Colorado Symphony 2017/18 Season Presenting Sponsor:
LISTEN/HEAR • 2017/18 THE AMERICAN VOICE COLORADO SYMPHONY BRETT MITCHELL, conductor COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, DUAIN WOLFE, director OWEN WOLFINGER, boy soprano
Tonight's Concert is Gratefully Dedicated to Merle C. Chambers
Thursday, April 12, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. Boettcher Concert Hall
IVES/ arr. Schuman
Variations on America
COPLAND Suite from The Tender Land Introduction and Love Music Party Scene Finale: The Promise of Living BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms for Chorus and Orchestra Psalm 108, verse 2 & Psalm 100 Psalm 23 & Psalm 2, verses 1-4 Psalm 131 & Psalm 133, verse 1 Owen Wolfinger, boy soprano GERSHWIN
An American in Paris
SOUNDINGS
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PROGRAM 1
LISTEN/HEAR BIOGRAPHIES BRETT MITCHELL, conductor Hailed for delivering compelling performances of innovative, eclectic programs, Brett Mitchell was named the fourth Music Director of the Colorado Symphony in September 2016. He served as the orchestra’s Music Director Designate during the 2016/17 season, and began his fouryear appointment in September 2017. Mr. Mitchell concluded his tenure as Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra in August 2017. He joined the orchestra as Assistant Conductor in 2013, and was promoted to Associate Conductor in 2015, becoming the first person to hold that title in over three decades and only the fifth in the orchestra’s hundredyear history. In this role, he led the orchestra in several dozen concerts each season at Severance Hall, Blossom Music Center, and on tour. Mr. Mitchell also served as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) from 2013 to 2017, which he led on a four-city tour of China in June 2015, marking the ensemble’s second international tour and its first to Asia. In addition to his work in Cleveland and Denver, Mr. Mitchell is in consistent demand as a guest conductor. Recent and upcoming guest engagements include his debuts at the Grant Park Music Festival in downtown Chicago, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Auckland and Wellington, and the San Antonio Symphony, as well as appearances with the Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, National, and Oregon symphonies, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others. He has collaborated with such soloists as Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Rudolf Buchbinder, James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Leila Josefowicz, and Alisa Weilerstein. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Mitchell led over one hundred performances as Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony, to which he frequently returns as a guest conductor. He also held Assistant Conductor posts with the Orchestre National de France, where he worked under Kurt Masur from 2006 to 2009, and the Castleton Festival, where he worked under Lorin Maazel in 2009 and 2010. In 2015, Mr. Mitchell completed a highly successful five-year appointment as Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, where an increased focus on locally relevant programming and community collaborations resulted in record attendance throughout his tenure. As an opera conductor, Mr. Mitchell has served as music director of nearly a dozen productions, principally at his former post as Music Director of the Moores Opera Center in Houston, where he led eight productions from 2010 to 2013. His repertoire spans the core works of Mozart (The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute), Verdi (Rigoletto and Falstaff), and Stravinsky (The Rake’s Progress) to contemporary works by Adamo (Little Women), Aldridge (Elmer Gantry), Catán (Il Postino and Salsipuedes), and Hagen (Amelia). As a ballet conductor, Mr. Mitchell most recently led a production of The Nutcracker with the Pennsylvania Ballet in collaboration with The Cleveland Orchestra during the 2016-17 season. In addition to his work with professional orchestras, Mr. Mitchell is also well known for his affinity for working with and mentoring young musicians aspiring to be professional orchestral players. His work with COYO during his Cleveland Orchestra tenure was highly praised, and he is regularly invited to work with the highly talented musicians at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the orchestras at this country’s high level training programs, such as the National Repertory Orchestra, Texas Music Festival, and Sarasota Music Festival. PROGRAM 2
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LISTEN/HEAR BIOGRAPHIES Born in Seattle in 1979, Mr. Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and composition from Western Washington University, which selected him as its Young Alumnus of the Year in 2014. He also studied at the National Conducting Institute, and was selected by Kurt Masur as a recipient of the inaugural American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation Scholarship. Mr. Mitchell was also one of five recipients of the League of American Orchestras’ American Conducting Fellowship from 2007 to 2010. For more information, please visit www.brettmitchellconductor.com
DUAIN WOLFE, director, Colorado Symphony Chorus Recently awarded two Grammys® for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Recording, Duain Wolfe is founder and Director of the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. This year marks Wolfe’s 31st season with the Colorado Symphony Chorus. The Chorus has been featured at the Aspen Music Festival for over two decades. Wolfe, who is in his 21st season with the Chicago Symphony Chorus has collaborated with Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, and the late Sir George Solti on numerous recordings including Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, which won the 1998 Grammy® for Best Opera Recording. Wolfe’s extensive musical accomplishments have resulted in numerous awards, including an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Denver, the Bonfils Stanton Award in the Arts and Humanities, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in an Artistic Discipline, and the Michael Korn Award for the Development of the Professional Choral Art. Wolfe is also founder of the Colorado Children’s Chorale, from which he retired in 1999 after 25 years; the Chorale celebrated its 40th anniversary last season. For 20 years, Wolfe also worked with the Central City Opera Festival as chorus director and conductor, founding and directing the company’s young artist residence program, as well as its education and outreach programs. Wolfe’s additional accomplishments include directing and preparing choruses for Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the Bravo!Vail Festival, the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Grand Teton Music Festival. He has worked with Pinchas Zuckerman as Chorus Director for the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra for the past 13 years.
COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS The 2017/18 Colorado Symphony Concert Season marks the 34th year of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1984 by Duain Wolfe at the request of Gaetano Delogu, then the Music Director of the Symphony, the chorus has grown over the past three decades, into a nationallyrespected ensemble. This outstanding chorus of 180 volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous performances, and radio and television broadcasts, to repeat critical acclaim. The Chorus has performed at noted music festivals in the Rocky Mountain region, including the Colorado Music Festival, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, where it has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony. For over two decades, the Chorus has been featured at the world-renowned Aspen Music Festival, performing many great masterworks under the baton of notable conductors Lawrence Foster, James Levine, Murry Sidlin, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, and David Zinman. Among the recordings the Colorado Symphony Chorus has made is a NAXOS release of Roy Harris’s Symphony No. 4. The Chorus is also featured on a recent Hyperion release of the Vaughan SOUNDINGS
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PROGRAM 3
LISTEN/HEAR BIOGRAPHIES Williams Dona Nobis Pacem and Stephen Hough’s Missa Mirabilis. In 2009, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Chorus, Duain Wolfe conducted the Chorus on a 3-country, 2-week concert tour of Europe, presenting the Verdi Requiem in Budapest, Vienna, Litomysl, and Prague, and in 2016 the Chorus returned to Europe for concerts in Paris, Strasbourg, and Munich. The Colorado Symphony continues to be grateful for the excellence and dedication of this remarkable, allvolunteer ensemble! For an audition appointment, call 303.308.2483.discography includes her Grammy Nominated recording of Rachmaninoff’s Corelli Variations and other transcriptions (2004), Brahms Variations (2007) and Chopin Piano Sonatas No. 2 and 3 (2010). She was featured in the award-winning documentary about the 2001 Cliburn Competition, Playing on the Edge.
OWEN WOLFINGER, boy soprano Owen Wolfinger is in the National Tour Choir of the Colorado Children’s Chorale and is a seventh grader at Summit Ridge Middle School. He has toured with the Chorale to Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska and will join them in Scotland and Iceland this summer. When not singing, he enjoys rock climbing and learning everything he can about airplanes.
COLORADO CHILDREN'S CHORALE Deborah DeSantis, Artistic Director Mary Louise Burke, Associate Director
For more than forty years the Colorado Children’s Chorale has brought its artistry and charm to audiences throughout the world. With a diverse repertoire ranging from fully staged opera and musical theater to standard choral compositions in classical, folk and popular traditions, the Chorale performs with an innovative stage presentation and a unique theatrical spirit. In recognition of its artistic quality, the Chorale was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and the prestigious El Pomar Award for Excellence in Arts and Humanities. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Deborah DeSantis and Executive Director Meg Steitz, the Colorado Children’s Chorale annually trains 500 members between the ages of 7 and 14 from all ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds representing more than 170 schools in the Denver metro area and beyond. Since its founding in 1974, the Chorale has sung countless performances with some of the world’s finest performing arts organizations, performed for numerous dignitaries, and appeared in several television and radio broadcasts. The Performance Program includes a series of self-produced concerts, numerous performances with other Colorado arts organizations and touring around the world.
PROGRAM 4
C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
LISTEN/HEAR BIOGRAPHIES COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS Duain Wolfe, founding director and conductor Mary Louise Burke, associate conductor Travis Branam, Taylor Martin, assistant conductors Brian Dukeshier, Hsiao-Ling Lin, Danni Snyder, pianists Eric Israelson, Barbara Porter, chorus managers SOPRANO I Black, Kimberly Brown, Jamie Causey, Denelda Choi, LeEtta H. Coberly, Sarah Deskin, Erin Emerich, Kate A. Gile, Jenifer D. Gill, Lori C. Graber, Susan Guynn, Erika Heintzkill, Mary T. Hinkley, Lynnae C. Hittle, Erin R. Hofmeister, Mary Joy, Shelley E. Kim, Michelle Knecht, Melanie Long, Lisa Look, Cathy Maupin, Anne Medema, Stephanie Moraskie, Wendy L. Porter, Barbara A. Ropa, Lori A. Schawel, Camilia Schweitzer, Laura Sladovnik, Roberta A. Tate, Judy Wuertz, Karen Young, Cara M. SOPRANO II Ahrens, Anna Ascani, Lori Blum, Jude Bohannon, Hailey Borinski, Jackie Bowen, Alex S. Brauchli, Margot L. Coberly, Ruth A. Colbert, Gretchen Cote, Kerry H. Dakkouri, Claudia Gross, Esther J.
Houlihan, Mary Kraft, Lisa D. Kushnir, Marina Machusko, Rebecca E. Montigne, Erin Myers, Heather H. Nyholm, Christine M. O’Nan, Jeannette R. Pflug, Kim Rae, Donneve S. Rider, Shirley J. Ruff, Mahli Saddler, Nancy C. Timme, Sydney Travis, Stacey L. Von Roedern, Susan K. Walker, Marcia L. Weinstein, Sherry L. Woodrow, Sandy Zisler, Joan M. ALTO I Adams, Priscilla P. Branam, Emily M. Braud-Kern, Charlotte Brown, Kimberly Clauson, Clair T. Conrad, Jayne M. Daniel, Sheri L. Dunkin, Aubri K. Franz, Kirsten D. Frey, Susie Gayley, Sharon R. Groom, Gabriella D. Guittar, Pat Haller, Emily Holst, Melissa J. Hoopes, Kaia M. Kim, Annette Kraft, Deanna Lawlor, Betsy McNulty, Emily McWaters, Susan Nordenholz, Kristen Passoth, Ginny Pringle, Jennifer
Rudolph, Kathi L. Ryman, Sarah A. Stevenson, Melanie Thayer, Mary B. Virtue, Pat Voland, Colleen Zelinskaya, Alia ALTO II Cox, Martha E. Deck, Barbara Dominguez, Joyce Eslick, Carol A. Gangware, Elizabeth Golden, Daniela Hoskins, Hansi Jackson, Brandy H. Janasko, Ellen D. Kibler, Janice London, Carole A. Maltzahn, Joanna K. Marchbank, Barbara J. Nittoli, Leslie M. Schalow, Elle C. Scooros, Pamela R. Worthington, Evin TENOR I DeMarco, James Dougan, Dustin Gordon, Jr., Frank Hodel, David K. Jordan, Curt Moraskie, Richard A. Muesing, Garvis J. Nicholas, Timothy W. Reiley, William G. Roach, Eugene Zimmerman, Kenneth TENOR II Babcock, Gary E. Bradley, Mac Carlson, James Davies, Dusty R. Fuehrer, Roger
SOUNDINGS
Gale, John H. Guittar, Jr., Forrest Kolm, Kenneth E. Mason, Brandt J. McCracken, Todd Meswarb, Stephen J. Milligan, Tom A. Ruth, Ronald L. Seamans, Andrew J. Sims, Jerry E. BASS I Adams, John G. Bernhardt, Chase Boyd, Kevin P. Cowen, George Drickey, Robert E. Gray, Matthew Hesse, Douglas D. Jirak, Thomas J. Mehta, Nalin J. Quarles, Kenneth Ravid, Frederick Smith, Benjamin A. Struthers, David R. Wood, Brian W. BASS II Friedlander, Robert Grossman, Chris Israelson, Eric W. Jackson, Terry L. Kent, Roy A. Millar, Jr., Robert F. Moncrieff, Kenneth Morrison, Greg A. Nuccio, Eugene J. Phillips, John R. Potter, Tom Skillings, Russell R. Skinner, Jack Swanson, Wil W. Taylor, Don
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PROGRAM 5
LISTEN/HEAR PROGRAM NOTES LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990): Chichester Psalms for Chorus and Orchestra Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1918, and died in New York on October 14, 1990. The Chichester Psalms were composed on a commission from the Very Reverend Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral, Sussex, for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival. The score was completed in Fairfield on May 7, 1965, and first performed by the New York Philharmonic in Philharmonic Hall on July 15 with the Camerata Singers, Abraham Kaplan, conductor and John Bogart, alto. The first performance of the work as the composer conceived it, with all male chorus (the treble parts performed by boys), took place at Chichester on July 31. In addition to the SATB chorus (as the work is more commonly performed) and boy soprano, the score calls for an orchestra consisting of three trumpets, three trombones, a large and varied percussion ensemble (glockenspiel, xylophone, chime in B flat, cymbals, suspended cymbal, tambourine, triangle, rasps, whip, wood block, three temple blocks, timpani, snare drum, bass drum and three bongo drums), 2 harps and strings. Duration is about 18 minutes. Chichester Psalms was last performed by the orchestra May 30-31, 2008, with Jeffrey Kahane conducting. The Chichester Psalms was Leonard Bernstein’s first composition after the Third Symphony, Kaddish (composed for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s seventy fifth anniversary, though not completed until 1963, eight years after that event). Both works add to the orchestra a chorus singing texts in Hebrew. Where the Kaddish Symphony is a work often at the edge of despair, the Chichester Psalms is serene and affirmative. It is also for the most part strongly tonal, the result of months of work during a sabbatical leave from Bernstein’s post as music director of the New York Philharmonic, during which time he wrote a great deal of twelve tone music, but finally discarded it. “It just wasn’t my music; it wasn’t honest.” Following an introductory phrase that dramatically outlines the interval of the seventh (in a figure that will frame both the first and last movements of the work), the orchestra begins a vigorous 7/4 dance, prompting the joyous choral outburst of praise to Psalm 100. The second movement is, for the most part, a serene, lyrical setting of Psalm 23, featuring a boy soloist (or countertenor) accompanied by the harp to represent David, the shepherd-psalmist. The sopranos of the chorus repeat the song, but the men’s voices violently interrupt it with verses from Psalm 2 recalling the warfare of nation against nation (Bernstein originally created this music for a scene of violent argument between the rival gangs in West Side Story, but the number was cut from the show; adapted to the Hebrew text, it works most effectively here). The upper voices return with the song of tranquil faith, though the tension of suppressed violence is never far away. The orchestra introduces the last movement with an extended prelude built on the opening figure of the first movement. Suddenly the orchestra becomes hushed and the chorus enters with a song of comfort (the 10/4 meter, divided into 2+3+2+3, produces a wonderful rocking effect of utter tranquility). Unaccompanied, the chorus sings a chorale-like version of the opening figure to the psalmist’s plea for peace, and the orchestra quietly adds its “Amen.”
PROGRAM 6
C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
LISTEN/HEAR PROGRAM NOTES Psalm 108, verse 2 & Psalm 100 Urah, hanevel, v’chinor! A irah shahar!
Awake, psaltery and harp! I will rouse the dawn!
Hariu l’Adonai kol haarets. Iv’du et Adonai b’simha. Bo u l’fanav bir’nanah. D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim. Hu asanu, v’lo anahnu. Amo v’tson mar’ito. Bo u sh’arav b’todah, Hatseirotav bit’hilah, Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo. Ki tov Adonai, l’olam has’do, V’ad dor vador emunato.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is God. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting. And His truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 23 & Psalm 2, verses 1-4 Adonai ro i, lo ehsar. Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini, Al mei m’nuhot y’nahaleini, Naf’shi y’shovev, Yan’heini b’ma’aglei tsedek, L’ma’an sh’mo. Gam ki eilech B’gei tsalmavet, Lo ira ra, I Ki Atah imadi. Shiv’t’cha umishan’techa Hemah y’nahamuni. Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchan Neged tsor’rai Dishanta vashemen roshi Cosi r’vayah Ach tov vahesed. Yird’funi kol y’mei hayai V’shav’ti b’veit Adonai And L’orech yamim.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters, He restoreth my soul, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk Through the valley of the shadow of death, will fear no evil, For Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff They comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me In the presence of mine enemies, Thou annointest my head with oil, My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy Shall follow me all the days of my life, I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
SOUNDINGS
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PROGRAM 7
LISTEN/HEAR PROGRAM NOTES Lamah rag’shu goyim Ul’umim yeh’gu rik? Yit’yats’vu malchei erets, V’roznim nos’du yahad Al Adonai v’al m’shiho. N’natkah et mos’roteimo, Yoshev bashamayim Yis’hak, Adonai Yil’ag lamo!
Why do the nations rage, And the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His annointed. Saying, let us break their bonds asunder, He that sitteth in the heavens Shall laugh, and the Lord Shall have them in derision!
Psalm 131 & Psalm 133, verse 1 Adonai, Adonai, Lo gavah libi, V’lo ramu einai, V’lo hilachti Big’dolot uv’niflaot Mimeni. Im lo shiviti V’domam’ti, Naf’shi k’gamul alei imo, Kagamul alai naf’shi. Yahel Yis’rael el Adonai Me’atah v’ad olam.
Lord, Lord, My heart is not haughty, Nor mine eyes lofty, Neither do I exercise myself In great matters or in things Too wonderful for me to understand. Surely I have calmed And quieted myself, As a child that is weaned of his mother, My soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord From henceforth and forever.
Hineh mah tov, Umah nayim, Shevet ahim Gam yahad.
Behold how good, And how pleasant it is, For brethren to dwell Together in unity.
PROGRAM 8
C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
Colorado Symphony 2017/18 Season Presenting Sponsor:
SPECIAL • 2017/18 BÉLA FLECK: CONCERTO FOR BANJO AND ORCHESTRA NO. 3 COLORADO SYMPHONY BRETT MITCHELL, conductor BÉLA FLECK, banjo/composer This Weekend's Performances are Gratefully Dedicated to Bonfils-Stanton Foundation
Friday, April 13, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 14, 2018, at 7:30 p.m. Boettcher Concert Hall
BARTÓK Hungarian Pictures An Evening in the Village Bear Dance Melody Slightly Tipsy Swineherd’s Dance WEBERN
Im Sommerwind
JANÁČEK Taras Bulba The Death of Andrei The Death of Ostap The Prophecy and the Death of Taras Bulba — INTERMISSION —
BÉLA FLECK Banjo Concerto No. 3, “Louisiana” Mvt. 1 q=111 Mvt. 2 q . =53 Mvt. 3 q=123
The custom Allen Digital Computer Organ is provided by Mervine Music, LLC
SOUNDINGS
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PROGRAM 9
SPECIAL BIOGRAPHIES BRETT MITCHELL, conductor Hailed for delivering compelling performances of innovative, eclectic programs, Brett Mitchell was named the fourth Music Director of the Colorado Symphony in September 2016. He served as the orchestra’s Music Director Designate during the 2016/17 season, and began his fouryear appointment in September 2017. Mr. Mitchell concluded his tenure as Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra in August 2017. He joined the orchestra as Assistant Conductor in 2013, and was promoted to Associate Conductor in 2015, becoming the first person to hold that title in over three decades and only the fifth in the orchestra’s hundredyear history. In this role, he led the orchestra in several dozen concerts each season at Severance Hall, Blossom Music Center, and on tour. Mr. Mitchell also served as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) from 2013 to 2017, which he led on a four-city tour of China in June 2015, marking the ensemble’s second international tour and its first to Asia. In addition to his work in Cleveland and Denver, Mr. Mitchell is in consistent demand as a guest conductor. Recent and upcoming guest engagements include his debuts at the Grant Park Music Festival in downtown Chicago, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Auckland and Wellington, and the San Antonio Symphony, as well as appearances with the Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, National, and Oregon symphonies, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others. He has collaborated with such soloists as Yo-Yo Ma, Renée Fleming, Rudolf Buchbinder, James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Leila Josefowicz, and Alisa Weilerstein. From 2007 to 2011, Mr. Mitchell led over one hundred performances as Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony, to which he frequently returns as a guest conductor. He also held Assistant Conductor posts with the Orchestre National de France, where he worked under Kurt Masur from 2006 to 2009, and the Castleton Festival, where he worked under Lorin Maazel in 2009 and 2010. In 2015, Mr. Mitchell completed a highly successful five-year appointment as Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, where an increased focus on locally relevant programming and community collaborations resulted in record attendance throughout his tenure. As an opera conductor, Mr. Mitchell has served as music director of nearly a dozen productions, principally at his former post as Music Director of the Moores Opera Center in Houston, where he led eight productions from 2010 to 2013. His repertoire spans the core works of Mozart (The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute), Verdi (Rigoletto and Falstaff), and Stravinsky (The Rake’s Progress) to contemporary works by Adamo (Little Women), Aldridge (Elmer Gantry), Catán (Il Postino and Salsipuedes), and Hagen (Amelia). As a ballet conductor, Mr. Mitchell most recently led a production of The Nutcracker with the Pennsylvania Ballet in collaboration with The Cleveland Orchestra during the 2016-17 season.
PROGRAM 10
C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
SPECIAL BIOGRAPHIES In addition to his work with professional orchestras, Mr. Mitchell is also well known for his affinity for working with and mentoring young musicians aspiring to be professional orchestral players. His work with COYO during his Cleveland Orchestra tenure was highly praised, and he is regularly invited to work with the highly talented musicians at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the orchestras at this country’s high level training programs, such as the National Repertory Orchestra, Texas Music Festival, and Sarasota Music Festival. Born in Seattle in 1979, Mr. Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and composition from Western Washington University, which selected him as its Young Alumnus of the Year in 2014. He also studied at the National Conducting Institute, and was selected by Kurt Masur as a recipient of the inaugural American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation Scholarship. Mr. Mitchell was also one of five recipients of the League of American Orchestras’ American Conducting Fellowship from 2007 to 2010. For more information, please visit www.brettmitchellconductor.com
BÉLA FLECK, banjo/composer In case you aren’t familiar with Béla Fleck, some say he’s the world’s premier banjo player. Others claim that Béla has reinvented the image and the sound of the banjo through a remarkable career that has taken him all over the musical map. If you are familiar with Béla, you know that he just loves to play the banjo and put it into unique settings. The 15-time Grammy Award winner has been nominated in more categories than any other artist in Grammy history. He remains a powerfully creative force in bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock, and world beat. Most recently, Béla and Abigail Washburn won the 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album. In 2009, Béla produced the award-winning documentary, Throw Down Your Heart, where he journeyed across Africa to research the origins of the banjo. In 2011, Fleck premiered The Impostor with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, an unprecedented banjo concerto, with companion documentary, How to Write a Banjo Concerto. In 2016, Béla unveiled his second concerto Juno with the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Any world-class musician born with the names Béla (for Bartók), Anton (for Webern) and Leos (for Janacek) would seem destined to play classical music. Fleck made the classical connection with Perpetual Motion, which won two Grammys, including Best Classical Crossover. Collaborating with Fleck on Perpetual Motion was his long time friend and colleague Edgar Meyer, a bassist and composer whose virtuosity defies labels. Béla and Edgar co-wrote and performed a double concerto for banjo and bass with the Nashville Symphony. With virtuoso Zakir Hussain they co-wrote The Melody of Rhythm, a triple concerto for banjo, bass, and tabla. Fleck bounces between various scenes: he performs his concerto worldwide, collaborates with Chick Corea, and in a trio with Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer. He performs with Brooklyn Rider string quartet, in banjo duet with Abigail Washburn, duet with Chris Thile, and back to bluegrass with his friends Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton. He collaborates with African artists Oumou Sangare and Toumani Diabate, in jazz settings with The Marcus Roberts Trio, and with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, who continue to perform together 25 years after the band’s inception.
SOUNDINGS
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SPECIAL PROGRAM NOTES BÉLA BARTÓK (1881-1945): Hungarian Pictures, Sz. 97 Béla Bartók was born March 25, 1881 in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary and died September 26, 1945 in New York City. Hungarian Pictures was composed for piano in 1908-1911 and orchestrated in 1931. The orchestral premiere of the complete suite was given in Budapest by the Philharmonic Society Orchestra on November 26, 1934, conducted by Heinrich Laber. The score calls for two flutes (second doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets (second doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons (second doubling contrabassoon), two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings. Duration is about 11 minutes. This is the first performance by the orchestra. Around 1905, during the difficult, poverty-ridden years after he completed his studies at the Liszt Conservatory in Budapest, Bartók was invited by a friend to spend a few days in the country. On the trip, he chanced to overhear one of the servant girls singing a strange and intriguing song while going about her chores. He asked her about the melody and was told that the girl’s mother had taught it to her, as her grandmother had passed it on a generation before, and that there were many more such songs. Bartók encouraged her to sing the others she knew, and he soon realized that this sturdy folk music was little related to the slick Gypsy airs and dances of the city cafés that had long passed for indigenous Hungarian music. He determined that he would discover all he could about the peasant music of his own and neighboring lands, and much of the rest of his life was given to collecting, cataloging and evaluating this vast heritage of folk music. Among the earliest of Bartók’s music influenced by his ethnomusicological studies was series of small piano pieces he wrote beginning around 1908. In the summer of 1931, he arranged a suite of five of these early, folk-influenced piano pieces for orchestra as Hungarian Pictures. The first of the Hungarian Pictures (An Evening in the Village), based on one of the Ten Easy Pieces of 1908, is a nostalgic little song with a recurring refrain first played by the clarinet. The suitably gruff and ponderous Bear Dance is from the same set of piano pieces. Melody (the second of the Four Dirges from 1909) is a plaintive strain initiated by the strings before being taken over by the woodwinds. Slightly Tipsy, from the 1911 Three Burlesques, is a vivid picture of a dipsomaniacal promenade. The closing Swineherds Dance (one of the series For Children from 1908-1909) is fast and festive.
ANTON WEBERN (1883-1945): Im Sommerwind (In the Summer’s Wind) Anton Webern was born December 3, 1883 in Vienna and died September 15, 1945 in Mittersill, Austria. Im Sommerwind was composed in 1904 and premiered on May 25, 1962 at the Seattle World’s Fair by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The score calls for three flutes, two oboes, English horn, four clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, six horns, two trumpets, timpani, percussion, two harps and strings. Duration is about 12 minutes. This is the first performance by the orchestra. Webern entered the University of Vienna in 1902 not as a student of composition but rather to study historical musicology under the tutelage of the renowned scholar Guido Adler. Webern pursued his interests on several fronts during the next two years — some piano and violin lessons, assimilation of the city’s wealth of music (he was especially struck by Gustav Mahler’s new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at the Vienna Court Opera), sufficient academic work to earn a doctorate for his edition of the Choralis Constantinus of the Renaissance PROGRAM 12
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SPECIAL PROGRAM NOTES master Heinrich Isaac — but his greatest ambition was to compose. His works of those years include a number of songs and chamber works as well as an ambitious symphonic piece titled Im Sommerwind (“In the Summer Wind”), an idyllic description of a summer’s day in the fields and woods that was inspired by Bruno Wille’s evocative poem of the same name. He composed Im Sommerwind during the summer of 1904 at Preglhof, the Webern family country estate in Lower Carinthia, but made no plans to perform it. He kept the score — he occasionally displayed it to students to demonstrate his early stylistic sympathies — but it was not premiered until Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, visiting Seattle to perform at the World’s Fair, played it on May 25, 1962 as part of a Webern Festival organized by Prof. Hans Moldenhauer in celebration of the opening of the Webern Archive at the University of Washington and the founding of the International Webern Society. Webern structured Im Sommerwind as a series of continuous sections to correspond with the stanzas of Wille’s poem. Each section introduces a new theme, but motives from previous sections continue to appear as countermelodies, exploring their developmental possibilities and unifying the whole structure. This technique is a surprisingly sophisticated one for a twentyyear-old composer, and contains the kernel of Webern’s later creative evolution. Paul A. Pisk concluded his consideration by noting, “Though its musical language may be different from that generally associated with this composer, Im Sommerwind is fully developed in its technical and emotional content, and provides a valuable artistic experience for the listener.”
LEOŠ JANÁČEK (1854-1928): Taras Bulba Leoš Janáček was born July 3, 1854 in Hukvaldy, Moravia, Czechoslovakia, and died August 12, 1928 in Ostrava. Taras Bulba was written between 1915 and 1918. František Neumann conducted the orchestra of the Brno National Theater in the premiere on October 9, 1921. The score calls for piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, E-flat and two B-flat clarinets, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, organ and strings. Duration is about 24 minutes. Taras Bulba was last performed on October 16 & 17, 2010, with Peter Oundjian conducting the orchestra. Leoš Janáček based his Taras Bulba on episodes from Nikolai Gogol’s 1839 novel about the heroic leader of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, the warlike people of the lower Don River valley who were frequently utilized by Russian rulers in the late Middle Ages for their prowess as fighters. Janáček began the piece in 1915, but, as was usual for him, work went slowly and the score was not completed until Good Friday, March 29, 1918. It was to be another three years before it was performed; František Neumann conducted the Brno National Theater Orchestra in the premiere of Taras Bulba on October 9, 1921. The three movements of Taras Bulba, which depict Taras killing his own son for betraying his people (The Death of Andrei), the martyrdom of his second son (The Death of Ostap), and his own execution and vision of ultimate victory and the coming of a great Czar to rule all the Russias (The Prophecy and Death of Taras Bulba), are dramatic in form and follow closely the narrative of Gogol’s story. In his study of Janáček’s life and works, the conductor and author Jaroslav Vogel gave the following account of the music’s progress, based on his conversations with the composer: The Death of Andrei. During their campaign against the Poles, the Zaporozhye Cossacks, among them their captain Taras Bulba and his two sons Ostap and Andrei, besiege the town of SOUNDINGS
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SPECIAL PROGRAM NOTES Dubno. Andrei discovers that among the starving inhabitants of the besieged town is a Polish noble’s beautiful daughter with whom he once fell in love. Under cover of darkness, he enters the town by a secret underground passage in an effort to save her. After wandering among the starved, ghost-like defenders of the city, he enters the house of his beloved and throws himself into her arms. Suddenly Taras appears nearby. A battle follows in which at first the faithless son fights valiantly against his own people. However, when he comes face to face with his father, he lowers his gaze in shame, and on Taras’ order dismounts and accepts death at his father’s hand. As he dies, he once more remembers his love while the relentless Taras gallops away into battle. The Death of Ostap. After a short slow introduction, a sharp, martial strain is introduced to describe a new equestrian battle. This time fate strikes at the loyal Ostap, who is taken prisoner by the Poles and led away for execution. The Poles dance a wild mazur of victory. The Prophecy and Death of Taras Bulba. Taras himself now meets a Cossack’s end. After cruelly punishing the Poles for the death of his son, he too is taken prisoner. The Poles sentence him to death by burning. Round him, the victorious enemy stamps out a wild krakowiak. But Taras has the satisfaction of witnessing his warriors escape their pursuers. In his last moments, he has a vision of the indomitable strength of his Russian people.”
©2018 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
BÉLA FLECK (B. 1958): Banjo Concerto No. 3, “Louisiana” Béla Fleck was born July 10, 1958 in New York City. His Banjo Concerto No. 3, “Louisiana” was composed in 2017 and premiered on March 15, 2018 in New Orleans by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by José Luis Gomez with the composer as soloist. The score calls for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, and strings. Duration is about 24 minutes. This is the first performance by the Colorado Symphony. The composer has kindly provided the following information about his Banjo Concerto No. 3, “Louisiana.” In 2016 I was fortunate enough to be invited by the Louisiana Philharmonic to write a banjo concerto that would commemorate the TriCentennial of New Orleans. This was a fascinating opportunity for me because of the rich heritage of New Orleans music. Talk about a melting pot! Throughout Louisiana music there are so many sources of inspiration. Having written two banjo concertos already, I was excited to attempt a very different piece, and eager to be influenced and inspired. I started out by listening to lots of Louisiana Music, from The Balfa Brothers to Alan Toussaint, from Louis Moreau Gottschalk to Professor Longhair, from the brass bands and second line, to old time country music, gospel and bluegrass, and to the amazing Baby Dodds. What fun it was to soak it all in … I realized that almost anything goes in a piece designed to relate to New Orleans. I could draw from African motifs, Irish music, French, classical, Creole, old time country, gospel, early jazz and so on. The challenge would be to find a way for the orchestra to do what it does best, not to ask it to attempt to mimic the feel of the local music, but to create a piece that was inspired by, but not imitative of these musical elements. As I listened, certain small phrases jumped out PROGRAM 14
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SPECIAL PROGRAM NOTES as motifs that could be expanded and might even form bridges between the different forms. I thought some well-known New Orleans rhythms could be hidden in the DNA of the piece, and not in an obvious way. Also perhaps some classic musical phrases could be modulated between keys, in ways that I hadn’t heard done. I was trying to find a key that would help me to unlock a language for the composition. When I am attempting to create a musical work, what I’m really shooting for is to create a world. This world has rules and the music adheres to those rules. There should be musical language and a set of rhythms and harmonies, and sounds that are consistent throughout. That’s the goal, so that’s where I started. I did allow myself to take side trips and unjustified left turns. I allowed the rhythm to build but suddenly stop, I encouraged dialog between the big orchestra and single orchestra members, and I let the banjo take the lead, as it should in a banjo concerto. And once I was deep into the project I would sometimes stop thinking altogether and let myself get lost, allowing my unconscious mind to lead the way to where the music seemed to want to go, whether it adhered to these rules or not. Eventually I had a lot of musical ideas to work with, to develop and entwine, and refine.
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