HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803-69)
Le carnaval romain , Op. 9
Scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, timpani, cymbals, two tambourines, triangle and strings
Following the bewildering failure of his opera Benvenuto Cellini (1834-37), Berlioz began the process of dismantling his score and reworking sections into smaller concert works: Reverie and Caprice, Op. 8, for violin and orchestra, and an overture, Le carnaval romain ( The Roman Carnival), Op. 9, which he described as a "characteristic overture." Set in Rome during the Carnival season of 1532, the opera portrayed the daring lifestyle-filled with sword fights, gun duels, murders and imprisonment-of the Renaissance goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1550-71).
The Roman Carnival Overture, which includes a love song from the first act and the famous saltarello dance from the opera, nearly suffered a disastrous flop at its premiere. Most of the wind players missed the only rehearsal that morning due to a commitment to the National Guard. Before the concert, Berlioz inspired his players with timeless words of advice: "Don't be afraid. … The parts are correct; you all know your jobs; just watch my baton as often as you can, count your bars correctly, and it will be all right."
Not surprisingly, the players rallied around the composer, offering a dazzling performance of the overture: "Not a single mistake occurred. I launched the Allegro in the whirlwind time of the Transteverine dancers. The public cried, 'Again!' We played the overture over again; it was even better done the second time." Berlioz's brilliantly orchestrated Roman Carnival Overture-what one might expect from the author of the Grand Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration (1843)-continues to delight audiences a century and a half later.
MAX BRUCH (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26
Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings and solo violin
The enormous popularity of the Violin Concerto No. 1 overshadowed all of Bruch's other compositions, greatly frustrating its creator. As his 50th birthday approached, the concerto was performed innumerable times, while other worthy pieces remained virtually unplayed. An endless stream of violinists assailed the composer for advice. Bruch wrote to his publisher, Fritz Simrock, "Every fortnight another one comes to me wanting to play the first concerto: I have now become rude, and have told them, 'I cannot listen to this concerto any more-did I perhaps write just this one? Go away and once and for all play the other concertos, which are just as good, if not better.'"
Yet the abundant melodic beauty, naturalness of form and unaffected Romantic expression ensured the continued popularity of the Concerto No. 1, a bridge between the monumental violin concertos of Mendelssohn and Brahms. Bruch's concerto later suffered from comparisons with the work by Brahms. Bruch acknowledged the eminence of his German colleague but found him personally offensive: "If I meet with Brahms in Heaven, I shall have myself transferred to Hell!" This first essay for violin proved a daunting task. Bruch admired the instrument ("The violin can sing a melody better than the piano can, and melody is the soul of music"), but lacked a true understanding of its technical capabilities. Detailed advice from Joseph Joachim, the virtuoso who also collaborated with Brahms on his concerto, lessened his insecurities. Out of gratitude, Bruch dedicated the Violin Concerto No. 1 to Joachim. The world premiere, which Bruch conducted in Koblenz on April 24, 1866, featured another violin soloist-Otto von Königslöw.
Novelties of construction and musical substance caused Bruch to consider the title "fantasy" instead of "concerto." The first movement is styled as aVorspiel (prelude) with orchestral statements interrupted by rhapsodic violin interludes. A single note connects this movement with the lyrical Adagio. Bruch instills a Hungarian flair in the finale, a tribute to the style for which Joachim was justifiably renowned. After a thorough analysis of the work, Joachim wrote to Bruch, "As to your 'doubts,' I am happy to say, in conclusion, that I find the title 'concerto' fully justified; for the name 'fantasy' the last two movements are actually too completely and symmetrically developed; the different parts are brought together in a beautiful relationship, and yet there is sufficient contrast, which is the main point."
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844-1908)
Sheherazade : Symphonic Suite, Op. 35
Scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, snare drum, bass drum, gong, cymbals, harp and strings
The revision and orchestration of Prince Igor, an opera by Alexander Borodin left incomplete at his death, completely absorbed Rimsky-Korsakov's energy for much of 1887 and early 1888. Freed of his editing responsibilities in the summer of 1888, Rimsky-Korsakov quickly compensated by producing three orchestral works: the symphonic suite Sheherazade, Op. 35; the Souvenir de trois chants polonaise for violin and orchestra; and the liturgically inspired overture Russian Easter Festival, Op. 36.
Delving into "Oriental" literature, Rimsky-Korsakov discovered the ancient anthology of Persian, Indian and Arabian tales known as A Thousand and One Nights, or The Arabian Nights. This collection of disconnected stories is unified only by the narrative voice of Sheherazade, the ill-fated wife of the sultan. Rimsky-Korsakov selected four tales to inform the four movements of his symphonic suite. Similar to his literary source, he unified the movements with a single solo-violin theme "delineating Sheherazade herself telling her wondrous tales to the stern sultan," according to the composer. Other themes recur periodically: "These given motives thread and spread over all the movements of the suite, alternating and intertwining each with the other. Appearing as they do each time under different illuminations, depicting each time different traits and expressing different moods, the selfsame given motives and themes correspond each time to different images, actions, and pictures."
Rimsky-Korsakov prefaced the first edition of Sheherazade with the following programmatic outline: "The Sultan Schahriar, convinced of the duplicity and infidelity of all women, vows to slay each of his wives after the first night. The sultana, Sheherazade, however, saved her life by the expedient of recounting to the sultan a succession of tales over a period of a thousand and one nights. Overcome by curiosity, the monarch postponed from day to day the execution of his wife, and ended by renouncing altogether his sanguinary resolution.
"Many were the marvels recounted to Schahriar by Sheherazade. For the telling of these she drew from the verses of the poets and the words of folksongs and tales, connecting her stories one with the other." All four movements were given descriptive titles, which the composer later attempted to suppress. Rimsky-Korsakov conducted Saint Petersburg's Russian Symphony in the world premiere in 1889.
I. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship (completed July 4). The sultan speaks gruffly in the opening measures, but Sheherazade's gentle voice soothes him for the first tale. Sinbad, a wealthy Baghdad sea merchant, gains his riches through seven difficult voyages. The ocean rocks back and forth in a gentle 6/4 meter. Billows gradually rise, making for a tumultuous journey.
II. The Story of the Kalender Prince (completed July 11). In the Arabian Nights, three royal princes are disguised as wandering beggars ( kalenders). Each has lost his right eye: the first is plucked out, the second is burned by a hot cinder, and the third is knocked out by a flying horse's tail. Rimsky-Korsakov perhaps represents the hapless trio in recitative passages for trombone/trumpet, clarinet and bassoon.
III. The Young Prince and the Young Princess (completed July 16). A string waltz serenades the young lovers. Within this romantic setting, a most unlikely debate arose. Vasily Vasilyevich Yastrebtsev wrote in his Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov (November 10, 1898), "We [the composer and Yastrebtsev] also took note that Sheherazade was played recently in London and that a heated controversy had broken out among the English over whether the clarinet runs in the third movement depicted kisses!"
IV. Festival at Baghdad-The Sea-The Ship Goes to Pieces on a Rock Surmounted by a Bronze Warrior-Conclusion (completed July 26). Rimsky-Korsakov embellishes the tale with this festival in Baghdad. The fifth of Sinbad's voyages violently sweeps him to a rocky crag, which smashes his ship to bits. Themes from the previous three movements make fleeting appearances. The solo violin plays a final, gentle phrase as Sheherazade spins her last tale, laying the sultan's fury to rest.
-Program notes © 2015 Todd E. Sullivan
