PROGRAM NOTES
STRAUSS ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
BY AARON GRAD
Franz Joseph Haydn
Born March 31 , 1732 in Rohrau , Austria Died May 31 , 1809 in Vienna , Austria
SYMPHONY NO . 59 , “ FIRE ” [ C . 1768 ]
Joseph Haydn trained at a prestigious choir school in Vienna until his voice broke at 17 . He spent the next 12 years teaching kids and later working for a count of modest means , until at 29 he landed the job that set him on the course to become the most famous composer in the world . In 1761 , he joined the fabulously wealthy Esterházy family as their Vice-Kapellmeister , followed by a promotion five years later to Kapellmeister . Initially he was responsible for producing two concerts each week with the court ’ s private orchestra , and in later years his duties grew to include writing and producing operas . He spent months on end cloistered at the family ’ s remote summer palace , providing entertainment for the insatiable Prince Nikolaus Esterházy , a pressure-cooker environment in which , as Haydn later wrote , “ I was forced to become original .”
One new direction Haydn explored in the late 1760s and early 1770s was the Sturm und Drang (“ Storm and Stress ”) aesthetic that was also cropping up in the theater , literature , and artwork of the time . This tendency toward heightened emotion and drama tends to be associated with Haydn ’ s music in minor keys , but the same extremes of expression fueled major-key symphonies as well , including the symphony known by the nickname “ Fire ,” composed around 1768 .
The Symphony No . 59 is fiery indeed , especially in the unusually speedy Presto first movement punctuated by shuddering bow strokes from the violins and forte blasts from the horns . The slow movement ’ s key setting of A-minor brings an unexpected chill to the atmosphere , and the Menuet reinforces the dichotomy of major and minor keys . The finale , heralded by horns and oboes , bristles with the manic energy of a hunt .
Instrumentation Two oboes , bassoon , two horns , harpsichord , and strings .
Principal Oboe Katherine Needleman
Clara Schumann
Born September 13 , 1819 in Leipzig , Germany Died May 20 , 1896 in Frankfurt , Germany
PIANO CONCERTO [ 1833-36 ]
Growing up in the musically fertile city of Leipzig , Clara Wieck blazed through a rigorous curriculum of piano , composition , and ear training devised by her father , the noted teacher Friedrich Wieck . Clara made her public debut at age nine , the same year an 18-year-old law student with musical inclinations , Robert Schumann , moved into the Wieck household to take intensive piano lessons . His piano career fizzled out after a hand injury , but 11 years after he was enchanted by Clara ’ s talents — and after overcoming a bitter and protracted legal battle with her father — the struggling composer and journal editor was able to marry the superstar pianist .
Even with a sympathetic husband , the demands of caring for eight children and maintaining a rigorous concert schedule curtailed Clara Schumann ’ s composing during her marriage , and she withdrew from composing completely after Robert ’ s death . This means that most of her compositions are the work of an exceptionally talented teenager , including the piano concerto she began at 14 . She debuted it two years later in a concert conducted by Felix Mendelssohn ( who became a lifelong family friend ), and it was published in 1837 as her Opus 7 . Taking after examples by Mendelssohn and Weber , Schumann fashioned her concerto in three interconnected sections . She made the striking choice to limit the slow movement to just piano and cello , crafting it as an intimate Romanze for two at a time when she was smitten with an older cellist .
Instrumentation Two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , two horns , two trumpets , trombone , timpani , and strings .
Maximilian Franz
Richard Strauss
Born June 11 , 1864 in Munich , Germany Died September 8 , 1949 in Garmisch- Partenkirchen , Germany
ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA [ 1896 ]
Richard Strauss , following up on the innovations of his heroes Wagner and Liszt , revolutionized the art of telling stories purely through orchestral music — the genre he liked to call “ tone poem .” After a series of successful works based on concrete plots or images , Strauss took another leap forward in 1896 with Also sprach Zarathustra , a tone poem based loosely on the philosophical novel of the same name by Friedrich Nietzsche .
At one point , Strauss described the Introduction as a “ sunrise ,” an image that captures the sense of awakening as the fanfare rises from the deepest rumble , climbs up a series of perfect intervals , and splashes into colorful chords that teeter between C-major and C-minor . ( Director Stanley Kubrick used this prophetic music to accompany the opening credits of 2001 : A Space Odyssey .)
The rising theme from the fanfare and its key of C-major recur throughout as reminders of nature , whereas B-major represents the contrasting aspects of humankind . The section titled Of Science brings these competing tonal and thematic elements together in a dizzying fugue , and still the conflict remains unresolved as the final Song of the Night Wanderer fades toward silence , when the faint B-major chords sound in the upper range against low C ’ s plucked by the cellos and basses , leaving behind a musical enigma as provocative as the philosophy that inspired it .
Instrumentation : Four flutes including two piccolos , three oboes , English Horn , two clarinets , E-flat clarinet , bass clarinet , three bassoons , contrabassoon , six horns , four trumpets , three trombones , two tubas , timpani , percussion , two harps , organ , and strings .
Musical Terms Kapellmeister : From the German Kapelle ( chapel ) and meister ( master ): “ master of the chapel choir ,” a definition later expanded to the leader of an ensemble . Sturm und Drang : Named after Friedrich Maximilian Klinger ’ s play Sturm und Drang (“ Storm and Stress ”). Presto : A rapid tempo . Romanze : A composition of a tender or lyrical character .
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