Program Notes

EMILIE MAYER
born: May 14, 1812 in Friedland, Germany
died: April 10, 1883 in Berlin, Germany

Faust Overture (1880)

German composer Emilie Mayer began music studies at the age of five. Encouraged by her father, a successful pharmacist, Emily started piano lessons. By her own account, Emilie Mayer was soon composing “variations, dances, little rondos, etc.” Mayer pursued music studies with Carl Loewe in Stettin (now, Szczecin, Poland), and Adolph Bernhard Marx and Wilhelm Wieprecht in Berlin. Both Loewe and Wieprecht championed Mayer’s compositions in concert.

At a time when women were fanatically discouraged from composing, Emilie Mayer persevered. She composed prolifically, and through her own initiative, was able to secure throughout Europe both publication and performances of her works. Mayer’s catalog includes eight symphonies, numerous other orchestral works, and dozens of pieces for chamber ensemble.

Mayer’s Faust Overture dates from 1880. By then, such eminent composers as Berlioz, Gounod, Liszt, Schumann, and Wagner had created successful musical works inspired by Goethe’s Faust. It’s an indication of Mayer’s self-confidence that she chose a topic inviting comparisons to these music luminaries. And Mayer’s Faust Overture reflects the inspiration and craft of a highly accomplished composer, in recent times the subject of renewed interest and appreciation.

The Faust Overture begins with an expansive, brooding slowtempo introduction (Adagio), inaugurated by the strings and bassoons. An agitated episode launches the ensuing Allegro. The key shifts from B minor to D major for a sequence featuring a charming waltz and noble chorale; depictions, perhaps, of Gretchen’s innocence and purity. A varied reprise of the initial Allegro culminates in a triumphant major-key transformation of its agitated music, the affirmation of Faust’s redemption by Gretchen.

FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
born: March 1, 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, Poland
died: October 17, 1849 in Paris, France

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor Opus 21 (1829)

premiere: March 17, 1830 in Warsaw
approx. duration: 30 minutes

When Frédéric Chopin composed his F-minor Concerto, he was in the midst of an infatuation. The young pianist and composer had fallen hopelessly in love with a fellow student at the Warsaw Conservatory, a soprano by the name of Constantia Gladkowska. For whatever reason, Chopin chose not to reveal his feelings to the young woman. Instead, Chopin poured his heart out to his dearest friend, Tytus Woyciechowski. In a letter to Woyciechowski, dated October 3, 1829, Chopin confessed:

Perhaps to my misfortune, I have met my ideal and have served her faithfully for six months, without speaking to her about my feelings. I dream about it: under her inspiration, the adagio (i.e., the slow movement, actually marked Larghetto) of my Concerto in F Minor and, this morning, the little waltz (Opus 70, No. 3 in D-flat) that I’m sending you, have been born. No one will know about it, except you.

The premiere of the Piano Concerto in F minor took place at the National Theater in Warsaw on March 17, 1830. Chopin, making his Warsaw concert debut, was the soloist. The concert was a critical success. One writer, referring to the great Italian violinist, dubbed Chopin “the Paganini of the piano.”

The F-minor Concerto is in three movements. The opening movement (Maestoso) is based upon two principal themes, first introduced by the orchestra, and later repeated in far more elaborate fashion by the soloist. The central slowtempo movement (Larghetto) was inspired by Chopin’s youthful infatuation for Constantia Gladkowska. The finale (Allegro vivace) evokes the spirit of the Polish mazurka, a lively dance in triple time, serving as the basis for the numerous engaging flights by the soloist.

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

The Noonday Witch, Opus 108 (1896)

premiere: November 21, 1896 in London
approx. duration: 17 minutes

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

Dvořák, homesick for his native land, returned to Prague in 1895. The following year, Dvořák turned his focus to another long-contemplated orchestral project. Dvořák greatly admired the works of Czech writer Karel Jaromír Erben, and in particular, the collection of folk ballads published in 1853 as The Garland. In 1896-97, 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 in orchestral (as well as operatic) composition to his Erben-inspired symphonic poems.

In a cottage, a mother prepares the noontime meal, while her child plays in the corner. When the child has a tantrum, the mother threatens to summon the evil Noonday Witch. For a while, the child returns to its quiet play, but soon has another tantrum. The exasperated mother calls for the Noonday Witch, who finally appears at the door. The Witch demands: “Give me the child!” As the Witch draws nearer, the mother clutches the child in her arms, and falls senseless to the floor. At noon, the father returns to the cottage. When he awakens the mother, they discover their dead child beneath her.

WILLIAM GRANT STILL
born: May 11, 1895 in Woodville, Mississippi
died: December 3, 1978 in Los Angeles, California

Symphony No. 1, "Afro-American" (1930)

premiere: 1931 in Rochester, New York
approx. duration: 30 minutes

William Grant Still, often referred to as the “Dean of African American Composers,” was born in Woodville, Mississippi. He studied at Wilberforce College and the Oberlin Conservatory. Still worked with W. C. Handy, and studied privately with George Whitefield Chadwick and Edgar Varèse. He composed successfully in a wide variety of genres, including symphonies, operas, sacred musical, assorted instrumental works, and popular songs, as well as television and film scores. Still also conducted, and made arrangements of spirituals.

The Afro-American Symphony was one of Still’s early large-scale compositions. As he noted:

Like so many works which are important to their creators, the AfroAmerican Symphony was forming over a period of years. Themes were occurring to me, were duly noted, and an overall form was slowly growing. I knew I wanted to write a symphony; I knew that it had to be an American work; and I wanted to demonstrate how the blues, so often considered a lowly expression, could be elevated to the highest musical level.

American composer and conductor Howard Hanson led the Rochester Philharmonic in the Afro-American Symphony’s 1931 premiere. It marked the first time that a major American orchestra had performed a symphony by an African-American composer. The work received numerous further performances, including a 1935 Carnegie Hall concert by the New York Philharmonic.

The Afro-American Symphony is in four movements. In his notebook, Still assigned a subtitle to each: “Longing,” “Sorrow,” Humor,” and “Aspiration.” Still masterfully synthesizes bluesoriented material with a traditional orchestral ensemble, augmented by such instruments as the banjo, vibraphone, and drum set. The result is a beautiful, uplifting, and quintessentially American work that sounds as fresh as the day it was first performed.