B ruckner & W illiams Saturday, October 28, 2017 | 8pm Miller Auditorium Donato Cabrera, Conductor; Gabriel Renteria-Elyea, Oboe; William McGregor, 2017 Stulberg International String Competition Gold Medalist, Double Bass COPLAND 1900 | 1990
Fanfare for the Common Man
Double Bass Concerto No. 2 in B minor BOTTESINI 1821 | 1889 Allegro moderato Andante Allegro William McGregor, double bass WILLIAMS Oboe Concerto (2011) b. 1932 Prelude Pastorale Commedia Gabriel Renteria-Elyea, oboe INTERMISSION Symphony No. 1 in C minor, WAB 101 BRUCKNER 1824 | 1896 Allegro Adagio; Andante Scherzo: Lebhaft Finale: Bewegt und feurig Gabriel Renteria-Elyea’s appearance is underwritten by the Diane S. Robertson Charitable Foundation.
Presented in collaboration with:
Season 97 | 2017-2018
SPONSORS:
aaron copland
1900 | 1990
Fanfare for the Common Man The Details • Composed in 1942 on commission from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. • Eugene Goossens led the premiere March 12, 1942 in Cincinnati. • Scored for four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, tamtam, and bass drum. Approximate duration: 3 minutes. The Background Aaron Copland created the “American” sound through the use of open sonorities and simple, even spare orchestration. His Fanfare for the Common Man evokes the strong-willed strength and grit of 1940’s America. In fact, this was precisely Eugene Goossens aim. Goossens, conductor IF YOU LIKED for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, THIS WORK... commissioned ten fanfares for the 1942 season in order to foster patriotic spirit during World You would enjoy the KSO’s War II. When Goossens received the work he celebration of Leonard wrote to Copland, “Its title is as original as its Bernstein’s (another great music, and I think it is so telling that it deserves American composer and a special occasion for its performance. If it is Aaron Copland pupil) music agreeable to you, we will premiere it 12 March on March 24, 2018. 1942 at income tax time.” Copland replied, “I [am] all for honoring the common man at You may also enjoy income tax time.” Ever since its premiere, William Bolcom’s Symphony Copland’s noble fanfare has remained in the No. 1 on May 11, 2018 active orchestral repertoire. at the Gilmore Keyboard Festival’s finale concert. The Context (1942) • Joe Louis KOs Buddy Baer in 1 for heavyweight boxing title • Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies • FDR asks commissioner to continue baseball during WWII • Glenn Miller awarded 1st ever gold record for selling 1 million copies of “Chattanooga Choo Choo” • Hitler cancels Operation Sealion, the invasion of England • FDR orders General MacArthur out of Philippines as American defenses collapse • Jackie Robinson & Nate Moreland request and are granted a tryout with the Chicago White Sox • Bing Crosby records “White Christmas” • Battle of Midway ends • Abbott and Costello launch their weekly radio show KalamazooSymphony.com
giovanni BOTTESINI
1821 | 1889
Double Bass Concerto No. 2 in B minor The Details • Published posthumously in 1925. • This version scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, solo double bass, and strings. Approximate duration: 17 minutes.. The Background Against all odds, Giovanni Bottesini carved out a unique career which permanently altered the history of the double bass. After early studies with his father and Carlo Cogliatti (a friend of his fathers and the leading violinist in Cremona), Giovanni departed for the Milan Conservatory in 1835. The conservatory only had scholarships available for bassoon and double bass. Giovanni decided to study double bass. In 1839, he earned three hundred francs for a solo performance and departed the IF YOU LIKED Conservatory. He used the money to restore THIS CONCERTO... a fine instrument by Carlo Giuseppe Testore You will love hearing which, according to legend, he discovered Pablo Ferrandez-Castro under a pile of trash at a puppet theater. After perform Haydn’s C Major a successful debut at the Teator Communale cello concerto on in Cremona in 1849, he received invitations for February 24, 2018 at concerts throughout Italy, Vienna, and even Chenery Auditorium. London. The press immediately dubbed him, “The Paganini of the Double Bass.” A star was born. Critics gushed over his agility, virtuosity, pure tone, perfect intonation, and phrasing. One reviewer raved about “melodies in flute-like harmonics, as though he had a hundred nightingales caged in his double bass.” Through his performances, his compositions (including his concerti), and his stardom, Bottesini extended the capabilities of the double bass, firmly establishing the double bass as a bona fide solo instrument.
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john williams
b. 1932
Oboe Concerto (2011) The Details • Born on February 8, 1932, in Flushing, Queens, New York City • Resides in Los Angeles, California • Composed in 2011 • John Williams conducted the premiere with IF YOU LIKED the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Keisuke THIS CONCERTO... Wakao as soloist on May 25, 2011 You will not want to • Scored for solo oboe and string orchestra miss Anne Akiko Meyer’s Approximate duration: 18 minutes. performance of Bernstein’s Serenade on March 24, 2018. The Background Regarded as the preeminent composer of Hollywood film scores, John Williams has captured the hearts of millions of movie goers. However, he has brought his compositional mastery to conventional concert forms completing two symphonies, multiple other orchestral works, song cycles, concertos for flute, violin, clarinet, viola, cello oboe, trumpet, french horn, bassoon, and tuba.
You also might like to hear the Kalamazoo Children’s Chorus join forces with the KSO for John Williams Three Holiday Songs from Home Alone on our annual Sounds of the Season. This program, December 16, 2017, will also feature Sara Andon as flute soloist.
The oboe concerto, commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for its oboist Keisuke Wakao, displays Williams’ compositional virtuosity and nuance. Set in three movements, Williams explores the expressive range of the oboe. From plaintive melodies to sprightly passagework, Williams masterful writing allows the oboe to shine.
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anton bruckner
1824 | 1896
Symphony No. 1 The Details • Composed from 1865-1866. • Premiered in Linz on May 9, 1868. • Bruckner made a number of small revisions in 1877 and 1879. This version is commonly regarded as the “Linz” version. • Bruckner completed a whole scale revision in 1890-91. This version is commonly regarded as the “Vienna” version. • Revised version received its premiere with Hans Richter conducting at the Vienna Musikverein on December 13, 1891. • Scored for three flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, and strings. • Bruckner set the symphony in four movements. Approximate duration: 45 minutes. The Background Few composers elicit as many strong and varied opinions as Anton Bruckner. In fact, it seems you either love or strongly dislike his music. While Bruckner lovers wax eloquent about the virtues of his music, others forcibly argue to the contrary. No matter which side of the divide you find yourself, hearing Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1 is not to be missed. A pious and plain-spoken organist and composer, Anton Bruckner often received ridicule for his backwoods demeanor. He spoke in the upper Austrian dialect of his youth and his simple clothing did not jibe with the refined tastes of the Austrian elite. For ten years (1845-55), he served primarily as teacher and organist at the Sankt Florian in Linz. However in 1855, his aspirations led him to study with renowned Viennese theorist, Simon Sechter. He continued his studies while he worked—splitting his time between Linz and Vienna. This study period proved exceedingly fruitful. In 1868, Bruckner, after much hesitation, accepted Sechter’s post at the Vienna Conservatory and turned his focus almost exclusively to writing symphonies. The first symphony, predates this symphonic focus. In fact, a fortuitous event in 1863 proved pivotal in his evolution towards the symphony. This event was the performance of Wagner’s Tannhäuser in Linz. Wagner’s use of the orchestra captivated Bruckner’s imagination. (He cared so little about the opera plots that at a later performance of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung Bruckner was puzzled as to why they burned the woman at the end.) Bruckner immediately began work on a study symphony and upon completion, began work on his Symphony No. 1. Bruckner’s first symphony finally received its premiere in Linz on May 9, 1868. No other performances followed. He was occupied by more symphony projects and thus kept his Symphony No. 1 locked in a drawer. He held a soft
2017 | 2018 Season
spot for this work, nicknaming it “das kecke Beserl“ (loosely translated, “the cheeky brat”). After small revisions in 1877 and 1879, he decided on a wholescale revision of the symphony. Hans Richter conducted the premiere of this new “Vienna” version on December 13, 1891 in Vienna’s Musikverein to great acclaim. Tonight’s performance follows this new revision. In hearing this version of the first symphony, we experience Bruckner’s genius distilled. We hear his penchant for themes which exist primarily for thematic development and for sprawling forms held together by his grand architectural vision. At forty-five minutes, the symphony is shorter IF YOU LIKED than all his other symphonies—a distillation THIS SYMPHONY... of his symphonic thought. Furthermore, this symphony highlights Bruckner’s unique place You will enjoy the KSO’s among symphonists. Having completed his performance of Brahms’ studies at the age of forty (shortly before Second Symphony on composition of his first symphony) he only November 11, 2017 with achieved fame and recognition after the age Edwin Outwater conducting of 60 (just before he completed revisions of his and the KSO’s performance first symphony). Thus, Bruckner’s Symphony of Beethoven’s Seventh No. 1 encompasses his entire symphonic output. Symphony on February 24, 2018 with Andrew Grams conducting. The Context (1866) • Jesse James holds up his first bank, stealing $15,000 from the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri • Andrew Johnson vetoes civil rights bill (it later becomes 14th amendment which was passed on June 13, 1866) • German premier Otto von Bismarck seriously wounded in assassination attempt • Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer • US Congress authorizes the nickel 5 cent piece • Frederick Douglass is first US black delegate to a national convention
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kalamazoo symphony orchestra FIRS T VIOL IN Jun-Ching Lin Concertmaster Julia Neckermann Mark Portolese Eleanor K. Pifer Tigran Shiganyan Violetta Todorova Krishna Baraily Louisa Blood Sophie Petroski* Janet Lyu* Joo Yun Preece* Joseph Deller* Jessica Bennett*
Joshua Holcomb* Karin Loberg Code* Sara Morrow*
BASSOON William Wheeler Alan Palider
CELLO Igor Cetkovic Carol Bullock Russell Calin Muresan Elizabeth Start Lisa Bressler Nola Matthews Thole Lillian Pettitt David Machavariani Silvia Sidorane* Jordan Hamilton†
FRE N CH H ORN Michael Wood Margaret Hamilton Elizabeth Fairlie Judge Tamara Kosinski Kelly Langenberg*
S ECON D VIO L IN Lisa A. Williams Julie Evans Little Hsin-Ju Yu Benita Barber Tatiana Zueva Norma-Jean Forshey Michelle Bessemer* Andrew Koehler* Lorri Hedlund* Irina Kagan* Michael Acosta* Negar Afazel†
BAS S Anders Dahlberg Noah Krzan Matthew Boothe Frank R. Tramp Jason Niehoff Dominic Azkoul Brett Lewis* Joy Rowland*
TROM BON E Edward S. Hickman Rick Uren Sebastian Bell
VIOLA Grace Byrd Mikhail Bugaev Nora R. Frisk Arturo Ziraldo Patricia Goodman Kathy Connor Tomio Anderson
F L UT E Yukie Ota Nancy Rinaldi Williams Jenny Robinson OBOE Brad Smith Maria Schneider C L ARIN E T Georgiy Borisov Cory Tiffin*
TRU M P E T Stephen Jones* Pamela Smitter Keith Geiman*
TU BA Robert Whaley TIM P AN I Mark Guthrie P E RCU SSION Judy Moonert Kenneth Jones 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
2017 | 2018 Season
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. GIFTS 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 Rick & Lynn Russell Dixie L. Stafford Luis F. Velez
IN ME MO RY O F Thom Andrews Jane Rooks Ross & Barry F. Ross John & Joan Thomas Mary L. Tyler Jerry Diment Nancy Diment Donnita Hahnenberg Chris & Kathy Shook Norman H. Knight John Holmes & Jane Nelson-Holmes Esther Trann Kelly 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 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 Peter Thomas Mary L. Tyler
Season 97 | 2017-2018