The Double Concerto Vol II No. 1

[Photo of David Ludwig and conductor Sarah Hicks (who will conduct David's piece) courtesy of Mr. Ludwig.]
I kept a blog for the Vermont Symphony while writing my last big piece for them—a cello concerto that Margo Tatgenhorst (now Drakos) played.  That was three years ago and I wrote the bulk of the music at the MacDowell colony.  I’m currently at an “undisclosed location” working away again at my next VSO piece, a double concerto for Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson.  It’s over six weeks before the deadline, and I feel under the gun every day.  I can’t imagine it any other way, however, because so much creative work is produced under deadline and always has been.  Sure, there are pieces that take years to compose—big pieces like operas or long ballet scores.  But it appears that composers of these pieces write them in piecemeal, repeatedly coming back to them as they finish other smaller works along the way.

A deadline is a great source of inspiration—most any artist will agree.  There’s a psychology there, as if your brain unconsciously knows it’s time to start producing and so, it (hopefully) does, opening the spigot more and more as you get nearer to the destination.  A working artist needs some command over this process, or every single work will be a stressful race to the finish.  There is often some cramming going on, but one has to be very careful going deadline to deadline to pace oneself, or the work will get compromised and perhaps remain in draft form.

The concert that will premiere the double concerto has a theme, already.  The first piece is a lovely and elegant work by Vermont composer Jorge Martin called “Romance.”  I first heard it while reviewing pieces for the orchestra’s 75th anniversary seasons (they are taking two years to celebrate).  This year will be only pieces written since the orchestra has been extant, and the motto is “Music of Our Time.”  Jorge’s piece was originally written for the “Made in Vermont” tour a few years ago, and he’s re-arranged it for full orchestra.  I’m psyched to hear it—it’s a lush piece that I think will be well-served by the richer instrumentation.

The second half of the program is Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet.”  This is one of my favorite pieces, and I’m not alone.  Some people don’t love Prokofiev, but I find myself strangely attracted to his music—even more than to Shostakovich. Pretty much everyone enjoys this piece, though, which is excerpted from a larger score of program music.  The music is so brilliantly compelling and descriptive.  There’s always something special about the surface of his music; some sonority or little orchestrational touch that transforms the music from mundane to glorious.  I think that this piece and “Alexander Nevsky” are his finest orchestral works, but there are so many…So many works we never hear, including much of the bombastic propaganda pieces he was forced to write under the Stalinist yoke.  If he had only written “Romeo and Juliet,” he’d still be great.

So back to the theme—it’s love.  And maybe not love, but “Love.”  I’m sure someone will want to connect it to Valentine’s day, which is only three weeks after the premiere, but I must say I’m more interested in the darker side of Love than the chocolates and batted eyelashes—musically speaking, at least.  I have decided to go with the flow and make my piece about Love, too.  I’ll describe the architecture-slash-game-plan-slash-program of the double concerto.

The piece is three substantial movements, with two interludes in between.  Each movement draws from a story of love.  And these are types of love, as the philosophers tell us there are types.  The first movement is of “Eros,” and I’ve used the Greek myth of Calypso as its inspiration.  For want of a better description, it’s about sex.  The last time the two people in the story will ever see each other sex.  Calypso the nymph will be left alone for eternity when Odysseus leaves the next day.  The first interlude for violin and percussion will be her solitary dance.

The second movement is of “Agape,” or my version of “Courtly Love.”  This is the subject of the troubadours—love for the unattainable, unrequited, honored and esteemed far beyond the puerile concerns of “Eros.”  And I will continue here in the next installment.

If anyone can think of a title...please drop me a line!  Keep reading!

Esther Kim is about to get the Vermont treatment...

Esther Kim made her first television appearance at the age of seven on the popular Fox Network television drama, Party of Five. Her first solo appearance with orchestra was at the age of eight performing the Mozart Violin Concerto. One year later, she performed Paganini’s Concerto No. 1 with the Claremont Symphony Orchestra. Shortly after, she performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto on an international television broadcast. At the age of ten, she attended the Juilliard School of Music where she studied with the late Dorothy DeLay and Naoko Tanaka. After Delay’s passing, she continued her studies with Hyo Kang. At 14 years old, she entered the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria to study with Michael Frischenschlager. Esther is currently studying with Jaime Laredo at the Indiana University School of Music. And now she's coming to solo with the Vermont Symphony on the TD Banknorth Summer Festival Tour. Read on for her answers to the five questions we've been asking musicians all season.

VSO: As a musician, you probably find yourself on the road a lot. What item(s) can't you live without on this tour (besides your instrument and concert dress, of course!)?
EK: When I'm on the road I always make sure I have my Ipod, a book I'm reading (I'm currently reading "Kreutzer Sonata" by Tolstoy—it’s interesting because it is connected to the Janacek String Quartet No. 1 which is one of my favorite pieces!), and if I can, I usually like to bring my two dogs, Dukie and Duchess (although lately it's been a little difficult bringing Dukie since he's gotten so big!).

VSO: Do you have a pre-performance ritual? How do you deal with nerves?
EK: I don't really do anything different on performance days--usually I just treat it like an ordinary day. In fact, practicing a lot before the concert really helps me calms my nerves. Oh, and I like to eat a banana before I play!

VSO: If you could be Maestro for a day, what would you program?
EK: If I were a Maestro for a day, I think my program would be Brahms Symphony No. 2, Shostokovich 5, "Transfigured Night" by Arnold Schoenberg, and Mozart Symphony No. 40 in K. 550. (That would be quite a long concert!)

VSO: If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing?
EK: This one is a tough question!! Well, I guess If I wasn't a musician, I would be interested in either having my own radio show (like Garrison Keillor) or be a writer for a travel magazine (or a tv show host for a travel channel). I always thought it would be so much fun to be able to travel all around the world and just be able to write about it!

VSO: What's your favorite aspect of Vermont? If you haven't ever been here, what are you looking forward to?
EK: I haven't been to Vermont before, but everyone tells me how beautiful it is. I know that there are supposed to be a lot of pretty lakes and lots of greenery! I'm really looking forward! Keep reading!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Love is in the air when the Vermont Symphony Orchestra travels around Vermont again this summer bringing its popular TD Banknorth Summer Festival Tour to towns across the state. From Thursday, June 26 through Sunday, July 6, the state’s premiere orchestra performs “From Vermont with Love” in beautiful mountain and lakeside settings, welcoming pre-concert picnicking, and concluding each performance with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and celebratory fireworks.

From “boy meets girl” in Oklahoma to hot-blooded Carmen to the comic mismatchings of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, love conquers all in a program devoted to affairs of the heart. Principal guest conductor Anthony Princiotti leads the orchestra, with soloist Esther Kim, violin. The music of love includes Tchaikovsky’s waltz from Sleeping Beauty, Smetana’s dances from The Bartered Bride, Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy on Tunes by Bizet, and the Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saëns, among other favorites in a concert for romance.

The annual outdoor festival of classics and pops connects to communities, bringing the VSO to special settings and historic buildings around the state. Audiences enjoy the history of Hildene Meadowlands, the lakeside elegance of Shelburne Farms, the ridgeline sunset from the Trapp Family Lodge meadow, and other treasured Vermont venues.

The complete list of dates and venues includes:

Thursday, June 26 - Middlebury College, Middlebury
Friday, June 27 - Jackson Gore Inn, Okemo Mountain Resort, Ludlow
Saturday, June 28 – Lincoln Peak at Sugarbush Resort, Warren
Sunday, June 29 - Mountain Top Inn, Chittenden
Monday, June 30 - Quechee Polo Grounds, Quechee
Wednesday, July 2 - Hildene Meadowlands, Manchester
Thursday, July 3 - Grafton Ponds, Grafton
Friday, July 4 - Shelburne Farms, Shelburne
Saturday, July 5 - Three Stallion Inn, Randolph
Sunday, July 6 - Trapp Concert Meadow, Stowe

The concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in all venues. Tickets range from $25-32 for adults; free to $16 for children. In some locations an AARP discount is also available. All sites are wheelchair accessible. Gates open for picnicking at 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. depending on location. Keep reading!

SymphonyKids Spotlight: Fiddlesticks!

This year, the VSO's Education Department had to dig a little deeper to find schools in Vermont where Fiddlesticks! has not been in recent years. With many years of active touring under their belts, we found that Fiddlesticks! has played in just about every school in Vermont. Read on to find out why they are so popular and watch a clip of the trio at JFK Elementary School in Winooski.

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra's SymphonyKids string trio, Fiddlesticks, makes a stop at JFK Elementary School in Winooski. Footage provided courtesy of WCAX.

The dynamic string trio Fiddlesticks! consists of violinist David Gusakov, violist Hilary Hatch, and cellist Bonnie Klimowski. Their performances for schoolchildren are designed to introduce students to the most important members of the symphony orchestra and to make some of the key concepts in classical music-making come alive. Longtime members of the VSO, the performers are funny, friendly, interactive—and superior musicians. As a former member of Banjo Dan & the Midnite Plowboys, David adds a unique twist to their presentation with his strolling rendition of "Sweet Georgia Brown," and Bonnie demonstrates "Godzilla," the double bass.

Fiddlesticks! has been one of our most popular trios since they played 57 performances as part of our Artists-in-Residence program in 1994. Stephen Metcalf from Randolph Elementary School wrote us the following: "Two hundred children were exposed to the world of strings, a world that, unfortunately, many of them have never encountered. The enthusiasm, professionalism, and personalities of the trio members kept the children on the edge of their seats throughout. It was an informative and delightful 45 minutes."

Keep reading!

Episode 2: Dennis Bathory-Kitsz

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David Ludwig chats with Vermont composer Dennis Bathory-Kitsz about his We Are All Mozart project, Non-Pop Music, and his life as a prolific Vermont composer.

Keep reading!

Troy Peters, conductor

Acclaimed for his innovative programming, conductor Troy Peters has been the subject of nationally broadcast profiles on CBS television and National Public Radio. Vermont Governor James Douglas recognized his contribution to the state’s cultural life by proclaiming April 17, 2005, as “Troy Peters Day” in Vermont. As Music Director of the Vermont Youth Orchestra since 1995, he has overseen a period of tremendous growth and received six ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming. He is also the Music Director of the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra and the Conductor of the Middlebury College Orchestra.

The soloists with whom Peters has collaborated include such luminaries as Midori, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson, Soovin Kim, Phillip Ying, and Horacio Gutiérrez. He has also gained international attention for his orchestral collaborations with rock musician Trey Anastasio (formerly of the band Phish), including numerous live performances and two albums on Elektra Records. He has been a popular guest conductor with many groups, including the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Mahler Festival, the Vermont Mozart Festival, and the Opera Company of Middlebury. A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Pennsylvania, his conducting teachers and mentors have included Marin Alsop, Harry Davidson, Raymond Harvey, David Hayes, Kenneth Kiesler, David Loebel, Gustav Meier, and Larry Rachleff

Peters is also busy as a composer, where his work ranges from orchestral and chamber music to a large body of songs and an opera for hand puppets. His honors include the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and grants from Meet the Composer and the Rockefeller Foundation. His music has been commissioned by many groups, including the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Saint Michael’s College, the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, and Social Band. A versatile instrumentalist, Peters not only plays the viola, but has also performed on tenor banjo and electric guitar with symphony orchestras. Born in Scotland of American parents, he lives in Colchester with his wife and daughter.

A pre-concert discussion, “Musically Speaking,” moderated by VPR’s Walter Parker will be held on May 3 at 7 p.m. at the Flynn Center, free for members of the audience. The discussion will feature Daron Hagen and guest conductor Troy Peters, providing entertaining insight into the music, composers and musicians themselves. Keep reading!

Sharon Robinson, cellist

Winner of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, the Piatigorsky Memorial Award and a Grammy nominee, Sharon Robinson is recognized as one of America’s foremost champions of the cello. Whether as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, or member of the renowned Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, critics and audiences alike delight in her sophisticated blend of intellect and vibrant emotion. Guest appearances with orchestra include the symphonies of Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and San Francisco as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, London Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra, and the English, Scottish, and Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestras.

Ms. Robinson has performed recitals throughout Europe and in virtually every major city in the United States. Her many festival engagements include Spoleto, Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Santa Fe, Tanglewood, Granada, Helsinki, Edinburgh and the Autumn Festival in Prague.

In addition to two solo CDs, Sharon Robinson has recorded extensively with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. With her husband, Jaime Laredo, she has also recorded the Zwilich Double Concerto and the Ned Rorem’s Double Concerto (both of which were composed for them).

A favorite of TV audiences, Ms. Robinson has appeared on the Tonight Show, Today Show, A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, the Charlie Rose Show, and in a profile on CBS
Sunday Morning. Keep reading!

Verdi Overture to Nabucco

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Giuseppe Verdi’s first major operatic success appeared in the wake of the most difficult time in the composer’s life. In 1838 and 1839, Verdi and his young wife Margherita lost both of their infant children in quick succession (a sadly common circumstance at the time). Tragically, Margherita fell ill and died in the summer of 1840. Then, in September 1840, Verdi’s second opera, Un giorno di regno, was a complete disaster, closing after only one performance. Deeply depressed, the composer was understandably ready to give up on music altogether. But Bartolomeo Merelli, who ran the famed Milan opera house, La Scala, prevailed upon Verdi to write one more opera. The result was Nabucco, an instant commercial and critical triumph upon its premiere in 1842.

Nabucco retells the biblical story of the slavery and eventual exile of the Jews under the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. In spite of the dark story, the score is full of memorable melodies. In fact, one of Verdi’s biggest hits is the Act III chorus, “Va pensiero,” in which the Hebrew slaves sing wistfully of their lost homeland. Over the course of the 19th century, the tune came to be a popular anthem of the Italian Risorgimento, the political movement that pushed out foreign powers and unified the Italian peninsula as a single kingdom.

Like most of Verdi’s opera overtures, Nabucco is a potpourri of themes, most of which reappear in the opera. After a stately introduction in the brass and a more sinister transition, Verdi spins a gentle variation on “Va pensiero,” heard first in the oboe and clarinet playing in octaves. In the faster music that follows, the overture juxtaposes different themes associated with the Hebrew slaves and with their Babylonian captors, neatly foreshadowing the opera’s central conflict.

-- Troy Peters Keep reading!

Daron Hagen's "Masquerade"

The double concerto Masquerade takes as its starting place the conventions of Commedia dell'arte, a popular form of improvisational theater which began in Italy in the 15th century and remained popular into the 18th century. Costumes and masks identified life's universal characters, first described centuries earlier in Greek and Roman comedies, and the classic plots often revolved around lovers. One of the most important characters was Arlecchino, also known as Pedrolino, or the Harlequin.

The soloists take on the roles of musical lovers in the first movement (Burlesque). The story of their courtship is told by two harmonically and melodically elusive contrasting themes. A vecchio (elder) arrives on the scene. By seducing one of the innamorati, he forces them apart and the movement ends. The second movement (Elegy) is a lament for lost love. It tells the story of the lovers apart. As the movement progresses they grow older, and wiser with experience.

After many years, in the movement entitled The Last of Pedrolino, they are reunited one evening at the bedside of a mutual friend, the zanni Pedrolino, who, dying, wishes to see them both one last time. Inspired by Pedrolino, the two lovers reconnect, no longer as lovers but as old friends and soul mates. In a final Galoppade, they relive the open-hearted joy in singing of their childhoods before parting forever.

Composed over a two year period, the concerto was completed in February of 2007 and is dedicated to Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson who together introduced the piece with the Sacramento Philharmonic, conducted by Laura Jackson, on 16 February 2008 and with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Troy Peters, on May 3 2008.

-- Daron Hagen

*****

Daron Hagen (1961- )

Daron Hagen's orchestral compositions have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, American Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee, St. Louis, Dallas, Nashville, Houston, Denver, Knoxville, Florida, Oakland, Brooklyn and New Mexico Symphonies, among dozens of others. His five operas (Shining Brow, Bandanna, Vera of Las Vegas, Broken Pieces, and The Antient Concert) have received multiple performances internationally. The composer of over two hundred published art songs and cycles, his catalogue continues to grow as major orchestras, ensembles and soloists commission and record new works.

Current projects include Amelia, an opera for the Seattle Opera, a violin concerto for Michael Ludwig and the Buffalo and Virginia Symphonies, a fourth symphony for the Albany Symphony, and a string quartet for the Terezin Music Foundation.

Premieres scheduled for the 07-08 season include a double concerto for Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson (also being premiered with the Sacramento Symphony), a triple concerto for the Amelia Piano Trio and a consortium of pre-professional orchestras, and a fourth trio for the Finisterra Piano Trio.

Mr. Hagen made his debut as a stage director with the Buffalo Philharmonic's performances of his opera Shining Brow last November. He has released two CDs as a collaborative pianist with baritone Paul Kreider on the Arsis label. The recording of his opera Bandanna under his baton (Albany Troy 849/50) was chosen by Fanfare Magazine as one of the ten notable releases of 2006 and chosen as an "ArkivMusic Recommendation.”

President of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation and a Lifetime Member of the Corporation of Yaddo, Mr. Hagen is a graduate of the Juilliard School and of the Curtis Institute of Music. He has received the Kennedy Center Friedheim, the Bearns, Barlow, and ASCAP-Nissim Prizes, two Rockefeller Bellagio Residencies, the Camargo Residency, multiple residencies at VCCA and MacDowell, as well as scholarships and development grants from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and Opera America. His music is published by Carl Fischer and EC Schirmer. Recordings are available on Albany, Arsis, Sierra, CRI, and other labels.

Mr. Hagen maintains a vigorous private teaching schedule and gives numerous master classes and residencies at colleges and music festivals. He is also a frequent grants panelist and has served twice as Composer in Residence for the Princeton University Atelier; as Franz Lehar Composer in Residence at the University of Pittsburgh; as Artist in Residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Sigma-Chi-William P. Huffman Composer in Residence at Miami University; Artist in Residence at Baylor University; on the musical studies faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music; nine years on the composition faculty of Bard College; as a Visiting Professor at the City College of New York; and as a Lecturer in Music at New York University.

He has lived in New York City since 1984.

A pre-concert discussion, “Musically Speaking,” moderated by VPR’s Walter Parker will be held on May 3 at 7 p.m. at the Flynn Center, free for members of the audience. The discussion will feature Daron Hagen and guest conductor Troy Peters, providing entertaining insight into the music, composers and musicians themselves. Keep reading!

Shostakovich Symphony No. 5

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Dmitri Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg and died in Moscow. Educated entirely in Russia, he had early success both as a pianist and as a composer. His first three symphonies were received well, as was an opera (The Nose) and numerous other works. In 1930, he began work on Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, and by 1936 it had received nearly two hundred performances in Moscow and Leningrad and had been heard in London, Zurich, Stockholm, Copenhagen and New York. In January of 1936, however, Joseph Stalin attended a performance in Moscow, and two days later Pravda published a startling article under the headline “Muddle Instead of Music” denouncing the opera as “fidgety, screaming, neurotic, coarse, primitive and vulgar.” The warning was clear: such “formalism” – a Soviet term for any art that too closely resembled Western modernism – would no longer be tolerated. Shostakovich completed but then withdrew his Fourth Symphony, and retreated into fearful silence for nearly two years. At the same time, friends and supportive colleagues were forced to make fictional confessions disappearing into prisons, even being killed. With the net closing around him, Shostakovich had to be incredibly careful with his next public work.

The Fifth Symphony was premiered by the Leningrad Philharmonic on November 21, 1937. Shostakovich clearly used it as a public statement that he would be adhering more closely to the concept of “socialist realism,” defined by Party theorist Nikolai Bukharin as stories of “tragedies and conflicts, vacillations, defeats, the struggle of conflicting tendencies,” to be concluded as a matter of course with triumphs of resolution to the accepted supremacy of the state. The symphony’s traditionally clear-cut four-movement symphonic form and its tonal journey from a dark d minor to a triumphant (if somewhat menacing) D Major finale made it all but impossible to describe as “muddle.” The unqualified success of the Fifth Symphony rescued Shostakovich’s reputation, at least for the time being.

It would clearly be a mistake, however, to categorize the Fifth Symphony definitively as a work of acquiescence to official demands. For decades, Western music critics for the most part dismissed Shostakovich as a Communist conformist, too weak-willed to act against the Soviet authorities. The publication in 1979 of Solomon Volkov’s controversial book Testimony: the Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich as Related to and Edited by Solomon Volkov called all such assumptions into question. While the authenticity of every word of the book has never been proven, the general sentiment has become accepted: that Shostakovich was miserable, fearful of speaking out but harboring intense resentment for the ruling regime. It has become clear that he was a master of Soviet doublespeak, using often using overemphasis and unnecessary repetition in his correspondence as code that he intended to convey the opposite of what his words literally meant. From Testimony: “I think that it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth. The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, as in Boris Gudonov. It’s as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, ‘Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing.’ And you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, ‘Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.’”

Through hard, even life-threatening lessons, Shostakovich learned to walk a kind of tightrope of musical irony. In his excellent book about 20th century music, The Rest is Noise, music critic Alex Ross wrote: “To talk about musical irony, we first have to agree on what the music appears to be saying, and then we have to agree about what the music is really saying. This is invariably difficult to do. We can, however, learn to be wary of any interpretation that displays too much certitude about what the music is ‘really saying’ and stay alert to multiple levels of meaning. Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony becomes a rich experience when heard this way.”

--Gabriel Langfur Keep reading!