UMS Concert Program, Sunday Nov. 27 To Dec. 07: University Musical Society: Fall 2011 - Sunday Nov. 27 To Dec. 07 --

Season: Fall 2011
Hill Auditorium

Fall 2011 Season
133rd Annual Season
General Information
On-site ticket offices at performance venues open 90 minutes before each performance.
Children of all ages are welcome at UMS Family and Youth Performances. Children under the age of three will not be admitted to regular, full-length UMS performances. All children must be able to sit quietly in their own seats without disturbing other patrons. Children unable to do so, along with the adult accompanying them, will be asked by an usher to leave the auditorium. Please use discretion in choosing to bring a child.
Remember, everyone must have a ticket, regardless of age.
While in the Auditorium
Starting Time Every attempt is made to begin concerts on time. Latecomers are asked to wait in the lobby until seated by ushers at a predetermined time in the program.
Cameras and recording equipment are prohibited in the auditorium.
If you have a question, ask your usher. They are here to help.
Please turn off your cellular phones and other digital devices so that everyone may enjoy this UMS event disturbance-free.
In the interests of saving both dollars and the environment, please either retain this program book and return with it when you attend other UMS performances included in this edition or return it to your usher when leaving the venue.
Event Program Book
Sunday, November 27 through Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Canadian Brass
Sunday, November 27, 4:00 pm Hill Auditorium
Handel's Messiah 9
Saturday, December 3, 8:00 pm Sunday, December 4, 2:00 pm Hill Auditorium
London Philharmonic Orchestra 25
Tuesday, December 6, 7:30 pm Hill Auditorium
Stile Antico 33
Wednesday, December 7, 7:30 pm St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
ums University Musical Society
Fall 2011
September
17 18
23-24 25
An Evening with Ahmad Jamal Emerson String Quartet Mark Morris Dance Group Dan Zanes & Friends
October
John Malkovich and Musica Angelica
Baroque Orchestra: The Infernal Comedy:
Confessions of a Serial Killer
9 9
13 15
Yuja Wang, piano
National Theatre Live: One Man, Two
Guvnors
State Symphony Capella of Russia
Goran Bregovic and His Wedding and
Funeral Orchestra
21-22
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan:
Water Stains on the Wall
27 27-29
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela
Gate Theatre Dublin: Beckett's
Endgame and Watt
30
National Theatre Live: The Kitchen
November
Apollo's Fire with Philippe Jaroussky,
countertenor
Audra McDonald
Diego El Cigala 9 ; AnDa Union 11 I A Night in Treme: The Musical Majesty
of New Orleans
20 i Beijing Guitar Duo with Manuel Barrueco 27 i Canadian Brass
December
3-4 i Handel's Messiah 6 i London Philharmonic Orchestra with Janine Jansen, violin Stile Antico
Winter 2012
January
8 ! National Theatre Live: The Collaborators 20-22 i Einstein on the Beach 23 I Denis Matsuev, piano
i Les Violons du Roy with Maurice Steger, recorder
! Hamburg Symphony Orchestra with
I Francesco Tristano, piano: Messiaen's I From the Canyons to the Stars
February
4
10
12 16 17
1 H
19
19 22
Sabine Meyer and the Trio di Clarone
Chamber Ensemble of the Shanghai
Chinese Orchestra
Michigan Chamber Players
The Tallis Scholars
Sweet Honey In The Rock
Wayne McGregor I Random Dance: FAR
FELA! (at Music Hall, Detroit)
National Theatre Live: Travelling Light
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with
i Wynton Marsalis 23 Hagen Quartet
March
9 i Chicago Symphony Orchestra with I Pinchas Zukerman, violin
10 i Max Raabe & Palast Orchester 15--171 Ex Machina: The Andersen Project
18 ! National Theatre Live: The Comedy of Errors 22-25 i San Francisco Symphony with
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor: i American Mavericks
April
5 ! St. Lawrence String Quartet (NEW DATE)
National Theatre Live: She Stoops to Conquer
I Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion
I CheikhLo
14 Charles Lloyd New Quartet 18 ; Pavel Haas Quartet
19-21 Ballet Preljocaj: Snow White 22 Ford Honors Program: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, violin
May
11 I Breakin' Curfew
UMS Educational and Community Events
All UMS educational activities are free, open to the public, and take place in Ann Arbor unless otherwise noted. For complete details and updates, please visit www.ums.org or contact the UMS Education Department at 734.615.4077 or umsed@umich.edu. "ft
Please join us in Winter 2012 for our UMS Renegade on Film Series, which connects with the upcoming Renegade performance series focusing on artistic innovation and experimentation.
UMS Renegade on Film: Absolute Wilson
(2006, Katharina Otto-Bernstein, 105 min.) Tuesday, January 10, 7:00 pm U-M Museum of Art Helmut Stern Auditorium, 525 S. State Street
Absolute Wilson chronicles the epic life, times, and creative genius of theater director Robert Wilson. More than a biography, the film is an exhilarating exploration of the transformative power of creativity, and an inspiring tale of a boy who grew up as an outsider in the American South only to become a fearless artist with a profoundly original perspective on the world. The narrative reveals the deep connections between Wilson's childhood experiences and the haunting beauty of his monumental works, which include the theatrical sensations Deafman Glance, Einstein on the Beach, and The CIVIL WarS.
UMS Renegade on Film:
The Legend of Leigh Bowery
Followed by Q&A with Director Charles Atlas
(2002, Charles Atlas, 60 min.)
Monday, February 13, 7:00 pm
U-M Museum of Art Helmut Stern Auditorium,
525 S. State Street
Renegade filmmaker Charles Atlas (who worked extensively with the late choreographer Merce Cunningham) introduces his 2002 documentary The Legend of Leigh Bowery. Artistdesigner performerprovocateur Leigh Bowery designed costumes and performed with the enfant terrible of British dance Michael Clark, designed one-of-a-kind costumes and creations for himself, ran one of the most outrageous clubs of the 1980s London club scene (later immortalized in Boy George's Broadway musical Taboo), and was the muse of
the great British painter Lucian Freud. The film includes interviews with Damien Hirst, Bella Freud, Cerith Wyn Evans, Boy George, and his widow Nicola Bowery. Charles Atlas will participate in an audience Q&A immediately following the film. This film is co-presented with the U-M Institute for the Humanities, which hosts Charles Atlas's video installation Joints Array in February 2012.
UMS Renegade on Film: Helicopter String Quartet
(1995, Frank Scheffer, 81 min.) Wednesday, March 7, 7:00 pm Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty Street Tickets: $10 general admission; $7 students seniorsUMS donors, subscribers, and Michigan Theater members; $5 AAFF members
The UMS Renegade on Film series culminates at the Michigan Theater in collaboration with the Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF), which celebrates its 50th anniversary in March 2012. The curators at AAFF chose an amazing documentary that captures the renegade spirit and provides a fabulous lead-in to the San Francisco Symphony American Mavericks concerts. In one of the most certif iably eccentric musical events of the late 20th century, German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen designed and executed the performance: four string quartet members playing an original piece by Stockhausen in four separate helicopters, all flying simultaneously. The sound was then routed to a central location and mixed; the work premiered, in turn, at the 1995 Holland Festival. Frank Scheffer's film Helicopter String Quartet depicts the behind-the-scenes preparations for this event; Scheffer also conducts and films an extended conversation with Stockhausen in which the creator discusses the conception and execution of his composition and then breaks it down analytically. Featuring music by Karlheinz Stockhausen, performed by the Arditti String Quartet.
visit www.ums.org for more information 0
urns
presents
Canadian Brass
Christopher Coletti, Trumpets Brandon Ridenour, Trumpets Achilles Liarmakopoulos, Trombone Eric Reed, French Horn Chuck Daellenbach, Tuba
betcol Program
Sunday Afternoon, November 27, 2011 at 4:00 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor
@@@@Samuel Scheldt
Galliard Battaglia
@@@@Giovanni Gabrieli
Canzona Prima a 5
@@@@Johann Sebastian Bach, Arr. Ronald Romm
Johannes Brahms, Arr. Ralph Sauer
Luther Henderson
Fugue in g minor, BWV 578, "Little"
Choral Prelude, No. 10, Op. 122 (posth.)
Christmas Tribute
@@@@Henderson
Ding Dong Merrily on High
@@@@Henderson
A Christmas Song
@@@@Henderson
Go Tell it on the Mountain
@@@@Del Staigers,
Arr. Arthur Frackenpohl
Carnival of Venice
INTERMISSION
Bach, Arr. Henderson
Dixie Bach
@@@@Bach, Arr. Frackenpohl
Air on the G String, BWV 1068 (ii)
@@@@Brahms,
Arr. Brandon Ridenour
Vince Guaraldi, Arr. Ridenour
Traditional, Arr. Romm
Hungarian Dance No. 7
Christmas Time is Here
Dreydel Variations
@@@@Sonny Kompanek
Tribute to the Ballet
24th Performance of the 133rd Annual Season
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
This afternoon's performance is supported by Michigan Critical Care Consultants, Inc
Media partnership is provided by WRCJ 90.9 FM.
Canadian Brass appears by arrangement with The Agency Group.
Large print programs are available upon request.
F
ive tremendous brass musicians--each a virtuoso in his own right--form the legend?ary Canadian Brass. Friends Chuck Dael-lenbach and Gene Watts first came together in 1970 to form a brass quintet--a chamber music setting not entirely new, but never before having garnered the success and storied career Canadi?an Brass would achieve over the next 40 years. With a vast repertoire from Baroque masters to marches, holiday favorites to Dixieland, and jazz to Broadway, Canadian Brass has created their own musical world by transcribing, arranging, and commissioning more than 200 works.
With a discography of over 90 albums and an extensive world-wide touring schedule, Canadian Brass is an important pioneer in bringing brass music to mass audiences everywhere. They have sold over one million albums worldwide and con?tinue to score Billboard chart positions while play?ing to packed houses throughout the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe. They were the first brass en?semble from the West to perform in the People's Republic of China (where they returned for a five-city tour to great acclaim in the spring of 2010) as well as the first brass group to take the stage at the venerable Carnegie Hall. They have also per?formed in Australia, the Middle East, the Soviet Union, and South America. Millions of television viewers have had Canadian Brass come into their homes with appearances on The Tonight Show, Today, and Entertainment Tonight, as well as nu?merous PBS specials.
Frequent guests of many major symphony or?chestras, they are on the cutting edge of technol?ogy offering their fans multimedia opportunities including an iPhone app. Education plays a key role in the story of the Canadian Brass; a vital part of their outreach is their role as clinicians for Conn-Selmer, as well as their support and interac?tion with El Sistema, the acclaimed global music education program. Since 1998, Canadian Brass has been an exclusive artist at Opening Day Enter?tainment Group.
UMS Archives
T
his afternoon's concert marks the Canadian Brass's 13th appearance under UMS auspices. The ensemble made its UMS debut in March 1984 at Hill Auditorium. In May 1999, UMS honored the Canadian Brass with the UMS Distinguished Artist Award as part of the 1999 Ford Honors Program. The ensemble most recently appeared in March 2007 at Hill Auditorium. As an original member of the Canadian Brass, Chuck Daellenbach makes his 13th UMS appearance this afternoon. Brandon Ridenour makes his second UMS appearance today, following his UMS debut with the ensemble in March 2007. UMS welcomes Christopher Coletti, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, and Eric Reed, who make their UMS debuts this afternoon.
ums University Musical Society
urns
presents
Messiah
Composed by George Frideric Handel
UMS Choral Union
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Jerry Blackstone, Conductor
Mary Wilson, Soprano Meg Bragle, Mezzo-Soprano Colin Balzer, Tenor Joshua Hopkins, Baritone
Edward Parmentier, Harpsichord Scott VanOrnum, Organ
Program
Saturday Evening, December 3, 2011 at 8:00 Sunday Afternoon, December 4, 2011 at 2:00 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor
25th and 26th Performances of the 133rd Annual Season
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
This weekend's performances are sponsored by the Carl and Isabelle Brauer Fund.
Media partnership is provided by Michigan Radio 91.7 FM and Ann Arbor's 107one.
Ms. Wilson appears by arrangement with Mirshak Artists Management. Mr. Balzer appears by arrangement with Matthew Sprizzo Artists. Mr. Hopkins appears by arrangement with IMG Artists.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Parti
1 Sinfonia
Arioso
Isaiah 40: 7 Isaiah 40: 2
Isaiah 40: 3
Air
Isaiah 40: 4
Mr. Balzer
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her
warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of
the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Mr. Balzer
Every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain . . .
made low: the crooked . . . straight, and the rough places plain:
@@@@Chorus
Isaiah 40: 5
Accompanied recitative Haggai 2: 6
Haggai 2: 7 Malachi 3: 1
Air
Malachi 3:2
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Mr. Hopkins
. . . thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet once, ... a little while, and I
will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations
shall come: . . . . . . the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Mr. Hopkins
But who may abide the day of his coming And who shall stand when he appeareth For he is like a refiner's fire, . . .
7 Chorus
Malachi 3: 3
8 Recitative Isaiah 7: 14
9 Air and Chorus
Isaiah 40: 9
Isaiah 60: 1
.. . and he shall purify the sons of Levi, . . . that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Ms. Bragle
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, "God-with-us."
Ms. Bragle
0 thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; 0 thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah: Behold your God!
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
10 Arioso
Isaiah 60: 2
Isaiah 60: 3
11 Air
Isaiah 9:2
Mr. Hopkins
For behold, . . . darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Mr. Hopkins
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
@@@@12 Chorus
Isaiah 9: 6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
@@@@13 Pifa
(Pastoral Symphony)
14 Recitative
Luke 2: 8
15 Arioso Luke 2: 9
16 Recitative
Luke 2: 10
Luke 2: 11
Ms. Wilson
. . . there were . . . shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Ms. Wilson
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Ms. Wilson
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
@@@@17 Arioso
Luke 2: 13
Ms. Wilson
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
@@@@18 Chorus
Luke 2: 14
19 Air
Zechariah 9: 9
Zechariah 9: 10
Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will toward men.
Ms. Wilson
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is the righteous Saviour, . . .
. . . and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: . . .
20 Recitative
Isaiah 35: 5
Isaiah 35: 6
21 Air
Isaiah 40: 11
Matthew 7 7: 28 Matthew 11: 29
Ms. Bragle
Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the
deaf. . .unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the
dumb shall sing: . . .
Ms. Bragle and Ms. Wilson
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: and he shall gather the lambs
with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and . . . gently lead
those that are with young. Come unto Him, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and He
will give you rest. Take His yoke upon you, and learn of Him, for He is meek and
lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
@@@@22 Chorus
Matthew 11: 30
. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
INTERMISSION
Part II
23 Chorus John 1:29
Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! . . .
@@@@24 Air
Isaiah 53: 3
Isaiah 50: 6
Ms. Bragle
He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief: . . . He gave his back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair: He hid not His face from shame and spitting.
@@@@25 Chorus Isaiah 53: 4 Isaiah 53: 5
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: . . .
... he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes are we healed.
@@@@26 Chorus
Isaiah 53: 4
27 Arioso
Psalm 22: 7
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Mr. Balzer
All they that see him laugh him to scorn: they shoot our their lips, and shake their heads, saying:
28 Chorus
Psalm 22: 8
29 Accompanied
Psalm 69: 20
30 Arioso
Lamentations
31 Accompanied
Isaiah 53: 8
32 Air
Psalm 16: 10
He trusted in God that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, if he delight in him.
recitative Mr. Balzer
Thy rebuke hath broken his heart; he is full of heaviness: he looked for some to have pity on him, but there was no man; neither found he any to comfort him.
Mr. Balzer
7: 12 ... Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow . .
recitative Mr. Balzer
... he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgressions of thy people was he stricken.
Mr. Balzer
But thou didst not leave his soul in hell; nor didst thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.
@@@@33 Chorus
Psalm 24: 7
Psalm 24: 8 Psalm 24: 9 Psalm 24: 10
Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory The Lord of hosts, he is the King of
glory.
34 Recitative Hebrews 1: 5
Mr. Balzer
. . . unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee . . .
@@@@Chorus Hebrews 1: 6
Air
Psalm 68: 18
... let all the angels of God worship him.
Ms. Bragle
Thou art gone up on high, thou has lead captivity captive: and
received gifts for men; yea, even for thine enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them.
@@@@Chorus Psalm 68: 11
Air
Isaiah 52: 7
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of the preachers.
Ms. Wilson
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things . . .
39 Chorus
Romans 10: 18
Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world.
@@@@40 Air
Psalm 2: 1
Psalm 2:2
Mr. Hopkins
Why do the nations so furiously rage together, . . . why do the
people imagine a vain thing The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and his anointed, . . .
@@@@Chorus Psalm 2: 3
Recitative Psalm 2: 4
Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yokes from us.
Mr. Balzer
He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: the Lord shall leave them in derision.
@@@@43 Air
Psalm 2: 9
Mr. Balzer
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
@@@@44 Chorus
Revelation 19: 6 Revelation 11: 15
Revelation 19: 16
Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
. . . The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our
Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. . . . King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
You are invited to join the Choral Union in singing the "Hallelujah" chorus. Please leave the music at the door when exiting the auditorium. Thank you.
Part III
45 Air Ms. Wilson
Job 19: 25 I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. Job 19: 26 And though . . . worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I
see God. Cor. 15:20 For now is Christ risen from the dead, ... the first fruits of them
that sleep.
46 Chorus
I Cor. 15: 21
I Cor. 15:22
. . . since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
47 Accompanied recitative Mr. Hopkins
Cor. 15: 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all
be changed, Cor. 15: 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet:
48 Air
Cor. 15: 52
I Cor. 15: 53
49 Recitative
Cor. 15: 54
50 Duet
Cor. 15: 55 I Cor. 15: 56
51 Chorus
Cor. 15: 57
Mr. Hopkins
. . . the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality.
Ms. Bragle
. . . then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
Ms. Bragle and Mr. Balzer
0 death, where is thy sting 0 grave, where is thy victory The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
@@@@52 Air
Romans 8: 31 Romans 8: 33
Romans 8: 34
Ms. Wilson
If God be for us, who can be against us
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect It is God
that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is ... at the right hand of God, who . . .
maketh intercession for us.
@@@@53 Chorus
Revelation 5: 12
Revelation 5: 13
. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God by His blood to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
. Blessing, and honour, . . . glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
Amen.
Messiah (1741)
George Frideric Handel
Born February 23, 1685 in Halle, Germany
Died April 14, 1759 in London
G
eorge Frideric Handel's sacred oratorio Messiah is without question one of the most popular works in the choral orchestral repertoire today. In what has become an indispensable Christmas tradition, amateur and professional musicians in almost every city and town throughout the country perform this work as a seasonal entertainment, and are rewarded with the satisfaction of taking part in one of the great communal musical events.
The text for Messiah was selected and compiled from the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible by Charles Jennens, an aristocrat and musicianpoet of modest talent and exceptional ego. With Messiah, Jennens seems to have outdone himself in compiling a libretto with profound thematic coherence and an acute sensitivity to the inherent musical structure. With the finished libretto in his possession, Handel began setting it to music on August 22, 1741, and completed it 24 days later. He was certainly working at white-hot speed, but this didn't necessarily indicate he was in the throes of devotional fervor, as legend has often stated. Handel composed many of his works in haste, and immediately after completing Messiah he wrote his next oratorio, Samson, in a similarly brief time-span.
The swiftness with which Handel composed Messiah can be partially explained by the musical borrowings from his own earlier compositions. For example, the melodies used in the two choruses "And He shall purify" and "His yoke is easy" were taken from an Italian chamber duet Handel had written earlier in 1741, "Quel fior che all' alba ride." Another secular duet, "N6, di voi non vo' fidarmi," provided material for the famous chorus "For unto us a Child is born," and the delightful "All we like sheep" borrows its wandering melismas from the same duet. A madrigal from 1712, "Se tu non lasci amore," was transformed into a duet-chorus pair for the end of the oratorio, "0 Death, where is thy sting," and "But thanks be to God." In each instance, however, Handel does more than simply provide new words to old tunes. There is considerable re-composition, and any frivolity that remains from the light-hearted secular models is more than compensated for by
the new material Handel masterfully worked into each chorus.
Over-enthusiastic "Handelists" in the 19th century perpetuated all sorts of legends regarding the composition of Messiah. An often-repeated story relates how Handel's servant found him sobbing with emotion while writing the famous "Hallelujah Chorus," and the composer claiming, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself." Supposedly Handel often left his meals untouched during this compositional period, in an apparent display of devotional fasting and monastic self-denial. Present-day historians more familiar with Handel's life and religious views tend to downplay these stories. It's been suggested that if Handel did indeed have visions of Heaven while he composed Messiah, then it was only in the same manner in which he visualized the Roman pantheon of gods while he composed his opera Semele. Handel's religious faith was sincere, but tended to be practical rather than mystical.
The tradition of performing Messiah at Christmas began later in the 18th century. Although the work was occasionally performed during Advent in Dublin, the oratorio was usually regarded in England as an entertainment for the penitential season of Lent, when performances of opera were banned. Messiah's extended musical focus on Christ's redeeming sacrifice also makes it particularly suitable for Passion Week and Holy Week, the periods when it was usually performed during Handel's lifetime. But in 1791, the Caecilian Society of London began its annual Christmas performances, and in 1818 the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston gave the work's first complete performance in the US on Christmas Day--establishing a tradition that continues to the present. The University Musical Society is a direct result of this tradition. In 1879, a group of local university and townspeople gathered together to study Handel's Messiah; this group assumed the name "The Choral Union" and, in 1880, the members of the Choral Union established the University Musical Society.
Following the pattern of Italian baroque opera, Messiah is divided into three parts. The first is concerned with prophecies of the Messiah's coming, drawing heavily from messianic texts in the Book of Isaiah, and concludes with an account of the Christmas story that mixes both Old and New Testament sources. The second part deals with Christ's mission and sacrifice, culminating in
Celebrating 75 Years of The Charles Baird Carillon
O
n December 4, 1936, 75 years ago, the Charles Baird Carillon in Burton Memorial Tower was dedicated and heard for the first time. It has become one of the most, if not the most poignant visual symbol of the University of Michigan, both visually and aurally.
Cast in 1936 for the magnificent structure of Albert Kahn which soars 212 feet above the campus, the Charles Baird Carillon is the primary teaching and concert instrument of what is the oldest school for the study of carillon and campanology (the science of bells and bell ringing) in North America. It is the heaviest instrument ever constructed by the John Taylor Bellfoundry of Loughborough, England containing 53 bells, the largest weighing over 24,000 pounds, the smallest about 15 pounds.
In 1929 the UMS Board of Directors authorized the construction of the Marion LeRoy Burton Memorial Tower. Several large gifts from alumni, including a gift from Charles Baird (U-M class of 1895) designated for the purchase of a carillon and
clock, plus funds raised by UMS from hundreds of community individuals whose names are etched in plaques in the tower lobby, enabled the 10-story tower to be completed in 1936. Except for the clock chime, there is no automation of any kind-any music you hear is an actual performance by a live carillonneur playing an instrument whose technological origins can be traced directly to 16th century Europe. The bells are played from a mechanical action keyboard in a room located in the center of the bell chamber. The keyboard resembles a piano keyboard in that in that it has sharps and flats, but also has a pedal keyboard for the feet. The keys, thin wooden handles played by loosely closed fists, are levers which are connected by wires directly to the bell dappers. The instrument is strictly mechanical with no electricity involved and is, as a result, highly touch sensitive; the harder one depresses a key, the louder the bell sounds.
The carillon and observation deck are open to the public Monday through Friday from 12:00-1:00 pm every day that classes are in session. It will be open to the public after Sunday afternoon's Messiah performance to recreate the first public performance on the instrument 75 years ago by our first University Carillonneur, Wilmot Pratt. It is presented today by our current and seventh University Carillonneur, Steven Ball.
Left: The Marion Leroy Burton Memorial Tower, under construction in 1936.
Below: The raising of the bourdon (the Carillon's heaviest bell) to the top of the Marion Leroy Burton Memorial Tower in October 1936.
the grand "Hallelujah Chorus." The final, shortest section is an extended hymn of thanksgiving, an expression of faith beginning with Job's statement "I know that my Redeemer liveth" and closing with the majestic chorus "Worthy is the Lamb" and a fugal "Amen." In its focus on Christ's sacrifice Messiah resembles the great Lutheran Passions of Schutz and Bach, but with much less direct narrative and more meditative commentary on the redemptive nature of the Messiah's earthly mission. Handel scholar Robert Myers suggested that "logically Handel's masterpiece should be called Redemption, for its author celebrates the idea of Redemption, rather than the personality of Christ." For the believer and non-believer alike, Handel's Messiah is undoubtedly a majestic musical edifice. But while a truly popular favorite around the world, Messiah aspires to more than just a reputation as an enjoyable musical event. After an early performance of the work in London, Lord Kinnoul congratulated Handel on the "noble entertainment" he had recently brought to the city. Handel is said to have replied, "My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better." Certainly Messiah carries an ennobling message to people of all faiths and credos, proclaiming "peace on earth, and goodwill towards men"--a message that continues to be timely and universal.
Program note by Luke Howard.
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rammy Award-winning conductor Jerry Blackstone is director of choirs and chair of the conducting department at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he conducts the Chamber Choir, teaches conducting at the graduate level, and administers a choral program of 11 choirs. In February 2006, he received two Grammy Awards ("Best Choral Performance" and "Best Classical Album") as chorusmaster for the Naxos recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience. In 2006, the Chamber Choir performed by special invitation at the inaugural convention of the National Collegiate Choral Organization in San Antonio, and in 2003, the Chamber Choir presented three enthusiastically received performances in New York City at the National Convention of the American Choral Directors
Association (ACDA). In addition to Dr. Blackstone's choral conducting work at the University, he has led operatic pro?ductions with the U-M Opera Theatre, including productions of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen and Strauss's Die Fleder-maus. For his significant
contributions to choral music in Michigan, he received the 2006 Maynard Klein Lifetime Achievement Award from the ACDA-Michigan chapter.
Dr. Blackstone is considered one of the country's leading conducting teachers and his students have received first place awards and been finalists in both the graduate and undergraduate divisions of the American Choral Directors Association biennial National Choral Conducting Awards competition.
He has appeared as festival guest conductor and workshop presenter in 30 states as well as New Zealand, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Australia. Guest appearances in the 1011 concert season included festivals and conference presentations across the country and in Shanghai.
In 2004, Dr. Blackstone was named conductor and music director of the UMS Choral Union. In March 2008, he conducted the UMS Choral Union and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a special performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Choirs prepared by Dr. Blackstone have appeared under the batons of Valery Gergiev, Neeme Jarvi, Leonard Slatkin, John Adams, Helmuth Rilling, James Conlon, Nicholas McGegan, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Peter Oundjian, and Itzhak Perlman.
As conductor of the U-M Men's Glee Club from 1988-2002, Dr. Blackstone led the ensemble in performances at ACDA national and division conventions and on extensive concert tours throughout Australia, Eastern and Central Europe, Asia, South America, and the US. The U-M Men's Glee Club recording, have had singing, is a retrospective of his tenure as conductor of the ensemble.
Prior to coming to U-M in 1988, Dr. Blackstone served on the music faculties of Phillips University in Oklahoma, Westmont College in California, and Huntington College in Indiana. He holds degrees from the University of Southern California, Indiana University, and Wheaton College.
Jerry Blackstone
S
oprano Mary Wilson is acknowledged as one of today's most exciting young artists. Cultivating a wide-ranging career singing chamber music, oratorio, and operatic repertoire, her "bright soprano seems to know no terrors, wrapping itself seductively around every phrase" (Dallas Morning News).
In high demand on the concert stage, she has most recently appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Detroit Symphony, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, VocalEssence, and at the Hollywood Bowl. She has worked with conductors including Nicholas McGegan, Bernard Labadie, Martin Pearlman, Martin Haselbock, JoAnn Falletta, Michael Stern, Anton Armstrong, Philip Brunelle, and Leonard Slatkin. An exciting interpreter of Baroque repertoire, especially Handel, she has appeared with Philharmonia Baroque, Musica Angelica, American Bach Soloists, Boston Baroque, Grand Rapids Bach Festival, Bach Society of St. Louis, Baltimore Handel Choir, Florida Bach Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Casals Festival, and the Carmel Bach Festival. With the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, she sang the world premiere of the song cycle Songs Old and New written especially for her by Ned Rorem. She was named an Emerging Artist by Symphony magazine in 2004 in the publication's first-ever presentation of promising classical soloists on the rise.
On the opera stage, she is especially noted for her portrayals of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Susannah in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Gilda in Rigoletto. She has created leading roles in North American and world premiere performances of Dove's Flight, Glass's Galileo Galilei, and
Petitgirard's Joseph Merrick dit L'Elephant Man. She has appeared most recently with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dayton Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, Mississippi Opera, South?west Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and
the Goodman Theatre.
An accomplished pianist, Ms. Wilson holds performance degrees from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee, with her husband and son.
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idely praised for her musical intelligence, "memorable, raw-silk voice" {Toronto Star) and "expressive virtuosity" (San Francisco Chronicle), American mezzo-soprano Meg Bragle is quickly earning an international reputation as one of today's most gifted interpreters of early music.
Recent highlights include a European tour of Bach's Mass in b minor with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists, including performances at the Bachfest Leipzig, the Prague Spring Festival, and the Aldeburgh Festival; debuts with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Tragicomedia; Bach cantatas with the Arion Ensemble at the Montreal Bach Festival; a recording of Bach's St. John Passion with Les Voix Baroques; Messiah with the Dunedin Consort in France; and the premiere performance of a new edition of Salieri's Requiem in Washington DC.
Ms. Bragle has also appeared in Europe and North America with Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Apollo's Fire, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, as well as with the symphony orchestras of Memphis, San Antonio, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Nova Scotia. She has collaborated with the Mark Morris Dance Group in music by Franz Schubert, Antonio Vivaldi, Johannes Brahms, and Stephen Foster. Her opera performances include the roles of Dido and the Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Dardano in Handel's Amadigi, Amastre in Handel's Serse, Mitrena in Vivaldi's Motezuma, Speranza in
Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, Ippolita in Cavalli's Elena, and Elpina in Vivaldi's La Fida Ninfa. Ms. Bragle has record?ed Mozart's Requiem with Apollo's Fire (Koch), Cozzolani's Vespro della Beata Vergine and Messa Paschale with Magnificat (Musica Omnia), Monte-
Mary Wilson
Meg Bragle
verdi's Vespro delta Beata Vergine (Avie) and L'Orfeo (Eclectra) with Apollo's Fire, Music of Medieval Love with New York's Ensemble for Early Music (Ex Cathedra Records), Toby Twining's Chrysalid Requiem (Cantaloupe Music), Anthony Newman's Requiem (Khaeon World Music), and Copland's In the Beginning with the Men and Boy Choir of St. Thomas Fifth Avenue and the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte on their own labels.
Ms. Bragle studied both violin and voice at the University of Michigan before earning a BMA in voice performance and English. She also completed a Master's degree in choral conducting from Michigan State University. She is the recipient of several awards and recognition from Symphony magazine, the American Bach Society, the Carmel Bach Festival, and the Bethlehem Bach Festival.
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ith assured musicality and the tonal palette of a lieder specialist, Canadian lyric tenor Colin Balzer's current season includes concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nezet-Seguin, RIAS Kammerchor, Museumsorchester Salzburg, Radio Kamer Filharmonie (Amsterdam Concertgebouw), Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski (Salzburg Music Weeks), Philharmonischer Chor Berlin, Estonian Chamber Choir, and Musik Podium Stuttgart. In North America he is heard with Bernard Labadie and the Utah Symphony in the Mozart Requiem; the University Musical Society (Handel's Messiah), Toronto's Tafelmusik (Handel's Hercules), and Calgary Philharmonic (Bach's St. Matthew Passion under Music Director Roberto Minczuk). He sings recitals in Paris and New York (his first Winterreise) and performs in Mozart operas at the Bolshoi (Don Giovanni), France's Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Spain's Castell de Perelada Festival {La finta giardiniera).
Mr. Balzer has given concerts with the Het Brabants Orkest, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Luxembourg Symphony, Munich Bach Choir, Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Toronto's Tafelmusik, and with the Victoria, Ann Arbor, and Oregon symphonies. He sang Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch at Finland's Savonlinna Festival, Acis in Handel's Acis and Galatea at Festival Vancouver, and Mattheson's Boris Goudenow and Lully's Psyche at the Boston Early Music Festival. He frequently collaborates with such distinguished
conductors as Leopold Hager, Bernard Labadie, Helmuth Rilling, Simone Young, Simon Preston, Gabriel Chmura, Christof Perick, Mario Venzago, and Kenneth Mont?gomery.
Particularly esteemed as a recitalist, he has been welcomed at London's Wigmore
Hall (accompanied by Graham Johnson), the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, and at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. Recordings to date include Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch and Eisler and Henze song anthologies. A prizewinner of Holland's 's-Hertogenbosch Competition, the United Kingdom's Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Stuttgart's Hugo Wolf Competition, and Munich's 55th International ARD Competition, Mr. Balzer also holds the rare distinction of earning the Gold Medal at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau with the highest score in 25 years. Born in British Columbia, he received his formal musical training at the University of British Columbia with David Meek and with Edith Wiens at the Hochschule fur Musik NurnbergAugsburg.
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inner of the 2006 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and the Verbier Festival Academy's 2008 Prix d'Honneur, Joshua Hopkins has been hailed as "...an outstanding young baritone with a virile, vigorous, yet velvety sound and an immediately evident dramatic authority." Mr. Hopkins records in an exclusive relationship with ATMA Classique and his first recital disc on the label was released in 2010 featuring songs of Barber, Bowles, Glick, and Vaughan Williams.
In the 1112 season, operatic performances include the roles of Argante in a new Robert Carsen production of Handel's Rinaldo with the touring company of the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Junius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia with Houston Grand Opera under the baton of Rory Macdonald, and Figaro in Rossini's barbiere di Siviglia both with Vancouver Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Concert engagements for
Colin Balzer
this season include Handel's Messiah with the University Musical Society and the Mercury Baroque Orchestra, Bach's Magnificat with the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the baton of Robert Spano at Carnegie Hall, and Nielsen's Symphony No. 3 as well as Mozart's
Mass in c minor with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert.
Completing his formal training as a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio in the spring of 2005, performances with the company included the role of The Pilot in The Little Prince and Sharpless in Mada'ma Butterfly. Further highlights have included his Metropolitan Opera debut as Ping in Turandot conducted by Andris Nelsons, Papageno in Die Zauberflote at Opera Lyra Ottawa and at the Santa Fe Opera with Lawrence Renes, Olivier in Capriccio at Pacific Opera Victoria, Figaro in barbiere di Siviglia at Arizona Opera, and Sid in Albert Herring at the Santa Fe Opera under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis.
Profoundly committed to the art of song, Mr. Hopkins has given solo recitals in New York at Carnegie Hall with J.J. Penna, under the auspices of the Vancouver Recital Society with Graham Johnson, and in Toronto, in conjunction with The Aldeburgh Connection, offering a program entitled "Schubert's Florilegium" highlighting many Lieder about flowers. He is proud to have given the world premiere of Michael Tilson Thomas's Rilke Songs at Zankel Hall in New York and to have joined Barbara Bonney for performances of songs by three generations of Mozart (Leopold, Wolfgang Amadeus, and Franz Xaver) under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He also has collaborated with pianist Richard Goode in a program of Haydn part songs.
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dward Parmentier (Harpsichord) is profes?sor of harpsichord and director of the Early Music Ensemble at U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He has both led and directed doctoral seminars on campus, several small Ba?roque ensembles, and co-directs the Baroque Chamber Orchestra with Professor Aaron Berofsky.
This past June, Mr. Parmentier instructed two harpsichord work?shops on the U-M campus: the first ex?ploring the harpsi?chord music of Handel, and the second ad?dressing the funda?mentals of harpsichord performance and rep?ertoire. Other recent
performances include a faculty recital with Profes?sor Jeffrey Lyman, U-M Associate Professor of Bas?soon; a dedicatory recital on a new harpsichord at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati; and five dif?ferent performances on Ruckers's Mother and Child Flemish Virginals at the Detroit Institute of Arts in connection with their Rembrandt exhibit.
Mr. Parmentier has lectured and concertized at both Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, as well as at the annual conclave of the Midwest Historical Keyboard Society in Omaha, Nebraska. In addition, Mr. Parmentier has conducted the Jackson Sym?phony Orchestra in numerous Baroque concerts, including J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Concerto for Harpsichord in g minor, in which he was also a featured soloist.
A strong advocate for education and outreach, Mr. Parmentier both directed and performed at the annual Michigan Harpsichord Saturday, an outreach program held at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance for young musicians in the Ann Arbor area. He has also had the privilege of performing for recovering patients at the Rehabilitation Center of the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Southfield, Ml.
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rom its humble beginnings as the local com?munity orchestra 83 years ago, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has become an artistic pillar of southeast Michigan, year after year providing nearly 80,000 Michiganders with outstanding concerts on stage, in area classrooms, libraries, and senior and day care centers.
A2SO concerts frequently feature world-class guest soloists, including, most recently, Anton Nel, Julie Albers, Adam Golka, Orion Weiss, and Ameri?can Idol star David Archuleta. The Symphony is most privileged to be part of a community already
Joshua Hopkins
Edward Parmentier
enriched with musical talent; local virtuosi such as vio?linist Yehonatan Berick, cellist Anthony Elliott, pianist Arthur Greene, vocalists Freda Herseth and Stephen West, and many more who regularly join the A2SO.
In 2009, the A2SO released their first CD, fea?turing the music of contemporary composer Paul Fetler, as part of Naxos' American Classics series. The CD consists of live performances of Fetler's Violin Concerto No. 2, with concertmaster Aaron Berofsky as soloist; Capriccio for orchestra; and Three Poems of Walt Whitman, narrated by Thom?as Blaske. AnnArbor.com described the recording as "startlingly wonderful," and praised Fetler's "evocative lyricism in music that is itself protean in color, style, and mood."
Whether on an iPod or the radio, in the concert hall or the classroom, the mission of the A2SO at?tracts, inspires, and educates the most diverse au?dience possible; fosters a growing appreciation for excellent music and regional talent; and provides imaginative programming through community in?volvement. Join the A2SO for performances again on January 21 and March 17 at the Michigan The?ater and back at Hill Auditorium on April 21, 2012.
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ormed by a group of local university and townspeople who gathered together for the study of Handel's Messiah, the UMS Choral Union has performed with many of the world's distinguished orchestras and conductors in its 133-year history. First led by Professor Henry Simmons Frieze and conducted by Professor Calvin Cady, the group assumed the name The Choral Union. Since its first performance of Handel's Messiah in December 1879, the oratorio has been performed by the UMS Choral Union in Ann Arbor annually. Based in Ann Arbor under the aegis of UMS, the 175-voice Choral Union is known for its definitive performances of large-scale works for chorus and orchestra. Sixteen years ago, the UMS Choral Union further enriched that tradition when it began appearing regularly with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO).
Led by Grammy Award-winning conductor and music director Jerry Blackstone, the UMS Choral Union was a participant chorus in a rare performance and recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience in Hill Auditorium in April 2004 under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. Naxos released a three-disc set of this recording in October 2004, featuring the UMS Choral Union and U-M School of Music ensembles. The recording won four Grammy Awards in 2006,
including "Best Choral Performance" and "Best Classical Album." The recording was also selected as one of The New York Times "Best Classical Music CDs of 2004."
The UMS Choral Union's 1112 season begins with its annual performances of Handel's Messiah at Hill Auditorium with the Ann Arbor Symphony and at Orchestra Hall with the DSO in December. The chorus will join forces with the DSO and Leonard Slatkin in February for performances of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem and Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls and again in April for performances of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and Bolcom's Prometheus.
UMS Archives
T
he UMS Choral Union began performing on December 16, 1879 and has presented Handel's Messiah in annual performances ever since. This weekend's performances mark the UMS Choral Union's418th and 419th appearances under UMS auspices. Dr. Blackstone makes his 20th and 21st UMS appearances, following his debut leading the Choral Union in performances of Messiah in 2003 at the Michigan Theater. The UMS Choral Union and Dr. Blackstone most recently appeared under UMS auspices in December 2010 in last season's presentations of Handel's Messiah at Hill Auditorium.
This weekend's performances mark the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra's 61st and 62nd UMS appearances since their 1974 UMS debut.
Harpsichordist Edward Parmentier has performed in the annual UMS presentations of Messiah since 1995; this weekend's performances mark his 35th and 36th appearances under UMS auspices.
Soprano soloist Mary Wilson and baritone Joshua Hopkins make their third and fourth UMS appearances this weekend, following their UMS debuts in the 2008 presentations of Messiah. Tenor Colin Balzer also makes his third and fourth appearances this weekend, following his UMS debut in the 2006 presentations of Messiah.
UMS welcomes mezzo-soprano and U-M alumna Meg Bragle, who makes her UMS debut this weekend.
Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra
Arie Lipsky, Music Director and Conductor Mary Steffek Blaske, Executive Director
Violin I
Aaron Berofsky, Concertmaster
Stephen B. Shipps Concertmaster Chair Kathryn Votapek, Associate Concertmaster Yi-Ting Kuo, Assistant Concertmaster
Ruth Merigian and Albert A. Adams Assistant
Concertmaster Chair Karen Donato
Sarah and Jack Adetson Violin Chair Linda Etter
Linda Etter Violin Chair David Ormai
Priscilla Johnson Violin Chair Judy Blank T?a Prokes
Violin II
Barbara Sturgis-Everett
The A'SO Principal Second Violin Chair
Honoring Anne Gates and Annie Rudisill David Lamse
Brian K. Etter Memorial Violin Chair Anne Ogren
Sharon Meyers-Bourland Cyril Zilka Katie Rowan
Kim, Darlene and Taylor Eagle Violin Chair Amy Cave Emily Barkakati
Viola
Kathleen Grimes
Tim and Leah Adams Principal Viola Chair Alex Applegate Antione Hackney Linnea Powell Barbara Zmich
Cello
Sarah Cleveland
Sundelson Endowed Principal Cello Chair Alicia Rowe
Bill and Hah Weiblen Cello Chair Britton Riley
Marijean Quigley-Young Cello Chair Daniel Thomas
Bass
Gregg Emerson Powell Erin Zurbuchen
The EZ Chair Robert Rohwer
A'SO Emerita Board Chair
Oboe
Timothy Michling
Gilbert Omenn Principal Oboe Chair Gretchen Morse
English Horn
Kristin Reynolds Bill and Jan Maxbauer Oboe Chair
Bassoon
Yeh-Chi Wang
E. Daniel Long Principal Bassoon Chair Stephanie Konchel
William and Elizabeth Knapp Bassoon Chair Christine Prince
Contrabassoon
Tim Abbott
Trumpet Katherine Cosgrove
David 5. Evans III Principal Trumpet Chair Kevin Maloney
Timpani
James Lancioni
Michael and Remedios Montalbo Young Principal Timpani Chair
= Principal
Zac Moore, General Manager
Ben Thauland, Librarian
Jonathan Tyman, Operations Manager
UMS Choral Union
Jerry Blackstone, Conductor and Musical Director
Arian Khaefi, Assistant Conductor
Jean Schneider and Scott VanOrnum, Accompanists
Kathleen Operhall, Chorus Manager
Nancy K. Paul, Librarian
Donald Bryant, Conductor Emeritus
Soprano
Kathryn Borden
Jamie Bott
Debra Joy Brabenec
Ann K. Burke
Anne Busch
Ann Cain-Nielsen
Carol Callan
Saya Callner
Susan F. Campbell
Young Cho
Cheryl D. Clarkson
Elizabeth Crabtree
Marie Ankenbruck Davis
Carrie Deierlein
Chelsea DiMaria
Kristina Eden
Emilia Fracz
Jennifer Freese
Keiko Goto
Karen T. Isble
Anne Jaskot
Emily Jennings
Kyoung Kim
Alana Kirby
Kay Leopold
Patricia Lindemann
Loretta Lovalvo
Katherine Lu
Natalie Lueth
Sara McMullen-laird
Carole McNamara
Toni Marie Micik
Erica Nelson
Ann Ophoff
Ann Orwin
Nancy K. Paul
Ann Payne
Sara J. Peth
Margaret Dearden
Petersen Julie Pierce Camille Porter Katharine Roller Allie Schachter Erin L. Scheffler-Franklin Mary A. Schieve Joy C. Schultz Amy Smith Elizabeth Starr
Jennifer Stevenson Ellen Storch Sue Ellen Straub Virgina A. Thorne-
Herrmann
Barbara Hertz Wallgren Margie Warrick Barbara J. Weathers Mary Wigton
Alto
Paula Allison-England Olga Astapova Carol Barnhart Dody Blackstone Margy Boshoven Anne Casper Carole DeHart Valerie Delekta Elise Demitrack Melissa Doyle Marilyn Finkbeiner Katherine Fisher Grace K. Gheen Heidi Goodhart Siri Gottlieb Johanna Grum Anna Gustitus Kat Hagedorn Linda Hagopian Sook Han Nancy Heaton Jane Hecker Julie Anne Heikel Lisa Hills
Carol Kraemer Hohnke Laura Holladay Stacey Hoopes Sue Johnson Josephine Kasa-Vubu Katherine Klykylo Jessica Lehr Jean Leverich Cynthia Lunan Karla K. Manson Linda Selig Marshall Beth McNally Marilyn Meeker Nicole Michelotti Carol Milstein
Francesca Minonne Stephannie Moore Stephanie Normann Sile O'Modhrain Kathleen Operhall Hanna Martha Reincke Sherry Root Cindy Shindledecker Susan Sinta Beverly N. Slater Hanna Song Katherine Spindler Gayle Beck Stevens Ruth A. Theobald Carrie Throm Lauren Tian Alice E. Tremont Barbara Trevethan Cheryl Utiger Crystal VanKooten Alice VanWambeke Rachelle Barcus Warren Iris Wei
Mary Beth Westin Sandra K. Wiley Susan Wortman Allison Anastasio Zeglis
Tenor
Michael Ansara
Gary Banks
Reed Blaylock
Alex Bryan
George Case
Fr. Timothy J. Dombrowski
Steven Fudge
Randy Gilchrist
Roy Glover
Arthur Gulick
Marius P. Jooste
Ezra Keshet
Arian Khaefi
Jonathan King
Bob Klaffke
Gregory Kocsan
Andrew S. Kohler
Mark A. Krempski
Lionel Levine
Richard Marsh
Nicholas Mischel
Nathan Reiff David Schnerer Ray Shuster Carl Smith Christopher Switzer Patrick Tonks William Scott Walters
Bass
Sam Baetzel Joseph Baldwin William Boggs Paul Bowling John Dryden Charlie Dwyer Don Faber Kenneth A. Freeman Christopher Friese Mark Goodhart Philip J. Gorman Chris Hampson James Head Anthony DoHoon Kim Zachery Kirkland Edward Maki-Schramm William Malone Joseph D. McCadden James B. McCarthy Gerald Miller Brandon Pemberton Michael Peterson Victor Pinedo Michael Pratt James Rhodenhiser Michael Schachter Bradley Schick William Shell Peter Shirts Donald Sizemore Jeff Spindler Robert Stevenson Terril 0. Tompkins Thomas L. Trevethan John Van Bolt Alexander Von Hagen-Jamar Paul Venema
Section Leader ft Section Coach
urns
presents
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, Principal Conductor Janine Jansen, Violin
Program Tuesday Evening, December 6, 2011 at 7:30 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor
Matthias Pintscher towards Osiris (Study for Orchestra)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 Allegro aperto Adagio Rondeau: Tempo di menuetto
Ms. Jansen
INTERMISSION
Pyotr llyich Tchaikovsky Manfred Symphony in b minor. Op. 58 Lento lugubre Vivace con spirito Pastorale: Andante con moto Allegro con fuoco

27th Performance of the 133rd Annual Season
133rd Annual Choral Union Series
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
Media partnership is provided by WGTE 913 FM, WRCJ 90.9 FM, and Detroit Jewish News.
Special thanks to Timothy Walker, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, for speaking at this evening's Prelude Dinner.
The Steinway piano used in this evening's performance is made possible by the William and Mary Palmer Fund and by the Steinway Piano Gallery of Detroit.
Special thanks to Tom Thompson of Tom Thompson Flowers, Ann Arbor, for his generous contribution of lobby floral art for this evening's performance.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra's December 2011 US Tour is generously supported by the Dunard Fund.
The Orchestra is grateful for the support of the American Friends of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra appears by arrangement with Columbia Artists Management, LLC, New York, NY.
Janine Jansen's General Management is HarrisonParrott, London, UK.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Now that you're in your seat...
M
any people received their first introduction to classical music from a work by Mozart-models of classical poise, harmony, and balance. Others may have been exposed to Tchaikovsky as children--maybe through Christmastime performances of The Nutcracker--and fell in love with the heart-on-the-sleeve passion and the Romantic intensity of this music. (Later on, maybe they discovered that these two worlds are not mutually exclusive: there is plenty of passion in Mozart and classical balance in Tchaikovsky, and the latter was a great admirer of the former, as the delightful suite Mozartiana attests.) In any case, most of us enjoy being reunited with our all-time favorites, and even discovering, or rediscovering, such a rarely-heard masterpiece as the Manfred Symphony. It is important to remain open to new music by composers living and working in our own time, and Matthias Pintscher is certainly one of the most prominent composers of the generation born in the 1970s. His new work helps us hear the older compositions with new ears, realizing that they, too, were radically modern in their own time.
towards Osiris (Study for Orchestra)
(2005)
Matthias Pintscher
Born January 29, 1971 in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Snapshot of History... In 2005:
George W. Bush begins his second term as President of the United States
The International Atomic Energy Agency and its director Mohamed ElBaradei jointly receive the Nobel Peace Prize
John Adams's opera Doctor Atomic premieres in San Francisco
A museum dedicated to the work of Paul Klee opens in Bern, Switzerland
Cormac McCarthy's novel Wo Country for Old Men is published
Matthias Pintscher, a native of the German province of North Rhine-Westphalia, is one of the leading European composers of his generation, and also greatly in demand as a conductor. He has held residencies with the Cleveland Orchestra and with orchestras, concert halls, and festivals in Europe and Australia; he is now based in New York. His most recent major work is a violin concerto, Mar'eh, a joint commission by the Lucerne Festival, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which was premiered by Julia Fischer with the Orchestra in Lucerne in September. He currently has works-
in-progress for the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Pintscher's towards Osiris was composed in 2005. It was one of four short orchestral works commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as "asteroids" to partner Hoist's suite The Planets, for performances and a live recording in February 2006 under Sir Simon Rattle. (The others were by Kaija Saariaho, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Brett Dean.) The specific reference in the title is presumably to the main-belt asteroid 1923 Osiris. But Pintscher had also encountered an art-work by Joseph Beuys called Osiris, consisting of pasteboard objects mounted apparently at random on a blank canvas; and he had been led by this to explore the ancient Egyptian myth of the god Osiris, murdered and dismembered, but lovingly reassembled by his sister and wife Isis. The result was a major orchestral work, also called Osiris, which was first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Pierre Boulez in February 2008. Pintscher describes towards Osiris as "an independent orchestral study" for this larger work.
The piece lasts about eight minutes, and is scored in meticulous detail for a large orchestra, including a substantial percussion section. At the start, in a landscape (or spacescape) of slides, trills, and short-lived eruptions from different parts of the orchestra, a single trumpet emerges as a virtuoso soloist. When it relinquishes the foreground, nothing else takes its place: a texture of drifting
fragments is punctuated by sharp off-beat attacks. A brass crescendo on a single note launches a meteor shower on percussion; woodwinds reiterate an insistent signal; the strings coalesce in high, translucent clouds. The brass combine in another crescendo, more sustained and more menacing--perhaps a distant echo of The Planets! A passage of furious orchestral activity is finally dispersed when the violins join forces in a melody that arches upwards, to disappear in the ether.
Program note by Anthony Burton, O2011.
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219
(1775)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Born January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria Died December 5, 1791 in Vienna
Snapshot of History... In 1775:
Patrick Henry delivers his "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in Richmond, Virginia
Pierre Beaumarchais writes his play The Barber of Seville
Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen
Erection of the Gloriette (garden building) of the Palace of Schonbrunn outside Vienna
Johann Wolfgang Goethe moves to Weimar, the city where he will reside for the rest of his life
Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 was completed only two months after the fourth concerto on De?cember 20, 1775, and is a work which combines radiant warmth with sprightly humor, and violinis-tic athleticism with sublime poetry (while perhaps being the most technically demanding of the violin concertos). Conceived on a notably larger scale, it has the look of a new stage of development. How strange it is that, at the age of 19, Mozart was writing his last concerto for violin. How one could wish for just a few more!
It is soon established that this is a concerto that should not be hurried. Thematically speaking, the opening is surprisingly unassertive, with the or?chestral violins striding out lightly over a quivering accompaniment, but without anything that strikes the listener as a theme. Even more unexpected is the way in which the soloist emerges: six bars of pensively soaring adagio over a murmuring accompaniment eventually burst out into a new theme full of swaggering self-confidence, reveal?ing the opening to have been an accompaniment
in search of a tune. Note too, how the little up?ward sweep which ends the first orchestral section is taken up for discussion later in the movement.
The slow movement is longer than those of the other violin concertos of 1775, but its effortless beauty never wavers. There is little dialogue here, just a serenely drawn and effortlessly touching melody for the solo violin, with the orchestra sup?plying the most loving of accompaniments. The concerto finishes with a "Rondeau" in which re?turns of the opening theme are interspersed with contrasting episodes. As he had done in the finales of his previous two concertos, Mozart takes the opportunity to introduce an element of humor?ous impersonation. In his earlier works, this had taken the form of bagpipe-and-drone effects, but here it is an exhilarating excursion into what is usually called "Turkish" music. In fact, this style-evoked with exaggerated melodic leaps, pounding rhythms, and col legno effects (hitting the strings with the wood of the bow) in the cellos and bass?es--owes more to Hungarian gypsy music than to the Ottomans, but for most Europeans of Mozart's time, its exotic sounds would have seemed east?ern enough. Mozart himself borrowed some of this section from music he had written for a bal?let entitled La gelosie del Seraglio (The Jealousy of the Harem), but the reasons behind this particular musical joke must remain a mystery.
Program note by Lindsay Kemp, O2011.
Manfred Symphony in b minor. Op. 58
(1885)
Pyotr llyich Tchaikovsky
Born May 7, 1840 in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia Died November 6, 1893 in St. Petersburg
Snapshot of History... In 1885:
Vincent van Gogh paints his first major work, The Potato Eaters
Johannes Brahms composes his Fourth Symphony
Louis Pasteur develops his vaccine for rabies
The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor
Mark Twain publishes Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Tchaikovsky composed his Manfred Symphony in just over four months in the spring and summer of 1885, three years before Symphony No. 5;
the first performance took place in Moscow in March 1886. The Symphony is unnumbered-and perhaps on that account unduly neglected-because it is overtly a programmatic symphony, based on a pre-existing narrative, in the tradition of Berlioz's influential Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy. The program was drawn up by the Russian critic Vladimir Stasov for the composer Mily Balakirev, and later passed on by Balakirev to Tchaikovsky with numerous musical suggestions, many of which he ignored. It is based loosely on Byron's poetic drama Manfred, completed and published in 1817.
The first movement of the Symphony introduces the central figure of the poem, Manfred, who lives in an alpine castle and recklessly roams the peaks, shunning the company of men and communing with the spirit world, in an attempt to expiate his guilt over his illicit love for his sister Astarte. Two themes at the very outset suggest his state of mind, the first dark and despondent and dominated by a falling phrase, the second suggesting the weight of his guilt in its repeated downward plunges and painful ascents: these form the basis of an extended slow section, which culminates in a blazing climax. A more lyrical group of themes in triple time represents his memories of Astarte; and in the final section, marked "Andante con duolo" (grief-stricken), Manfred's first theme returns, also in triple time, at a peak of intensity.
The second movement was suggested by an episode in the poem in which "the Alpine Fairy appears to Manfred beneath the rainbow of the waterfall." It is a balletic scherzo of dazzling brilliance, with a more melodic trio presumably representing the Fairy's own song. Manfred's first theme reappears in the course of this trio, and also towards the end of the reprise of the scherzo.
The third movement is a "Pastorale," subtitled "the simple, free, and peaceful life of the mountain folk." It presents a whole sequence of picturesque ideas, with the falling phrase from Manfred's first theme and a tolling bell casting only a momentary shadow over the sunlit landscape.
The finale, which departs substantially from Byron's narrative, depicts a subterranean bacchanal; the spirit of Astarte appears, and pardons Manfred for his earthly sins before he dies. The movement begins with a resolute march, which is then swept up into a wild dance--in the course of which fragments of Manfred's first theme reappear once more. There is a slow
interlude of solemn chords leading to Manfred's dragging second theme before the dance is resumed in fugal texture. Manfred's first theme alternates with fragments of the dance; after a pause, Astarte's music from the first movement returns, even more radiant than before. There is a reprise of the impassioned "Andante con duolo" statement of Manfred's first theme from the first movement, followed by an episode of gathering speed and excitement, and a solemn conclusion colored by the sound of the organ and by repetitions in the bass of the first phrase of the plainchant Dies irae.
Program note by Anthony Burton, O2017.
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he London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of the world's best-known orches?tras, balancing a long and distinguished history with a reputation as one of the UK's most forward-looking orchestras. As well as performing classical concerts, the Orchestra also records film and computer game soundtracks, has its own re?cord label, and reaches thousands of Londoners every year through activities for schools and local communities.
The Orchestra was founded by Sir Thomas Bee-cham in 1932, and since then has been headed by many great conductors including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt, and Kurt Masur. The current Principal Conductor is Vladimir Jurowski, appointed in 2007, with Yan-nick Nezet-Seguin as Principal Guest Conductor.
The LPO has been performing at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall since it opened in 1951, becoming Resident Orchestra in 1992. It also has flourishing residencies in Brighton and Eastbourne, and in summer it plays for Glynde-bourne Festival Opera where it has been the Resident Symphony Orchestra since 1964. The LPO tours internationally and in the 1112 season will visit Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, the US, Spain, China, Russia, Oman, Brazil, and France.
Having long been embraced by the record?ing, broadcasting, and film industries, the LPO broadcasts regularly on television and radio. It also works with the Hollywood and UK film industries, recording soundtracks for blockbuster motion pic?tures including the Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In 2005 it established its own record label.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra main?tains an energetic program of activities for young people and local communities including concerts for families and schools. Over the last few years, developments in technology and social networks have enabled the Orchestra to reach even more people worldwide: all of its recordings are avail?able to download from iTunes, and in addition to a YouTube channel, news blog, iPhone app, and regular podcasts, the Orchestra has a thriving pres?ence on Facebook and Twitter. For more informa?tion, please visit www.lpo.org.uk.
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orn in Moscow, the son of conductor Mikhail Jurowski, Vladimir Jurowski com?pleted his initial musical studies at the Mu?sic College of the Moscow Conservatory. In 1990 he relocated with his family to Germany where he continued his studies in Dresden and Berlin, studying conducting with Rolf Reuter and vocal coaching with Semion Skigin. In 1995 he made his international debut at the Wexford Festival, where he conducted Rimsky-Korsakov's May Night. The same year saw his brilliant debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Nabucco, and in 1996 he joined the ensemble of Komische Oper Berlin, becoming First Kapellmeister in 1997 and continuing to work at the Komische Oper on a permanent basis until 2001.
Since 1997 Maestro Jurowski has been a guest at some of the world's leading musical institutions including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Opera Bastille de Paris, Theatre de la Monnaie Bruxelles, Maggio Musicale Festival Florence, Rossini Opera Festival Pesaro, Ed?inburgh International Festival, Dresden Semperop-er, and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (where he served as Principal Guest Conductor between 2000 and 2003). In 1999 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with Rigoletto.
In January 2001 Maestro Jurowski took up the position of Music Director of Glyndebourne Fes?tival Opera and in 2003 was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Or?chestra, becoming the Orchestra's Principal Con?ductor in September 2007. He also holds the title of Principal Artist with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and from 2005-2009, he served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Russian Na?tional Orchestra, with whom he will continue to work in the years ahead.
Maestro Jurowski is a regular guest with many of the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Con-certgebouw, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Philadelphia orches?tras, as well as the Staats-kapelle Dresden and the
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Highlights of the 1112 season and beyond include his debuts with the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, and San Francisco Symphony, and return visits to the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and the Chicago Symphony, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, and Philadelphia orchestras.
Maestro Jurowski's operatic engagements have included Jenufa, The Queen of Spades, and Hansel und Gretei at the Metropolitan Opera; Parsifal and Wozzeck at Welsh National Opera; War and Peace at the Opera National de Paris; Eugene Onegin at La Scala Milan and lolanta at the Dresden Sem-peroper; as well as The Magic Flute, La Ceneren-tola, Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Don Giovanni, The Rake's Progress, and Peter Eotvos's Love and Other Demons at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Future engagements include new productions of Ariadne auf Naxos and The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne, Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera, Moses und Aron at the Ko-mische Oper Berlin, and Ruslan and Ludmila at the Bolshoi Theatre.
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truly exciting and versatile artist, Janine Jansen's performances have left audiences spellbound and critics searching for superlatives. Ms. Jansen works regularly with the Royal Concertgebouw, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia, Cleveland, London Symphony, Mahler Chamber, NHK Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic orchestras. Conductor collaborations include such eminent names as Mariss Jansons, Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Chailly, Neeme and Paavo Jarvi, Esa-Pekka
Vladimir Jurowski
Salonen, Daniel Harding, Edo de Waart, Gustavo Dudamel, and Yannick Nezet-Seguin.
The 1112 season sees her undertake residencies at the Wigmore Hall and with the London Philhar?monic Orchestra (which includes a US tour). She will tour Asia with
the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Myung-Whun Chung, and Europe with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano, She will also return to the Dresden Staatskapelle, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, and Bavarian Radio Symphony orchestras.
In addition to her concerto performances, Ms. Jansen is a devoted chamber musician. This season
she will perform a chamber project including Schubert's String Quintet and Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht in addition to duo recitals in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Dortmund, Lyon, and Eindhoven. She established and curates the annual International Chamber Music Festival in Utrecht, and since 1998 has performed each season at the Berlin Philharmonie's Spectrum Concerts series. Her chamber partners include Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Mischa Maisky, Julian Rachlin, Itamar Golan, Martin Frost, Khatia Buniatishvili, Leif Ove Andsnes, and Torleif Thedeen.
Ms. Jansen has an exclusive recording contract with Decca (Universal Music). Her most recent release is a French recital disc entitled Beau Soir with pianist Itamar Golan. Each one of her previous five albums has been awarded a platinum disc for sales in The Netherlands. Renowned for her success on iTunes, her recordings have reached number one on the digital charts on a number of occasions.
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, Principal Conductor, Supported by the Tsukanov Family Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Principal Guest Conductor
Violin I
Pieter Schoeman. Leader
Vesselin Gellev, Sub-Leader
Chair supported by John
and Angela Kessler Radu Bitica Helena Smart Katalin Varnagy Catherine Craig Tina Gruenberg Martin Hohmann
Chair supported by
Richard Karl Goeltz Geoffrey Lynn Robert Pool Yang Zhang Rebecca Shorrock Alain Petitclerc Peter Nail Galina Tanney Joanne Chen
Violin II
Clare Duckworth, Principal
Chair supported by the Sharp Family Jeongmin Kim Joseph Maher Kate Birchall
Chair supported by David & Victoria
Graham Fuller
Fiona Higham Ashley Stevens Marie-Anne Mairesse Dean Williamson Sioni Williams Heather Badke Peter Graham Stephen Stewart Mila Mustakova Sheila Law
Viola
Tom Dunn, Guest Principal Robert Duncan Gregory Aronovich Katharine Leek Benedetto Pollani Susanne Martens Emmanuella Reiter-Bootiman Martina Forni Michelle Bruil Daniel Cornford Isabel Pereira Alistair Scahill
Cello
Kristina Blaumane, Principal Susanne Beer, Co-Principal Francis Bucknall Laura Donoghue
Jonathan Ayling
Chair supported by Caroline, Jamie
and Zander Sharp Gregory Walmsley Santiago Carvalho t Susanna Riddell Tom Roff Helen Rathbone
Bass
Kevin Rundell, Principal Tim Gibbs, Co-Principal Laurence Lovelle George Peniston Richard Lewis Tom Walley Joe Melvin Helen Rowlands
Flute
Jaime Martin, Principal Susan Thomas Stewart Mcllwham
Piccolo
Stewart Mcllwham, Principal
Oboe
Ian Hardwick, Principal Angela Tennick
Janine Jansen
In September 2003, Ms. Jansen received the Dutch Music Prize from the Ministry of Culture-the highest distinction an artist can receive in The Netherlands. She has received numerous other awards including the Edison Klassiek Public Award three times (most recently in 2010), three Echo Klassik awards, the German Record Critics' Award, as well as the NDR Musikpreis for outstanding artistic achievement in 2007. In 2008 she was given the VSCD Klassieke Muziekprijs for individual achievement and in May 2009 she received the RPS Instrumentalist Award for performances in the UK.
Ms. Jansen's outstanding instrument is the "Barrere" by Antonio Stradivari, on extended loan from the Elise Mathilde Foundation.
UMS Archives
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his evening's concert marks the London Philharmonic Orchestra's third appearance under UMS auspices, following its UMS debut in November 1976 under the baton of Maestro Bernard Haitink. The Orchestra most recently appeared in November 2006 with Maestro Alexander Vedernikov and violin soloist Sarah Chang at Hill Auditorium.
UMS welcomes Maestro Vladimir Ju-rowski and Janine Jansen, who make their UMS debuts this evening.
Clarinet
Robert Hill, Principal
Nicholas Carpenter
Bass Clarinet
Paul Richards, Principal
Contrabass Clarinet
Steve Morris
Bassoon
Gareth Newman, Principal Simon Estell Laurence O'Donnell
Horn
John Ryan, Principal Alec Frank-Gemmill Martin Hobbs Mark Vines, Co-Principal Gareth Mollison
Trumpet
Paul Beniston, Principal
Anne McAneney
Chair supported by Geoff and Meg
Mann
Nicholas Betts, Co-Principal Joe Sharp
Trombone
Mark Templeton, Principal David Whitehouse
Bass Trombone
Lyndon Meredith, Principal
Tuba
Lee Tsarmaklis. Principal
Timpani
Simon Carrington, Principal
Percussion
Andrew Barclay, Principal Chair supported by Andrew Davenport
Keith Millar
Oily Yates
Ignacio Molins
Eddy Hackett
Harp
Rachel Masters, Principal Helen Sharp
PianoCelesteOrgan
Catherine Edwards
Holds a professorial appointment
in London t Chevalier of the Brazilian Order of
Rio Branco
Staff
Timothy Walker, Chief Executive and
Artistic Director
Supported by Macquarie Group Jenny Chadwick, Tours and
Engagements Manager Andrew Chenery, Orchestra
Personnel Manager Sarah Thomas, Librarian Michael Pattison, Stage Manager Kenneth Graham, Instrument
Transportation
Columbia Artists Management LLC:
Tour Direction
R. Douglas Sheldon, Senior Vice President
Karen Kloster, Tour Coordinator Dame Kozlowski, Managerial Assistant Ann Woodruff, Tour Manager
urns
presents
Stile Antico
betcol Program
Wednesday Evening, December 7, 2011 at 7:30 St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Ann Arbor
Puer Natus Est
@@@@Plainchant Veni Emmanuel
Thomas Tallis Videte miraculum
William Byrd Tollite portas
Tallis Missa Puer natus est (excerpt) Gloria
Byrd Ave Maria
Robert White Magnificat
INTERMISSION
@@@@John Taverner Audivi vocem de caelo
Tallis Missa Puer natus est (excerpts) Sanctus Benedictus
Byrd Rorate caeli
Tallis Missa Puer natus est (excerpt) Agnus Dei
Byrd Ecce Virgo concipiet
Plainchant Puer natus est
John Sheppard Verbum Caro

28th Performance of the 133rd Annual Season
UMS Voices Series
The photographing or sound and video recording of this concert or possession of any device for such recording is prohibited.
This evening's performance is sponsored by Gary Boren.
Media partnership is provided by WRCJ 90.9 FM.
Stile Antico appears by arrangement with Knudsen Productions.
Large print programs are available upon request.
Puer natus est:
Music for Advent and Christmas
T
he backbone of this program of Advent and Christmas music is Thomas Tallis's extraordinary yet incomplete Christmas mass, Missa Puer natus est. In spite of the work's phenomenal scope, there is no conclusive evidence as to its origin. One attractive theory holds that the mass was first performed by the joint forces of Queen Mary's Chapel Royal and Philip II of Spain's renowned Capilla Flamenca in December 1554 (Philip and Mary had married earlier in the year). It is based on the plainchant Puer natus est nobis--the introit for Christmas Day mass--and it has been suggested that the plainchant may well have held a double entendre for its first hearers, as Mary was at the time erroneously believed to be pregnant with a much-hoped-for heir. The work's lavish and unusual seven-part scoring, and the presence of Flemish influences in Tallis's writing, lend weight to this theory. On the other hand, the question of exactly when the first performance might have taken place presents a problem. We know that such a "joint service" took place at St. Paul's Cathedral on December 2, but that is unlikely to have been the occasion on which this mass was performed: Tallis surely knew the difference between Advent and Christmas, and cared! Furthermore, as one scholar has argued, it seems improbable that Tallis "would have been so insensitive as to use a text beginning "Puer natus est nobis" to celebrate the Queen's rumored pregnancy when the sex of the child, the survival of both child and mother, and the stability of the realm would all have been causes of trepidation rather than rejoicing." '
Whatever the work's original purpose, what is not in doubt is its extraordinary scale, and virtuosic compositional intricacy. The impression it leaves is one of immense grandeur, an effect created at least in part by the steady progression of the cantus firmus, coupled with the almost unbroken use of a seven-part texture throughout. While the manner of his imitation seems to reflect the latest trends of continental composition, the use of a different plainchant melody as a cantus firmus is very much a nod to the conventions of earlier generations. Indeed, Tallis's treatment of the plainchant is governed by an extraordinarily complex quasi-medieval numerological scheme, whereby each note is assigned a value based on its
vowel in the original text. We even hear the melody in retrograde at one point during the mass. This elaborate cantus firmus treatment, Tallis's varied palette of contrapuntal techniques, and the work's carefully proportioned structure together render this magisterial mass setting one of the most strikingly unusual and innovative works of the period.
The second thread running through the program is the group of four Byrd Propers--the seasonal liturgical texts set for Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary during Advent. These come from the Gradualia of 1605, the first of two books in which Byrd set out to provide the recusant Catholic community with a comprehensive array of musical settings of the Mass Propers throughout the year. As was Byrd's custom in Gradualia, these works are models of concision; each one is perfectly proportioned and compellingly individual, yet Byrd develops his musical ideas over a comparatively short space of time, and is as economical with his use of material as he is efficient in his (mostly syllabic) word setting. Nonetheless, his masterful control of texture ensures that each point of imitation is clearly declaimed.
Perhaps it is Byrd's tonal resourcefulness and his genius for striking motivic invention that stands out here, though. 7bfe portas is a prime example of the latter, where the opening point-festive and fanfare-like as the King of Glory is welcomed through the gates of Heaven--gives way to an ascending scale as the psalmist asks "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord" Rorate Caeli is similarly memorable for its persistent ascending and descending motifs--as if to illustrate the believer calling up to the heavens, which, in turn, pour down justice. By contrast, the power of Ecce Virgo is in the awe and wonder created by the unexpected shifts in tonality in the opening passage. These lend a palpable sense of anticipation which is only fulfilled at the final return to the tonic key of c minor as the name of the promised child--"Emmanuel"--is revealed. In Ave Maria Byrd creates another striking effect by effectively interrupting the opening platitudes of the angel's greeting--set to short, graceful phrases in the tonic minor--with an astonishingly luxuriant cadence in the relative major at the claim "the Lord is with thee." It is as if, just for a moment, he involves us deeply in the emotive power of those words, before readopting a more detached contemplative stance; the final alleluias graciously ooze simplicity itself.
The earliest polyphonic work in the program, Taverner's Audivi vocem de caelo follows the common pattern of alternating polyphony and plainchant, and is, liturgically speaking, a responsory for All Saints, though the gospel passage from which the text originates is closely associated with Advent. The piece is striking for its close-knit four-part texture and narrow tessitura, making it particularly suitable for performance by upper voices alone; indeed, there is evidence to suggest that it might have been sung by a quartet of boy trebles. In other respects, the soaring musical language of this piece is very typical of Taverner's style, though there are also some interesting turns--perhaps most notably the bold passing dissonance in the very first phrase of the polyphony, which results in a peculiarly arresting start to the piece.
If Taverner's motet is notable for its narrow compass, the opposite can be said for Robert White's expansive and virtuosic Magnificat, a work which rivals many of John Sheppard's for its huge range--well over three octaves spread over up to six parts. White's consistently inventive musical ideas and his imaginative and varied approach to melodic writing render this work a veritable contrapuntal tour-de-force. Again, plainchant verses alternate with counterpoint, but the contrapuntal verses themselves vary in conception: some are scored for full six-part choir, with the plainsong Magnificat tone sung as a cantus firmus in the tenor; others use smaller configurations of voices requiring subdivision of parts, changing at a chosen point in each verse, affording the composer the opportunity to exploit a wonderful diversity of different textures. At one point the plainchant moves to the mean voice; in others it disappears almost completely, left only as a fragmented memory in some points of imitation.
The remaining two works are both based on a strict monorhythmic cantus firmus according to the old tradition: the plainchant appears in regular semibreves in the tenor voice throughout the polyphonic sections of the piece, which alternate with plainchant. The two composers, however, create startlingly different works. Videte miraculum is one of Tallis's most sublime: through careful control of texture and harmonic rhythm, lulling use of repetition on several levels, and a masterfully paced development of motifs, Tallis's motet effuses an extraordinary sense of rapt adoration, stillness, and mystery; to hear it is to
stand awestruck before a fine painting of the Virgin and Child. In Verbum Cam, by contrast, Sheppard creates a radiant and sensuously enveloping sound-world spanning a huge vocal range, characterized by thrilling harmonic turns, his uniquely quirky approach to part-writing, and some truly daring sonorities. Never one to sacrifice a thrilling effect on the altar of contrapuntal integrity, Sheppard calls upon his trebles to divide into a three-part gymel at the very end of the polyphony, in order to finish on a glorious eight-part chord.
1 David Humphreys, "Tallis's Sustipe quaeso," Early Music XXVIII no. 3 (August 2000), 508.
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tile Antico is an ensemble of young British singers, now established as one of the most original and exciting voices in its field. Much in demand in concert, the group performs regularly throughout Europe and North America. Their recordings on the Harmonia Mundi label have enjoyed great success, winning awards including the Diapason d'or de I'annee and the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik, and have twice attracted Grammy Award nominations. Their recent release, Song of Songs, won the 2009 Gramophone Award for Early Music and reached the top of the US classical chart.
Working without a conductor, the members of Stile Antico rehearse and perform as chamber musicians, each contributing artistically to the musical result. Their performances have repeatedly been praised for their vitality and commitment, expressive lucidity, and imaginative response to text. Stile Antico's repertoire ranges from the glorious legacy of the English Tudor composers to the works of the Flemish and Spanish schools and the music of the early Baroque. They are regularly invited to lead courses at Dartington International Summer School, and their commitment to educational work has been recognized through generous funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Stile Antico's recent engagements include debuts at the BBC Proms; the Amsterdam Concertgebouw; early music festivals in Boston, Bruges, Barcelona, and Utrecht; and at the Cervantino Festival in Mexico. The group has toured extensively with Sting, appearing across
Europe, Australia, and the Far East as part of his Dowland project Songs from the Labyrinth. In 2011, Stile Antico made its debut at London's Wigmore Hall, appeared at leading festivals throughout Europe, and toured twice in the US.
UMS Archives
T
his evening's performance marks Stile Antico's second UMS appearance. The ensemble made its UMS debut in October 2009 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.
Stile Antico
Soprano
Helen Ashby Kate Ashby Rebecca Hickey
Alto
Emma Ashby Eleanor Harries Kathy Nicholson
Tenor
Jim Clements Andrew Griffiths Benedict Hymas
Bass
James Arthur Will Dawes Oliver Hunt Ed Elias