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Notes..................................
Program
by Carl Cunningham
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SINFONIA DA REQUIEM, OPUS 20 Benjamin Britten
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Born: Nov 22, 1913, Lowestoft, England Died: Dec 4, 1976, Aldeburgh, England
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Fidelity Investments Classical Series
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Work composed: 1939-40 Recording: Stuart Bedford, London Symphony (Naxos)
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Thursday, February 3, 2011 8 pm Saturday, February 5, 2011 8 pm Sunday, February 6, 2011 2:30 pm Jones Hall
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Instrumentation: three flutes (one doubling piccolo and alto flute), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets, (one doubling E-flat clarinet and one doubling bass clarinet), alto saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, six horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps, piano and strings
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Gil Shaham Plus Beethoven 7
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Hans Graf, conductor Gil Shaham, violin
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Walton Violin Concerto I Andante tranquillo II Presto capriccioso alla napolitana III Vivace
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Britten Sinfonia da Requiem, Opus 20 I Lacrymosa: Andante ben misurato— II Dies Irae: Allegro con fuoco—Alla marcia—Avanti!— III Requiem Aeternum: Andante molto tranquillo
The terse, tragic Sinfonia da Requiem was Benjamin Britten’s first major orchestral composition. Significantly, it was composed just as World War Two was beginning in Europe, but the composer, an avowed pacifist, maintained that the work bore no relationship to that terrible conflict threatening his homeland. He dedicated the work in memory of his parents. The symphony had been commissioned by the Japanese government in celebration of the 2,600th anniversary of that nation’s imperial dynasty, but when the Japanese learned that symbols of Christianity – titles from the Latin Mass for the Dead – would be attached to all three movements, they noted that the score contained no felicitous reference to their anniversary festivities and the work was rejected. Britten and his companion, tenor Peter Pears, were on an extended three-year period of residence and travel in North America at the time, and the first performance was finally given by Sir John Barbirolli and the New York Philharmonic on March 29, 1941. The Sinfonia da Requiem is set in three uninterrupted movements that bear general relationships to the symphonic form, though the work concludes with an elegiac slow movement instead of a more traditional fast finale. The opening movement, a highly compressed sonata form, begins with several thunderclap timpani strokes that gradually die down, setting the tone for a slow, symphonic dirge. A quietly grieving theme, begun by the first bassoon, is repeated over and over as it gradually swells into a wailing chorus, expanded and elaborated upon by the entire orchestra. This theme, and its melodic and rhythmic variants, dominates the entire movement, growing into a huge, painful climax before dying quietly away at the end. The Scherzo, titled “Dies Irae,” is a movement full of fury and shrill orchestral effects: a rattling “flutter-tongue” vibration for the woodwind players, racing triple-tongue passages and a sarcastic use of mutes for the brass. The strings are caught up in crisp, dry staccato and bound-
INTERMISSION Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92 I Poco sostenuto—Vivace II Allegretto III Presto—Assai meno presto—Presto IV Allegro con brio
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Hans Graf’s biography appears on page 4.
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Gil Shaham’s performance on Saturday evening is generously sponsored by Lorraine & Alexander Dell. The printed music for Walton’s Violin Concerto was donated by Michael B. & Christine E. George.
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The printed music for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Opus 92 was donated by Paul H. & Maida M. Asofsky.
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Prelude is sponsored by Fluor. The Classical Season is endowed by The Wortham Foundation, Inc. in memory of Gus S. & Lyndall F. Wortham.
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These concerts are being recorded for future broadcast on KUHF 88.7 FM, the Radio Voice of the Houston Symphony.
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12 www.houstonsymphony.org
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KUHF 88.7 FM is the Classical Season media sponsor. The Houston Symphony currently records under its own label, Houston Symphony Media Productions, and for Naxos. Houston Symphony recordings also are available on the Telarc, RCA Red Seal, Virgin Classics and Koch International Classics labels.
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