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| HOLIDAY CELEBRATION |  |  | | | | Felix Mendelssohn | | | 1809-1847 | | |
Felix Mendelssohn
Capriccio brilliant Op. 22
If ever there was a composer who did not fit the romantic picture of the struggling artist, unsure of where his next meal was coming from as he fought for acceptance of his new ideas, it was Felix Mendelssohn. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and raised in affluence, he enjoyed encouragement and the nurturing of his precocious musical talent. His culturally sophisticated family was unusually enlightened in its support of his artistic aspirations – many other composers well into the twentieth century had to rebel and escape parents who wanted them to become doctors or lawyers. The Mendelssohn household was a Mecca for the intellectual elite of Germany, and the many family visitors fawned over the prodigy and his talented – but less promoted – sister Fanny. Fortunately for the development of his rare abilities, Felix’s carefully selected teachers were demanding and strict.
As a mature artist, Mendelssohn was acclaimed throughout Europe as composer and conductor, in particular in his native Germany and in England. His untimely death from unknown causes created a profound shock, and Mendelssohn societies quickly sprang up everywhere.
Mendelssohn must have been a phenomenal pianist, as attested by none other than composer, music critic and acerbic commentator Héctor Berlioz who wrote of him: “His performing talent is as great as his musical genius, which is really saying a great deal.” Composed in 1832, the Capriccio brilliant, like most of his piano works, was intended for his own use; He premiered it in London shortly after finishing it. As was the case with many of Mendelssohn’s compositions, it was not published until 1861, long after his death.
The title “capriccio” signals a work with fewer formal constraints than a symphony or concerto. The work is modeled after Carl Maria von Weber’s Konzertstück for Piano and Orchestra. The single movement roughly follows the formal structure of a typical first movement but with considerably more elaboration on the themes than in a classical concerto.
The Capriccio opens with a slow cheery introduction in B major,  only establishing to true key of the piece at the beginning of the stormy Allegro con fuoco. It is the opposite of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven’s practice of gloomy introductions to cheerful, bouncy Allegros. A transition theme recalling the finale of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Piano Sonata eventually leads into the second theme, an extended march with plenty of pianistic flourishes.
Mendelssohn expands the march theme into an extended development before returning to the recapitulation of the Allegro con fuoco and another substantial variation on the march. The piece concludes with a fiery coda based on the two main themes.
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| | | Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso in g Minor, Op. 6, No. 8, Christmas Concerto
Mystery and controversy surround much of the life of Arcangelo Corelli. Born of a wealthy landowning family, he studied music at the cathedral of San Petronio in Bologna, a site with an illustrious pedigree of musicians and composers. Corelli is thought to have traveled extensively in Europe during his youth but exactly where and when is by no means clear.
In 1687, famous as violinist and composer, he settled in Rome as the protégé of Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, and later of the 22-year-old Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, in whose palace he spent the rest of his life. Corelli became teacher and mentor to an entire generation of violinists and composers and the Monday night musical soirées he led in the Cardinal’s palace became known throughout Europe. He was a great friend of the most famous painters of the day and accumulated a large art collection, mostly gifts. Handel, during his sojourn in Italy, befriended him and admired him greatly but commented that Corelli liked nothing better than to save money and look at pictures he had not paid for. He died rich and famous, beloved by all for his mild disposition and friendly attitude despite his wealth and position.
The Baroque period was a particularly fluid time in the development of musical styles and genres. Preceding Vivaldi, Bach and Handel by only a generation, Corelli was in the forefront of developing the concerto as a genre. There were no set number of movements or prescribed relationship between soloists and accompaniment, as is reflected in this work. In large part because of the boom in music publishing, Corelli’s music was disseminated throughout Europe and his works served as models for the following generation.
Except for a few works, most of them spurious, Corelli published all his compositions in six volumes of 12 works each. The first five sets were violin and trio sonatas; Opus 6 is a set of twelve concerti grossi, in which he set two violins and a viola (or cello) against a larger string ensemble.
The Concerto No. 8 is the best known of the set. Written for the mass in celebration of the nativity, it is subtitled Fatto per la notte di Natale, but this has not restricted its performance to Christmas Eve. The Concerto has no true movements per se, rather sections of new music that flow together with brief transitional passages instead of pauses:
1. Allegro – Grave: An appropriately solemn introduction for the occasion.
2. Allegro: The expected lively follow-up to a slow introduction, common in the Baroque opera overture.
3. Adagio – Allegro – Adagio: The grouping is almost like a mini-concerto, consisting of two slow sections, surrounding an agitated middle. & &
4. Vivace: Not a tempo marking one normally associates with the stately minuet, but these too were hardly standardized.
5. Allegro: Another sprightly section featuring an echo dialogue between the two violins.
6. Pastorale: Largo: Corelli marked it “ad libitum,” (optional), meaning that this lovely movement could be omitted. It is doubtful that anyone ever does. The Pastorale alludes to the shepherds who gathered at the manger, long notes in the accompaniment imitating the drone of bagpipes.
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| | | Jacques Ibert
Flute Concerto
Jacques Ibert was one of the most prolific and eclectic French composers of the last century, leaving behind works in nearly every musical genre. He considered music “The expression of an interior adventure,” and his approach to composition could best be summed up in his own words: “All systems are valid, provided that one derives music from them;” he adopted a certain style only when it suited his purpose for the composition at hand. Consequently, he never joined any of the movements so popular in France in the 1920s and ‘30s. It was said of Ibert that he only agreed to write the sort of music that he was happy listening to himself.
Born into a well-to-do family, Ibert started the violin at age four. After obtaining his baccalaureate he decided to become a composer, earning his living as a cinema pianist, accompanist and program note annotator. His studies at the Conservatoire were interrupted by World War I, during which he was first a nurse and stretcher-bearer at the front, then a naval officer stationed at Dunkirk. A Mediterranean cruise inspired his most popular work, Escales (Ports of Call).
From 1937 to 1940 Ibert served as director of the French Academy in Rome. In 1940 his music was banned by the Vichy Government and for a while he lived in exile in Switzerland. After the liberation of Paris in August 1944, Charles De Gaulle summoned him back to Paris. In 1955 he was appointed as Director of the Réunion des Théâtres Lyriques Nationaux (Assembly of National Lyric Theaters), which put him in charge of both the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique; he had to resign after a year because of ill health.
The Flute Concerto was composed in 1932-33 and premiered in Paris by famed flutist Marcel Moyse in February 1934, a performance that was broadcast over Radiodiffusion française, The French broadcasting system.
The Concerto combines an angular, almost acrobatic style with flowing lyrical – but seldom tuneful – lines, showing off the instrument to great effect. The first movement is in standard sonata allegro form. Unlike in the classical concertos of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the soloist presents the lively first theme with a contrasting second theme swiftly following. The flute then engages in a duet with the clarinet, the latter repeating the second theme while the flute scampers around it in playful counterpoint.
One of the elegant features of the second movement, a classic ABA form, is the slow build from wistfulness to melancholy, emphasizing the flute's alter ego. It spins out aa long wistful melody that seems never to end. The middle section turns darker with a new theme with two oboes. The A section is repeated, varied with a similar device as the flute/clarinet duet from the first movement , but this time with a solo violin taking the theme as the flute weaves in sinuous counterpoint around it.
Three sharp chords in the orchestra and a little riff for the brass kick off the final movement, which incorporates a few jazz harmonies. It is the pièce de résistance for the soloist, a virtuosic display of two themes in rapid triplets. & Towards the middle of the movement, however, the perpetual motion comes to a sudden halt, as the flute turns pensive again in a slow waltzing duet with the solo winds in turn, starting with the bassoon. The movement returns to a recapitulation of the allegro and a cadenza, ending with a repeat of the opening chords.
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| | | Richard Wagner
“Du bist der Lenz” from Die Walküre
The over 15 hours of the four “music dramas” of The Ring of the Nibelungs – Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung – comprise probably the most massive musical creation ever composed. It was also one of the most influential for musical development at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, not least of all in the expansion of the orchestra and the stretching of the limits of traditional tonality.
Wagner had numerous axes to grind with his tetralogy. He envisioned his mythological construct as representing the superiority of the German people – a theme that became the centerpiece of Hitler’s Third Reich. He conceived a system of musical symbolism in which dozens of specific motives, or Leitmotiven, represented characters, objects and abstract ideas, providing simultaneous layers of meaning to the music and text. Wagner considered the complete integration of music, text and spectacle, or Gesamtkunstwerk (total art work), to be the pinnacle of his own genius, as well as the model for the perfection of artistic creativity of the future.
This personal and collective egomania, especially after its propagandistic use in the 1930s and 40s, has soured many music lovers and musicians alike, but there is no doubt about Wagner’s sheer genius.
At the opening of Die Walküre, Wotan, an archetypal philanderer, has fathered a pair of twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, by a mortal woman. Separated at infancy, the two know nothing of each other’s existence. Sieglinde has married Hunding, a brutish wife-abuser, and is stranded in the middle of the forest in a house with a tree growing through the middle of it, a magic sword stuck in its trunk.
During a terrible storm, Siegmund, wounded and thirsty, stumbles into the Hunding’s house seeking asylum. One thing leads to another: Siegmund and Sieglinde fall in love, Siegmund pulls the sword out of the tree, and the two escape with Hunding soon in hot pursuit. And Sieglinde is already pregnant with the inbred superhero Siegfried.
The aria from Act I, Scene 3 “Du bist der Lenz” is Sieglinde’s declaration of love.
| | Du bist der Lenz, nach dem ich verlangte
in frostigen Winters Frist.
Dich grüßte mein Herz mit heiligem Grau'n,
als dein Blick zuerst mir erblühte.
Fremdes nur sah ich von je,
freundlos war mir das Nahe.
Als hätt' ich nie es gekannt,
war, was immer mir kam.
Doch dich kannt' ich deutlich und klar:
als mein Auge dich sah,warst du mein Eigen;
was im Busen ich barg, was ich bin,
hell wie der Tag taucht' es mir auf,
o wie tönender Schall schlug's an mein Ohr,
als in frostig öder Fremde
zuerst ich den Freund ersah. | | You are the Spring for which I've been longing
throughout this cold wintertime.
My heart greeted you with reverent awe,
the first time I set my eyes on you.
I used to see everything as alien,
Friendless were my surroundings,
It was as if I was never aware
of what was happening to me.
But you I recognized clearly and plainly,
as soon as my eye beheld you, you were mine;
what I've kept in my heart, what I am,
as bright as the day the image appeared to me.
Oh, how like a pealing bell it struck my ear,
As in this cold alien wasteland
the first time I beheld the friend. |
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"Copland, Mozart and Dvorak" - Savor the sounds of America, Austria and Bohemia with the FSO at Seabrook Auditorium on the campus of Fayetteville State University for a wonderful evening of music, including Mozart's famous First Flute Concerto performed by International flute soloist Ines Abdel Daiem , Aaron Copland's powerful masterpiece "Lincoln Portrait" with narration by Ken Smith , as well as Dvorak's famous Symphony No. 8.
FSO's "Holiday Celebration" 2008 Concert available on DVD from Berean Baptist Church. For more info, please call 910-868-5156 or email dpidkaminy@bbcfnc.org.
Happy Holidays from the FSO! See what others thought about the FSO "Holiday Celebration" Concert at Berean Baptist Church on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008 - 7:30PM
2008-2009 annual "Holiday Celebration" Concert Berean Baptist Church Dec. 13, 2008 - 7:30PM Program Interactive Program Notes Spotlights on 3 Soloists: FSO 07-08 Harlan Duenow Young Artists Concerto Competition Winner, Dominic Mercurio , Piano; Lindsay Leach , Flute; Denise Murchison Payton , Soprano
The 2008-2009 Season Opening Concert was a SMASHING Success! Truly FANTASTIQUE! "Awesome! Totally enjoyed it." said Pauline R., Fayetteville. See what everyone else is saying . . .
2008-2009 Season Opening: "Fantastic French Favorites" Guest Soloist: Marylene Dosse Methodist Uni. - Reeves Aud. Saturday, Oct. 25 - 8:00PM Discover more . . . Program ; Interactive Program Notes ; Spotlight on the Soloist Symphony @ Your Library - Oct. 16 - gave a sneak preview of the Oct. 25 Concert to 40+ patrons at HQ Library - Read More...
FSO 2008-2009 Season, A Tour Around the World - Season Tickets NOW ON SALE! BUY NOW!
FSO - Free Chamber Concert - Sunday, Sept. 14 @ 4PM - BOOMING SUCCESS - 350+ patrons enjoyed concert - see what you missed!
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Vineyard Event Cancelled.
Official FSO Music Director Fouad Fakhouri Bobble Head NOW IN STOCK! Buy your Limited Edition Collectible TODAY!
The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra is proud and supportive of the select group of FSO Musicians that will perform as part of the orchestra pit at the July 18/19 performances of the FSU production of "The Marriage of Figaro." For times and further details, please visit the FSO Calendar at the top right corner of the FSO home page.
Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra 2008-2009 Season: A Tour Around the World - Exotic Guest Soloists, Music from Faraway Lands, and so much more ... Buy Your Season Tickets NOW! Details
Special Thanks to Fayetteville for Meeting Maestro Fouad Fakhouri's Challenge and Making FSO Casino Night Fundraiser a Success! Details
The FSO congratulates Dominic Mercurio, FSO 2007-2008 Harlan Duenow Young Artists Concerto Competition Winner! Details . . .
FSO Music Director/Conductor Fouad Fakhouri Orchestrates FSO's First Texas Hold'Em Poker Tournament & Casino Night Fundraiser! Details . . .
Free Concert @ Festival Park a Booming Success - Details . . .
Spectacular Arts Festival
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FSO Blog from Jordan:
May 22, 2008 (with pictures)
May 21, 2008 (with pictures)
May 20, 2008 (with pictures)
May 19, 2008 (with pictures)
May 18, 2008 (with pictures)
May 17, 2008
May 15-16, 2008
The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra 2008 Harlan Duenow Young Artists Concerto Competition semi-finalists have been chosen and notified. A winner will be decided July 2008. Keep a watch on the FSO web site for further details as they become available.
Season finale does not mean the music stops . . . It won't be a quiet Spring/Summer 2008 for the FSO! Read More...
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