Program Notes
Copland
LINCOLN PORTRAIT
Program Notes by Barbara A. Renton
JOSEPH HAYDN
Symphony No. 45, in F# minor, “Farewell”
(Franz) Joseph Haydn (Ruhrau, Austria, 1732 - Vienna , 1809), was a
composer whose works developed and exemplified what we know as “Classical”music,
particularly his string quartets, sonatas and symphonies – although he also
composed oratorios, operas, etc. in great abundance.
From basic training as a choirboy in St. Stephen's church in Vienna,
Haydn was largely self-taught as a composer.
His talents got him introduced into aristocratic households, finally
achieving a post of Vice-Kapellmeister (Vice Music Director) and then
Kapellmeister for the court of the
Hungarian Princes Esterházy,
1761-90. At this
large and wealthy court, he was responsible for all musical performances:
rehearsing the players, directing performances, taking care of the instruments,
and composing most of the music for every occasion. Haydn commented: “My prince
was content with all my works, … I could, as head of an orchestra, make
experiments, observe what created an impression, and what weakened it, thus
improving adding to, cutting away, and running risks.
I was set apart from the world ... and so I was forced to become
original.” Haydn's works greatly
influenced the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was quick to offer homage and
praise. Ludwig van Beethoven was one
of his pupils for a short time.
Haydn's musical creations were and are appreciated for their originality,
clarity, fluency, and seemingly inexhaustible thematic invention,
with flashes of humor.
The genesis of Symphony No. 45 is shrouded in myth.
What is definitely true is that the Prince's entire court was spending
the summer at his Hungarian country estate,
Esterháza. One story, which gives the work its name, “Farewell,”
relates how the court musicians complained to Haydn that
the court´s stay in the country was
too long; they wished to go back to their families in Vienna.
Haydn's diplomatic approach to the autocratic Prince was by designing the
last movement to signal that the time had come for departure.
A second story tells that the Prince wished to economize on his court
expenses. Deciding that he didn't
need such a large orchestra (22-24 players), he was preparing to dismiss most of
them. Haydn's last movement
represented in sound the effect of such a move.
Whatever the truth, it was reported that the Prince laughed at the close
of the symphony and told Haydn his point had been made.
This is the only 18th-century symphony written in the key of F# minor. In
Haydn-fashion, the structure of the four movements is clear, but that clarity
allows Haydn some inventive surprises.
The first movement,
Allegro assai, is in sonata form, with the first section, the Exposition,
based mainly on set of several distinct thematic ideas; the whole is immediately
repeated. The second half starts
with a Development section in which the Exposition's themes are played with
melodically and harmonically. It
appears to be going along as expected, until, after a pause, a completely new,
contrasting theme appears: dancelike and delicate – but in an unexpected place.
After a second pause, there is the expected Recapitulation of the first
section. The Development and
Recapitulation are repeated.
The second movement,
Adagio, is in two-part song form: A: BA. Here we find Haydn again playing
with pauses. Every time a pause
occurs (which catches the listener's attention), Haydn follows with something
unexpected. Graceful, gentle
melodies are based on repeated melodic figures played by the strings and
a repeated “sighing” motive is played by the oboes.
In the third movement, Menuetto, Haydn plays with the listener's
expectations of minuet form: Section A, repeated, Section B, repeated, a
contrasting Trio with two parts, C & D, each repeated, with a return to A and B,
no repeats – all in ¾ time. The
“playfulness” in A consists of asymmetrical phrases: instead of 4 + 4, measures,
it is 4 + 6 - the last two measures seem to be “left over.” In B it is 2 + 10
then 4 + 10 + 2 “left over” - the whole made more uncertain by syncopated
rhythms. The Trio, which begins as
expected with the pastoral sound of the horns, also has its own
uncertain moment.
The Finale is in sonata form, an Exposition of three theme groups,
repeated, followed by a short Development and Recapitulation at top speed only
to end on a unison note and a pause.
An unexpected Adagio begins in a new key and meter (3/8); it is
song-like, even bucolic, wandering happily among different keys, until we notice
that instruments are leaving: an oboe and a French horn, then the bassoon,
followed by the other oboe and French horn, then the double bass followed by the
cello, the second violins followed by the viola, leaving finally only the two
first violins, playing with mutes on, to bring the symphony to a close on a
drooping, energy-fading, staccato whisper.
AARON COPLAND
Lincoln Portrait
Aaron Copland was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1900 of Jewish immigrant
parents and died in North Tarrytown (Sleepy Hollow), NY in 1990.
He was a pianist, teacher, writer on music, and a conductor but
celebrated above all as a composer.
Copland, after exploring the possibilities of jazz, found in American folk music
and the music of early and nineteenth-century American culture a source of much
of his inspiration. His ballet music
for Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and Appalachian Spring, all of
which he later set for concert performance, gave American audiences a sense of
shared heritage: cowboy songs, fiddle tunes, and the now ubiquitous Shaker tune,
“Simple Gifts.” Copland's output
includes Latin American themes and rhythms (El
salón
México), and all genres:
keyboard, choral, opera, song, symphonies and film music (The Red Pony, Of
Mice and Men). He was active in
founding institutions that furthered American contemporary music.
Lincoln Portrait was one of three compositions commissioned by the
conductor, André Kostelanetz
from three American composers (the other two were Virgil Thomson and Jerome
Kern) – music to encourage American patriotism and unity at the time when World
War II had just been entered by the USA.
As Copland explained: “I was asked to choose a statesman. … Lincoln
appealed very much to me, and so … I found quotations of [his] that I thought
would make him come more alive for an audience and that gave me the idea of
using a speaker.” The first
performance was by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, May 1942; it has since
come to be performed at times of national crisis and remembrance.
Narrators have included William Warfield, Carl Sandburg, Walter Cronkite,
Henry Fonda, Marian Anderson and even Margaret Thatcher!
Lincoln Portrait is composed in three sections without a break.
The first section opens with a rhythmic and melodic “germ” that expands
into an adaptation of the American folksong, “Springfield Mountain,” played
first by the clarinet, but much slower and more expressive than the lively,
comic original. This section portrays a sense of Lincoln's personal
characteristics (simplicity of spirit; thoughtfulness) and a sense of the
mystery and destiny that permeated his life.
The second section commences with the full orchestra in a much faster
tempo - intended to present impressions of 19th-century American life, complete
with carriage sleigh bells, and a quotation from Stephen Foster's “Camptown
Races” (first heard by the oboe) that emerges again and again.
In the third section, Copland attempted to “draw a simple but impressive
frame about the words of Lincoln himself.”
As the orchestra begins “Springfield Mountain” in the manner of a slow
hymn, the narrator speaks stylized words about Lincoln interspersed between
quotations from Lincoln himself. At
the conclusion of the words, the opening theme returns in altered form and the
work ends with a simple trumpet melody and finally a blazing orchestral salute.
DMITRY SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 5, in D minor
Dmitry Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg, 1906 and died in
Moscow, 1975. A piano prodigy with a
prodigious memory for music, he was in the first generation of Russian composers
to complete his entire music education in Russia. He graduated from the
Petrograd Conservatory where he studied piano and composition.
His graduating “piece,” Symphony No. 1, earned him instant fame both at
home and abroad. In his youthful
phase, he composed in many genres, even exploring the possibilities of jazz.
An early opera, The Nose, will be produced at the Metropolitan
Opera this season. Although his
opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (Leningrad, 1934) was a
success, it precipitated the wrath of Josef Stalin.
An article in Pravda (1936), “Chaos instead of Music,” informed
the public of Shostakovich's
betrayal of the Soviet people by his discords, raucous brass writing, neurotic
score and vulgarity, among other criticisms.
The Soviet ideal in the arts meant “socialist realism” which required
monumental scale, a programmatic conception, and a style of heroic classicism.
Shostakovich's answer was his Symphony No. 5 (1937) which satisfied the
Soviet critics, although others felt differently.
From then on - even through the cultural purge of 1948,
he tried to find ways to express his musical ideas in a
culturally-approved way - more in a deep sense of service to his country and
people and less in a wish to avoid danger.
Over his lifetime and beyond, his works: symphonies, chamber music,
ballets, operas, etc., continued to
find international respect and admiration. His film score, Khovanshchina (based
on the music of Mussourgsky, whom he revered) was nominated for an Oscar in
1961. In addition to Mussorgsky,
Shostakovich drew inspiration from Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Mahler, Alban Berg,
Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Beethoven, and just about any music he heard.
In turn, he taught Khachaturian and many others, and through his works
influenced Leonard Bernstein – most notably,“Candide.”
The genesis of the Fifth Symphony has been mentioned above, but its
intrinsic musical value, apart from a political agenda of appeasement, has been
hotly debated. The most severe
critics note that the symphony openly pandered to Stalinist standards in its
strict “Classical” form: four movements, use of sonata form, a slow movement, a
movement in ¾ time (see Haydn's “Menuetto,” above) and a closing fast movement
in a type of heroic colossalism.
More recent studies have demonstrated that it actually embodies in its apparent
acquiescence to a propagandistic formula, a protest-response of the artist to
its shackles artfully disguised by musical means.
Shostakovich's response to the official criticism was this: “The theme of
my symphony is the formation of character.
What I saw at the heart of the intention of this work … was a human
being, with all that humans experience.”
The first movement, Moderato, in sonata form, adheres to the
ideals of Tchaikovsky and Mahler in that it embodies a dramatic struggle.
Using the same technique as Haydn and Copland, Shostakovich begins with a
germinal melodic-rhythmic “gesture” - first a jagged leap up then down
(strings). The second “gesture” consists of a sequence of rapidly descending
notes. Both are elaborated,
encountering snatches of Russian folk song.
Then, as a second subject, the “gestures” smooth out into a broad,
singing theme over a pulsing bass. A
brief allusion to Russian church hymnody can be heard.
Even the great “Russian hymn” is alluded to in menacing tones by the
horns, echoed by the trumpets; later a wicked parody of a military band appears.
The Recapitulation begins with the jagged “gestures” by the full
orchestra in unison. A Coda
(closing) starts with insistent drum beats and the jagged “gesture”in reverse:
down and then up. It is as if the opening “gestures” represent the composer
himself as he encounters his society and then its political vicissitudes - yet
to the end, accompanied by the heavenly sound of the celeste, he continues to
softly, but firmly, sing “his song.”
The second movement, Allegretto, is a Scherzo – in form like a
minuet (see Haydn, above), yet, like Beethoven, playing upon the meaning of the
word “scherzo” which means “joke.”
Although in minuet tempo and meter (¾), there are sly allusions to the Viennese
waltz but with a sardonic twist. In
the first section, begun by the low strings, there are strains of a gypsy tune
underscored by the cymbals and a pompous fanfare-like melody.
Mocking glissandi (slides) abound, but especially in the violin solo that
introduces the Trio. The first
section returns with the bassoons; the trumpets introduce the fanfare theme.
In a closing Coda, the trio theme is played plaintively by the flute only
to be cut off by the whole orchestra playing staccato (clipped) notes. Enough!
The third movement, Largo, is the expected slow, song-like
movement. It is an intricate set of
themes and variations that explores the sonorities and interactions of strings
and woodwinds; the brass section is silent.
There is an introductory “chorale,” then theme A (1st
violins); theme B (flute with harp accompaniment); chorale variation (strings)
that builds short of a climax; theme C (oboe); themes C, A, and chorale in a
variation; chorale variation (clarinet, bassoons, then oboes), theme A,
variation (full strings + woodwinds, fortissimo); themes C+A+chorale, variation
(cellos, woodwinds), theme C variation (strings with mutes), theme B, variation
(harp, strings); closing (harp, celeste).
The fourth movement, Allegro non troppo, is the one that created
the most controversy. On the
surface, it seems to embody the kind of heroic bombast so valued by the cultural
climate – thus, a “copout”- but it can be heard as a personal commentary on that
standard. The work is in rondo form
(repeated returns of the musical ideas of the first section after each
contrasting section) – the type of rondo used by Classical composers in which
the contrasting sections are variations of the rondo theme(s).
It begins with a full orchestral crescendo on a d-minor chord (with only
a whisper of the “minor”sound) – immediately followed by a timpani ostinato –
familiar to anyone who has heard Richard Strauss' tone poem, Also sprach
Zarathustra (the “2001 – a Space Odyssey” film theme).
Is Shostakovich slyly alluding to Nietsche's themes: A journey of
self-mastery? An alternative to
repressive moral codes? The Übermensch
who becomes the transfigurer of the creative force - Shostakovich himself?
The final section – an apotheosis – offers a clue.
The rondo theme is announced
by the lower brass - a heroic melody gesturing upwards, then downwards (alluding
to the opening gestures?) There are approximately 15 sections using either this
theme or some variant, each section demarcated by different sections of the
orchestra, different rhythms, different textures.
But three of the sections appear to introduce new themes: the first one
played by a solo trumpet; the second by a solo horn, and the third by a solo
flute. The last rondo theme return
is played by the trumpets with the full orchestra joining in a tremendous
crescendo – exploding into the “apotheosis” ending in the unexpected, blazing
key of D major! The rondo theme is
heard again by trumpets and trombones, cutting through the full orchestra's
insistence on the same note “D” while the timpani “2001” ostinato pulses
underneath – and has the last word.
©Barbara A. Renton, Domus Musicae Slavicae, 2009