PROGRAM NOTES
MARIN CONDUCTS RACH 3
1872 , at least garnered a sympathetic review from Balakirev ’ s crony César Cui . In the summer of 1880 , Tchaikovsky again put the piece through a severe rewrite . After fully a decade ’ s work , Romeo and Juliet — now enriched by a dire , unforgiving coda — reached masterpiece status , an achievement that was recognized in 1884 when it won the 500-ruble Glinka Award , the first of many prizes that would come Tchaikovsky ’ s way in his remaining years .
Instrumentation Two flutes and piccolo , two oboes and English horn , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , cymbals , bass drum , harp , and strings .
Christopher Rouse
Born February 15 , 1949 , in Baltimore , Maryland Died September 21 , 2019 , in Baltimore
SYMPHONY NO . 6 ( 2019 )
Christopher Rouse , one of the most respected composers of his generation , was noted for works of compulsive rhythm , vivid color , and catholicity in bringing together the traditions of classical and popular music . He served composer-in-residence stints at leading orchestras ( including the Baltimore Symphony ) and earned such distinctions as the Pulitzer Prize in Music , a Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition , and membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters .
Most of his compositions exude a generally serious mien , and he was often up-front about the ideas or emotions behind them . He wrote , “ For those of my scores in which I have had a reasonably specific expressive intent , I have usually tried to be open about the nature of that intent .” He had been suffering from renal cancer for several years when he embarked on what would be his final symphony . “ One final time my subject is death ,” he said , “ though in this event it is my own of which I write .” He did not live to hear it performed , as the Cincinnati Symphony gave its premiere about a month after his passing .
“ I ( rather unusually for me ) chose a moreor-less standard four-movement structure ,” he wrote , “ with the outer movements being slow in tempo and elegiac in mood . The two middle movements are faster and the third , in particular , is meant to be highly dramatic . As is usual in my music , each movement connects to its successor without a break . In each of my symphonies I ’ ve also chosen to use an instrument or instrumental combination that might be seen as somewhat unusual in a symphonic context . Here I have chosen to make use of the fluegelhorn , a larger and more mellow member of the trumpet family , and it is the fluegelhorn that presents the symphony ’ s opening melodic material ; it returns later in the first movement and again near the end of the entire work as a way of bringing the music ‘ full circle .’
“ As is also my wont , the harmonic language traverses areas of substantive dissonance , as well as sections much more consonant ( especially near the end of the symphony ). I know the ‘ meaning ’ of this work in my own mind but wish to leave it to each listener to decide for him or herself what this could be . My main hope is that it will communicate something sincere in meaning to those who hear it .”
Instrumentation Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets ( second doubling bass clarinet ), two bassoons , four horns , two trumpets ( second doubling fluegelhorn ), three trombones , tuba , timpani , suspended cymbal , cymbals , tam-tam , glockenspiel , xylophone , gong , snare drum , bass drum , harp , and strings .
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Born March 20 ( old style )/ April 1 ( new style ), 1873 , in either Oneg or Semyonovo , Russia Died March 28 , 1943 , in Beverly Hills , California
PIANO CONCERTO NO . 3 IN D MINOR , OP . 30 ( 1909 )
Sergei Rachmaninoff composed four piano concertos spread through his career — in 1890 – 91 , 1900 – 01 , 1909 , and 1926 ( revised through 1941 )— plus a fifth , ever-popular work for piano and orchestra , the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini ( 1934 ). The plush Second Concerto and the knuckle-busting Third , along with the Rhapsody , have staked especially firm places in the repertoire . The Third has earned a reputation as one of the most technically daunting of all the standard piano concertos . Rachmaninoff maintained that it was “ more comfortable ” to play than his Second . Perhaps it was more comfortable for him because his hands individually spanned the interval of a thirteenth and his keyboard stamina was practically limitless , but it was not more comfortable for most other pianists . It was even out of reach to the renowned
Josef Hoffman , whom Rachmaninoff admired above all other pianists and to whom he dedicated this score . Hoffman had considerably smaller hands , and as a result he never was able to perform this concerto that bears his name at the top of its first page .
Rachmaninoff composed it for his North American debut tour , which he undertook in 1909 with trepidation since he had devoted the preceding three years to composing rather than performing . Nonetheless , he did not stint in crafting this work to capitalize on dizzying keyboard skills , and his ever-increasing experience as a composer yielded a concerto in which the solo and orchestral parts are melded with remarkable sophistication . Following the premiere that November , with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Symphony Society , the critics were cool but the audience was delighted . The New York Herald reported : “ Mr . Rachmaninoff was recalled several times in the determined effort of the audience to make him play again , but he held up his hands with a gesture which meant that although he was willing , his fingers were not .”
Later in the same tour he played the piece again in New York , this time with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Gustav Mahler , who extended the rehearsal by an hour to do justice to the piece . This concerto remained in the shadow of Rachmaninoff ’ s Second Piano Concerto for more than two decades . Not until the 1930s did it catapult to great popularity , thanks to such interpreters as Vladimir Horowitz and Walter Gieseking — and , of course , Rachmaninoff himself , whose recording from 1939 – 40 , with Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra , was embraced as a classic .
Instrumentation Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , snare drum , bass drum , cymbals , and strings , in addition to the solo piano .
Musical Terms Coda : a passage that brings a piece to an end . It may be as simple as a few measures , or as complex as an entire section .
MAR-APR 2023 / OVERTURE 27