Sergei Prokofiev Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, “Classical”
PROGRAM NOTES
Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, “Classical” Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Prokofiev was a composer caught between two cultures. Born into an affluent musical family, he left the Soviet Union in the summer of 1918, shortly after the 1917 Revolution. For the next 17 years he lived in Paris and toured the United States, returning to his native country in the mid-1930s never to leave again. The year 1917 was a traumatic one for Russia. The February Revolution had deposed the Tsar, and the October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power. Meanwhile, on the international front, Russia was losing disastrously in its war against Germany and Austria. In the spring and summer of that year Prokofiev retired to a village not far from Petrograd (now and formerly St. Petersburg) and, as if oblivious to the earth-shattering turmoil around him, composed at a furious pace. Among the creations of that period was his sunny Symphony No. 1, which he subtitled “The Classical.” The Symphony was an experiment. An accomplished pianist, Prokofiev routinely composed at the piano, although he noticed: “…thematic material composed without the piano was often better in quality…I was intrigued with the idea of writing an entire symphonic piece without the piano…So this was how the project of writing a symphony in the style of Haydn came about…it seemed it would be easier to dive into the deep waters of writing without the piano if I worked in a familiar setting.” This delicate, nostalgic Symphony premiered in Petrograd in April 1918 with the composer on the podium, amidst civil war and social upheaval. The overall Classical style of the Symphony makes it easy to forget that it is a twentieth-century creation. The opening Allegro conforms to the standard first movement sonata allegro form, with occasional twentieth-century harmonies. The second theme is a caricature of the
eighteenth-century Rococo style, played on the tips of the violin bows “con eleganza” like a mincing dancing master – but with a less than elegant surprise sforzando at the cadence. The graceful Larghetto theme in the second movement, introduced first by the violins then joined by a flute, shows what a little musical creativity can do with a simple descending scale. The short Gavotte replaces a traditional minuet/trio movement. Prokofiev’s is a clumsy dance, whose melody contains awkward octave leaps and strange grace notes in the bassoon. The Trio is accompanied by a bagpipe-like drone. Prokofiev loved this movement, recycling and expanding it some 20 years later in the Capulets’ Ball for his ballet Romeo and Juliet.
I. Allegro II. Larghetto III. Gavotte: Non troppo allegro IV. Finale: Molto vivace
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Dr. Bolling Farmer Noretta L. Taylor Anne Jarema & Cliff Albertson
Camille Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 1 in A minor for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 33 Christine Lamprea, Cello I. Allegro troppo II. Allegretto moto III. Allegro troppo
Music Sponsors Maurice & Bonnie Stone Ann & Jerry McLellan Lynne & John Eramo
INTERMISSION
The Molto vivace finale is a sonata form, rather than the usual rondo, but has the persistent dynamic drive of a Haydn finale. In composing it, Prokofiev played a game with himself, in which he attempted to eliminate all minor chords.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, “Jupiter”
Concerto No. 1 in A minor for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 33
I. Allegro vivace II. Andante cantabile III. Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio IV. Molto allegro Music Sponsors
Hank Young in memory of my wife, Nancy V. Young Fred & Cindy Groce
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)
Camille Saint-Saëns was a child prodigy, who wrote his first piano compositions at age three. At ten he made his formal debut at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, playing Mozart and Beethoven piano concertos, and offered to play any one of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas from memory as an encore. In his youth he was considered an innovator, but by the time he reached maturity he had become a conservative pillar of the establishment, trying to maintain the classical musical tradition in France and expressing open disdain for the new trends in music, including the “malaise” of Wagnerism. His visceral dislike of Debussy made frequent headlines in the tabloid press. As an accomplished organist and pianist, he premiered his five piano concertos
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This performance will be recorded for broadcast on Blue Ridge Public Radio on May 31, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. and June 2, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.
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