SoNA The Great Unknown 2023-24 Program Notes

SoNA

Symphony of Northwest Arkansas

The Great Unknown January 20, 2024 Walton Arts Center Paul Haas, conductor

Symphony No. 1 in One Movement, Op. 9 (1936, rev. 1942)

harmonies, and traditional structures.

Samuel Barber

conductor-composer Pierre Boulez’s dictat

b March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania

that musicians not riding the ultra-modernist

d January 23, 1981 in New York City, New York

bandwagon were “irrelevant.”

The critics weren’t always kind. Neither were the cerebral types who signed on to

Performers and audiences thought differently. Barber’s art songs were popular It must have been lonely to be Samuel

with singers and listeners alike, while many

Barber there for a while. Almost alone of

of his instrumental works were quickly

mid-twentieth-century American composers

elevated to bedrock repertory. Even if his

he eschewed the era’s prevailing bleak

massive 1966 opera Anthony and Cleopatra

modernism in favor of a rich musical

bombed, his earlier Vanessa scored a solid

language that emphasized melody, opulent

international hit. And he has been vindicated,

Barber’s music gets played, heard, studied,

Oceans to Cross (2023) World Premiere

discussed, and enjoyed. It was those

Aldo López-Gavilán

academic modernists who turned out to be

b 1979 in Cuba

and then some, by the judgment of posterity.

irrelevant. They don’t get played much.

See Program Change Insert

A presiding angel hovers over Barber’s onemovement Symphony No. 1: Finnish master

Music is in Aldo López-Gavilán’s DNA. He’s

Jean Sibelius, whose seventh symphony

the son of musicians who introduced him

compresses the traditional four movements

to the piano at age 4; by age 5 he had

into one. But if Sibelius carved his symphony

written his first composition. He started

from ice, Barber etched his with fire. Neither

winning competitions and receiving awards

atonal à la Boulez nor folksy à la Copland,

by the age of 11, and made his debut

the Barber First emits an aura of powerful

as a concerto soloist at the age of 12.

substance from its very first gestures—

That’s impressive enough, but it’s not all.

grandly-hewn materials that will wind up

His abilities range widely, from piano to

forming the basis of what follows. Throughout

composition, from classical to jazz. Nor

its tapestry of themes and statements, the

does he limit his composition to the concert

symphony creates a weave of deeply moving

hall; he has written for television and film

lyricism, heroic grandeur, and bristling

as well. He has worked with luminaries such

athleticism. It packs a tremendous amount

as Joshua Bell, the Harlem Quartet, the

of emotional energy into its twenty

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and his own

some-odd minutes.

brother, violinist Ilmar López-Gavilán.

We are blessed with a splendid premiere

Oceans to Cross reflects that remarkable

recording from 1945, brilliantly performed by

range. The Symphony of Northwest

the New York Philharmonic under legendary

Arkansas’s first commission, it’s a concert

conductor Bruno Walter, a rendition that

suite for piano and orchestra, in three

reflects Barber’s 1942 revisions to his

movements, each of which “reflects a

1936 original. Numerous performances and

unique aspect of the human experience,”

recordings, from orchestras far and wide,

López-Gavilán tells us. “The suite stands

have followed. (There’s even a recording from

as a testament to the unifying power of

Slovenia.) Barber gets played, after all.

music, transcending geographical and cultural coundaries.”

The first movement “Oceans to Cross” blends African and Afro-Cuban influences.

Opening with powerful statements in the solo piano, it soon sets off on an exploration of “hope and trepidation, encapsulating the emotions and experiences of crossing a vast ocean.” Turbulence contrasts with

introspection, exhilaration with inwardness,

no less than the Philadelphia Orchestra,

the whole ending in blazing excitement.

with Leopold Stokowski conducting, in Carnegie Hall. It knocked the audience’s

“Soul Journey” follows, a “spiritual odyssey

collective socks off. They even interrupted

through harsh deserts and remote locales,

it for a special round of applause after the

from the Middle East to Eastern Europe.

second movement. One of Stokowski’s four

It delves into the musical heritage of

performances was broadcast on CBS radio.

Jewish culture, tracing its evolution a

The critics fell all over themselves praising

across different geographies.” Its subdued,

the new work and its author. Such a triumph

intimate opening gives way gradually

should have catapulted its young composer,

to crackling rhythmic vitality and lyrical

up to then best known for his choral

effusion in orchestra and piano alike.

arrangements of spirituals, into Gershwin or Copland altitude.

Cuba takes center stage in “Conga,” which “revisits themes from the first movement,

But no. William Dawson’s spectacular

interweaving them with Cuban rhythms and

Negro Folk Symphony received a few more

melodies.” A brilliant, propulsive dance,

performances and then vanished into the

it emulates indigenous instruments as

bardo of forgotten works. It’s difficult at

it seeks to forge “a musical connection

this late date to analyze with any precision

between African and Cuban cultures,

just what went wrong, but certainly the

celebrating their shared vibrancy and rich

Depression had a lot to do with it. A properly

musical traditions.”

typeset edition was out of the question in those money-strapped days, so a few

Thus Oceans to Cross “highlights the

copies of the conductor’s score and a set

interconnectedness of diverse traditions,

of handwritten parts were all that were

showcasing how music can be a universal

available. (No photocopiers back then,

language that speaks of journeys, both

alas.) The performing materials being

physical and spiritual,” writes López-Gavilán.

more or less inaccessible, the symphony

“Each note echoes the shared history and

faded into obscurity, and Dawson never

collective spirit of humanity.”

wrote another one. Leopold Stokowski kept the flame flickering (barely) by recording Dawson’s revised version in 1963. Happily, re-ignited interest has brought about a

Negro Folk Symphony (1934, rev. 1952) William Dawson b September 26, 1899 in Anniston, Alabama

posthumous second act for this remarkable composition, with a flurry of performances complemented by at least five new recordings over the past two decades.

d May 2, 1990 in Montgomery, Alabama Intended to be “symbolic of the link uniting Africa and her rich heritage with her descendants in America,” as Dawson It should have made him a star. His new

explained in his own program notes, the

symphony was given its 1934 premiere by

three-movement symphony incorporates a

rich bounty of spirituals, but not as mere

the deeply moving central movement “Hope

quotations. Instead, Dawson examines,

in the Night” highlights the English horn in a

re-examines, and reworks his materials into

similar manner. Then comes the exhilarating

a vibrant tapestry. Each movement carries

and rhythmically complex “Oh, Le’ Me Shine,

its own evocative title. “The Bond of Africa”

Shine Like a Morning Star!” that brings the

makes spectacular use of a horn solo that

work to its joyous close.

helps to bind the materials together, while

Billie served as regional fundraising chair for the Walton Arts Center, joining forces with Helen R. Walton to secure funding to complete the performing and visual arts center. She was executive director of the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (today the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas), and

Billie Jo Gabriel Starr

served as board chair of the Walton Arts

b August 11, 1932

Center. She also served on the board of the

d April 9, 2023

Fayetteville Public Education Foundation and was one of the first inductees to its Hall

Billie was born in Ponca City, Okla., to Arthur

of Honor.

and Wilma Gabriel. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Joe

Billie was the recipient of many honors,

Fred Starr.

including the Arkansas Arts Council Governor’s Arts Award for Lifetime

She was a devoted member of Central

Achievement in 2019; UofA Outstanding

United Methodist Church for more than 60

Alumnus for Community Service in 1994;

years, where she served for many years on

Community Service Award from the City of

the Board of Trustees and as chair of the

Fayetteville; and Arkansas Business Top

building committee. She was a graduate of

100 Women in Arkansas in 1996, among

Fayetteville High School and the University

others. She was also president of the Starr

of Arkansas, where she was a member of

Foundation, a family foundation dedicated

the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority. After raising her

to enriching education and the arts in

four children with Joe Fred, Billie was very

Arkansas for more than 30 years.

active in community organizations.

The Great Unknown is generously sponsored by the Starr Foundation in memory of Billie Starr.

Program notes by Scott Foglesong, copyright 2024 First North American Serial Rights Only

SoNA

Symphony of Northwest Arkansas

PROGRAM CHANGE Due to a family emergency of the featured soloist originally scheduled to perform the world premiere of Aldo López-Gavilán’s Oceans to Cross, that portion of this evening’s program has now been replaced with George Gershwin’s An American in Paris. SoNA is working to reschedule the world premiere of Oceans to Cross for a later date, likely as part of the 2024-25 Season to be announced later this year.

The Great Unknown January 20, 2024 Walton Arts Center Paul Haas, conductor

An American in Paris (1928) George Gershwin b September 26, 1898 in New York City, NY d July 11, 1937 in Los Angeles, CA

Highbrow pundits never quite knew what to do about George Gershwin.

That such a more or less self-taught Broadway tunesmith presumed to write ambitious concert works was annoying

enough. That he was often boisterously successful with those same works was even more irritating. Some critics vented their umbrage via potshots at Gershwin’s perceived technical shortcomings. Others dismissed his works as mere passing fancies, such as the New York Evening Post’s Oscar Thompson, who allowed that while An American in Paris might be all the rage circa 1928, “to conceive of a symphony audience listening to it with any degree of pleasure or patience twenty

years from now, when whoopee is no longer even a word, is another matter.”

Raised patrician pinkies notwithstanding, conductors knew a good thing when they heard it and snapped the piece up.

The 1929 midwestern premiere was led by no less than Fritz Reiner, soon to be followed by such luminaries as Artur Rodzinski, Alfredo Casella, and erstwhile San Francisco Symphony maestro Henry Hadley. Even Arturo Toscanini— nobody’s choice as an advocate for American music—turned in a whipcrack rendition with the NBC Symphony. The first studio recording, with Nathaniel Shilkret conducting the Victor Symphony and featuring an uncredited George Gershwin himself on celesta, took place on February 4, 1929, less than two months after the New York premiere.

Umpteen performances and recordings later, An American in Paris dances blithely towards its centennial, bedrock repertory, familiar and loved the world over. Far

more than a mere Jazz Age travelogue, this quintessentially American symphonic poem unfolds with radiant vitality and intoxicating energy.

An American in Paris eschews formal symphonic development in favor of a loose episodic structure charting the adventures of an American tourist sampling the glories of Paris and succumbing to fits of homesickness along the way. The work’s most compelling features are its marvelous melodies—who isn’t enchanted by the central “blues” section with its wailing trumpet solo?—and its glittering orchestration, featuring that quacking quartet of Parisian taxi horns. “It’s not a Beethoven symphony, you know,” commented Gershwin, perhaps in reaction to elitist reservations about the work’s overriding joie de vivre. “If it pleases symphony audiences as a light, jolly piece, a series of impressions musically expressed, it succeeds.”

In addition to the musicians listed in the main program roster, the following musicians have been added:

SAXOPHONE Michael Hanna, alto Acting Principal Nick Suosso, tenor Sarah Hetrick, baritone