Program Notes - April 24, 1993

The Orchestra world is fortunate in that there is an inexhaustible reservoir of masterpieces which are enjoyed by audience and musicians alike. While we enjoy performing these works which are for the most part written by composers who are and have been probably for one hundred or more years dead, we continually look for music which expresses the emotional, intellectual and social environment of our time.

On this evening's program we not only have two works from our time, but one of them is a premier performance. Pentameron to this point has only existed in the inner ear of the composer and in a two piano version. Several rehearsals have uncovered some of the mysteries of the printed page, but not until an audience is present does the work have a chance to breathe.

Corigliano

To illustrate the diversity of style of music which is being composed today we have included Corigliano's Promenade Overture premiered by the Boston Pops Orchestra July 10, 198 1. The work is as you will see, a theatrical piece which is about something quite different than the Gates neo-Romantic concerto that will be performed later. About the Work the composer has said:

"The premise of Promenade Overture took root years ago when the composer was caught off guard by Haydn's delightful "Farewell Symphony." This Haydn work is often used to end a concert, because during the last movement the players gradually exit, leaving two violins to finish the symphony on a bare stage.

"Since overtures usually begin concerts, a reverse of this procedure-the entrance of the orchestra while playing became both an interesting idea and a composition challenge.

"Off-stage brass announce the start of the work with the trumpets playing the last five measures of the "Farewell Symphony"backwards. This forms a fanfare announcing the promenade of performers, which starts with the piccolo, concludes with the tuba, and contains a variety of motives which eventually form a lyrical melody that is built to a climax by the full orchestra."

Beethoven

To keep a foot into the classics what could be more appropriate than a Beethoven Symphony, the Eighth. It is difficult to imagine a Symphony by anyone let alone deaf, lonely, frustrated Beethoven not being filled with suffering, tragedy, heartbreak, and sorrow. Beethoven was really a master of that stuff. Listen to his chamber music, his opera, and the other eight symphonies. But here in the Eighth we start off with a rollicking Allegro Vivace con brio (fast and lively with fire) followed by a clever and surprising second movement then an almost drunken minuet and a last movement which from the very first measure can't wait to get to the finish line.

Gates

The original idea for this concerto was first suggested to the composer by our soloist, Grant Johannesen, shortly after a performance which they shared with the Rockford Symphony in 1986. Mr. Johannesen suggested a work for piano and orchestra which would be based on the old Mormon Hymn tune of the 1840's Western Pioneer trek, "Come, Come Ye Saints." Mr. Gates was complimented by the invitation and delighted at the proposed musical inclusion of the Hymn Tune given that was part of a heritage they both shared. Because of previous commission commitments, Mr. Gates was not able to begin until 1990. Eighteen months later he had completed the two piano version of the third revision. While Mr. Johannesen had originally thought the work would turn out to be a set of variations, it turned out to be a single movement structure consisting of 5 piano/instrumental sections with 3 piano solo variations judiciously interspersed. It was Mr. Johannesen who suggested the title "Pentameron" which refers to the 5 part architectural design of the work. A more detailed analysis of the work will be found on page 23 of the program.

Pentameron op. 80 by Crawford Gates
"from Page 23"

The opening Intrada (Entrance) immediately establishes a bravura stance. The music is powerful in its rhythmic, spatial design. Fragments of a strong march are tossed between orchestra and piano (almost relentlessly) until gradually defeated by a mood of dissolution. In contrast, the music that follows is noctunrial; a quiet almost stealthy mood (piano and delicate percussion sounds). A sudden tempo change nervously suggests a more threatening scenario, dispelled only by piano flourishes leading into a bridge to the

1st Interlude of the Hymn. The hymn is stated simply, followed by the first variant, embellished as a harmonically rich song.

Part 2 (for piano and woodwinds) follows. This section is in the form of a bantering Scherzo, short, light-hearted and delicate, it serves as a prelude to the centerpiece of the composition.

Part 3 (Adagio, for piano and brasses). A lyric movement, the music here sings its fervent, romantic theme. After an embellished development and climax a transitional recitative for solo trombone and piano (followed by a continuing statement by French Horn) the music fades away.

2nd Interlude Here the hymn is a more rhapsodic variation, somewhat in the style of a Chopin Etude (triplets, in the genial key of A Major).

Part 4 (piano, percussion and strings) is a tour-de-force, a dialogue at a relentless pace, suggesting all manner of tumult and stress. After a brilliant development, dominated by the rhythm of war-drums, it ends abruptly. A brief, but powerful piano cadenza dissolves amid cymbals, glockenspiel and triangles into the

3rd Interlude, the last of the hymn solos, this one the form of a benediction.

Part 5: Fanfare & Finale begins maestoso (muted brasses) very softly, as if announcing the approaching of a distant caravan. The mood gradually broadens out with piano flourishes, finally to declaim the spirit of the final subject. Rondo-like in its design, an undulating rhythm moves forward interrupted only by the final phrase of the Hymn ("Oh how we'll make this chorus swell - All is Well, All is Well") More jubilant phrases from piano and orchestra, and the music ends in a triumphant burst.