Gounod
was in his time a far more important composer than we give him credit for
today, since after Berlioz’ death in 1869, Gounod was the grand old man
of French music, and through his extensive travels was very instrumental
in spreading the French style throughout the world. Still, styles and tastes
change and only a little of Gounod’s music is regularly played today. Preeminent
among these works is his greatest stage success, the opera Faust, which
is still frequently produced. First performed in 1859, it was extensively
revised and lengthened in 1869, including the addition of the ballet music
(then required for presentation at the Paris Opera), from which we play
four of the seven numbers. The music is quite delightful and is often played
as an independent concert piece. There are seven numbers in total, of which
we present four here.
Devotees
of the movie Amadeus will be well acquainted with the story of how
Emanuel Schikaneder commissioned Mozart to write an opera for his Theater
auf der Weiden, the peoples’ opera house (something like Broadway is
to the Metropolitan opera). Mozart was enthusiastic about the project as,
at least so he thought, it would be much less constrained by the strict
censorship of the period, and he would be sharing in the profits. It is
well known of course that it is imbued with the ideas and symbolism of
Freemasonry and ended up causing many more problems (after his death) than
he would have expected because of the political situation, post American
and French revolutions. However, it was so popular that the authorities
could only cast aspersions rather than ban it outright.
Nevertheless, we need not be concerned here with the background to the opera, but only with the wonderful music which Mozart, then at the very height of his mental powers, wrote. As usual in a Mozart opera, there is a large amount of pure fun in the mix, particularly in the first and third of our selections. In the first, the Queen of the Night’s bird-catcher Papageno (the role created by Schikaneder himself) expresses his longing for a wife, accompanying himself with the set of magic chimes (played in the orchestra on the glockenspiel - nowadays a keyboard) given to him by the Queen’s messengers to ward off evil. In the second, Pamina, who is destined for Prince Tamino, laments the apparent lack of response from Tamino (which is in fact because he is bound to silence) and wishes death on herself. Meanwhile, Papageno unwillingly agrees to wed an ugly old woman, who then turns into a young girl, like he, dressed in feathers – his longed for Papagena. The third selection is their joyful duet.
Not
long after Brahms’ very popular Hungarian dances were published, Simrock
(their common publisher) proposed to Dvorak that he should write a similar
set. However, the chief commercial interest was in piano duets – such music
was tremendously popular and sold very well – rather than for the orchestral
version which came just a little later. And it was this set of dances (another
came eight years later) which did most to make Dvorak famous throughout
Europe and the U.S.A. Nearly all of the first set are based on actual Bohemian
dances, sometimes the music is derivative and sometimes wholly original.
This, the last, makes a rousing finale and is in the form of a "furiant",
a generally fast dance in ¾ time where the first two measures of
each group of four is a hemiola (3 notes spanning two measures, i.e 3x2)
while the second half is two measures of three beats (2x3). It is in a
form similar to that of a minuet and trio, with coda (although the pattern
of repetitions is different). The "minuet" is in G minor, while the "trio"
and ending of the coda is in G major.
With
well over a hundred movie and TV music credits, including 5 Oscars (Fiddler
on the Roof, orchestration, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T., and Schindler’s
List, original score) as well as twenty other nominations, it would
be hard to deny that Williams is the dominant figure in the world
of movie music. Born on Long Island (like Richard Rodgers – see below),
not far from Amityville (the setting for Jaws), he attended UCLA
and the Julliard School of Music and got his start in TV at the ripe old
age of 21 (Genera Electric Theater). With ten years conducting the Boston
Pops also to his credit, he is truly a giant among modern-day musicians.
Another musical
giant, John Barry is John Williams’ counterpart from across the Pond. Born
a year later in York, England (as J.B. Prendergast) he began his musical
career as a Rock’n’Roll trumpeter, getting into writing for films in the
late 50s. Also with over a hundred movie credits (very little TV), as well
as four Oscars (Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa and Dances
with Wolves), J.B.’s accomplishments are only slightly behind those of
J.W. This particular score has some really beautiful music and helped to
elevate the movie to, if not greatness, then at least excellence. Particularly
telling are the "Journey to Fort Sedgewick" (I can still see the rolling
prairies) and "Love Theme" with its haunting flute melody. The story starts
during the Civil war and ends some time before Custer's Last Stand.
Lt. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) is posted to Sioux (more properly called "Lakota")
territory in South Dakota to find that he is in sole charge of the fort.
He makes friends with a playful wolf (Two Socks) and falls in love with
a white woman who has been brought up by the Lakota people.
Victor
Hugo’s great masterpiece was published in 1862 and it was said that it
monopolized the attention of all of France. Certainly, it is a story for
the ages and perhaps it was inevitable that it would one day become one
of the most successful and popular musicals throughout the world. Not long
after the French version opened in 1980, plans were made to rewrite it
in English and it opened first in London and then in New York (March, 1987).
It was by far the biggest hit of the season and is of course still going
strong.
Born
in 1944 of Hungarian parents, Claude-Michel Schönberg began
his career as singer, writer and producer of popular songs and is also
the composer of Miss Saigon. This arrangement for orchestra
(to which we have added our soloists) will sound somewhat different to
the mix of mainly strings, keyboards and percussion which you’re used to
in the theater. Still, the music and lyrics are so powerful that they speak
directly to the listener’s soul, regardless of the musical details.
Index of On-line SPM Program Notes
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