Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius

26 downloads 9825 Views 122KB Size Report
Jean Sibelius wrote and conducted Finland Awakes for one of these gatherings. ... Sibelius' Violin Concerto is a kind of melancholic farewell to that childhood ...
2014 BF4 notes – 8/9

Jean Sibelius Finlandia, Op. 26 THE VITAL STATS: Composer: born Dec. 8, 1865, Hämeenlinna, Finland; died Sept. 20, 1957, Järvenpää, Finland. Work composed: 1899, revised 1900 Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle and strings Estimated duration: 8 minutes By November 1899, the citizens of Finland had endured almost a century of heavy-handed rule by Russia, which included severe censorship of the press. That month, a group of artists in Finland’s capital, Helsinki, organized a series of “Press Celebrations,” which were actually political demonstrations on behalf of Finnish independence. Jean Sibelius wrote and conducted Finland Awakes for one of these gatherings. The following year, Sibelius reworked the score and changed its title to Finlandia for the Helsinki Philharmonic to perform on its first major tour of Europe. As music historian Phillip Huscher notes, “Despite the narrow political circumstances of its creation, Finlandia turned out to have universal appeal, and in very little time it made Sibelius the best-known living Finn in the world.” The oppressive Russian presence growls through the low brasses and timpani as Finlandia begins. Sibelius follows this with a gentle statement in the winds, which grows into a defiant, heroic anthem heralded by brasses, horns and strings. Interestingly, the most memorable theme of Finlandia does not make its appearance until more than halfway through the work. This hymn-like melody, inspired by folk tunes, sounds quietly with the winds, and eventually becomes an impassioned cry of freedom as Finlandia comes to its triumphal conclusion.

Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 THE VITAL STATS Work composed: 1904, revised 1905 Instrumentation: solo violin, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and strings Estimated duration: 31 minutes “The violin took me by storm,” Jean Sibelius wrote in his diary, “and for the next ten years it was my dearest wish, my overriding ambition, to become a great virtuoso.” Unfortunately, Sibelius never attained great proficiency on the violin, despite much effort. He began studying the instrument relatively late, at age 14; he was also limited by a lack of first-rate violin teachers in Finland. Sibelius’ Violin Concerto is a kind of melancholic farewell to that childhood dream, and the bitterness of that failure spilled over into the writing of the concerto itself. Sibelius had promised it to violinist Willy Burmeister, concertmaster of the Helsinki Orchestra during the 1890s and a longtime fan of

Sibelius’ music. However, Sibelius made it impossible for Burmeister to play the premiere because Sibelius insisted on a premiere concert date in November 1903, even though Burmeister was not available at that time. Although he refused to move the date of the premiere, Sibelius tried to placate Burmeister with the promise of future performances. “When you come in March you will launch it … I’m so grateful that you will do it in so many places.” Sibelius finished the first version of this concerto in the autumn of 1903 and sent the score to Burmeister, who loved the work: “I can only say one thing: wonderful! Masterly! Only once before have I spoken in such terms to a composer, and that was when Tchaikovsky showed me his concerto.” Sibelius led the Helsinki Philharmonic in the premiere, with soloist Victor Nováček, a mediocre violinist who was completely unequal to the demands of the work. After this lackluster debut, Sibelius revised the work and Burmeister again offered to play it. “All of my twenty-five years’ stage experience, my artistry and insight will be at the service of this work,” he wrote to Sibelius. “I shall play the concerto in Helsinki in such a way that the city will be at your feet.” However, Sibelius’ German publisher wanted another violinist, Karl Halir, the concertmaster in Berlin, to undertake the solo part. Sibelius agreed, although with some twinges of conscience over his now twice-broken promise to Burmeister. Burmeister was understandably outraged and vowed never to play the work himself, a promise he kept. The Violin Concerto is one of Sibelius’ more accessible and straightforward works, as compared with the complex unfolding structures of his symphonies. Its three movements showcase the violin’s lush rhapsodic qualities, particularly the intimate second movement. In the finale, the soloist plays much of the time in the violin’s highest range, as violin and orchestra pass the primary theme, a strong march-like tune, back and forth between them. The Deutsche Zeitung likened the concerto’s colors to those used by “the Nordic winter landscape painters who through the distinctive interplay of white on white, secure rare, sometimes hypnotic and sometimes powerful effects.” American critic Olin Downes, an early admirer of Sibelius, described the work as “bardic songs heard against a background of torches or pagan fires in some wild Northern night.”

Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From the New World” THE VITAL STATS Composer: born September 8, 1841, Nelahozeves, near Kralupy in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic); died May 1, 1904, Prague Work composed: 1893 Instrumentation: 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (one doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, triangle and strings Estimated duration: 40 minutes Antonín Dvořák began work on his Ninth Symphony in December 1892, shortly after his arrival in America, and completed it in May 1893. He had come to the United States at the invitation of Jeanette Thurber, president of the National Conservatory of Music, who had asked Dvořák to head the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. Although Dvořák was initially reluctant to leave Vysoká, his country home, not to mention his friends and his country, the $15,000 salary Mrs. Thurber offered him was too tempting to pass up (Dvořák’s six children were all under 13 at the time; providing for his family was the main reason he accepted Thurber’s offer). For her part, Thurber hoped Dvořák’s international reputation would shine much-needed luster on her school.

During his three-year sojourn in New York, Dvořák spent his off hours exploring the city, watching trains and large ships arrive and depart, feeding pigeons in Central Park and meeting all kinds of people. He also accompanied Mrs. Thurber around town, taking in, among other outings, a performance of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. She was keenly interested in creating a uniquely “American” musical sound and style, and hoped that Dvořák would oblige her. She suggested that Dvořák “write a symphony embodying his experiences and feelings in America.” Late in 1892, Dvořák wrote to a friend back home, “The Americans expect great things of me. I am to show them the way into the Promised Land, the realm of a new, independent art, in short a national style of music! … This will certainly be a great and lofty task, and I hope that with God’s help I shall succeed in it. I have plenty of encouragement to do so.” Dvořák’s ultimate response to Thurber’s request was no mere parlor piece or small chamber work, but a symphony as expansive and energetic as America itself. From the moment of its premiere, the New World Symphony became Dvořák’s most popular work and one of the most performed symphonies by any composer. Much has been discussed about the extent to which Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony is an “American” work. In an interview with the New York Herald in December 1893, Dvořák said, “Since I have been in this country I have been deeply interested in the national music of the Negroes and Indians.” Dvořák went on to declare, “I am now satisfied that the future music of this country must be founded upon what are called the Negro melodies. This must be the real foundation of any serious and original school of composition to be developed in the United States. When I first came here last year I was impressed with this idea and it has developed into a settled conviction. These beautiful and varied themes are the product of the soil. They are the folk songs of America and your composers must turn to them. All of the great musicians have borrowed from the songs of the common people … only in this way can a musician express the true sentiment of the people.” Dvořák’s suggestion that only Afro- and Native American music was authentically “American” provoked a great deal of controversy in both the United States and Europe. Although Dvořák was exposed to a great deal of American folk music, including Native American melodies and Negro spirituals, he did not quote any of them verbatim while writing the Ninth Symphony. Dvořák explained, “The influence of America can be readily felt by anyone with ‘a nose.’” That is, hints of the uniquely American flavor of this music are discernable throughout. Dvořák makes use of the syncopated rhythms, repeated patterns and particular scales common to much of America’s indigenous music. However, the Ninth Symphony is not a patchwork of previously existing materials, and Dvořák used no direct quotes in any part of the work, including the famous Largo, which was later given the title Goin’ Home, with accompanying text, by one of Dvořák’s composition students in New York. All the significant melodies in the Ninth Symphony are Dvořák’s own. “I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of Indian music, and using these themes as subjects, have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythms, harmony, counterpoint and orchestral color,” Dvořák explained. As for the title, “From the New World,” Dvořák intended it as an aural picture postcard to be mailed back to friends and family in Europe and meant simply “Impressions and Greetings from the New World.” At the premiere, the audience applauded every movement with great enthusiasm, especially the Largo, which they cheered without pause until Dvořák rose from his seat and took a bow. A critic writing for the New York Evening Post spoke for most when he wrote, “Anyone who heard it could not deny that it is the greatest symphonic work ever composed in this country … A masterwork has been added to the symphonic literature.” © 2014 Elizabeth Schwartz