Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra to Perform WINTER DREAMS Concert, 11/23

Winter Dreams

Saturday, November 23, 8:00 p.m.

Michigan Theater

Pre-concert lecture at 7:00 p.m.

Special Guest Soloist

Aaron Berofsky, violin

Program:

Pärt, Fratres for Strings and Percussion

Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No.1, "Winter Dreams"

Program Notes

Fratres for Strings and Percussion

Arvo Pärt

Born September 11, 1935; Paide, Estonia

The world of music is a vast place indeed, with room for what seems to be an endless mix of styles - everything from aboriginal drum melodies to esoteric computer scores. After about four decades of the musical avant-garde, in the late 1960s and early 1970s a style known as "minimalism" emerged in which the continuous repetition of simple musical elements (or one basic phrase) became the basis for a complete score. New names soon arrived on the scene, including Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams, among others. Also, a single overriding idea managed to prevail, at least for a time: it seems they all sought to escape from the spectacular, ultra-modern din (some say "noise"), reaching for a kinder, gentler manner of serious music.

In this "minimalist" category are several important scores of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, whose presence in the world of music has emerged as quietly as the textures of his music.

Pärt received his formal training at the Tallin Conservatory in his native Estonia. From 1958 to 1967 he worked for the music division of Estonian Radio, during which time he composed more than 50 scores for films and documentaries. While some in the international press have described Pärt as the "Holy Minimalist," that aspect of his writing was not apparent until about the mid 1970s with scores like Cantus (a tribute to the memory of Benjamin Britten) and Fratres.

Like Cantus, Fratres is scored in a mode he describes as "a style of tintinnabuli" - where the sustained tone of the basic triad (simple major or minor chord) is extended so as to emulate the intimate timbres of distant bells. Originally written in 1977, now with at least a dozen adaptations for various ensembles, Fratres has become one of Pärt's best-known pieces. The title of the work derives from a sacred rite in Roman Catholic dogma, Orate Fratres, in which all "Brethren" (Fratres) are exhorted to pray.

The music features a long and sustained open-fifth (A-E) in the basses and cellos, over which a slowly evolving chant in the violins and violas is marked by spiritual strokes from the bass drum and claves. Doubtless intended for the vaulted stone walls of a cathedral, the lingering effects are evocative of a sacred offering.

Concerto for Violin in D Major, Op. 35 with special guest soloist Aaron Berofsky, violin

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

Born April 25, 1840; Votkinsk, Russia

Died October 25, 1893; St. Petersburg

Composed under the arc of the Romantic Age, Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin of 1878 is one of the most popular instrumental works of all time. Part of its allure must be credited to the composer's melodic gift, with florid harmonies and a ballet-master's feel for rhythm and balance.

Oddly, the new concerto was initially criticized in high places. It was feared the pyrotechnical demands on the soloist would overshadow the otherwise lyrical spirit of the work. Today we are baffled at such an account, in that Tchaikovsky had written splendidly for the violin in his early symphonies and especially in his ballet Swan Lake. Clearly, the composer was at the top of his game, and knew full well what the violin could do in capable and willing hands.

Fortunately, the work was defended and taken up by the Russian Violinist Adolf Brodsky, who scheduled the new concerto at leading concert venues across Europe, believing the public would ensure the work's future. Tchaikovsky expressed his appreciation by honoring Brodsky with the dedication.

Beyond the charm of the work overall - lovely tunes, lyrical virtuosity and zesty Russian rhythms - a deeply personal statement resides within. It is as if the Violin Concerto has a poetic undertow, a code of emotional nuance that defines every phrase, vacillating from joy to sadness on the wing. And so it goes, now probing, now singing, now weeping, now dancing - a musical narrative shaded like the scenarios of Lord Gordon Byron (whose verse was deeply admired by Tchaikovsky):

And her voice was the warble of a bird,

So soft, so sweet, so delicately clear,

That finer, simpler music ne'er was heard;

The sort of sound we echo with a tear,

Without knowing why - an overpowering tone,

Whence Melody descends as from a throne.

-Don Juan, Byron

Surely, it was an emotive leap of this kind which flowed from Tchaikovsky's pen. But isn't this just Romantic speculation? Well, consider the record: It was immediately after his disastrous marriage of just two months that the composer traveled to Florence, Paris, Vienna, and finally, to Clarens, Switzerland (at Lake Geneva), where he settled down enough to score the new concerto, as one might write a personal memoir. Moreover, listeners often discern a catharsis here, especially in the first two movements, which are among the loveliest plaints in all of music. But heart-cares are cast away by the upbeat and playful virtuosity of the third movement, Allegro vivacissimo. The spectacular role for the soloist offers a challenge to the orchestra in a whirligig symphonic chase. Splendid..!

Events of 1878 (Violin Concerto composed)

- First phonograph exhibited in Detroit

- First telephone exchange opened in Detroit; directory lists 124 customers

- First light bulb of commercial value

- Duquesne University founded

- Mississippi State University founded

- Telephone service begins in Hartford, CT

- Berlitz School for Languages established

- Degas paints Rehearsal On Stage

- Easter egg roll begins at President Hayes White House

- Tiffany diamond discovered

- Sugar cubes invented

- First coffee can marketed

Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 13 "Winter Dreams"

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

Instrumental pieces which represent images or stories are most often classified as "program music." But within that generalized definition is a diverse world of application. Sometimes the connection is oblique or "unrevealed" as, for example, in the symphonies of Johannes Brahms; on the flip side, the identity can be overt and direct, as in Hector Berlioz'Symphonie Fantastique or Ludwig van Beethoven's "Pastorale" Symphony. Included among the latter is Tchaikovsky's cinematic Symphony No. 1, also known as "Winter Dreams."

From the composer's correspondence we have a clue/cue to his overall intent:

• "The symphony is the most lyrical of all musical forms. Should it not express all that for which there are no words but which appeals from the soul and demands to be expressed? How can one convey these indefinable sensations that you feel when you write an instrumental composition without a definite subject? It is a purely lyrical process. It is the musical confession of an overburdened soul which according to its essential nature pours itself out by means of sounds, as a lyric poet expresses himself in verses."

It is a minor curiosity that while Tchaikovsky took care to specify titles for Opus 13 and its first two movements, he apparently felt the style cues for the third and fourth movements were a sufficient guide to the spirit of the music (Scherzando giocoso, playfully joking; Lugubre-maestoso, from bleak to grandiose). About "Winter Dreams" in particular, the composer noted, "The Russian winter landscape has for me a charm not comparable with anything else."

Another historic reference is worthy here: while Tchaikovsky's music enjoys immense popularity around the globe, his first three symphonies remained dormant until Igor Stravinsky began to conduct them during the 1930s. Today's age of recorded music ensures permanent accessibility to these works, although they remain relatively rare on symphonic programs.

Tchaikovsky returned to his first symphony in 1874 to make a few minor revisions to the original from 1866. The update of Opus 13 places it in direct chronological company with the ballet Swan Lake and his great Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor.

To be sure, "Winter Dreams" bears Tchaikovsky's unmistakable symphonic touch: utter clarity of melodic materials, and a splendid airiness to the scoring for woodwinds and brass against voluptuous strings. In fact, Symphony No. 1 reflects the tonal-poetic orchestral style for which Tchaikovsky is so revered. As for its intended tone-picture, the music breathes with the excitement of a brilliant, icy cold winter's day in Mother Russia.

Indeed, the imagery of the music is so crystal-clear that words are hardly worthy. In sum, the journey begins in G minor, changes hue to E-flat major in the second movement, and to C minor in the third. The finale begins with a G minor chant in a Gregorian mode, leading to a glorious "Mother Russia" melody in the exquisite strings. Stand by as the sky is about to shred with brazen brass in the lead. Splendid counterpoint in the strings leads to the joyful tour of tunes, timbres and tempos, as the thundering final measures draw near in big-screen G major.

Events of 1866 (Symphony No. 1 composed)

- Wayne County Medical Society organized

- Parke, Davis & Company originated

- James Vernor and Company established

- Civil Rights Act passes in Congress

- Southern Reconstruction begins

- SPCA founded in New York

- Dynamite invented by Alfred Nobel

- American University founded in Beirut

- University of Ottawa established

- Atlantic Cable links England and North America

- Tolstoy writes War and Peace

- Dostoyevsky writes Crime and Punishment

- Manet paints The Fifer

- Smetana's Bartered Bride premieres in Budapest

- G. Schirmer music publisher established in New York

- Steinway Hall opens in New York

- Breyers Ice Cream established in Philadelphia

- Debut of Jack Daniels Whisky

Winter Dreams is sponsored by the UM Centers of Excellence: Brehm, Cardiovascular, Comprehensive Cancer, and Transplant Centers.

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