Conc ert Sc h ool Con cert

Overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia

GIOACHINO ROSSINI 1792–1868

Both of Gioachino Rossini’s parents were theater musicians. His father was a horn player and occasional impresario, and his mother was a prima donna who performed throughout Italy. The young Rossini traveled with his parents and joined as a performer, playing viola, at just nine years old. He began horn, singing, and composition lessons soon after, and began singing professionally as well as leading theater ensembles from the harpsichord at age twelve. With this background steeped in theater, it is no surprise that his compositions quickly turned to the opera genre, writing his first in 1810. Fifteen more operas followed before Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville). Of those fifteen, it was Tancredi (1813) and L’italiana in Algeri (1813) that would start Rossini’s international fame. By the time Il barbiere di Siviglia was composed in 1816, Rossini was the leading Italian composer of his time.

Living and working in an Italy that was not yet united, and therefore without central copyright laws, Rossini only earned money from operatic performances in which he was involved. As such, he was an extremely active member and prolific composer for the theater world. He wrote quickly, and Il barbiere di Siviglia is no exception. Rossini signed the contract on December 27, 1815, and delivered the first act in skeleton score on February 6, 1816. The opera premiered at the Nobil Teatro di Torre Argentina in Rome just two weeks later. Such a fast pace of writing—and therefore his financial security—was aided by the standard practice of reusing music multiple times in different works. (J.S. Bach, Haydn, and Mozart also recycled their music.) Rossini did just this for Il barbiere di Siviglia , using the overture from his 1813 opera seria Aureliano in Palmira Given the time crunch, compounded by the fact that Rossini had to write vocal parts first (to provide singers with their music), it is logical that Rossini recycled an overture for this new work and savvy that he turned to a work that premiered in a different city. Because he used the overture score written for Aureliano in Palmira , which premiered in Milan, the score does not reflect the instruments available for Il barbiere di Siviglia ’s premiere in Rome. For the premiere, there was no timpani, and there were only two players for the combined flute and oboe parts; the oboist had to double on both flute and piccolo.

Another tool that Rossini used to speed the composition process was to establish a clear formula, into which he would simply insert new melodies and instruments. All of his operatic overtures follow the same exact structure: a three-part slow introduction followed by a modified sonata form at a faster tempo. Fortissimo chords grab the audience’s attention and begin the Il barbiere di Siviglia overture. The oboe and French horn prepare for a cantabile (singing) section, led by lyrical violins joined by flutes. Short, repeated notes in the strings alternating with tutti resolutions recalls the opening section, and the introduction ends with another loud declamation. Violins play the sprightly first theme of the Allegro, which quickly builds in intensity as the full ensemble joins and the key shifts to major. The wind instruments dominate the light, dancing second theme. What follows is a slow build of instruments, sections, and timbral intensity as the melody shifts to the brass; this is a hallmark of Rossini’s compositional style and is now known as the “Rossini crescendo.” A short transition (no development) leads right into the recapitulation of the first theme in the violins and the second theme in the winds. Another Rossini crescendo sets up an even faster coda, which brings the overture to a grandiose close. to music. He began piano, violin, and voice lessons at age eight, studying with Eduardo López-Chávarri, a famed composer from Valencia (about 15 miles south of Sagunto). At age fourteen, Rodrigo began composition lessons with Francisco Antich in Valencia and during his twelve years in Valencia, Rodrigo began to establish himself as a composer. Rodrigo would first type his compositions in Braille musical notation and then dictate them to a copyist. In 1927 Rodrigo moved to Paris for a few years, where he would study with Paul Dukas and meet fellow Spanish composer Manuel de Falla. Rodrigo eventually based himself in Madrid and became a celebrated composer in Spain and throughout the world, partly because of his works for guitar.

Fantasía para un gentilhombre JOAQUÍN RODRIGO 1901–1999

Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, born on the east coast of Spain, suffered from diphtheria as a toddler and became blind at age three as a result. Having lost his sight, he recounts that he logically connected more with things he could hear, such as the organ in the church at Sagunto, and thus his disability led him

The guitar concerto Fantasía para un gentilhombre , or Fantasia for a Gentleman, was inspired by the works of Gaspar Sanz, a seventeenth-century Spanish composer. Rodrigo and his wife, pianist Victoria Kamhi, searched through Sanz’s 1667 publication of popular songs and dances to find themes that would provide material for Rodrigo to compose a dance suite. Fantasía was written for and dedicated to the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia, who had a close friendship with Rodrigo. The piece is therefore a celebration of both historical and contemporaneous Spanish music, representative of Rodrigo’s general style. Rodrigo notes that the title of gentilhombre is due to both Segovia’s high status as well as the courtly origin of Sanz’s source material. The piece was completed in 1954 and received its premiere by Segovia and the San Francisco Symphony in March 1958.

Rodrigo flouts the convention of a concerto having three movements, choosing instead to have four to make the concerto more like a suite, or a collection of dances. The first movement Villano y Ricercare is divided into two sections. In Spanish, villano refers to a peasant, and so the use of that term to title a dance indicates that it is an imitation of a peasant dance. For the Renaissance courts in which Sanz worked, this meant evoking an idealized pastoral atmosphere. In Rodrigo’s version, the idyllic countryside is painted with a continual pattern of major harmonies, cheerful winds, and rich strings echoed by the solo guitar. After the villano ends with a tutti chord, the contrasting ricercare begins with the solo guitar introducing the subject. A ricercare is a canonic composition, or a work in which musical lines imitate the main motive. In this movement, the motive is played first in the higher register of the guitar, then in the bass strings while the upper strings continue with a countermelody. The motive is then repeated throughout the orchestra and the movement concludes with guitar figuration over an orchestral decrescendo. Marked adagio, the Españoleta section of the second movement, Españoleta y Fanfare de la Caballería de Nápoles, begins with a haunting 6/8 melody in the bass strings of the guitar. The dance puts the guitar on display, the soloist varying the melody with each iteration. A sudden, dissonant allegretto marks the beginning of the fanfare section, the name Caballería de Nápoles perhaps referring to either the Spanish acquisition of the Kingdom of Naples in the sixteenth century, or Spain’s loss of Naples in the eighteenth. In ABA form, the military fanfare is followed by a restatement of the españoleta dance. Entitled Danza de las Hachas, the rapid third movement refers to a dance done at tree cutting. With a sprightly tempo, rising grace notes in the strings, and call and response between the solo guitar and the tutti orchestra, the music creates a folk character, recalling the rustic work. The final Canario movement references a dance from the Canary Islands that was introduced to Spain in the sixteenth century. The dance’s quintessential jumps and stamping are musically imitated with the orchestra’s disjunct motion and staccato articulation. A virtuosic cadenza showcases the soloist as well as flamenco strumming technique, again celebrating Spanish traditions.

Homenaje a Federico García Lorca SILVESTRE REVUELTAS 1899–1940

Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez was a leading Mexican composer of the mid-twentieth century. Revueltas was born in North Central Mexico and studied violin and composition at the Conservatorio Nacional in Mexico City starting at age fourteen, and then traveled to the United States to continue his studies. After his graduation from Chicago Musical College in 1919, Revueltas established himself as a violinist and a conductor, working in Mexico and the United States. In 1929, he started teaching and conducting at the Conservatorio Nacional as well as the Orquesta Sinfónica de México. It was during the 1930s—what would turn out to be the last decade of his life—that Revueltas wrote most of his orchestral works.

This same decade also saw the Spanish Civil War. Replacing the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera and puppet king Alfonso XIII, the Spanish Republic was established in 1930. An attempted coup d’état by right-wing Nationalists in July 1936 sparked the Civil War between the Republicans, supported by the liberal Popular Front, and the fascists, led by Francisco Franco. In the years that followed, the factions battled for territory, resources, and political power. When the fascists gained control of Granada in August 1936, the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, whose political plays marked him as a loud Republican supporter, was executed by firing squad. Lorca became a banner figure for the Republicans and the inspiration for Homenaje a Federico García Lorca (Homage to Federico García Lorca).

While the fascists were allied with the Axis powers, the Republicans were supported by first Mexico and then the Soviet Union. The Mexican government secretly funded the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR), a group of left-leaning Mexican writers and artists founded in 1933.

Revueltas joined the group in 1935, and LEAR supported the Republicans, whose tactics included using cultural messaging to further their cause, during the Spanish Civil War. LEAR, including Revueltas, toured Valencia, Madrid, and Barcelona in 1937 to produce concerts consisting of classical music, patriotic songs, poetry, and political speeches. Homenaje premiered as part of this tour on September 17 in Madrid, ecstatically received by audiences.

The first movement, Baile (Dance), begins with an unmetered trumpet introduction, acting as a herald. A sprightly, staccato melody is heard in the flute and then brass. As the dance turns heavier, dominated by the low brass, the strings use rapid glissandos to give the ostinato a somewhat comical timbre. Different tunes and keys are layered in a collage—a feature of Revueltas’s compositional style—and the cacophony grows before the solo trumpet returns to conclude the movement. In the second movement, unsettling harmonies in the strings and an octatonic trumpet melody immediately create a state of anxiety, evoking the title Duelo (Sorrow). The third movement, Son (Sound), is an extreme juxtaposition, another favorite technique of Revueltas. Strong accents and shifting meters create a sense of instability before the piano provides a foundation for the folkinfluenced melody.

Ma mère l’Oye MAURICE RAVEL 1875–1937

French composer Maurice Ravel is known for his symbolist, impressionistic, and later neoclassical style. He struggled with formal schooling, getting dismissed from the Conservatoire de Paris twice, and failed to win prizes that were considered benchmarks of success. Even so, he gained national recognition as a composer, arranger, and orchestrator. The ballet version of Ma mère l’Oye is an example of his orchestration skill. Ravel first composed this fivemovement work for piano four-hands in 1910. The dedicatees were two young children, hence the title ( Mother Goose) and fairytale theme. He orchestrated the suite in 1911 and added new material to create a ballet, which premiered January 29, 1912 at the Théatre des Artes in Paris.

Just as fairy tales begin with “once upon a time” to signal fantasy and myth, so does the Prélude, newly composed for the full ballet. The opening motive in the flutes and bassoons features rising fifths (and falling sevenths), and the French horn’s muted and inverted fanfare features a falling fourth. Ravel often used this specific combination of intervals to designate myth or imagined history. Twirling chromatic lines and harp glissandos help to set the stage for a world of childhood fantasy.

The Danse du rouet (Dance of the Spinning Wheel) comes with the scenario that originated from Charles Perrault’s 1697 Histoires ou contes du temps passé , or Contes de ma mère l’Oye ( Stories or Tales from Past Times , or Mother Goose Tales):

An enchanted garden. An old woman is seated at her spinning wheel. Princess Florine enters, skipping with a rope. She stumbles and falls against the spinning wheel, whose spindle pricks her. The old woman calls for help. Gentlemen and maids-of-honor run up. They try vainly to revive the Princess. They then recall the fairies’ curse. Two ladies-in-waiting prepare the Princess for her century-long night.

This story of Sleeping Beauty is precisely heard in the music, swirling chromatic lines creating the motion of the spinning wheel. As she stumbles and is pricked, the orchestra decrescendos and the strings have a descending pizzicato line. The fortissimo slides in the violins are the old woman calling for help and the attendants run with rapid woodwind lines.

The second tableau, Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant (Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty), continues the story:

Florine falls asleep. The old woman stands up. She throws off her shabby cape and adopts the sumptuous clothing and charming features of the Good Fairy. Two little négrillons appear. The fairy entrusts them with guarding Florine and the task of entertaining her slumber.

Quiet woodwinds and plucked strings evoke the deep sleep, with muted strings and harp harmonics creating the magic of the Good Fairy.

After a brief interlude, Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête (Conversations of the Beauty and the Beast) comes from Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s 1757 Magasin des enfants, Contes moraux (Children’s Collection of Moral Tales), which Ravel quotes at the top of the movement and then summarizes in his own scenario:

Beauty enters. She takes her mirror, powders her face. The Beast enters. Beauty notices him and stops petrified. She rejects, horror-struck, the declarations of the Beast who falls to his knees, sobbing. Reassured, Beauty trifles with him coquettishly. The Beast falls down, faint with despair. Touched by his great love, Beauty helps him up again and offers him her hand. She sees at her feet none other than a prince more handsome than Love, who thanks her for having ended his spell.

Beauty—the clarinet—and the Beast—the contrabassoon—at first alternate, but then play together as they fall in love.

Another interlude precedes the fourth tableau, Petit Poucet (Tom Thumb), may remind modern audiences of Hansel and Gretel:

A forest, night falls. The woodcutter’s seven children enter. Tom Thumb is crumbling a piece of bread. He looks around him but cannot make out any dwelling. The children cry, Tom Thumb reassures them by showing them the bread that he has scattered along the way. They lie down and go to sleep. Birds come and eat all the bread. When they wake up the children cannot find a single crumb, and they go away sadly.

As the children walk through the forest with steadily moving eighth notes, the birds come with harmonic glissandos in the violins echoed by rapid flutes. The movement is followed by an interlude.

Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes (Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas), originating from Comtesse D’Aulnoy’s 1698 Serpentin vert (The Green Serpent), is the fifth scene:

A tent draped in Chinese style. Male and female ‘pagodins’ enter. Dance. Laideronnette appears, dressed in the Chinese style of [painter François] Boucher. The Green Serpent slithers amorously nearby. ‘Pas de deux,’ then general dance.

Expressive of Debussy’s interest in exoticism, the interlocking rhythms at the start of this movement imitate the gamelan; the use of percussion and the flute’s pentatonic melody refer to the Chinese setting.

After a final interlude, the last tableau, Le jardin féerique (The Fairy Garden) returns to Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty tale:

Prince Charming enters, guided by a Cupid. He notices the sleeping Princess. She awakens at the same time that day is dawning. All the ballet characters gather around the Prince and the Princess, united by Cupid. The Good Fairy springs up and blesses the couple. Apotheosis.

Lush strings guide the entrance of the Prince, the woodwinds again representing the Princess. Dawn arrives with the violin solo, accompanied by the harp and celesta. The tutti orchestra reaches a climax as they celebrate.

Program notes by:

Elizabeth Massey, Ph.D.

NOV 19

Tak Cs Quartet

Works by Haydn, Nokuthula Ngwenyama (Baltimore premiere), Beethoven

DEC 3

KALEIDOSCOPE CHAMBER COLLECTIVE

Works by Schubert, Beach, Walker, Price

JAN 14

JULIA BULLOCK SOPRANO

BRETTON BROWN PIANO

Works by Barber, Poulenc, Weill, Strauss, Berg, Converse, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Dylan, Dvořák , Cotten

FEB 4

GARRICK OHLSSON PIANO

Works by Beethoven, Mamlok, Schubert, Chopin

MAR 10

MARK PADMORE TENOR

MITSUKO UCHIDA PIANO

Schubert: Winterreise

APR 7

QUATUOR ÉBÈNE

Works by Mozart, Schnittke, Grieg

APR 21

JOHANNES MOSER CELLO

MARC-ANDRÉ HAMELIN PIANO

Works by Boulanger, Hamelin, Debussy, Franck

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