeared greatly agitated. No one could be more agreeable than he was--plenty of jokes. We all wrote to him by turns, but he can hear a little if you halloo quite close to his left ear." (Beethoven: Letters, Journals and Conversations, edited and translated by Michael Hamburger)
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PROGRAM NOTES -continued
reader is referred to Moschclcs' translation of Schindlcr's Life of Beethoven.'1 The testament seems melodramatic to the contemporary reader, but one detects key phrases such as "patient and determined," "from the abyss to the heights," "resolution to persevere," "endless suffering [met) with firmness." Such resolute thoughts can be penned in a moment but, as Charles McNaught points out, Beethoven was "to spin them out into long years of faithful observance and renewal." McNaught further asserts: "If in the annals of the art there arc parallels to Beethoven's misfortune, yet it has no counterpart in the harshness of the blow, the irony of its particular nature and the sublimity of the response .... Beethoven suffered a severe mental trial and came through it by strength of will. It is known, by a lasting world-wide judgment, that from this time he possessed new powers as a composer. The change was one that is not easily encompassed in words. His music moved into a new dimension: it expanded in its technique, its visionary range, its drama and, most significantly for the world that listens, it passed into a new phase of basic invention."
The first and, for many, the greatest composition in this new musical dimension was the "Eroica" Symphony.
THE NAPOLEONIC MYTH
That Beethoven should turn at that particular time to a symphony and that this Third Symphony should have been of an heroic nature is hardly surprising considering his affliction, the resultant crisis, the Heilgenstadt Testament, and his ultimate conquest. Still, the Napoleonic myth remains. The facts behind the myth are clear.
The idea of dedicating a symphony to Napoleon was not Beethoven's but was suggested to him by General Bernadotte, who was in Vienna in the spring of 1798 as ambassador from France. At that time, Bonaparte was still the champion of the people, the savior of France, the enlightened revolutionary. He and Beethoven were kindred spirits. What is supposed to have happened next, though never proved, has unfortunately become accepted as history. According to Ries. when Beethoven completed the score he penned a title page which had "Buonaparte" at the top and "Lnii van Beethoven" at the bottom. But not long afterward, Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor. Ries claims that when he delivered the news to the master, he flew into a rage and exclaimed: "After all, then, he is nothing but an ordinary mortal! He will trample all the rights of men under foot, to indulge his ambition, and become a greater tyrant than anyone!" He is then supposed to have destroyed the title page and never again referred to the work in connection with Napoleon until the latter's death seven years later. But a glance at chronology tells a different story.
The motion that made Napoleon emperor was passed in the French Senate on 4 May 1804 and it was on the 18th of that month that he actually assumed the title. There is extant a letter dated 26 August 1804 from Beethoven to Breitkopf
'Anton Schindler (1795-1864) was a devoted friend who in 1822 became Beethoven's private secretary. Schindler. though an able musician, chosen to do the most degrading chores for the master for nothing more than room and board. In return Beethoven referred to him as "Papageno." the "biggest wretch of God's earth," "my appendix." Schindler's biography of Beethoven, though not scholarly, holds an important place in Beethoven bibliography since he was closer than any other person to the master during his last years.
14
and Hiirtcl in which he attempts to sell the "Eroica" along with some other works to the renowned publisher. It reads as follows:
"Highly Honored Herr Ha'rtel: . . . Perhaps you may have heard that I had bound myself by contract to a certain Viennese firm (to the exclusion of all other publishers) . . . I tell you, unasked, that this is not true. You yourself know that I could not, for that reason, accept -at any rate for the present -a similar proposal from your firm. ... I have several works, and I am thinking of giving them to you . . . my oratorio -a new grand symphony -A Conccrtant for violin, 'cello and pianoforte with full orchestra; three new solo sonatas and if you should want any of them with [violin] accompaniment, I would agree to do it ... The Symphony is really entitled Bonaparte, and in addition to the usual instruments there arc, specially, three obligato horns. I believe it will interest the musical public."
This later reference to the Napoleon Symphony appears to change the situation and makes Ries's reliability questionable: one might therefore be tempted to join with those writers, some contemporary, who claim that "like it or not, the piece is a kind of program music, written in admiration of Bonaparte." But this can hardly be the case.
When it came to selling music, Beethoven was an out-and-out horse trader. When Bernadottc first suggested the title to him Beethoven saw merit in it because he recognized a cogent selling point: Bonaparte was a household name and any work which was supposed to depict him had a fine chance of being published and performed. Indeed, it is probable that in the back of his mind the composer saw the possibility of an honorarium from Napoleon himself.
These then are the facts of the matter; any assertion that Beethoven was writing a programmatic portrait is probably erroneous; he was still too classicistic, his approach too universal, his music too abstract to be that naive. And when Simrock finally published the work in 1820, Napoleon had been long exiled to St. Helena and was less than than a year away from death. Beethoven followed a perfectly normal impulse and inscribed the score simply: "Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man." Both Simrock and Beethoven undoubtedly recognized that even that inscription was not without advertising merit.
The point of it all is that the "Eroica" had relatively little to do with Napoleon, a lot to do with Beethoven and his newly found power, and even more to do with the heroism and all that it suggests -conquest, defeat, godliness, earthlincss, salvation, sacrifice, glory, and tragedy -of which man is capable.
THE THIRD SYMPHONY
The listener's plight in trying to articulate to himself in a tangible way something as intangible as music is intensified by the greatness of the particular work. But a few guidelines are possible.
To begin with, the "Eroica" does not make any instrumcntational innovations except for the addition of a third horn. Other than that, Beethoven uses the classical orchestra of Haydn and Mozart -strings, percussion, and the other instruments in pairs. The most obvious change is the more massive concept, the "Eroica" being more than twice as long as the average Haydn and Mozart symphony because of its more expansive treatment of traditional forms: codas become second development sections; developments introduce what at first appears to be new
15
PROGRAM NOTES -continued
material; key relationships and tonal range broaden. More important, there is a new contiguity between movements, the concern being a total expression rather than a series of four contrasting movements. There is also a new idiomaticism, for, compared with all earlier orchestral works, each motive (they are hardly themes) is distinctly symphonic and suggests symphonic development alone. Moreover, it appears as if each movement, even the entire symphony, had been written first, and the simply opening figure is the compressed crystallization, the soul, of the entire composition. We know, too, through his sketch books that these thematic nuclei took years to gestate, with constant manipulation, testing, turning, until there could be only one possible logical solution. Beethoven wrote:
'"I alter a great deal, discard and try again until I am satisfied. And then inside my head I begin to work it out, broadening here, restricting there . . . and since I am conscious of what I am trying to do, I never lose sight of it, moulded and complete, standing there before my mental vision."
In part, this obsession with logic and inevitability comes from the deafness, as well as from its conquest, because a deaf man cannot be tempted by the sensuality of sound for its own sake; sonorities, orchestrational novelty, even beauty itself did not distract him from the struggle and conquest which characterize his remaining symphonies. Yet, through his mind's ear, Beethoven made fuller use of the individual character of the instruments (besides writing passages which the early 19th-century musician was not trained to execute).
All of these traits and more are here for the first time in full glory. He who knows that the arts, even when progressive, develop gradually, and who believes that the creative artist is led instinctively by societal motion, is tempted to question this seeming romantic oversimplification of one man's suddenly striking out in one composition, forcefully and surely, and by his own will alone shaping the entire future of the creative manipulation of sound. The phenomenon is unusual, but we are dealing with an unusual organism. The listener might consider that only one-half century separates Beethoven's Third Symphony from the last compositions of Handel. The listener might also keep in mind that only two years separated the piano concerto on this program and the "Eroica." But the differences in concept, substance, and organization are indeed considerable.
From the opening measures of the Allegro con brio, where Beethoven appears as "cosmic energy become man" and where his dynamism and relentless singularity of thought are supra-Napoleonic, through the Marche funibre, which is not only the first dirge but the first march to appear in a symphony, through the Scherzo with its demoniac, heaven-shaking mirth, to the end of the Finale, which for Wagner depicted '"man entire, harmoniously at one with self, in those emotions where the memory of sorrow becomes itself the shaping force of noble deeds," the "Eroica" Symphony remains one of the incomprehensible accomplishments in the history of the arts, truly the most decisive step ever taken by any composer.
Power is the morality of men who stand out from the rest, and it is also mine.
(Beethoven)
Let us hope that what men have to say in the future will be worthy of the new means by which they will he able to say it.
(Lester Markel, "A Program for Public TV," from Sight, Sound and Society) To have great poets, we must have great audiences, too. (Walt Whitman)
1G
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FIRST IN MUSIC SINCE 1879