Brahms & R achmaninoff Saturday, November 11, 2017 | 8pm Miller Auditorium Edwin Outwater, Conductor & Anna Vinnitskaya, Piano HAMLISCH Servicemen on Parade 1944 | 2012 Daniel Brier, Conductor Andy Dominianni, Announcer BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 1833 | 1897 Allegro non troppo Adagio non troppo Allegretto grazioso (Quasi andantino) Allegro con spirito INTERMISSION RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 1873 | 1943 Allegro ma non tanto Intermezzo: Adagio Finale: Alla breve Anna Vinnitskaya, piano
Season 97 | 2017-2018
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johannes brahms
1833 | 1897
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 The Details • Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba; timpani; and strings. Approximate duration: 40 minutes. The Timeline • June 1877: Brahms begins work on the symphony. • Mid-October 1877: The symphony is completed. • November 1877: Brahms completes the four-hand arrangement of the symphony. • Early-December 1877: Brahms and Ignaz Brüll play four-hand arrangement in private IF YOU LIKED performance in Vienna. THIS SYMPHONY... • December 30, 1877: Premiere of the symphony by the Vienna Philharmonic under Hans Richter. • January-June 1878: Performances of the symphony in Leipzig, Munich, Amsterdam, The Hague, Dresden, and Düsseldorf. • March 1878: Score and parts sent to the publisher Simrock. • August 1878: Publication of score, parts, and four-hand arrangement.
You would enjoy the KSO’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 on February 24, 2018 at Chenery Auditorium. You would also enjoy hearing Brahms’ Violin Sonata No. 1 and Clarinet Sonata No. 2 on January 27, 2018 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts or January 28, 2018 at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe.
The Background Johannes Brahms composed his Symphony No. 2 swiftly during the summer of 1877. While Brahms was composing his first symphony, Beethoven’s symphonic achievements stood in the way creating a laborious composition process weighed down by history. Having dealt with his fears and worries, Brahms composed his second quickly and painlessly.
Sunny and bucolic, Brahms’ second symphony seems to reflect the surroundings of his summer retreat. During the summer of 1877, Brahms stayed in the picturesque surroundings of the southern Austrian seaside village of Pörtschach. In a letter to Edward Hanslick, Brahms describes the symphony as “so cheerful and lovely that you will think I wrote it specially for you or even your young lady!” He goes on to boast of so many beautiful “melodies flying about that you must be careful not to tread on any.”
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The Music The first movement opens with music of great pastoral beauty. Bucolic horns and sunny woodwinds give way to a soaring theme in the first violins (the first theme) and a singing theme in the cellos (the second theme). Herman Kretzschmar, a contemporary of Brahms, writes, “[The first movement] resembles an agreeable landscape into which the setting sun casts its sublime and somber lights. It contains a far greater number of independent musical ideas than this scheme requires...” As is often the case with Brahms, a strain of melancholy bubbles beneath the sunny surface creating dramatic tension most noticeably in two dark, dirge-like trombone passages (in the development and just before the coda). The second movement stands apart from the rest in that the music is complex and serious. Short thematic elements follow closely upon one another—a compositional device described by Arnold Schoenberg as “musical prose.” This restless music denies the listener the repetition of easy, songful tunes. The complexity of the second movement prepares the way for the hallmark simplicity of the third. A simple melody in the oboe alternates with dancelike sections in the strings and winds. In essence, the movement is a relaxed serenade, but a serenade of some complexity. In the two presto sections, Brahms smartly disguises the main theme and throughout the entire movement, he constantly shifts the accents within the meter. In the finale, Brahms opens with soft, sotto voce music creating a sense of anticipation. Suddenly, the music explodes into an exuberant dance. The composer bases principal theme of this movement on material from the opening movement bringing the symphony full circle. Rounding out the work is a stunning coda. Whereas in the first movement, the trombones provide darkness, here, in the coda, the trombones provide a burst of sunlight. Brahms brings the symphony to a jubilant, triumphant close. The Context (1877) • Oglala Lakota war leader Crazy Horse is killed while resisting confinement • Russo-Turkish War begins • First Championships at Wimbledon • Martian moons Phobos and Deimos are discovered.
2017 | 2018 Season
sergei rachmaninoff
1873 | 1943
Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 The Details • Composed in 1909. • Dedicated to the pianist Josef Hofmann who never performed it due to the concerto’s formidable technical challenges. • Premiered November 28, 1909 by the New York Symphony (precursor to the Philharmonic) with Walter Damrosch conducting and the composer as soloist. • Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, piano, and strings. Approximate duration: 44 minutes. The Background Rachmaninoff achieved unparalleled success in Russia. By 1906, the sheer number of requests for solo performances, concerto appearances, conducting engagements, and composition commissions overwhelmed him. As a result, he moved his family—splitting his time between Paris and Dresden—in order to focus on composing. The break was exactly what he needed. The next decade brought some of his greatest works including the Piano Concerto No. 3, The Bells, Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Symphony No. 2, and The Isle of the Dead.
IF YOU LIKED THIS CONCERTO... You would enjoy the KSO’s performance of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 on May 19, 2018. You would also enjoy the KSO’s performance of Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 “Jeremiah” on March 24, 2018.
However, by 1909, the lucrative possibilities of a tour in the United States proved too alluring to pass. He initially hesitated to accept the offer to tour, but he realized the fees would allow him to realize his dream of buying an automobile. He retreated to the family estate in Ivanovka so that he could prepare for the tour. The serene setting proved to be restorative for the exhausted composer. In May, he began work on a new piano concerto. He finished the concerto, his third, in September just in time for the tour. Rachmaninoff premiered the concerto on November 28, 1909 in New York with Walter Damrosch conducting. Performances with orchestras in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore followed. However, no performance left as profound effect on Rachmaninoff as the second performance in New York with none other than Gustav Mahler on the podium. He wrote of the experience: He [Mahler] touched my composer’s heart straight away by devoting himself to my concerto until the accompaniment, which is rather complicated, had KalamazooSymphony.com
been practiced to the point of perfection, although he had already gone through a long rehearsal. According to Mahler, every detail of the score was important—an attitude which is unfortunately rare among conductors. One of the earliest reviews came back presciently raving that “the work grows in impressiveness upon acquaintance and will doubtless take rank among the most interesting piano concertos of recent years, although its great length and extreme difficulties bar it from performance by any but pianists of exceptional technical powers.” So difficult are the concerto’s demands of the soloist that it has become a sort of “Mt. Everest” for pianists. The Music After two bars of undulating strings, the pianist opens the first movement with a melody of utmost simplicity. In a 1935 letter to Joseph Yasser, Rachmaninoff wrote that this first theme “is borrowed neither from folk song forms nor from church sources. It simply ‘wrote itself’!” This theme is repeated in the violas and the pianists figurations gradually become more complex. The textures gradually evolve into a cadenza for the soloist. Rachmaninoff introduces a new idea (a staccato dialogue between soloist and orchestra) followed by a singing second theme. The previous thematic material returns as the composer freely develops the material. The music builds to a thrilling climactic moment with full orchestra and soloist. The climax gives way to an elaborate cadenza which serves as the recapitulation. A brief coda wraps up the first movment. The second movement, an Intermezzo, opens with a soulful melody introduced by the oboe and then elaborated by the strings. The soloist takes over this soulful theme—further elaborating and intensifying the theme. A brief scherzando section follows and then the Intermezzo theme returns. At the end of the second movement, a brilliant transition launches into a final movement containing music of great brilliance, virtuosity, and pathos. The Epilogue The United States tour was a terribly stressful time for Rachmaninoff. He wrote, “Musicians loved it [the Piano Concerto No. 3], but not the audience or critics.” Vladimir Horowitz popularized the concerto in the 1920’s. Rachmaninoff, however, was able to purchase his automobile in 1912 and it is believed that he purchased a new car every year thereafter. After settling down in the United States, Rachmaninoff was said to have shipped two items every time he traveled to Europe for holiday—a Steinway grand piano and his current automobile. The Context (1909) • The City of Tel Aviv founded. • Joan of Arc beatified by Rome. • Ernest Shackleton claimed the South Pole. • British Petroleum founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. 2017 | 2018 Season
kalamazoo symphony orchestra FIRS T VIO L IN Jun-Ching Lin Concertmaster Julia Neckermann Marley Haller Oleg Bezuglov Eleanor K. Pifer Mark Portolese Krishna Baraily Tigran Shiganyan Andrew Koehler * Louisa Blood Violetta Todorova Lisa Tarzia * Michael Acosta * Veronika Vassileva * Lorri Hedlund * Irina Kagan * Maya Shiraishi * Katie Cousins * Barry Ross * Eric Dalmau Aguilio† S ECON D VIOL IN Lisa A. Williams Julie Evans Little Nicholas Naegele Hsin-Ju Yu Benita Barber Cori Somers Tatiana Zueva Terry Lynn Vantine Norma-Jean Forshey Dana Duncan-Davis Abigail Weener* Negar Afazel† VIOLA Grace Byrd Nora R. Frisk KalamazooSymphony.com
Patricia Goodman Diane Taylor Arturo Ziraldo Tomio Anderson Kathy Connor Karin Loberg Code* Darren Chan* Sara Morrow* CELLO Igor Cetkovic Katherine Shook Carol Bullock Russell Calin Muresan Elizabeth Start Nola Matthews Thole Silvia Sidorane* Eugene Zenzen* David Rezits* Jordan Hamilton† BAS S Charles Ingrassia Matthew Boothe Frank R. Tramp Jason Niehoff Dominic Azkoul Brett Lewis* Kurt Melendy* Anders Dahlberg F L UT E Yukie Ota Nancy Rinaldi Williams OBOE Gabriel Renteria Brad Smith
CLARI N E T Georgiy Borisov Frank X. Silva BASSOON William Wheeler Alan Palider FRE N CH H ORN Michael Wood Lin Foulk* Elizabeth Fairlie Judge Margaret Hamilton Jeff McNutt* TRU M P E T Scott Thornburg Mike Brozick Keith Geiman* TROM BON E Edward S. Hickman Rick Uren Sebastian Bell TU BA Robert Whaley TIM P AN I Mark Guthrie P E RCU SSION Kenneth Jones Matt Watson* Please see pages 42-43 in the 2017-18 Program Book for the full KSO musician roster and information about endowed chairs. * Substitute † Western Michigan University Artist Scholar
individual giving The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the many organizations and individual annual fund donors for their generous contributions. Below is a list of donors who have given since the printing of the program book. GIFT S Elizabeth K. Dapson Kenneth & Marian Fisher Donald & Grace Flesche Jerrold T. French Barbara & John Herman Shadia Kanaan Nancy J. Kalinowski Frank Sardone & Susan Fall Jacqueline & David Sirotti Dixie L. Stafford Phyllis Rappeport Vern & Aurelia Reed Rick & Lynn Russell Dixie L. Stafford Luis F. Velez James B. Woodruff & Margaret HotopWoodruff IN H ON O R OF Betty Upjohn Mason Jim & Martha Hilboldt IN MEM O R Y OF Thom Andrews Jane Rooks Ross & Barry F. Ross John & Joan Thomas Charlie Tomlinson Mary L. Tyler
Jerry Diment Nancy Diment Donnita Hahnenberg Chris & Kathy Shook Norman H. Knight John Holmes & Jane Nelson-Holmes Esther Trann Kelly Thelma & Edward Banker Annelie Fahlstedt Pauline & Mark Giacobone Barbro & Norman Jung Eric Lindberg & Steve Farver Audrey Lipsey Sandy & Tim McAfee Ken & Marie Nacci Ramona Rose Michael & Lynette Wilson Nancy Sage Douglas Beld Rena Brooks James & Carol Carter Fiona & William Denny Donald & Jacqueline DeYoung Anna Koning Durkin Barbara & Lou Farraye Arlene & Alex Gardner James F. Jabury Jeanne Kennedy Eric & Elizabeth Kent Kathleen & Woody King Jeanene L. Lewis Fred & Sandy Linabury Betty Upjohn Mason
Marilyn & David Milko Patricia Mullen Michael & Sharon Pruis Jane Rooks Ross & Barry F. Ross John Sage Ann Sage-Kent Chris & Kathy Shook John & Joan Thomas Charlie Tomlinson Mary L. Tyler Ray & Sharon Vinstra Robert & Judith Whaley Joan “Chris� Steele Rena Brooks Helen E. Creager Arlene & Alex Gardner Jean Gjetson John and Diana Haskins James M. Hastings Mary Ellen Takeda Charlie Tomlinson Peter Thomas Mary L. Tyler James Vantine Federal Bar Association, Western District Bankruptcy Section Pat & Bill Hanavan The Robert Traxler Family Sharyn Vantine
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