Overture Magazine - 2018-19 Season BSO_Overture_MAR_APR | Page 19

Rimsky used only a few exotic
melodies to build this lengthy work,
and, depending on their context, tempo
and orchestral guise, they play different
roles in different movements. He did,
however, set a framework around the
work. At the beginning, we hear the
Sultan gruffly ordering Scheherazade
to begin her first story in a loud, harsh
orchestral unison. After “once-upon-
a-time” chords in the woodwinds,
the solo violin enters as the voice of
Scheherazade. Rimsky again returns to
the violinist/heroine to open the second
movement, and, as he begins the final
movement, we hear the Sultan’s voice,
now rapid and impatient, begging
for another story. At work’s end, the
Sultan’s theme has been transformed: he
is putty in Scheherazade’s hands as she
floats a harmonic high E at the top of
the violin’s range (a glorious but perilous
moment for all fiddlers).
The four movements are essentially
self-explanatory. In the first, after
Scheherazade’s introduction come
surging arpeggios in the cellos
and violas: we are on the high seas
with Sinbad the Sailor. The second
movement, “The Kalendar Prince,” is
built around an exotic Middle Eastern-
style melody introduced by the solo
bassoon; kalendar were magicians in
Middle Eastern courts. The fourth
movement is the most complex: it
begins with the riotous color and
swirling activity of the “Festival at
Baghdad,” and then, at the festival’s
height, sends us suddenly back to
Sinbad’s seas, as the low strings billow
and a fierce storm screams overhead in
the woodwinds. With a huge timpani
crash, the ship is wrecked and we return
to the Sultan ready to live happily
ever after with Scheherazade and her
marvelous stories.
Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two
oboes including English horn, two clarinets,
two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets,
three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion,
ANTHONY BLAKE CLARK
Music Director
B A LT I M O R E C H O R A L A R T S P R E S E N T S
Paul Fearn / Alamy Stock Photo
Captivity to Liberty
Sunday, May 12, 2019 at 3 pm |
Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College
Two dramatic tales of Mendelssohn and Jonathan Dove come vividly
to life with blockbuster choral music and Baltimore Choral Arts’
largest community collaborations.
Mendelssohn Die erste Walpurgisnacht
Jonathan Dove The Monster in the Maze
Tickets: $25 – $41
(half price for students with ID)
There will be a pre-concert Choral Conversation
at 2 pm inside Kraushaar Auditorium.
harp and strings.
Notes by Janet E. Bedell, © 2019
Captivity to Liberty is made possible by the Mary Jean & Oliver Travers Foundation.

Call 410.523.7070 or visit
www.BaltimoreChoralArts.org
M A R –A P R 201 9 / OV E R T U R E
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