Here we have an eleven minute video featuring Made in Vermont composer Don Jamison.
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Monday, September 20, 2010
Don Jamison talks about "It Is Time"
Program notes: Made in Vermont Music Festival Statewide Tour
The 2010 Made in Vermont Music Festival Statewide Tour (it's a mouthful, huh?) hits the road this Thursday, September 23. Check out the complete schedule in the right sidebar. Visit the VSO website to see information about tickets. The tour features a smaller orchestral force than other presentations during the year, making for an intimate concert experience at some of the smaller venues in smaller communities around the state. Click the following Keep reading! link to read the program notes for the concert.
Harp Concerto in Bb, Op. 4 No. 6
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
An English (naturalized) composer of German birth, Handel’s stature as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, in both vocal and instrumental music, has always been recognized. He was a cosmopolitan and eclectic artist, drawing impartially on German, Italian, French, and English traditions. On February 19, 1736, King’s Theater in London played host to a remarkable gala musicale. Four of Handel’s full-scale concert pieces were heard that evening for the first time: his Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, his Alexander’s Feast Concerto Grosso, his Organ Concerto in g minor, and--something quite remarkable for its time--a concerto for harp and orchestra. The harp concerto was later published as a work for organ and orchestra, and indeed it is most often heard today performed on the organ. But its pared-down orchestration, muted violins, and pizzicato bass parts are clear signs that it was originally conceived for the quieter and gentler solo instrument.
The piece is in three movements, following the then-emerging practice of fast-slow-fast as in modern concertos. Another indication that the concerto was not written for organ is that the harp part, while certainly soloistic, is less virtuosic than the flashy, flamboyant writing Handel created when he composed with himself as the performer in mind. The opening movement, Andante allegro, is transparent in texture, with a main theme built from seven broken-up, individual gestures. The Larghetto offers a more integrated melody, as the harp muses improvisatorially over repeated dotted figures in the accompaniment. The concluding Allegro moderato, with its bouncing 3/8 meter, is wholly dance like.
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1949)
Vocalise is the last of Rachmaninoff’s Fourteen Songs, which were published in 1912. Originally written for voice (either soprano or tenor) with piano accompaniment, it is most often heard with soprano. As with many classical vocal pieces, it has been transposed into a variety of keys, allowing performers to choose a vocal range more suited to their natural voice. The vocal version contains no words, but is sung using any one vowel of the singer’s choosing. Vocalise’s extreme popularity has also resulted in arrangements for nearly any instrumental combination you can think of, including one for orchestra which was done by the composer himself. Some particularly intriguing forces include: piano trio, jazz ensemble, 24 cellos (the London Cello Orchestra), tuba and piano, solo accordion, and theremin. Today we will hear a version for string orchestra and French horn.
Concerto for Flute in d minor
C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was the second surviving son of Johann Sebastian Bach and his first wife, Maria Barbara. The most famous and most prolific of the Bach sons, he held positions of great influence in Berlin and Hamburg, and was widely esteemed as a keyboard player and theorist as well as a composer.
There is some debate about whether C.P.E. was responsible for the solo flute version of this piece, but the work itself has been authenticated as a harpsichord concerto which he definitely did compose. Certainly he had an affinity for the flute, as he was in the employ of Frederick the Great (a monarch whose quite good if not completely professional flute playing was his way of resting from the prosecution of unprecedented social reforms and international warfare) for nearly 30 years.
Thematic material in the first movement is introduced by the orchestra: a driving principal theme and a lighter melody suited to ornamentation. The solo flute enters with more grace than drama, and then proceeds to develop both themes in a highly ornamented style. This virtuosic writing for the solo instrument sends it through a rapid and unusual chain of keys: E, F, Bb, d minor, E again, and a minor.
The second movement, Un poco andante, in marked contrast to the more agitated slow movements written by Bach later in his career, flows smoothly and elegantly. A hint of the composer’s future boldness is seen as more dramatic solo passages emerge from the charming song-like character as the movement progresses.
The last movement is a workout for the soloist! The flute hurtles down two and a half octaves in a single short flight, then rapidly ascends several long scales. The sheer delirium of the writing exceeds anything the composer’s father attempted, presaging the storm and stress of Haydn’s symphonies and even some of the wildness of the early Romantics. The intense Allegro di molto brings the work to a thrilling conclusion.
It Is Time [World Premiere Commission]
Don Jamison (1956- )
The title of my piece is from a short poem called “Autumn Day” by the 20th century German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Here are the opening lines:
Lord, it is time. The summer was immense.
Lay your shadow now on the sundials
and let the wind loose on the fields.
As the cold winds of fall begin to blow, the afterglow of summer is still in the air. Maybe it’s a melancholy time, as the surging, burgeoning growth of summer begins to die back--but it also can be a time of alertness and renewal. For me, it is sometimes the beginning of an energetic part of the year that can last almost until spring, if I can keep the summer sun burning on in my heart and mind.
The music looks back at what summer brought, then forward with resolve toward the cold times that are coming. It begins with alternating waves of sound from the strings and winds which unfold the harmonies and bits of melody that will be explored. The flute introduces a melody made of a few simple motifs that then move through the orchestra for the next few minutes, changing and growing as they go, without much looking back. It’s a rendering of nature’s transformations that happen all around us through the summer. Then the music circles in place for a moment on a major chord that turns minor, and out of this the horns announce a theme that is related to what we’ve heard so far, but which is more determined and extended. It’s a kind of lopsided dance in a simple AAB form. Three variations follow: the first features the flute and a solo violin; the second features the oboes; the third brings back the horns, now in their high and powerful register, and the piece ends in an upward sweep.
I’m grateful to the VSO for the chance to write this piece, and I hope you enjoy it!
--Don Jamison
Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
After a trip to Vienna with his father during the winter of 1773-74, the eighteen year-old Mozart returned to Salzburg and, in a burst of new year creativity, wrote this piece almost at one sitting. One of the most striking works of its period, the Symphony No. 29 shows some traces of Viennese influence in its four-movement form, and in the increased seriousness that modifies Mozart’s early Italianate charm. There may also have been some influence from one of Mozart’s neighbors, Michael Haydn. Although overshadowed by his brother Joseph, “ the other Haydn” was quite a respectable composer who wrote a symphony in A Major that appears to have been Mozart’s model in creating his twenty-ninth symphony. Mozart seemed to prize this work, for in 1782 he scheduled it again on one of his distinguished concerts in Vienna.
I. Allegro moderato. First violins immediately state the first theme, an ingenious idea that consists of a descending octave and tightly-knit repeated half-steps. This latter part of the theme is seen as an early example of the chromatic expression that Mozart developed more fully in his adult life. A graceful second theme, again presented by the first violins, provides a foil to the first idea. Concise development leads to the restatement of the themes and the close of the movement.
II. Andante. Muted strings reveal both themes of this sonata form movement; generally the expression of the Andante is that of an operatic serenade. At the end, the winds take over for a few measures while the strings remove their mutes in preparation for the movement’s solid closing measures.
III. Menuetto. Filled with the spirit of 18-century Vienna, this minuet and trio transcend the polite Salzburg traditions and begin to suggest the grandeur of later symphonic expression.
IV. Allegro con spirito. The finale brims with vital scale passages and bustling strings. A certain opera buffa quality emerges as this sonata form movement flies to its closing coda.
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Monday, September 13, 2010
New merch in the VSO Store!
Visit the VSO Store today and make a secure purchase using PayPal. We have hoodies, hats, and tees, oh my! My favorite is the Birds & the Bees baby onesie. My favorite item that I can fit into is the hooded sweatshirt. I have the purple one on the right (even though I am on the left) and I wear it at least once a week! Don't want to buy over the web? Shoot me an e-mail at Rebecca@vso.org and I'll be happy to help you out that way. Check it out!
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Thursday, September 9, 2010
Our annual free concert announced
David M. Wilson Memorial Farmers' Night Concert
Legislative Chambers, State House, Montpelier
Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Doors open at 6:45 p.m.
Free and open to the public
Jaime Laredo, conductor
Katherine Winterstein, violin
Dieuwke Davydov, cello
Joshua Morris, cello
Janet Polk, bassoon
VIVALDI Concerto for Two Violins in a minor
BURRILL PHILLIPS Concert Piece for Bassoon and Strings
VIVALDI Concerto for Two Cellos in g minor
MOZART Eine Kleine Nachtmusik Keep reading!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Vermont Music Now 13: Richard Danielpour
Here is an episode of Vermont Music Now featuring composer Richard Danielpour. Click the following link to watch!
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Vermont Music Now 12: Sarah Hicks
Well, I guess this episode slipped under the Blog radar! It was supposed to be up here way back in May. This was a particularly entertaining taping for Vermont Music Now. Sarah Hicks and host David Ludwig have some history, which opened the door for lots of joking around. Enjoy! Read more to watch the video.
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VSO on VPR Classical tomorrow night (Sept. 8)
VPR's Cheryl Willoughby says, "Earlier this summer I was contacted by the producers of the national radio program, "Exploring Music With Bill McGlaughlin" because they were putting together a program called "Director's Choice", featuring music choices from a select handful of music programmers from around the country. I was asked to submit a few of my favorite pieces to share with the wider radio audience. I submitted four, and I learned today that three of them will be featured in the program airing on Sept. 8th. One of these is Troy Peters' "Between Hills Briefly Green", and the performance they're using will be a live concert recording with the VSO led by Jaime Laredo."
Tune in! Visit VPR's website for the VPR Classical station in your area. Keep reading!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Sing in the VSO Chorus this holiday season!
Would you like to be a part of the some serious holiday cheer? Do you like to sing? Audition for the VSO Chorus this coming Wednesday, September 8, at the Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester. E-mail our chorus co-coordinators, Pam and Ruth, for your audition slot. Rehearsals are on Saturdays; concerts are December 10-12. Get your pipes warmed up and come have some fun! Go to our website for more info about the VSO chorus. Keep reading!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Made in Vermont - three weeks from today!
OK, OK. I know! It's been around four months since our last post. I suppose things get a little hectic around VSO headquarters. We've been gearing up for our 2010/2011 season, which kicks off with our Made in Vermont Music Festival statewide tour. If you take a peek at the little Vermont graphic above, you'll see the areas we are visiting. Specifically, they are: Vergennes, Johnson, Lyndonville, Derby Line, Bellows Falls, Randolph, Woodstock, and Castleton. Do you live near one of these towns? Well, get on the horn (802-86-FLYNN) or visit FlynnTix for tickets to one of these intimate concerts. This year we feature Vermont composer Don Jamison, and three concerti featuring our very talented principal players. Heidi Soons, harpist, will play a concerto by Handel; Shelagh Abate, horn, will be featured in Rachmaninoff's Vocalise; and flutist Albert Brouwer will play CPE Bach's Flute Concerto in d minor. Conductor Anthony Princiotti rounds out the program with Mozart's Symphony No. 29. So come on down and listen to your Vermont Symphony Orchestra in action!
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Program notes: May 1 Masterworks Finale
The VSO brings its "Terezin Remembered" project and its 2009/2010 Masterworks Series to a close with a performance of Verdi's powerful Requiem. Whereas the evening Masterworks concert is sold out, we have opened the afternoon rehearsal to attendees. It begins at 2:30 p.m.; general admission tickets are $20. Get your tickets through the Flynn Box Office. Keep reading for program notes.
Requiem
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
The remains of Alessandro Manzoni lay in state for several days in May of 1873 while Italy mourned. A huge throng including royalty and officers of state formed the funeral cortège that accompanied him to his final resting place in the cemetery of Milan. Absent was the one man who was to give Manzoni his greatest tribute: Giuseppe Verdi secluded himself with his grief over the loss of the poet-patriot he venerated so deeply. He said to his publisher Ricordi, "I shall come in the near future and visit his grave, alone and without witnesses and possibly (after much reflection and gauging of my own strength) make some proposal for the honoring of his memory."
Manzoni and Verdi met for the first time in 1868. By then, both men were national heroes. Italy was in the throes of an evolution which sought to return the state to the glorified national identity enjoyed during the Renaissance. It had been a long and impassioned effort led by powerful men with a variety of agendas, from the cool tactitian Cavour to the audacious Garibaldi and his personal army of “Red Shirts.” Manzoni strove to forge a national unity through the creation of the model for a modern Italian language, refining and establishing proper style and usage. With the publication in 1827 of his classic historical novel I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed) he became a cohesive literary influence for a divided Italy. At age 76 he was made senator to the parliament of King Victor Emmanuel II in 1861, but even so spent most of his time in a reclusive semi-retirement in Milan.
Verdi became allied with Italian nationalism through Nabucco, his first critical success. He identified with ordinary people and proclaimed himself "the least erudite among past and present composers.” Verdi became a symbol of resistance to Austrian domination via a chorus in Nabucco entitled "Va, pensiero" which voices the longing of Jewish exiles for home. Italians empathized with this yearning for freedom, and the tune became wildly popular throughout the country.
Verdi virtually worshipped Manzoni, referring to him as "the Saint," and although notables from all over the world (Goethe, Byron, Balzac) visited the writer, Verdi shrank from invading his privacy. It took a conspiracy between Verdi's wife Giuseppina and their close friend the Contessa Clarina Maffei to inveigle Verdi into an audience with his idol. During a visit to Milan, the Contessa introduced Giuseppina to Manzoni. On her return home, Verdi met his wife at the train station with a carriage, and in a letter to the Contessa, Giuseppina recounts her strategy:
I told him very quickly, at breakneck speed, how you had received me...had gone out with me...Wishing to push on as fast as possible, I said with affected indifference: "If you go to Milan I'll introduce you to Manzoni. He expects you, and I was there with her [Clarina] the other day....
Phew! The bombshell was so great and so unexpected that I didn't know whether I ought to open the carriage windows to give him air or close them, fearing that in the paroxysm of surprise and joy he would jump out. He went red, he turned deadly pale, he perspired; he took off his hat and screwed it up in a way that reduced it almost to shapelessness. Furthermore (this is between ourselves) the most severe and savage Bear of Busseto had his eyes full of tears, and both of us, moved, convulsed, sat there for ten minutes in complete silence. Oh, the power of genius, of virtue and of friendship!
Verdi later went to see Manzoni, and on his next birthday the composer received a card which read: "To Giuseppe Verdi, from a decrepit Lombard writer."
Ironically, the original impetus for the Requiem had nothing to do with Manzoni at all. It was the death of the Italian opera giant Rossini that inspired Verdi with the need to create such a commemorative work. Between 1810 and 1830, Rossini established a body of music devoted to bel canto singing and purity of melodic line which offered sublime entertainment for lovers of vocal music. Italian opera enjoyed an unchallenged supremacy in Europe, and this was an enormous spiritual step for a country laboring to produce a national identity. When Rossini died in 1868, Verdi was moved to honor his memory by suggesting a salute from his contemporaries for this most famous representative of Italian national tradition. In a letter to his editor he suggested:
"I think that to honour Rossini's memory a REQUIEM MASS should be composed by the most distinguished Italian composers...and performed on the anniversary of his death.
I think that not only the composers, but all the artists engaged in the performance, should not only offer their services for nothing but should also contribute enough to cover the expenses involved. I do not think that we should accept help from any foreign hand, or any hand alien to art, however powerful. If this condition were not observed, I should immediately withdraw from the association...
This composition -- however good the individual numbers may be -- will inevitably lack unity; but despite this defect it will still serve to demonstrate how profoundly we all venerate the man whose loss is deplored by the whole world...
Initially, the idea got off to a roaring start. A committee was formed, and Verdi took on the composition of the closing section of the Mass, the Libera me, Domine. Then petty disagreements and rivalries began to take their toll, and it became clear that nothing would be finished by the appointed day of performance, the anniversary of Rossini's death. Verdi himself called the project to a halt, remarking to a friend, “Ah, men of talent are almost always overgrown boys...."
Later that year a colleague and professor from the Milan Conservatory wrote of his admiration for the Libera me, and a flattered Verdi responded that he had considered writing a Requiem himself and even had ideas for the Requiem aeternum and Dies irae. At heart, Verdi considered the effort involved in writing a Requiem as nonremunerative: the composers of Italian operas were practical musicians, creating when stimulated by contract or promise of financial benefit. In this Verdi was no exception, and to the professor he wrote: "I have no taste for useless things, and there are so many Messe da morto -- only too many!!! It is pointless to add yet another to the list." Three years later, Manzoni lay in state and a grieving Verdi had a personal use for a Requiem.
Exactly one year from the day of Manzoni's death, an orchestra of 100 and a chorus of 120 assembled in the church of San Marco in Milan. An audience from all over Europe spilled out of the modest structure, and members of the press (including Wagner champion Hans von Bulow) were forced to view from the organ loft. Von Bulow called the work “an opera in ecclesiastical garb.” In fact, the two female soloists were the composer's Aïda and Amneris from his latest operatic triumph, and the Requiem itself was an unabashedly operatic approach to sacred music. Needless to say, the public loved it.
The Requiem exhibits the musical mastery of Verdi's operas. As in Rigoletto or La Forza del Destino, there is displayed a formal balance within the various sections and between them. The work as a whole is unified through the use of repetitions or references to a driving motif, that element being the Dies Irae theme. As for the carping done by Verdi's critics (one noted "a certain overload of the sensuous and of ardent southern emotionalism”), listeners from all countries knew a genuine musical phenomenon when they heard it. The fact of the matter is that this was a personal homage paid by the agnostic Verdi to the devoutly Catholic Manzoni, and the last word in defense of her husband's effort was given by his wife Giuseppina:
They talk about the more-or-less religious spirit of Mozart, Cherubini and others. I say that a man like Verdi must write like Verdi, that is, according to his own way of feeling and interpreting the text. The religious spirit and the way in which it is given expression must bear the stamp of its period and its author's personality.
-- Hilary Hatch
Indra Thomas, soprano
Judith Engel, alto
Steven Tharp, tenor
Kevin Deas, bass
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