UMS Concert Program, April 30, 1976: The Ann Arbor May Festival -- The Philadelphia Orchestra

Concert: Third
Complete Series: 4002
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
THE FESTIVAL CHORUS of the University Choral Union
Donald Bryant, Director AARON COPLAND, Conducting
Soloist ANTHONY GIGLIOTTI, Clarinetist
Friday Evening, April 30, 1976, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
; honor of the seasonlong celebration of the American Bicentennial.
?Fanfare for the Common Man..........Copland
Overture, "The School for Scandal"..........Barber
"Decoration Day" from Symphony: "Holidays"........Ives
Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra.......Copland
Slowly and expressively; cadenza Rather fast
Anthony Gigliotti
intermission
f'New England Triptych" (Three Pieces for Orchestra
after William Billings)............Schuman
Be Glad Then, America -When Jesus Wept -Chester
Suite from The Tender Land..........Copland
Introduction and Love Music Party Scene: "Stomp your Foot!" Finale: The Promise of Living
The Festival Chorus
The Philadelphia records exclusively for RCA Red Seal Availalle on Columbia Records tAvailable on RCA Red Seal
Third Concert Eightythird Annual May Festival Complete Programs 4002
PROGRAM NOTES
Fanfare for the Common Man.........Aaron Copland
(1900 )
Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," composed in 1942, was one of eighteen wartime fanfares by as many composers, commissioned by Eugene Goossens, Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It is scored for horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, and tamtam.
Overture to "The School for Scandal".......Samuel Barber
(1910 )
The Overture to "The School for Scandal," Barber's first orchestral work, was composed for his graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1932 and was first performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra under Alexander Smallens at Robin Hood Dell on August 30, 1933. While the inspiration for the piece came from the famous comedy by the Irish playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the substance of the work is twentiethcentury American, in its spirit, its colors, and in the shape of its themes, with only an occasional touch, such as the brass flourish at the end, to remind us of the drama's eighteenthcentury origin. The bubbling gaiety (with its mischievous undertones) that runs through the work is neither localized nor dated, and the lyricpastoral theme introduced by the oboe might even be said to evoke the prairie as readily as the drawing room.
This sparkling Overture, in the form of an elaborate rondo, remains one of the freshest and most effective works of its type by an American composer of any period, and is a prime exhibit of the characteristic traits noted by Virgil Thomson in all of Barber's finest works: "Romantic music, predominantly emotional, embodying sophisticated workmanship and complete care . . . his melodic line sings and the harmony supports it."
"Decoration Day" from Symphony: "Holidays'".....Charles Ives
(18741954)
Between 1904 and 1913 Ives composed four works for orchestra which he collected under the title Four New England Holidays. The sequence was subsequently retitled Symphony: Holidays, and Ives noted in the score: "Recollections of a boy's holidays in a Connecticut country town. These movements may be played as separate pieces. These pieces may be lumped together as a symphony."
Descriptively, the music of the Holidays pieces has little to do with the historical events or figures commemorated by the respective holidays, but rather, as Ives indicated, seeks to evoke recollections of the celebrations themselves. Of "Decoration Day," composed in 1912, Ives wrote: "In the early morning the gardens and woods about the villages are the meeting places of those who, with tender memories and devoted hands, gather the flowers for the Day's Memorial. . . . After the Town Hall is filled with the spring's harvest of lilacs, daisies, and peonies, the parade is slowly formed on Main Street .... The march to Wooster Cemetery is a thing a boy never forgets. The roll of muffled drums and Adrste Fideles answer for the dirge. A little girl on the fencepost waves to her father and wonders if he looked like that at Gettysburg. After the last grave is decorated, "Taps" sounds out through the pines and 'we all march back to town.' . . . The march stops--and in the silence, the shadow of the early morning flowersong rises over the Town, and the sunset behind West Mountain breathes its benediction upon the Day."
Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra.....Aaron Copland
The Concerto for Clarinet and String Orchestra (with harp and piano) was commissioned by Benny Goodman in 1947, started by the composer during a visit to Rio de Janeiro, and completed in New York the following year. It is not really heavily marked with jazz elements. Indeed, the opening movement is a languorous, longlined pastoral of inimitable Coplandcsque sound and stamping. But elements of both North and SouthAmerican popular music, the latter based upon a Brazilian tune the composer says became "imbedded" in his mind while working on the piece, interlace the second movement. Elsewhere, there arc near"hot" improvisatory passages seemingly suggested by the sophisticated extemporizing Mr. Goodman has been noted for in the jazzswing field.
"New England Triptych" (Three Pieces for Orchestra
after William Billings).........William Schuman
(1910 )
Of his Xeu England Triptych, Mr. Schuman has written:
"William Billings is a major figure in the history of American music. The works of this dynamic composer capture the spirit of sinewy ruggedness, deep religiosity and patriotic fervor that we associate with the Revolutionary period. Despite the undeniable crudities and technical shortcomings of his music, its appeal, even today, is forceful and moving. I am not alone among American com?posers who feel an identity with Billings, and it is this sense of identity which accounts for my use of his music as a point of departure. These pieces do not constitute a "fantasy" on themes of Billings, nor variations on his themes, but rather a fusion of styles and musical language.
"Be Clad Then, America
A timpani solo begins the short introduction which is developed predominantly in the strings. This music is suggestive of the "Hallelujah" heard at the end of the piece. Trombones and trumpets begin the main section, a free and varied setting of the words 'Be glad then, America, shout and rejoice.' The timpani, again solo, leads to a middle fugal section stemming from the words, 'And ye shall be satisfied.' The music gains momentum, and combined themes lead to a climax. There follows a free adaptation of the "Hallelujah" music with which Billings concludes his original choral piece and a final reference to the 'Shout and rejoice' music.
"When Jesus Wept
The setting of the text is in the form of a round. Here, Billings' music is used in its original form, as well as in new settings with contrapuntal embellishment and melodic extensions.
"Chester
This music, composed as a church hymn, was subsequently adopted by the Continental Army as a marching song and enjoyed great popularity. The orchestral piece derived from the spirit both of the hymn and the marching song. The original words of one of the verses was especially written for its use by the Continental Army."
Suite from The Tender Land.........Aaron Copland
Text by Horace Everett
The Suite from The Tender Land brings to pure orchestral dress only a few of the opera's high points. It is Copland at his most lyrical; Copland at his highlevel of musical sensitivity.
The Suite begins with music from the Introduction to Act III, which eventually settles into the Love Duet, given virtually in its entirety.
The party music from Act II provides the Suite with the necessary fastmusic contrast of the square dance:
Stomp your foot upon the floor, Throw the windows open.
Take a breath of fresh June air, and dance around the room.
The air is free, the night is warm, the music's here, and here's my home.
Men must labor to be happy, Plowing fields and planting rows. But ladies love a life that's easy, churning butter, milking cows. Churning butter, milking cows, gathering eggs, feeding sows, Mending, cooking, cleaning, ironing, Raising families.
Ladies love their fine amusement, putting patches in a quilt,
But men prefer to bend their shoulder to something that will stand when built.
Dancing ladies, making matches, Playing games, Singing snatches,
Romping, frisking, winking, whistling, raising families.
Stomp your foot upon the floor, Throw the windows open.
Take a breath of fresh June air and dance around the room.
The air is free, the night is warm, the music's here, and here's my home.
This leads us, finally, to "The Promise of Living" quintet (arranged for mixed chorus) that so movingly and stunningly brings the first act of the opera to its conclusion:
The promise of living The promise of growing
With hope and thanksgiving With faith and with knowing
Is born of our loving Is born of our sharing
Our friends and our labor. Our love with our neighbor.
The promise of living The promise of growing Is born of our singing In joy and thanksgiving.
THE FESTIVAL CHORUS
Donald Bryant, Conductor
Nancy Hodge, Accompanist Robert Johnson, Manager
First Sopranos
Lctitia Byrd Elaine Cox Phyllis Denner Estelle Fox Carole Gallas Gladys Hanson Joann Hoover Berit Ingersoll Sylvia Jenkins Ann Keeler Cathy Keresztesi Carolyn Leyh Doris Luecke Loretta Meissner Julia Remsperger Miriam Restrepo Karwyn Rigan Alice Schneider Alane Simons Mary Ann Sincock Beth Smeltekop Eva Stockhorst Joanne Westman Beverly VVistert
Second Sopranos Kathy Berry Joyce Bleby Doris Datsko Tina Datsko Sheryl Halsey Mary Hiraga Alice Horning Patricia Klettke Frances Lyman Karen Myhre Susan Petcoff Sara Peth Vicki PorterFink Karen Pritchard Eleanor Overdeck Virginia Reese Carolyn Richards Susan Schluederberg Patricia Tompkins
Rachelle Warren Judith Weber Christine Wendt
First Altos Judith Adams Martha Ause Alice Cambron Sally Carpenter Lael Cappaert Carol Dick Meredy Gockel Kathy Greene Janice Johnson Nancy Karp Nancy Keppelman Geraldine Koupal Kirsten Lietz Joan Mclntire Lois Nelson Susan Nevins Anne Phelps Laura Wallace Charlotte Wolfe
Second Altos Ellen Armstrong Marjorie Baird Mary Haab Joan Hagerty Dana Hull Kathy Klykylo Elsie Lovelace Linda Ray Beverly Roeger Carol Spencer Katie Stebbins Nancy Williams
First Tenors Robert Domine Marshall Franke Marshall Grimm Larry Holcomb Paul Lowry Robert MacGregor James McNally
Dennis Mitchell Marc Setzer
Second Tenors Peter Bleby Martin Barrett John Etsweiler Albert Girod Donald Haworth Thomas Hmay Robert Johnson Dwight Klettke Rob Reed Dennis Rigan
First Basses Viktors Berstis Robert Damashek John Dietrich John Eastman Thomas Hagerty Edgar Hamilton Mark Hirano Klair Kissel Steven Olson Dennis Powers Thomas Rieke Roger Smeltekop Riley Williams
Second Basses Gabriel Chin Kevin Karkau Seth Kivnick John Mclntire Richard Munsen Kim Xagel Philip Pierson George Rosenwald Jay Sappington Raymond Schankin Wallacr Schonschack Mark Sebastian Thomas Sommerfcld Robert Strozier Terril Tompkins John VanBolt
The Festival Chorus, comprised of over one hundred select singers from the larger University Choral Union, completes its sixth season with tonight's appearance. In anticipation of its first concert tour this summer, a new look is evidenced this evening in the women's sections with the first showing of new gowns, specially designed by Carren Sandall. Preceding the departure of the Chorus in late June, concertgoers will have the opportunity to hear portions of the programs to be pre?sented in the cities of Prague, Vienna, Ljubljana, Venice, Lucerne, Paris, and Tubingen, Ann Arbor's sistercity in Germany. This special Bicentennial concert will be on Saturday evening, June 26, in Hill Auditorium, and includes a choral premiere by American composer, Xormand Lockwood, written in memory of and dedicated to Thor Johnson, guest conductor at the May Festivals from 1940 through 1973.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
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