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These copyrighted program notes are available for the edification of all concert attendees. If not otherwise noted, they are extracted from "Notes on Music" by Dr. Louise Cuyler (1906-1998). No use is permitted without the written consent of the Monterey Symphony, 2560 Garden Road, Suite 101, Monterey, CA 93940. Please click on the MONTH to retrieve program notes, now in an easier-to-print format.

April 2010

Monterey Symphony Program Notes Concert Six

    April 24, 2009 (3 pm Dress Rehearsal & 8 pm Concert) - Sherwood Hall, Salinas
      April 25 (3 pm) & April 26, 2009 (8 pm) - Sunset Theater, Carmel

In all likelihood, these concerts by the Monterey Symphony are the first time an orchestra has presented an entire evening of music composed without violins. The strings required to perform these pieces are violas, cellos, and double basses. The one exception is a solo instrument in two movements of the Fauré Misse de Requiem. The resulting deep and velvety tone connects the texts, the melodies, and the subject matter.

Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, D.714, Op. Post.167
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Composed in 1820

Had Franz Schubert lived longer than his 31 years who can imagine what compositions he would have produced and which direction classical music might have turned? Instead, he was born in a suburb of Vienna and died, probably of syphilis, in that same great center of culture. Schubert’s father was a teacher and a member of the newly emerging middle class. Franz sang in the Imperial Seminary Choir, most likely studied composition with Salieri, and produced his early compositions to help out at the church and school. When he reached adulthood he tried his hand at teaching at his father’s school but found he had neither the ability nor the interest in giving young people lessons. Instead, he began to live a Bohemian life, hanging out in the taverns, sleeping late, and composing all afternoon. His friends were musicians, poets, actors, and artists. Schubert composed original music to fill an entire evening. He and his friends participated gleefully in these casual productions which later came to be known as Schubertiads.

Schubert had a genius for creating melodies. He wrote more than 600 songs, 10 operas, 8 symphonies, several masses, and numerous works for chamber ensembles and solo piano. He wrote in every musical genre except the concerto. This exception is not surprising as Schubert was the first great composer who was neither an instrumentalist nor a conductor. His piano playing was capable but certainly not virtuosic, nothing like the talent that Mozart and Beethoven had. Schubert was also the first major composer who was not completely dependent on the upper class for his livelihood. He was middle class and spent most of his time with members of that class.

In Schubert’s final year of life, he had received letters from major publishers interested in his compositions. Beethoven had met young Schubert, gave him encouragement, and accepted a visit from him while on his deathbed. Had Schubert lived only a little time longer, he would have had a more widely established reputation and a more secure income. We owe a great debt to Schubert’s bohemian friends for keeping the voluminous manuscripts he produced safe. They also knew to present them to influential musicians such as Schumann and Mendelssohn—musicians who understood “genius” and had the influence to bring the works of this musical titan to the world’s attention.

The “Song of the Spirit Above the Water” is a poem by Goethe, inspired by the 800 foot drop of Staubbach Falls into the Lauterbrunnen Valley south of Bern, Switzerland. Schubert used the poem (translated below) in three different arrangements—as a solo song, as a work for male quartet, and the incredibly difficult arrangement for eight voices and strings heard on this program. Schubert himself described this version as “an accumulation of all sorts of modulations and excursions without meaning, order or purpose . . . In such works, the composer is like the driver of a coach drawn by eight horses who steers now to the right and now to the left — just turns outwards — then turns round and continues the game without ever getting onto the road.” An uncredited translation follows:

The soul of man is like the water.
It comes from heaven. It rises to heaven,
And down again to the earth it must fall,
Ever changing.

It pours from the high, steep rock wall
The pure stream then delightfully turns into spray
In cloudlike waves against the smooth rock;
And, easily caught, it flows, veiled, softly purling down to the depths.

Steep cliffs toward the fall.
It foams angrily in steps to the abyss.
On the flat bed it creeps in the meadow valley
And in the calm lake are reflected the faces of all the stars.

The wind is the fair lover of the wave;
The wind whips up from the ground foaming waves.
O soul of man how like the water you are.
O destiny of man how like the wind you are.

Joseph Truskot

Serenade No.2 in A major, Op.16
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Composed in 1859, Revised in 1875

“I have seldom written music with such delight.” The twenty-six-year-old Brahms confided in his friend, the virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim, referring to his Second Serenade. Although never considered a musical innovator, Brahms took the well-established musical forms of the past (symphony, concerto, serenade) and proved that they still had relevance.

Johannes Brahms was born on May 7, 1833 in Hamburg. He was the son of a double bass player in the Hamburg Opera. He made his first public appearance as a pianist at the age of fourteen playing his own Variations on a Folk Tune. Initially, he earned money performing in salons and taverns, but was soon engaged by the famous Hungarian violinist Reménye as his accompanist. The pair toured the major cities of Europe. Joseph Joachim, another 19th century violin luminary for whom Brahms would later compose his great Violin Concerto, heard the young composer in performance, introduced himself, and sent him to meet Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Liszt admired the works Brahms played for him, but their relationship never developed. With Schumann, on the other hand, a close and life-long devotion rapidly blossomed. Brahms, Robert Schumann and his extraordinary wife, Clara Wieck Schumann were inseparable. In a now famous article appearing in a journal entitled, “New Paths” (Neue Bahnen) Schumann described the 20-year-old Brahms as the coming genius of German music, appearing “fully equipped, as Minerva sprang from the brain of Jupiter.” Schumann saw to it that compositions by Brahms were published and made accessible to all.

A period of travel followed with Brahms living in various German cities, performing, conducting, and composing. He earned most of his income, however, from the royalties he received from publishing art songs intended for the general public. Nearly half of his works bearing Opus numbers are devoted to this genre, the most famous being his immortal “Lullaby” which was created by a man who never married or produced children.

Upon the success of his German Requiem, Brahms quit performing as a pianist and a few years later gave up conducting—except concerts of his own works. In the 1890's, Brahms developed liver cancer, the disease that claimed his father. He wasted away much to the distress of his many friends, most of whom had forgiven him his sarcasm and biting tongue. All agreed under the rough exterior was a heart of gold and a true romantic spirit. He died in Vienna on April 3, 1897.

Dedicated to Clara Weick Schumann, Brahms’ Second Serenade is scored for wind instruments, violas, cellos, and basses and is in five movements. I. Allegro moderato: displays Brahms “mature” style although he was still so young. There are marvelous examples of compositional technique throughout the first movement using the winds, horns, and strings as separate voices. II. Vivace: presents a jaunty, happy march with swirling effects with lovely horn calls above the orchestra and percussive-notes provided by the strings. III Adagio non troppo: creates the darkest movement and provides a break between the two dances. IV Quasi menuetto: heralds back to the 18th century dance but given Brahms’ unmistakably romantic touch. V. Allegro: concludes the Serenade with a strikingly memorable melody and dramatic climax.

Joseph Truskot

Misse de Requiem, Op.48
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Composed 1887 Expanded 1890

Gabriel Fauré was born in 1845 in Pamiers, Ariege, France and studied at the École Niedermeyer from 1855 to 1865. The École Niedermeyer, which largely trained organists and church musicians, gave Fauré a solid musical base for his creativity and provided him with skills he could use to earn a living. While a student, Fauré came under the influence of Camille Saint-Saëns and established himself as an individual dedicated to expanding French music. Fauré became an accomplished organist, a choir director, and toward the end of the century an influential teacher (Maurice Ravel was a pupil). Fauré abandoned music entirely for a brief period to fight for France in the Franco-Prussian War. Upon his return from the conflict, he became the head of the Paris Conservatory and was one of its most illustrious leaders.

During the late 19th century, many French composers reacted negatively to the bombastic music produced by Wagner and his followers. Fauré’s music is often described as quiet, dreamy, elegant, tuneful, and formal. His best known works have all those characteristics. He contributed greatly to the art song and piano repertoire. He composed one opera, Penelope, but no symphonies or concertos. Today, Fauré is best known for his lovely orchestral suite: Pelléas et Mélisande, the popular and brief Pavane, and his magnificent Misse de Requiem.
As an experienced church musician, Fauré understood the two main uses of a Requiem mass: music for an internment ceremony which soothes the freshly grieving and music for a tribute which celebrates accomplishment. His Requiem leaned more toward the former. The first version contained only the Introït et Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, and In Paradisum and was conducted by Fauré at St. Madeleine in Paris, where he served as music director.

By 1890, Fauré had added the Offitorium and the Libera Me, an independent work he’d composed in 1877. This version is heard at these concerts. In 1899, yet a third version was arranged for full symphony orchestra which includes violins.

Although Fauré said that his Requiem Mass was “composed for nothing … for fun, if I may be permitted to say so!” It had been begun soon after his father had passed away in 1885. By the time the work was premiered in 1888, it also served as a possible memorial to his mother. Subsequently, it is one of the most intimate and touching masses in the repertoire, emotionally reserved yet conveying a deep religious feeling. As musicologist David Ewen wrote, “It does not speak of the torment of death, but of the tranquillity and serenity death brings.”

Introït and Kyrie
The Mass opens, Molto largo, for four-part chorus and strings. Requiem aeternam, dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat (Grant them eternal rest and let perpetual light shine upon them.) The tempo changes to Andante moderato as the tenors repeat these words ending piano. The sopranos enter singing Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion et tibi redentur votum in Jerusalem (Hymns shall become you, O God in Zion, and new vows shall be paid to you in Jerusalem.) Full chorus enters double forte with Exaudi orationem mean; ad te omnis caro veniet. (Hear my prayer, O Lord. Unto you all flesh shall come). Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison (Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.) The chorus repeats the words gradually softening to pianissimo.

Offertory
After a brief introduction, altos and then tenors present O Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae libera animas defunctorum, de poenis inferni, et de profundo lacu; de ore leonis, ne absorbeat Tartarus, O Domine Jesu Christe ne cadan I obscurum. (O Lord, Jesus Christ, Glorious King, deliver the souls of you servants from earthly bondage, from the end of mortal flesh; from death’s dark valley, and from the shadows of the deep abyss. O Lord, Jesus Christ, Be merciful and save them from lasting darkness.) The basses join in at the second O Domine Jesu Christe and the three parts sing in unison, the quality of their voices reflecting the “darkness” mentioned in the text. The solo baritone enters singing Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus; tu suscipe pro animabus illis quarum hodie memoriam facims; fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus. (Unto you, Lord, we offer this sacrifice, unto you this prayer and praise. Receive it for those beloved and honored whom we bless this day, whose memory we recall; Lord, let them pass from the death of the body to life eternal, as you promised Abraham and his kin. Amen.) The chorus repeats the words from the beginning of the movement.

Sanctus
Solo sopranos enter with tenors and basses providing an echo above arpeggio notes from the orchestra and the single violin in the score. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Saboath. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis (Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Glory be to you, O Lord).

Pie Jesu
Solo sopranos sing Pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis requiem; dona eis sempiternam requiem (Blessed Jesus, grant them eternal rest.) The entire movement is marked Adagio.

Agnus Dei
The tenors lead the way in this direct and reassuring prayer, marked Andante. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem. Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es. Requiem aeternam dona eis. (Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest. Let eternal light shine upon them forever, Lord, for you are good. Grant them eternal rest.) The tempo changes to Molto largo as the full chorus sings the final words. The orchestra alone returns to the original Andante tempo for a stunningly beautiful and uplifting conclusion.

Libera Me
The baritone sings, Molto moderato, above a foundation of plucked low strings Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda; Quando coeli ovendi sunt et terra; Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem. (Deliver me, Lord, from eternal death upon that day of terror, upon that day of trial; then shall heaven and earth be moved, be consumed together, for you shall come upon the earth in judgment.) The full chorus enters singing Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira. Dies illa, diea irae, calamitatis, et miseriae; dies ill, dies magna et amara valde. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetu luceat eis. (Trembling, I stand before you and wait in fear till judgment shall come upon the earth and men shall know your anger. The Day is here, the day of doom, of wretchedness and misery, of very great bitterness.) The section closes with the male voices repeating the opening phrase, Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna.

In Paradisum
The Requiem concludes with the sopranos singing sweetly but softly as the other voices join in. In paradisum deducant angeli; in tuo adventu sucipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angleorum te suscipiat , et cum Lazaro quondom paupere aeternam habeas requiem. (In Paradise, the angels will receive you, your coming will be attended by all the blessed martyrs, thy pathway guided into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the chorus of angels there receive you; and with Lazaras who is now comforted, rest eternally.) Throughout the movement, the orchestra plays repeated triplets creating an eerie, clock-like steadiness that perhaps represents the passage of time.

Joseph Truskot