Program notes by J. Mark Baker
Music mystical, sparkling, and graceful comprises tonight’s concert: Audience favorite Orli Shaham plays Chopin’s second piano concerto, four meditations by Messiaen contemplate religious belief, and two alluring works by Ravel bookend the program.
MAURICE RAVEL
Born 7 March 1875; Ciboure, France
Died 28 December 1937; Paris, France
Un barque sur l’océan [A Boat on the Ocean]
Composed: 1904-05 (piano solo); 1906, revised 1926 (orchestration)
First performance: 6 January 1906; Paris, France (piano solo)
Last MSO performance: MSO premiere
Instrumentation: 3 flutes (2nd and 3rd doubling on piccolo); 2 oboes; English horn; 2 clarinets; bass clarinet; 2 bassoons; 4 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 trombones; tuba; timpani; percussion (bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, gong, triangle); 2 harps; celeste; strings
Approximate duration: 7 minutes
Un barque sur l’océan [A Boat on the Ocean] began its life as a solo work – and what a pianistic tour-de-force it is! – one of five pieces in a suite entitled Miroirs [Reflections]. Ravel dedicated each of these miniature Impressionistic sound pictures to one of his friends, members of a coterie called Les Apaches [The Hooligans], artistic allies who met for discussion and to share their work. “A Boat on the Ocean” is dedicated to the painter Paul Sordes. A dozen years later, Ravel would orchestrate another of these, Alborado del gracioso [Dawn Song of the Jester]. Both remain favorites in the orchestral repertoire.
As the story goes, in 1905 Ravel accepted an invitation from his friends Alfred Edwards, a journalist, and his Russian wife Misia, a pianist, to join them on a seven-week cruise. It’s quite likely that the feelings and observations he experienced on this sojourn influenced his writing of Un barque sur l’océan. Flowing arpeggios immediately conjure the picture of water, as Ravel employs varied orchestral timbres and techniques to paint the endless space of the ocean. Ravel instructs that the rhythm be souple [flexible], which adds to the swaying effect in both the theme and its accompaniment.
Midway through the piece, the ocean’s serenity is interrupted by a storm, which leads to an immense, dissonant climax. A slower-paced section, set over a G-sharp ostinato, lets us know that the boat has survived the storm. The ending returns us to the peaceful opening where all is quiet. A quietly pealing celesta bids farewell, and Ravel marks the concluding measure s’enteignant [snuffed out].
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FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
Born 1 March 1810; Zelazowa Wola (near Warsaw), Poland
Died 17 October 1849; Paris, France
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Opus 21
Composed: 1829-30
First performance: 17 March 1830; Warsaw, Poland
Last MSO performance: November 2013; Edo de Waart, conductor; Ingrid Fliter, piano
Instrumentation: 2 flutes; 2 oboes; 2 clarinets; 2 bassoons; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; bass trombone; timpani; strings
Approximate duration: 32 minutes
Music appreciation books sometimes refer to Frédéric Chopin as “the poet of the piano.” And while that appellation is not totally misguided, it remains somewhat shallow. It’s true that, with the exception of the two early concertos, a late cello sonata, some 20 songs, and a few miscellaneous pieces, he wrote exclusively for the solo piano. Nevertheless, as his compositional craft reached its zenith, in his early 30s, his innovative harmonies – clashing melodies, enigmatic sonorities, unresolved seventh chords, surprising modulations, forays into modality or chromaticism – had a profound influence on the music of Liszt, Wagner, Fauré, Debussy, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff, among many others.
Chopin was in his late teens when he penned the F minor concerto. Despite its numbering, it predates the Opus 11 concerto, which was published first. (The same is true of Beethoven’s first two works in the genre.) From its premiere performance, at the National Theatre in Warsaw, the piece was well-received. In the opinion of his compatriots, Chopin was quickly establishing himself as a national composer.
Scholars tell us that Chopin’s Opus 21 owes much of its elegance to the influence of the prolific Austrian composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), one most celebrated pianists of the time. The Maestoso opens with a dotted-rhythm from the orchestra, driving the agitated theme forward toward the piano’s first entrance. Translucent, dazzling passages emphasize the soloist’s role; meanwhile, the orchestra functions to undergird, adding color and texture.
The young composer admitted to friends that his infatuation with Konstancja Gładkowska, a soprano and Chopin’s classmate at the conservatory in Warsaw, served to inspire the delicate, languorous A-flat major Larghetto. Here, one senses the Bel Canto ornamentation of the operatic arias of Vincenzo Bellini, with whom Chopin shared a friendship and mutual admiration. Likewise, the movement seems to presage the eloquent nocturnes he would pen in years to come.
In the final Allegro vivace, the piano takes the lead in presenting the thematic material. Chopin features the mazurka, a dance from his native Poland; there’s also a whiff of the Viennese waltz style. The music is playful and coquettish as it scampers all over the keyboard, taking special advantage of the instrument’s bright, higher timbres. The soloist is afforded ample opportunity for flights of virtuosic fancy as the final F major coda brings this affable work to a sparkling conclusion.
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OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Born 10 December 1908; Avignon, France
Died 27 April 1992; Paris, France
L’ascension [The Ascension]
Composed: 1933; transcribed for organ in 1934
First performance: 1935; Paris, France
Last MSO performance: October 2016; Yaniv Dinur, conductor
Instrumentation: 3 flutes; 2 oboes; English horn; 2 clarinets; bass clarinet; 3 bassoons; 4 horns; 3 trumpets; 3 trombones; tuba; timpani; percussion (bass drum; cymbals; tambourine, triangle); strings
Approximate duration: 27 minutes
Oliver Messiaen holds an important place in music of the 20th century, both as the father of the European avant-garde and as a highly original figure in his own right. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Paul Dukas and Marcel Dupré and later taught there (Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen were among his pupils), while also serving as the organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, in the tradition of Franck and Widor. Always religiously devout, many of his works are explorations of Roman Catholic mysticism, but with strong pantheistic overtones. Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time (1940), written in a Silesian Nazi POW camp for the only available instruments – violin, clarinet, cello, piano – is one of the great chamber music works of the 20th century.
Messiaen was in his mid-20s when he composed L’ascension, which he described as “four symphonic meditations for orchestra.” Each movement includes a quotation that identifies the inspiration for its descriptive title:
I. Majesty of Christ beseeching His glory of His Father: “Father, the hour is come! Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee.” (John 17:1) “Very slow and magisterial,” the composer instructs. The principal trumpet acts as the voice of Christ, its plaintive, ascending motifs seeming to call out to heaven, supported by highly chromatic harmony from the winds and brass. Silence plays a key role here, as each of the entreaties breaks off into a moment of reflection.
II. Serene hallelujahs of a soul that longs for heaven: “We beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we may in mind dwell in Heaven.” (Ascension Mass)
At the outset, the stark beauty of plainchant is suggested by unison winds, playing a winding melody. The sylvan voice of the English horn then converses with a chorus of birdsong (a characteristic of much of Messiaen’s music), supported by string harmonics. Textures vary, but thicken as the movement continues, eventually ending in jubilation.
III. Hallelujah on the trumpet, hallelujah on the cymbal: “The Lord is gone up with the sound of a trumpet. O clap your hands all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” (Psalm 47: 1, 5)
Sprightly trumpet fanfares open the third meditation, a dazzling scherzo marked “Vif et joyeux” [lively and cheerful]. Toward the end, there’s an exuberant, dancing fugato.
IV. Prayer of Christ ascending to His Father: “I have manifested Thy name unto men… And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee.” (John 17: 6, 11)
Scored entirely for divided strings, “extremely slow and solemn,” the final meditation perfectly depicts its title. The music – celestial, mysterious, luminous – ascends heavenward.
Having completed the orchestral version, Messiaen – virtuoso organist that he was – felt the need to transcribe L’ascension for his instrument. The work is more often heard in that version,
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in which the composer chose to write a more idiomatic keyboard toccata in place of the orchestral scherzo. Its title is Transports de joie d’une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne [Transports of joy of a soul before the glory of Christ which is his].
MAURICE RAVEL
Born 7 March 1875; Ciboure, France
Died 28 December 1937; Paris, France
La valse [The Waltz]
Composed: 1919-20
First performance: 12 December 1920; Paris, France
Last MSO performance: January 2018; Fabien Gabel, conductor
Instrumentation: 3 flutes (3rd doubling on piccolo); 3 oboes (3rd doubling on English horn); 2 clarinets; bass clarinet; 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns; 3 trumpets; 3 trombones; tuba; timpani; percussion (antique cymbals, bass drum, castanets, cymbals, glockenspiel, snare drum, tam tam, tambourine, triangle); 2 harps; strings
Approximate duration: 12 minutes
La valse is Ravel’s masterfully evocative homage to the Viennese waltz. He provided a brief programmatic description: Swirling clouds afford glimpses, through rifts, of waltzing couples. The clouds scatter little by little; one can distinguish an immense hall with a whirling crowd. The scene grows progressively brighter. The sight of chandeliers bursts forth at the fortissimo. An imperial court, about 1855.
Composed at the behest of Sergei Diaghilev, La valse was not what the Ballet Russe impresario expected. “This is not a ballet,” he opined. “It is a painting of a ballet.” Diaghilev refused to stage it, and he and Ravel never worked together again. Undeterred, the French master published the opus as a “choreographic poem for orchestra.” It was finally presented as a ballet in 1926 when Ida Rubinstein’s troupe presented it in Antwerp. Two years later, they introduced it to Paris, and gave the premiere of Bolero two days later.
In a 1937 tribute to Ravel, following the composer’s death, the French musicologist Paul Landormy said of La valse: “[It is] the most unexpected of the compositions of Ravel, revealing to us heretofore unexpected depths of Romanticism, power, vigor, and rapture in this musician whose expression is usually limited to the manifestations of an essentially classical genius.”
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2022.23 SEASON
KEN-DAVID MASUR
Music Director
Polly and Bill Van Dyke Music Director Chair
EDO DE WAART Music Director Laureate
YANIV DINUR Resident Conductor
CHERYL FRAZES HILL
Chorus Director
Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair
TIMOTHY J. BENSON
Assistant Chorus Director
FIRST VIOLINS
Ilana Setapen, Acting Concertmaster, Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair
Jeanyi Kim, Acting Associate Concertmaster (2nd Chair)
Alexander Ayers
Yuka Kadota
Ji-Yeon Lee**
Dylana Leung
Allison Lovera
Lijia Phang
Margot Schwartz
Alexandra Switala**
SECOND VIOLINS
Jennifer Startt, Principal, Andrea and Woodrow Leung Second Violin Chair
Timothy Klabunde, Assistant Principal John Bian, Assistant Principal (3rd Chair)
Glenn Asch
Lisa Johnson Fuller Paul Hauer
Hyewon Kim
Shengnan Li* Laurie Shawger
Mary Terranova
VIOLAS
Robert Levine, Principal, Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family Principal Viola Chair
Samantha Rodriguez, Acting Assistant Principal, Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri Viola Chair
Alejandro Duque, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd Chair)
Elizabeth Breslin
Nathan Hackett
Erin H. Pipal
Helen Reich
CELLOS
Susan Babini, Principal, Dorothea C. Mayer Cello Chair
Nicholas Mariscal, Assistant Principal Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus
Madeleine Kabat
Peter Szczepanek
Peter J. Thomas
Adrien Zitoun
BASSES
Jon McCullough-Benner, Principal, Donald B. Abert Bass Chair
Andrew Raciti, Associate Principal
Nash Tomey, Assistant Principal (3rd Chair)
Brittany Conrad
Peter Hatch
Paris Myers
HARP
Julia Coronelli, Principal, Walter Schroeder Harp Chair
FLUTES
Sonora Slocum, Principal, Margaret and Roy Butter Flute Chair
Heather Zinninger, Assistant Principal Jennifer Bouton Schaub
PICCOLO
Jennifer Bouton Schaub
OBOES
Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony League Oboe Chair
Kevin Pearl, Assistant Principal Margaret Butler
ENGLISH HORN
Margaret Butler, Philip and Beatrice Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin
CLARINETS
Todd Levy, Principal, Franklyn Esenberg Clarinet Chair
Benjamin Adler, Assistant Principal, Donald and Ruth P. Taylor Assistant Principal Clarinet Chair
Taylor Eiffert
E FLAT CLARINET
Benjamin Adler
BASS CLARINET
Taylor Eiffert
BASSOONS
Catherine Van Handel, Principal, Muriel C. and John D. Silbar Family Bassoon Chair
Rudi Heinrich, Assistant Principal Beth W. Giacobassi
CONTRABASSOON
Beth W. Giacobassi
HORNS
Matthew Annin, Principal, Krause Family French Horn Chair
Krystof Pipal, Associate Principal
Dietrich Hemann, Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair
Darcy Hamlin
Kelsey Williams**
TRUMPETS
Matthew Ernst, Principal, Walter L. Robb Family Trumpet Chair
David Cohen, Associate Principal, Martin J. Krebs Associate Principal Trumpet Chair
Alan Campbell, Fred Fuller Trumpet Chair
TROMBONES
Megumi Kanda, Principal, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Trombone Chair
Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal
BASS TROMBONE
John Thevenet, Richard M. Kimball Bass Trombone Chair
TUBA
Robyn Black, Principal
TIMPANI
Dean Borghesani, Principal Chris Riggs, Assistant Principal
PERCUSSION
Robert Klieger, Principal Chris Riggs
PIANO
Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair
PERSONNEL MANAGER
Françoise Moquin, Director of Orchestra Personnel
LIBRARIAN
Paul Beck, Principal Librarian, Anonymous Donor, Principal Librarian Chair
PRODUCTION
Tristan Wallace, Technical Manager & Live Audio Supervisor
Paolo Scarabel, Stage Technician & Deck Supervisor
* Leave of Absence 2022.23 Season
** Acting member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 2022.23 Season
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