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Monterey Symphony Program Notes Concert Five

        March 15, 2008 (3 pm Final Rehearsal & 8 pm Concert) - Sherwood Hall, Salinas
        March 16 (3 pm) & March 17, 2008(8 pm) - Sunset Theater, Carmel
                   Max Bragado-Darman, conductor
                   Angel Romero, guitar

Appalachian Spring
          Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
          Composed  (1943-1944)

Aaron Copland was the best known of that pioneer group of "Americanist" composers who brought so much vitality to music in our country during the decades between the Great Wars. Copland wrote music of every sort for the cinema and the ballet as well as compositions for "serious" concert performance. In his own words, he sought to compose works "that would immediately be recognized as American in character." In order to achieve this he often turned to jazz and American folk song for inspiration.

Late in the 1930s, Copland felt an urge to reach a larger public, in order to achieve which, he tried to infuse his music with what he called "imposed simplicity." Appalachian Spring belongs to the end of this period. Its inspiration was a poem of the same title by Hart Crane, and the commission for the work, a ballet, came from that great and generous patron of the American composer, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. It was premiered at the Library of Congress by Martha Graham and her Company on October 30, 1944. The original musical score called for a chamber orchestra of thirteen instruments, but the composer later arranged it as a symphonic suite which is the version heard in these concerts. The composer furnished the following synoptic notes for the first performance by the New York Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra.

1. Very slowly: Introduction of the characters one by one in a suffused light.

2. Fast: Sudden burst of unison strings in A Major arpeggios starts the section. A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote to this scene.

3. Moderate: Duo for the Bride and Her Intended - scene of tenderness and passion.

4. Quite fast: The Revivalist and his flock. Folksy feelings - suggestions of square dances and country fiddlers.

5. Still faster: Solo dance of the Bride - Presentiment of motherhood. Extremes of joy and fear and wonder.

6. Very Slowly: Transition scene to music reminiscent of the introduction.

7. Calm and flowing: Scenes of daily activity for the Bride and her Farmer-husband. (In this section the Shaker song "Simple Gifts" is announced by the solo clarinet, then extended in five variations.)

8. Moderate: Coda. The Bride takes her place among her neighbors. At the end, the couple are left "quiet and strong in their new house." Muted strings intone a hushed, prayer-like passage.

Louise Cuyler

Concierto de Aranjuez
           Joaquin Rodrigo (1901 - 1999)
          Composed: 1939-40

One of the curiosities of Western music is that so many of the "Spanish" compositions written during the last two centuries have been written by non-Spaniards. We think, for example of the Russian Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio espagnol, or works by the two Frenchmen Bizet and Lalo, Carmen and Symphonie espagnol. Rodrigo, with his Concierto de Aranjuez, seems to have reversed that trend, for that composition, written in 1939-40, has established an enormous vogue for both the guitar and all Spanish music. This Concierto was written in the midst of the prevalence of 12-tone music and cacophony; but, it was also just in time to have the advantage of the restoration of the guitar as a serious solo instrument by the great Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia.

Joaquin Rodrigo was not himself a guitarist. In fact, he is quoted as observing that he "couldn't play four notes in a row" on the instrument. His serious training in composition was in Paris where he was a student of Paul Dukas, of Sorcerer's Apprentice fame. Most of the major French composers have shown a flair for the orchestra and this gift has definitely rubbed off on Rodrigo. His concerto for guitar is not only indigenous to that instrument ?? it is also splendidly orchestrated, especially the second movement. A few remarks on each of the three movements follow.

1. Allegro con spirito
Rodrigo dispenses with the orchestral prelude which was customary in many earlier concertos. Instead he launches the guitar in a kinetic two-measure chordal figure that is present during much of this first movement. It is comprised of a measure of the rhythm dash dot dash juxtaposed to a measure of three even beats. This uses the combination of alternating 2 and 3 rhythms which is characteristic of much Spanish music. This guitar figure is supported by the lightest of backgrounds in the orchestra. Soon the string choir picks up the 2/3 rhythmic figure. A lilting, very Spanish air is added presently by oboes and clarinets. The movement grows in intensity, passing through very colorful modulations. The close tapers off to the same guitar chords with which it commenced. We might recall that Ravel's smashingly successful Bolero was written just ten years before Rodrigo's Concierto. There are many affinities between the two works.

2. Adagio
As this enchanting movement unfolds, it emerges as the essence of what is called the concerted style: a continuous dialogue, even disputation, between various orchestral instruments and the solo guitar. The melodic phrase on which the entire movement is based is stated first by the English horn (alto oboe) accompanied by chords in the guitar. This phrase is set into motion at the very outset by a type of ornament called a mordent which gives special stress to the first melodic note; this mordent will be heard often as the "dialogue" continues and is an easily identified element. The dialogue becomes ever more contentious as the phrases grow shorter and draw closer together. Their climax is a brilliant cadenza for the guitar, followed by a recall of the opening phrase in full orchestra. This recedes gradually to the dynamic marking pppp (as softly as possible).

3. Allegro gentile
This vigorous finale exploits continuously the 2/3 rhythmic relationship introduced in the first movement. It is brilliantly orchestrated, showing Rodrigo to be a fine student of his French teachers.

Louise Cuyler

 "I was born in Paris on 7 January 1899.” Francis Poulenc once related to a friend, “I studied piano under Viñes and composition almost solely through books because I was fearful of being influenced by a teacher. I read a lot of music and greatly pondered musical aesthetics. My four favorite composers, my only masters, are Bach, Mozart, Satie and Stravinsky. I don't like Beethoven at all. I loathe Wagner. In general, I am very eclectic, but while acknowledging that influence is a necessary thing, I hate those artists who dwell in the wake of the masters. Now, a crucial point. I am not a Cubist musician, even less a Futurist and, of course, not an Impressionist. I am a musician without a label."

Indeed, French composer Francis Poulenc was born in Paris. His father was a devout Catholic from the center of France and his mother, Jenny Royer, a descendent of a long line of Parisian artisans. She was a person who preferred to make up her own mind, rather than have someone tell her what she should think. The dichotomy of the household philosophies must have been rather contentious at times, but was genuinely loving. Jenny Royer was also a talented pianist and was Francis’ first teacher. At the age of 14, Poulenc heard the great virtouso pianist Eduard Risler perform Chabrier’s Idyll and that was the pivotal moment at which he decided to become a composer. By the time 1917 arrived, Poulenc had lost his mother then his father. In 1918, he was called to National Service to defend France but continued to composer at every opportunity.

Poulenc’s early work certainly had the attention of serious music lovers because in 1920 Paris’ most famous music critic, Henri Collet, included Poulenc in a group of young composers he labeled “Les Six,” a reference to “The Five” great Russian composers (Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, and Balakirev) who had created a “Russian” national music. In addition to Poulenc, this prestigious group of young French composers included Georges Auric (1899–1983), Louis Durey (1888–1979), Arthur Honegger (1882–1955), Darius Milhaud (1892–1974), and Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983).

Many of Poulenc’s compositions were chamber music pieces or intended for relatively small (for the time) ensembles. In the 1930's after the tragic death of a close friend in a car accident, however, Francis Poulenc rediscovered Catholicism and dedicated himself to the creation of several larger religious works. The two best know are his Gloria (1962) and his great opera, The Dialogue of the Carmelites (1957). His output for orchestral forces are limited to the ballet scores (Aubade, Les biches), a Concerto for Two Pianos, a Harpsichord Concerto, and this Sinfonietta.

The Sinfonietta or “Little Symphony” was completed in 1948 as a commission from the BBC and the Royal Philharmonic. Poulenc was a slow and careful composer who often threatened to miss deadlines. The Sinfonietta was composed in time for its premiere. Its name is misleading. The music it contains is substantive, based on sketches Poulenc had made for a string quartet. It contains four movements. The first, Allegro con fuoco, has an infectious two-note (Up-Down) figure heard at the opening, a softer middle section, and a return of the two-note figure. The second movement, Molto vivace, is the darkest movement with an internal development of its themes. The third movement, Andante cantabile, is a glorious song one might hear while walking down a country lane on a sunny afternoon. Listen for the beautiful horn solo. The Finale gives the biggest nod to the 20th century, yet the entire piece is an homage to the cleverness of Mozart and the exuberance of Haydn.

                                                                                                                                                                Joseph Truskot