Symphony Pro Musica - In the Symphonic Tradition

Program Notes


Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Overture: Leonore No. 3 (Op. 72a)

Ludwig van BeethovenThat Beethoven wrote only one opera, Fidelio, during his long career is, if you stop to think about it, one of most surprising musicological facts. Here is a composer in his prime in Vienna, the musical capital of the world, with a gift for the dramatic, a very emotional nature, great skill in vocal and orchestral writing, coming on the heels of Mozart, and yet he wrote only one opera. Much has been written on the question why – was it because he only wished to write operas plotted on the most noble and uplifting themes? Or because Fidelio’s gestation and birth caused him so much pain and effort? Or because he lacked the necessary flair for promotion and theater? Whatever the reason, we must be content with what is an excellent opera, with wonderful music, a story of good overcoming evil, but which somehow doesn’t quite ignite our own passions enough to make it in to the top ten. The fact that our heroes all survive and that the main plot element strains our credulity are probably the key factors.

The heroine and main character is Leonora, wife of wrongly imprisoned Florestan who lies rotting in a Spanish dungeon. She disguises herself as a man, Fidelio, obtains the post of assistant jailer and, in the nick of time, rescues her husband from an untimely and ignominious death.

Beethoven had an especially hard time with the overture. He wrote four of them all told. This overture, Leonore III (after the original name of the opera) and the most frequently performed, is a masterpiece all of its own. In performance, it is often played as part of the second act – a tradition established by Gustav Mahler.

It is one of Beethoven’s most intense works. Much of the music is original but two quotations stand out: the opening adagio is taken from Florestan’s lament which begins the second act and the off-stage trumpet calls are those which in the opera herald the arrival of the cavalry (almost literally).


Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)

Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments"

Allegro collerico, Allegro commodo e flemmatico, Andante malincolico, Allegro sanguineo

Carl NielsenCarl August Nielsen was born into a poor family, the 7th of 12 children, in 1865 in rural Denmark on one of the smaller islands, Funs. Though most of his adult life was spent in Copenhagen, he never lost his love of the more bucolic country life, and this is apparent in much of his music. His father was Niels Jørgensen and according to the custom (as is still the case in Iceland today) he took the name Nielsen. Carl was an intelligent child with a thirst for knowledge and music. Soon he was playing in the band of Odense, the nearest town of any size. Fortunately, generous townspeople recognized his talent and sponsored him to attend the Conservatory in Copenhagen. After that, he traveled extensively, picking up a little Wagner influence, and was married in ’91, settling back in Denmark.

Although not a prodigious composer, he wrote six symphonies, two operas, several other stage works, and three concertos. His wind quintet is perhaps the best in the (extensive) repertoire. One of his traits is a kind of musical characterization, for example his opera David and Saul, and this symphony – The Four Temperaments – which is one of his best-known works on this side of the pond. In some of his music – just beginning in 1901-2 when the second was written – he uses a system of "extended" tonality, a 12-tone technique which nevertheless is rooted in a tonic key. Some of the chords, especially in the third movement, are really luscious.

The four temperaments are today recognized more or less vaguely as moods, but before the advent of modern medical knowledge, Hippocrates introduced the theory that imbalances in the four cardinal humors (body fluids) gave rise to various symptoms, including the corresponding temperaments. The humors (each having a combination of properties moist/dry, hot/cold) are: phlegm (phlegmatic), blood (sanguine), yellow bile (choleric) and black bile (melancholic). Without dwelling too much on the physiological details, here are some helpful definitions: melancholic: depressed, enjoying sadness for its own sake; choleric: angry, irascible; sanguine: ardent, confident, hopeful; phlegmatic: calm, cool, indifferent.

The work was inspired, or perhaps triggered, by a set of paintings Nielsen saw in a tavern, each graphically depicting one of the temperaments. Who better than the composer to describe his work, as he did shortly before his death: "The first movement starts impetuously with a theme that develops with another little theme in the clarinet and rises to a fanfare leading to the second subject which sings very espressivo, but is soon interrupted again by violently shifting figures and rhythmic jerks. After a pause, the second subject, ff, unfolds itself with greater breadth and strength, which generally pass away when the development begins; here the above-mentioned material is worked, now wildly and impetuously, like one who nearly forgets himself, now in a softer mood, like one who regrets his irascibility. Lastly comes a coda (stretto) with vehement passages in the strings, and the movement ends in the same temper as it started.

"The second movement is meant to be a complete contrast to the first. I visualized a young fellow. He was his mother’s only son and was also uncommonly lovable…about 17-18 years old, with sky-blues eyes, confident and big. In school…the teachers were in despair…for he never knew his lessons. But is was impossible to scold him…His real inclination was to lie where the birds sing, where the fish glide noiselessly through the water, where the sun warms…I have never seen him dance…though he might easily have got the idea to swing himself into a gentle slow waltz rhythm, so I have used that for the second movement and tried to stick to one mood , as far away as possible from the energy, emotionalism, and such things…" [You might also notice that "Che sera sera" – Whatever will be will be – from the Hitchcock movie The man who knew too much bears an uncanny resemblance to the main theme].

"The third movement tries to express the basic character of a heavy, melancholy man. After a bar and a half of introduction, the theme begins, drawn heavily toward a strong outcry of pain (ff); then comes, on the oboe, a little plaintive sighing motive, that slowly develops, ending in a climax of lamentation and suffering. After a short transition there is a quieter, resigned episode in E-flat major. A long, somewhat static passage now follows then everything subsides; then suddenly the first theme breaks out with full force, the various motifs sing together, and the whole moves to its close, where it sinks to rest.

"In the finale, I have tried to sketch a man who storms thoughtlessly forward in the belief that the whole world belongs to him…There is, though, a moment in which something scares him, and he gasps all at once for breath in rough syncopation: but this is soon forgotten, and even if the music turns to minor, his cheery, rather superficial nature still asserts itself. All the same…the final march, though joyous and bright, is yet more dignified and not so silly and self-satisfied as in some of the previous parts of his development."


Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

Piano Concerto in A minor (Op. 16)

Allegro molto moderato; Adagio; Allegro moderato molto e marcato – quasi presto – andante maestoso

Edvard Grieg is to Norway as Sibelius is to Finland and Nielsen is to Denmark – each their country’s sole representative in the standard international repertoire. Moreover, for Grieg and Sibelius they were the national musicians at a time when their peoples were struggling for independence itself. It is interesting to note that not long after Finnish independence (1917) Sibelius retired from composition and that soon after Norwegian independence (1905), Grieg was dead (like Nielsen - from heart disease). Perhaps each felt that their life’s work was finished.

Grieg was born and died in Bergen (Norway’s second city – among the fjords of the North Sea coast – and now the very prosperous center of the Norwegian oil industry). He was always much more comfortable in that part of Norway and settled in the area permanently in 1885. Edvard began piano lessons at six and made rapid progress. When he was almost 15, he was heard by Ole Bull a very famous violinist ("the Paganini of the North" as he was called) who persuaded Grieg’s well-to-do parents (his father was a prosperous business man as well as the British consul) to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory, founded (in the year Grieg was born) by Mendelssohn. There he learned the Schumann style of composition (Schumann was also associated with the school) but was not particularly happy there. After Leipzig, he moved to Copenhagen, still his musical capital, though since the Napoleonic wars, Norway was "owned" by Sweden. After four years (and marriage) he returned to Norway and settled in Christiania (now Oslo). It was at this very happy time of his life that he wrote his Piano Concerto, the first of the two works that were to make him famous throughout the musical world. The second followed shortly after Henrik Ibsen (whom Grieg had met earlier while they were both traveling in Europe) wrote and asked him to write the incidental music to his epic play Peer Gynt.

The piano concerto is clearly modeled after the Schumann concerto – especially the opening of the first movement (Grieg was a great admirer of Schumann). In this concerto, the opening is further dramatized by a crescendo drum roll. After a long series of dialogs between soloist and different sections of the orchestra, the entire orchestra plays together for the first time, followed by a trumpet fanfare. After the recapitulation, the soloist plays a brilliant cadenza based on the march-like theme heard at the beginning and the movement begins, apparently, to wind down. Another surprise is in store however as a new light-hearted subject is introduced and the movement ends in good spirits. The adagio begins in the seemingly unrelated key of D flat major, with muted strings – a sound very typical of Grieg – and includes some beautiful, strong writing for both soloist and orchestra. The finale follows without a break and takes us on a whirlwind tour of Norway with images of dancing trolls, mountains and fjords.


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