PROGRAM NOTES
MAHLER AND KLEZMER
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
BY AARON GRAD
Noah Bendix-Balgley
Born 1984 in Asheville , North Carolina
FIDL-FANTAZYE : A KLEZMER CONCERTO [ 2016 ]
Noah Bendix-Balgley began playing the violin at age four , and his talents have allowed him to rise to one of the most esteemed chairs in any orchestra worldwide as the First Concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic . During his earlier tenure as the concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony , Bendix-Balgley composed and premiered this score that drew on his other lifelong musical passion . The following note is adapted from his website .
I grew up around klezmer music and it had a significant influence on my musical upbringing .
My father , Erik Bendix , is a dance teacher who specializes in Eastern European folk dancing . He is an expert on Yiddish dance , so as a child I often listened to recordings of klezmer music or heard live bands play , and I began picking up klezmer tunes shortly after I had started playing the violin . To this day , playing klezmer music is a wonderful counterweight to my classical playing , since it allows the performer to improvise and embellish on the spot .
The idea of a klezmer violin concerto was one I had for a while , since I was looking for a virtuoso piece in the klezmer style to play with orchestra . I decided to write a virtuosic violin fantasy accompanied by full orchestra , composing my own tunes in the style of traditional ones I have learned over the years . I am extremely grateful that the wonderful composer Samuel Adler agreed to orchestrate the piece for me , realizing a full version of the violin and piano score that I composed .
The piece is constructed in three movements that are played without pause . After a short orchestral introduction , the violin enters alone , playing a simple Khosidl — a slow and heavy line dance in the old Hassidic style . This is followed by a Doina , a Romanian-style improvisation , the first of three Doina sections in the piece that serve as transitions . The melody of the next section uses my musical translation of the name Samuel : E-flat ( eS in German ), A , E-natural ( Mi in solfege ), C ( Ut in solfege ), E , A ( La in solfege ). My middle name is Samuel and I was named after my great-grandfather , Samuel
Leventhal , who was a violinist . Because of my connection with him , as well as the happy coincidence that Samuel Adler is the orchestrator of this work , the musical version of the name felt like a nice dual homage . Sam ’ s Syrtos at the end of the first movement is a dance in mixed meter ( 7 / 8 ) and refers to the Syrtos music of the Greek islands that was absorbed into klezmer music .
The second movement opens with another Doina that leads to a slow Nigun or Lid , a wordless song which then becomes a Hora , a slow dance in three . Here I incorporate small quotes from Mahler ’ s Fifth Symphony , the work in the second half of this concert .
The third movement is an extended medley of fast tunes , alternating between full orchestra and smaller ensembles within the orchestra . At the end , the full orchestra joins in , with a wild race to the finish .
— Noah Bendix-Balgley
Instrumentation Two flutes , piccolo , two oboes , English horn , two clarinets , bass clarinet , two bassoons , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion , and strings .
Gustav Mahler
Born July 7 , 1860 in Kalischt , Bohemia Died May 18 , 1911 in Vienna , Austria
SYMPHONY NO . 5 [ 1901-02 ]
Gustav Mahler began his Fifth Symphony in the summer of 1901 , a few months after nearly dying from an intestinal hemorrhage . By the time he returned to his summer villa to complete the symphony in 1902 , his world had turned much rosier : He had met and married Alma Schindler , and she was expecting their first child . Mahler tinkered with the symphony ’ s orchestration until the premiere performance , which he conducted in October 1904 in Cologne , and he continued to make various changes in the following years . Reflecting later about his struggles to perfect the Fifth Symphony , he wrote , “ Clearly the routine I had acquired in the first four symphonies had deserted me altogether , as though a totally new message demanded a new technique .”
Mahler ’ s first four symphonies drew much of their energy from vocal music , with the first quoting lieder melodies and the next three incorporating actual singers . With the fifth symphony , Mahler ’ s “ new message ” steered him
Maximilian Franz
18 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org