PROGRAM NOTES

PSO Program Notes for May 12-13, 2023

By Larry Laskowski

Smyth, The Wreckers Overture (1902)

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) was an astonishing British trailblazer. As a composer she made her way into the highest circles despite resistance from the musical establishment, which tried to minimize her talents and keep her on the sidelines. Some critics complained that her music was “too masculine for a lady composer.” She was an active suffragette, was deeply involved in protests on behalf of women (for which she spent some time in prison), and was instrumental in helping British women eventually win the vote in 1928. Her The March of the Women (1911) became the anthem of the suffragette movement. She was an accomplished horseback rider, tennis player, and golfer. She never married and was honest about her romantic relationships with women. In all these dimensions she was several steps ahead of her time, and she persevered with talent, courage and determination.

Smyth’s considerable output as a composer spans many genres, but perhaps her operas are most notable. One of her operas (Der Wald) was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC in 1903, the first opera by a female composer to be staged there. (The next opera by a female composer at the Met was produced more than a century later in 2016.) The overture to The Wreckers is perhaps the Smyth work most often performed. She shows her melodic invention, her skill at orchestration, and her keen sense of drama. The eccentric story of The Wreckers profiles a band of Cornish outlaws who cause shipwrecks in order to loot the cargoes. This overture cannily combines the energy, camaraderie, and sardonic tone of the story and characters. Keep in mind that at the time opera was the most prominent public combination of serious music and drama in a single work. The opera overture provided an opportunity to preview that drama in a purely instrumental work. Smyth pulls out all the stops in this overture. It’s all packed into nine minutes of intense music that still thrills us today.

Brahms, Double Concerto in A Minor Op 102 (1887)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was one of the giants of German Romantic music. Unlike other successors to Beethoven (Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner), Brahms stayed closer to traditional classical forms while infusing them with Romantic sensibilities. Though a gifted pianist and conductor, he was best known as a composer, and he achieved great renown as such in his lifetime.

Program Notes

Brahms wrote two piano concertos and a violin concerto, all of which are part of today’s standard repertoire. The Double Concerto (for violin and cello) is his last concerto and also his last work involving full orchestra. While a standard concerto contrasts and blends a single soloist with the orchestra, here the two soloists also interact with each other. At times the soloists present a united front but often there is a lively conversation between the two. The interaction is sometimes loving, sometimes playful, sometimes argumentative and competitive, and always discreetly supported by the orchestra. Brahms offers us an intimacy akin to chamber music, but in a more outward facing public setting with soloists and orchestra.

The concerto was composed as a peace offering to the violinist Joachim, who had been a close friend of Brahms, but the two had been estranged because of a personal dispute. While the concerto is not officially dedicated to Joachim, Joachim did play the premiere, and Brahms presented him with the autographed manuscript.

The concerto is in three movements. The opening Allegro is dramatic and assertive. The middle movement, Andante, is warm and tender, and the final Vivace non troppo is playful and celebratory.

The Double Concerto doesn’t focus so much on the technical acrobatics often found in the concertos of the period. Rather it is driven by the intensity of the thematic material and the superb musicianship of the two soloists.

Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (1874)

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) played an important role in the development of authentic Russian music in the second half of the 19th century. Until that time Russian artists primarily imported ideas and styles of music, art, and literature from Western Europe. All that changed with a rise in Russian nationalism, political and economic reform, and newfound military prowess. Russian artists discovered cultural pride and explored distinctly Russian fresh artistic paths.

In music, the ‘Russian Five’ (Balakirev, Cui, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Mussorgsky) led the way. Each made long lasting contributions to Russian music that embraced Russian folklore, history, folk music, liturgical music and other cultural traditions.

Mussorgsky was born into a wealthy landowner family and showed considerable talent at the piano when quite young. However, he never received the comprehensive musical training that would have been offered, say, at the Paris Conservatory or the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Rather he relied on his strong instincts and innate abilities. Thus his music is original, shows little regard for rules and Western European tradition, and speaks directly to the listener. Its lack of Western European ‘sophistication’ is among its principal strengths. While Mussorgsky never traveled outside Russia during his lifetime, he was very well connected with Russian artistic figures. In 1870 Mussorgsky met Victor Hartmann, a prominent Russian architect and artist. The two quickly became close friends. Unfortunately,