Program Notes for Spring 2007 Performance
Harford Youth Orchestra (tracks 1-6)
Brian Folus, Conductor
April 21, 2007
Dubinushka, op.62
Dubinushka, whose title may be translated as “The Little Oak Stick,” was composed in 1905; the first performance was conducted by Alexander Siloti on November 18 of that year, in St. Petersburg. In the following year Rimsky-Korsakov revised the score to its present proportions. Dubinushka ,the folk-song had long been connected with revolutionary movements and for some time was actually prohibited. The four-minute piece is a robust, swaggering march, with Rimsky's characteristic directness and charm to make it vastly enjoyable, and yet at the same time it is clearly an expression of defiance and resolve. Without monumentalizing the issues, it is a striking document of a pivotal time in Russia's history.
Slane, Impressions of an Irish folk tune
Slane, Impressions of an Irish folk tune is also known as Be Thou my Vision. Douglas Wagner has taken this folk –hymn melody and woven a beautiful tapestry of orchestral sounds and colors. Words: Attributed to Dallan Forgaill, 8th Century (Rob tu mo bhoile, a Comdi cride); translated from ancient Irish to English by Mary E. Byrne, in “Eriú,” Journal of the School of Irish Learning, 1905. Slane Hill is about ten miles from Tara in County Meath. It was on Slane Hill around 433 AD that St. Patrick defied a royal edict by lighting candles on Easter Eve. High King Logaire of Tara had decreed that no one could light a fire before Logaire began the pagan spring festival by lighting a fire on Tara Hill. Logaire was so impressed by Patrick’s devotion that, despite his defiance (or perhaps because of it), he let him continue his missionary work. The rest is history.
"Hymn to the Fallen"
"Hymn to the Fallen" by John Williams scored for orchestra and choir for the Paramount and DreamWorks Motion Picture “Saving Private Ryan. This composition is played over the end credits, and is never heard in the actual film. The piece opens with a slow snare drum before the choir, scored for strings in this performance, is heard for the first time, very subtle, supported by primarily woodwinds. The music builds up, with powerful brass and choir to a wonderful emotional climax. This work is without doubt going to become a classic. "It's a piece of music and a testament to John Williams' sensitivity and brilliance that, in my opinion, will stand the test of time and honor forever the fallen of this war and possibly all wars", to quote Spielberg in the liner notes. The Harford Youth Orchestra dedicates this performance to the fallen heroes of Harford County
Harford String Orchestra (tracks 7-12)
Tim Reinhardt, Conductor
April 21, 2007
Prelude
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) is usually heralded as the greatest Norwegian composer of all time. His music, often typified as heroic and lyrical, combined nationalistic folk melodies with the traditional German romanticism in which he was trained. The Holberg Suite was written to honor Ludwig Holberg, a great Danish writer, on the bicentennial of his birth. Originally written for piano (1884) and later transcribed for orchestra (1886), Grieg chose to use a suite of classical dance forms from the seventeenth century. The Prelude offers a strong melody with a restless rhythm, often punctuated with accents and fortepianos.
Adagietto
Gustav Mahler was born in Bohemia in 1860. His life was fraught with tension and angst, having lost his siblings, parents, and eldest daughter to various ailments. He described himself as “thrice abandoned: as a Bohemian among Austrians, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world.” His unbearably tyrannical nature as a conductor often put him at odds with his orchestras, but it was the same exacting ingenuity that made his music so powerful and inventive.
The Adagietto was made popular as the film score for the classic movie, “Death in Venice”, and thusly, is often performed at a very stagnant, deathly tempo. This is understandable, as Mahler was somewhat obsessed with his own mortality. However the Adagietto was actually Mahler’s declaration of love to his fiancée, Alma. He sent the score to her with no words attached; they were married a year later. The nuanced combination of beauty, desire, longing, and fate will satisfy the listener’s interpretation, whether it is one of death or love.
Palladio
Palladio is more commonly recognized as “Diamond Music”, made famous by the Zales’s Diamond commercials. Although it sounds like the work of Vivaldi, it was actually written by the British contemporary composer, Karl Jenkins (1944-). Jenkins writes in many, incredibly diverse styles including jazz, classical, new age, and ethnic music. Palladio employs driving rhythmic figures, traditional harmonies, and exciting dynamic contrasts to reinvent the Baroque era.
English Fugue
William Selby (1738-1798) is a lesser-known English composer who focused most of his compositional energy on keyboard works. After holding several posts in London, he immigrated to America in 1771 and worked in Boston. Art Scheinberg has arranged this fugue, originally for keyboard, for string orchestra. The stately fugal subject is handed to every section of the ensemble, beginning with the first violins.
The Syncopated Clock
The music of Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) is characterized by light, catchy melodies often using special effects for novel programmatic settings. After studying music at the New England Conservatory and Harvard University, he was employed as an arranger for the Boston Pops. The U.S. Army drafted him during World War II as an interpreter and it was at this time, while serving at the Pentagon, that he composed the syncopated clock. The solo temple block part caricatures a clock that is slightly off kilter, while the alarm sounds periodically throughout the middle section. Other famous works by Anderson include Sleigh Ride, Blue Tango, Plink Plank Plunk, The Typewriter and Bugler’s Holiday.
It Takes Five to Tango
Originally written for brass quintet by Tim Reinhardt, this original work was transcribed and expanded for string orchestra, then dedicated to the HSO in 2003. Five soloists begin It Takes Five to Tango and they re-emerge in various interludes throughout the piece. Energetic rhythms and Latin harmonies drive this tango as the main melody is developed and distorted. Many special techniques are also used such as glissandos, left hand pizzicato, and a snap pizzicato in the bass section.
In Appreciation
The Harford String Orchestra and Harford Youth Orchestra would like to thank our section coaches Mrs. Enid McClure, Mr. Tim Reinhardt, Mr. Brian Folus, Mr. Dennis Hertzog, Ms Laura Ruth. We would also like to thank our rehearsal assistants, Mrs. Mary Bullock and Mrs. Susan Hopkins and our Orchestra Personnel Managers, Mrs. Susan Bowen and Mrs. Cheri Zimmerman. Thanks also to the Music Teachers of Harford and Cecil Counties for their support of these two orchestras and you the parents, friends and families of the orchestra members. The Harford Youth Orchestra and String Orchestra is offered as a non-credit class through Harford Community College we appreciate their commitment and support of music for young musicians.
Program Notes for Fall 2007 Performance
Harford String Orchestra (tracks 1-6)
Tim Reinhardt, Conductor
November 10th, 2007
Posthorn Serenade
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is best known as a prodigy who set the musical world ablaze beginning with his compositions at the age of five and continuing for the 30 short years remaining of his life. The Posthorn Serenade, K. 320, dates from 1779 during Mozart’s Salzburg years. This serenade is a multi-movement work in a light-hearted vein, and was commissioned as “finalmusik,” a piece used to celebrate the conclusion of examinations and classes at the University. The title of the serenade is derived from the use of a posthorn, a sort of bugle used to signal the arrival of the mail coach, in the second trio of one of the minuets. The finale, performed here, is a vigorously exultant movement employing spiccato bowing and extreme dynamic contrasts.
Barber of Seville
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) is best known for his witty and fanciful opera buffas (comic operas). He was easily the most popular, most prolific, and wealthiest composer in the early 19th century. He had written 39 operas by the time he was 37 years old, and never wrote another for the next 40 years of his life. Rossini died at the ripe old age of 76.
The Barber of Seville was commissioned in January 1816. Three weeks later, Rossini completed his masterpiece…with a little help from some of his failed operas from the past. One such borrowed portion was the overture. Originally used for two unsuccessful operas, Rossini’s stubbornness struck genius as he crossed out the two other titles and wrote Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the top. Opening night was catastrophic; the audience jeered and hissed as one thing after another went wrong. Count Almaviva broke a string on his guitar, a soprano fell through a trap door, a singer tripped onto the stage and bloodied his nose, and to top it all off, a cat was released onto the stage by someone in the audience. The second night met with much more success and the opera has stood the test of time ever since.
Deep River
Deep River is an African American spiritual, one of the first spirituals to move from the realm of folk music to the concert stage, thanks to the work of H.T. Burleigh, a composer at the turn of the 19th century. He brought to the public eye the depth and beauty of the spiritual through his published arrangements for solo voice and piano. In this arrangement, Carrie Lane Gruselle captures the beautiful, longing melody, while employing jazz harmonies to create an unforgettable rendition of this classic spiritual.
Concerto Grosso
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was one of the most prominent composers of the baroque period. Born in Halle, Germany, he gained English citizenship in 1727. The Allegro is the second movement of his Concerto Grosso, Op.6, No.1. The concerto grosso was the principal form of orchestral music during the Baroque era, created by Stradella and made popular by Corelli. It is characterized by contrasts between a small group of soloists, or concertante, and the full orchestra, or ripieno.
Blue Rhythmico
Blue Rhythmico is an exciting, minimalist piece that incorporates driving rhythms and the “blue” notes of a jazz scale. The opening rhythmic ostinato creates the foundation for the proceeding contributions from the various sections of the orchestra. A short ‘B’ section incorporates a hemiola with a crescendo that finally releases to powerful glissandos in the violins. The piece winds down at the end, with all sections playing in unison. Kirt Mosier presently teaches high school in Kansas City, Missouri.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Ted Ricketts has arranged the beloved film score of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in a fashion that is every bit as mysterious and adventurous as the original movie. Complex rhythms and meter changes characterize the many melodies offered in this medley, such as The Medallion Calls, Blood Ritual, Walk the Plank, and The Black Pearl. Come sail the seas with Captain Jack Sparrow in this exciting Disney favorite.
Harford Youth Orchestra (tracks 7-12)
Brian Folus, Conductor
November 10th, 2007
Marche Joyeuse by Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894) certainly lives up to its title. This march employs a reoccurring rhythmic phrase in the opening section that has quite a comic feel to it. The second phrase equally energetic has a soaring melody in the french horns. Emmanuel Alexis Chabrier was a French Romantic composer from the Auvergne region of central France and was born in Ambert. Although his parents, sensing his musical abilities, brought him to Paris in 1856, he did not toe the line by studying at the Paris Conservatoire or even at any of the less prestigious musical institutions. Many music critics have commented that “his individual style of orchestration seemed to come from nowhere”. The impressionistic harmonies used by Chabrier are both enticing and exotic.
The Walk To The Paradise Garden by Frederick Delius (1862-1934) Delius's musical style is one of the most unusual in Western musical history. Characterized by a curious mixture of pentatonic figures and chromatics although still largely tonal, it reflects a move from the textbook post-romanticism of the years following the death of Richard Wagner (1883) to a style that was unique to Delius, blending Impressionism with the slightly older post-romanticism and northern European and African-American folk idioms. His use of luscious harmonies - mainly slow moving, and constantly evolving melody, with the frequent use of leitmotifs - is what prompted Sir Thomas Beecham to describe him as "the last great apostle of romantic beauty in music." His harmony and melody were influenced greatly by African-American music of the time, using blues harmony and melodic characteristics that would become distinctly jazz and blues 20 years later.
Danse Macabre by Camille Saint – Saens (1835-1921) is of course a Halloween favorite and it is Halloween that this piece describes. The very opening invokes mystery and suspense as the harp chimes twelve tones against the horn and string chords. Death then appears portrayed by the out of tune violin calling the dead to rise and dance for him as he does every Halloween. After which the main theme is heard on a solo flute and is followed by a descending scale on the solo violin. The rest of the orchestra, particularly the lower instruments of the string section, then joins in on the descending scale. The main theme and the scale is then heard throughout the various sections of the orchestra until it breaks to the solo violin and the harp playing the scale. The piece becomes more energetic and climaxes at this point; the full orchestra playing with strong dynamics. Towards the end of the piece, there is another violin solo, now modulating, which is then joined by the rest of the orchestra. The final section, a pianissimo, represents the dawn breaking and the skeletons returning to their graves.
The Waltzing Cat by Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) Leroy Anderson has been called the "most famous unknown composer" because his music has rooted itself in American culture, becoming as iconic as the flag and apple pie. He was born into a family of first-generation Swedish immigrants. In 1919, he began his music and piano studies at the New England Conservatory of Music. At Harvard, he studied composition, and later served as the director of the Harvard University Band. The Waltzing Cat is one of Mr. Andersons fun loving and comical pieces and even makes an appearance in a “Tom & Jerry “cartoon. The cat is enjoying a wonderful day dream where everything comes his way. All is peacefully portray by a lilting melody and the gentle cat’s meowing until the dream is interrupted by the cat’s nemeses –the dogs. The cat then scampers away and gives one final hiss to his enemy.
Farandole by Georges Bizet (1838-1875) is from the L'Arlésienne, Suite Number Two which was published four years after Bizet's death in 1879. The suite was collected by Ernest Guiraud, who compiled some of Bizet's original themes and formed the second suite. Although the work was never sanctioned by Bizet and was performed posthumously, the second suite is generally credited to Bizet since Bizet wrote the themes in the work. The work performed today is an arrangement by Merle Issac world renowned orchestra arranger.
In Appreciation
The Harford String Orchestra and Harford Youth Orchestra would like to
thank our section coaches: Mrs. Enid McClure, Mr. Dennis Hertzog, Mr. Tim Reinhardt, Mr. Brian Folus, Ms Lori Zimmerman, Mrs. Doris Reinhardt,Mrs. Margaret Holmes, and Mr. Mark Lashof. We would also like to thank our rehearsal assistants, Mrs. Mary Bullock, Mrs. Susan Hopkins, and Ms Laura Ruth and our Orchestra Personnel Managers, Mrs. Christine Canter and Mrs.Elaine Woolcott. Thanks also to the Music Teachers of Harford and Cecil Counties for their support of these two orchestras, and you the parents, friends and families of the orchestra members. The Harford Youth Orchestra and String Orchestra are offered as noncredit classes through Harford Community College. We appreciate the College’s commitment and support of music for young musicians