| America the Beautiful | Samuel A. Ward (1848-1903) |
| Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437 (The Emperor Waltzes) | Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) |
| Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin | Richard Wagner (1813-1883) |
| The Moldau | Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) |
| Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 | Edward Elgar (1857-1934) |
| INTERMISSION | |
| Overture to Nabucco | Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) |
| Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34, movements 4 & 5 Scena e canto gitano and Fandango asuriano | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) |
| “Morning Mood” from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 | Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) |
| Marche Militaire Française | Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) |
| “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) |
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Musicians performing in today’s concert
Program Notes by Ava McDowell
America the Beautiful – Samuel Ward/Katharine Bates
Wellesley College English professor Katharine Lee Bates traveled by train to teach at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. The sights along the way, and the view of the plains from Pikes Peak, inspired her to pen the poem Pikes Peak, which she published in The Congregationalist on July 4, 1895. Bates amended the original in 1904, and again in 1911.
The first known melody to Bates’ poem was by Silas Pratt. Within five years, the poem had been set to at least 75 different melodies. Church organist at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, NJ, Samuel A. Ward composed Materna in 1882 as a new melody for the old hymn, O Mother Dear, Jerusalem. Bates’ poem was set to Ward’s music in 1910, retitled America the Beautiful, and is second only to The Star-Spangled Banner as America’s most patriotic song.
Numerous attempts have been made over the years to give America the Beautiful legal status either as the National Hymn or as a replacement for The Star-Spangled Banner. None have been successful.
Emperor Waltzes – Johann Strauss II
In 1800s Vienna, balls were the place to be. Over half of the citizens of Vienna attended at least one of over 800 balls held annually. The Strauss family were the ‘stars of the show,’ with the music of Johann Sr. and his three sons comprising almost half of the most popular dance music of the day. The most famous was Johann Jr., also known as The Waltz King (much to the dismay of his jealous father, but that is for another time).
Of Johann Strauss II, a theater director commented in 1896, “For 50 years, Johann Strauss’s music has been present at almost every joyous function in the civilized world.” One of those events was the jubilee celebrating Franz-Josef’s fortieth anniversary as emperor and his friendship with German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1889.
The Emperor Waltzes (Kaiser-Walzer) is a blend of diplomacy and storytelling wrapped in elegance. Originally entitled Hand in Hand, the waltz toasts both the friendship of the two monarchs and the music of the countries they represent.
The waltz opens with a stately Prussian-style march that flows into a graceful cello solo to introduce the first waltz. Strauss then modulates through various keys as the music dances from one waltz theme to the next.
Themes one and two are typical Viennese waltzes. Theme three is reflective of Franz-Josef’s military career. The final theme is a ländler, an Austrian folk dance considered the precursor to the waltz. The coda recalls the cello solo and first and third themes with a tinge of nostalgia. The waltz concludes with a triumphant brass flourish and drumroll fit for an imperial celebration.
Prelude Act 3 of Lohengrin – Wagner
The romantic opera Lohengrin was composed in 1848; however, its premiere had to be delayed by two years. Composer Richard Wagner was active among socialist German nationalists in Dresden and regularly in the company of many well-known revolutionaries. After playing a minor supporting role in the May Uprising in 1849, a warrant was issued for his arrest on May 16, and he fled to Paris. Eventually settling in Zurich, Wagner desperately wrote to his friend Franz Liszt, begging him to stage the opera in his absence. Liszt consented and conducted the premiere in Weimar in August 1850.
The story of Lohengrin is based on a medieval German story of the same name and is part of the Knight of the Swan tradition. Elsa prays for a champion to save her from Telremund, who is accusing her of killing her brother, Gottfried. A knight in shining armor appears, saves the day, and proposes marriage with the rule that she can never ask his name or his birthplace. Prior to their wedding, Telremund arrives with his wife, Ortrud, to plant seeds of doubt in Elsa’s mind in hopes of gaining her title as closest relative.
The king intervenes, and Elsa weds the knight. After a time, doubts creep in and she asks the forbidden question just as Telremund and Ortrud come to take revenge. Telremund is killed. The knight reveals that he is Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail, and must now return there, out of sight of all, forever.
As Lohengrin boards his magic swan, Ortrud is pleased until the swan transforms into Gottfried. Ortrud, a pagan witch who turned Gottfried into the swan in the first place, dies from shock. Elsa, seeing her husband sail away, dies from grief.
(Note: Contrary to popular belief, the Prelude to Act 3 is the actual wedding celebration, while the familiarly named Bridal Chorus is actually the wedding night.)
The brass, with help from the bassoons, kick off the party with a blazing fanfare driven by a pulsing tremolo in the strings to add to the excitement. As a reminder that this is a wedding and not just a party, Wagner shifts gears with a beautiful oboe melody that ushers in the famous Bridal March. The brass burst back on the scene to conclude the celebration.
The Moldau – Smetana
Born in Leitomischl, Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) on March 2, 1824, Bedrich Smetana is considered the founder of Czech nationalist music. He was a gifted child prodigy, playing in a string quartet at the age of five and playing the piano for the Emperor of Austria a year later.
As a young man, Smetana became a concert pianist, taught music, and opened his own music school. At age 42 he was appointed conductor of the Prague Provisional Theatre. Smetana was the first Czech composer to openly incorporate history, legend, and folk music into his work.
By 1874, Smetana’s activities as composer, conductor, teacher, critic, administrator, and advocate had put him at the head of his country’s musical life as the director of the Prague Opera. The same year, however, he began to lose his hearing, resigned his position, and turned his focus to composing. The result was two nationalistic symphonic poems, Vyšehrad and Vltava, that eventually evolved into a monumental six-part cycle glorifying the Czech nation. Finished in 1879, Má vlast (My Fatherland) was first performed as a complete cycle in 1882. Smetana dedicated it to the city of Prague, where it was warmly received. For The Moldau, Smetana used tone painting to evoke the sounds of one of Bohemia’s great rivers.
In his own words: “The composition describes the course of the Vltava, starting from the two small springs, the Cold and Warm Vltava, to the unification of both streams into a single current, the course of the Vltava through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer’s wedding is celebrated, the round dance of the mermaids in the night’s moonshine: on the nearby rocks loom proud castles, palaces, and ruins aloft. The Vltava swirls into the St John’s Rapids; then it widens and flows toward Prague, past the Vyšehrad, and then majestically vanishes into the distance, ending at the Labe (or Elbe, in German).”
Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 – Elgar
Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, one of the most instantly recognizable classical works, is part of a set of six marches commissioned by the publishing house Boosey (today known as Boosey & Hawkes) and published between 1901 and 1930. The sixth march was unfinished at the time of Elgar’s death in 1934.
The title was taken from the last line of the monologue in Shakespeare’s Othello, Act 3, Scene 3, in which Othello says farewell to his profession as a soldier and the “Pride, pomp, and circumstance of war.”
The march was sketched in June 1901 and completed in July; however, the central theme had been composed earlier. Dora Penny recounted a visit with the Elgars in May 1901, where Elgar told her, “I’ve got a tune that will knock ‘em flat!”
The march opens with an energetic military theme that subsides to the most beloved of all graduation themes, the lush and lyrical trio section, before the march returns to close with grandeur.
Dedicated to conductor A.E. Rodewald and the Liverpool Orchestral Society, it was premiered on October 19, 1901, with Elgar at the baton. Several days later, Henry Wood conducted its London premiere.
Wood described the scene: “The people simply rose and yelled. I had to play it again – with the same result. In fact, they refused to let me go on with the programme. Merely to restore order, I played the march a third time. That, I may say, was the one and only time in the history of the Promenade concerts that an orchestral item was accorded a double encore.”
The trio section was adapted to become Britain’s second national anthem, Land of Hope and Glory, with lyrics by A.C. Benson on the occasion of King Edward VII’s coronation and at the request of contralto Clara Butt in 1902. Yale began the graduation tradition in 1905, and it continues today at colleges, high schools, and even pre-schools in the US.
Overture to Nabucco – Verdi
In every famous composer’s career, there is one composition that moves them from an “average Joe composer” into stardom. For Giuseppe Verdi, it was his third opera. Composed in 1841 and premiered at La Scala on March 9, 1842, Nabucco is based on the sixth-century biblical account of the Hebrew captivity in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar.
Following the tragic deaths of his wife and two children in 1840, the heartbroken Verdi had determined never to compose again. When La Scala impresario Bartolomeo Merelli persuaded him to take home the libretto to Nabicondonosor, Verdi reluctantly did so.
When he arrived home, in frustration, he threw the libretto on the table. The book lay open to the words: “Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate” (Go, thought, on wings of gold). As he continued to read the story inspired by the Book of Jeremiah, he was drawn deeper into the libretto until he felt compelled to set the story to music.
The overture was composed almost as an afterthought at the suggestion of Verdi’s brother-in-law. The overture sets the tone for the opera’s primary themes of oppression, faith, longing, and liberation.
The overture opens with a solemn brass chorale representing the faith and longing of the Hebrews. A snappy staccato theme, punctuated by the snare, represents the tension and conflict between Babylonian and Hebrew forces. The famous Va, pensiero theme’s haunting melody is the centerpiece of the overture before swirling into a celebration of liberation, complete with musical fireworks.
Nabucco propelled Verdi onto the national stage. He commented, “This is the opera with which my artistic career really begins. And though I had many difficulties to fight against, it is certain that Nabucco was born under a lucky star.” Va, pensiero became the unofficial anthem of the Italian independence movement, seen as a symbol of hope and unity. At Verdi’s funeral, attendees spontaneously began singing the chorus.
Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
In his autobiography My Musical Life, Rimsky-Korsakov recalled that in 1886 he had been pleased with the Fantasy on Russian Themes, for violin and orchestra, which he had composed that year, “and took it into my head to write another virtuoso piece for violin and orchestra, this time on Spanish themes.
However, after making a sketch of it, I gave up that idea and decided instead to compose an orchestral piece with virtuoso instrumentation. [This piece] was to glitter with dazzling colors… the opinion formed by both critics and the public, that the Capriccio is a magnificently orchestrated piece, is wrong. The Capriccio is a brilliant composition for the orchestra.”
The change of timbres, the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns, exactly suiting each kind of instrument, brief virtuoso cadenzas for solo instruments, the rhythm of the percussion instruments, and so on, constitute the very essence of the composition and not its garb or orchestration. The Spanish themes, of dance character, furnished me with rich material for putting in use multiform orchestral effects.
Peter Tchaikovsky was a good friend of Rimsky-Korsakov’s and had seen the score before the work’s premiere. He ended a letter to the composer with the declaration, “that your ‘Spanish Capriccio’ is a colossal masterpiece of instrumentation, and you may regard yourself as the greatest master of the present day.” The day after the premiere, Tchaikovsky sent him the gift of a silver laurel wreath.
The musicians in the orchestra of the Imperial Russian Opera were even more enthusiastic than Tchaikovsky, constantly interrupting rehearsals to applaud Rimsky-Korsakov, much to his embarrassment.
At the premiere on October 31, 1887, the enthralled audience demanded a full repetition as soon as the first performance ended. When the score was published, the composer saw to it that the dedication was not merely to the orchestra as a collective body, but to every single one of the musicians by name.
Rimsky-Korsakov often referred to this work when discussing conductors and conducting. In his opinion, it was of vital importance that the orchestra enjoy playing a work. He held that his own premiere of Capriccio went exceptionally well not because of him, but because the players liked the work. Audiences continue to share that opinion.
Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 – Greig
Edvard Grieg is known for his ability to convey the beauty of a Norwegian landscape while simultaneously drawing on the listener’s emotions. It is nearly impossible to think of a Norwegian sunrise, or any sunrise, without hearing the opening melody to Grieg’s Morning Mood playing in your mind.
Interestingly, the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 is not about any part of Norway. Morning Mood’s setting is sunrise in the Moroccan desert, where Gynt is carving a reed pipe while admiring the sunrise.
The piece opens with a delicate melody played by the flute and oboe over softly shimmering strings, evoking the first rays of sunlight where possibilities await. A gentle swell raises the sun until the music, and the morning mist, fade into day.
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 was composed in 1875 as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play and appears in Act IV. Morning Mood has since taken on an identity of its own, and its opening melody is one of the most recognizable in both classical music and pop culture.
Marche Militaire Française – Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns was born in Paris on October 9, 1835, and by the age of three it was clear that he was something special. Gifted with perfect pitch, he began giving small piano performances at the age of five, making his debut at the tender age of ten, all while excelling in school.
Music critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote, “It is not generally realized that he was the most remarkable child prodigy in history, and that includes Mozart.” At the age of thirteen, he entered the Paris Conservatory, where he was encouraged to study the organ and, shortly after, composition. Within five years he would win first prize for organists and first prize for his composition, Ode à Sainte-Cécile.
His first post was as organist at Paris’ ancient church at Saint-Merri while he continued to successfully pursue the dual careers of composer and pianist. Unlike many, Saint-Saëns did not find teaching to his liking, yet his short teaching career, like his compositions, had a profound influence on music thanks to his two most prominent pupils: Gabriel Fauré and Maurice Ravel.
Saint-Saëns’ passion for music led to his second passion: travel. During his life, he made 179 trips to 27 countries, and while his career took him to Germany and England frequently, his favorite vacation spot was Algiers.
Saint-Saëns composed Marche Militaire Française in 1880 as the patriotic finale to the Suite Algérienne, Op. 60. Where the first three movements depicted the culture and landscape of Algiers, the final movement is a crisp French military march.
Saint-Saëns added a brief description to each movement: Back in Algiers. In the picturesque Moorish bazaars and cafes, here one hears the redoubled step of a French regiment, whose warlike accents contrast with the bizarre rhythms and languid melodies of the Orient.
The suite premiered in Paris on December 19, 1880, under the baton of Edouard Colonne. It was as beloved then as it is nearly 150 years later.
Ode to Joy from Symphony No. 9 – Beethoven (1770–1827)
Every person on the face of the earth leaves a legacy behind them. Some give it not a moment’s thought, while others ponder how they want to shape that legacy. Beethoven was firmly in the latter group. At the age of 47, he had lost his hearing, lost any hope for having a wife and family, and was beginning to feel his mortality. He reflected on this in his journal, “before my departure for the Elysian fields I must leave behind me what the Eternal Spirit has infused into my soul and bids me complete.”
As early as the 1790s, Beethoven had considered setting to music Friedrich Schiller’s An die Freude, a controversial poem that he had read as a teenager shortly after its publication in 1786. In 1812, Beethoven began jotting down ideas for a setting of the poem, with musical material for the Ninth appearing in the composer’s sketchbooks as early as 1815, and drafts for the scherzo movement were in place by 1818.
The premiere performance on May 7, 1824, is the stuff of legends. Completely deaf, he insisted on conducting this performance. At the end of the finale, a soloist had to turn Beethoven around so that he could see the thunderous applause that he could not hear. It was the greatest concert triumph of his career.
The Ninth Symphony became a benchmark for composers virtually overnight. To some extent, it remains so. It is theorized that this symphony was the first step toward the “gigantization of the symphony,” a process culminating in Gustav Mahler’s concept of the symphony as something that should “embrace the whole universe.”
The Ninth was revolutionary for its time. Beethoven’s deafness freed him of the constraints of sound, and he was able to explore tonal combinations that would test the limits of comprehension. While using the definition of Classical form, it pushes that form, molding it into new shapes of sound that challenge our expectations.
For example, the first movement’s “anti-scherzo” takes the 18th century’s square scherzo-trio form to new heights; it uses our knowledge of this ancient structure to create a dark romp whose ironic humor strives toward Shakespearean heights.
Both the Adagio and the famous choral finale follow the theme-and-variations form just closely enough to lend familiarity to what might seem otherworldly to the ear of an ordinary listener. The extremes of this work—innovation with tradition, complex yet simple, expressive and plain—all residing joyfully together, are Beethoven’s legacy. This is very much in the spirit of the Schiller poem used in the finale: All men become brothers under Joy’s gentle wings.
Stars and Stripes Forever – Sousa
John Philip Sousa, born in Washington D.C. in 1854, is an American musical icon. Composer of operettas, symphonic poems, and orchestral suites, he is best known for the more than 100 marches he composed, earning him the title The March King.
At age 14, Sousa joined the US Marine Band. He served there for 12 years, composing his first march, The Gladiator, before leaving to form his own band in 1880. A gifted showman, his band soon became one of the most popular in the world, allowing him to promote the march as its own musical genre through his pioneering use of recording and radio.
With patriotic themes, memorable melodies, and driving rhythms, Sousa’s marches have been used in all facets of entertainment, sporting events, and patriotic celebrations. Sousa died in 1932 in Reading, PA, at the age of 77.
The most famous and beloved of all Sousa’s marches is the 1896 composition The Stars and Stripes Forever. An Act of Congress in 1987 declared it the National March of the United States.
Sousa related that he wrote the march on Christmas Day while sailing home from a vacation in Europe, where he learned of the death of Sousa Band manager David Blakely. Composed entirely in his head, Sousa put the notes on paper when he arrived home.
Sousa explained that the three themes of the final trio represent the three regions of the United States. North is represented by the main theme, South by the piccolo obligato, and West by the trombone countermelody. The climax of the march represents the Union itself as the three themes unite.
An interesting fact is that you will never hear this march performed at a circus or in the theater. Dubbed “The Disaster March,” house bands have traditionally used the march to signal a life-threatening emergency, such as a fire or flood. The orchestra wishes to assure you that this is a planned performance.
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