Blossom Music Festival 2015

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saturday July 11 FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT

BEETHOVEN’S NINTH SYMPHONY The Cleveland Orchestra Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Tamara Wilson, soprano Nancy Maultsby, mezzo-soprano Stuart Skelton, tenor Dashon Burton, bass-baritone Blossom Festival Chorus

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PHOTOGRAPH BY CARL JUSTE

BEETHOVEN ’S NINTH SYMPHONY

Politics, Religion, and the Age of Enlightenment

by Franz Welser-Möst

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

W H Y I S B E E T H O V E N ’ S N I N T H so popular? Is it just the famous mel-

ody in the last movement that everyone can very simply sing along with and that has been used by so many for so many purposes? I don’t think so. This symphony is a high point in humanity coming to terms with being human.

The political significance of the Ninth has never been in doubt. When Leonard Bernstein performed it in Berlin in 1989 after the Wall came down, for example, or when I had the honor of conducting Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the London Philharmonic in South Africa in 1994, after Nelson Mandela became President. The chorus in Johannesburg consisted of people who up until then had been in conflict. It was a very moving moment in my life, and I will remember forever their expression of the desire that all society should grow together in a cultivated and civilized manner.

But like any great work of art, to be fully understood, the Ninth Symphony has to be viewed as a product of its time. The ideas Beethoven embodied in the Ninth Symphony grew out of the philosophy of the Enlightenment and the political vision of the French Revolution, both of which made a profound impact on him as a young man. The work is also a reflection on religion — a humane form of Christianity in which the revoBlossom Music Festival

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

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lutionary ideal of fraternity is reconciled with the image of Christ as the “Brother.”

(The Enlightenment placed humans in the center of all thinking, believing that reason and human thought could understand God’s Universe; whereas previously God Almighty had been alone at the center of understanding.)

The Ninth also shows influences from Freemasonry, as well as parallels with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a contemporary of Beethoven, in the way intellectual and religious ideas of sepa-

At the end of his life, Beethoven tried to encompass many theological, political, and philosophical ideas. The Ninth Symphony brings together all that Beethoven believed and extends it to expressive new heights. rate origins are united and combined with one another.

Friedrich Schiller, author of the text of the “Ode to Joy,” shared Beethoven’s ideals and was in every way a representative of the Enlightenment. Schiller called joy a “divine spark.” That spark is deep inside each of us — the knowledge that we all belong together, regardless of our differences. On one hand, we have a primal instinct to fight; yet on the other, we have just as great an innate

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need for harmony, for peace — a longing to come to an understanding with others. All this is addressed and articulated by Beethoven in a very direct and immediate way, through the text and through the music.

Nearing the end of his life, Beethoven tried to encompass all of these theological, political, and philosophical ideas. Like its sister work, the Missa solemnis, which exceeded everything that had ever been said in sacred music, the Ninth Symphony brings together all that Beethoven believed and takes it to new expressive heights.

MUSICAL SYMBOLISM

For every composer, keys can be understood as spiritual spaces of expression. Beethoven uses three tonalities prominently in this symphony: D minor, B-flat major, and D major. Simply put, D minor stands for death, B-flat major for faith and hope, and D major for human victory and jubilation. The Ninth Symphony begins not in D minor but a fifth above, in a whisper, as if the great question of human life were emerging from the primeval mist. The powerful, strict rhythms increase in dynamics to a fortissimo, as Beethoven tackles some elementary questions that go to the core of human existence. The second theme, which begins in B-flat major, centers on the interval of the perfect fourth, which through the ages had been symbolic of Christ. The theme’s ascent in this key is a reference to Beethoven’s hope for humans at the time of the Enlightenment.

Symbolism of nature also has a place in the Ninth. The first movement coda evokes, for a moment, a natural

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

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idyll in a rural setting: nature as the defining principle of human thinking — a faith in nature that Beethoven had earlier expressed in his Sixth Symphony, the “Pastoral.” Part of the first theme, which was played powerfully and ominously by the entire orchestra in D minor earlier,

Beethoven’s Ninth not only raises questions about humanity, but offers answers as to how we can respond — based on the ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity, free thought, and a profound vision of human solidarity. now returns in a soft and visionary form in D major, played by the horn (a symbol of nature). In the Trio section of the second-movement Scherzo, too, a nature idyll appears before our hearing eye; what is more, it anticipates the famous melody of the last movement, uniting the concepts of nature and liberty.

The last movement begins with a piercing dissonance, combining the tonalities D minor (death) and B-flat major (hope), which have predominated until now. When first a human voice is heard, it warns us that we shouldn’t be concentrating on dissonances but rather on harmony, created through joy, through the joy of fraternal coexistence where everyone is equal.

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The melody of joy is followed by a quick march in B-flat major, a key we heard earlier, where Beethoven shows us that hope and faith in these ideals will allow us to reach out for the stars.

After this has been presented in the text by a tenor solo and the chorus, a fugue ensues, representing, as in the Missa solemnis, the great internal and external struggle of humanity, before the entire chorus jubilantly sings the melody of joy in march tempo.

The grandiose double fugue develops this ode to joy, before Beethoven once more hints at the political dimension of the work in the final section, reminiscent of the famous liberation duet from Beethoven’s opera, Fidelio. Here Beethoven uses all his strength to bring the religious, political, and philosophical dimensions together.

L I B E R T Y, E Q U A L I T Y, A N D J O Y

All of this, and more, is the reason why the Ninth Symphony moves us so much even today. It not only raises questions about humanity but also offers answers as to how we can, and perhaps should, respond — based on the ideals of liberty, equality, fraternity, free thought, and a profound vision of human solidarity.

The upcoming 2015-16 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s fourteenth season as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony

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BakerHostetler is proud to sponsor the opening performance of The Cleveland Orchestra Blossom Music Festival season with Music Director Franz Welser-MÜst Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

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BLOSSOM MUSIC FESTIVAL

Saturday evening, July 11, 2015, at 8:00 p.m.

THE CLEVEL AND ORCHESTRA F R A N Z W E L S E R - M Ö S T , conductor

OLIVIER MESSIAEN (1908-1992)

L’Ascension, four méditations symphoniques 1. Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père [Majesty of Christ Asking Glory from His Father] 2. Alléluias sereins d’une âme qui désire le ciel [Serene Hallelujahs of a Soul Desiring Heaven] 3. Alléluia sur la trompette, alléluia sur la cymbale [Hallelujah on the Trumpet, Hallelujah on the Cymbal] 4. Prière du Christ montant vers son Père [Christ’s Prayer Ascending to His Father] INTERMISSION

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)

Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”) in D minor, Opus 125 1.

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Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso Molto vivace — Presto — Tempo I Adagio molto e cantabile — Andante maestoso Presto — Allegro assai — Presto (Finale on Schiller’s “Ode to Joy”)

TAMARA WILSON, soprano NANCY MAULTSBY, mezzo-soprano STUART SKELTON, tenor DASHON BURTON, bass-baritone BLOSSOM FESTIVAL CHORUS Robert Porco, director

This concert is sponsored by the Blossom Women’s Committee and by BakerHostetler, a Cleveland Orchestra Partner in Excellence.

This concert is dedicated to Ms. Beth E. Mooney in recognition of her extraordinary generosity in support of The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2014-15 Annual Fund.

Media Partners: Northeast Ohio Media Group and Classical WCLV ideastream®

The 2015 Blossom Music Festival is presented by The J.M. Smucker Company.

Blossom Music Festival

Concert Program: July 11

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BLOSSOM WOMEN’S COMMITTEE The Blossom Women’s Committee is a volunteer organization dedicated to promoting and financially supporting The Cleveland Orchestra’s performances at Blossom Music Center.

Each summer, we present a trio of Gourmet Matinee luncheons at Blossom in Knight Grove. We invite you to attend this special series of meet-the-artist afternoon luncheons, featuring performances by Cleveland Orchestra musicians.

Please call 440-354-8603 for reservations and more information.

We are extremely proud to sponsor this evening’s concert with Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra and wish you a joyful musical evening.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Claire Frattare, President Lis Hugh, First Vice President Carol Eiber, Recording Secretary Sylvia Armstrong, Corresponding Secretary Nena Hankins, Treasurer Phyllis Knauf, Ex-Officio, Past President Emily McCartney and Sylvia Oliver, Honorary Chairs

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INTRODUCING THE CONCERT

Spiritual Reflection, Joyful Togetherness B E E T H O V E N ’ S N I N T H seems so familiar that it needs little introduction. Or so we think. The music courses its way from start to finish, from trembling uncertainty to brilliant and uplifting close. Yet its call for universal peace and togetherness, quite revolutionary in Beethoven’s time, can feel even more elusive in our strained and violent modern world.

As Franz Welser-Möst discusses beginning on page 3, Beethoven’s musical call for a better human society was a direct reflection of the composer’s worldview, formed in the Age of Enlightenment, when human thought and power and intellectual prowess, it was hoped, would evolve society toward a better world. The success of the ensuing two centuries can be debated, with myriad examples of success and failure, war and peace. But the universality of the text of the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony — of brotherhood and humanity working together — remains a worthy and LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN uplifting goal. Not just for singing, Oil painting, 1819, by Ferdinand Schimon but for day-to-day living.

The concert opens with a more introspective and sometimes quieter piece, written a century after Beethoven’s famous symphony. In L’Ascension, an early work by the Frenchman Olivier Messiaen, the composer began distilling his own formulation of philosophy and music, grounded in his unswerving Catholic faith and his belief in God, and good.

—Eric Sellen

The Cleveland Orchestra

Introducing the Concert

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world and fifteen United States premieres under Franz Welser-Möst’s direction. In partnership with the Lucerne Festival, he and the Orchestra have premiered works

by Harrison Birtwistle, Chen Yi, Hanspeter Kyburz, George Benjamin, Toshio Hosokawa, and Matthias Pintscher. In addition, the Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow program has brought new voices to the repertoire, including Pintscher, Marc-André

Franz Welser-Möst Music Director Kelvin Smith Family Endowed Chair The Cleveland Orchestra

marks Franz Welser-Möst’s fourteenth year as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra, with the future of this acclaimed partnership now extending into the next decade.

Under his direction, the Orchestra is hailed for its continuing artistic excellence, is broadening and enhancing its community programming at home in Northeast Ohio, is presented in a series of ongoing residencies in the United States and Europe, and has re-established itself as an important operatic ensemble.

With a commitment to music education and the Northeast Ohio community, Franz Welser-Möst has taken The Cleveland Orchestra back into public schools with performances in collaboration with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. He has championed new programs, such as a community-focused Make Music! initiative and a series of “At Home” neighborhood residencies designed to bring the Orchestra and citizens together in new ways.

Under Mr. Welser-Möst’s leadership, The Cleveland Orchestra has established a recurring biennial residency in Vienna at the famed Musikverein concert hall and appears regularly at Switzerland’s Lucerne Festival.

Together, they have also appeared in residence at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, and at the Salzburg Festival. In the United States, an annual multi-week Cleveland Orchestra residency in Florida was inaugurated in 2007 and an ongoing relationship with New York’s Lincoln Center Festival began in 2011.

To the start of this season, The Cleveland Orchestra has performed fourteen

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PHOTOGRAPH BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

THE UPCOMING 2015 -16 SE ASON

Dalbavie, Susan Botti, Julian Anderson, Johannes Maria Staud, Jörg Widmann, Sean Shepherd, and Ryan Wigglesworth.

Franz Welser-Möst has led annual opera performances during his tenure in Cleveland. Following six seasons of operain-concert presentations, he brought fully staged opera back to Severance Hall with a three-season cycle of Zurich Opera productions of the Mozart-Da Ponte operas. He led concert performances of Strauss’s Salome at Severance Hall and at Carnegie Hall in 2012 and in May 2014 led an innovative madefor-Cleveland production of Leoš Janáček’s Music Director

2015 Blossom Festival

The Cunning Little Vixen at Severance Hall.

He conducted performances of Richard Strauss’s Daphne in May 2015 and will present a Bartók doublebill in April 2016.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Welser-Möst enjoys a close and productive relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic. Recent performances with the Philharmonic include a critically-acclaimed production of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier at the 2014 Salzburg Festival and a tour of Scandinavia, as well as appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, at the Lucerne Festival, and in concert at La Scala Milan. This summer, he leads them in a new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio at the 2015 Salzburg Festival. He conducted the Philharmonic’s celebrated annual New Year’s Day concert in 2011 and 2013, viewed by tens of millions by telecast worldwide.

Mr. Welser-Möst also maintains relationships with a number of other European orchestras, and the 2015-16 season includes return engagements to Munich’s Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra. He also makes his long-anticipated debut with Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for two weeks of concerts, and conducts the Filarmonica of La Scala Milan in a televised Christmas concert. He will also conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in two weeks of subscription concerts, lead the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in the Nobel Prize concert in Stockholm, and conduct a new production of Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae at the 2016 Salzburg Festival.

From 2010 to 2014, Franz Welser-Möst served as general music director of the Vienna State Opera. His partnership with the company included an acclaimed new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle and a series of critically-praised new productions, Blossom Music Festival

Music Director

as well as performances of a wide range of other operas, particularly of works by Wagner and Richard Strauss. Prior to his years with the Vienna State Opera, Mr. WelserMöst led the Zurich Opera across a decadelong tenure, leading more than forty new productions and culminating in three seasons as general music director (2005-08).

Franz Welser-Möst’s recordings and videos have won major awards, including a Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, Japanese Record Academy Award, and two Grammy nominations. With The Cleveland Orchestra, he has created DVD recordings of live performances of five of Bruckner’s symphonies, and is in the midst of a new project recording major works by Brahms. With Cleveland, he has also released a recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and an all-Wagner album. DVD releases on the EMI label have included Mr. Welser-Möst leading Zurich Opera productions of The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier, Fierrabras, and Peter Grimes.

For his talents and dedication, Mr. Welser-Möst has received honors that include the Vienna Philharmonic’s “Ring of Honor” for his longstanding personal and artistic relationship with the ensemble, as well as recognition from the Western Law Center for Disability Rights, honorary membership in the Vienna Singverein, appointment as an Academician of the European Academy of Yuste, a Gold Medal from the Upper Austrian government for his work as a cultural ambassador, a Decoration of Honor from the Republic of Austria for his artistic achievements, and the Kilenyi Medal from the Bruckner Society of America. He is the co-author of Cadences: Observations and Conversations, published in a German edition in 2007.

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L’Ascension, Four Symphonic Meditations composed 1932-33

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Olivier

MESSIAEN born December 10, 1908 Avignon, France died April 28, 1992 Paris

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S O M E C O M P O S E R S labor for years before finding their own voice. But Olivier Messiaen, even in his earliest works, sounds like Messiaen and no one else. This is all the more surprising when we realize that in the early 1930s Messiaen had not yet discovered the sources that so much of his later music was built upon. In L’Ascension, we find neither birdsong nor rhythms derived from the Indian raga system. Rather, we see (or hear) Messiaen’s language emerge before our eyes as passages influenced by his early models — chiefly Debussy and Stravinsky — begin to evolve in new directions.

One bedrock of Messiaen’s music was, in any case, present from the start. This was the composer’s Catholic faith, which is behind every note he composed — from his earliest works, Le banquet céleste (“The Celestial Feast”) to his last, Éclairs sur l’audelà (“Flashes of the Otherworld”). Thanks in large part to this strong religious foundation, Messiaen’s music always preserves its seriousness. This does not preclude the expression of serene, even joyful feelings, but the overall sense always remains majestic and dignified.

Messiaen was only 25 when he completed L’Ascension. He had graduated from the Paris Conservatoire just three years earlier. Since 1931, he had been the organist at the Church of the Trinity in Paris, a position he would hold for the rest of his life.

In his largest orchestral work to date, he reflected on the Feast of the Ascension. Here, Christ’s reunion with His Father gives cause for joy, but also for the contemplation of a deep mystery.

Messiaen prefaced each movement with a quote from the Bible or the Catholic liturgy to set the tone.

Movement 1. Majesty of Christ Asking for Glory from His Father. “Father, the hour has come: glorify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You” (John 17:1). Scored for wind instruments alone, this movement is in an extremely slow tempo and is almost entirely homophonic (all the voices play in the same rhythm much of the time). Many of the chords are still tonal — the progressions often end with perfect triads. But in many harmonies extra notes are added to the common ones to produce special sonorities that are instantly recognizable as Messiaen’s.

Movement 2. Serene Alleluias of a Soul Desiring Heaven.

“O God, we pray you, let us dwell in Heaven in spirit” (Mass of

About the Music

2015 Blossom Festival

the Ascension). The opening of the movement, again scored for winds alone, presents a unison melody of the same type as those Messiaen later transcribed during his ornithological field trips. It is interesting that long before he began the active study of birdsong, he already heard its melodic shape and rhythmic freedom in his head. This prototype of Messiaen’s later “bird” themes is combined with murmuring string sounds; the movement ends with a recapitulation of the theme in the winds enveloped by a radiant outburst of string tremolos and harmonics.

Movement 3. Alleluia on a Trumpet, Alleluia on the Cymbals.

“The Lord has risen to the sound of the trumpet. . . . Nations, all clap your hands; celebrate God with cries of gladness!” (Psalm 47).

This is the most traditional movement of the four. The influence of Debussy and of Messiaen’s teacher Paul Dukas is much stronger than elsewhere. (It is significant that in the organ version of L’Ascension, Messiaen replaced this movement with an entirely new piece, Transports de joie d’une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne, “Raptures of a Soul over the Glory of Christ which is Its Own”). The movement opens with lively dance rhythms and includes a slower section that is probably closer to Ravel than anything Messiaen ever wrote. The fast tempo then resumes and the music becomes more and more excited. After a brief fanfare in a clear E-flat major, the movement ends with a conventional (but highly effective) fugato — another Messiaen rarity.

Movement 4. Prayer of Christ Ascending to His Father. “Father . . . I have revealed Your name to humanity. . . . Now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I come to you” (John 17: 1, 6, and 11). This movement is scored for strings only.

The entire first violin section plays the top voice with mutes.

The other voices are played without mutes by selected soloists from the orchestra: five second violins, five violas, and two cellos. The tempo is even slower than in the first movement; the texture is again homophonic, and the harmonies iridescent and otherworldly. The music climbs higher and higher (in keeping with the idea of Ascension) and ends on a resplendent dominantseventh chord. According to Western musical conventions, this chord would call for resolution, but in this context, the lack of resolution is a perfect ending point for this quite extraordinary set of harmonies.

—Peter Laki © 2015

At a Glance Messiaen composed L’Ascension for orchestra in 1932-33. (In 1934, he arranged three of the four movements for organ, replacing the third movement with new music.) The first performance of the orchestral version was given in Paris in February 1935, conducted by Robert Siohan.

The United States premiere took place in 1947 under the direction of Serge Koussevitzky.

This work runs about 30 minutes in performance.

Messiaen scored it for 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (triangle, cymbals, tambourine, bass drum), and strings.

The Cleveland Orchestra first performed Messiaen’s L’Ascension in January 1948, under George Szell’s direction. The most recent performance was led by Pierre Boulez in February 2010.

Peter Laki is a visiting associate professor at Bard College and a frequent lecturer and writer on music.

The Cleveland Orchestra

About the Music

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Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”) in D minor, Opus 125 composed 1822-24

by

Ludwig van

BEETHOVEN born December 16, 1770 Bonn died March 26, 1827 Vienna

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O N E O F T H E G R E A T public events of Beethoven’s career took place in the Kärtnertor Theater in Vienna on May 7, 1824. It was announced as a “Grand Musical Concert by Herr L.v. Beethoven,” consisting of “A Grand Overture,” “Three Grand Hymns with Solo and Chorus Voices,” and “A Grand Symphony with Solo and Chorus Voices entering in the finale on Schiller’s ‘Ode to Joy’.” The overture was the one that Beethoven had written in 1822 titled Die Weihe des Hauses (“The Consecration of the House”). The “Hymns” were three movements — the Kyrie, Credo, and Agnus Dei — from his great Missa Solemnis, and the concert would be the first time any of this work was heard in Vienna, although there had been a complete performance in St. Petersburg the previous month. The symphony was, of course, Beethoven’s Ninth and last, and it was receiving its first performance only a few weeks after it had been completed.

The concert was arranged as a benefit for Beethoven, whose financial situation was far from comfortable at this period. It was preceded by many difficult negotiations, made more difficult by the composer’s deafness and frequent ill temper. In its wake came further unpleasantness, Beethoven angrily accusing the management of cheating him out of some of the revenue due to him. The performance itself, however, was a great success, with a large audience assembled not only to hear the music, but also to pay homage to a celebrated figure who was now rarely seen in public. Beethoven stood on the platform, turning the pages of the score and beating time; but the conductor had warned the performers to take no notice of him. By now he was so deaf that he could not even hear the huge applause.

A famous story tells how he had to be turned gently around by one of the soloists to acknowledge it.

Most of the composition of the Ninth Symphony followed almost immediately on the completion of the Missa Solemnis at the beginning of 1823. It had been sparked off by a commission for a new symphony that Beethoven had received from the Philharmonic Society of London towards the end of 1822. The first draft of the symphony was completed by September 1823, and the final score was ready in March 1824. This was an astonishing rate of progress for a work of such dimensions and such originality, the more so as it followed so closely the composer’s

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mighty labors on the Missa Solemnis.

But although it grew so quickly, the roots of the Ninth Symphony extend deep into Beethoven’s career. One of his notebooks dating from 1818 includes plans for what were at that stage two distinct symphonies — a revival of interest in a form that he had not attempted since completing the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies in 1812. One of these new works was planned to be in D minor, and the other was to incorporate a chorus in the slow movement and finale, singing texts based on classical mythology.

Beethoven seems to have worked on the first movement of the projected D-minor symphony at that time, and to have returned to it during 1822. Even before the concept of the symphony (or symphonies) had been formulated, the first three measures of the main theme of the scherzo were jotted in a notebook of 1815, and again in 1817. And the wonderfully strong and simple main theme of the finale is clearly anticipated in the similar theme of the closing section of the Choral Fantasia of 1808, and even earlier than that in a little song called Gegenliebe (“Requited Love”) that Beethoven wrote in the mid-1790s.

It was in the 1790s, too, that Beethoven first conceived the idea of setting the “Ode to Joy” (An die Freude) by Friedrich Schiller. This “elevated Trinklied” or drinking song, as Beethoven’s biographer Maynard Solomon describes it, had been published in 1786. The much repeated suggestion that it was originally intended as an ode not to joy (Freude) but to freedom (Freiheit) seems to have originated after Schiller’s (and Beethoven’s) time — but even so the poem’s mood of exultation at the brotherhood of mankind must have appealed to the young and idealistic composer. He may even have already completed a setting of it for voice and piano — in 1793, one of his friends in his native Bonn told Schiller’s wife in a letter that Beethoven intended to do so; and in 1803, one of the composer’s associates in Vienna offered a publisher such a setting as one of a number of songs Beethoven had written in the previous four years. Later, Beethoven’s sketchbooks include several references to the Ode, now apparently in connection with a choral overture. But it may only have been at a comparatively late stage that he decided to bring together the idea of a setting of the Ode (or at least, of a selection of stanzas amounting to about a third of the poem) with the project for a Symphony in D minor.

The Ninth Symphony, then, represents the culmination of a long creative process, and maybe even a conscious summingBlossom Festival 2015

About the Music

The concert that featured the premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth was arranged as a benefit for the composer, whose financial situation was far from comfortable at the time. Ironically for a symphony filled with joy, it was preceded by many difficult negotiations, made more difficult by the composer’s deafness and frequent ill temper.

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At a Glance A theme from the Ninth Symphony appears in Beethoven’s sketchbooks as early as 1815, and there are some extended sketches of the first movement dating from 1817-18. However, Beethoven did not begin concentrated work on the symphony until 1822, and completed the score in February 1824. It was first performed on May 7, 1824, at Vienna’s Kärtnertor, conducted by Michael Umlauf (although Beethoven was also onstage beating time).

This symphony runs about 70 minutes in performance. Beethoven scored it for 2 flutes and piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, percussion (triangle, cymbals, and bass drum), and strings, plus a vocal quartet and 4-part chorus.

The Cleveland Orchestra has recorded Beethoven’s Ninth four times: in 1961 with George Szell, in 1978 with Lorin Maazel, in 1985 with Christoph von Dohnányi, and in 2007 with Franz WelserMöst.

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up of a symphonic career. Beethoven was seriously ill in 1824, after his massive efforts of the previous five years. And although he was to live another three years, he completed no more music for orchestra. He abandoned his sketches for a possible Tenth Symphony and instead concentrated almost all of his remaining energy on the medium of the string quartet.

THE MUSIC

The overwhelming impression created by the Ninth Symphony is of its vast scale. This is obvious right at the start, where fragments of arpeggios are gradually assembled against a sustained background, as if out of a mist, in a crescendo from softest pianissimo to the loudest fortissimo statement of the first subject. This opening movement, a sonata structure with an expansive coda as well as a full-scale development section, establishes the three tonal centers of the whole work: D minor, its basic key; B-flat major, the (unconventional) key in which the second subject is introduced; and D major, which is glimpsed only occasionally, notably in a brief blaze of light at the start of the recapitulation — a moment that looks forward to Mahler as clearly as the opening does to Bruckner.

The second movement is a scherzo on a comparably large scale, its D-minor outer sections in a sonata form of their own, its Trio a self-contained section in a contrasting tempo (Presto), key (D major), and even time-signature (2/2). This sense of polar opposition between sections of the same movement even extends to the slow third movement, which alternates between a serene 4/4 Adagio in B-flat major and a more expressive 3/4 Andante in (initially) D major — a plan that resembles a massively expanded version of one of Haydn’s sets of double variations.

Thus far, in fact, the Viennese audience of 1824 would have acknowledged all three movements as belonging to recognizable symphonic movement types, albeit on an unprecedented scale, in an unconventional order, and with many unusual features of instrumentation. Among the instrumental innovations are, in the scherzo, the melodic use of the timpani, tuned not to the customary tonic and dominant, D and A, but to two Fs an octave apart; and in the slow movement, the extended and wide-ranging solo for the fourth horn at the second return of the Adagio, which may have been intended for an early model of the valve-horn.

The fourth-movement finale, however, would have seemed to its first audiences something altogether new — and not only About the Music

The Cleveland Orchestra

because of the introduction of voices. To start with, there is the blazingly discordant opening (on a D-minor triad with an added B flat). This leads to a review of the main themes of the previous movements, linked by passages of instrumental recitative on cellos and basses, and then to the quiet first statement and gradual blossoming of the great main hymn tune in D major.

Only after a return of the opening cacophony, now even more stridently discordant, does the solo bass-baritone enter, putting words of Beethoven’s own to the recitative in an invitation to join in more joyful sounds. So begins the choral finale proper, a highly original combination of free variation and rondo forms. Its wide range encompasses an extended episode in 6/8 march time (in B-flat major, and including the percussion instruments known at the time as “Turkish music”), followed by a fierce fugato (leading back to D major); then later a solemn treatment of the more visionary verses that Beethoven selected from Schiller’s Ode; and finally an irresistible affirmation of joy.

—Anthony Burton © 2015 Anthony Burton is a British writer on music. After studying at Cambridge, he began his career in the United States at the Hopkins Center of Dartmouth College. He subsequently worked in production and as a broadcaster on BBC Radio 3 and BBC World Service.

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BANDWAGON GIFT SHOP Music is in the air! Take advantage of the moment and browse our large selection of musical gifts and Cleveland Orchestra signature items. Open before each Blossom Festival concert, at intermissions, and for post-concert purchases, too! We have a selection of new summertime merchandise — and special bargains every night. Plus CDs and DVDs of artists and music being presented this summer. Stop in, and take the music home!

Blossom Festival 2015

About the Music

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Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”) music by Ludwig van Beethoven texts adapted from An die Freude (“Ode to Joy”)

by Friedrich von Schiller BASS RECITATIVE (text by Beethoven)

O friends, not these sounds!

Let us sing more pleasant and more joyful ones instead.

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!

Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, Und freudenvollere.

BASS SOLO AND CHORUS (remainder of text by Schiller)

Joy, beautiful divine spark, daughter from Paradise, We enter, drunk with fire, Heavenly One, into your sanctuary.

Your magic reunites what daily life has rigorously kept apart, All men become brothers wherever your gentle wings abide.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

Deine Zauber binden wieder Was die Mode streng geteilt, Alle Menschen werden Brüder Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

SOLO QUARTET AND CHORUS

Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen, Eines Freundes Freund zu sein, Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, Mische seinen Jubel ein!

Ja — wer auch nur eine Seele Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!

Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle Weinend sich aus diesem Bund.

Anyone who has been greatly fortunate to be a true friend to a friend, each man who’s found a gracious wife, should rejoice with us!

Yes, anyone who can claim but a single soul as his or her own in all the world!

But anyone who has known none of this, must steal away, weeping, from our company.

Freude trinken alle Wesen An den Brüsten der Natur, Alle Guten, alle Bösen Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.

Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod, Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben, Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.

All beings drink of Joy at Nature’s breasts, all good creatures, all evil creatures follow her rosy path.

She has given us kisses and vines, a friend loyal unto death, pleasure was given to the worm, and the angel stands before God.

TENOR SOLO AND MEN ’ S CHORUS

Tenor Happily as the sun flies across the sky’s magnificent expanse, hurry, brothers, along your path, joyfully, like a hero to the conquest.

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan, Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.

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Sung Text and Translation

2015 Blossom Festival

CHORUS

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

Deine Zauber binden wieder Was die Mode streng geteilt, Alle Menschen werden Brüder Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Joy, beautiful divine spark, daughter from Paradise, We enter, drunk with fire, Heavenly One, into your sanctuary.

Your magic reunites what daily life has rigorously kept apart, All men become brothers wherever your gentle wings abide.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!

Brüder — überm Sternenzelt Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.

Be embraced, you millions!

This kiss for the entire world!

Brothers — beyond the starry canopy a loving Father must dwell.

CHORUS

Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?

Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?

Such’ ihn überm Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muss er wohnen.

Do you fall to your knees, you millions?

Do you sense the Creator, world?

Seek Him above the starry canopy, beyond the stars he must dwell.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.

Joy, beautiful divine spark, daughter from Paradise, We enter, drunk with fire, Heavenly One, into your sanctuary.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!

Be embraced, you millions!

This kiss for the whole world!

Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?

Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?

Brüder — überm Sternenzelt Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.

Do you fall to your knees, you millions?

Do you sense the Creator, world?

Brothers — beyond the starry canopy a loving Father must dwell.

SOLO QUARTET AND CHORUS

Freude, Tochter aus Elysium, Deine Zauber binden wieder Was die Mode streng geteilt, Alle Menschen werden Brüder Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Solo Joy, daughter of Elysium, Your magic reunites what daily life has rigorously kept apart, All men become brothers wherever your gentle wings abide.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen!

Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!

Brüder — überm Sternenzelt Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Freude, schöner Götterfunken!

Be embraced, all people!

This kiss for the whole world!

Brothers — beyond the starry canopy a loving Father must dwell.

Joy, beautiful divine spark!

Daughter from Paradise!

Joy, beautiful divine spark!

(English translation by Eric Sellen)

The Cleveland Orchestra

Sung Text and Translation

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Tamara Wilson

Nancy Maultsby

American soprano Tamara Wilson is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. Her honors include the George London Award and both a 2008 study grant and 2011 career grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. She was also a finalist in the 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In addition to her operatic and orchestral performances, Ms. Wilson lectures on vocal technique in the Chicago area. Her recent and future schedule includes performances at the Canadian Opera Company, English National Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Los Angeles Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Opera Australia, Oper Frankfurt, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, and Washington National Opera. In concert, Tamara Wilson has performed with the orchestras of Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Louis, and Washington D.C., along with the American Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. She has been a frequent guest at the Oregon Bach Festival and is making her Cleveland Orchestra debut with this evening’s performance. For more information, visit www.tamarawilsonsoprano.com.

American mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby sings with opera companies and orchestras around the world, in repertoire from Monteverdi to John Adams. She made her Cleveland Orchestra debut in March 1998 and most recently appeared in Strauss’s Daphne in May 2015. After graduating from Westminster Choir College, she studied with Margaret Harshaw at Indiana University School of Music. Ms. Maultsby is an alumna of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Center for American Artists and winner of the Marian Anderson and Martin E. Segal awards. She is currently a member of the voice faculty at Baldwin Wallace University. Nancy Maultsby regularly performs as heroines of 19th-century French, Italian, and German opera in venues including the Boston Lyric Opera, Dutch National Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, Teatro Colón, and Washington National Opera. She has appeared with the orchestras of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, San Francisco, and Toronto, among others, and has recorded for BIS, Naxos, and Telarc.

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Soloists

Blossom Music Festival

Stuart Skelton

Dashon Burton

Named Male Singer of the Year at the 2014 International Opera Awards, Australian Stuart Skelton is considered among the finest heroic tenors of his generation. He performs in major concert halls and opera houses reaching from Asia and Australia to Europe and North America.

He made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in January 2009. Acclaimed for his performances in operas by Beethoven, Britten, Strauss, and Wagner, Mr. Skelton received his first Robert Helpmann Award for the role of Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre, and his second for the title role of Britten’s Peter Grimes. In concert, Stuart Skelton’s repertoire ranges across works

by Beethoven, Dvořák, Mahler, and Verdi.

He received his early musical training in Sydney, Australia, and earned a master’s degree in 1995 from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Mr. Skelton also participated in the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship and was the first Australian to win the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna. For additional information, visit www.stuartskelton.com.

American bass-baritone Dashon Burton made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in May 2005. He began his studies at Case Western Reserve University, graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and earned a master of music from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music in 2011. He has performed at the Bethlehem Bach Festival in Pennsylvania, Carmel Bach Festival, Cincinnati May Festival, and Spoleto USA Festival, and with the Charlotte Symphony, Copenhagen’s Le Concert Lorrain, Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society, Oratorio Society of New York, Philharmonia Baroque, and the Yale Schola Cantorum, among other ensembles.

An advocate of new music, Mr. Burton has premiered works by William Brittelle and Edie Hill. He is a founding member of Roomful of Teeth, an ensemble devoted to new compositions and winner of the 2013 Grammy for Best Chamber Music/ Small Ensemble Performance. Mr. Burton received top prizes from the ARD International Music Competition and International Vocal Competition in the Netherlands, and the 2012 Oratorio Society of New York Competition. He recently recorded Lori Laitman’s Holocaust 1944 for Acis Productions.

The Cleveland Orchestra

Soloists

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Robert Porco Director of Choruses Frances P. and Chester C. Bolton Endowed Chair The Cleveland Orchestra

Robert Porco became director of choruses for The Cleveland Orchestra in 1998. In addition to overseeing choral activities and preparing the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and the Blossom Festival Chorus for a variety of concert programs each season, Mr. Porco conducts the Orchestra’s annual series of Christmas concerts at Severance Hall and regularly conducts subscription concert programs both at Severance Hall and Blossom. He has also served as director of choruses for the Cincinnati May Festival since 1989.

In 2011, Mr. Porco was honored by Chorus America with its annual Michael Korn Founders Award for a lifetime of significant contributions to the professional choral art. The Ohio native served as chairman of the choral department at Indiana University 1980-98, and in recent years has taught doctoral-level conducting at the school.

As teacher and mentor, Mr. Porco has guided and influenced the development of hundreds of musicians, many of whom are now active as professional conductors, singers, or teachers. As a sought-after guest instructor and coach, he has taught at Harvard University, Westminster Choir College, and the University of Miami Frost School of Music.

Lisa Wong

Assistant Director of Choruses

Lisa Wong became assistant director of choruses for The Cleveland Orchestra with the 2010-11 season. In this capacity, she assists in preparing the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and Blossom Festival Chorus for performances each year. With the 2012-13 season, she took on the added position of director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus. In addition to her duties at Severance Hall, Ms. Wong is a faculty member at the College of Wooster, where she conducts the Wooster Chorus and the Wooster Singers and teaches courses in conducting and music education. She previously taught in public and private schools in New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, where she worked with the choral department of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (including directing the Chamber Choir of the Indiana University Children’s Choir). Active as a clinician, guest conductor, and adjudicator, Ms. Wong holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from West Chester University and master’s and doctoral degrees in choral conducting from Indiana University.

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Cleveland Orchestra Chorus

2015 Blossom Festival

Blossom Festival Chorus Robert Porco, Director Lisa Wong, Assistant Director

The Blossom Festival Chorus was created in 1968 for the inaugural set of concerts opening Blossom with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”). Members of this volunteer chorus are selected each spring from the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and through open auditions of singers from throughout Northeast Ohio. The Blossom Festival Chorus has been featured in 150 concerts at Blossom in addition to select other summertime performances with The Cleveland Orchestra.

BEETHOVEN’S NINTH SYMPHONY SOPRANOS

Lou Albertson Kate Atherton Amanda Baker Karen Bauer-Blazer Melissa Biltz Emily Bzdafka Adriana Changet Karla Cummins Anna K. Dendy Emily Engle Lisa Rubin Falkenberg Rosalyn M. Gaier Lisa Georges Lou Goodwin Sandhya Gupta Josephine Gwinnell Julia Halamek Becky Hall Lisa Hrusovsky Kirsten Jaegersen Shannon R. Jakubczak Adrienne Leska Dawn G. Liston Kate Macy Sara Stone Miller Angela Mitchell Heather Morrison Roberta Myers Julie Myers-Pruchenski S. Mikhaila Noble-Pace Sarah Osburn Lenore M. Pershing Christine Piatak Nadia Robinson Hannah Royer Meghan Schatt Monica Schie Laurel Hines Seeds Rebecca Seiler Sharon Shaffer Valerie Sibila

The Cleveland Orchestra

BASSES

Laurie Starner Megan Tettau Shelby Wanen Mary Krason Wiker Mary Wilson Sasha Ross Yasinow Kathryn Zorman ALTOS

Alexandria Albainy Emily Austin Beth Bailey Debbie Bates Terry Boyarsky Jennifer L. Calhoun Kathy Chuparkoff Brianna Clifford Barbara J. Clugh Nichole Criss Brooke Emmel Madison Fallon Angelica Fulop Nancy Gage Diana Gardner Ann Marie Hardulak Laura Skelly Higgins Julie Evans Hoffman Gloria R. Homolak Karen Hunt Anney Jeandrevin Cynthia Kenepp Lucia Leszczuk Charlotte Linebaugh Anna McMullen Karla McMullen Donna Miller Connie Moon Patrice Moore Marta Perez-Stable Macie Poskarbiewicz Beverly Riehl Marge Salopek

Chorus

Kathy Sands Alanna M. Shadrake Molly Shearrow Eve Sliwinski Kellie Sonntag Gina Ventre Dana Way Caroline Willoughby Nancy Wojciak Alex Wuertz Debra Yasinow TENORS

Luke Benko Robert Bordon Ross Downing Matthew Flors Thomas Glynn Gary Kaplan Patrick Knaubert Peter Kvidera Steve Lawson Alexander Looney Paul March James Newby Bronson Peshlakai Robert Poorman Matthew Rizer Lee Scantlebury Charles Tobias Michael J. Wallace Allen White Chester Willey, Jr.

Christopher Aldrich Brian Bailey Frank Bianchi Tim Birk Jack Blazey Sean Cahill Charles Carr Carlos Castells-Hogan Peter B. Clausen Nick Connavino David Contreras Anthony Cooley Christopher Dewald Thomas E. Evans Richard S. Falkenberg Scott Douglas Halm Benjamin Heacox Ryan D. Honomichl Martin Horning Jason Howie Bernard Hrusovsky Robert L. Jenkins III Kevin Kutz Tyler Mason Roger Mennell Keith Norman John Riehl Thomas Shaw Devon Steve S. David Worhatch

Joela Jones, Accompanist Alicja Basinska, Accompanist Jill Harbaugh, Manager of Choruses

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MORE MUSIC. MORE BLOSSOM! See a full listing of 2015 Blossom Music Festival concerts on pages 36-37of the Festival Book.

July 18 Saturday

Michael Feinstein A Big Band Tribute to Frank Sinatra

A CE NTE NNIAL SALUTE to “ol’ Blue Eyes” — no one

delivered a song like the Chairman! Frank Sinatra defined “cool” for an entire generation with a dazzling array of hit songs. Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum-selling, five-time Grammy-nominated singer and pianist, performs live. Featuring such iconic tunes as “Luck Be a Lady Tonight,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” and more.

August 2 Sunday

Broadway Divas WIC KE D. LE S MI SÉ R ABLE S . C HICAGO.

These iconic shows gave us the heroines we love . . . and the villains we revile — the unforgettable Divas of Broadway. Treat yourself to a Wicked-good evening of Broadway showstoppers, featuring selections from Wicked, Les Miz, Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Chicago, and more.

August 16 Sunday

The British Invasion

The Music of the Beatles, e The Stones, The Who & More THE BE ATLE S ARRIVE D IN 1964 . . . but that

was only the beginning. The phenomenon called The British Invasion dominated the American airwaves, and leading the charge were the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, and more. Now, their hits are given the full treatment with brilliant orchestrations performed by The Cleveland Orchestra.