PROGRAM NOTES
BRAHMS AND PROKOFIEV
Maximilian Franz
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
BY CATHERINE CASE
Elizabeth Ogonek
May 26 , 1989 in Anoka , MN
AS THOUGH BIRDS [ 2013 ]
Elizabeth Ogonek is a sought-after voice in contemporary music and creates work that is full of energy , drama , and color . Born in Minnesota and raised in New York City , she recently served as the Mead Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was an Assistant Professor at Oberlin Conservatory before joining the faculty of Cornell University in 2021 . Her work is strongly influenced by text and often explores the ways that poetic imagery transfers to music .
The idea for her 2013 piece as though birds came after discovering the book Novels in Three Lines by the French art critic and anarchist Félix Fénéon . Ogonek says she “ liked the idea of something large contained in a really small space … it ’ s a wonderful metaphor for writing a three-and-a-half-minute piece for an orchestra .” The title is taken from another literary source , the poet and playwright Jonathan Dubow , who frequently collaborates with the composer . His poem Fugal contains the stanza : “ as though birds , startled by a moulting sound quietly dispersed .” This imagery combines with the miniature ideals of Fénéon to produce a highly condensed world of colorful juxtapositions . The sounds and movements of birds are evident from the start , with rapid taps on the percussive temple blocks and flutters in the woodwinds . The fanciful activity continues through the short work before dissipating into high tremolos and a flash from the shimmering gong .
Instrumentation Two flutes including piccolo , two oboes , two clarinets including bass clarinet , two bassoons including contrabassoon , two horns , two trumpets , two trombones , timpani , percussion , harp , and strings .
Johannes Brahms
Born May 7 , 1833 in Hamburg , Germany Died April 3 , 1897 in Vienna , Austria
DOUBLE CONCERTO FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO [ 1887 ]
Johannes Brahms was a firm believer in the value of musical traditions ; his sonatas and symphonies reflected his adherence to the abstract styles of those that came before him , namely Mozart and Beethoven . He pushed against the trends of his time that leaned toward Romanticism — the idea that music was a vehicle for personal expression and storytelling — and instead held to the idea that traditional Classical forms offered limitless possibilities for exploration .
Though Brahms would live another ten years after writing his Double Concerto in 1887 , this turned out to be his last orchestral work . The piece is dedicated to Joseph Joachim , one of the most celebrated violinists of the 19th century and a dear friend of Brahms . A major rift had come between them when , during Joachim ’ s contentious divorce , a letter from Brahms in support of Joachim ’ s wife was presented in court . When the cellist Robert Hausmann , a colleague of both men , asked Brahms for a concerto , he seized upon the idea to include violin as a peace offering to his friend . After hearing a rehearsal for the piece , Clara Schumann noted in her diary that “ the Concerto is a work of reconciliation . Joachim and Brahms have spoken to one another again .”
The work begins with an assertive cello solo after which the violin enters in a more meditative mood . The two join together as allies in virtuosic passages that contrast with the full orchestra for this fast and dramatic movement . The second movement is lyrical with tender musings between the soloists . The lively finale has traces of the Hungarian gypsy tunes that influenced Brahms for much of his life . A rhythmic energy and warm tone is present throughout this movement with intricate passagework from both violin and cello that ends in grand fashion with a climactic timpani roll and emphatic chords .
Instrumentation Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , two trumpets , timpani , and strings .
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