Symphony Orchestra Concert (09/26/19)

September 26, 2019

PROGRAM

Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, op. 43

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770—1827)

Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47

Jean Sibelius (1865—1957)

I.   Allegro moderato
II.  Adagio di molto
III. Allegro, ma non tanto

Kia-Hui Tan, soloist

— Pause —
 

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770—1827)

I.    Allegro con brio
II.   Andante con moto
III.  Scherzo: Allegro
IV.  Allegro – Presto

The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra would like to express their sincere appreciation to the entire distinguished School of Music faculty and particularly the applied instrumental faculty for their invaluable and greatly appreciated instruction, guidance and dedication to the Ohio State Orchestra program and students.

NOTES

OVERTURE TO THE CREATURES OF PROMETHEUS
Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven wrote this overture in 1801 for a ballet entitled The Creatures of Prometheus. Working together with Neapolitan choreographer Salvatore Viganò, Beethoven wrote the music for a serious and heroic subject. The playbill for the first performance of the ballet explains:

“This allegorical ballet is based on the myth of Prometheus. The Greek philosophers, who knew of him, elucidate the story in the following manner — they depict Prometheus as a lofty spirit who, finding the human beings of his time in a state of ignorance, refined them through art and knowledge and gave them laws of right conduct.

In accordance with this source, the ballet presents two animated statues who, by the power of harmony, are made susceptible to all the passions of human existence.

Prometheus takes them to Parnassus, to receive instruction from Apollo, god of the arts, who commands Amphion, Arion and Orpheus to teach them music; Melpomene and Thalia, tragedy and comedy. Terpsichore aids Pan, who introduces them to the Pastoral Dance, which he has invented, and from Bacchus they learn his invention — the Heroic Dance.”

Beethoven wrote an overture, an introduction, 15 dance numbers and a finale for his ballet. The Allegro section is often said to represent Prometheus fleeing from heaven after stealing fire from the gods.

Jean Sibelius

I.   Allegro moderato
II.  Adagio di molto
III. Allegro, ma non tanto

The violin was the instrument with which Jean Sibelius initially hoped to build a spectacular international career as a performer. Given his late start, combined with the lack of excellent teaching in provincial Finland, Sibelius’ hopes would never be realized, so he began studying composition in Vienna, showing great promise.

With this addition to the violin concerto literature (and the only concerto Sibelius wrote), Sibelius bequeathed a masterpiece now prized as one of the most musically satisfying in the repertoire. As is often the case, the Concerto got a less-than-promising introduction to the world that hardly anticipated the esteem and admiration it would eventually secure. Sibelius revised the score a year later, and the premiere of the revised version was conducted in 1905 by Richard Strauss.

The Violin Concerto marks a significant turning point for Sibelius, achieving a synthesis of brilliant solo writing and symphonic coherence. The large-scale design adheres to the conventional concerto layout: a grand opening movement; a slow, lyrical middle movement; and an earthy and energetic finale. Yet into this architecture Sibelius introduces some formal innovations and treats.

The first movement lasts longer than the other two combined and tends toward dramatic writing for the violin soloist, who is set in relief against the orchestral ensemble. The opening sound picture — orchestral violins trembling in softly muted clouds of D minor — provides an arrestingly atmospheric backdrop against which the soloist comes into focus playing the first theme. The solo violinist is depicted by Sibelius as a strong-minded individualist and soon launches a small cadenza. The brooding emotions of the second theme, introduced by the orchestra, are intensified by the soloist's ruminations. A shorter third theme gives way to the soloist's much more substantial cadenza. As a formal innovation, this cadenza takes the place of a conventional development. Sibelius uses this section and the recapitulation toward which it is destined to supply new perspectives on the material heard at the beginning of the movement. The coda seals the movement with a heightened sense of emotional urgency.

The Adagio is one of the most beautiful and moving pages Sibelius ever achieved; the entry of the solo violin a melody of vast breadth and beauty.

Analysts have discerned a combination of rondo and sonata forms in the finale. The music pulsates with an almost-aggressive rhythmic energy. Sibelius reserves some of the Concerto's most taxing technical demands for this movement, which contains a veritable textbook of virtuoso gestures. The result is a thrilling consummation of the marriage between performer and composer.

— Adapted from program notes by Thomas May

SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN C MINOR
Ludwig van Beethoven

I.    Allegro con brio
II.   Andante con moto
III.  Scherzo: Allegro
IV.  Allegro – Presto

Born in Bonn, Germany, Ludwig van Beethoven had hoped to study with Mozart in Vienna, but his plans changed when his mother’s death and his father’s alcoholism made it necessary for him to assume financial responsibility while still a teenager. At 22, however, he moved to Vienna, studied with Haydn, and remained there until his death. He was well-known as a virtuoso pianist before his increasing deafness around the age of thirty made it difficult for him to perform. In 1802 Beethoven wrote his famous Heiligenstadt Testament:

"But what a humiliation for me when someone standing next to me heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone heard a shepherd singing and again I heard nothing. Such incidents drove me almost to despair, a little more of that and I would have ended my life — it was only my art that held me back. Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me."  

Music composed after this turning point often seems to portray a dramatic struggle that eventually ends with transcendence. Such is the case with Symphony No. 5 in C minor, written between 1804 and 1808. It premiered on December 22, 1808 at a four-hour long concert of exclusively Beethoven compositions. Are there any more famous four notes in music than the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth? Even if one doesn’t hear the pitches (three repeated notes followed by a descending minor third), the rhythm alone (short–short–short–long) is instantly recognizable. After those first four notes are immediately repeated a step lower, Beethoven extends the idea and uses a horn call based on the motto to form the bridge to the more lyrical second theme, for which the four-note motto provides accompaniment. Finally a very energetic closing theme involves multiple repetitions of the motto before the exposition is repeated. Note the effective use of silence and the dialogues between instruments. Beethoven increases the drama and tension with unexpected contrasts of dynamics.  

The form of the Andante con moto is a double variation — two themes are varied through rhythmic modification, changes in harmony and/or instrumentation, and alternation of mode (major/minor). The first is a genteel theme for violas and cellos; the second theme is first heard in clarinets, bassoons and violins, while lower strings provide a triplet accompaniment. The melody becomes a regal fanfare when the trumpets and horns take over. Listen carefully for the rhythmic four-note motto in the background. In the third movement, instead of the courtly minuet and trio associated with Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven inserts a scherzo and trio, beginning with cellos and basses playing a “sneaky” pianissimo theme that outlines a minor chord. A secondary theme in the horns uses the short–short–short–long rhythm of the opening motto (old rhythm, new theme). Cellos and basses are featured again at the beginning of the trio section, which involves imitation of a theme by successively higher-pitched string instruments; the fugato passage leads to the repeat of the scherzo where the sneaky theme is now pizzicato, and the horn motive is also transformed with quiet clarinets, oboe and plucked violins. A truly exciting feature of this composition is Beethoven’s segue to the finale — a sustained chord in the strings over regular timpani pulses unleashes a huge crescendo that bursts into the Allegro with its three heroic themes. The symphony is a glorious victory over darkness and despair.

— Adapted from program notes by Ruth Akers

Symphony Orchestra

Miriam Burns, conductor

All Symphony Orchestra musicians rotate seats and parts assignments throughout the season.
 
VIOLIN I
Anita Chiu, concertmaster
Nia Dewberry, associate concertmaster
Nora Dukart, assistant concertmaster
Noah Cisneros
Jiaxu Du
Mathew Kinnear
Cindy Liao
Vani Shukla
Luke Stange

VIOLIN II
Haozheng Li, principal
Liam Botos, associate principal
Nohemi Perez, assistant principal
Vincent Brausch
Juliana George
Mike Miller
Abi Norman
Maggie Ou
Adrian Slovenec
Xingyu Zhu

VIOLA
Vince Huzicka, principal
Zee Perry, assistant principal
William Ayres
Makenna Burke
Alex Figueroa
Ivy Leibner
Logan McFall
Katie O'Hara
Meredith Reber

CELLO
Boris Chalakov, principal
Anna Miller, associate principal
Thomas LaMon, assistant principal
Paige Holinsworth
Aubrey Liston
James McDermott
Patrick Park
Andrew Scott
Kimleng Sok
Drew Speas
Sarah Troeller

DOUBLE BASS
Dallas Carpenter, principal
James Perera, assistant principal
Casey Bauchmoyer
Drew Postel
April Whyte

FLUTE
Alex Goad, principal
Daniel Zipin
Peyton Sandri, piccolo

OBOE
Andrew Gresham, principal
Esther Krumm

CLARINET
Vanessa Klassen, principal
Erin Dowler

BASSOON
Jesse Schartz, principal
Nate Centa
Dylan Tharp

CONTRABASSOON
Dustin Gourley

HORN
Benjamin Hottensmith, principal
Trevor Healy
Anna Dorey
Greg Eberwine

TRUMPET
Alexander Sanso, principal
Justin Boucher
Nic Cruz

TROMBONE
Peter Gooch, principal
Jake Pauley

BASS TROMBONE
Parker Baird

TIMPANI
Clay Schneider

LIBRARIAN
Dallas Carpenter

School of Music ​Instrumental Faculty