CLASSICS
2019/20 SEASON PRESENTING SPONSOR:
2019/20
BEETHOVEN MISSA SOLEMNIS FEATURING THE COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS PERFORMED BY YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY BRETT MITCHELL, conductor MARY WILSON, soprano MEG BRAGLE, mezzo-soprano JOHN TESSIER, tenor SIDNEY OUTLAW, baritone COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, DUAIN WOLFE, director Friday, February 21, 2020 at 7:30pm Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 7:30pm Sunday, February 23, 2020 at 1:00pm Boettcher Concert Hall
BEETHOVEN Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123 Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei The custom Allen Digital Computer Organ is provided by MervineMusic, LLC CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 21 MINUTES WITH NO INTERMISSION FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 8 OF THE PROGRAM BOOK FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT!
This weekend's Preludes are hosted by Assistant Principal Viola Catherine Beeson. Catherine will take you on a deep dive into the music with a focus on the final days of Beethoven's life. There will be a Talkback on Sunday, February 23, 2020. PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY SOUNDINGS
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CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
PHOTO: ROGER MASTROIANNI
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 16/17 season and began his four year appointment in September 2017. Mr. Mitchell concluded his tenure as the Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra in August 2017. He joined the orchestra as Assistant Conductor in 2013 and was promoted to Associate in 2015, becoming the orchestra’s first Associate Conductor in over three decades and only the fifth in its 98 year 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 the Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO), which he recently led on a four-city tour of China, marking the ensemble’s second international tour and its first to Asia. In May, 2019 he returned to the Cleveland Orchestra to lead subscription performances of An American in Paris. In addition to his work in Cleveland and Denver, Brett Mitchell is in consistent demand as a guest conductor. Recent and upcoming guest engagements include subscription debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Dallas, San Antonio, Vancouver and New Zealand Symphonies and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Spain, as well as debuts with the Grant Park Music Festival in downtown Chicago and the Indianapolis Symphony during the orchestra’s summer festival at Conner Prairie. He has also appeared with the Detroit, National, Houston, Milwaukee and Oregon Symphonies, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra among others. From 2007 to 2011, Brett Mitchell led over one hundred performances as Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony. 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 tenure 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, Brett Mitchell has conducted nearly a dozen productions, principally during his tenure 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).
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CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES In addition to his work with professional orchestras, Mr. Mitchell is also well-known for his affinity for working with and mentoring highly talented 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 orchestra at the Cleveland Institute of Music as well as at summer orchestral training programs such as the Texas Music Festival, National repertory Orchestra, Interlochen and Sarasota Music Festival. Born in Seattle in 1979, Brett Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas in Austin and composition from Western Washington University, which selected him as its 2014 Young Alumnus of the Year. He 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 Program from 2007 to 2010.
Strauss A Hero’s Life conducted by Brett Mitchell MAR 6-8 FRI-SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 n
Brett Mitchell, conductor The Percussion Collective RAVEL Boléro CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS Drum Circles: Concerto for 7 Percussionists and Orchestra R. STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life)
tickets: coloradosymphony.org
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CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES MARY WILSON, soprano In high demand on the concert stage, Mary Wilson has most-recently appeared with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Orchestra, St, Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Detroit Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, and at the Hollywood Bowl. She has worked with conductors including Nicholas McGegan, Bernard Labadie, Martin Pearlman, Martin Haselböck, JoAnn Falletta, and Leonard Slatkin. An exciting interpreter of Baroque repertoire, especially Handel, she has appeared with Musica Angelica, American Bach Soloists, Boston Baroque, Grand Rapids Bach Festival, Bach Society of St. Louis, Baltimore Handel Choir, Florida Bach Festival, and the Carmel Bach Festival. On the opera stage, she is especially noted for her portrayals of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Susannah in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Gilda in Rigoletto. She has created leading roles in North American and World premiere performances of Dove’s Flight (Controller), Glass’ Galileo Galilei (Grand Duchess Christina), and Petitgirard’s Joseph Merrick dit L’Elephant Man (Le Colorature). She has appeared most-recently with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dayton Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Goodman Theatre.
MEG BRAGLE, mezzo-soprano Widely praised for her musical intelligence and “expressive virtuosity” (San Francisco Chronicle), Meg Bragle has earned an international reputation as one of today’s most gifted mezzo-sopranos, particularly in the field of early music. A frequent featured soloist with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists, she has made four recordings with the group, including Bach’s Easter and Ascension Oratorios – the vehicle for her BBC Proms debut − and the 2015 release of Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Ms. Bragle has performed both baroque and late repertoire with many symphony orchestras in the U.S. and Canada including the Houston, National, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Pacific, and Colorado Symphonies; the National Arts Center Orchestra, and a series of concerts with the Calgary Philharmonic including Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Highlights of her 2019/20 season include returns to Seattle Symphony (Messiah), Colorado Symphony, Winter Park Bach Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, Tempesta di Mare, and the Dunedin Consort. She makes her debut with the San Antonio Symphony this fall performing Mozart’s Requiem. Other performances include those with Voices of Music, Washington Bach Consort, and a recital of early George Crumb Songs at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Bragle is an accomplished recording artist. In addition to those with the English Baroque Soloists, she has made several recordings with Apollo’s Fire: Mozart’s Requiem (Koch), Handel’s Dixit Dominus and
PROGRAM IV
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CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (Avie), and Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine (Avie), and L’Orfeo (Eclectra). Other recordings include Bach’s St. John Passion with Arion Baroque (ATMA Classique). A new recording of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater with the Winter Park Bach Festival is forthcoming. Ms. Bragle is based in Philadelphia where she is Artist in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. Visit Meg Bragle at www.megbragle.com
JOHN TESSIER, tenor On the international stages of opera, concert, and recital, Canadian John Tessier garners praise and attention for the beauty and honesty of his voice, for a refined style and creative versatility, and for his handsome presence in the lyric tenor repertoire. In the 2019/20 season, John Tessier’s prominence as a distinguished concert artist is spotlighted in numerous international performances. He appears with Krzysztof Urbański and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Rune Bergmann and the Calgary Philharmonic, Leslie Dala and the Vancouver Bach Choir, and with Jun Märkl and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra amongst many others. He has been heard in performances with Iván Fischer and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, with the Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, with Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Bernard Labadie and the San Francisco Symphony, and with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astrée on a European concert tour. John Tessier’s vibrant discography includes Mozart’s Requiem both with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy, John Corigliano’s A Dylan Thomas Trilogy with Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony, Stephen Paulus’ To Be Certain of the Dawn with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Haydn’s The Creation with Jane Glover leading Music of the Baroque.
SIDNEY OUTLAW, baritone Lauded by The New York Times as a “terrific singer” with a “deep, rich timbre” and the San Francisco Chronicle as an “opera powerhouse” with a “weighty and forthright” sound, Sidney Outlaw delights audiences in the U.S. and abroad with his rich and versatile baritone and engaging stage presence. This rising American baritone from North Carolina recently added a Grammy® nomination to his list of accomplishments for the Naxos Records recording of Darius Milhaud’s 1922 opera trilogy, L’Orestie d’Eschyle in which he sang the role of Apollo. The 2018/19 season saw him as Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird with both Atlanta Opera and Arizona Opera. Return appearances included the Baltimore Symphony as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah and the Minnesota Opera in the world premiere of The Fix, as well as his San Francisco Opera debut. Mr. Outlaw has been a featured recitalist with Warren Jones at Carnegie Hall and performed Elijah SOUNDINGS
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CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES with the New York Choral Society. He traveled to Guinea as an Arts Envoy with the U.S. State Department, where he performed a program of American music in honor of Black History Month and in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King. Mr. Outlaw made his English National Opera debut in the 2011/12 season as Rambo in The Death of Klinghoffer and joined the Metropolitan Opera roster in 2014/15 also for The Death of Klinghoffer. He holds a Bachelor’s in music performance from the University of North Carolina and a Master of Vocal Performance from The Julliard School.
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 35th 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 25th 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 and Alexander Shelly as Chorus Director for the Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra for the past 17 years.
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CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS The 2019/20 Colorado Symphony concert season marks the 36th season of the Colorado Symphony Chorus, celebrating their official 35th Anniversary in the autumn of 2019 with a performance of Verdi’s Requiem. 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 nationally respected ensemble. This outstanding chorus of 185 volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous performances (more than 25 this year alone), 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 seven recordings the Chorus has made is a NAXOS release of Roy Harris’s Symphony No. 4, as well as a remarkable recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. The Chorus is also featured on a Hyperion release of the Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem and Stephen Hough’s Missa Mirabilis. Most recently, the Colorado Symphony and Chorus released a world-premiere recording of William Hill’s The Raven. In 2009, in celebration of their 25th anniversary, 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, In 2016 the chorus returned to Europe for concerts in Paris, Strasbourg, and Munich. From Evergreen to Brighton, and Boulder to Castle Rock, singers travel each week to rehearsals and performances in Denver, totaling about 80 a year. The Colorado Symphony and Denver community continue to be grateful for the excellence The Colorado Symphony and Denver community continue to be grateful for the excellence and dedication of this remarkable all-volunteer ensemble. For an audition appointment, visit the symphony website for an online sign up form. www.coloradosymphony.org.
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CLASSICS 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 Brazell, Madeline Brown, Jamie Causey, Denelda Choi, LeEtta H. Coberly, Sarah Collins, Suzanne Coppage, Zoie Emerich, Kate A. Gile, Jenifer D. Gill, Lori C. Graber, Susan Hedrick, Elizabeth Hinkley, Lynnae C. Hittle, Erin R. Hofmeister, Mary Jordan, Cameron Joy, Shelley E. Kittle, Grace A. Levy, Juliet Look, Cathy Machusko, Rebecca E. Mitchell, Angela Moraskie, Wendy L. Plender, Elizabeth Porter, Barbara A. Ropa, Lori A. Saddler, Garlyn Schawel, Camilia Schweitzer, Laura Sladovnik, Roberta A. Solich, Stephanie Stegink, Nicole J. Wuertz, Karen Young, Cara M. SOPRANO II Ascani, Lori Barker, Ashley Blum, Jude Bowen, Alex S. Brauchli, Margot L. Coberly, Ruth A. Cote, Kerry H. Dakkouri, Claudia Dean, Lindsay Fisher, Kimberly K. Headrick, Alaina Heimann, Abigail Kermgard, Lindsey Kraft, Lisa D. Kushnir, Marina Lang, Leanne
Linder, Dana McLaughlin, Sarah Montigne, Erin Nesbit, Angie Nyholm, Christine M. O'Nan, Jeannette R. Pflug, Kim Rae, Donneve S. Roth, Sarah Ruff, Mahli Saddler, Nancy C. Sullivan, Madeleine Tate, Judy Timme, Sydney Travis, Stacey L. Von Roedern, Susan K. Walker, Marcia L. Woodrow, Sandy Zisler, Joan M. ALTO I Adams, Priscilla P. Branam, Emily M. Braud-Kern, Charlotte Brown, Kimberly Buesing, Amy Clauson, Clair T. Conrad, Jayne M. Fairchild, Raleigh Franz, Kirsten D. Frey, Susie Gayley, Sharon R. Groom, Gabriella D. Guittar, Pat Guttmann, Emily Haller, Emily Henningson, Linnea Holst, Melissa J. Hoopes, Kaia M. Kim, Annette Kolstad, Annie Lang, Mia McNulty, Emily McWaters, Susan Nordenholz, Kristen Passoth, Ginny Pringle, Jennifer Rudolph, Kathi L. Schmicker, Kate Short, Chloe Sisk, Mandy B. Stevenson, Melanie Thaler, Deanna K. Thayer, Mary B.
Tiggelaar, Clara Virtue, Pat York, Beth ALTO II Bender-Moore, Jane Boothe, Kay A. Cox, Martha E. Daniel, Sheri L. Deck, Barbara Denman, Hallie Dominguez, Joyce Eslick, Carol A. Gangware, Elizabeth Golden, Daniela Hoskins, Hansi Jackson, Brandy H. Janasko, Ellen D. LeBaron, Andrea London, Carole A. Maltzahn, Joanna K. Marchbank, Barbara J. Nelson, AnnĂŠlise Nittoli, Leslie M. Schalow, Elle C. Scooros, Pamela R. Townsend, Lisa Trierweiler, Ginny Worthington, Evin TENOR I Bowman, Ryan DeMarco, James Dougan, Dustin Gordon, Jr., Frank Guittar, Jr., Forrest Hodel, David K. Jordan, Curt Moraskie, Richard A. Mosser, Shane Muesing, Garvis J. Nicholas, Timothy W. Rehberg, Dallas Reiley, William G. Roach, Eugene Thompson, Hannis Waller, Ryan T. Zimmerman, Kenneth TENOR II Babcock, Gary E. Bradley, Mac Carlson, James Davies, Dusty R.
PROGRAM VIII C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
Dinkel, Jack Fuehrer, Roger Gale, John H. Ibrahim, Sami Jin, Yi Kolm, Kenneth E. Lively, Mark McCracken, Todd Meswarb, Stephen Milligan, Tom A. Richardson, Tyler Ruth, Ronald L. Seamans, Andrew Shaw, Kyle Sims, Jerry E. BASS I Adams, John G. Cowen, George De Cecco, Daniel J. Gray, Matthew Grossman, Chris Hesse, Douglas D. Hunt, Leonard Jirak, Thomas J. Jones, John W. Lingenfelter, Paul Mehta, Nalin J. Pilcher, Ben Plakorus, Ryan Quarles, Kenneth Ragan, Jimmy Ravid, Frederick Smedberg, Matthew Smith, Benjamin A. Snyder, Kyle Struthers, David R. BASS II Friedlander, Robert Israelson, Eric W. Jackson, Terry L. Kent, Roy A. Morrison, Greg A. Nuccio, Eugene J. Phillips, John R. Potter, Tom Skillings, Russell R. Smith, David H. Swanson, Wil W. Taylor, Don Teplansky, Alexander Virtue, Tom G.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Missa solemnis in D major, Op. 123 Ludwig van Beethoven was born December 16, 1770 in Bonn and died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna. He began his monumental Missa solemnis in 1818, but did not complete it until 1823. The premiere was given in St. Petersburg on April 7, 1824. The score calls for woodwinds in pairs plus contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, organ, and strings. Duration is about 80 minutes. The work was last performed on June 7, 2007, with Duain Wolfe leading the orchestra and chorus. In 1818, rumors began to circulate around Vienna that the Archduke Rudolph, youngest son of Emperor Leopold II and brother of Emperor Franz, was going to be elevated to the highest levels of the Austrian Church hierarchy. Beethoven was especially interested in the rumors, since he had been associated with Rudolph for nearly twenty years as his teacher of piano and composition. (The piano part of the “Triple” Concerto of 1803-1804 was written for Rudolph.) For his part, Rudolph seems to have revered his teacher, carefully preserving over a hundred of his letters and assembling a collection of first editions, autographs, and fair copies of his compositions. In the years after 1809, he became one of the composer’s most important patrons, and received in gratitude the dedications of fifteen important works, including the Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, the Op. 97 Piano Trio (“Archduke”), two piano sonatas (Op. 106 and Op. 111), and the Grosse Fuge (Op. 133). The rumors concerning Rudolph were substantiated when he was elected Cardinal in April 1819 and Archbishop of Olmütz two months later. As soon as he heard the news, Beethoven sent congratulations to the new Archbishop, and offered to compose a grand new Mass for his installation ceremony, scheduled for March 20, 1820. “The day when the solemn Mass by myself is performed as part of the ceremonies for your Imperial Highness,” he wrote in June 1819, “will be the happiest day of my life, and God will inspire me so that my poor gifts may contribute to the glorification of this solemn day.” As it turned out, Beethoven was more than three years late in fulfilling his promise. It was not only divine inspiration but also artistic crisis and wrenching personal problems that kept the Missa solemnis as the central musical concern of Beethoven’s life for nearly five years. He was ill for much of the time from 1818 to 1823, and his hearing had gone completely except for a few brief episodes during which the veil of silence was lifted — always, it is worth noting, during music, never during conversation. He was also deeply involved in a legal battle to wrest custody of his nephew Karl from the boy’s incompetent (in Beethoven’s opinion) mother, the composer’s sister-in-law. The eventual settlement in 1820 was painful for Beethoven, not because he lost the suit (he won, but alienated the boy), but because the proceedings revealed that he was without noble ancestors, a life-long belief he held tenaciously until it was publicly exploded in court. With declining health and family turmoil sapping so much of his energy during those years (Beethoven turned fifty in 1820), the composition of such monumental scores as the Missa solemnis and the Ninth Symphony is testimony to the resilience of his spirit. The artistic crisis that paralleled Beethoven’s domestic difficulties during those years was
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CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES both religious and musical. His belief in God was profound, but not dogmatic. Though born a Roman Catholic and gladly receiving last rites on his deathbed, he had no interest in organized religion. His God was simply too pervasive, too omnipotent, to be trapped by mere human ceremonies. “God above everything! For an eternal all-knowing Providence guides the fortune and misfortune of mortal men,” he scribbled into his personal notes in 1818. The ancient text of the Mass served almost as the radioactive core from which the catalyst of Beethoven’s genius caused an explosion of visionary grandeur in the Missa solemnis, equaled in all sacred music only by Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Beethoven’s vision of an all-powerful God was incarnated into music of awesome power whose central goal, he told Andreas Streicher, “was to awaken and permanently instill religious feelings not only into the singers but also into the listeners.” The specific crisis for Beethoven around which the creation of the Missa solemnis revolved was his acceptance of his own mortality — his need to create a great document of religious humanism that would be an enduring testament to the ardor of his faith. For this reason, he never felt that the score fully matched the ambition of its purpose, and he continued to revise it for the rest of his life. It was not published until after his death. The musical crisis that influenced the Missa solemnis and all the other important works of Beethoven’s last decade was the simultaneous striving for both greater concentration and greater expansion. The vast extension of expression and resources in the Missa solemnis and the last Symphony involved not just increasing the external dimensions of the works’ forms, but also evoking an unprecedented range of emotions through the use of more distant and more dramatic key relations. The element of concentration, which at first seems inimical to that of expansion, actually is inextricably allied with it. Through complex counterpoint and exquisite control of motivic figuration, Beethoven increased enormously the density of this music — its specific emotional gravity. It is this joining of apparent opposites — the vast extension of form alongside the heightening of measure-to-measure expression — that makes the late works of Beethoven the most profound, challenging and moving in the entire realm of music. He arrived at this new method only after the most ferocious labor (his early biographer Anton Schindler said he never saw him “in such a state of absolute withdrawal from the world” as during the composition of this work), and it reached fruition in the Missa solemnis. With all the personal problems and artistic struggles Beethoven endured during the composition of the Missa solemnis, and with the massive proportions that the work ultimately assumed, it is small wonder that it was not ready for Archbishop Rudolph’s installation in 1820. Rudolph himself encouraged Beethoven to take his time with the work. Alexander Wheelock Thayer, the composer’s indefatigable biographer, wrote that the Missa was not fully sketched until the beginning of 1822; he worked on the orchestration throughout that entire year. Beethoven sent a magnificent manuscript copy of the score to Rudolph on March 19, 1823, the third anniversary of his investiture. He continued to work on it steadily until at least the middle of that year, however, and tinkered with the score frequently thereafter. The Missa solemnis was first heard on April 7, 1824 in St. Petersburg, six years after it had first been proposed, at a concert sponsored by Prince Nicholas Galitzin, a devoted admirer PROGRAM X
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CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES and patron of the composer. Plans for the Viennese premiere on May 9th met with difficulties, however, since the Church authorities, through the Imperial Censor, were opposed to the performance of the sacred text of the Mass in a secular theater. One of Beethoven’s most influential patrons, Count Moritz Lichnowsky, was called upon to effect a compromise: the concert would be allowed to proceed, it was decided, if Beethoven would replace the sacred Latin texts with German-language translations. Because of the length of the program, which also included the recent Consecration of the House Overture and the premiere of the “Choral” Symphony, Beethoven chose to omit the Gloria and Sanctus movements, and billed the remaining Kyrie, Credo and Agnus Dei, with the Censor’s permission, as “Three Grand Hymns for Solo and Chorus.” In his later years, Beethoven became interested in researching older music for solutions to his compositional problems. His study in preparation for the Missa solemnis was the most extensive he ever undertook, and the finished work displays many influences, both ecclesiastical and musical, all intended to give the richest and most moving expression to the text. He not only had a meticulous German translation of the Latin verses made so that he could consider the meaning and effect of each word, but he also studied the ancient tongue to learn its rhythms and stresses. He frequently consulted his friend August Friedrich Kanne, an expert on the history of the Mass. In addition to his textual studies, Beethoven also undertook a surprisingly wide examination of earlier sacred music, from the ancient chants of the monks and the theoretical treatises of the 16th-century Italian pedagogue Gioseffe Zarlino, through the works of Palestrina and the oratorios of Handel (Beethoven copied out several choruses from Messiah and let it be known that he considered Handel the greatest of all composers), to the Mass settings of Bach, Mozart, and Joseph and Michael Haydn. A wide variety of styles was consequently absorbed into the Missa solemnis, and one of its chief wonders is the unity the piece ultimately achieved. There have been many explications of the Missa solemnis, though these often are more exegesis than analysis. There are two principal conclusions at which all of these writings arrive, however, and these general observations rather than a detailed discussion will have to suffice here. The first one is that the most vivid possible expression of the text was the motivating force behind every note Beethoven inscribed into this score. His careful matching of tone to word arose from things pictorially descriptive (for example, the flying scales at “et ascendit in coelum” — “and ascended into heaven”), things liturgical (the hushed Praeludium preceding the Benedictus, which would accompany the elevation of the Host), or things personal (the pastoral and martial sections inserted into the Agnus Dei, which were called “a prayer for inner and outer peace” — Beethoven knew little of either during his life in Napoleonic Europe). The second conclusion of the commentators is that the abstract, purely musical processes of the Missa are a culmination of those in all his previous works, that the musical vocabulary and the profound formal structures he had perfected in his earlier compositions (especially in the symphonies) through the control of harmony and figuration were here used to bring a logical and completely abstract continuity to this work with sung text. Kyrie II, for example, is not a simple repetition of
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CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES Kyrie I, but a reworking of the earlier motives, a kind of symphonic development with voices. It is not difficult to see why Beethoven regarded the Missa solemnis as his greatest composition. It represented the confluence, the culmination really, of his life-long concerns with joining music and philosophy, with infusing mere tones with profound thought and deep emotion. The Missa is superhuman in its vision, and almost beyond the performing abilities of mortal musicians. (The greatly learned British musicologist Sir Donald Tovey called the “et vitam venturi” the most difficult choral passage ever written.) Indeed, part of the power of the work lies in the very sense of struggle its performance demands and the unparalleled joy of obstacles overcome. This is music in which performer and listener alike can always find spiritual nourishment and an inexhaustible humanity. The French composer, theorist, and teacher Vincent d’Indy said it most succinctly in his biography of Beethoven. Eschewing qualification, he wrote of the Missa solemnis, “We stand in the presence of one of the greatest masterworks in the realm of music.” ©2019 Dr. Richard E. Rodda
Marin Alsop Conducts MAR 20-22 FRI-SAT 7:30 SUN 1:00 n
Marin Alsop, conductor BARBER Essay No. 2, Op. 17 COPLAND Suite from Appalachian Spring PROKOFIEV Suite from Romeo and Juliet
tickets: coloradosymphony.org
PROGRAM XII C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
CLASSICS TRANSLATION Kyrie Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Gloria Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Glory be to God on high, and peace on earth to men of good will.
Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we adore Thee, we glorify Thee.
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory.
Domine Deus, Rex cælestis. Deus Pater omnipotens. Domine, Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.
Lord God, Heavenly King, God, the Father Almighty, Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son,
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis; suscipe depracationem nostram.
Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; receive our prayer.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Thou, who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe! cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris, Amen.
For Thou alone art holy, Thou alone art the Lord, Thou alone art most high, Jesus Christ With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen Credo
Credo in unum Deum, patrem omnipotentem, factorem cæli et terræ visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
Credo in unum Dominum Jesum Christum,
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
Filium Dei unigenitum; et ex Patre natum ante omnia sæcula.
the only begotten Son of God; and born of the Father before all ages.
SOUNDINGS
2 0 1 9/2 0 PROGRAM XIII
CLASSICS TRANSLATION Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine:
God of Gods, Light of Light,
Deum verum de Deo vero;
true God of true God;
Genitum, non factum; consubstantialem Patri, per quem omnia facta sunt;
Begotten, not made; consubstantial to the Father, by Whom all things were made;
Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem, descendit de cælis,
Who for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven,
et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex maria Virgine, et homo factus est.
and became incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis; sub Pontio Pilato passus et sepultus est,
He was crucified also for us; suffered under Pontius Pilate and was buried,
Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas.
And the third day He arose again according to the Scriptures.
Et ascendit in cælum, sedet ad dexteram Patris.
And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father.
Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus regni non erit finis.
And He will come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem,
I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life,
qui ex Patre Filioque procedit; qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per prophetas.
who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; Who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified; Who spoke by the prophets.
Credo in unam sanctam Catholicam et Apostolicam Ecclesiam.
I believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
Confiteor unum Baptisma in remissionem peccatorum.
I confess one baptism for the remission of sins.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi sæculi.
And I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Amen.
PROGRAM XIV C O L O R A D O SY M P H O N Y.O R G
CLASSICS TRANSLATION Sanctus Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt cĂŚli et terra gloria tua.
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.
Osanna in excelsis
Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.
Osanna in excelsis.
Hosanna in the highest.
Agnus Dei Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
SOUNDINGS
2 0 1 9/2 0 PROGRAM XV
young professionals of the colorado symphony
expand your symphony experience Crescendo Society members attend happy hours around town, Colorado Symphony concerts, and exclusive events to support the Symphony.
new events and social hours — all year long! Check
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