Program - Beethoven Symphony No. 9

MASTERWORKS • 2016/2017 Colorado Symphony 2016/17 Season Presenting Sponsor:

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 9 COLORADO SYMPHONY BRETT MITCHELL, conductor ERIN WALL, soprano SUSAN PLATTS, mezzo-soprano DAVID POMEROY, tenor KEVIN DEAS, baritone COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, DUAIN WOLFE, director Friday’s Concert is Gratefully Dedicated to Colorado Real Estate Journal Saturday's Concert is Gratefully Dedicated to Dr. and Mrs. David Campbell

Friday, January 27, 2017, at 7:30pm Saturday, January 28, 2017, at 7:30pm Boettcher Concert Hall

KEVIN PUTS

Symphony No. 2, “Island of Innocence” — INTERMISSION —

​BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, "Choral"

Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso Molto vivace Adagio molto e cantabile Presto — Allegro assai — Allegro assai vivace

SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 1

MASTERWORKS BIOGRAPHIES BRETT MITCHELL, conductor

LAND+LOCK

Hailed for delivering compelling performances of innovative, eclectic programs, Brett Mitchell has been named the fourth Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, beginning in the 2017/18 Season. Prior to this fouryear appointment, he will serve as Music Director Designate during the 2016/17 Season. Mr. Mitchell is also currently the Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. He joined the orchestra as Assistant Conductor in 2013, and was promoted to his current position in 2015, becoming the orchestra’s first Associate Conductor in over three decades and only the fifth in its 98-year history. In this role, he leads the orchestra in several dozen concerts each season at Severance Hall, Blossom Music Center, and on tour. Mr. Mitchell also serves as the Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which he recently led on a four-city tour of China. In addition to these titled positions, Brett Mitchell is in consistent demand as a guest conductor. Recent and upcoming guest engagements include the orchestras of Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Oregon, Rochester, Saint Paul, and Washington (National Symphony Orchestra), among others. He has collaborated with such soloists as Rudolf Buchbinder, James Ehnes, Leila Josefowicz, and Alisa Weilerstein, and has served as cover conductor and musical assistant at The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Born in Seattle in 1979, Brett Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and composition from Western Washington University, which selected him as its Young Alumnus of the Year in 2014. He also studied at the National Conducting Institute, and was selected by Kurt Masur as a recipient of the inaugural American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation Scholarship. Mr. Mitchell was also one of five recipients of the League of American Orchestras’ American Conducting Fellowship from 2007 to 2010.

ERIN WALL, soprano Acclaimed for her musicality and versatility, Erin Wall sings an extensive opera and concert repertoire spanning three centuries, from Mozart and Beethoven to Britten and Strauss. She has sung leading roles in many of the world’s great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Vienna Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, and appears in concert with leading maestri and symphony orchestras worldwide. Operatic highlights from Ms. Wall’s 2016-2017 season include performances of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for her company debut with San Francisco Opera, Anna Sørensen in Silent Night with Michigan Opera Theatre, and her role debut as Desdemona in Otello with Vancouver Opera. On the concert stage, Ms. Wall sings Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the NHK Symphony Orchestra (under conductor Paavo Järvi), the title role in Vanessa with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (David Zinman), Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the San Diego Symphony (Edo de Waart), Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the BBC Scottish Symphony (Thomas Dausgaard), a return to the Edinburgh International Festival in two leading roles, and the title role in Thaïs with the Melbourne Symphony (Andrew Davis). Future engagements include returns to the Canadian Opera Company and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, both in leading roles.

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MASTERWORKS BIOGRAPHIES SUSAN PLATTS, mezzo-soprano Rolex Prize-winning Mahler specialist SUSAN PLATTS’ recordings include two Das Lied von der Erdes, as well as Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. She has sung the Second Symphony (“Resurrection”) with the San Diego, Baltimore, Toronto, Vancouver, Québec, Montreal, Austin, Jacksonville, Pacific, and American Symphonies; Boston, New Mexico, Calgary, and Krakow Philharmonics; Orchestre Métropolitain, Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Oregon Bach and Elora Festivals, and Germany’s Staatskapelle Halle; Third Symphony with the Orchestre de Paris, Vancouver, Montreal, North Carolina, Korean Broadcasting, Oregon Symphonies, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and at the Brevard Music Center; Eighth Symphony with the Québec, Montreal, American, Vancouver, Milwaukee Symphonies; Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Calgary Philharmonic; Das Lied von der Erde with the Malaysian Philharmonic and Toronto, Winnipeg and North Carolina Symphonies; Kindertotenlieder with the Houston and Québec Symphonies; Rückertlieder with the Chicago Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony, and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Montreal Symphony. In addition, her active concert repertoire includes virtually the entire range of alto and mezzo-soprano literature: Bach, Bernstein, Berlioz, Elgar, and more.

The Canadian mezzo has sung Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Hippolyta in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Pacific Opera Victoria, Florence Pike in Britten’s Albert Herring at the Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria; Teresa in Bellini’s La Sonnambula and Susie in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony; and the title roles of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with Yoav Talmi and the Québec Symphony and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony. She returns to London in future seasons for her recital and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debuts.

DAVID POMEROY, tenor Canadian tenor David Pomeroy is enjoying a career that is placing him in the spotlight on some of the world’s most important stages. The Newfoundland native made his Metropolitan Opera debut portraying the title role of Hoffmann in Les Contes d’Hoffmann opposite soprano Anna Netrebko under the baton of James Levine. Mr. Pomeroy sang the title role in Faust with bass James Morris in the annual “Met in the Parks” series and later reprised the role on the main stage. With the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, he has performed the title roles of Faust and Hoffmann as well as Rodolfo (La Bohème), Skuratov (From the House of the Dead), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), and Alfred (Die Fledermaus). In the 2015/2016 season, Mr. Pomeroy starred as Paul in Die tote Stadt in both Frankfurt and Calgary, and will appear as Don José in Carmen for the Canadian Opera Company. His concert appearances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Calgary Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Vancouver Symphony, Messiah with Newfoundland Symphony, and Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montréal under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Career highlights include Les Vepres Siciliennes with the Royal Danish Opera; Fidelio for Manitoba Opera; Carmen with Staatsoper Stuttgart, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Vancouver Opera, Cork (Ireland), and Pacific Opera Victoria; and Madama Butterfly with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Fort Worth SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 3

MASTERWORKS BIOGRAPHIES Opera, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Michigan Opera, and Opéra de Québec. Of special note is his creation of Stefano in the world premiere of Calgary Opera’s Filumena by Estacio and Murrell with remounts in Banff, Ottawa, and Edmonton.

KEVIN DEAS bass-baritone Kevin Deas has gained international renown as one of America’s leading bass-baritones. He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having performed it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony; the symphonies of Atlanta, Baltimore, Calgary, Columbus, Detroit, Florida, Hartford, Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Montreal, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Utah, and Vancouver; and at the Ravinia, Vail, and Saratoga festivals.

Engagements during the 2016-17 Season include Handel’s Messiah with the Houston Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and National Cathedral; Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Richmond Symphony; Verdi’s Requiem with the Virginia Symphony; Puccini’s ‘Messa di Gloria’ with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park; Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with the Buffalo Philharmonic; Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Jacksonville Symphony, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Baltimore Choral Arts; Mozart’s Requiem with VoxAmaDeus; and Rachmaninoff’s ‘The Bells’ with JoAnn Falletta at SUNY Potsdam. Kevin Deas has recorded Wagner’s Die Meistersinger for Decca/London with the Chicago Symphony under the late Sir Georg Solti and Varèse’s Ecuatorial with the ASKO Ensemble under the baton of Riccardo Chailly.

Other releases include Bach’s Mass in B-minor and Handel’s Acis and Galatea on Vox Classics, Dave Brubeck’s To Hope! with the Cathedral Choral Society on the Telarc label; and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Virginia Symphony and Boston Baroque for Linn Records. June 2014 marks the release of “Dvorak in America” (Naxos), featuring Mr. Deas performing the world premiere recording of Dvorak’s “Hiawatha Melodrama” and Dvorak’s arrangement of “Goin’ Home” with the PostClassical Ensemble.

DUAIN WOLFE, director, Colorado Symphony Chorus Recently awarded two Grammys® for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Recording, Duain Wolfe is founder and Director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus.

This year marks Wolfe’s 31st season with the Colorado Symphony Chorus.

The Chorus has been featured at the Aspen Music Festival for over two decades. Wolfe, who is in his 21st season with the Chicago Symphony Chorus has collaborated with Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, and the late Sir George Solti on numerous recordings including Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, which won the 1998 Grammy® for Best Opera Recording. Wolfe’s extensive musical accomplishments have resulted in numerous awards, including an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Denver, the Bonfils Stanton Award in the Arts and Humanities, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in an Artistic Discipline and the Michael Korn Award for the Development of the Professional Choral Art. Wolfe is also founder of the Colorado Children’s Chorale, from PROGRAM 4 SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG

MASTERWORKS BIOGRAPHIES which he retired in 1999 after 25 years; the Chorale celebrated its 40th anniversary last season.

For 20 years, Wolfe also worked with the Central City Opera Festival as chorus director and conductor, founding and directing the company’s young artist residence program, as well as its education and outreach programs. Wolfe’s additional accomplishments include directing and preparing choruses for Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the Bravo!Vail Festival, the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Grand Teton Music Festival. He has worked with Pinchas Zuckerman as Chorus Director for the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra for the past 13 years.

COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS The 2016-2017 Colorado Symphony Concert Season marks the 33rd year of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1984 by Duain Wolfe at the request of Gaetano Delogu, then the Music Director of the Symphony, the chorus has grown, over the past three decades, into a nationally-respected ensemble. This outstanding chorus of 180 volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous performances (more than 25 this year alone), and radio and television broadcasts, to repeat critical acclaim. The Chorus has performed at noted music festivals in the Rocky Mountain region, including the Colorado Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, where it has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony. For over two decades, the Chorus has been featured at the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival, performing many great masterworks under the baton of notable conductors Lawrence Foster, James Levine, Murry Sidlin, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, and David Zinman. Among the recordings the CSO Chorus has made is a NAXOS release of Roy Harris’s Symphony No. 4. The Chorus is also featured on a recent Hyperion release of the Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem and Stephen Hough’s Missa Mirabilis. In 2009, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Chorus, Duain Wolfe conducted the Chorus on a 3-country, 2-week concert tour of Europe, presenting the Verdi Requiem in Budapest, Vienna, Litomysl, and Prague, and in 2016 the Chorus returned to Europe for concerts in Paris, Strasbourg, and Munich. From Evergreen to Lochbuie, and Boulder to Castle Rock, singers travel each week to rehearsals and performances in Denver totaling about 80 a year.

The Colorado Symphony continues to be grateful for the excellence and dedication of this remarkable, all-volunteer ensemble! For an audition appointment, call 303.308.2483.

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MASTERWORKS BIOGRAPHIES COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS ROSTER Duain Wolfe, Founding Director and Conductor; Mary Louise Burke, Associate Conductor; Travis Branam, Assistant Conductor; Taylor Martin, Assistant Conductor; Eric Israelson, Chorus Manager; Barbara Porter, Associate Manager; Brian Dukeshier, Danni Snyder, Accompanists SOPRANO I Brown, Jamie Causey, Denelda Choi, LeEtta H. Coberly, Sarah Colbert, Gretchen Daniels, Kaylin E. Dirksen, Sarah Dukeshier, Laura Emerich, Kate A. Gile, Jenifer D. Gill, Lori C. Graber, Susan.

Guynn, Erika Harpel, Jennifer Henrich, Sarah B. Hinkley, Lynnae C. Hittle, Erin R. Hofmeister, Mary Hupp, Angela M. Joy, Shelley E. Kirschner, Mary E. Knecht, Melanie Kushnir, Marina Long, Lisa Look, Cathy Maupin, Anne Medema, Stephanie Moraskie, Wendy L. Perera, Alokya P. Porter, Barbara A. Ropa, Lori A. Rudolph, Kathi L. Schawel, Camilia Sladovnik, Roberta A. Solich, Stephanie A. Stegink, Nicole J. Tate, Judy Van Leeuwen, Andrea Williams, Courtney Young, Cara M. SOPRANO II Ascani, Lori Blum, Jude Bowen, Alex S. Brauchli, Margot L. Christus, Athanasia Coberly, Ruth A. Cote, Kerry H. Dakkouri, Claudia Gross, Esther J. Higginbotham, Heather

Irwin, Emily Khalifeh, Anne Kraft, Lisa D. Linder, Dana Montigne, Erin Nyholm, Christine M. O'Nan, Jeannette R. Pflug, Kim Rae, Donneve S. Rattray, Rebecca E. Rider, Shirley J. Ruff, Mahli Saddler, Nancy C. Snyer, Lynne M. Travis, Stacey L. Von Roedern, Susan K. Walker, Marcia L. Weinstein, Sherry L. Woodrow, Sandy Zisler, Joan M. ALTO I Adams, Priscilla P. Brady, Lois F. Branam, Emily M. Brown, Kimberly Buesing, Amy Clauson, Clair T. Conrad, Jayne M. Daniel, Sheri L. Drake, Erin A. Dunkin, Aubri K. Edwards, Dana Franz, Kirsten D. Frey, Susie Gayley, Sharon R. Groom, Gabriella D. Guittar, Pat Haller, Emily Holst, Melissa J. Hoopes, Kaia M. Horle, Carol E. Kolstad, Annie Kraft, Deanna Lawlor, Betsy McWaters, Susan Nordenholz, Kristen Passoth, Ginny Pringle, Jennifer Thayer, Mary B. Virtue, Pat Wyatt, Judith

ALTO II Boothe, Kay A. Carlisle, Allison Chatfield, Cass Cox, Martha E. Deck, Barbara Dominguez, Joyce Eslick, Carol A. Golden, Daniela Hoskins, Hansi Jackson, Brandy H. Janasko, Ellen D. Kibler, Janice London, Carole A. Maltzahn, Joanna K. Marchbank, Barbara J. McNulty, Kelly M. Mendicello, Beverly Meromy, Leah Nittoli, Leslie M. Paguirigan, Kali Pak, Lisa Schalow, Elle Scooros, Pamela R. Townsend, Lisa Trierweiler, Ginny TENOR I Dougan, Dustin Dukeshier, Brian Gewecke, Joel C. Gordon, Jr., Frank Hodel, David K. Moraskie, Richard A. Muesing, Garvis J. Nicholas, Timothy W. O’Donnell, William J. Reiley, William G. Roach, Eugene Waller, Ryan Wolf, Jeffrey P. Wyatt, Daniel Zimmerman, Kenneth A. TENOR II Babcock, Gary E. Bradley, Mac Carlson, James Davies, Dusty R. Fuehrer, Roger Gale, John H. Guittar, Jr., Forrest Kolm, Kenneth E.

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Martin, Taylor S. Mason, Brandt J. Meswarb, Stephen J. Milligan, Tom A. Ruth, Ronald L. Seamans, Andrew J. Sims, Jerry E. BASS I Adams, John G. Branam, Travis D. Carlton, Grant H. Cowen, George Drickey, Robert E. Falter, Corey M. Gray, Matthew Hesse, Douglas D. Hume, Donald Jirak, Thomas J. Lingenfelter, Paul Mehta, Nalin J. Quarles, Kenneth Rutkowski, Trevor B. Smith, Benjamin A. Struthers, David R. Williams, Benjamin Wood, Brian W. BASS II Charlock, Robert S. Friedlander, Bob Gibbons, Dan Grossman, Chris Israelson, Eric W. Jackson, Terry L. Kent, Roy A. Kraft, Mike A. Millar, Jr., Robert F. Moncrieff, Kenneth Morrison, Greg A. Nuccio, Eugene J. Phillips, John R. Skillings, Russell R. Swanson, Wil W. Taylor, Don Virtue, Tom G.

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES KEVIN PUTS (B. 1972): Symphony No. 2, “…island of innocence, world of fear …” (2001) Kevin Puts, born on January 3, 1972, in St. Louis, composed his one-movement Symphony No. 2 in October-November 2001 in response to the attacks of 9/11. Paavo Järvi conducted the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the work’s premiere on March 7, 2002. The score calls for three flutes (third doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, three clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano, and strings. Duration is about 21 minutes. This is the first performance by the Colorado Symphony.

Kevin Puts, born in 1972 in St. Louis, received his bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music (1994), his master’s degree from Yale (1996), and his doctorate from Eastman (1999); his composition teachers have included Jacob Druckman, Joseph Schwantner, Christopher Rouse, Samuel Adler and David Burge. He also participated in the 1996 Tanglewood Festival Fellowship Program, where he worked with Bernard Rands and William Bolcom. Puts taught at the University of Texas at Austin from 1999 until 2006, when he joined the faculty of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. Kevin Puts has accumulated an impressive array of distinctions: the Pulitzer Prize for his acclaimed opera Silent Night, based on the 2005 French film Joyeux Nöel and premiered by Minnesota Opera in November 2012; from 1996 to 1999, he served concurrently as Composer-in-Residence with the California Symphony (which premiered three of his works) and Young Concert Artists, Inc. in New York; he has received commissions from noted ensembles and organizations across the country; he was the first undergraduate to be awarded the Charles Ives Scholarship by the American Academy of Arts and Letters; he has received grants and fellowships from BMI, ASCAP, Tanglewood, Hanson Institute for American Music, Guggenheim Foundation, and numerous others; and in 2007, he was Composer-inResidence with both the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and Forth Worth Symphony. His current projects include The Trial of Elizabeth Cree, whose libretto Mark Campbell based on the Gothic novel by Peter Ackroyd, which is scheduled for premiere in September 2017 in Philadelphia.

“I can’t imagine a composer alive during the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001,” Kevin Puts wrote of the creation of his Symphony No. 2 — subtitled “…island of innocence, world of fear …” — “who could avoid the influence of that unforgettable day and the weeks following. I will never forget the morning of 9/11. In typical fashion, I had waited until the last minute to pack for the year I was spending at the American Academy in Rome. I turned on the television at around 10:30 in the morning and suddenly almost everything in my life — my work, my ambitions and my dreams — seemed trivial. I remember putting things into boxes, trying feebly to imagine what I would need (‘How cold does Rome get in the winter? How many sweaters do I need?’), and finding it impossible to care. During that time in which nothing seemed to make sense, I was certain of one thing: that the pieces I planned to compose in Rome — three works for orchestra — would necessarily carry the weight of the sudden change the world had undergone for everyone.

“This Symphony, written in Rome in October and November 2001, is the second in a series of three or more one-movement symphonies I plan to write which will share common musical elements with one another. I am making an attempt, in some sense, to begin each where the previous one finished, hoping to create a kind of ‘macro-symphony’ out of these pieces. The Symphony No. 2 was conceived in two large sections to be played without pause. The first represents the climate prevailing in the United States before September 11, what my mother SOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 7

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES aptly described as an ‘island of innocence.’ This is the rhapsodic music of a country physically separated from most of the world by oceans, financially and politically separated by its global dominance. It is the majestic and rather naïve music of those in this country who are fortunate enough to live quite well and wonder little about either the violent hatred that may or may not be boiling in lands abroad, or the motivations for this hatred.

“The second part describes the same world after September 11. As Jonathan Franzen wrote in the September 24, 2001, issue of The New Yorker, ‘in the space of two hours, we left behind a happy era of Game Boy economics and trophy houses and entered a world of fear and vengeance.’ This is the world with which we are now confronted. All of the musical elements from the first section are here and the trajectory of the material is basically the same, but the music is now cast in the darker colors of fear and trepidation. A constant quarter-note pulse provides a kind of ‘clock’ for most of this second half, evocative of the desperation felt by those waiting for news of their loved ones. Though the overriding feeling here is one of grim vigilance, this sentiment is laced at times with the hope we all must share for a time when the possibility of such brutality is a distant and impossible memory.”

For the premiere performances of the Symphony No. 2 in March 2002 by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi, annotator Jonathan D. Kramer provided this summary of the work’s musical progress (reprinted with the kind permission of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra): “The innocence is portrayed in first section by spacious, consonant harmonies, sometimes punctuated by quiet and gentle but rapid woodwind figurations. The music builds to a ‘majestic’ section, in which the figurations are joined by the bright sounds of piano, harp, glockenspiel and vibraphone, each playing a distinctly different rhythm. The music subsides and then builds again, with the addition of a beautiful violin melody, finally breaking off dramatically, leaving the solo violin to initiate the transition to the second section.

“The second part proceeds at the same tempo but is more dissonant and more unsettled.

Like the first section, this music features rapid figurations over slow moving or static harmonies, and again there is a wonderful over-arching melody in the violins. A cadenza for solo violin, more elaborate than the one at the end of the first section, leads to a transcendent and ‘glacial’ coda, eventually marked ‘chorale requiem.’”

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MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827): Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, “Choral” (1822-1824) Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770, in Bonn and died on March 26, 1827, in Vienna. The Ninth Symphony was mostly composed in 1823, though some of its ideas were conceived as much as thirty years before. The sketch was completed by the end of 1823, and the orchestration by the following February. Beethoven supervised the premiere, at Vienna’s Kärntnertor Theater on May 7, 1824, though the actual conducting was handled by Michael Umlauf. The score calls for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, and strings. Duration is about 70 minutes. The symphony was last performed on September 18 & 19, 2014, with Andrew Litton on the podium.

Friedrich Schiller published his poem An die Freude (“Ode to Joy”) in 1785 as a tribute to his friend Christian Gottfried Körner. By 1790, when he was twenty, Beethoven knew the poem, and as early as 1793 he considered making a musical setting of it. Schiller’s poem appears in his notes in 1798, but the earliest musical ideas for its setting are found among the sketches for the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies, composed simultaneously in 1811-1812. Though those sketches are unrelated to the finished Ode to Joy theme — that went through more than 200 revisions (!) — they do show the composer’s continuing interest in the text and the gestating idea of setting it for voices. The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies were finished by 1812, and Beethoven immediately started making plans for his next composition in the genre, settling on the key of D minor but getting no further. It was to be another dozen years before he could bring this vision to fulfillment.

The first evidence of the musical material that was to figure in the finished Ninth Symphony appeared in 1815, when a sketch for the theme of the Scherzo emerged among Beethoven’s notes. He took up his draft again in 1817 and, by the following year, much of the Scherzo was sketched. It was also in 1818 that he considered including a choral movement, but as the slow movement rather than as the finale. With much still unsettled, Beethoven was forced to lay aside this vague symphonic scheme in 1818 because of ill health, the distressing court battle to secure custody of his nephew, and other composing projects, most notably the monumental Missa Solemnis; he was not able to resume work on the piece until the end of 1822. The 1822 sketches show considerable progress on the Symphony’s first movement, little on the Scherzo, and, for the first time, some tentative ideas for a choral finale based on Schiller’s poem. Most of the remainder of the opening movement was sketched during the early months of 1823. The Scherzo was finished in short score by August, eight years after Beethoven first conceived its thematic material, and the third movement sketched by October. With the first three movements nearing completion, Beethoven had one major obstacle to overcome before he could complete the Symphony: how to join together the instrumental and vocal movements. He decided that a recitative — the technique that had been used for generations to bridge from one operatic number to the next — would work perfectly, especially if the recitative included fragments of themes from earlier movements to unify the structure. Beethoven still had much work to do, as the sketches from the autumn of 1823 show, but he at last knew his goal, and the composition was completed by the end of the year. When the final scoring was finished in February 1824, it had been nearly 35 years since Beethoven first considered setting Schiller’s poem.

The Symphony begins with the interval of a barren open fifth, suggesting some aweSOUNDINGS 2016/2017 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 9

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES inspiring cosmic void. Thematic fragments sparkle and whirl into place to form the riveting main theme. A group of lyrical subordinate ideas follows. After a great climax, the open fifth intervals return to begin the highly concentrated development section. A complete recapitulation and an ominous coda arising from the depths of the orchestra bring this eloquent movement to a close.

The form of the second movement is a combination of scherzo, fugue, and sonata that exudes a lusty physical exuberance and a leaping energy. The central trio is more serene in character but forfeits none of the contrapuntal richness of the Scherzo. The Adagio is one of the most sublime pieces that Beethoven, or anyone else, ever wrote. Formally, this movement is a variation on two themes, almost like two separate kinds of music that alternate with each other.

The majestic finale is in two large parts: the first instrumental, the second with chorus and soloists. Beethoven chose to set about two-thirds of the original 96 lines of Schiller’s poem. To these, he added two lines of his own for the baritone soloist as a transition to the choral section.

A shrieking dissonance introduces the instrumental recitative for cellos and basses that joins together brief thematic reminiscences from the three preceding movements. The wondrous Ode to Joy theme appears unadorned in the low strings, and is the subject of a set of increasingly powerful variations. The shrieking dissonance is again hurled forth, but this time the ensuing recitative is given voice and words by the baritone soloist. “Oh, friends,” he sings, “no more of these sad tones! Rather let us raise our voices together, and joyful be our song.” The song is the Ode to Joy, presented with transcendent jubilation by the chorus. Many sections based on the theme of the Ode follow, some martial, some fugal, all radiant with the glory of Beethoven’s vision. ©2016 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

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Baritone O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!

Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere.

O friends, not these sounds!

Rather let us sing more pleasing songs, full of joy.

Baritone and Chorus Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

Deine Zauber binden wieder was die Mode streng geteilt; alle Menschen werden Brüder wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Joy, brilliant spark of the gods, daughter of Elysium, drunk with fire, we enter, Divinity, your sacred shrine.

Your magic again unites all that custom harshly tore apart; all men become brothers beneath your gentle hovering wing.

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MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES Quartet and Chorus Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen, eines Freundes Freund zu sein, wer ein holdes Weib errungen, mische seine Jubel ein!

Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!

Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle weinend sich aus diesem Bund!

Freude trinken alle Wesen an den Brüsten der Natur, alle Guten, alle Bösen folgen ihre Rosenspur.

Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, einen Freund, geprüft im Tod; Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben, und der Cherub steht vor Gott!

Whoever has won in that great gamble of being friend to a friend, whoever has won a gracious wife, let him join in our rejoicing!

Yes, even if there is only one other soul he can call his own on the whole earth!

And he who never accomplished this, let him steal away weeping from this company!

All creatures drink of joy at Nature’s breast, All men, good and evil, follow her rose-strewn path.

Kisses she gave us and vines, a friend, faithful to death; desire was even given to the worm, and the cherub stands before God!

Tenor and Chorus Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan, laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, freudig wie ein Held zum Siegen.

Joyously, just as His suns fly through the splendid arena of heaven, run, brothers, your course gladly, like a hero to victory.

Chorus Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

Deine Zauber binden wieder was die Mode streng geteilt; alle Menschen werden Brüder wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Joy, brilliant spark of the gods, daughter of Elysium, drunk with fire, we enter, Divinity, your sacred shrine.

Your magic again unites all that custom harshly tore apart; all men become brothers beneath your gentle hovering wing.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!

Brüder, über’m Sternenzelt muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.

Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?

Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?

Such’ ihn über’m Sternenzelt!

Be embraced, ye millions!

This kiss is for the entire world!

Brothers, above the canopy of stars surely a loving Father dwells.

Do you bow down, ye millions?

Do you sense the Creator, World?

Seek Him above the canopy of stars!

MASTERWORKS PROGRAM NOTES Über Sternen muss er wohnen.

Above the stars must He dwell.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

Joy, brilliant spark of the gods, daughter of Elysium, drunk with fire, we enter, Divinity, your sacred shrine.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!

Be embraced, ye millions!

This kiss is for the entire world!

Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?

Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?

Such’ ihn über’m Sternenzelt!

Brüder! Brüder! Über’m Sternenzelt muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.

Do you bow down, ye millions?

Do you sense the Creator, World?

Seek Him above the canopy of stars!

Brothers! Brothers!

Above the canopy of stars surely a loving Father dwells.

Quartet and Chorus Freude, Tochter aus Elysium, deine Zauber binden wieder was die Mode streng geteilt; alle Menschen werden Brüder wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Joy, daughter of Elysium, Your magic again unites all that custom harshly tore apart; all men become brothers beneath your gentle hovering wing.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!

Brüder, über’m Sternenzelt muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.

Be embraced, ye millions!

This kiss is for the entire world!

Brothers, above the canopy of stars surely a loving Father dwells.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium!

Joy, brilliant spark of the gods, daughter of Elysium!