Program Notes
Berlin Counterpoint: Friday, October 11, 2019 - 7:30 pm
Johann Strauss, Jr.’s Die Fledermaus is a perennial favorite in opera houses, even though it is really an operetta with a considerable amount of spoken dialogue. ‘Fledermaus’ is the German word for bat, and the story hinges on Dr. Falke getting revenge on his friend Gabriel von Eisenstein for having left him drunk on a park bench in a bat costume after a fancy dress party. Falke entices Eisenstein to a party instead of reporting to jail for a minor offense. Falke tips off Eisenstein’s wife, Rosalinde, telling her to come to the party disguised as a Hungarian noblewoman. Of course Eisenstein flirts shamelessly with his own wife, but the next morning everything is blamed on the champagne and all is forgiven, if not forgotten. The overture is a masterful pastiche of tunes from the opera, all of them absolutely irresistible.
Six Bagatelles - György Ligeti is considered one of the most important composers of the latter half of the 20th century. He was born into a Hungarian-Jewish family in Romania in 1923 and his education was interrupted by World War II. He was sent to a forced labor camp, but survived and managed to forge a career under Soviet domination, largely cut off from western influences. With the fall of communism Ligeti emigrated to Austria and became a citizen, which enabled him to cultivate many contacts with Western musicians. During the course of his career he worked in several different styles, many of them quite avante garde. These six bagatelles (trifles), however, are in a folk-like style, beautifully written for woodwind quintet. - Angela Carlson 2019
Six Bagatelles - György Ligeti is considered one of the most important composers of the latter half of the 20th century. He was born into a Hungarian-Jewish family in Romania in 1923 and his education was interrupted by World War II. He was sent to a forced labor camp, but survived and managed to forge a career under Soviet domination, largely cut off from western influences. With the fall of communism Ligeti emigrated to Austria and became a citizen, which enabled him to cultivate many contacts with Western musicians. During the course of his career he worked in several different styles, many of them quite avante garde. These six bagatelles (trifles), however, are in a folk-like style, beautifully written for woodwind quintet. - Angela Carlson 2019
Sextour, Op. 100 – Francis Poulenc was born into a wealthy family of pharmaceutical manufacturers. He had a splendid formal education, but it was from his mother “that I inherited my great love of music. She was a delightful pianist with excellent musical taste.” At seventeen, the precocious young man received the following rebuff from the head of the Paris Conservatoire: “Your music stinks. Are you trying to make a fool of me? Ah, I see you have joined the gang of Stravinsky, Satie &Co. Well, then, I’ll say good-bye.” Small wonder that a few years later Poulenc joined “Les Six”, followers of Satie, determined to follow new paths and to eschew what they perceived to be excessive delicacy and romantic sentiment in French impressionistic music.
He wrote this Sextet in 1932, but was dissatisfied and set it aside till 1939 when he revised it. He described it as “chamber music of the most straightforward kind, an homage to the wind instruments I have loved from the moment I began composing.” Poulenc was a superb pianist, and the virtuoso writing for winds is matched by his scoring for the keyboard. The first movement is in three parts. The opening blast leads right into the fast- moving chattering piece until a bassoon solo introduces a slow pensivemiddle section with the piano singing the beautiful opening melody. Poulenc peppered the score with precise directions to the players – “intense,” “very gentle,” “expressive,” and indicating that it should be played at half the original tempo. Then the opening volley and busy first section recurs. The second movement reverses the tempi –slow, fast, slow. Poulenc gives the oboe the first theme –“very gentle and expressive.” In the swift middle part he cautions the players to sound “very merry” but “dry and gentle.” The finale is a rondo, interrupted by lyric episodes. The coda is very slow, and once again the oboe “very sweet and melancholy” is heard as this delightful sextet draws to a close. - Craig Leman’s notes 1997
He wrote this Sextet in 1932, but was dissatisfied and set it aside till 1939 when he revised it. He described it as “chamber music of the most straightforward kind, an homage to the wind instruments I have loved from the moment I began composing.” Poulenc was a superb pianist, and the virtuoso writing for winds is matched by his scoring for the keyboard. The first movement is in three parts. The opening blast leads right into the fast- moving chattering piece until a bassoon solo introduces a slow pensivemiddle section with the piano singing the beautiful opening melody. Poulenc peppered the score with precise directions to the players – “intense,” “very gentle,” “expressive,” and indicating that it should be played at half the original tempo. Then the opening volley and busy first section recurs. The second movement reverses the tempi –slow, fast, slow. Poulenc gives the oboe the first theme –“very gentle and expressive.” In the swift middle part he cautions the players to sound “very merry” but “dry and gentle.” The finale is a rondo, interrupted by lyric episodes. The coda is very slow, and once again the oboe “very sweet and melancholy” is heard as this delightful sextet draws to a close. - Craig Leman’s notes 1997
Quintet for Piano and Winds – Ludwig Van Beethoven What greater homage can one musician pay to another than to try to match his performance? Beethoven score this quintet for the exact same combination, structure, and key as Mozart’s 1794 quintet for piano and winds. Just as Mozart played the piano part in the first concert performance of his quintet, so Beethoven was at the keyboard for his work’s premier in 1797. Musicologist Homer Ulrich calls this “the most Mozartean of Beethoven’s early chamber music works. Its transparent quality, its beautifully clear lines, and its general perfection are reminiscent of Mozart. But its vigor, humor, and size remove it from direct comparison with that master. It is the young Beethoven at his best.”
The solemn introduction gives way to a swinging, vigorous three- four rhythm. The slow movement begins with the piano coming on strongly and then becomes a serenade with the wind instruments alternating in solo passages. Here are the comments of a musician who attended the premier on April 6, 1797 in Vienna. “In the last allegro, a pause occurs several times before the theme returns. Beethoven began to improvise...pleasing himself and those listening for a considerable time, but not pleasing the other players. They were annoyed and even enraged. It really looked highly comical when these gentlemen, expecting the movement to be resumed at any moment kept putting their instruments up, but then had to put them down again without playing a note. At length Beethoven was satisfied and started up the rondo again. The whole assembly was delighted.” - Craig Leman’s notes 1991
The solemn introduction gives way to a swinging, vigorous three- four rhythm. The slow movement begins with the piano coming on strongly and then becomes a serenade with the wind instruments alternating in solo passages. Here are the comments of a musician who attended the premier on April 6, 1797 in Vienna. “In the last allegro, a pause occurs several times before the theme returns. Beethoven began to improvise...pleasing himself and those listening for a considerable time, but not pleasing the other players. They were annoyed and even enraged. It really looked highly comical when these gentlemen, expecting the movement to be resumed at any moment kept putting their instruments up, but then had to put them down again without playing a note. At length Beethoven was satisfied and started up the rondo again. The whole assembly was delighted.” - Craig Leman’s notes 1991
Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks – Richard Struass’s 1895 tone poem Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks is a musical description of the antics of a folklore trickster. Till pokes fun at the clergy and overly-serious academics, chases girls, overturns market stalls and generally wreaks havoc wherever he goes. He is captured and convicted of blasphemy, his hanging illustrated graphically in the music. Strauss hints at the end that perhaps Till isn’t really dead, that his spirit lives on. The original version is scored for a huge orchestra with triple winds and eight horns plus a large body of strings. This pared down version highlights all the important themes, still maintaining the spirit of the work. - Angela Carlson 2019