Concert II Program
Notes
by Robert
Hurwitz
Ottorino Respighi
(1879–1936)
Trittico Botticelliano
Respighi's most famous works of the 1920s are the several symphonic poems
that followed the international success of The Fountains of Rome.
The
Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals were consciously planned as sequels to
The Fountains, which were all set for huge orchestral forces, but between
the Pines and the Festivals he wrote some subtle tone poems for more
modest forces on non-Roman subjects, among which was the Trittico
botticelliano.
The Trittico, composed in the spring of 1927 while the composer was
visiting Washington, D.C., was dedicated to the American patron of the
arts, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. This evocative little masterpiece for
chamber orchestra draws its inspiration from three famous paintings by the
Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli (c.1444–1510), all dealing
with birth and rebirth, that hang in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. In
Trittico, Respighi chose to depict the sensory characteristics of the
paintings, in contrast to Mussorgsky's approach in Pictures at an
Exhibition, which concentrated more on the dramatic elements in Hartmann's
paintings.
The first movement, Spring, depicts seasonal rebirth with trills in the
winds and strings. The pastoral world, with its hunting and dancing,
permeates the movement. A middle section for winds seems to hark back to
dances from an earlier time, but the full orchestra returns the music to
our own era. The trills return to close the movement.
The Adoration of the Magi brings to mind medieval church music, and
includes a quote from the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The middle
section is characterized by an exoticism that depicts the arrival of the
three kings from the Orient. The last portion of the movement quotes from
the old Italian Carol When Christ Was Born On Earth.
The Birth of Venus depicts the goddess in her sea shell as the waters
gently undulate, depicted by the strings. A melody emerges from the
flute, and the music builds very gradually to a high point, led by an
expressive melody in the strings. The peaceful opening then returns and
the music gradually fades away as Venus is carried out to sea.
W.A. Mozart
(1756–1791)
Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat, K.271
Mozart composed the concerto in E-flat at the age of twenty one, and it is
the first of his mature works in the genre. The impetus for the work
occurred in January, 1777, when a French pianist, a Mlle. Jeunehomme,
passed through Salzburg and asked Mozart for a concerto. The presence of
a virtuosa stimulated Mozart's imagination, and a work with an entirely
new concept, the "Jeunehomme Concerto," was born. Here, for the first
time in his concertos, we see Mozart composing truly symphonic orchestral
parts and making use of the various color possibilities of the orchestra
to their full extent. Also for the first time, the instrumental
introduction assumes what will become typical proportions, and the
orchestra and the soloist are treated as cooperating partners rather than
adversaries.
The opening of the concerto is unique for Mozart and indeed for classical
piano concertos as a whole. The orchestra begins the main theme, but is
immediately interrupted by the piano, which plays a brief, concluding
motive. The orchestra attempts a second beginning and is again
interrupted. Only then is it allowed to proceed with a full introduction,
while the piano patiently waits for its traditional entering spot — well,
not quite so patiently; it enters on a trill just before the orchestra's
closing cadence, another bold innovation of the young composer. The
material which follows takes a form which Mozart was to use in all of his
mature piano concerti. In contrast to earlier concertos, the piano does
not entirely predominate, but occasionally accompanies the orchestra,
while the violins and the oboe take up important melodies. The
development section is dominated by the piano, with only two oboes as
accompaniment.
The slow movement is the first in Mozart's concertos to be written in a
minor key. A tone of sadness pervades this piece. The soloist seems to
become a character in a tragic, operatic scene. The move to a major
tonality, which takes place later in the movement, does little to dispel
the pervading sense of melancholy, and an extended cadenza also enhances
the wistful tone.
The last movement is a lighthearted and energetic rondo, with, true to the
form of the rest of the concerto, an unusual twist. In the middle of the
movement the tempo abruptly changes from presto to "menuetto,
cantabile"
and a theme and four variations are heard. A cadenza, placed at the end
of the final variation, leads ultimately to a return of the Presto, and
the movement concludes with much vigor and optimism.
John Musto
(b. 1954)
Quiet Songs
John Musto's song cycle Quiet Songs is scored almost identically to
Trittico Botticelliano. This Emmy award-winning American composer's
setting of poems by e.e. cummings, Eugene O'Neill, Amy Burton, Edna St.
Vincent Millay, Arthur Symons and Leonie Adams is a masterpiece of soaring
soprano vocals against an orchestral backdrop ranging from gentle intimacy
to rich sonority.
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