Because the Symphony shows no trace of Beethoven’s anguished pessimism, it has sometimes been called “a heroic lie.� It also illustrates the steady development of the composer’s style and orchestration, while still paying tribute to the spirit of Haydn and Mozart. The slow introduction is longer and weightier than the public was used to—even from Haydn. The Allegro introduces one of those deceptively simple themes—a slightly embellished five-finger exercise—which Beethoven’s invested with new life through asymmetrical phrasing and unexpected harmonic direction. The second movement Larghetto presents a bouquet of lyrical melodies that contrast legato and detached articulation. The Scherzo plays a game with sudden contrasts in dynamics and orchestral color, and the Finale continues with the sudden dynamic shifts. Its explosive opening, with special prominence for the timpani, points the way for the boisterous finales of his mature years. He capitalizes on the joke by developing it within the exposition and later in the development as a series of musical “hiccups.� It is almost as if the unpredictable changes in dynamics in these last two movements represent the composer’s erratic hearing.
2013-2014 SeaSon
Time for theatre! A time to laugh; a time to cry;
usic and yrics by
V H S
ook by
TSY S
September 20 – October 5, 2013 Beardsley Theater
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35
November 22 – December 8, 2013
“Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto raises for the first time the ghastly idea that there are pieces of music that one can hear stinking... [the finale] transports us into the brutish grim jollity of a Russian church festival. In our mind’s eye we see nothing but common, ravaged faces, hear rough oaths and smell cheap liquor.� This politically incorrect assessment comes from the pen of the dean of nineteenth century music critics, Eduard Hanslick, reviewing the Concerto’s Vienna premiere. Why did the Concerto premiere in Vienna and not St. Petersburg? It is difficult to believe that this Concerto, probably the most popular in the literature, was declared to contain passages that were “almost impossible to play� by its first dedicatee, the famed violinist and violin teacher Leopold Auer, concertmaster of the Imperial Orchestra in St. Petersburg. Completed in 1878, it had to wait for three years for its premiere in Vienna where Hanslick was not alone in his opinion. What Hanslick and the other critics disliked most is what makes the Concerto so appealing today: its athletic energy, unabashed romanticism and rousing Slavic finale. Without diminishing our own enjoyment of the Concerto, attempting to hear it with the ears of its first audience is a fascinating exercise in cultural relativity. First of all, consider the sheer difficulty of the piece. What defeated Russia’s leading violin virtuoso is the stuff teenage prodigies cut their teeth on at Juilliard and Curtis, practicing the killer bits ad nauseam until they get it right or find some other career.
Beardsley Theater
February 21 – March 8, 2014 Beardsley Theater
Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin Book by Heather Hach Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Motion Picture
May 1 – 4, 2014 Frauenthal Theater
by Donald Margulies Special Black Box Venue January 17 – 25, 2014
Call for more information
A time to sing; a time to dance!
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www.muskegoncivictheatre.org Volume 3//September 2013 – June 2014 :: 33