Program Notes

Overture "Egmont" op. 84
 Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827

Goethe's tragedy "Egmont" deals with the struggle of a Dutch nobleman against the Spaniards¹ repression of his countrymen.  This heroic story appealed to Beethoven's view of the human ideal.  (He was appalled that Mozart chose to write an opera about  the frivolous and amoral Don Juan.) Beethoven had to decide whether the overture should act only as a mood-setting prelude to the drama, or reflect the entire plot.  While an opera overture might be redundant if it previewed all the music, the same problem did not arise with a play, so he decided to use the most important elements of the drama in his overture.

A slow introduction is followed by a sonata-allegro form.  It is interesting to note that this is the first time the piccolo was used in a purely instrumental work; it had usually been reserved for creating effects in operas.  As the drama ends with the celebration of freedom over oppression, Beethoven held to the concept of reflecting the action in the music and gave the composition a triumphal ending.  Beethoven's music was not ready in time for the premiere of the play.  Not until the fourth performance of "Egmont", in the Court Theatre in Vienna on June 15, 1810, was this noble music heard for the first time.

Violin Concerto No. 1 in C Major
Franz  Josef Haydn (1732-1809)

Josef Haydn wrote more than one hundred symphonies, but was not much interested in composing concertos.  He wrote only four or five violin
concertos, some of which may not even actually be his.  (In those days it
was not unusual for other people to use his name on their music!)  The C Major concerto is one of two safely attributed to Haydn.  It was written for Luigi Tomasini, concertmaster of the Esterhazy Palace orchestra when Haydn was its music director.  It was said to be a brilliant ensemble.

Accomplished as both a pianist and a violinist (though not so dazzling as the young Amadeo) he and Mozart frequently played their own works as members of a string quartet with Haydn on first violin and Mozart on viola.

Musicologist Karl Geiringer has written: "In this concerto, the violin competes with the orchestra in the elaboration of themes.  There are double stops, big skips, fast runs and melodies in the highest register that offer a gratifying task to the soloist."  Watch out for those fast runs!  Though it was written between 1769-71, this concerto still shows considerable influence of the earlier Baroque style in the Adagio movement, and  a strong Italian influence in the serenade-like theme.

 
Anthony Addison writes:

:It is ironic, and a source of annoyance to the English musical establishment that Elgar, now generally considered the greatest British symphonist of the 20th century, did not study at either of the Royal Schools of Music.  His father, a piano tuner, organist and amateur violinist, gave him instruction and he became proficient in violin and organ.   At the age of sixteen he began earning his living as a free-lance musician, and in fact never held a permanent job.

The organ sonata was written in 1895 when Elgar was 38 years old.  In 1940 Elgar¹s publishers invited Gordon Jacob, a distinguished English composer, to make a version for orchestra. It was given a single performance by the BBC orchestra under Adrian Boult.  The score was then shelved until 1989, when  the Liverpool Philharmonic recorded it.

Unaware of the orchestration, I came across the organ score in 1999 and made this version for the chamber orchestra in Columbia, Missouri, of which I was then Music Director. The work is in four movements; the second and third, with the transition between, will be performed tonight.  The Intermezzo is in the form of a Minuet and Trio, while the slow movement is a magnificent, slowly expanding cantelena....After reaching a powerful climax, it eases into a contrasting tranquillo section and closes quietly with the two themes played against one another.

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Proclaimed by Robert Schumann to be ³the next great musical genius² when he was only 20,  Brahms did not finish his first symphony until he was more
than twice that age.  Years earlier he had shown  parts of it to Clara, Schumann¹s wife and widow (with whom he may have been in love),  but the
musical world had to wait for the finished work.

With its throbbing timpani, the first measure of this symphony begins a work
of tragic intensity.  Written in C minor, the key usually associated with tragedy, it derives its energy from its slow tempo with the violins rising as the woodwinds descend.   The sostenuto becomes Allegro continuing the tragic minor mode.

The second movement is more lyrical, with a melody in the violins taken over
by the solo oboe.  Later, the part first played by the oboe is given to a solo violin The third movement is a short intermezzo with sweet woodwind solos and delicate pizzicatos in the bass.  Following a rhythmical trio, the lyrical motive returns.  The fourth movement resumes the tragic mood and reaches a climax with its famous horn melody.  The joyful Allegro is reminiscent of the "Ode to Joy" in Beethoven's Ninth (which Brahms himself affirmed).  After restatement of the main theme and further development, the symphony ends with a brilliant Coda and return of the brass  chorale from the introduction.

notes compiled by  Ginger Kuper