Heights Chamber Orchestra Concert, Sunday April 1, 2001
Program Notes
Symphony No. 1
William
Boyce (1711-1799)
Born in London about 25 years
after Bach and Handel, William Boyce became
the outstanding musical figure of his day: organist,
conductor, composer of sacred and secular music, scholar and publisher.
His music found a unique niche
in burgeoning mid-18th century London. From Britain's increasing number of colonies,
international trade boomed and London was at the center, exploding in both wealth and
population, and creating between the two extremes of lords and laborers, a new middle
class of master craftsmen, merchants, tailors,
brewers, tutors, clothiers and other professionals whose in-demand services created vast
new wealth.
The new wealth bought time for
leisure and the leisure focus of this new middle class was music , heard at opera houses
and theaters, or played at home. English families took up singing or learned to play
instruments; the lute, oboe violin and harpsichord being the most popular.
So England become a musical center of Europe and a
stage for the greatest of current composers to create and perform there. While Handel
dominated the opera house and Thomas Arne was favorite at theaters and pleasure gardens,
English families played William' Boyces's Trio Sonatas" and many of his other popular
works in their homes.
His Eight Symphonies are the
best known, most recorded of his works and are among the most famous, most played of any
English Baroque musical work. In contrast to how we envision symphonies today, each of the
Eight is remarkably brief; usually only seven or eight minutes of playing time. In 1760
London, however the terms "symphony" and "overture" were synonymous
and described only as being either the French or Italian style.
Toward the end of the 18th century, as
musical taste moved to the new "classical" styles of Bach, Mozart and Haydn,
Boyce's symphonies disappeared from the orchestral repertoire. Re-discovered by composer
Constant Lambert (1905-1951) and re-published in 1928, Boyce's symphonies are again back
in style, recognized as bright musical gems, full
of good tunes, well crafted and delightfully unassuming.
The Eight Symphonies were first published in 1760 but each
one was in fact composed over the previous 21 years as either an ode to a vocal or
stagework, or as an overtlure. Symphony No. 1
was originally composed in 1756, titled Ode for the New Year.
Violin
Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op 64
Felix
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Son of a wealthy banker
and grandson of a distinguished Jewish philosopher, Felix
Mendelsssohn began his brief, remarkable life in Hamburg. The surname
Bartholdy was adopted at age three when his family converted to Christianity and moved to
Berlin where Felix grew up in a cultured circle of close family and friends. He showed
astonishing musical precocity with his first piano recital at age nine, and first
composition at 10. When introduced at age 12, to the poet/philosopher Goethe (then 72),
young Felix had already composed several
string symphonies, piano pieces and songs and two operettas.
Mendelssohn became a well-rounded
adult intellectual who read Greek and Latin and spoke fluent English, French and German. While becoming one of the most prodigious
composers of all time, he was also an accomplished painter, his landscapes praised by fellow composer Richard Wagner. Often
referred to as the "Mozart of the 19th Century", many critics believe his
adolescent works are superior to those of Mozart's early period in terms of depth and
complexity.
Mendelssohn was almost certainly the
most successful musician of the 19th century, enduring none none of the reverses, and
disappointments that befell other great Romantic composers. Ironically, his death may be
described as the result of his success: it was exhaustion and overwork to meet the demands
for his performances and compositions that ultimately brought his end, by a stroke, at the
age of only 38.
His E minor Violin Concerto,
written for close friend and famed contemporary violinist Ferdinand David, was completed
in 1844 and performed by David the following
year. Though the concerto is cast in the
usual three movements, they are linked so the entire work plays without a break in about
29 minutes.
Concertino for Piano and Chamber Orchestra
Frederick Koch
The following is a
description of the work by the composer: "The Concerto
began its existence as a
jazz-oriented, one-movement work titled 'Dance
Overture' , premiered by the National Gallery Orchestra in Washington, DC in 1972.
Conductor Richard Bales suggested that I add two more movements to make a work for piano
and orchestra and said that he would perform it.
"This I did, completing it
in 1980 when I was teaching for the Third Street School of Music. The second movement is
very different in style, with an ostinato theme in the orchestra and piano, considerable
percussion, and improvisational sections.
"The final movement was
originally titled 612 as it was based on
these intervals which were the address of a
friend's apartment. A reviewer noted that these were also the same intervals used by
Gershwin in his 'American in Paris', so I changed them to 623.
"The movement is energetic
and jazzy with a contrasting singing melody and includes a piano cadenza. The three-movement work was premiered by the
National Gallery Orchestra in April, 1982, Richard Bales conducting, where it received
considerable acclaim and was broadcast over National Public Radio."
Frederich Koch, composer/pianist, is
an ASCAP member with over 200 works in his catalogue, 70 of which are published between 12
publishers. He was founder of the West Shore Concerts which for 35 years brought concerts
featuring Cleveland artists and composers to Cleveland's West Side, . He also founded the
Koch School of Music, today named the Riverside Academy of Music and in its 42nd season.
Mr. Koch holds a Doctorate of
Musical Arts from the the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Musical Arts from
Case-Western Reserve University, and a Bachelor of Music in piano from Cleveland Institute
of Music. He is the author of the book Reflections
on Composing, and is currently a member of the piano faculty at Cuyahoga Community
College-Western Campus, and Baldwin Wallace Conservatory.
Symphony
No. 41 in C, K551 - "Jupiter"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Mozart's last three symphonies
date from the summer of 1788 , a trying time for him. His opera, Don Giovanni, after
success in Prague, failed in Vienna and the Viennese public no longer flocked to his
concerts. Mozart's income dropped and he was forced to move, with his family, to less
expensive lodgings. Besides the lack of commissions, Mozart had to deal with the recent
death of his six-months-old daughter. A letter to a lodge brother refers to "dark
thoughts which I must banish by force."
He completed few works that
summer, the only significant ones being the three symphonies — Nos. 39, 40 and 41
— which he composed in just seven weeks. They would be the final ones of his career.
The "Jupiter" title
was not given to No. 41 by Mozart but was
originated in London by impresario Johann P. Salomon. The nickname was inspired by a sense
of Olympian grandeur in this, Mozart's largest and most complex symphony. The work is also Jupiter-like in another way: it
is often jovial as if the great Greek god were laughing heartily in the key of C major.
Of No. 41, Robert Schumann wrote in
1855: "About many things in this world there is simply nothing to be said -- for
example, Mozart's C-major symphony with the fugue, much of Shakespeare and some of
Beethoven." So sit back and
enjoy!
Tonight's
Soloists
Gino
Raffaelli violinist, has been
Concertmaster of the Heights Chamber Orchestra since its founding in 1984 and he also
plays with the Cleveland Orchestra. A Heights
resident since 1957, Mr. Raffaelli is president and co-founder, with Diane Mather, of
Cleveland PAND (Performers and Artists for Nuclear Disarmament), also organized in 1984.
As the name suggests, PAND mobilizes
supporters through concerts and other events, and provides a forum whereby our area
artists can express their continuing concerns over the existence and proliferation of
nuclear weapons.
Ms. Kleve has performed with her
father in recitals in Cleveland and New York and frequently performs music of contemporary
Cleveland composers at the most important Cleveland area classical music sites. Deeply committed to teaching young persons, she is
involved both as a counselor of the West Side Junior Fortnightly Miscall club and
coordinator for the annual Junior Festival.
The Orchestra thanks the
Cleveland Heights Board of Education for the use of rehearsal facilities, and Christ
Episcopal Church for providing our concert site.
Program notes compiled by Walter Nicholes from various sources including Grove, Britannica and the Web, January 29, 2001