Program Notes

Antonín Dvořák

born: September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, Bohemia died: May 1, 1904, in Prague, Bohemia

The Golden Spinning Wheel

Opus 109 (1896)

approx. duration: 30 minutes

From 1892-95, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák served as Director of the National Conservatory of Music of America, located in New York City. While in America, Dvořák, in addition to his Conservatory responsibilities, composed numerous works. Among these American compositions are two orchestral masterpieces, his Symphony No. 9, Opus 95 (“From the New World”) (1983), and Cello Concerto, Opus 104 (1895).

In 1895, Dvořák, homesick for his native land, returned to Prague. The following year, he turned his attention to another long-contemplated orchestral project. Dvořák greatly admired the works of Czech writer Karel Jaromír Erben, and in particular, his collection of folk ballads published in 1853 as The Garland. In 1896, Dvořák composed four symphonic poems based upon ballads from Erben’s The Garland; The Water Goblin, The Noonday Witch, The Golden Spinning Wheel, and The Wood Dove, Opus Nos. 107- 110.

Dvořák brought a lifetime of experience and mastery of orchestral composition to his Erben-inspired symphonic poems. It should also be mentioned, in the context of these descriptive and highly dramatic works, that Dvořák was a highly accomplished composer of operas.

Synopsis

A King rides in the countryside. There, he encounters the beautiful Dornička. The King falls in love with Dornička, and asks her to be his bride. Dornička’s stepmother and stepsister pretend to escort Dornička to the castle. But while in the forest, they murder Dornička, dismember her hands and feet, and cut out her eyes. The stepsister, at her mother’s urging, takes those body parts with her. Mother and daughter set out for the castle.

The stepsister greatly resembles Dornička. The King believes the stepsister to be his beloved, and the two marry. After the wedding, the King departs for battle. He urges his wife to spin, and to await his return.

A magician discovers Dornička’s body. The magician dispatches a youth to the castle to convince the stepsister to relinquish Dornička’s hands, feet, and eyes in exchange for a spinning wheel, distaff, and spindle made of gold. The magician is then able to restore Dornička to life.

When the King returns to the castle, he asks his wife to spin on the golden wheel. As she does, the wheel reveals the horrible murder of Dornička. The King rushes off and finds Dornička. The two return to the castle and are wed.

It is at this point in the tale that Dvořák’s orchestral tone poem concludes. In Erben’s ballad, the stepmother and sister meet the same fate they inflicted on Dornička. The Golden Spinning Wheel vanishes.

Karel Jaromír Erben (1811 – 1870), the Czech folklorist and poet whose work inspired Dvořák.

Felix Mendelssohn

born: February 3, 1809 in Hamburg, Germany died: November 4, 1847 in Leipzig, Germany

Symphony No. 2 in B-flat Major

Opus 52, “Lobgesang” (1840)

premiere: June 25, 1840 in Leipzig

approx. duration: 65 minutes

1840 marked the 400th anniversary of Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of a printing system with movable type. The city of Leipzig, one of Europe’s centers of printing and publishing, observed the anniversary with a series of June events and celebrations. Felix Mendelssohn, music director of the famed Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, composed two musical works for occasion. On June 24, 1840, Mendelssohn’s Festgesang zum Gutenbergfest premiered in the Leipzig market square. The brief work, scored for male chorus, two brass orchestras, and timpani, accompanied the unveiling of a new statue of Gutenberg. As a totality, Mendelssohn’s Festgesang has been relegated to obscurity. But in 1856, organist William H. Cummings aligned the melody of the Festgesang’s second portion, “Vaterland, in deinen Gauen” (Fatherland, in your districts) to George Whitefield’s adaptation of the Charles Wesley hymn, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” The fortuitous marriage produced one of the most beloved Christmas carols.

The day after the Festgesang’s premiere, Mendelssohn led the first performance of his Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang” (“Hymn of Praise”). That premiere took place in Leipzig’s Thomaskirche. Mendelssohn described his work, scored for vocal soloists, mixed chorus, and orchestra, as a “Symphony-Cantata”. The sung texts include excerpts from the Luther Bible, as well as a chorale by Martin Rinckart. The head of Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” score quotes Martin Luther: “Sondern ich wöllt alle künste, sonderlich die Musica, gern sehen im dienst des der sie geben und geschaffen hat” (“Rather, I want all the arts, especially music, happily in the service of He who gave and created them”).

In the audience for the Leipzig premiere of Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” was Robert Schumann:

The work was enthusiastically received, and its choral numbers especially must be counted among the master’s freshest and most charming creations. Every one who has followed the progress of his labours knows what this means, after such great performances as have preceded this. We do not intend to give a detailed description, but we must mention a duet, interrupted by a chorus, “I waited for the Lord,” at the conclusion of which a whisper rustled throughout the entire assemblage, — which means more in a church than loud applause in a concert-hall. It was like a glance into heaven filled with the Madonna eyes of Raphael.”

In September, Mendelssohn conducted his Symphony No. 2 in Birmingham, England. He then set about revising the work, adding an organ to the instrumentation. He also composed what are now the Symphony’s movements III, VI, and IX. Schumann was once again in attendance for the December 3, 1840 performance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus of the revised “Lobgesang” Symphony:

All praise for the splendid composition, as it was, and as it now is! We declared it before. Everything that can make people happy and ennoble them — pious feelings, consciousness of power, its freest, most natural expression — may be found here; not to speak of the musical skill of the composition and the imagination with which Mendelssohn worked on this piece, especially the parts where the chorus predominates.

During the 19th century, the “Lobgesang” Symphony was one of Mendelssohn’s most revered and performed works. But even then, the work was not immune from debate and criticism. The “Lobgesang’s” structure of three instrumental movements and choral finale led to inevitable comparisons with Beethoven’s immortal Ninth Symphony (1824). Among the most outspoken detractors Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” was Richard Wagner. In his extended essay, The Artwork of the Future (1849), Wagner characterized the Beethoven Ninth as the culmination of “a great voyage of discovery”, a “unique, absolutely unrepeatable feat…the last and boldest accomplishment of his genius.” Wagner excoriated those who attempted to follow in Beethoven’s footsteps:

A new genre, a “Symphony with Chorus”, — that was all they saw in it! Why shouldn’t anyone be able to write a Symphony with Chorus? Why shouldn’t “God the Lord” be praised at the top of one’s lungs at the end, after He helped bring about the three preceding instrumental movements as cleverly as possible? Thus Columbus discovered America only for the amiable peddlers of our time!

While Wagner did not name the object of his ire, the composer’s identity was clear. Wagner was (for many reasons) hardly dispassionate in his assessments of Mendelssohn and his compositions. But Wagner was also far from alone in his opinion that Mendelssohn had overreached in attempting to emulate Beethoven’s singular achievement. And as much as Robert Schumann admired the “Lobgesang” Symphony, he recommended (perhaps with the Beethoven controversy in mind) that Mendelssohn divide the “Lobgesang” into two works; one instrumental, the other choral.

But in truth, the Beethoven Ninth and Mendelssohn Second stand on their own as independent and quite different works. In the Beethoven Ninth’s three opening orchestral movements, various themes are presented. In the fourth and final movement, those themes are repeated, only to be rejected in turn by the orchestra. That conflict sets the stage for the introduction of the immortal melody, Beethoven’s setting for soloists and chorus of Schiller’s “Ode To Joy.” Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” opens with the trombones boldly proclaiming the theme that both returns throughout the instrumental movements, and serves as the basis for the chorus’s central proclamation: “Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn!” (“Everything that has breath, praise the Lord!”). Beethoven’s Ninth is a riveting symphonic journey that opens mysterious darkness, and culminates in joy. Mendelssohn’s Symphony-Cantata is an unwavering proclamation of faith.

The Symphony No. 2 opens with an instrumental Sinfonia. The trombones proclaim the work’s central theme (Maestoso con moto), immediately repeated by the remainder of the orchestra. This episode serves as the introduction to a series of three movements, played without pause. First is a vibrant Allegro, cast in sonata form. A flowing movement in 6/8 time (Allegretto un poco agitato) ensues. The reflective Adagio religioso concludes the Symphony’s purely orchestral sequence.

The ensuing Cantata portion comprises nine movements and approximately 2/3 of the work.