PROGRAM NOTES

Concerto in G Minor for Violin And Strings, BWV 1056r

Johann Sebastian Bach

Born March 21, 1685, Eisenach, Germany

Died July 28, 1750, Leipzig, Germany

Scored for solo violin, bassoon, keyboard, and strings. (Approx. 24 minutes)

Tracing the origins of certain Bach concertos can sometimes entail a great deal of investigative work. Examination of Bach’s Violin Concerto in G minor reveals the work as a reconstruction, for solo violin and strings, of Bach’s F minor Harpsichord Concerto. Yet the history of the concerto is more complicated than it seems. Bach scholars, notably Werner Breig, maintain that the two outer movements of the harpsichord concerto were arranged by Bach from a lost violin concerto in G minor. The slow movement apparently came from another lost concerto—this one for oboe. This slow movement went through an intermediate stage, serving as the instrumental introduction to Bach’s Cantata No. 156 (“I stand with one foot in the grave”) for the third Sunday after Epiphany. In the cantata, an oboe plays the lovely solo that is also the highlight of the harpsichord concerto, and the violin part in the concerto version.

Why did Bach change the key from G minor to F minor when he arranged the violin concerto for harpsichord? Likely because 18th century harpsichords did not have enough keys to play the highest note in the concerto. And when did Bach make the harpsichord arrangement? Scholars believe it was around 1738, a time when Bach had a temporary break from his responsibilities in Leipzig and sought to develop keyboard concertos he could perform.

The concerto is in three extended movements and follows the well-established plan of baroque concertos, alternating thematic statements by the orchestra and soloist as they wend their way through various keys and return to the central tonality of G minor. The expressive first movement, taken at a moderate speed, offers the soloist many opportunities for decorative display, while the brisk finale achieves its brilliance through its driving pace and many running scale passages. The slow central movement, which is divided into two long halves, can be compared with some of Bach’s most famous melodies for its beauty and lyricism.

The DSO previously performed Bach’s Concerto in G minor for Violin and Strings just once: in February 1955, conducted by Paul Paray and featuring violinist Joseph Szigeti.

Suite in the Old Style

Composed 1972

Alfred Schnittke

B. November 24, 1934, Engels, near Saratov D. August 3, 1998, Hamburg, Germany

Scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, keyboard, and strings. (Approx. 16 minutes)

Alfred Schnittke lived much of his life in exile from Russia, returning to his native German soil in 1981 and never again living in the Soviet Union. His greatest fame in the West has come from his symphonies and concerti grossi, but during his Soviet period, he composed steadily for film and stage.

Pastiche and quotation from the musical past are hallmarks of Schnittke’s style, and the everyday realism of Russian writer Nikolai Gogol gave him ample opportunity to reach into his curio box. Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style is composed in five movements—Pastorale, Ballet, Minuet, Fugue, and Pantomime— and served as a form of satirical transcription of certain movements from his film scores written in the Baroque style. Composed in 1972, this work is unlike many of Schnittke’s typical compositions, and emulates the mannerisms of music from the Baroque era. Schnittke was heavily influenced by and identified with prominent Baroque and Classical composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, and Mozart, among others. During this time, Russia was experiencing an early music movement within the Soviet underground. Schnittke happily partook in this movement, producing a composition that honored the Baroque tradition while maintaining an honest, modern application of the musical conventions of the past.

The first two movements, Pastorale and Ballet, were taken from a film scene depicting the tame adventures of a dentist. The Pastorale possesses a sense of tranquility and gentle lyricism, reminiscent of J.S. Bach’s aria “Sheep may safely graze.” The Ballet is written in a lively allegro tempo in a joyous manner, reminiscent of Bach’s Italian Concerto or a keyboard sonata by Domenico Scarlatti. The third movement of this piece, the Minuet, is peculiarly melancholic, taken from a children’s animation film in the height of the Soviet regime. The slowness and sadness in this movement raises questions about the type of entertainment children were exposed to in Soviet Russia during this time. The final two movements, Fugue and Pantomime, serve as an intriguing conclusion to the work. The Fugue is written in another lively Allegro tempo, depicting the virtuosity of the intertwining melodic lines characteristic of the Fugue as a Baroque musical form. The Pantomime serves to restore the tranquility of the first movement, ending with stinging, prominent harmonies and lacking a desired tonal resolution. This unusual ending suggests that an era of musical composition for Schnittke was over, or that his more “serious” works would not sound the same again. Violinist Francisco Fullana, who recently recorded this piece for Orchid Classics, comments “not only does this work give us a window into the Baroque era, but also into performance practice as it existed in the 1970s.” This performance marks the DSO premiere of Alfred Schnittke’s Suite in the Old Style.

Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48

Composed 1880 | Premiered December 3, 1881

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

B.Votkinsk, Russia, May 7, 1840 D. St. Petersburg, Russia, November 6, 1893 Scored for strings. (Approx. 29 minutes)

Whenhe had nearly finished his Serenade for Strings in C Major, Tchaikovsky told his patron, Madame von Meck, “I wrote from an inner compulsion. It is a heartfelt piece and so, I dare to think, not lacking in real qualities.” Later, after hearing the music performed, he declared that “I consider [the Serenade] the best of all I have written so far.”

Tchaikovsky had not misplaced his confidence. Its seemingly effortless flow of melody, coupled with an original and beautiful handling of string sonorities, marks this serenade as one of the composer’s most successful works.

The first of the serenade’s four