Program Notes
Edvard Grieg
In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
Born June 15, 1843 in Bergen, Norway
Composed 1875
Premiered February 24, 1876 in Oslo, Norway
Duration 3 minutes
Edvard Grieg was an avowed nationalist. He was very specific about it. He did not write Scandinavian music; he wrote Norwegian music! He was a friend of writers such as Bjƶrnson and Ibsen, and wrote incidental music to the latter’s Peer Gynt. He wrote some twenty-three separate numbers for Peer Gynt, and the music was so popular, he was persuaded to select some for a suite. The play is full of high drama, adventure, tragedy, and comedy all mashed into one. Grieg’s characteristically clean music perfectly fits the strong Norwegian feel and ideas of the play, and breathes life into the moods and episodes. Peer Gynt is the hero. He’s the typical Norwegian scoundrel: lazy, indulgent, and impetuous, who dreams of being the ruler of the world. The play charts his entire life of dreams, travels, and crimes. “In the Hall of the Mountain King” refers to an event in Scandinavia when Peer is beset by mountain trolls, and makes such a clamor that the mountain comes tumbling down on the trolls and saves him. ā James R. C. Adams
Nkeiru Okoye
Phillis Wheatley: A Musical Journey
Born July 18, 1972, New York, NY
Composed: 2005, revised 2022
Duration: 23 minutes
The work was commissioned by the Boston Landmarks Orchestra to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Phillis Wheatley’s first book of poetry. The piece is an orchestral work with a narrator, subtitled as a “narrated orchestral showcase in the style of Peter and the Wolf”. The piece narrates the life of Phillis Wheatley, the first published Black American female poet. It covers her life in Senegal, her kidnapping and sale into slavery, her arrival in Boston, and her eventual rise to fame as a respected poet. Different musical instruments and themes are used to represent the various people and events in Wheatley’s life. Influences: Okoye drew from musical genres and styles that Wheatley would have been familiar with, creating an eclectic tapestry that represents the poet’s world. The piece is designed to be engaging, teaching about both the orchestra and Phillis Wheatley’s life.
Camille Saint-Saƫns
āThe Swanā from Carnival of the Animals
Born October 9, 1835
Composed February 1886, piano version published in in 1887
Premiered: February 25, 1922
Duration 3 minutes
Camille Saint-SaĆ«ns occupies a pivotal place in the history of French music. His numerous compositions include works in every genre, and, stylistically, his music bridges the gap between Berlioz and Debussy. Through his many instrumental works, Saint-SaĆ«ns expanded the boundaries of French music to include a broad array of orchestral and chamber works, thus raising the profile of French music internationally. Saint-SaĆ«ns wanted his music to outlive him, and to be remembered as a significant composer. Ironically, he is best known today for his Carnival of the Animals, a satirical āwitty fantasy burlesque,ā in the words of a colleague, and one he refused to have published during his lifetime, fearing it would tarnish his reputation as a writer of āseriousā music. (Interestingly, Saint-SaĆ«ns also stipulated in his will that Carnival be published after his death; Durand brought out the first edition in 1922). Originally written for two pianos and chamber ensemble, Carnival of the Animals has delighted children and adults for more than a century. Excerpts from Carnival have also entered popular culture through classic cartoons, films, and television commercials. In 1885, Saint-SaĆ«ns embarked on an extensive concert tour of Germany, but his well-publicized negative opinions on the music of Richard Wagner enraged German audiences, and many of Saint-SaĆ«ns scheduled concerts were abruptly cancelled. In January 1886, Saint-SaĆ«ns took himself off to an out-of-the-way Austrian village to rest and recover. While there, Saint-SaĆ«ns amused himself by writing a humorous, satirical suite, each movement depicting a different animal. The Swan is the only movement from Carnival that Saint-SaĆ«ns allowed to be published during his lifetime, in an arrangement for piano and cello. The pianoās graceful, understated arpeggios support the celloās fluid unbroken melody as the swan glides with seeming effortlessness over the waters of a still pond.ā
Leroy Anderson
The Typewriter
Born June 29, 1908
Composed October 9, 1950
Premiered September 8, 1953
Duration 3 minutes
The piece is a short composition of light music by American composer Leroy Anderson, which features an actual typewriter as a percussion instrument. Anderson completed “The Typewriter” on October 9, 1950 in Woodbury, Connecticut. “The Typewriter” received its first performance on September 8, 1953 during a recording Anderson and the Boston Pops Orchestra made in New York City for Decca Records. Anderson composed the melody for symphony and pops orchestras; William Zinn and Floyd Werle arranged it for string orchestras and wind bands respectively. Its name refers to the fact that its performance requires a typewriter, while using three basic typewriter sounds: the sound of typing, the “ring” of the carriage return indicating an approaching end-of-line (a standard desk bell is used for it), and the sound of the typewriterās carriage returning. In some cases the sound of the typewriterās carriage returning is made by a desk bell. In the original performances, the typewriter was modified so that only two keys work to prevent the keys from jamming. According to the composer himself, as well as other musicians, the typewriter part is difficult because of how fast the typing speed is: even professional stenographers cannot do it, and only professional drummers have the necessary wrist flexibility. It has been called one of “the wittiest and most clever pieces in the orchestral repertoire”. Author Steve Metcalf has written that “Despite the almost total disappearance of typewriters in everyday life, the statistics show that “The Typewriter” is still a favorite Anderson item.”
Thom Ritter George
Concerto for Bass Trombone
Born June 23, 1842, Detroit Michigan
Composed 1964
Premiered March 18,1964
Duration 10 minutes
Thom Ritter George’s Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra was completed in 1964 for George’s friend Robert Brawn, who gave the first performance with the Eastman-Rochester Symphony Orchestra. The score bears the dedication “To Emory Remington and Robert S. Brawn: the Master and his pupil.” Mr. Remington, the legendary trombone professor at the Eastman School, befriended Dr. George during his student days and exposed the composer to the beauty of fine trombone performances, both in solos and in ensembles. The Concerto for Bass Trombone is written in one movement comprising four major sections. The music opens with a quiet introduction for divided strings. Here, the scale-like theme which is to dominate the score is played by the low strings. The solo bass trombone repeats and then expands this main theme. The second section is a spirited “Allegro” showing the virtuoso qualities of the bass trombone, particularly large leaps into the low range. The orchestral climax of the “Allegro” leads to a cadenza played by the solo instrument. The last measures of the cadenza lead directly to the final section, a fugue, begun by the bass trombone, answered by the instruments of the brass section, and eventually taken up by the whole orchestra. The concerto has become a standard work in the bass trombone repertoire.
Hector Berlioz
March to the Scaffold and Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath from Symphonie Fantastique
Born December 11, 1803, La CƓte-Saint-AndrƩ Commune, France
Composed 1830
Premiered December 5, 1830
Duration 15 minutes
Symphonie Fantastique is the result of Hector Berlioz’s intense infatuation with a pretty British actress named Harriet Smithson. She had come to Paris to perform in a Shakespeare play. Berlioz, who idolized Shakespeare, eagerly went to see the production, and was smitten. But this was not just any infatuation. Berlioz exemplified the ardently irrepressible genius that was the driving force of French Romanticism; and his new-found muse inspired him to create one of the most historically influential works in the entire symphonic repertoire. Berlioz took Beethoven’s idea from the Pastoral Symphony — that is, to tell a continuous story in a multi-movement symphonic form — and exploited it fully. He expanded the traditional four movement symphony into a five movement structure, and united the whole work with a recurring musical motive that he called the idĆ©e fixe. This motive, to him, exemplified the grace and beauty of his Beloved. He also united the work by creating a story that links the movements.
The fourth movement, March to the Scaffold, recreates a scene from the French Revolution. The protagonist dreams that he has been sentenced to death for killing his Beloved. The Beloved theme appears only briefly in this movement in a humorous transformation scored comically for the E-flat clarinet as though the Beloved has come back to mock his fate. The music graphically portrays a mob scene that concludes with the protagonist’s death; he is guillotined and his head bounces into a waiting basket with pizzicato precision while the crowd shouts wild approval.
The first section of the final movement, Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath, includes the Beloved’s melody, which is now distorted and vulgarized by the clarinets. Distant bells announce the movement’s second section, in which bassoons and tuba play the hauntingly recognizable Dies irae chant from the Gregorian Mass for the Dead. The third section is a macabre dance of the witches, a fantastic yet frightening fugue. The final section melds ominous statements of the apocalyptic Dies irae with the theme from the fugal witches’ dance — light and darkness in a duel of wills. The idĆ©e fixe makes its final appearance, transformed into a cheap musichall tune as the figure of the Beloved assumes center-stage in the witches’ sabbath celebration, mocking the protagonist’s misplaced passion and miserable fate. ā Beth Fleming