SATURDAY, JULY 23 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (1872-1958) Symphony No. 3 (A Pastoral Symphony)
Premiered on January 16, 1922, in London under the direction of Sir Adrian Boult. The subtitle Pastoral brings to mind Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony and its expression of idyllic landscapes and rustic scenes. The only dramatic aspect of this otherwise sunny work is a brief thunderstorm. Well, Vaughan Williams shows us a completely different landscape — one destroyed by World War I and loitered with memories of the dead. As a result, the symphony doesn’t seem like a symphony at all — especially since all four movements are essentially slow movements. Roger Norrington offers a fascinating and convincing reading, where the movements are to be understood as seasons. Here are his comments for each movement from a television interview: It starts in high summer, a beautiful summer day, but it’s very, very sad, because in fact people have died here. The second movement is autumn. Where is the harvest of the autumn? It’s only in men. It’s a slow and incredibly beautiful movement with a trumpeter improvising his own funeral song, and somehow you know that trumpeter will be dead within a week. The third movement I think of as Winter. It’s Christmas at the front, and [we hear] some quite happy Christmas music, and yet it’s also very serious. The fourth movement, spring, is supposed to be a happy time, but it brings no renewal. You can’t bring all these German and English people back to life. But there’s a girl singing right at the beginning. Somehow you know it’s the trumpeter’s girlfriend, and he’s never going to come back. So it’s a deeply moving piece, apparently about the countryside, but in fact it’s a requiem about the first world war. CHRISTAN LINDBERG (1958-) Chick’a’Bone Checkout
Premiered on September 28, 2006, in Chicago. Program notes provided by the composer: My first experience of Chicago was overwhelming. I had been invited to fly in from Sweden on the 4th of July 1986 to play Pryor´s Variations on Blue Bells of Scotland and other showpieces in Grant Park, and when I walked onto the stage I looked out on a crowd of 800,000 people!! I was immediately hypnotized by this amazing city, and since then I have grasped every opportunity to get back, including this one: to hear the premiere of my new piece commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Chick´a´Bone Checkout is a tribute to the city of Chicago and the music is primarily inspired by Carl Sandburg’s colorful poems. At the same time, many of the original motifs, or embryos upon which the piece is based, came to me while reading an exciting book called Chicago by Swedish author Jan Olof Olsson. The book taught me an awful lot about the history and
people of Chicago that was indispensable in writing the piece. So, too, was what I learnt on rides round the city organized by my dear friends in the Chicago trombone section. I ended up with a vast amount of material and a wealth of ideas. As I don´t want to get in the way of each listener´s unique receptivity and imagination, nor to write on anyone’s nose so to speak, I will not detail the history behind each movement. (This would fill at least 5 pages and bore you all to death.) Instead I have used descriptive titles for the 7 different movements of the piece (which run without pauses) and these should give everyone familiar with Chicago quite enough hints. On the other hand, the listener is free to forget about Chicago and to listen to the piece purely as a concerto for trombone and orchestra. MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloé
Premiered on April 30, 1914, in Paris. Most composers’ music can be easily identified because of their unmistakable “sound.” Yet Ravel was able to compose in a variety of styles, showcasing not only his remarkable skills but also his ability to find the right “sound” for the given task. In the case of Daphnis and Chloé, he realized that an impressionistic approach would offer the widest palette — especially for this pastoral setting. Composed for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe (following the huge successes of Stravinsky’s Firebird and Petrushka), Ravel wanted to tell the 2nd-century story with a decidedly French accent. Not long after the premiere of the ballet, Ravel distilled two suites from the score. While most suites become mostly “absolute” music, Ravel decided to keep the story of Daphnis et Choé intact. Here’s the story of the Second Suite in his own words: [Daybreak] No sound but the murmur of rivulets of dew trickling from the rocks. Daphnis lies still before the grotto of the nymphs. Little by little, day breaks. Bird songs are heard. Herdsmen arrive searching for Daphnis and Chloé. They find Daphnis and awaken him. In anguish, he looks around for Chloé, who at last appears surrounded by shepherdesses... Daphnis and Chloé mime the story of the nymph Syrinx who was beloved of the god Pan. Chloé impersonates the young nymph wandering in the meadow. Daphnis appears as Pan and declares his love. The nymph repulses him. He grows more insistent. She disappears among the reeds. [Pantomime] In despair he plucks some reeds and shapes them into a flute and plays a melancholy tune. Chloé returns and dances to the melody of the flute. [Dance] The dance grows more and more animated and, in a mad whirl, Chloé falls into Daphnis’ arms... A group of young girls, dressed as bacchantes, enters... A group of young men invade the stage. Joyous tumult. General Dance. -Siegwart Reichwald
2016 Summer Institute & Festival
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