Program Notes: Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony

Profiles

Leonard Slatkin biography, see page 13

Leonard Slatkin, Music Director

Neeme Järvi, Music Director Emeritus

CLASSICAL SERIES Friday, May 11, 2012 at 10:45 a.m.

Friday, May 11, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. in Orchestra Hall Leonard Slatkin, conductor Craig Rifel, organ

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Du Yun

Symphony No. 67 in F major

Presto Adagio Menuet Allegro di molto - Adagio cantabile – Primo tempo

Kraken* (Winner of the 4th Annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Prize)

I N T ER M IS SION Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “Organ Symphony”

Adagio - Allegro moderato - Poco adagio Allegro moderato - Presto - maestoso

*World Premiere

This Classical Series concert is generously sponsored by

Craig Rifel

Craig Rifel has been a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since November 1980. A versatile musician, he has performed with RIFEL the Orchestra on piano, harpsichord, celeste and organ in both classical and pops concerts, on bass guitar for pops performances, and on banjo in Europe. In January 1995, Rifel was soloist with the DSO in a performance of Saint-Saens’ Symphony No. 3, “Organ,” with Eiji Oue conducting, and more recently, in 2004, with Thomas Wilkins conducting. He also joined violinist Nigel Kennedy jazz encores following Kennedy’s DSO appearances in 1998.

Prior to his post with the DSO, Rifel served as Principal Bass of the Florida Orchestra in Orlando from 1976 to 1978, and as a bassist with the Syracuse Symphony from 1978 to 1980. Born in Chicago and raised in Wausau, Wisc., Rifel began studying piano at the age of five and organ at 12. He took his first church organist position in junior high school and has played church services ever since. He received his formal education at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, where he studied bass with Minnesota Orchestra bassist, James Clute, and received a Bachelor of Music Education degree — cum laude — in 1976.

Currently, in addition to his duties with the DSO, Rifel is a member of the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings and does substitute church organ playing throughout the Detroit metropolitan area. His interests outside music include woodworking, motorcycling, and his most recent pursuit: working toward his private pilot license.

Rifel lives with his wife, DSO cellist Carole Gatwood, and three sons in Huntington Woods.

Get the most out of each classical concert by attending pre-concert presentations, one hour prior to performances (excluding Coffee Concerts). The presentations are informal and may include special guests, lectures and music that reveal interesting facts about the program and provide a behind-the-scenes look at the art of making music.

The DSO can be heard on the DSO, Chandos, London, Naxos, RCA and Mercury Record labels.

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Program Notes Symphony No. 67 in F major FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN

B. March 31, 1732, Rohrau, Austria D. May 31, 1809, Vienna, Austria

Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn was one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. His Symphony No. 67 in F major is scored for just two oboes, two horns, two trumpets and strings (approximately 18 minutes).

F

ranz Joseph Haydn was born into a working class family in Rohrau, Lower Austria, on March 31, 1732. His father Mathias Haydn was a wheelwright who also served as the village sexton. Mathias was also an enthusiastic folk musician, having taught himself to play the harp, and on Sundays and holidays the family would frequently gather with friends and neighbors and sing to his accompaniment.

Haydn’s parents realized early on that their son was musically gifted, but knew that in Rohrau he would have no opportunities to obtain serious musical training. When they received a proposal from a relative by the name of Johann Matthias Frankh that young Haydn should live with him in his household as an apprentice musician, they readily accepted.

Haydn set off with Frankh for Hainburg (which was about seven miles away) and never lived with his family again. He was just 6 years old.

Haydn seems to have had an exceptional voice, because his singing soon came to the attention of the director of music at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Georg von Reutter. In 1740 Haydn moved to Vienna, where for the next nine years he worked for Reutter as a chorister at St. Stephen’s.

Haydn would ultimately compose the vast majority of his works while in the employ of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, an extraordinary patron of the arts who was passionately addicted to theatre, opera and music. He spent some 30 years of his life in the Prince’s employ, all the while developing his craft and creating an extraordinary body of musical work. There was hardly a form he did not attempt. One of the crown jewels of Haydn’s vast musical output is his series of 104 symphonies.

Haydn’s Symphonies 66 through 68 were published by the German-Dutch firm of Hummel in 1779. They were widely circulated; unfortunately, the edition suffered from severe textual inaccuracies, and it was not until the 1960s that an

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accurate critical edition of the works could be published.

Of these three symphonies, number 67 is generally regarded as the finest. Its Finale is cast in an unusual form, with a long slow section (which begins with a solo string trio) in the middle. This Adagio e cantabile, with its long, singing line, fully equals in its own way the emotional intensity of the preceding slow movement. At the end of

this first Adagio, Haydn even makes use of col legno, and instructs the strings to play with the wooden parts of their bows. An equally unusual (and modern) effect occurs in the Trio section of the Minuet, where only two violins play, the first, sopra una corda, con sordino (on one string, muted), and the second, also con sordino (muted), with the G string tuned down to F, sounding rather like a hurdy-gurdy. Because of its

THE VALUE OF TRUE ARTISTRY CAN’T BE MEASURED. WE SHOULD KNOW.

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many delightful and unusual details, this symphony counts as one of Haydn’s most original works.

Haydn had a long and illustrious career.

By the time of his death at age 77, he had composed a vast body of work, and in so doing, made significant contributions to the forms of the symphony, the string quartet and the piano trio. He had a close friendship with Mozart (who was some 25 years his junior), was a friend and mentor to the young Beethoven, and taught numerous other pupils.

From Eszterháza, Haydn’s fame gradually stretched far and wide, culminating in two highly successful tours to England, where his music was celebrated and he was treated like royalty. He even composed the Austrian national anthem. As he lay on his deathbed, Napoleon’s armies were conquering Austria, and the conqueror himself had a guard of honor placed outside Haydn’s door. When he died he was given a memorial service befitting his greatness.

These performances of Haydn’s Symphony No. 67 in F major are a DSO premiere.

DSO SHOP @ THE MA X RECOMMENDS:

music, opera, theatre, cabaret, storytelling, pop music, visual arts and noise. A 2011 National Public Radio survey included Du Yun in a list of 100 “crowdsourced” composers under the age of 40.

Commissions include those from the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the Fromm Foundation, Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, Festivals für Neue Musik & Aktuelle Kultur (Switzerland), Trinity

Wall Street, the Whitney Museum Live, Society of Americas, International Contemporary Ensemble, violinist Hillary Hahn, cellist Matt Haimovitz, and many more. Her works have been presented by a roster of leading ensembles and international festivals, such as the Radio Kamer Filharmonie of The Netherlands, le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne of Canada, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the New York City Opera — VOX, and Nova

Celebrating excellence.

Haydn – Symphony No. 67: Béla Drahos conducting the Budapest Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Naxos 8554406.

Kraken (2011)

DU YUN Winner, 4th Annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Prize Kraken is scored for piccolo, two flutes (second doubling on alto flute), two oboes (second doubling on kazoo), English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones and bass trombone, tuba, timpani (doubling on kazoo) and two percussion (including Bass Drum, Bongos, Crotales, Tam Tam, Tom Toms, Suspended Cymbals, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Coil Spring, Temple Blocks, Brake Drums, Cowbells), harp and strings (approximately 15 minutes)

B

orn and raised in Shanghai, China and currently based in New York City, Du Yun is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and performance artist. Hailed by The New York Times as “cutting-edge… to whom the term ‘young composer’ could hardly do justice;” “heralding a significant voice” (Financial Times); “…the strongest impression made yet;” (by De Rode Leeuw, Amsterdam), her music exists at an artistic crossroads of orchestral music, chamber

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GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES THE IMAGINATION, CREATIVITY, AND BEAUTY OF THE FINE ARTS. We appreciate the performances that inspire and enlighten us. And, we applaud the artists who share our passion for excellence and our commitment to personal achievement. gvsu.edu | (616) 331-2025

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Musica of Helsinki, among others.

As an avid performer, utilizing the amplified/processed Chinese zither (or zheng), piano, laptop, her own voice and home-made instruments, her onstage persona has been described by The New York Times as “an indie pop diva with an avantgarde edge,” and “flamboyant” by the Chicago Tribune. As a performance artist, she has created works for the Shanghai Rockbund Art Museum, Hong Kong Art Fair and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Du Yun is an alumna of Shanghai Conservatory, Oberlin Conservatory (BM) and Harvard University (M.A, PhD). She is currently on the composition faculty at SUNY-Purchase.

Propelled by the desire to defy expectation and genre, Du Yun’s music is distilled from a stripped-down spirituality, often evoking a sense of corporeality. It explores the inherent tension between free will and absolute fatalism. She cites an extraordinary number of references (musical, literary, cinematic and otherwise) on her work, a partial list of which includes: Monteverdi, Xenakis, Jorge Luis Borges, Orhan Pamuk, Tom Waits, Portishead, PJ Harvey, Björk, Kurt Weill, Prince, Serge Gainsbourg, Grisey, Rem Koolhaas and Cesaria Evora.

About Kraken, the composer writes: In 2009, I began to use a series of titles for my works taken from ancient mythological figures. These titles served as inspirations for my work, rather than as literal or musical translations.

A Kraken is a Sea Dragon, or Sea Serpent; it might have a hump a mile and a half long and arms that can encircle the largest ship.

These half-gods, half-demons are at once familiar and foreign, creatures which are alive across many cultures, latitudes and ages. This sensibility is very close to my heart. It speaks of the belief I have that our lives are often lived on the edge, in the inbetweeness; a place not between reality and surreality and/or a dream-state, but rather, a transient stage, an interstitial place; a location between right and wrong, true or false.

We don’t really know what a Kraken is, or if it truly exists, or existed. And yet, we might see a glimpse of ourselves in these fantastic, mythological creatures. It is as if a dim memory from the past surfaces in our future consciousness as the future of the past, allowing us to recognize kindred elements in ourselves.

The Kraken: non-narrative, nonprogrammatic; I borrowed this idea for its intangible spirit. Instead of movements, the 22

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piece incorporates three chapters. This idea is appropriated from the structure of certain novels, where narratives can be developed in parallel fashion in consecutive chapters, rather than in a linear thematic development. It is as if to witness a figure that mutates over time and to see how the subject matter detangles, unfolds and dissipates.

These performances by the DSO of Du Yun’s Kraken are the world-première of this work.

DSO SHOP @ THE MA X RECOMMENDS:

Du Yun – Kraken: no recording currently available.

Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 (“Organ Symphony”) CAMILLE SAINTSAËNS

B. October 9, 1835, Paris D. December 16, 1921, Algiers

Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C minor is scored for three flutes (third doubling on piccolo), two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani and two percussion (playing Bass Drum, Cymbals (Pair) and Triangle), organ, piano and strings (approximately 34 minutes)

S

aint-Saëns’ father, a government clerk, died when Camille was only three months old. He was raised by his mother Clémence and her aunt Charlotte Masson, who moved in and began giving young Camille piano lessons. A remarkable student, it was discovered when he was only 2 years old that he possessed perfect pitch.

He wrote his first composition (a little march for the piano) at age 4, and his concert debut came just a year later at age 5, when he accompanied a Beethoven violin sonata. At age 10, Saint-Saëns gave his debut public recital at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, with a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 15 in B flat major, K. 450, as well as pieces by Handel, Kalkbrenner, Hummel and Bach. As an encore, he offered to perform any one of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas from memory. Word of this extraordinary feat spread across Europe, even as far as Boston in the United States.

Saint-Saëns actually wrote five symphonies, only three of which are numbered. He withdrew the first, which he had written for a Mozart-sized orchestra, and also the third, which was a competition piece. His remaining three symphonies are a

significant contribution to the genre at a time when the French symphonic tradition was otherwise in decline.

In 1886, Saint-Saëns wrote his final essay in the symphonic genre, his Symphony No. 3 in C minor ‘avec orgue’ (“with organ”), which has since become one of his best-known and best-loved works. He dedicated it to his friend and colleague Franz Liszt, who had once declared Saint-Saëns to be the greatest organist in the world, and who died shortly after the work was premiered.

The Symphony No. 3 was a commission by the English Royal Philharmonic Society, and its first performance was given in London on May 19, 1886, at St. James’s Hall. Saint-Saëns was the conductor.

Of this work, Saint-Saëns said: “I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again.” It was almost as if the composer was aware that this would be his last attempt at the symphonic form, and with that awareness seemed to write the work almost as a ‘mini-history’ of his own brilliant musical career, featuring virtuoso piano passages, brilliant orchestral writing typical of the Romantic period and the massive sound of a full cathedral pipe organ.

One of the most interesting and original features of the work is its ingenious use of keyboard instruments: piano scored for both two and four hands (in various places) as well as organ. The symphony makes use of cyclic thematic material: Saint-Saëns had adapted Liszt’s techniques of thematic transformation, so that the various themes that are presented evolve across the duration of the entire work.

Although the symphony seems to follow a normal four-movement structure, it was actually written in two movements. The composer did note in his own analysis, however, that while it was cast in two movements, “the traditional four-movement structure is maintained.”

The DSO last performed Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 (“Organ Symphony”) in May, 2004 as part of a Classical series concert conducted by Thomas Wilkins.

DSO SHOP @ THE MA X RECOMMENDS:

Saint-Saens – Symphony No. 3, “Organ”: James Levine conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 419617.

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