THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC Presents
THE UNIVERSITY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Alexander Jiménez, music director and conductor Kyara Nelsen, assistant conductor Featuring Shannon Thomas, violin This concert is dedicated to Nancy Fowler, longtime College of Music faculty member and supporter
Friday, November 6, 2020 Seven-thirty in the Evening Opperman Music Hall Live: wfsu.org/fsumusic
PROGRAM Suite No. 1 for Small Orchestra I. Andante II. Napolitana III. Española IV. Balalaïka
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)
Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra I. Marche II. Valse III. Polka IV. Galop Kyara Nelsen, conductor — Pause — The Lark Ascending
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) Shannon Thomas, violin — Pause —
Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 Allegro vivace con brio Allegretto scherzando Tempo di menuetto Allegro vivace
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting while performers are playing. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Please turn off cell phones and all other electronic devices. Please refrain from putting feet on seats and seat backs. Children who become disruptive should be taken out of the performance hall so they do not disturb the musicians and other audience members. Thank you for your cooperation.
MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR Alexander Jiménez serves as Professor of Conducting, Director of Orchestral Activities, and String Area Coordinator at the Florida State University College of Music. He has served on the faculties of San Francisco State University and Palm Beach Atlantic University. He has degrees from Baylor University (BM) and the Florida State University (MM, MME, and DM). Jiménez studied with Phillip Spurgeon, Michael Haithcock, and the late Anton Guadagno. As a former percussionist and timpanist, he studied with Gary Werdesheim, Larry Vanlandingham, Keiko Abe, and Cloyd Duff. Under his direction the FSU Orchestras have continued their long tradition of excellence. Both the undergraduate University Philharmonia and the University Symphony Orchestra under Dr. Jiménez have championed new music and collaborated with such composers as Krzysztof Penderecki, Martin Bresnick, Anthony Iannaconne, Christopher Theofanidis, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, and Ladislav Kubik. In 2007 the USO was featured in the PBS special Peanuts Gallery® which was awarded Best Performance of 2007 by the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Jiménez has recorded with the Mark, CBC/Ovation, Col Legno, Neos, and Naxos labels. In 2016 the USO was chosen as the featured orchestra at the National Conference of the American String Teachers Association. Jiménez is active as a guest conductor, teacher, and adjudicator throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, where he has appeared in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Israel. Since 2009 he has served on the international jury panel of the European Festival of Music for Young People in Neerpelt, Belgium, and in 2013 was named International Festival Ambassador. Dr. Jiménez is in demand conducting honor and all-state orchestras throughout the U.S. and is conductor of the Blue Lake Arts Camp Festival Orchestra. In Tallahassee, he appears regularly as guest conductor of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and served as the music director of the Tallahassee Youth Orchestras from 2000-2017. Dr. Jiménez is a past president of the College Orchestra Directors Association. He holds memberships in the College Orchestra Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, the Florida Orchestra Association, and the League of American Orchestras.
TONIGHT’S FEATURED PERFORMERS A Tennessee native, violinist Shannon Thomas has garnered a reputation for exciting, thoughtful performances as a chamber musician, soloist, and in recital throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Recent performing engagements have taken her to the Kennedy Center, Spoleto Festival USA, Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium, Bolivia’s Centro Sinfonico in La Paz, and the Banff Centre where she has collaborated with distinguished artists such as the St. Lawrence String Quartet, David Halen, Richard King, Wendy Chen, Anita Pontremoli, and Midori. As a chamber musician, Shannon has performed at the Innsbrook Summer Music Festival, Garth Newel Music Center, Sarasota Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, ENCORE School for Strings, Aspen Music Festival, Stony Brook University, the International Clarinet Association National Conference (Belgium), Northwestern University, Brancaleoni International Music Festival (Italy), and with the Bryant Park Chamber Players in New York City. In addition to concerts with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra where she serves as principal second violin, Shannon performs regularly with the IRIS Orchestra under the direction of Michael Stern. Shannon has recorded for the Blue Griffin Records, and her CD celebrating the music of women composers Lera Auerbach, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and Jennifer Higdon was released in 2018. Interested in sharing her enthusiasm for the arts through teaching, Shannon is in demand as a pedagogue. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Violin at Florida State University and gives master classes throughout the United States and abroad. She also teaches at Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Luby Violin Symposium, and Hilton Head Chamber Music Institute. Previously on the faculties of University of Southern Mississippi, the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Division, and Interlochen Arts Camp, her students have been prizewinners and finalists at national competitions, including MTNA and the Sphinx Competition. She has also taught at the Kinhaven Music School, Stony Brook University Chamber Music Camp, and the Innsbrook Institute Summer Music Academy and Festival, where she served as Education Director. Shannon has presented educational sessions at the National ASTA conferences, Florida Music Educators Association annual conference, and the Luby Violin Symposium. In addition, she has served as an adjudicator and clinician for the Seattle Young Artists Music Festival Association in addition to regional All-State orchestral auditions.
Shannon earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was Paul Kantor’s teaching assistant. She received a Master of Music at Yale University and a Bachelor of Music at Vanderbilt University, and also pursued graduate work at Arizona State University, where she was the first student to be accepted into the Artist Diploma program. She studied chamber music with Peter Salaff, Merry Peckham, George Sopkin, Christopher von Baeyer, Laurie Smukler and members of the Juilliard, Blair, Tokyo, and Cavani String Quartets. Her principal teachers have included Paul Kantor, Cornelia Heard, Jonathan Swartz, Robert Lipsett, and Ani Kavafian. For more information, visit shannonthomasviolin.com.
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM Stravinsky: Suites Nos. 1 and 2 for Small Orchestra As a result of the economic drains caused by World War I, Igor Stravinsky turned temporarily to smaller ensembles as the object of his compositional projects. L’Histoire du soldat, performed in 1918, was written for only 6 instrumental pairs. The ballet Pulcinella, which was premiered in 1920 and drew from the music of the composer Pergolesi, brought the orchestra in style and instrumentation back to the reduced dimensions of the Classical period. Although the Suites Nos. 1 and 2 for Small Orchestra were premiered in the 1920s, Stravinsky composed the works throughout the war years. The first suite is organized primarily by national association. It first begins with a nationalistically nondescript Andante, featuring melodies in the flutes and violins. Underneath the tender melodies, clarinets provide gentle undulations that carry the movement forward. Napolitana, the second movement, features the music of Naples with a dance in 6/8 meter. The woodwinds carry the rhythmic drive, despite disruptive lines in the horn and trumpet. Stravinsky’s third dance exhibits Spanish influence with driving rhythms in the strings propel that the movement forward. The title of the fourth movement, Balalaïka, refers to a form of Russian guitar that has a triangular body, long fretted neck, and typically three strings. Although each dance identifies nationalistic associations, they also all contain Stravinsky’s unmistakable compositional wit.
Stravinsky’s second suite follows a format similar to the first, although the titles this time do not reveal the composer’s inspirations. Instead of national associations, three of the four movements present portraits of his friends. The first movement, Marche, is a portrait of the Italian composer Alfredo Casella, a fervent supporter of Stravinsky’s compositions. The use of snare drum and prominent brass fanfares complete the movement’s march style. Valse is similar to the first movement of Suite No. 1 in that it has no association. Polka portrays Stravinsky’s friend and collaborator, Sergei Diaghilev, the famous Russian impresario. The final movement, Waltz, depicts Erik Satie, the composer whose compositions greatly influenced Stravinsky by returning to classical simplicity. Satie unfortunately died less than four months before the work’s premiere. — Paul Luongo Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending The only way to listen to The Lark Ascending is as you would watch one, lying flat on your back in a green and pleasant meadow, under the perfect sky of one of those now legendary English summer days! Vaughan Williams wrote this supreme idyll in 1914 for violinist Marie Hall, revising it in 1920 (I would be fascinated to know what sort of changes were wrought by the intervening years). Vaughn Williams was inspired, in no small degree, by the eponymous George Meredith poem:
He rises and begins to round, He drops the silver chain of sound, Of many links without a break, In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake. For singing ‘til his heaven fills, ‘Tis love of earth that he instils, And ever winging up and up, Our valley is his golden cup, And he the wine which overflows To lift us with him as he goes ‘Til lost on his aerial rings In light, and then the fancy sings.
On reading Meredith’s words, then hearing Vaughn Williams’s music, many will note their “perfect correspondence.” Doesn’t that warm, hazy, rising orchestral opening, lifting a solo violin into rhapsodic fluttering, soaring on harmonic thermals, so marvelously match Meredith’s “silver chain of sound”? Isn’t Meredith’s “love of earth that he instils” exquisitely reflected in the diversion of robust folk dance and yearning at the heart of Vaughn Williams’s magical score? Doesn’t Vaughn Williams’s coda, a daring and innovative unaccompanied cadenza for the violin/lark, sublimely interpret “lost on his aerial rings in light”? It’s puzzling, though, because music (I am told by those who know about these things) “begins where words leave off ” – the supposed source of music’s mystique. Yet here Vaughn Williams, like so many other composers, is clearly taking pretty well all his musical cues from words. Is the meaning of such music, therefore, the same as that of the words - and presumably as a result a complete waste of time and effort? The logic would seem to be impeccable, and thus the theory sound. Fortunately, experience tells us that it’s all twaddle. The odds are that there will be listening to this music some who know nothing of Meredith or his poem, those who may or may not see in their minds’ eyes a lark ascending. But whatever each sees, I’ll bet that it is, without exception, something wonderful. —Paul Serotsky Beethoven: Symphony No. 8 in F Major When most think of the figure of Beethoven, images of anger, sternness, and tempestuousness come to mind. Few seem aware that his passionate temperament included, indeed embraced, humor and lightheartedness. At the time of his writing the Eighth Symphony in the summer of 1812, he was in a particularly jocular mood. His letters of the time, in spite of ill health and extreme deafness, are full of puns and mischievous humor. His own term for this state of jolliness was aufgeknöpft — meaning, “unbuttoned.” Symphony No. 8 from beginning to end is full of musical humor that seems completely unzipped (out of coat/undone). In response to this piece, the venerable George Grove wrote, “Perhaps more than any other of the nine, it is a portrait of the author in daily life, in his habit as he lived; and we may be sure that the more it is heard and studied, the more will he be found there in his most natural and characteristic personality.” At the Symphony’s premier in 1814, the audience also had its own notions about the persona of Beethoven. They expected grandness and seriousness from their musical hero, and Symphony No. 8 did not live up to this expectations. It was not well received,
especially in comparison with the response to Symphony No. 7, which was also heard on the same program – the audience cheered and demanded a repeat performance of one of its movements. When questioned about its poor reception, Beethoven responded, “it will please them someday... because it’s so much better than the other.” Perhaps due to our continuing expectations of Beethoven’s virulent passion, it is still, unfortunately, one of the least performed of his symphonies. The Symphony’s reception may in part be due to the fact that it seems a throwback to the heyday of the symphony, which had occurred at the end of the eighteenth century. It appears out of order in Beethoven’s progression of symphonies that seemed increasingly set on challenging the genre’s conventions. With the exception of the First Symphony, this is the shortest of his symphonies, which as a general trend were growing in length. Its orchestration also seems a return to yesteryear, especially compared with the subsequent Ninth, which includes, among other things, vocal parts. With its posturing as a traditional symphony, this work serves as a good-natured farewell to the symphony’s golden age. But its resemblance to the traditional symphony is only a facade. Without a customary introduction, the first movement begins at a rapid pace. After only 11 measures the first theme has been introduced and then abandoned. The subsequent transition to the second theme, which typically functions as a means to change harmony, lasts twice as long as the opening theme and remains harmonically static throughout most of its duration. Clearly Beethoven is having fun with the fact that harmonically the transition modulates nowhere. Following a pause, the second theme begins with an abrupt and unexpected modulation to the key of D major, but the theme eventually moves to the expected key of C major. In another humorous gesture, Beethoven completely obscures the first theme when it returns later in the piece. Upon its return, the melody is played by the lowest of the orchestra’s instruments, but these are nearly inaudible because at this precise moment all of the instruments are instructed to play as loud as possible (fff ), a rare dynamic indication for Beethoven. When the movement finally concludes, Beethoven jokes with our expectations by including several false endings. Instead of a slow, conventional adagio for the second movement, the composer created a charming Allegretto. The piece and its clock-like ticking are related to a piece that Beethoven had written early in the year in honor of the inventor of the metronome, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel. In this earlier piece, Beethoven had in high spirits accompanied the same repetitive rhythm with the text “ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta,” and in the Allegretto of the Eighth symphony this good-natured allusion continues.
The Minuet movement signifies a reminiscence of the traditional symphony of Haydn’s and Mozart’s time, which had since been replaced with the faster scherzo. Here the music is imbued less with humor than graceful beauty, including the sonorous horn melody that occurs in the middle of the piece. Such peaceful tune making does not last long, as the fourth movement appears full of jokes yet to be played. The movement begins with an almost sneaky sense of anticipation, but this opening theme in F major is suddenly interrupted by a blast on the unrelated note of C-sharp. As if surprised into the open, the theme is then flaunted robustly. Later in the piece the C-sharp returns at the most unexpected places, joining in the piece’s general sense of harmonic ambiguity. This tonal indecisiveness is especially evident in the oversized closing section of the piece. With more rudeness than finesse, various keys banter back and forth as if in competition. But all harmonic ambiguity is erased when the final 53 measures almost tortuously beat out chords in F major, with Beethoven all the while laughing at such obnoxious fun. —Paul Moulton
University Symphony Orchestra Personnel Alexander Jiménez, Music Director Kyara Nelsen, Assistant Conductor
Violin I Hannah MacLean‡ Angel Andres Sommer Altier MaryKatherine Brown Amanda Frampton Claudia Holm Darrian Lee Emmeline MacMillan Megumi Terry James Watts Violin II Madeline Miller* Diana Sanchez* Chloe Johnson Michael Klyce Zoe Kushubar Bryce Martin Tekla Mendez Juliet Schreiber Katherine Taylor
Viola Zoe Fernandez* Andrew Rafferty* Justin Castro Matthew Holzaepfel Hunter Sanchez
Flute Julia Evers* Frederick Powell
Trombone Peter Karda
Tuba Oboe Harrison Brown Luis Gallo Quintero* Nicholas Kanipe Timpani/Percussion Cello Chris Baird Amber Den Exter* Bassoon Chase Banks Giancarlo Ortiz* Robert Root* Nathan Haines Carly Fulcher Alexandra Johnson Rachel Gregory Piano Erica Kremer Horn Levi Gerki Aric Lee Xander Hellhake* Curtis Shugart Brianna Nay* Orchestra Manager Sabrina DeVos Bass Trumpet Logan Lysaght* James Popper* Librarian Nicholas Smentkowski* Zachary Price Kyara Nelsen Joe Bauer Nathan Haines Jonathan Cason Peter Cassaday Administrative Juan Rodriguez Assistant Willow Larson ‡ Concertmaster * Principal
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL ASSOCIATES 2019-2021 Drs. Charles and Sharon Aronovitch * Tom Denmark Avon and Louie Doll Patrick and Kathy Dunnigan Maximilian and Gale Etschmaier Kevin and Suzanne Fenton Fred and Linda Hester Glenn Hosken
Gold Circle Jelks Family Foundation * Emory and Dorothy Johnson * Bob Parker Jerry and Ann Price * Charles and Persis Rockwood Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Francis and Karen Skilling Bret Whissel
Benefactors * Tom and Cathy Bishop Michael and Judy Sheridan Karen Bradley Dr. James C. and Elizabeth Smith * Jimmie and Donna Callaway Michael and Jennifer Thrasher DeLos F. DeTar Bill and Sally Wendt Richard Dusenbury and Kathi Jaschke * Teresa Beazley Widmer John and Mary Geringer Marilynn Wills COL Reid Jaffe and Ms. Susan Z. Cornwell Kathy D. Wright Claire Kelly Lifetime Members Les and Ruth Ruggles Akers Sally and Fred Kreimer John and Willa Almlof Beverly Locke-Ewald Florence Helen Ashby Ralph and Sue Mancuso Mrs. Reubin Askew Meredith and Elsa L. McKinney Nancy Bivins Ermine M. Owenby Ramona D. Bowman Mike and Judy Pate André and Eleanor Connan Jane Quinton Russell and Janis Courson David D. Redfield * Ginny Densmore Laura and Sam Rogers, Jr. Nancy Smith Fichter and Robert W. Fichter Connie Sauer-Adams and Len Adams Stan and Carole Fiore Jean T. Souter Patricia J. Flowers Drs. Louis and Julia St. Petery Jane E. Hughes Sharon Stone Hilda Hunter Elaine Swain Julio Jiménez Catherine Tharpe Kirby W. and Margaret-Ray Kemper Brig. Gen. and Mrs. William B. Webb Patsy Kickliter Rick and Joan West Anthony M. and Mallen E. Komlyn John L. and Linda M. Williams
Corporate Sponsors Beethoven & Company Peter Boulware Toyota
Business Sponsors WFSU Public Broadcast Center
Sustainers Kathryn M. Beggs * Marc and Kathryn Hebda James and Rochelle Davis Greg and Margo Jones Floyd Deterding and Kelley Lang Annelise Leysieffer Diane and Jack Dowling * Lisa and John Rutledge Grady Enlow and June Dollar Dr. Gayle and Dr. Douglass Seaton William Fredrickson and Suzanne Rita Byrnes Denise Von Glahn and Michael Broyles Larry Gerber
Sponsors Joyce Andrews Tom and Christine Ballinger Patricia and Buddy Barker Marty Beech Greg and Karen Boebinger John and Eileen Boutelle Kathryn Karrh Cashin Pete and Bonnie Chamlis Causseaux-Young Robert and Linda Clickner Malcolm Craig Jim and Sandy Dafoe Margaret and Russ Dancy Joy and James Frank Bryan and Nancy Goff John and Pat Goldinger Marylee and Tina Haddon Louis V. and Kathryn T. Hajos Ocie and JoElla Harris Myron and Judy Hayden Dottie and Jon Hinkle Todd Hinkle Jonathan Jackson and Greg Springer
Alexander and Dawn JimÊnez Alan R. Kagan, MD Howard Kessler and Anne Van Meter Dennis G. King, Esq. Jeff and Nancy Lickson Linda and Bob Lovins William and Gayle Manley Helen and Tom Martineau Robert and Patricia McDonald Frank and Francesca Melichar Walter and Marian Moore Ann W. Parramore Robert and Caryl Pierce JoAnne and David Rasmussen Stephen and Elizabeth Richardson Dottie Roberts and Doug Bruce Ken and JR Saginario Annelise Sapp Bill and Ma’Su Sweeney Susan and Stephen Turner David and Jane Watson Michael and Patricia Wilhoit Candy and Barbara Williams
Don Beeckler Norma T. Benton Mary S. Bert Carl and Marcia Bjerregaard Paul and Alice Blackhall Kip and Joan Carpenter Adele Cunningham Mrs. Joseph C. D’Annunzio Pamala J. Doffek John S. and Linda H. Fleming Nicole Folkert Dr. Fred Frank L. Kathryn Funchess Bruce and Luisa Gillander Ruth Godfrey-Sigler Julie Griffith Jerry and Bobbi Hill Anne R. Hodges Sally and Lincoln Jarrett Judith H. Jolly J.F. and Barbara Jones Frances Kratt / Judith Flanigan John and Marty Larson Donna Legare and Jody Walthall Joan Macmillan Alan and Marilyn Marshall Emoryette McDonald Michael and Joanne Mendez Mike and Pat Meredith
Patrons Ann and Don Morrow Drs. William C. Murray and Toni Kirkwood-Tucker Albert and Darlene Oosterhof Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Palmer Chris and Cyndi Panzarino Ann E. Parker Karalee Poschman and Jana Sterling Gloria Priest Penny Ralston and Chester Davis Amy Recht Edward Reid Nancy Stone Ross John and Carol Ryor Paula S. Saunders Jeanette Sickel Carey Smith Pat St. Angelo Richard Stevens Lee and Ramona Stewart Judy and Mike Stone James Streem George and Jackie Sweat Marjorie Turnbull Dr. Ralph V. Turner Paul Van Der Mark Sylvia B. Walford Geoffrey and Simone Watts Art Wiedinger
Associates Sam and Norma Adams Jayme Agee Victoria Alberton Patricia Applegate Jim and Kitty Ball Karl and Melissa Barton Hillman and Lin Brannon Harriet R. Chase Margaret A. Chase David and Mary Coburn Carla Connors and Timothy Hoekman Joan and Dave Custis Dr. Bob Cutlip * J. W. Richard Davis David Dickel John Dozier and Martha Paradeis Sena and Jody Finklea Betty Foltz Gigi Foster and Betty Serow Dr. Nancy Fowler Mildred L. Fryman and W. V. McConnell Jean Fuller Debbie Gibson Laura L. Glenn Deborah W. Glotzbach Harvey and Judy Goldman Sue Graham Margarita H. Grant Mary Anne Gray and Marcia Humphress Brenda Grindstaff and Steven Ferst Miriam R. Gurniak Mary Stuart Hartmann Donna H. Heald Madeleine Hirsiger-Carr Karolyn Holmes O. Dean Kindley Joseph Kraus Sylvia and John Labie Charles and Dian LaTour
Ellen Lauricella William and Debora Lee John D. Lucasse Daniel and Arlene MacDonald Jerry and Terri Mast Jerry V. McBee Lealand and Kathleen McCharen Mr. and Mrs. Joe McGlothlin Leo L. Minasian, Jr. Marjorie M. Morgan Deborah Morningstar and Max Thompson The National Orchestral Association Karen Randolph Robert Reardon / Janet Lenz David Reed Mark and Cynthia Repasky George Riordan and Karen Clarke Sanford Safron Drs. David and Winnie Schmeling Gerry Shubrick Sudarat Songsiridej and Mary Schaad Alice Spirakis Ted and AndrĂŠa Stanley Rick and Carole Stewart Joyce and Joe Toman Park and Linda Trammell C. Richard and Phrieda L. Tuten Steve Urse Vic and Mary Helen Venos Stephan von MolnĂĄr Scott and LaDonna Wagers Tom and Janie Weis Karen Wensing Erin Werner Adelaide Whitaker Barbara Wood Jeff Wright Doug Wussler
*University Musical Associates Executive Committee
The University Musical Associates is the community support organization for the FSU College of Music. The primary purposes of the group are to develop audiences for College of Music performances, to assist outstanding students in enriching their musical education and careers, and to support quality education and cultural activities for the Tallahassee community. If you would like information about joining the University Musical Associates, please contact Kim Shively, Director of Special Programs, at kshively@fsu.edu or 644-4744.
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