InTUNE
Valčuha at Miller Outdoor Theatre
The Houston Symphony Magazine
ORCHESTRA ROSTER
Juraj Valčuha
Music Director
Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
FIRST VIOLIN
Yoonshin Song, Concertmaster
Max Levine Chair
Vacant, Associate Concertmaster
Ellen E. Kelley Chair
Boson Mo, Assistant Concertmaster
Qi Ming, Assistant Concertmaster Fondren Foundation Chair
Marina Brubaker
Tong Yan
MiHee Chung
Sophia Silivos
Rodica Gonzalez
Ferenc Illenyi
Si-Yang Lao
Kurt Johnson*
Christopher Neal
Sergei Galperin
Timothy Peters+
Samuel Park+
SECOND VIOLIN
Vacant, Principal
Vacant, Associate Principal
Amy Semes
Annie Kuan-Yu Chen
Mihaela Frusina
Jing Zheng
Tianjie Lu*
Anastasia Iglesias
Tina Zhang
Yankı Karataş
Hannah Duncan
Alexandros Sakarellos
Tianxu Liu+
James Gikas+
VIOLA
Joan DerHovsepian, Principal
Wei Jiang, Acting Associate Principal
Samuel Pedersen, Assistant Principal
Paul Aguilar
Sheldon Person
Fay Shapiro
Keoni Bolding
Jimmy Cunningham
Meredith Harris+
Suzanne LeFevre+
CELLO
Brinton Averil Smith, Principal
Janice H. and Thomas D. Barrow Chair
Christopher French, Associate Principal
Jane and Robert Cizik Chair
Anthony Kitai
Louis-Marie Fardet
Jeffrey Butler
Maki Kubota
Xiao Wong
Charles Seo
Jeremy Kreutz
COMMUNITY-EMBEDDED MUSICIAN
Lindsey Baggett, Violin
LIBRARIANS
Ali Verderber, Associate Librarian
Megan Fisher, Assistant Librarian
DOUBLE BASS
Robin Kesselman, Principal
Timothy Dilenschneider, Associate Principal
Steven Reineke, Principal POPS Conductor
Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Conductor Laureate
Anthony J. Maglione, Director, Houston Symphony Chorus
Gonzalo Farias, Associate Conductor
Andrew Pedersen, Assistant Principal
Eric Larson
Logan May
Burke Shaw
Donald Howey
Avery Weeks
FLUTE
Aralee Dorough, Principal
General Maurice Hirsch Chair
Matthew Roitstein, Associate Principal
Judy Dines
Kathryn Ladner
PICCOLO
Kathryn Ladner
OBOE
Jonathan Fischer, Principal
Lucy Binyon Stude Chair
Anne Leek, Associate Principal
Colin Gatwood
Adam Dinitz
ENGLISH HORN
Adam Dinitz
Barbara and Pat McCelvey Chair
CLARINET
Mark Nuccio, Principal
Bobbie Nau Chair
Vacant, Associate Principal
Christian Schubert
Alexander Potiomkin
Ben Freimuth+
E-FLAT CLARINET
Vacant
Ben Freimuth+
BASS CLARINET
Alexander Potiomkin
BASSOON
Rian Craypo, Principal
Isaac Schultz, Associate Principal
Elise Wagner
Adam Trussell
CONTRABASSOON
Adam Trussell
STAGE PERSONNEL
Stefan Stout, Stage Manager
José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager
Nicholas DiFonzo, Head Video Engineer
Justin Herriford, Head Audio Engineer
Connor Morrow, Head Stage Technician
Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager
HORN
William VerMeulen, Principal
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. McLanahan
Endowed Chair
Robert Johnson, Associate Principal
Nathan Cloeter, Assistant Principal/Utility
Brian Thomas*
Brian Mangrum
Ian Mayton
Barbara J. Burger Chair
Spencer Bay+
TRUMPET
Mark Hughes, Principal
George P. and Cynthia Woods
Mitchell Chair
John Parker, Associate Principal
Robert Walp, Assistant Principal
Richard Harris
TROMBONE
Nick Platoff, Principal
Bradley White, Associate Principal
Phillip Freeman
BASS TROMBONE
Phillip Freeman
TUBA
Dave Kirk, Principal
TIMPANI
Leonardo Soto, Principal
Matthew Strauss, Associate Principal
PERCUSSION
Brian Del Signore, Principal
Mark Griffith
Matthew Strauss
HARP
Allegra Lilly, Principal
KEYBOARD
Vacant, Principal
LIBRARIAN
Luke Bryson, Principal
*on leave + contracted substitute
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
2025-26 se a son
O p e n i n g We e ken d : Val č u h a
C on du c t s St r av in s k y ’s Fi r eb i r d
S e pt e m b e r 1 9, 2 0* & 2 1
S Fiesta Sinfónica
S e pt e m b e r 26
Eschenbach Conducts
Mozart & Bruckner
S e pt e m b e r 2 7 & 28*
K i n g f o r a D ay : T h e M u s i c o f El v i s
O c t o b e r 3 , 4* & 5
J ea n -Yve s T h i b a u d e t +
T h e T h r e e - C o r n e r e d H a t
O c t o b e r 1 0, 11* & 12
G e r s hw i n & G r i m a u d :
J a z z M e e t s Symp ho ny
O c t o b e r 1 7, 1 8* & 19
Fr o m St a g e t o S c r e e n :
B r o a d way Me e t s H o l l y woo d
O c t o b e r 3 1 , N ove m b e r 1* & 2
Fri g h t f u l l y Fu n ! A H a l l owe e n
C o n c e r t f o r K i d s
N ove m b e r 1
Shall We Dance?
N ove m b e r 8 & 9*
S N o s f e r a t u: S i le n t Fil m
w i t h L i v e O r g a n
N ov e m b e r 1 6
J o u r n ey t o L i g h t : Va l č u h a
C on du c t s S h o s t a kov i c h 1 0
N ove m b e r 2 1 , 2 2 * & 2 3
Th a nk s g i v i n g We e ken d :
Tcha i kovs k y ’s P i an o
C o n c e r t o N o . 1
N ove m b e r 28 , 2 9* & 3 0
H and e l s M es si a h
D ec e m b e r 5 , 6* & 7
J oy f u l Fa n fa r e s ! H o l i d ay
B r a s s S p ec t ac u l a r
D ec e m b e r 6 & 7
S Vo c t ave: It Feels Like C h r i s t m a s
D ec e m b e r 8
Ve r y M e r r y Po p s
D ec e m b e r 11 , 1 3* & 1 4
O h , W h at Fu n ! A H o l i d ay
C o n c e r t f o r K i d s
D ec e m b e r 1 3
Mariachi Sol De Mexico de José Hernández presents: José Hernández’ Merry-Achi Christmas
Dec e m b e r 15
S Merry Christmas Baby
D ec e m b e r 1 7
See our full year calendar for even more concerts!
*Pe r f o r m a n c e li ve s t r ea m e d
Juraj valČuha
Houston Symphony Music Director Juraj Valčuha is recognized for his effortless expressiveness and depth of musicianship. He is known for his sharp baton technique, natural stage presence, and the impressive ease of his interpretations that translate even the most complex scores into immersive experiences.
Before joining the Houston Symphony in June 2022, Valčuha was Music Director of the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, from 2016 to 2022 and first guest conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He was Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI from 2009 to 2016. In 2023, he assumed the post of Principal Guest Conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.
The 2005–06 Season marked the start of his international career on the podium of the Orchestre National de France followed by remarkable debuts in the United Kingdom with the Philharmonia London, in Germany with the Munich Philharmonic, in the United States with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and in Italy with Puccini’s La bohème in Bologna.
He has since led the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, Munich Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, Rotterdam Philharmonic,
Music Director
Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
Orchestre de Paris, Maggio Musicale in Florence, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome, Milan’s Filarmonica della Scala, Montréal Symphony, and the NHK and Yomiuri orchestras in Tokyo.
He enjoys regular collaborations with the Pittsburgh and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. International touring with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI took them to the Musikverein in Vienna, Philharmonie in Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Zurich, and Munich; to the Enesco Festival in Bucharest; and to the Abu Dhabi Classics. With the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, he visited Riga, Vilnius, and Tallinn to mark the 100 th anniversary of the Baltic nations.
Valčuha champions the compositions of living composers and programs contemporary pieces in most of his concerts. He has conducted world premieres, including Christopher Rouse’s Supplica with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Steven Mackey’s violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz and the BBC Symphony in Manchester, and Nico Muhly’s Bright Idea with the Houston Symphony. In 2005, he conducted, in the presence of the composer, Steve Reich’s Four Seasons at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Bratislava. Other composers he has supported and
continues to follow with interest are Bryce Dessner, Steven Stucky, Andrew Norman, James MacMillan, Luca Francesconi, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, Anna Clyne, Julia Wolfe, and Jessie Montgomery, among others.
Including his engagements in Houston, the 2023–24 Season took him to the Pittsburgh and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra as well as to the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo. On the European stage, he performed La fanciulla del West and Tristan und Isolde at the Bavarian State Opera and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Jenůfa at the Opera di Roma. He led concerts with the RAI Orchestra, the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, the Orchestre National de France, the NDR, SWR, and the Bamberg Symphony, among others.
In the 2024–25 Season, Valčuha joined the Semperoper in Dresden with Strauss’s Salome as well as the Paris Opéra Bastille with Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. In addition to his concerts with the Houston Symphony, he returned to the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the London Philharmonic, the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchester, the San Francisco Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra in Tokyo.
The 2025–26 season marks his fourth season with the Houston Symphony. His guest engagements will lead him to the San Francisco, Chicago, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestras. In Europe, he will join the Orchestre National de France, the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, the Bamberg Symphony, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome, the Basque National Orchestra, the NDR Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and on tour, and the RAI National Orchestra in Turin. On the opera stage, he will conduct Pelleas et Mélisande at the Geneva Opera as well as Don Carlo and La bohème at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, Valčuha studied composition and conducting in his birthplace, then at the conservatory in St. Petersburg (with Ilya Musin), and finally, at the Conservatoire Supérieur de la Musique in Paris.
SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Barbara J. Burger President
John Rydman Chair
Brad W. Corson Chair, Governance & Leadership
Carey Kirkpatrick Chair, Marketing & Communications
Evan B. Glick Chair, Popular Programming
Barbara McCelvey Chair, Development
Sippi Khurana, M.D. Chair, Education & Community Engagement
GOVERNING DIRECTORS
Gary Beauchamp
Eric Brueggeman
Bill Bullock
Mary Kathryn Campion, Ph.D.
John Cassidy, M.D.
Lidiya Gold
Claudio Gutiérrez
TRUSTEES
Christopher Armstrong
David J. Beck
Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl
Nancy Shelton Bratic
Terry Ann Brown**
Ralph Burch
John T. Cater**
Robert Chanon
Heaven Chee
Michael H. Clark
Virginia Clark
Aoife Cunningham
Andrew Davis, Ph.D.
Denise Davis
Tracy Dieterich
Joan Duff
Connie Dyer
Kelli Cohen Fein
Jeffrey B. Firestone
Barbara McCelvey President-Elect
Mike S. Stude Chair Emeritus
Mary Lynn Marks Chair, Volunteers & Special Events
Robert Orr Chair, Strategic Planning
John Rydman** Chair, Artistic & Orchestra Affairs
Jesse B. Tutor** Chair, Audit
Janet F. Clark^ Immediate Past Chair
Steven P. Mach^ At-Large Member
Rick Jaramillo
David J. M. Key
Cindy Levit
Isabel Stude Lummis
Cora Sue Mach **
Rodney Margolis**
Elissa Martin
Lindsay Buchanan Fisher
Eugene A. Fong
Aggie L. Foster
Julia Anderson Frankel
Carolyn Gaidos
Evan B. Glick
Andrew Gould
Lori Harrington
Jeff Hiller
Grace Ho
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Dawn James
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I. Ray Kirk, M.D.
David Krieger
Matthew Loden
Michael Mann, M.D.
FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL REPRESENTATIVES
Janet F. Clark
As of August 18, 2025
Paul Morico General Counsel
Jonathan Ayre Secretary Chair, Finance
Bobby Tudor^** At-Large Member
Leslie Nossaman^ President, Houston Symphony League
James H. Lee^ President, Houston Symphony Endowment
Juraj Valčuha^ Music Director
Roy and Lillie Cullen Chair
Joan DerHovsepian^ Musician Representative
Gary Ginstling^ Executive Director/CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
Paul R. Morico
Chris Powers
Brittany Sakowitz
Ed Schneider
Justin Stenberg
William J. Toomey II
Betty Tutor **
Nancy Martin
Jack Matzer
Jackie Wolens Mazow
Aprill Nelson
Tim Ong
Edward Osterberg Jr.
Gloria G. Pryzant
Miwa Sakashita
Ted Sarosdy
Andrew Schwaitzberg
Helen Shaffer**
Becky Shaw
Robert B. Sloan, D.D., Theol.
Jim R. Smith
Miles O. Smith**
Quentin Smith
Tad Smith
Anthony Speier
Tina Raham Stewart
Barbara McCelvey Fredric Weber
Mark Hughes^ Musician Representative
Wei Jiang^ Musician Representative
Mark Nuccio^ Musician Representative
^Ex-Officio
Gretchen Watkins
Robert Weiner
Margaret Alkek Williams **
Mike S. Stude**
Nanako Tingleaf
Margaret Waisman, M.D.
Fredric A. Weber
Vicki West
Steven J. Williams
David J. Wuthrich
Ellen A. Yarrell
Robert Yekovich
EX-OFFICIO
Alejandro Gallardo
Reverend Ray Mackey, III
Frank F. Wilson IV
**Lifetime Trustee
*Deceased
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
LEADERSHIP GROUP
Gary Ginstling, Executive Director/CEO
Margaret Alkek Williams Chair
Elizabeth S. Condic, Chief Financial Officer
Vicky Dominguez, Chief Operating Officer
Jennifer Renner, Chief Development Officer
Alex Soares, Chief Marketing Officer
Mayenne Minuit, Executive Assistant
DEVELOPMENT
Sarah Bhalla, Board Relations Associate
Lauren Buchanan, Development Communications Manager
Alex Canales, Manager, Donor Services
Jessie De Arman, Development Associate, Gifts, Records, & Research
Timothy Dillow, Senior Director, Individual Giving
Amanda T. Dinitz, Director, Principal Gifts & Endowment
Vivian Gonzalez, Annual Giving Officer
Kamra Kilmer, Special Events & League Liaison Officer
Karyn Mason, Institutional Giving Officer
Hadia Mawlawi, Endowment & Planned Giving Officer
Meghan Miller, Development Associate, Special Events
Emilie Moellmer, Membership Manager
Megan Mottu, Annual Giving Officer
Tim Richey, Director, Major Gifts & Board Relations
Katie Salvatore, Director, Annual Giving & Membership
Lena Streetman, Director, Development Operations
Stacey Swift, Director, Special Events
Sarah Thompson, Donor Events Manager
Christina Trunzo, Director, Institutional Giving
Alexa Ustaszewski, Board Giving Officer
EDUCATION | COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Olivia Allred, Education Manager
Allison Conlan, Senior Director, Education & Community Engagement
Austin Hinkle, Education & Community Engagement Coordinator
Jazmine Olwalia, Community Engagement Associate
Sheridan Richard, DeLUXE K!ds In Harmony Site Manager
Community-Embedded Musicians (CEM):
Lindsey Baggett, Lead CEM
Lucinda Chiu, CEM Teaching Artist
David Connor, CEM Teaching Artist
Stephen Hudson, CEM Education Specialist
Rainel Joubert, CEM Teaching Artist
Bianca Lozano, CEM Teaching Artist
Alexis Mitrushi, CEM Teaching Artist
Adrian Ponce, CEM Teaching Artist
Lauren Ross, CEM Teaching Artist
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José Arriaga, Systems Engineer
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Yoo-Ell Lee, Graphics & Media Designer
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Stephanie Alla, Associate Director of Artistic Planning
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Julia Hall, Assistant Director, Houston Symphony Chorus
Parker Hart, Concert Operations Manager
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Hazel Landers, Chorus Library Intern
Giancarlo Minotti, Audio Production Manager
José Rios, Assistant Stage Manager
Jennifer Romig, Temporary Chorus Librarian
Brad Sayles, Senior Recording Engineer
Stefan Stout, Stage Manager
Nathan Trinkl, Artistic Assistant & Assistant to the Music Director
Ali Verderber, Associate Librarian
Meredith Williams, Director of Concert Operations
Rebecca Zabinski, Senior Director of Artistic Planning
Valčuha at Miller Outdoor Theatre
Juraj Valčuha , conductor
0:13 GINASTERA – Danzas del Ballet Estancia, Opus 8a
I Los trabajadores agrícolas (The Land Workers)
II. Danza del trigo (Wheat Dance)
III. Los peones de hacienda (The Cattlemen)
IV. Danza final (Malambo—Final Dance)
0:07 REVUELTAS – Sensemayá
0:23 BERNSTEIN/RAMIN-KOSTAL – Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
I. Prologue: Allegro moderato--
II. Somewhere: Adagio--
III. Scherzo: Vivace e leggiero--
IV. Mambo: Meno Presto--
V. Cha Cha: Andantino con grazia--
VI. Meeting Scene: Meno mosso, sempre rubato--
VII. Cool: Swing--
VIII. Rumble: Molto allegro--
IX. Finale: Adagio
0:14 RAVEL – Boléro
About the Music
Thursday, September 12 Miller Outdoor Theatre
Program Insight
8 p.m.
Tonight, the Houston Symphony celebrates Hispanic Heritage month at Miller Outdoor Theatre with a festive, dance-filled program inspired by the diverse traditions of Spain and the Americas.
The Symphony’s world-renowned Music Director Juraj Valčuha begins the evening with selections from Estancia, a ballet by Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983). Composed for American Ballet Caravan in 1941, this foot-stomping score tells the story of a city boy who must prove his worth among the gauchos of the pampas—through a dance contest.
A different kind of dance suffuses Sensemayá, perhaps the most famous work of Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas (1899–1940). Composed in 1938, Revueltas’s piece was inspired by a poem of the same name by Afro-Cuban poet Nicholás Guillén (1902–1989). Influenced by Afro-Cuban spiritual traditions, the poem describes the ritual sacrifice of a snake, a creature usually interpreted as a literary symbol of imperialism.
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) famously paid homage to New York City’s vibrant Latin jazz and popular music scene in his hit 1957 musical West Side Story, the many dance scenes of which he later wove into his Symphonic Dances. The Dances roughly follow the musical’s Romeo and Juliet-inspired plot, which reinterprets Shakespeare’s tragedy as a plea for racial tolerance in a divided world.
Composed by Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) in 1928, Bólero has little in common with the traditional Spanish dance of the same name; nevertheless, this masterful score evokes the atmosphere of old Spain with a gradual orchestral crescendo guaranteed to bring down the house.
—Calvin Dotsey
Sponsors
Presenting Sponsor
The Houston Symphony’s Miller Outdoor Theatre concerts are endowed by The Brown Foundation, Inc. in memory of Stewart and Hanni Orton
City of Houston through the Miller Theatre Advisory Board Guarantor
The Houston Symphony’s sound shell ceiling is made possible through the generosity of the Beauchamp Foundation and the Fondren Foundation
Program Notes
GINASTERA
Danzas del Ballet Estancia, Opus 8a (1941)
REVUELTAS Sensemayá (1938)
Alberto Ginastera grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as it was blossoming into one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities. Yet the neighboring prairie—the pampa—cast a spell over him.
“Whenever I have crossed the pampa or have lived in it for a time, my spirit felt itself inundated by changing impressions, now joyful, now melancholy … produced by its limitless immensity and by the transformation that the countryside undergoes in the course of a day,” he explained. Those visions helped inspire his ballet Estancia
Depicting a day of toil and romance on a ranch—estancia in Spanish— the ballet celebrates the gaucho, the iconic ranch hand of the pampas. Folk-dance dynamism drives the music, and Ginastera enhances the homegrown flavor with narration drawn from a cornerstone of Argentine literature: José Hernández’s Martín Fierro, an epic depiction of the gaucho’s life.
The orchestral suite, which Ginastera assembled when World War II delayed the ballet’s premiere, features four colorful sections. Estancia begins at dawn, and “The Land Workers” describes the ranch bursting to life. “Scarcely had the horizon begun to take color, the birds to sing and the hens to cluck, when it was time to get moving, everyone off to work,” the narration says. The music crackles with bold rhythms, staccato themes, and vivid colors; and Ginastera plays off the flashy opening against a light, chattering woodwind motif.
Stillness reigns in “Wheat Dance,” which precedes “The Land Workers” in the ballet. A lilting flute melody sets the scene, with plucked strings suggesting the gentle strumming of a guitar; soaring violins take over, gleaming like dawn’s first light. Pounding drums and lusty French horns conjure up the vigor of “The Cattlemen.” And the “Final Dance” is the most riveting sequence of all.
It grows from the malambo, a folk dance traditionally performed by men to show off their agility. Sparkling woodwinds and buoyant rhythms animate the opening, and the excitement ratchets up when the full orchestra cuts loose with a bounding dance that could be the Latin American cousin of an Irish jig. Accented by French horn whoops and piccolo shrieks, the music drives headlong to its close.
—Steven Brown
Poetry is often said to fall somewhere between music and language, so it is no surprise that many composers have been inspired by poetry throughout history. Silvestre Revueltas’s Sensemayá is a particularly fascinating example.
This orchestral work was inspired by the eponymous poem of Nicholás Guillén (1902–1989), who sought to decolonize Cuban culture with poetry inspired by his own AfroCuban ancestry. Throughout the Spanishspeaking world, his 1934 Sensemayá: A Chant for Killing a Snake has become one of his most famous creations. On the surface, this brief lyric would appear to be the text for a song meant to accompany a sacred
Program Notes
REVUELTAS
Sensemayá (1938)
dance from one of the spiritual traditions practiced by Afro-Cubans, such as Santería. Although the origin of the title is uncertain, it may be a portmanteau of “sensa,” meaning “providence,” and “Yamaya” or “Yemanya,” the name of the queen of the earth and sea in some AfroCuban sacred traditions.
The poem describes the ritual sacrifice of a snake (one must note that in traditional snake dances, no animals were actually harmed—the dance was symbolic). Although it is easy to read the poem as a colorful evocation of local customs, commentators have typically interpreted the snake as symbolizing imperialism, a reading supported by Sensemayá’s initial publication alongside some of Guillén’s more overtly political poems. In this context, the poem becomes a call for liberation—a meaning that Silvestre Revueltas, very much a product of the cultural flowering of post-Revolutionary Mexico, likely would have found in it as well.
In a sense, when Revueltas sat down to compose his own Sensemayá in 1938 (creating first a version for chamber orchestra and then the version for full orchestra most often performed today), all he really had to do was imagine the music already implied by Guillén’s verses, which resound with the rhythms of Afro-Cuban son music.
Throughout the poem runs the refrain “Mayombe-bombe-mayombé” (the term “Mayombe” may refer to a region of the Congo river basin in Africa or a specific Afro-Cuban religious community, and “bombe” can refer to a type of Afro-Caribbean dance or a type of drum which originated in Ghana). When idiomatically pronounced as “m’yombe bombe mayombé,” this chant creates the dancing, 7/8 meter (1-2-1-2-1-2-3) that begins the piece.
Indeed, the refrain can be sung to the bassoon motif introduced shortly after the opening; it also fits the motif that appears at the first entrance of the strings (an instrument family often used by composers to evoke a chorus). In addition to Guillén’s poem and Afro-Caribbean music, another inescapable influence on Revueltas’s Sensemayá is Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring
Although Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet was inspired by prehistoric Russia, many Mexican composers found his musical techniques—the layered ostinatos, fragments of folk music, shifting meters, unconventional orchestrations, stark juxtapositions of blocks of sound, and rough-hewn, dissonant harmonies—ideally suited to adapting indigenous musics to an orchestral context as they strove to create a uniquely Mexican (or in the case of Sensemayá, pan-American) style of classical music. For instance, the tuba solo near the beginning of Sensemayá is undoubtedly Revueltas’s answer to the famous bassoon solo that opens The Rite. As Sensemayá unfolds, its rhythms become increasingly unstable, building to a raucous, thrilling conclusion.
—Calvin Dotsey
Program Notes
BERNSTEIN/RAMIN-KOSTAL
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (1960)
Boléro (1928)
West Side Story ’s electrifying score and powerful, contemporary drama made the show a milestone in musical theater history. It was also a hit. After this transformation of Romeo and Juliet premiered in 1957, it ran nearly two years on Broadway, toured the United States, then returned to the Great White Way. The London staging ran more than two years, and a Hollywood adaptation filmed in 1960 went on to win 10 Academy Awards.
The orchestral suite, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, ranks among composer Leonard Bernstein’s most-performed works. It dates back to 1960, when the show was still a hot property. To help create it, Bernstein tapped the musicians who orchestrated the Broadway and movie versions: Sid Ramin, who also wrote the television ditty, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!”; and Irwin Kostal, who later orchestrated Mary Poppins and the film of The Sound of Music.
By focusing on West Side Story ’s dances, the team capitalized on the way those buoyant, propulsive sequences crystallized the story’s romance and violence. But a quandary arose. After weaving together all the dance music, the team had no ending. A longtime Bernstein assistant, Jack Gottlieb, found a solution.
They drew on the heroine Maria’s idealistic song, “I Have a Love.” The result is a suite that encapsulates the show’s youthfulness, ardor, and impact without needing words. “Prologue” describes the rising tensions between the Jets and the Sharks, the New York City gangs that parallel Romeo and Juliet’s Montagues and Capulets. In “Somewhere,” the strings sing out one of the show’s most idyllic melodies—part of a vision of a place free from hate.
A ballet sequence that also brings the airy music of the Scherzo continues the hopeful picture. The flashy “Mambo,” part of the vein of zesty Latin music running through the show, comes from a dance-off between the two gangs at a party. “Cha-Cha” turns the melody of the love song “Maria” into a graceful dance for flutes. “Meeting Scene” comes from the music accompanying the first encounter of the soon-to-be sweethearts, Tony and Maria.
In “Cool,” the lean, dynamic counterpoint symbolizes the Jets’ eagerness to confront the Sharks. The fight breaks out in the explosive “Rumble.” And in “Finale,” Maria’s “I Have a Love” drives home the tragic contrast between hope and bloody reality.
—Steven Brown
Feel the hypnotic power of a slinky melody pumped up by a 14-minute crescendo. Maurice Ravel began 1928 with a U.S. tour that included two concerts in Houston. On his return home to France, a Spanish-themed ballet demanded fast work.
Before going for a swim with a friend, Ravel played the future Boléro’s theme on the piano—using one finger—and asked, “Don’t you think this tune has something insistent about it?” He then revealed his plan to
RAVEL
Program Notes
RAVEL
Boléro (1928)
repeat the melody “a good few times” with practically no change other than increasingly powerful instrumentation. That was unheard-of, and the premiere sent some listeners into a tizzy. Told that a woman had shouted, “A madman! A madman!” Ravel wryly responded: “She’s right!”
The melody repeats insistently. So does the drumbeat. But Boléro’s galvanizing impact comes ultimately from this: its one big crescendo. A flute introduces the now-famous tune, which moves on to other woodwinds, then draws in larger and larger phalanxes of instruments. Ravel adds the exotic colors of instruments such as the oboe d’amore, a deeper-sounding relative of the oboe, and the extra-high sopranino saxophone. As the melody gains fire and force, so do the lusty chords that accompany it. Then Boléro unleashes one of music’s greatest surprises by vaulting to a higher key. Then it falls just as suddenly, and within moments comes the smashing final cadence. Ravel’s scintillating orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition comes next season from the Houston Symphony.
—Steven Brown
Program Bio
Juraj Valčuha, conductor
See p. 4 for bio
KING FOR A DAY: THE MUSIC OF ELVIS
Oct. 3, 4* & 5
Performance 7:30 p.m.
Juraj Valčuha, Music Director