Symphony Pro Musica - Holiday Concert 1996

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

Polonaise from "Christmas Eve"

One of the great Nationalistic composers of Russia, and one of the best known of the group called "The Five," Rimsky-Korsakov was planning to continue the family tradition as a Naval officer. Once his works had begun to be well-received, the Navy, sensing some reflected prestige, continued to employ the composer, giving him the title "Inspector of Naval Bands." In addition to many operas (including Christmas Eve, whence comes this overture) and symphonic works, he left behind one of the most respected works on the technique of orchestration. His music is always colorful, rousing and, above all, Russian.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Sacred and Profane Dances

Born in Paris, Debussy entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of ten as a piano student, later studying composition. His large output of solo piano music makes him one of the major composers of that form, but he also wrote plenty of orchestral, symphonic, theatrical, and chamber music. Although he is considered the father of the Impressionist school of music, he himself was not keen on the term. Debussy died of cancer before reaching his forties, otherwise his output might have been even more prolific. These dances for harp and string orchestra make up one of his lesser known but typically beautiful works.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Harp Concerto

Handel was born in Germany within a few days and not many miles of J. S. Bach and made such a tremendous contribution to music that Beethoven wrote: "To him I bend the knee. For Handel is the greatest, ablest composer that ever lived." And this includes both Haydn and Mozart! After extensive travels to Italy and England, he moved to London permanently in 1712, being followed in 1714 by his employer, the Elector of Hanover when he ascended the English throne as George 1st.

We know Handel best as the composer of Messiah and other oratorios, but he ranks as one of the greatest of all opera and concerto composers.

Howard Blake

The Snowman

The Snowman is a charming children's Holiday story written in 1978 by Raymond Briggs about a little boy who wakes up to a deep snowfall and rushes outside to make a snowman, complete with hat and scarf, tangerine nose, coal eyes and buttons. At midnight, the boy gets up and watches in awe as his genial creation comes to life, whereupon he invites him into the house. The rest is fantasy at its best, including a motor-bike ride through the woods, a flight through the air, and a snowman's party. In 1982, it was made into a cartoon (without narration) by Dianne Jackson with music by Howard Blake for England's Channel 4 TV. The Snowman was nominated for an Academy award for best short animated film and you can find it in video stores. The music, scored for small orchestra is perfectly fitted to the action and is as melodic and lyrical as any music you're likely to hear.

Howard Blake has quite a number of other movie scores to his credit and has received numerous commissions from distinguished performing organizations such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet. His Benedictus for soloist, chorus, and orchestra was premiered with great acclaim in Australia. Blake is also a first-class conductor and pianist.

If you're a kid, or just young at heart, you're sure to find The Snowman enchanting. It's certainly been a perennial favorite in my family!

Tom and RAY MAGLIOZZI... the 1992 Peabody-Award-winning hosts of CAR TALK on National Public Radio, are better known to their listeners as "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers" (taking their names from the clicketyclack sound made by aging autos). Tom and Ray grew up in East Cambridge and are both graduates of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1973, the brothers decided to open a do-it-yourself garage in Cambridge which was designed to provide rented space and tools to clients fixing their own cars. As hippies turned into yuppies and car repair became more complicated, the Magliozzi brothers began offering more conventional car repair service.

Tom, who has a doctorate in marketing and has taught at Boston and Suffolk Universities, is now a consultant. Ray, who over the years taught adult education automotive courses and worked on auto industry complaints as a consultant to the Consumer Affairs Division of the state attorney general's office, still runs the shop. Ray is also a member of the National Car Care Council. The brothers launched a highly successful weekly newspaper column, authored a Dell trade paperback, Car Talk, in 1991, and launched a worldwide website in 1996 (http://www.cartalk.com).

CAR TALK reaches more than 2.3 million listeners on over 415 NPR stations. Their King Features column appears in 200 newspapers.

SUSAN MIRON... made her New York debut as a harp soloist at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1980 and has enjoyed a versatile career as a chamber musician, soloist, and vocal accompanist. With mezzo-soprano D'Anna Fortunato and the Melisande Trio, she recorded the critically acclaimed Harp Sings and Interludes for Northeastern Records. With Boston Symphony flutist Fenwick Smith and violinist Burton Fine, Ms. Miron has, since 1981, performed nearly a hundred concerts with the Melisande Trio. As an essayist and book reviewer, she contributes regularly to New York Times Book Review, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Miami Herald, and is the cultural correspondent for The Forward.

Links to featured composers

• Leroy Anderson
• Benjamin Britten
• Claud e Debussy
• George Frideric Handel
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Ralph Vaughan Williams