January 15th 2011 featuring Thomas Gould
Gioachino Rossini
1792-1868
The Thieving Magpie - La Gazza Ladra
In 1817, Rossini stood at the crossroads between his comic and serious writing. The Thieving Magpie, or La Gazza Ladra, is one of the last of his "comic" works. The overture captures the elements of pomp, pathos, and humour in the opera.. The opera’s libretto is based upon an 1815 play. The play, in turn, was derived from what appears to be a true story written in a French newspaper article. A young servant girl was accused of stealing a silver spoon and hanged for the offense. Later it was discovered that the spoon had been pilfered by a magpie. It became an annual tradition in the village to pray for the unfortunate girl's soul, and the service became known as the “Magpie Mass.” In Rossini’s opera, the discovery of the magpie's theft takes place before the scheduled execution of the servant girl, and all ends happily.
The Overture opens dramatically and famously with a pair of drum rolls--first loud, then softer--that immediately call to mind both images of the military and the sound of drums as a prisoner is led to the gallows. This is followed by a stately march, where the pace becomes spirited and at times anxious. The final theme, beginning with a triplet figure, is the best-known of the piece and here Rossini employs a technique he used so often that musicians still refer to it by his name: the long, slow-building "Rossini crescendo". After stating his final theme at a rather reserved pace and dynamic, Rossini employs this crescendo not once but twice, each time building to an energetic climax.
1865-1957
Violin Concerto in D
1. Allegro Moderato
2.Adagio Di Molto
3.Allegro, Ma Non Tanto
“When I was about fifteen years old, music took such hold of me that it soon drove all other interests from my mind… For the next ten years my dearest wish, my proudest ambition was to be a great violin virtuoso.” -Sibelius
Sibelius was a talented violinist, and had started his musical career with every intention of becoming a great virtuoso. However, a shoulder injury when he was in his 20’s together with an increasing interest in composition ended his hoped-for solo career, but he never altogether lost interest in the instrument, for which he wrote this, his one and only concerto, in 1902. Sibelius’ love of nature is intimately felt in his music and the atmospheric opening of the first movement casts an immediate spell of mystery. The solo violin emerges out of a murmuring bed of strings, with a long theme of ever-growing intensity. The second theme is very expressive and passionate; one of the most striking features of the first movement is the placement of the cadenza, the brilliant solo passage. Typically, a cadenza comes close to the end; here, however, it takes the place of the development in a three-part, sonata-allegro form (exposition, development, and recapitulation).This flashy cadenza stands in place of the development, and the recapitulation brings back a return of the first and second themes.
Where the first movement was stormy and tense, the second movement is quiet and lyrical recalling a song without words, in the manner of Mendelssohn, whose influence is felt elsewhere in this concerto. The movement opens mysteriously but the violin soon enters with a long romantic melody. A central episode is more dramatic in mood, with a new melody introduced by the orchestra, after which the final section returns to the calm mood of the opening.
Typically for Sibelius, the finale is not a jolly, dance, but a gritty and insistently rhythmic rondo. It contains the concerto’s highest share of technical demands. Though many concertos feature a dialogue between soloist and orchestra to create a more symphonic texture, here the soloist reigns supreme, hardly ever pausing, driving the ensemble to a stunning and dynamic conclusion.
Zoltán Kodály Dances of GalántaThe Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály was strongly attracted to the peasant music of his native country, and folk songs and dances play a prominent role in many of his compositions. One of his most successful uses of native musical materials is the Dances of Galánta written in 1913. On the road from Vienna to Budapest lies the small market town of Galánta, which Kodály knew well from his childhood; it was there that he heard his first gypsy band. Some forty or more years later he was to immortalise those memories in the 'Dances of Galánta', written to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic Society. Kodály used melodies played by local musicians in Galánta and reproduced “the first ‘orchestral sonority’” he heard as a boy in the form of rich instrumental colours. The work opens with a slow introduction, a passage that culminates in a short cadenza for clarinet. Thus begins the first of the five dances comprising the main portion of the work. Kodály concludes his piece with a coda recalling material heard in the preceding sections. 1809-1847 Symphony No. 5 in D minor Reformation 1. Andante –Allegro Con Fuoco 2. Allegro Vivace. 3. Andante. 4. Chorale: Andante Con Moto – Allegro Vivace The "Reformation" Symphony is known as Mendelssohn’s Fifth, even though it was the second in order of composition. He wrote the Symphony in 1829-30, hoping it would be performed during the festivities celebrating the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, the central faith statement of the Lutheran Church. Mendelssohn and his family were faithful Lutherans, even though his grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn was a Jewish philosopher. Due to general political unrest, the premiere scheduled for 1830 was cancelled and was not performed until 1832 in Berlin, with the composer conducting. However Mendelssohn’s faith in the work had been shattered and he never performed it again or even had it published. Only in 1868, 21 years after Mendelssohn’s death, was the Symphony finally published. Two well-known pieces of music are woven into the fabric of the Symphony. The "Dresden Amen," is heard several times as a peaceful counterbalance in the stormy opening movement. The “Dresden Amen” became even more familiar in classical music when Wagner adopted it in Parsifal as a significant theme representing the Holy Grail. In the Finale, Mendelssohn used Luther’s mighty Hymn Ein’ feste Burg is unser Gott ("A Mighty Fortress is our God") for a set of variation. The second movement is unusual in that it is a dance and trio, providing light relief and appears to pay tribute to an older Classical Minuet. The joy of the second movement is opposed by the pathos of the recitative-like third movement. Like a beautiful lament the third movement provides a seamless transition to the Finale. The fourth movement's slow introduction is built on the chorale “A Mighty Fortress is our God”. The melody is introduced by solo flute, gently accompanied by the woodwind and Mendelssohn honours Luther with a series of inventive variations. The contrapuntal nature of the first movement returns, this time in celebration instead of conflict. The chorale eventually returns in long-note augmentation which brings the movement, and the Symphony, to a rousing close Programme notes Martyn Owen
Jean Sibelius
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