4 minute read
Program Notes
by Pam Davis, Assistant Concertmaster
Mikhail Glinka (1804 - 1857) Russlan and Ludmilla Overture (1842)
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For a young aristocrat, becoming a composer was not a viable option, and Glinka’s father insisted that he work in government bureaucracy. Following a trip to Italy, during which he immersed himself in musical culture, Glinka finally denied the resistance to becoming a composer.
He is often referred to as the father of Russian music, because of his use of folk melodies and colorful orchestration. Even Tchaikovsky once suggested that Glinka created the acorn of the great oak tree of Russian music.
Glinka wished to create an opera with his acquaintance, the great Russian poet, Pushkin, based on his narrative poem Russlan and Ludmilla. Pushkin’s death in a duel over his wife’s honor prevented him from collaborating with Glinka on the project! Enlisting five different librettists resulted in an incoherent rendition of the tale that received at best a lukewarm reception.
The protagonists include the daughter of the Grand Duke of Kiev and her hero. But Ludmilla is abducted and cast into a deep sleep by the wizard Chernomor. After Russlan’s first attempt to rescue and awaken her is foiled by another kidnapping, Russlan ultimately succeeds armed with a magic ring.
The overture, written between rehearsals of the opera, is a favorite curtain-raiser and is widely performed. Brisk tutti fortissimo chords introduce the violin, viola, and flute theme of brilliant scales. Woodwinds accompanied by pizzicato strings precede the statement of the second folk-like subject. The first theme is taken from the opera’s final scene of rejoicing. The contrasting lyric theme in the viola, cello, and bassoon is taken from Russlan’s second act aria. The subjects are developed and repeated until a rousing coda, which contains a short-lived reference to Chernomor in a descending trombone whole tone scale. But in the final bars a classic ‘happily ever after’ is confirmed. e WORLD EVENTS: premiere of Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony,
Ambrose Bierce is born, first concert of the New York Philharmonic
e FIRST PERFORMANCE: December 9, 1842, St. Petersburg e MOST RECENT SSO PERFORMANCE: April 2014, Kyle Wiley Pickett
conducting
Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Opus 64 (1888)
“It is possible that I have, as people say, written myself out, and that nothing remains but for me to repeat and imitate myself,” Tchaikovsky wrote of this
symphony, filled with self-doubt. Although successful as a composer, Tchaikovsky was plagued with depression, melancholy and self-doubt in his personal life. Written in four months at his summer home in the idyllic forest of Frolovskoe, not far from Moscow, the setting surely aided his muse.
The premiere, with Tchaikovsky as conductor, was loved by the audience and the musicians, while the critics were not favorable in their reviews. His brother Modest believed that Tchaikovsky’s lack of confidence as a conductor hampered early success of the work. It is said that if the musicians reacted negatively in rehearsal, he would rush through apologetically, resulting in an initially weak performance.
No programmatic certainty exists surrounding this work, but the composer’s notebook hinted at references to fate and faith in the motto theme: fate when it is stated in a dark E minor, and faith when it is triumphantly declared in E major.
Opening with a foreboding minor phrase in the clarinets accompanied by string chords, this central theme or motto returns in the other movements. In the first movement it is followed by a skipping subject in octaves by the clarinet and bassoon as the Andante gives way to the Allegro con anima. Fragmented and built upon, this theme ultimately ushers in the contrasting plaintive theme. The movement eventually sinks down to a soft low conclusion.
A minor scale in chords introduces the iconic solo horn theme of the second movement, interrupted by the oboe with a yearning theme and taken up by the clarinet in the middle section. The motto from the first movement makes two menacing appearances, once by the trumpets and once by the trombones. The final terrifying eruption shatters the nostalgic melancholy, and the movement ends with fragmented pleading phrases.
The Scherzo movement is a charming waltz derived from a Florentine street song heard when Tchaikovsky was young. Like an unhappy memory, the motto theme returns in clarinets and bassoons as if from a distance.
This theme turns triumphant in the final movement as it is transformed to E Major and sung warmly by the strings. Woodwinds are entrusted with the theme as strings contribute rejoicing triplets. A full-blown chorale and march affirm the triumphant mood. Signaled by a timpani roll, the swirling themes are developed as the works rushes in much pomp to an exultant close, punctuated by multiple iterations of the motto and trumpet fanfares.
Tchaikovsky had certainly not “written himself out;” in fact there were many more masterpieces to come from his pen, including the Nutcracker and the Pathetique Symphony. e WORLD EVENTS: Kodak founded, Irving Berlin is born, van Gogh cuts
