September 12-14, 2014 Michael Stern, Music Director

September 12-14, 2014
Michael Stern, Music Director
Joyce DiDonato, Soprano
Griffes
Bacchanale (1913, rev. 1915)
Ravel
Shéhérazade (1903)
I. Asie (Asia)
II. La Flûte enchantée (The Enchanted Flute)
III. L’Indifférent (The Indifferent One)
Strauss
Morgen! (Tomorrow!), Op. 27, No. 4 (1894)
Joyce DiDonato, Soprano
Intermission
Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (1888)
I. Andante; Allegro con anima
II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza
III. Valse. Allegro moderato
IV. Finale. Andante maestoso; Allegro vivace
Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer
Concert Overview
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920)
Bacchanale (1913, rev. 1915) 5 minutes
—Bacchanale, by American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes, originated as a
Scherzo for solo piano. Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra performed the
world premiere of the orchestral version in December of 1919. In April of the following
year, Griffes was dead at the age of 35, a victim of lung disease.
—Griffes described Bacchanale as “music now weird and mysterious, now wild and
joyous.”
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Shéhérazade (1903) 17 minutes
—Maurice Ravel’s song cycle, Shéhérazade, is a setting for solo voice and orchestra of
three poems by the composer’s friend, Tristan Klingsor: Asia, The Enchanted Flute, and
The Indifferent One.
—Ravel’s exotic, delicate music provides the ideal complement to Klingsor’s evocative
poetry.
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Morgen! (Tomorrow!), Op. 27, No. 4 (1894) 2 minutes
Strauss’s setting of this song for voice and orchestra includes a beautiful solo violin part.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Opus 64 (1888) 50 minutes
—Tchaikovsky conducted the world premiere of his Fifth Symphony in St. Petersburg on
November 17, 1888.
—Tchaikovsky, always a harsh self-critic, initially pronounced the work a “failure.” But
over time, Tchaikovsky grew fond of the work, and it has remained one of his most
beloved Symphonies.
—The Fifth Symphony opens with an ominous motif that returns in each of the work’s
four movements, finally resolving to a triumphant march in the closing measures. From
start to finish, the Tchaikovsky Fifth is a gripping and unforgettable symphonic journey.
Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884-1920)
Bacchanale (1913, rev. 1915) 5 minutes
Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three
bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba,
timpani, cymbals, tambourine, tam-tam, bass drum, celesta, two harps, and strings.
Toward the close of his tragically brief life, Charles Tomlinson Griffes had emerged as
one of America’s finest composers. In the span of just over four weeks in November and
December of 1919, Griffes’s compositions were performed by Walter Damrosch and the
New York Symphony, Pierre Monteux and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and
Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Griffes was too ill to attend the
Philadelphia performance. In April of the following year, Griffes died of lung disease.
He was 35, and at the height of his career and powers.
Griffes is best remembered for such compositions as The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Kahn
(1912), Bacchanale (1913, rev. 1915), and The White Peacock (1915). The influence of
such French Impressionist composers as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel is
unmistakable. But Griffes was, in his own right, a master of orchestration.
As with many of Griffes’ orchestral compositions, Bacchanale originated as a work for
solo piano. It first appeared as Scherzo, No. 3 of the composer’s Fantasy Pieces, Op. 6.
Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra performed the world premiere on December
19, 1919. Also on the program were Griffes’ Clouds (1917), The White Peacock, and
Notturno für Orchester (1918).
The following is an excerpt from the program notes for the Philadelphia world premiere
of Bacchanale:
The composer’s own note to the published piano version of this piece is
the following: “From the palace of Enchantment there issued into the night
sounds of unearthly revelry. Troops of genii and other fantastic spirits
danced grotesquely to a music now weird and mysterious, now wild and
joyous.” This piece is wholly fantastic as a fairy tale, with a wild climax
at the end.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Shéhérazade (1903) 17 minutes
Soprano solo, piccolo, 2 flutes, two oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4
horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, bass drum, cymbals, snare
drum, suspended cymbals, tam-tam, tambourine, triangle, celeste, and strings.
The fantastic collection of tales known as The Arabian Nights, or A Thousand and One
Nights, has captivated readers for centuries. The ancient stories, mostly of Arabic,
Indian, or Persian origin, were first presented to European readers in an early 18th-century
French translation by Antoine Galland. In the late 19th century, British explorer Sir
Richard Burton created a popular English-language version. To this day, such stories as
“The History of Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp,” “The History of Sinbad the Sailor,”
and “The History of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” continue to weave their magical
spell.
The most famous musical adaptation of these tales is Russian composer Nikolai RimskyKorsakov’s grand orchestral work, Scheherazade, Op. 35 (1888). Ten years later,
Maurice Ravel, then a student of Gabriel Fauré at the Paris Conservatoire, composed his
own Shéhérazade Overture. The premiere was a failure, and the work remained
unpublished until 1975.
In 1903, Ravel achieved much greater success with his song-cycle, Shéhérazade. Ravel
set three poems by his friend Tristan Klingsor—the pen name of Léon Leclère (18741966)—for soprano and orchestra. Ravel’s exotic, delicately scored music provides the
ideal complement to Klingsor’s evocative poetry.
Shéhérazade
Trois Poèmes de Tristan Klingsor (1874-1966)
I. Asie
Asie, Asie. Asie
Vieux pays merveilleux des contes de nourrice
Où dort la fantaisie comme une impératrice,
En sa forêt emplie de mystère…
Asie, je voudrais m’en aller avec la goëlette
Qui se berce ce soir dans le port
Mystérieuse et solitaire,
Et qui déploie enfin ses voiles violettes
Comme un immense oiseau de nuit dans le ciel d’or.
Je voudrais m’en aller vers des îles de fleurs,
En écoutant chanter la mer perverse
Sur un vieux rythme ensorceleur.
Je voudrais voir Damas et les villes de Perse
Avec les minarets légers dans l’air.
Je voudrais voir de beaux turbans de soie
Sur des visages noirs aux dents claires;
Je voudrais voir des yeux sombres d’amour
Et des prunelles brillantes de joie,
Et des paux jaunes comme des oranges;
Je voudrais voir des vêtements de velours
Et des habits à longues franges.
Je voudrais voir des calumets entre des bouches
Tout entourées de barbe blanche;
Je voudrais voir de vraix marchands aux regards louches,
Et des cadis, et des vizirs
Qui du seul mouvement de leur doigt qui se penche
Accordent vie ou mort au gré de leur désir.
Je voudrais voir la Perse, et l’Inde, et puis la Chine,
Les mandarins ventrus sous les ombrelles,
Et les princesses aux mains fines,
Et les lettrés qui se querrellent
Sur la poésie et sur la beauté;
Je voudrais m’attarder au palais enchanté
Et comme un voyageur étranger
Contempler à loisir des paysages peints
Sur des étoffes en des cadres du sapin
Avec un personnage au milieu d’un verger;
Je voudrais voir des assassins souriants
Du bourreau qui coupe un cou d’innocent
Avec son grand sabre courbé d’Orient.
Je voudrais voir des pauvres et des reines;
Je voudrais voir des roses et du sang;
Je voudrais voir mourir d’amour ou bien de haine…
Et puis m’en revenir plus tard
Narrer mon aventure aux curieux de rêves
En élevant comme Sinbad ma vieille tasse arabe
De temps en temps jusqu'à mes lèvres
Pour interrompre le conte avec art. . . .
I. Asia
Asia, Asia, Asia
Wonderful ancient country of fairy tales
Where fantasy sleeps like an empress,
In her forest filled with mystery…
Asia, I would like to go away in the schooner
That rocks this evening in the port
Mysterious and alone,
And that at last unfurls its violet sails
Like an immense bird of the night in the golden sky.
I would like to go away toward the island of flowers,
And listen to the depraved sea singing
The rhyme of an old sorcerer.
I would like to see Damascus and the cities of Persia
With their slender minarets in the sky.
I would like to see the beautiful silk turbans
Crowning dark faces with gleaming teeth;
I would like to see the dark eyes of love
And pupils sparkling with joy,
And skin yellow as oranges;
I would like to see velvet garments
And clothes with long fringes.
I would like to see calumets between lips
Completely surrounded by a white beard;
I would like to see merchants with suspicious glances,
And cadis, and viziers
Who with a single movement of their bent finger
Grant life or death according to their desire.
I would like to see Persia, India, and then China,
Portly mandarins under parasols,
And princesses with delicate hands,
And scholars that quarrel
Over poetry and beauty;
I would like to linger in the enchanted palace
And like a foreign traveler
Contemplate at his pleasure the landscapes painted
On fabric framed in pine
With a person in the middle of an orchard;
I would like to see the smiling assassins
The executioner who chops off the innocent’s head
With his large curved Oriental sword.
I would like to see the poor and the queens;
I would like to see the roses and the blood;
I would like to see those dying of love or of hate…
And then to return home much later
Recounting my adventure to those curious about dreams
Like Sinbad, raising my old Arab cup
From time to time to my lips
To interrupt the story in artful fashion…
II. La Flûte enchantée
L’ombre est douce et mon maître dort
Coiffé d’un bonnet conique de soie,
Et son long nez jaune en sa barbe blanche.
Mais moi, je suis éveillée encor
Et j’écoute au dehors
Une chanson de flûte où s’épanche
Tour à tour la tristesse ou la joie…
Un air tour à tour langoureux ou frivole,
Que mon amoureux chéri joue.
Et quand je m’approche de la croisée
Il me semble que chaque note s’envole
De la flûte vers ma joue
Comme un mystérieux baiser.
II. The Enchanted Flute
The shade is sweet and my master sleeps,
Wearing a silk conical night-cap,
With his long yellow nose in his white beard.
But I am still awake
And from outside I hear
The song of a flute that pours out
By turns sadness or joy…
An air by turns languorous or frivolous,
That my dear beloved plays.
And when I approach the casement-window
It seems to me that each note flies
From the flute toward my cheek
Like a mysterious kiss.
III. L’Indifférent
Tes yeux sont doux comme ceux d’une fille,
Jeune étranger,
Et la courbe fine
De ton beau visage de duvet ombragé
Est plus séduisante encor de ligne.
Ta lèvre chante sur le pas de ma porte
Une langue inconnue et charmante
Comme une musique fausse.
Entre! Et que mon vin te réconforte . . .
Mais non, tu passes
Et de mon seuil je te vois t’éloigner
Me faisant un dernier geste avec grâce
Et la hanche légèrement ployée
Par ta démarche féminine et lasse. . . .
III. The Indifferent One
Your eyes are as sweet as a girl’s,
Young stranger,
And the delicate curve
Of your beautiful face shadowed by down
Is even more seductive in profile.
On my doorstep, your lips sing
A language unknown and charming
Like music out of tune.
Enter! And may my wine comfort you…
But no, you pass
And from my doorstep I watch you move away
Giving me a final gracious gesture
With lightly swinging hips
And your feminine, languid gait…
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Morgen! (Tomorrow!), Op. 27, No. 4 (1894) 2 minutes
Solo voice, solo violin, 3 horns, harp, and strings.
Morgen
Und morgen wird die Sonne wieder scheinen,
Und auf dem Wege, den ich gehen werde,
Wird uns, die Glücklichen, sie wieder einen
Inmitten dieser sonnenatmenden Erde . . .
Und zu dem Strand, dem weiten, wogenblauen,
Werden wir still und langsam niedersteigen,
Stumm werden wir uns in die Augen schauen,
Und auf uns sinkt des Glückes stummes Schweigen. . .
John Henry Mackay (1864-1933)
Tomorrow
And tomorrow the sun will shine again,
And the path I travel,
Will unite us again, the fortunate ones
In the midst of the earth which breathes the sun…
And to the broad shore and blue waves,
We walk down, slowly and quietly,
Silently, we look into each other’s eyes,
And a silent happiness descends over us…
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Opus 64 (1888) 50 minutes
Piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones,
tuba, timpani, and strings.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed his Symphony No. 5 during the summer of 1885.
During this period, Tchaikovsky also worked on a “Fantasy-Overture,” based upon
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Tchaikovsky completed his Fifth Symphony on August
26. He put the finishing touches on the Hamlet “Fantasy-Overture” on October 19.
Tchaikovsky conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 5 in St. Petersburg on
November 17, 1888. In many ways, it was a grand triumph for the composer. At the
concert, the orchestra saluted Tchaikovsky with a triple fanfare. He also received an
honorary membership in the St. Petersburg Society. The audience greeted the new work
with a rousing ovation.
By Tchaikovsky’s own admission, both the Fourth and his final Symphony, the Sixth,
feature programmatic elements. Tchaikovsky insisted that his Fifth Symphony did not
contain a program. However, the progression of the Symphony No. 5—with its
presentation, frequent reappearance, and dramatic metamorphosis of a central leitmotif—
certainly seems to hint at some extra-musical significance. And among Tchaikovsky’s
sketches for the Fifth are words from the composer suggesting the Symphony depicted a
confrontation with Fate.
If it is true that Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 portrays a struggle with Fate, the
outcome seems far more positive than depicted in the Fourth and Sixth Symphonies. But
such considerations are, in the final analysis, secondary to the glorious music of this
gripping and unforgettable symphonic journey.
The Symphony No. 5 opens with a slow introduction (Andante). The clarinets present an
ominous theme that will appear as the central leitmotif in each of the Symphony’s four
movements. The theme soon becomes the basis for the opening melody of the ensuing
Allegro con anima. The slow second movement (Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza)
features a radiant outpouring of melody, twice interrupted by savage outbursts of the
central leitmotif. The third movement Waltz (Valse. Allegro moderato), in A—B—A
form, concludes with a rather insinuating repetition of the central leitmotif, capped by six
fortissimo chords. The Finale opens with a slow-tempo introduction (Andante maestoso),
with the central leitmotif transformed to the major key. After a protracted struggle and
dramatic pause, the leitmotif returns for the last time—now cast as a triumphal march
(Moderato assai e molto maestoso).