PROGRAM NOTES
PROGRAM NOTES
ISATA RETURNS
already a very successful composer in his late thirties . “ You can ’ t have any idea what it ’ s like always to hear such a giant marching behind you !” The giant in question was Beethoven , and his legacy haunted Brahms , especially in the signature genres of symphonies and string quartets . Brahms was 40 by the time he released a quartet , and 43 before his Symphony No . 1 reached the public , after 14 years of effort . Having cleared that hurdle , orchestral music finally began to flow freely , with three more symphonies , three concertos and two overtures coming in the decade that followed .
Brahms began his Symphony No . 4 in 1884 , and he conducted its premiere the next year with the court orchestra in Meiningen , a group directed by his friend and champion Hans von Bülow . Brahms ’ hard-earned mastery of the Classical paradigm suffuses every note of what turned out to be his final symphony , starting with a main theme in the first movement that says so much with simple pairs of notes , first falling and then rising — an idea that marries the balance of Mozart with the efficiency of Beethoven .
The mystical atmosphere of the slow movement comes in part from Brahms ’ use of an even older musical idea , the Phrygian mode that developed within pre-tonal church music . The movement is technically situated in the key of E-major , but the archaic harmonies and the use of chords borrowed from the minor mode maintain the pathos and tension of the symphony ’ s overall trajectory in E-minor .
The rousing third movement in C-major provides welcome relief from the heavy emotions of the two earlier movements , with piccolo and triangle brought in to add extra sparkle in the treble register .
For the finale , Brahms introduced another historical detail by adopting the Baroque-era style of short , continuous variations known as a passacaglia . The theme that serves as the basis for the passacaglia comes from a cantata by Bach , reinforcing Brahms ’ reverence for his forebears .
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Libby , a Cavalier King Charles spaniel , loves to travel with her best human buddy , Pat . Inspiring and informative , in this book Pat helps Libby tell the story of Libby ’ s Great Adventures as they visit national monuments in Washington , DC ; historic towns in Maryland and national parks . Libby presents her point of view and shares historical facts about each place . There are photos of Libby as she visits each site .
xoxo , Pat Harvey & Libby
Instrumentation Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , three bassoons , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , strings , timpani , and triangle .
Musical Terms Castanets : also known as clackers or palillos , are a percussion instrument , used in Spanish , Kalo , Moorish , Ottoman , Italian , Sephardic , Swiss , and Portuguese music .
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