CLASSICS • 2017/18 Colorado Symphony 2017/18 Season Presenting Sponsor:
MOZART’S REQUIEM COLORADO SYMPHONY JUN MÄRKL, conductor YULIA VAN DOREN, soprano ABIGAIL NIMS, mezzo-soprano DEREK CHESTER, tenor ANDREW GARLAND, baritone COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, DUAIN WOLFE, director Friday’s Concert is Gratefully Dedicated to Ralph L. and Florence R. Burgess Trust Saturday’s Concert is Gratefully Dedicated to Jane Costain and Gary Moore Sunday’s Concert is Gratefully Dedicated to Leopold Brothers
Friday, October 13, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 14, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 15, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. Boettcher Concert Hall STRAUSS
Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24 — INTERMISSION —
MOZART
Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626
Introitus: Requiem aeternam Kyrie Sequenz Dies irae Tuba mirum Rex tremendae Recordare Confutatis Lacrimosa Offertorium Domine Jesu Hostias Sanctus Sanctus Osanna in excelsis Benedictus Osanna in excelsis Agnus Dei Communio: Lux aeterna The custom Allen Digital Computer Organ is provided by MurvineMusic, LLC
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CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES JUN MÄRKL, conductor Jun Märkl has long been known as a highly respected interpreter of the core Germanic repertoire from both the symphonic and operatic traditions, and more recently for his refined and idiomatic explorations of the French impressionists. His long-standing relationships at the state operas of Vienna, Berlin, Munich and Semperoper Dresden have in recent years been complemented by his Music Directorships of the Orchestre National de Lyon (2005-11) and MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig (to 2012). In 2012 he was honoured by the French Ministry of Culture with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of his achievements in Lyon, notably his hugely successful nine-disc Debussy cycle with the orchestra on Naxos. He also toured with the orchestra to Japan and major European halls and festivals such as the Salle Pleyel, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, BBC Proms, Bad Kissingen, Rheingau and Luzern. With MDR he toured to Spain and the Baltics, made regular appearances in the Berlin Konzerthaus and Cologne Philharmonie, and conducted Schumann’s rarely-heard opera Genoveva at the Rotterdam Opera Festival. Born in Munich, his (German) father was a distinguished Concertmaster and his (Japanese) mother a solo pianist. Märkl studied violin, piano and conducting at the Musikhochschule in Hannover, going on to study with Sergiu Celibidache in Munich and with Gustav Meier in Michigan. In 1986 he won the conducting competition of the Deutsche Musikrat and a year later won a scholarship from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to study at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. Soon afterwards he had a string of appointments in European opera houses followed by his first music directorships at the Staatstheater in Saarbrücken (1991-94) and at the Mannheim Nationaltheater (1994-2000).
YULIA VAN DOREN, soprano Recognized by Opera Magazine as “A star-to-be” following her Lincoln Center debut, young Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren’s debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was acclaimed as a “revelation... a ravishing lyric voice and an ease with vocal ornamentation that turned her into an enchanted songbird” (Toronto Star). For her last minute step-in with the Cleveland Orchestra, The Cleveland Plain Dealer praised Van Doren as an artist of “melting poignancy” and added, “To Van Doren, one could easily have listened for hours.” Highlighting Ms. Van Doren’s 2017/18 season are appearances with Colorado Symphony (Mozart’s Requiem); Music of the Baroque (Bach’s St. John Passion); her return to Milwaukee Symphony (Bach’s Magnificat); and performances of Handel’s Messiah with Houston Symphony, Early Music Vancouver, and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Especially recognized for her work in the baroque repertoire, Ms. Van Doren has performed with the majority of the North American Baroque festivals and orchestras, and has the distinction of being the only singer awarded a top prize in all four US Bach vocal competitions. A dedicated interpreter of repertoire off the beaten path, career highlights include creating the lead female role in the world premiere of Shostakovich’s Orango with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, directed by Peter Sellars and released on Deutsche Grammophon; two Grammy-nominated opera recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival; the modern revival of Monsigny’s opera Le roi et le fermier at Opera de Versailles, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center (recorded for Naxos); and a
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES tour of Handel’s Orlando with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra to the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals.
ABIGAIL NIMS, mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims has quickly established herself as a musician of integrity and versatility with her performances of repertoire spanning from Bach, Handel and Mozart to Crumb, Ligeti and premieres of contemporary works. Her 2017-18 season appearances include Mozart’s Requiem with the Colorado Symphony and a premiere performance of Missy Mazzoli’s newly commissioned opera, Proving Up, with Opera Omaha. Engagements during the 2016-17 Season included Handel’s Messiah with the Naples Philharmonic and Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the Duluth Superior Symphony. Abigail Nims is particularly praised for her performances of the concert repertoire. Recent concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah and a staged performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach’s Mass in B-minor with the San Francisco Symphony; Bach’s St. John Passion with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico; Mahler’s Rückert Lieder at the Colorado MahlerFest; Bach’s Magnificat with the São Paulo Symphony; and Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Masterwork Chorus at Carnegie Hall, and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. Her opera engagements from previous seasons include Melanto in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Boston Baroque; Veruca Salt in Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket at the Wexford Opera Festival and Atlanta Opera; Lazuli in L’Étoile with New York City Opera; Despina in Così fan tutte with Palm Beach Opera and Opera Grand Rapids; Nancy in Albert Herring with Florentine Opera; Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Virginia Opera; and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opera New Jersey and Opera Grand Rapids. Ms. Nims is currently a member of the voice faculty at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
DEREK CHESTER, tenor Praised by the New York Times for his “beautifully shaped and carefully nuanced singing” Derek Chester has quickly established himself as a preeminent interpreter of early music, oratorio repertoire and a teacher of the vocal arts. Recent concert appearances include Handel’s Jephtha with Ars Lyrica Houston, Handel’s Messiah and Bach›s St. Matthew Passion with the Colorado Symphony, Dvorak›s Stabat Mater with the Handel Society of Dartmouth, Haydn’s Creation with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, a reconstruction of Bach’sSt. Markus Passion with Barokksolistene of Norway; Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with Boston Baroque and the Bach Collegium San Diego; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at the Berkshire Choral Festival, Britten’s War Requiem with the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn›s Symphony No.2 the «Lobgesang” with the Buffalo Philharmonic, and all of the major works of Bach with American Bach Soloists. Though his career is concentrated primarily in concert work, Chester is also passionate about opera and opera history, with theater credits including Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, Peter Quint in Turn of the Screw, Oronte in SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 3
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES Alcina, and Acis in Acis and Galatea. Chester received his bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Georgia and his Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance of Oratorio, Early Music, Song, and Chamber Music on full scholarship from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music. As a Fulbright Scholar, he spent a year in Germany working as a freelance musician and furthering his training. While maintaining an active performing career, Chester received his DMA in Voice Performance and Opera Studies with full scholarship and a graduate teaching fellowship from the University of North Texas, with a dissertation on the juvenile song compositions of Samuel Barber. As a well-regarded pedagogue Chester was invited to participate in the 2016 NATS Intern Program and has given master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory, Colorado Mesa University, Western Michigan University, the American Bach Soloists Academy, the University of Georgia, and at the 2015 Colorado Wyoming Regional NATS auditions. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Northern Colorado and is a featured soloist at the Staunton Music Festival and the Colorado Bach Festival. He continues his worldwide career as a sought-after interpreter of concert and recital repertoire.
ANDREW GARLAND, baritone American baritone Andrew Garland has been praised for his “coloratura [which] bordered on the phenomenal as he dashed through the music’s intricacies with his warm baritone, offering plenty of elegance and glamour in his smooth acting.” His latest recording, Andrew Garland: American Portraits (2013) debuted at # 1 on Amazon.com. Recent highlights include his Carnegie Hall recital with Warren Jones, as well as performances with Seattle Opera and Atlanta Opera as Schaunard in La Bohème, Boston Lyric Opera as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Cincinnati Opera as Galileo in Galileo Galilei (Philip Glass) and Mercurio in La Calisto (Cavalli), and Arizona Opera as Ping in Turandot. He sang the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera New Jersey, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Knoxville Opera and Dayton Opera, and Dandini in La Cenerentola with Opera Company of Philadelphia and Fort Worth Opera. Concert highlights include performances with the Atlanta Symphony, National Philharmonic, Boston Baroque, New York Festival of Song, New York City Opera, Washington Chorale at the Kennedy Center, DCINY at Lincoln Center and the Cleveland Art Song Festival with Warren Jones. In addition to sustaining a busy performance schedule, he also recently joined the voice faculty at The University of Colorado-Boulder.
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 PROGRAM 4 SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES 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 (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 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 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. From Evergreen to Lochbuie, and Boulder to Castle Rock, singers travel each week to rehearsals and performances in Denver totaling about 80 a year. The Colorado Symphony continues to be grateful for the excellence and dedication of this remarkable, all-volunteer ensemble! For an audition appointment, call 303.308.2483. .
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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 Black, Shelby Brown, Jamie Causey, Denelda Choi, LeEtta H. Coberly, Sarah Colbert, Gretchen Deskin, Erin Dirksen, Sarah Dukeshier, Laura Emerich, Kate A. Gile, Jenifer D. Gill, Lori C. Graber, Susan. Guynn, Erika Harpel, Jennifer Heintzkill, Mary-Therese Hinkley, Lynnae C. Hittle, Erin R. Hofmeister, Mary Hupp, Angela M. Joy, Shelley E. Kim, Onyoo Kirschner, Mary E. Knecht, Melanie Kushnir, Marina Long, Lisa Look, Cathy Maupin, Anne Medema, Stephanie Moraskie, Wendy L. Porter, Barbara A. Ropa, Lori A. Rudolph, Kathi L. Schawel, Camilia Schweitzer, Laura Sladovnik, Roberta A. Solich, Stephanie A. Stegink, Nicole J. Tate, Judy Wuertz, Karen Young, Cara M. SOPRANO II Ascani, Lori Blum, Jude Bohannon, Hailey Borinski, Jackie Bowen, Alex S. Brauchli, Margot L. Christus, Athanasia Coberly, Ruth A. Cote, Kerry H. Dakkouri, Claudia Gross, Esther J.
Henriques, Jillian Khalifeh, Anne Kraft, Lisa D. Montigne, Erin Myers, Heather H. Nyholm, Christine M. O’Nan, Jeannette R. Pflug, Kim Rae, Donneve S. Rattray, Rebecca E. Rider, Shirley J. Ruff, Mahli Saddler, Nancy C. Snyer, Lynne M. 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. Brady, Lois F. Branam, Emily M. Braud-Kern, Charlotte Brown, Kimberly Buesing, Amy 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. Kraft, Deanna Lawlor, Betsy McWaters, Susan McNulty, Emily Nordenholz, Kristen Passoth, Ginny Pringle, Jennifer Stevenson, Melanie Thayer, Mary B. Virtue, Pat Wood, Heather Zelinskaya, Alia
ALTO II Boothe, Kay A. Chatfield, Cass Cox, Martha E. Deck, Barbara Dominguez, Joyce Edwards, Dana Eslick, Carol A. Golden, Daniela Hoskins, Hansi Isaac, Olivia Jackson, Brandy H. Janasko, Ellen D. Kibler, Janice Kolstad, Annie London, Carole A. Maltzahn, Joanna K. Marchbank, Barbara J. McNulty, Kelly M. Mendicello, Beverly Meromy, Leah Nittoli, Leslie M. Schalow, Elle C. Scooros, Pamela R. Townsend, Lisa Trierweiler, Ginny Wyatt, Judith TENOR I Banks, Andrew K. Borboa, Humberto Dougan, Dustin Dukeshier, Brian Gewecke, Joel C. Gordon, Jr., Frank Hodel, David K. Jordan, Curt Moraskie, Richard A. Muesing, Garvis J. Nicholas, Timothy W. Reiley, William G. Roach, Eugene Zimmerman, Kenneth A. TENOR II Babcock, Gary E. Bradley, Mac Carlson, James Davies, Dusty R. DeMarco, James Fuehrer, Roger Gale, John H. Guittar, Jr., Forrest Kolm, Kenneth E. Martin, Taylor S. Mason, Brandt J. Meswarb, Stephen J.
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Milligan, Tom A. Ruth, Ronald L. Seamans, Andrew J. Sims, Jerry E. Wolf, Jeffrey P. Wyatt, Daniel BASS I Adams, John G. Bernhardt, Chase Boyd, Kevin P. Branam, Travis D. Carlton, Grant H. Cowen, George Drickey, Robert E. Eickhoff, Benjamin Falter, Corey M. Gray, Matthew Hesse, Douglas D. Hume, Donald Jirak, Thomas J. Lingenfelter, Paul Mehta, Nalin J. Quarles, Kenneth Rutkowski, Trevor B. Skinner, Jack Struthers, David R. Wood, Brian W. BASS II Boe, Jeffrey E. Charlock, Robert S. Friedlander, Robert Grossman, Chris Israelson, Eric W. Jackson, Terry L. Kent, Roy A. Kraft, Mike A. Millar, Jr., Robert F. Moncrieff, Kenneth Morrison, Greg A. Nuccio, Eugene J. Phillips, John R. Skillings, Russell R. Smith, Benjamin A. Swanson, Wil W. Taylor, Don Virtue, Tom G.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES RICHARD STRAUSS (1864-1949): Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24 Richard Strauss was born on June 11, 1864, in Munich and died on September 8, 1949, in GarmischPartenkirchen. Death and Transfiguration (Tod und Verklärung) was composed in 1888-1889 and premiered on June 21, 1890, in Eisenach, conducted by the composer. The score calls for three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, gong, two harps, and strings. Duration is about 26 minutes. The last performance of the piece was on March 11 and 12, 2011, with Gilbert Varga leading the orchestra. Death and Transfiguration was completed just in time for Richard Strauss’ 26th birthday. It is a remarkable achievement both in conception and execution for such a young musician, especially since composition was really just a second career for Strauss at the time. By 1887, Strauss was one of the fastest-rising stars in the European conducting firmament, having taken up his first podium engagement at the tender age of nineteen as assistant to the renowned Hans von Bülow at Meiningen. Appointments at the opera houses of Munich, Bayreuth, and Weimar, as well as a guest visit to conduct the greatest orchestra of the time, the Berlin Philharmonic, all preceded the premiere of Death and Transfiguration in June 1890. Strauss’ schedule was hectic, and it is a tribute to his stamina and ambition that he was able to balance two full-time careers with such excellent success. Throughout his life he remained one of the most highly regarded and sought-after conductors in the world, reaching the pinnacle of his acclaim when he was appointed director of the Vienna Opera in 1919. It was at his first conducting post that Strauss met Alexander Ritter, an artistic jack-of-alltrades who made his living as a violinist, but also considered himself a poet and composer. Ritter introduced Strauss to the operas of Wagner, and Strauss was overwhelmed. Strauss’ training under the watchful eye of his father, an excellent musician and the best horn player in Europe, had been confined to the classic literature of Mozart, Beethoven and the early Romantic composers — Papa Strauss stubbornly refused to let the impressionable Richard investigate the turbulent Romanticism of Wagner and Liszt. Once Strauss made the inevitable discovery of Tristan and the Ring, however, they proved a decisive influence on his work as a composer and conductor. Ritter also convinced the young composer that a literary idea could inspire an instrumental work, and Strauss responded with a series of brilliant symphonic (or tone) poems for orchestra. Death and Transfiguration was the third of these, following Macbeth (1887) and Don Juan (1888). The literary inspiration for Death and Transfiguration originated with Strauss himself, as he noted in a letter to his friend Friedrich von Hausegger in 1894: “It was six years ago when the idea came to me to write a tone poem describing the last hours of a man who had striven for the highest ideals, presumably an artist. The sick man lies in his bed breathing heavily and irregularly in his sleep. Friendly dreams bring a smile to his face; his sleep grows lighter; he awakens. Fearful pains once more begin to torture him, fever shakes his body. When the attack is over and the pain recedes, he recalls his past life; his childhood passes before his eyes; his youth with its strivings and passions; and then, when the pain returns, there appears to him the goal of his life’s journey — the idea, the ideal which he attempted to embody in his art, but which he was unable to perfect because such perfection could be achieved by no man. The fatal hour arrives. The soul leaves his body, to discover in the eternal cosmos the magnificent realization of the ideal which could not be fulfilled here below.” Strauss’ composition follows his literary program with almost clinical precision. It is divided into four sections. The first summons the vision of the sickroom and the irregular heartbeat and distressed sighs of the man/artist. The second section, in a faster tempo, is a vivid and violent portrayal of his suffering. The ensuing, slower section, beginning tenderly and representing the artist’s remembrance of his life, is broken off suddenly when the anguished music of the second SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 7
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES part returns. This ultimate, painful struggle ends in death, signified by a stroke of the gong. The final section, hymnal in mood, depicts the artist’s vision of ultimate beauty as he is transfigured into part of “the eternal cosmos.” At the end of his long life, Strauss looked back to Death and Transfiguration, and borrowed one of its themes for inclusion in the last work he wrote, Im Abendrot (“In the Twilight”) from the Four Last Songs. Only a few months later, on his deathbed, he whispered, “Dying is just as I composed it in Death and Transfiguration.”
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791): Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg and died on December 5, 1791, in Vienna. The Requiem was unfinished at the time of his death; the completion performed at this concert is by his student and assistant Franz Süssmayr. It was first heard in that version in the Viennese suburb of Wiener-Neustadt on December 14, 1793. The score calls for two basset horns, two bassoons, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, organ, and strings. Duration is about 50 minutes. Pinchas Zukerman conducted the last performance of the Requiem on November 7-9, 2014. In early July 1791, while he was busy composing The Magic Flute, Mozart received a letter testifying to the glories of his music and alerting him that he would be having a visitor with a proposal on the following day. The letter was unsigned. The visitor, “an unknown, grey stranger,” according to Mozart, appeared on schedule and said that he represented the writer of the letter, who wanted to commission a new piece — a Requiem Mass — but added the curious provision that Mozart not try to discover the patron’s identity. Despite the somewhat foreboding mystery surrounding this venture, Mozart was in serious financial straits just then and the money offered was generous, so he accepted the commission and promised to begin as soon as possible. The Magic Flute, however, was pressing, and he also received at the same time another commission, one too important to ignore, for an opera to celebrate the September coronation in Prague of Emperor Leopold as King of Bohemia — La Clemenza di Tito, based on one of Metastasio’s old librettos — that demanded immediate attention. As if those duties were not enough to fill his thoughts, Mozart’s wife, Constanze, was due to deliver another baby at the end of the month. She had been in the local spa town of Baden since the beginning of June, trying to preserve what little health she had left after nine years of almost constant pregnancy since her marriage to Wolfgang in 1782, and Mozart went to bring her back to the city and to her doctors in mid-July. Just as he was entering the carriage for the trip, the “unknown, grey stranger” approached him, inquired about the progress of the Requiem, was told that it was going well, and left, apparently satisfied. On July 25th, Constanze gave birth to Franz Xaver Wolfgang, who became a composer and music teacher. Mozart worked on the Requiem as time allowed. From mid-August until mid-September, he, Constanze, and his pupil Franz Süssmayr, who composed the recitatives for Tito, were in Prague for the opera’s premiere. When they returned to Vienna, Schickaneder pressed Mozart to put the final touches on The Magic Flute, which was first staged on September 30th. Mozart’s health had deteriorated alarmingly by October — he complained of swelling limbs, feverishness, pains in his joints and severe headaches. On November 17th, with the Requiem far from finished, he took to his bed and was treated by Dr. Thomas Closset, one of Vienna’s best physicians, with the prescribed remedy for what was diagnosed as “miliary fever” (perhaps rheumatic fever or uraemia, though the evidence is inconclusive) — cold compresses and unremitting bleeding. Mozart became obsessed with the Requiem, referring to it as his “swan-song,” convinced that he was writing the music for his own funeral: “I cannot remove from my mind the image of the stranger. I see PROGRAM 8 SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES him continually. He begs me, exhorts me, and then commands me to work. I continue, because composition fatigues me less than rest. Moreover, I have nothing more to fear. I know from what I feel that the hour is striking; I am on the point of death; I have finished before I could enjoy my talent.... I thus must finish my funeral song, which I must not leave incomplete.” Mozart managed to finish only the Requiem and Kyrie sections of the work, but sketched the voice parts and the bass and gave indications for scoring for the Dies irae through the Hostias. On December 4th, he scrawled a few measures of the Lacrymosa, and then asked three friends who had come to be with him to sing what he had just written. He tried to carry the alto part, but broke into tears as soon as they had begun, and collapsed. A priest was called to administer extreme unction; at midnight Mozart bid his family farewell and turned toward the wall; at five minutes to one on the morning of December 5, 1791, he died. He never knew for whom he had written the Requiem. Constanze, worried that she might lose the commission fee, asked Joseph Eybler, a student of Haydn and a friend of her late husband, to complete the score. He filled in the instrumentation that Mozart had indicated for the middle movements of the piece, but became stuck where the music broke off in the Lacrymosa. Franz Süssmayr, to whom Mozart had given detailed instructions about finishing the work, took up the task, revising Eybler’s orchestration and supplying music for the last three movements. Süssmayr recopied the score so that the manuscript would show one rather than three hands, and it was collected by the stranger, who paid the remaining commission fee. The person who commissioned Mozart’s Requiem was Count Franz von Walsegg, a nobleman of musical aspirations who had the odious habit of anonymously ordering music from established composers and then passing it off as his own. This Requiem was to commemorate Walsegg’s wife, Anna, who died on February 14, 1791. The “grey stranger” was Walsegg’s valet, Anton Leitgeb, the son of the mayor of Vienna. Even after Mozart’s death, Walsegg went ahead with a performance of the Requiem, which was given at the Neukloster in the suburb of Wiener-Neustadt on December 14, 1793; the title page bore the legend, Requiem composto del Conte Walsegg. A few years later, when Constanze was trying to have her late husband’s works published, she implored Walsegg to disclose the Requiem’s true author. He did, and the score was first issued in 1802 by Breitkopf und Härtel. Buried away in Otto Erich Deutsch’s Documentary Biography of Mozart is a fascinating but little-known tidbit of information that may (or may not) have been a factor in Walsegg’s commission. One of Mozart’s brothers in Freemasonry was Michael Puchberg, who earned many fond footnotes in the composer’s biography for his generous financial support to the composer (Mozart euphemistically called these emoluments “loans”) during Wolfgang’s last years. Puchberg lived and managed a textile firm at Hoher Markt 522. This address, it seems, just happened to be located in the Viennese house of Franz von Walsegg, and it is certainly not impossible that Puchberg encouraged Walsegg, in his curious way, to help Mozart in his time of distress. It is difficult, and perhaps not even advisable, to dissociate Mozart’s Requiem from the circumstances of its composition — the work bears the ineradicable stamp of otherworldliness. In its sublimities and its sulfur, it appealed mightily to the Romantic sensibility of the 19th century, and continues to have a hold on the imagination of listeners matched by that of few other musical compositions. (Perhaps it is significant that the Requiem is performed annually in Vienna for the Feast of All Saints, the day after Halloween.) Manifold beauties of varied and moving expression abound throughout the Requiem: the ethereal strains of the Recordare; the vehemence of the Confutatis; the bitter plangency of the Lacrymosa; the old-fashioned, Bachian profundity of the fugal Kyrie; the feigned joy, so quickly terminated, of the Hosanna. The words of Lili Kraus, the Hungarian pianist closely associated throughout her career with the music of Mozart, apply with special poignancy to the wondrous Requiem: “There is no feeling — human or cosmic, no depth, no height the human spirit can reach — that is not contained in his music.” ©2017 Dr. Richard E. Rodda SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 9
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES I. Introitus: Requiem aeternam (Chorus and Soprano) Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam. Ad te omnis caro veniet.
Rest eternal grant them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. There shall be singing unto Thee in Zion, and prayer shall go up to Thee in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer. Unto Thee all flesh shall come. II. Kyrie (Chorus)
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. III. Sequenz 1. Dies irae (Chorus)
Dies irae, dies illa solvet saeclum in favilla, teste David cum Sibylla. Quantus tremor est futurus, quando Judex est venturus cuncta stricte discussurus!
This day, this day of wrath shall consume the world in ashes, so spake David and the Sibyl. Oh, what great trembling there will be when the Judge will appear to examine everything in strict justice! 2. Tuba mirum (Soloists)
Tuba mirum spargens sonum per sepulchra regionum, coget omnes ante thronum. Mors stupebit et natura, cum resurget creatura judicanti responsura. Liber scriptus proferetur, in quo totum continetur, unde mundus judicetur. Judex ergo cum sedebit, quidquid latet apparebit, nil inultum remanebit. Quid sum miser tunc dicturus? Quem patronum rogaturus, cum vix justus sit sicurus?
The trumpet, sending its wondrous sound across the graves of all lands, shall drive everyone before the throne. Death and nature shall be stunned when all creation rises again to stand before the Judge. A written book will be brought forth, in which everything is contained, from which the world will be judged. So when the Judge is seated, whatever is hidden shall be made known, nothing shall remain unpunished. What shall such a wretch as I say then? To which protector shall I appeal, when even the just man is barely safe? 3. Rex tremendae (Chorus)
Rex tremendae majestatis, qui salvandos salvas gratis, salva me, fons pietatis!
King of awesome majesty, who freely saves those worthy of salvation, save me, fount of pity!
PROGRAM 10 SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES 4. Recordare (Soloists) Recordare, Jesu pie, quod sum causa tuae viae, ne me perdas illa die. Quaerens me, sedisti lassus, redemisti crucem passus; tantus labor non sit cassus. Juste judex ultionis, donum fac remissionis ante diem rationis. Ingemisco tamquam reus, culpa rubet vultus meus, supplicanti parce, Deus. Qui Mariam absolvisti et latronem exaudisti, mihi quoque spem dedisti. Preces meae non sunt dignae, sed tu bonus fac benigne, ne perenni cremer igne. Inter oves locum praesta et ab hoedis me sequestra, statuens in parte dextra.
Recall, dear Jesus, that I am the reason for Thy time on earth, do not cast me away on that day. Seeking me, Thou didst sink down wearily, Thou hast saved me by enduring the cross; such travail must not be in vain. Righteous judge of vengeance, award the gift of forgiveness before the day of reckoning. I groan like the sinner that I am, guilt reddens my face, Oh God, spare the supplicant. Thou, who pardoned Mary and heeded the thief, hast given me hope as well. My prayers are unworthy, but Thou, good one, in pity let me not burn in the eternal fire. Give me a place among the sheep and separate me from the goats, let me stand at Thy right hand. 5. Confutatis (Chorus)
Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictis, voca me cum benedictis. Oro supplex et acclinis, cor contritum quasi cinis, gere curam mei finis.
When the damned are cast away and consigned to the searing flames, call me to be with the blessed. Bowed down in supplication I beg Thee, my heart as though ground to ashes: help me in my last hour. 6. Lacrymosa (Chorus)
Lacrymosa dies illa Oh, this day full of tears qua resurget ex favilla when from the ashes arises judicandus homo reus; guilty man, to be judged: huic ergo parce Deus. Oh Lord, have mercy upon him. Pie Jesu, Domine, Gentle Lord Jesus, dona eis requiem. grant them rest. Amen. Amen. IV. Offertorium 1. Domine Jesu Christe (Chorus and Soloists) Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriae, Libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of the faithful departed
SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG PROGRAM 11
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu. Libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum; sed signifer sanctus Michael representet eas in lucem sanctam, quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.
from the pains of hell and the bottomless pit. Deliver them from the jaws of the lion, lest hell engulf them, lest they be plunged into darkness; but let the holy standard-bearer Michael lead them into the holy light, as Thou didst promise Abraham and his seed. 2. Hostias (Chorus)
Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus, tu suscipe pro animabus illis, quarum hodie memoriam facimus: quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.
Lord, in praise we offer to Thee sacrifices and prayers, receive them for the souls of those whom we remember this day: as Thou didst promise Abraham and his seed. V. Sanctus 1. Sanctus (Chorus)
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Saboath! Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis!
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Glory to God in the highest! 2. Benedictus (Soloists)
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini! Hosanna in excelsis!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Glory to God in the highest!
VI. Agnus Dei (Chorus) Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, grant them rest. Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest.
VII. Communio: Lux Aeterna (Soprano and Chorus) Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternam, quia pius es. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
May eternal light shine upon them, O Lord, with Thy saints forever, for Thou art good. Lord, grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
PROGRAM 12 SOUNDINGS 2017/18 | COLORADOSYMPHONY.ORG