March 8 2020 Concert program Northern Valley Youth Orchestras

Program Notes

Great Gate of Kiev/Hopak - “The Great Gate of Kiev,” originally for piano, is part of a larger work, Pictures at an Exhibition. Mussorgsky was inspired to write the set of ten pieces after seeing watercolor paintings of a close friend’s trip abroad. Although the paintings are mostly lost, Mussorgsky’s music keeps the artwork and our imaginations alive through the vibrant sounds and colors depicted in each of the pieces."Hopak" was originally part of the score for his comic opera "Sorochinsky Fair."

Tragic Overture: Brahms was known to compose pieces in pairs, and the dark and moody Tragic Overture contrasts with its more famous and lighthearted counterpart, Academic Festival Overture. Although an overture is typically written to introduce the melodies found later in a larger work, both the Tragic Overture and the Academic Festival Overture are standalone pieces. The dramatic work seems to depict contending forces of the human struggle, beginning and ending with dramatic chords.

Bal Masqué Bal Masqué, originally written for piano, was then orchestrated by Amy Beach (the composer) and engraved and reorchestrated as a project of the Women's Philharmonic Advocacy. Bal Masqué is a delightful waltz meant to depict the magic, mystery and fun of a masked (masquerade) ball, and is one of Beach's few standalone orchestral works.

Dance of the Tumblers An exciting and well-known dance from the opera "The Snow Maiden," Dance of the Tumblers depicts the interactions between humans and mythological creatures. Throughout the opera composer Rimsky- Korsakov distinguished each of the characters using different musical themes or "leitmotifs." The opera itself was Rimsky-Korsakov's favorite composition.

Symphony Op 11, #2 In 1793, the brilliant violinist, fencer and composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George became musical director and leader of the Concert de Amateurs, which rapidly won recognition as one of the finest orchestras in France. The first performance of the symphony #2 , originally scored for strings, horns and oboes, was given in Paris at the Hôtel de Soubise,

(continued) by his orchestra. The music of Bologne's Symphony #2 is identical to the Overture of the opera L’Amant Anonyme, which was first performed exactly 240 years ago, on March 8th 1780. L’Amant Anonyme (The Anonymous Lover) is the only one of six operas by Saint- George to survive in its entirety. It tells the story of Valcour, a man secretly in love with his friend Leontine, but because of social norms he is unable to tell her of his affections. It is entirely possible that Saint-George had a similar experience. An exciting work in the classical style, the Symphony features many fast passages for the strings.

Estampas Mexicanas I: Férial (parade) Estampas Mexicanas is a three movement suite for orchestra featuring Mexican folk elements in a style akin to the nationalistic compositions of the beginning of the twentieth century. The first movement, Férial, is a festive parade of simple, colorful, folk-like tunes and rhythms woven into a tapestry of western European textures. It relates to music written right after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, when composers, who had been writing in the European salon-music styles favored at the time, started to borrow folk musical elements to spice up their compositions. Originally written as a university class assignment, Estampas was premiered by the San Jose Symphony to an enthusiastic crowd of 25,000 and has been since performed hundreds of times all over the world.

Dances in the Canebrakes Price composed her three Dances in the Canebrakes for piano in 1953, and unexpectedly died shortly afterward. As was her usual practice, she used the rhythms, melodic traits and emotions of the African-American experience, but not borrowed melodies. The dances were orchestrated after her death by her friend, William Grant Still, who was widely regarded as the “Dean of African- American Composers.” A “canebrake” is a dense stand of sugarcane, a staple crop on antebellum southern plantations . The first and last dance suggest theatrical inspiration: Nimble Feet is a version of the cakewalk, a popular 19th-century social dance in the South and in minstrel shows; and Silk Hat and Walking Cane sounds like a slow, nostalgic rag to accompany a snappily-dressed dancer. The middle movement, Tropical Noon, is a subtly syncopated imagination of a peaceful, mid-summer scene.