Overture Magazine - 2018-19 Season BSO_Overture_JanFeb_19 | Page 20

SIBELIUS VIOLIN CONCERTO
did he reluctantly agree to publish it
under its present name. The principal
themes are drawn from the Act III love
duet in Siegfried (the third of the Ring
operas). The tenderness of the music
evoked Wagner’s love for the woman who
had left her first husband and devoted
her life solely to the needs of his genius.
The melody introduced by the solo oboe
is a lullaby Wagner wrote when he knew
little Siegfried was on the way. Midway
through, we also hear a gentle version of
Siegfried’s hunting call in the horn and a
snatch of the Forest Bird’s Act II song in
clarinet and flute.
Instrumentation: Flute, oboe, two clarinets,
bassoon, two horns, trumpet and strings.
VIOLIN CONCERTO
Jean Sibelius
Born in Hämeenlinna, Finland,
December 8, 1865; died in Järvenpää,
Finland, September 20, 1957
Despite the acclaim he received, Jean
Sibelius nursed a hidden wound over a
musical accomplishment that had eluded
him. In his diary in 1915 he wrote:
“Dreamt I was twelve years old and a
virtuoso.” Sibelius loved the violin above all
instruments and had in his youth striven
hard to conquer its difficulties. But he had
begun too late—age 14—and lacked the
physical coordination and temperament
to become a virtuoso. In his early 20s,
he tried for a position with the Vienna
Philharmonic; failing the audition, he
returned to his hotel room and wept
for his lost dream.
Sibelius fulfilled the dream vicariously
by writing one of the most magnificent
of all violin concertos and, more over,
one bristling with the greatest virtuoso
demands. The external stimulus came from
violinist Willy Burmester, concertmaster
of the Helsinki Philharmonic. Responding
to Burmester’s urging, Sibelius began
composing the concerto in 1902 but barely
completed the work in time for its premiere
in Helsinki on February 8, 1904.
Despite dour portraits of the
composer in old age, Sibelius in his
18
OV E R T U R E / BSOmusic.org
younger days was a bon vivant with
a fondness for liquor and Helsinki’s
café life, which often got in the way of
his composing schedule. Rushing to
finish the concerto, he completely forgot
Burmester, turning instead to the less able
Viktor Nováček. Nováček went down in
flames because of the work’s formidable
difficulties, and the premiere was not a
success. Realizing his mistake, Sibelius
revised the work in 1905, making the solo
part slightly easier, but again he passed
over Burmester. The concerto as we hear
it today was premiered by Karl Halir with
the Berlin Philharmonic, led by Richard
Strauss, on October 29, 1905.
This work falls into the category of
the soloist-dominated concerto, like
Mendelssohn’s or Bruch’s, rather than
the more symphonically conceived
concertos of Beethoven and Brahms. But
it boasts greater musical complexity and
a more interesting role for the orchestra
than most virtuoso vehicles. Soloist and
orchestra alternate in the foreground,
often following different agendas.
Over the shimmer of muted orchestral
violins, the soloist opens the first movement
with a long solo melody that steadily
grows in intensity and passion, sweeping
over the instrument’s full range. At first
subservient, the orchestra eventually
asserts itself with grim power, introducing
an ominous stepwise theme. The soloist
returns to embroider on this in a passage of
rich double stops. The orchestra wraps up
the exposition with a bold striding theme,
partnered by a lighter idea for woodwinds.
In an innovative stroke, Sibelius now
interjects a long and introspective cadenza
for the soloist. This takes the place of a
conventional development. As it concludes,
a bassoon quietly reprises the opening solo
in a shadow image of the violin’s soaring
tones. A sudden acceleration of tempo
brings a spectacular close for the soloist,
playing brawny chords and ferocious
octave scales.
The second movement combines
lyricism and drama within a very slow
tempo. After a haunting introduction
by pairs of woodwinds, the violin sings
an expansive, soulful melody opening
deep in its range. The orchestra then
proposes a stormy idea, derived from the
woodwind introduction; with the violin
above, this strives passionately upward to a
climax. The orchestra then quietly reprises
the opening melody while the violin
independently soars to another climax.
Over the rumble of timpani and low
strings, the violin launches a robust dance,
characterized by some of the most fiendish
multiple-stopping ever devised. Sibelius
provided no comfort to the fiddler: “It must
be played with absolute mastery, fast…but
no faster than it can be played perfectly,”
he instructed. A second theme, introduced
by the orchestra, delights in lively cross-
rhythms. Over an epic orchestral swell the
soloist triumphantly fulfills the composer’s
dream of virtuosity.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes,
two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two
trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings.
SYMPHONY NO. 104 IN D MAJOR
Franz Joseph Haydn
Born in Rohrau, Austria, March 31, 1732;
died in Vienna, Austria, May 31, 1809
Life began anew for Haydn late in 1790
when the German-English impresario
Johann Peter Salomon appeared without
warning on the 58-year-old composer’s
doorstep in Vienna. Salomon offered him
a princely sum to come to London to
write and perform works for his ambitious
concert series. Though Haydn spoke
virtually no English and was at an age
when most men were either dead or quietly
retired, he accepted.
The first six of Haydn’s “London”
Symphonies were composed and
premiered during the composer’s first
London sojourn of 1791–92. Haydn
immediately became the toast of London
society. His concerts were packed, and
Salomon made a lot of money. Hayden
returned for another 18 months, and six
additional symphonies were born, the
greatest of his career, including the last
—number 104 — which so epitomized
Haydn’s symphonic achievement it
became known as the “London.” By
the time it was premiered, probably