Program Notes by Jim Yancy
ETSO Concert of April 24, 2010
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Les Preludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3
Franz Liszt is best remembered as a virtuoso of the piano and the composer of some of the most beautiful, and difficult, pieces ever written for that instrument. It is in the tone poems that he achieved his greatest fame as an orchestral composer, and the most celebrated of these is his Les Preludes. It was named after a 375-line ode – Meditations poetiques - published in 1823 by French poet Alphonse de Lamartine. Liszt prefaced the score with a passage from Lamartine which offers an explanation for the title: “What is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown song, the first solemn note of which is sounded by Death? The enchanted dawn of every existence is heralded by Love, yet in whose destiny are not the first throbs of happiness interpreted by storms whose violent blasts dissipate his fond illusions, consuming his altar with fatal fire? And where is to be found the cruelly bruised soul, that having become the sport of one of these tempests does not seek oblivion in the sweet quiet of rural life? Nevertheless, man seldom resigns himself to the beneficient calm which at first chained him to Nature’s bosom. No sooner does the trumpet sound the alarm than he runs to the post of danger, be the war what it may that summons him to its ranks. For there he will find again in the struggle complete self-realization and the full possession of his forces.”
The moods of the four main sections of the poem – love, destiny, war, and the countryside – correspond to the mood and order of the music. The love section is a sweet and melancholy violin and cello treatment of the main theme. Destiny is characterized by a stormy allegro. The pastoral countryside is depicted by harp and horn figures, and the war is reflected by a march. A final grand statement of the main theme brings the work to a stirring conclusion.
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, op. 11
Allegro
Andante
Allegro
Richard Strauss’s father, Franz, was one of the greatest horn players of his day, having served for 17 years as principal horn of the Bavarian Court Orchestra in Munich. He was much praised by the the likes of Richard Wagner and the conductor Hans von Bulow. His son, Richard, grew up naturally surrounded by the sound of his father’s horn playing which in no small measure accounts for passages of breathtaking virtuosity in many of his orchestral scores, including Til Eulenspiegel and Don Juan, not to mention the great opera scores for Der Rosenkavalier and Salome. In addition, he wrote two concertos for horn, the Concerto No. 1 written when he was 18 years of age. Franz never performed it in public and reportedly complained during home performances with his son at the piano that the work had too many high notes.
The three movements of the concerto are played as a single uninterrupted span. It opens with a rousing horn-call which also forms the basis of the last movement’s rondo theme and draws together the whole work. The elegant style of the slow movement with its broad, flowing solo has been likened in mood to Mendelssohn’s music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the exuberant finale is quite reminiscent of Mozart.
Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64
Andante - Allegro con anima – Molto più traquillo
Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza
Valse: Allegro moderato
Finale: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace
Tchaikovsky spent the winter months of 1887-88 making an international tour, enjoying his fame and being the center of attention wherever he went. When he returned to Russia in May, he moved into a new country home where he enjoyed walks in the woods, working in his garden, and generally luxuriating in the beauty, peace and quiet of nature. Inevitably he felt the need to resume composing, and during the spring and summer months, he turned to work on the Fifth symphony. Unlike what he had done for the Fourth, he left behind no detailed program except fragmented notes in which he indicated that like the Fourth, the Fifth would be concerned with Fate. Although he seemed pleased while working on the Fifth, after having conducted it in St. Petersburg and Prague, he had his doubts that it could in any way be as successful as the Fourth. Of course, as we now know, it ranks with the Pathetique, his sixth symphony, as his two most popular symphonies. It is a work of exceptional beauty and grace, albeit tinged with that strong Russian melancholy which is so much a hallmark of Tchaikovsky’s persona.
The first movement begins with the “Fate” theme heard in the clarinets, a theme which will return in the other three movements as something relentless and inescapable. After the introduction, the principal theme begins gently in the clarinets and bassoons over a swaying figure in the strings.
The second movement features a romantic melody for solo horn which Andre Kostelanetz and two Tin Pan Alley lyricists appropriated for “Moon Love,” a hit song in 1939. A second romantic melody follows in the oboe, and a third theme, reminiscent of a Russian folk song, appears in the solo clarinet, beginning calmly, but soon becoming quite excited. The full orchestra interrupts with a statement of the Fate motive.
In place of the usual scherzo, the always innovative Tchaikovsky uses a waltz for the third movement. It is music strongly reminiscent of his ballet music, but once again the Fate motive returns somewhat ominously in clarinets and bassoons toward the end. In the finale, the Fate motive pervades the music beginning with a proud and triumphant statement by the strings. There is a second lyric theme which gives some respite, but the Fate theme returns in the brass and the mood is again stormy. After a dramatic false ending, the coda features the Fate motive triumphantly bringing the symphony to a close.