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program notes
compositional styles, including neoclassicism à la Stravinsky and Hindemith and 12-tone serialism like Schoenberg and Berg. However, in keeping with his mystical nature, he became more of a neo-Romantic, espousing lyrical melodies and tonality. A prolific composer, he has written eight symphonies, 10 operas( creating their librettos as well), and 11 concertos for various instruments. Surely the most unusual of the concertos is Cantus Arcticus, which mingles real birdsong with its instrumental imitations, atop simple, soaring modal melodic lines.
“ Cantus Arcticus … is my most frequently performed orchestral work … Its effect and magic is due to the interaction of the rather simple orchestral texture with a counterpoint of northern birds on tape. The birdsong was recorded near the Arctic Circle and on the bogs of Liminka in northern Finland. The tape material has been processed very little.
“ The first movement, The Bog, opens with a flute duet [ the instrument most often used to imitate birdsong in orchestral music ]. Gradually the other woodwinds join in, followed by the sounds of birds in bog land in spring. Finally, the strings introduce their broad melody, like the inner voice of a person wandering in the wilds. The second movement, Melancholy, features the warbling of the shore lark,
The BSO considerably slowed down and thus at a much lower pitch than the original. The concluding movement, Swans Migrating, ends in a mighty crescendo, which on the tape is created by overdubbing the sounds of whooper swans so that they seem to multiply infinitely before disappearing into the distance.”
Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, trombone, percussion, celesta, harp, strings, and pre-recorded audio.
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major
Ludwig van Beethoven
Born in Bonn, Germany, December 16, 1770; died in Vienna, Austria, March 26, 1827
When Beethoven arrived in Vienna in November 1792 to study with the great Haydn and win fame as a piano virtuoso, Mozart had been dead for less than a year. In a city mad for pianists, the throne for king of the keyboard was vacant, and Beethoven was quick to fill it. His conquest of Vienna came far more easily and was more lasting than Mozart’ s; within a year, he had a host of wealthy noble patrons such as Mozart had only dreamed about, and was the most sought-after soloist in town. His pupil Carl Czerny recalled the spell Beethoven’ s powerful virtuosity cast over his audiences:“ In whatever company he might chance to be, he knew how to produce such an effect upon every hearer that frequently not an eye remained dry, while many would break out into loud sobs; for there was something wonderful in his expression in addition to the beauty and originality of his ideas and his spirited style of rendering them.”
Although he had come to Vienna to study composition with Haydn, the pairing didn’ t work. Haydn was a better composer than teacher and did not know what to make of the young man he dubbed“ the Grand Mogul” for his arrogance and obstinacy. Nevertheless, Beethoven’ s reputation as a composer soon began to catch up with his fame as a pianist. Although scholars are not absolutely certain of the year, his First Piano Concerto was probably composed around 1795. He likely premiered it in Vienna at a concert organized by Haydn on December 18, 1795.
Movement 1: Beethoven’ s first two piano concertos followed the model of Mozart’ s, but this one already shows his own stamp in its sprawling scale and combination of boldness and reverie. It is scored for two trumpets and timpani, as well as woodwinds and strings, as was typical for late-18 th century compositions in the“ brilliant” key of C Major. The very military opening theme begins softly in the strings, revealing its true character when it is repeated loudly by the full orchestra. The orchestra also introduces the graceful, downwardcurving second theme, but we just hear the first part as it keeps seeking a way back to C Major. Only when the piano enters will we hear it in its entirety. Much of the piano’ s exposition is devoted to glittering, high-speed passagework to show off Beethoven’ s virtuosity, but the composer displayed his poetic side in some lovely quiet playing toward the end. The development section, begun by solo oboe, is also introspective and quiet.
The slow movement is a beautiful rhapsody, which we want to go on forever( as it nearly does). The orchestra
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