{ program notes
England to the sun-drenched island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples . He also became an unofficial court composer for the Royal Family , creating the famous Crown Imperial March for the coronation of George VI and Orb and Scepter for Elizabeth II ’ s crowning .
Walton ’ s Violin Concerto , written for the limitless virtuosity of Jascha Heifetz , is extremely technically demanding as well as dramatic in style . The start of World War II nixed its planned London premiere ; the first performance was given by Heifetz in Cleveland with The Cleveland Orchestra on December 7 , 1939 , with the composer unfortunately unable to cross the war-menaced Atlantic to attend .
The sonata-form first movement in B minor opens with a rocking motive on the solo clarinet , which soon infiltrates other instruments . Then the soloist launches the tenderly lyrical first theme ( marked sognando or “ dreaming ”), which is paired with a counter theme in the bassoons and cellos . A lushly harmonized , romantic melody , the second theme , is sung by the orchestral violins . The development section interjects drama with its faster tempo ; it is split in two by a brief but demanding solo cadenza . The flute introduces the reprise of the soloist ’ s opening theme , with the violin now on the companion bassoon-cello theme . But soon the violin has won back his theme and soars on high , with woodwinds shimmering exotically around him .
Though the Presto second-movement scherzo is predominantly driven by nervous excitement and rhythmic games , it also breathes the languid air of Ischia ( where it was written ) in its sensuous Trio section ( Canzonetta or “ little song ”). Here the solo horn sings the melody while the soloist swoops and soars around him like a seabird . This uncanny atmosphere intensifies as the woodwinds adopt the swirling patterns around the soloist , now singing the melody . Listen also for two slower interludes in the Scherzo , in which the violin plays gypsy-style in double-stopped fruity harmonies , Walton ’ s salute to a Heifetz specialty .
One of Walton ’ s favorite composers , Stravinsky , influenced the shifting rhythmic stresses as well as the scoring in the finale . A stealthy tread , beginning in low woodwinds and bassoons , is the movement ’ s principal theme . The second theme is a true melody for the soloist , spacious , wide-ranging and full of big leaps . Although this theme opens the recapitulation , Walton has something even bigger in store : a return to the beginning of the concerto and its first tune , now sung in rich double-stops by the soloist . This grows into an accompanied “ dream cadenza ” ( Walton ’ s homage to the finale of the Elgar Violin Concerto ) in which the violin wafts away into other-worldly reverie . Then the orchestra abruptly wakes the dreamer and to a march-like rhythm spurs him on to a bold , bravura finish .
Instrumentation : Two flutes including piccolo , two oboes including English horn , two clarinets , two bassoons , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , timpani , percussion , harp , strings .
Symphony No . 7 in A Major
Ludwig van Beethoven
Born in Bonn , Germany , December 17 , 1770 ; died in Vienna , Austria , March 26 , 1827
Beethoven ’ s Seventh Symphony is one of the most extraordinary expressions of physical energy and joy in symphonic music . Completed in 1812 , the Seventh , in the words of Beethoven biographer Maynard Solomon , “ transports us into a sphere of laughter , play , and the exuberant
Beethoven release of bound energy .” This is a work without a shadow or a solemn thought or even a true slow movement . In any other hands , such unrelieved happiness might produce a feeling of triviality or monotony , but Beethoven instead shows us the dynamic variety of joy .
The Seventh was introduced to the world at a spectacular celebrity-studded concert on December 8 , 1813 .
Richard Wagner famously called the Seventh “ the apotheosis of the dance ,” but it could more accurately be characterized as “ the apotheosis of rhythm .” Throughout Beethoven ’ s music , themes are as much characterized by their rhythmic patterns as by their melodic shapes or harmonic coloring . Here rhythm is the primary building block ; the first , second and fourth movements are all generated by one obsessive rhythmic figure announced at the opening . The scherzo has two such figures . The other striking characteristic of the Seventh is its sheer sound . In Jan Swafford ’ s words , “ Low , epic basses and shouting horns : these are the distinctive voices in an orchestral sound more massive and bright than in any of his earlier symphonies .”
The Seventh was introduced to the world at a spectacular celebrity-studded concert on December 8 , 1813 , at the University of Vienna , the most successful of Beethoven ’ s career . Organized by the composer ’ s friend Johann Nepomuk Maelzel , the inventor of the metronome , it was a benefit concert to raise money for soldiers wounded at the recent Napoleonic battle of Hanau . Both performers and audience were in high spirits , for by now it was clear that Napoleon ’ s days were numbered . For the occasion , Beethoven had written one of his most notorious compositions Wellington ’ s Victory , a military extravaganza calling for vast troops of musicians and a huge percussion battery . In one of his last appearances as a conductor ,
20 Overture | bsomusic . org