Johann Sebastian Bach: (1685-1750)

• German composer, keyboard player, and church musician of the Baroque era

• Held several positions at churches in Germany, with his longest tenure being at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.

• Had twenty children with two wives. Four of his children were also successful composers!

• Was once arrested – and served jail time – for resigning from one of his church positions!

• Composed 1,128 works, ranging from pieces for solo keyboard, cello, and violin to sprawling one hour and 45 minute Mass in B minor.

• Other pieces by Bach you’ll hear this summer: selections from the Cello Suites performed by four Festival Artists.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048

• Instrumentation: 3 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos, 1 double bass, and harpsichord

• Composed: before 1721, when Bach presented it (along with 5 other “Brandenburg” concerti) to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg

• This concerto is one of six concertos, each featuring a different instrumental makeup. 

• The word concerto can mean “together with” or “against, counter to” – a perfect description for music that features a soloist against and with an orchestra.

• The Brandenburg Concertos are actually in concerto grosso form, meaning that the soloists (usually multiple soloists) are part of the orchestra, and emerge from the texture for their individual moments (rather than standing out front).

• The Brandenburg concerti remained unknown for about 150-200 years after their composition, finding a renaissance in the 19th century. 

• Bach had a great interest in numerology and math, which was reflected in his compositions. He often wrote pieces in groups of six (6 cello suites, 6 keyboard partitas, 6 cantatas of the Christmas Oratorio, and 6 Brandenburg concertos, among other such groupings). 

• Length: 11 minutes

• Previous Wintergreen Music performance: 1999 

What to Listen For

•  The work is officially in three movements, although as you’ll hear, the second one is likely the shortest (written) movement on record. 

• The low strings and the harpsichord make up a group known as the “basso continuo” or just “continuo”. They are the rhythmic and harmonic engine of the whole piece (although they also get solo turns throughout the work).

• I. Allegro (Fast): The first movement is characterized by a galloping rhythm. The ensemble starts tutti (with everyone together). Soon, however, individual instruments have moments to shine. Half way through, a new melody is introduced in stately quarter notes: “Do – Mi – Sol”. 

• II. Adagio (Slow): Bach wrote only two measures for the second movement. These two chords, while brief, set up a great expectation from which the third movement explodes. They also offer an opportunity for improvisation (a common practice in Bach’s time). 

• III. Allegro assai (Very fast): In 12/8, the music bursts forth with energy and joy. With 11 players on stage, each with their own part, the overlapping lines sound like waves crashing on the shore. 

Quotable

• “I have then in accordance with Your Highness’ most gracious orders taken the liberty of rendering my most humble duty to Your Royal Highness with the present concertos, which I have adapted to several instruments; begging Your Highness most humbly not to judge their imperfection with the rigor of the fine and delicate taste that the whole world knows Your Highness has for musical pieces; but rather to infer from them in benign consideration the profound respect and the most humble obedience that I try to show Your Highness therewith.” – Johann Sebastian Bach, in the dedication of his complete Brandenburg Concerti

Further Reading

• https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-1048

• https://classicalexburns.com/2021/11/11/johann-sebastian-bach-brandenburg-concerto-no-3-captivatingly-contrapuntal/

• https://www.amazon.com/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Learned-Musician/dp/0393322564

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

• Austrian composer

• He composed approximately 104 symphonies, 45 piano trios, 62 piano sonatas, 14 masses, 26 operas, and 83 string quartets.

• After serving as a chorister, keyboardist, and freelance musician in Vienna, he landed a dream job as the music director of the Esterházy family in the countryside of what is now Hungary.

• Haydn spent several years working in London, where he was inspired to compose his oratorio The Creation as well as his “London” Symphonies (numbers 93 - 104).

• Known as a jokester, he often composed with humor, most famously in his “Surprise” symphony, which included a loud chord in the slow movement, intended to wake up the gently snoozing audience. 

Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Hob. 1:7, "Le midi"

• Instrumentation: 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 1 Bassoon, 2 horns, Strings

• Composed: 1761 as part of a trio of symphonies depicting the time of day: Morning, Midday, and Evening. Legend has it that Prince Esterházy loved Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and wanted Haydn to compose a similar set of representational pieces.

• While the work is considered a symphony (four movements in the typical fast-slow- minuet-fast order), it also has the characteristics of a concerto, or specifically a concerto grosso, with select players from within the orchestra emerging from the texture as soloists. 

• Length: 25 minutes

• Wintergreen Music premiere 

What to Listen For

• I. Adagio - Allegro (Slow - Fast): The first movement begins in a typical Hadynesque fashion, with a regal dotted figure featuring all of the orchestra. Even when the music reaches the Allegro, no one would suspect that individual players are about to have their moments in the midday sun. 14 measures later, however, the symphony takes a turn towards concerto grosso. First, the concertmaster and principal second, then the cello and bassoon, and then the first oboe, joined soon thereafter by the second oboe. There’s a new solo moment around every corner!

• II. Recitativo - Adagio (Recitative - Adagio): In the second movement, Haydn inserts yet another genre: opera! After five opening measures characterized by slow rising arpeggios in the first violins, the concertmaster becomes the leading lady, playing a solo out of tempo, as if set to words in operatic recitative style. The orchestra responds accordingly, switching style and tempo along with whatever text the violinish is expressing. In the “Duet” that follows, the soprano (concertmaster) and tenor (principal cello) are joined by a flute duo. One can imagine the two lovers on a midday stroll with the birds chirping in the background.

• III. Menuetto (Minuet): At first, the third movement sounds like we are returning to a traditional symphonic form – no more recitatives and arias or concerto-like moments. Aside from some pretty impressive horn stylings, the orchestra plays all together. However, when the trio arrives, the most unlikely of characters emerges: the principal bass. Written for a “violone” (or the early classical era version of a double bass), this solo is high and virtuosic!

• IV. Finale: Allegro (Finale: Fast): With solos, charming duets, quick imitative passages, stops and starts, this movement is pure joy – Haydn at his cheerful best. 

Quotable

• "Since God has given me a cheerful heart, he will forgive me for serving him cheerfully." – Franz Joseph Haydn

Further reading

• https://baroque.boston/haydn-symphony-7

• https://thelistenersclub.com/2022/12/19/haydns-symphony-no-7-in-c-major-le-midi-bright-and-inventive/

• https://www.npr.org/2009/05/31/104731623/haydn-classical-musics-cheerful-servant

Sarah Kirkland Snider (b. 1973)

• American composer

• Her music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Renée Fleming, the Emerson String Quartet, and more. 

• She has composed over 60 works, in a wide variety of genres, including solo instrument, choral ensemble, solo voice, orchestra, dance, opera, and choral-orchestral.

• Studied piano, cello, and voice as a child, and received bachelor’s degree in psychology

• Originally considered a career in law, but then pivoted to her true love: composing

Drink the Wild Ayre

• Instrumentation: Harp and strings (originally for string quartet)

• Composed in: 2024 (an expansion of the 2023 version for string quartet)

• Sarah Snider wrote the following about the original version, commissioned by the Emerson String Quartet: “The title is a playful nod to one of the most famous quotes by their transcendentalist namesake essayist/philosopher/poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, Drink the wild air's salubrity.” An ayre is a song-like, lyrical piece. The title seemed an apt reference not only to the lilting, asymmetrical rhythms of the music’s melodic narrative, but also to the questing spirit, sense of adventure, and full-hearted passion with which the Emerson [Quartet] has thrown itself into everything it has done for the past 47 years..”

• Length: 13 minutes

• Wintergreen Music Premiere

What to Listen For

• The expanded version for harp and string orchestra has many of the same characteristics as the original version of string quartet: the atmospheric opening, the rhythmic interjections, and the passion.

• Just as in the Bach and Haydn, the principal players emerge from the sections for featured solo turns. 

• The musicians execute a variety of challenging musical techniques, including left hand pizzicatos, harmonics, quintuplets, mixed meter, and asymmetrical meter!

Quotable

• "Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s sound world is a hypnotic one, in which lyrical melodies reveal deep, often sad psychological truths.” – Daniel J. Kushner, Rochester City News

Further Reading

• https://www.sarahkirklandsnider.com/

• https://cso.org/experience/article/8020/composers-ode-to-resilience-especially-releva

• https://15questions.net/interview/fifteen-questions-interview-sarah-kirkland-snider/page-1/

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

• French composer, pianist, and conductor, whose 150th birthday we celebrate this year

• He composed over 85 works, including Boléro, Daphnis et Chloe, Mother Goose Suite, and Pavane for a Dead Princess.

• Was also a masterful orchestrator, bringing to life piano works by himself and others with colorful instrumental arrangements, the most famous being his setting of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition

• Studied at the Paris Conservatoire

• Served in World War 1 as a truck driver

• Hit his head in a taxi accident in 1932, and never fully recovered, eventually developing Pick’s disease. 

Le tombeau de Couperin, M.68a

• Instrumentation: 2 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (1 doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 1 trumpet, harp, strings

• Composed in: Original piano version composed from 1914-1917; Orchestrated in 1919.

• Ravel wrote the original version as a tribute to friends who had perished in World War I. In his 1919 orchestration, he omitted two of the movements, creating a charming four movement orchestral suite. 

• Length: 20 minutes

• Four movements:

  • Prélude

  • Forlane

  • Menuet

  • Rigaudon

• Previous Wintergreen Music performance: 2006

What to Listen For

• Although the piece is a memorial of sorts, it is in no way somber. Tempos are lively and orchestrations colorful. The winds are highlighted in virtuosic passages throughout, making this work one that is often put on orchestral audition excerpt lists! 

• I. Prélude (Prelude): Marked “Vif” (lively) and dedicated to Jacques Louis Albert Charlot, a fellow composer. The oboe features prominently in this movement, playing a demanding passage that sounds like the ebb and flow of a bubbling brook.

• II. Forlane (Italian folk dance with Slavic origins): Marked “Allegretto” (moderately fast) and dedicated to French painter Gabriel Deluc. The movement is characterized by a jaunty rising arpeggio, first in the violins, and then mimicked by oboe, flute, and clarinet. In the second section, the arpeggio now descends. The middle section features the flutes and oboe/english horn in jaunty duets. 

• III. Menuet (French social dance in 3/4): Marked “Allegro moderato” (another version of moderately fast) and dedicated to Jean Dreyfus, a non-musician friend who helped Ravel recuperate from falling ill during service. It’s a gentle movement in ¾, with very few accents or lively turns of phrase. The middle section is one of the only dark moments, as the orchestra swells to a full, dramatic fortissimo. 

• IV. Rigaudon (Lively French folk dance): Marked “Assef vif” (Rather fast) and dedicated to brothers Pierre and Pascal Gaudin, childhood friends of Ravel who were killed by the same shell. Listen for the opening chords - full, with a prominent trumpet part. Not only do they herald the beginnings of several sections, but sometimes they are repeated mid-phrase! The middle of the movement is a languid oboe and english horn duet, followed by short flute and clarinet solos. This more subdued mood diminuendos until . . . BAM - the chords are back, and the end repeats the joyous and someone feisty nature of the opening!

Quotable

• “The dead are sad enough in their eternal silence.” – Maurice Ravel in response to criticism that his work honoring his fallen colleagues was not serious or somber enough.

Further Reading

• ​​https://www.indianapolissymphony.org/backstage/program-notes/ravel-le-tombeau-de-couperin/

• https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/454/le-tombeau-de-couperin-orchestral-suite

• https://www.njsymphony.org/news/detail/friends-remembered-ravels-le-tombeau-de-couperin

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

• Austrian composer, violinist, pianist & violist

• He composed over 41 symphonies, 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and more!

• Mozart was a night owl and loved animals (he had a pet canary, horse, and dog!)

• His name given at his baptism was Joannes Chrisostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart – he started using Amadeus (or Amadeo) in 1770.

Overture to The Magic Flute, K. 620

• Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings

• Composed: 1791

• The Magic Flute was one of Mozart’s final compositions, and although it contains operatic music, it is actually considered a Singspiel (or sing-speak) because of its use of spoken dialogue between the musical numbers.

• Mozart composed some of the roles for his friends: Tamino (the tenor lead), the Queen of the Night, and Papageno (the bird catcher).

• Mozart and his librettist Emanuel Schikaneder were Freemasons, and incorporated several Masonic symbols into the work, including the three chords at the beginning of the overture which are said to represent the order’s three ceremonial knocks.

• Length: 7 minutes

• Wintergreen Music premiere

What to Listen For

• After the three opening chords, the introduction is solemn and slow, leading to the main body of the work, a fast fugue for strings and bassoons. Listen for the fugue theme, first in the second violins, followed by the first violins, the violas, cellos, and bassoons, and finally the cellos, bassoons, and basses. This contrapuntal opening bursts forth into the full orchestra energetically turning that fugue theme into a grand celebration of joy and triumph. 

• Watch out! In the middle of all of the fugal pandemonium, the music suddenly stops! It’s a prime spot for an enthusiastic burst of applause, but it’s actually a return to the three stately, masonic chords. (Of course, Mozart probably would have loved if you applauded there, so if you get caught up in the moment, it’s totally fine!) 

• After those three unexpected chords, the allegro starts again and takes us to the end – no more tricks!

Quotable

• “What's even worse than a flute? - Two flutes!” ― Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Further Reading

• https://www.eno.org/operas/the-magic-flute/

• https://interlude.hk/famous-quotes-from-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFliAa-xCJ8

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcD76Ts62xA

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

• Romantic and Nationalist Norwegian composer and pianist

• Was also of Scottish ancestry, but truly known as Norway’s musical son. 

• His Norwegian home was called Troldhaugen and is now a museum where during the summer, chamber music can be heard daily!

• Besides the Piano Concerto, Grieg’s most famous work is the incidental music to Peer Gynt. He also wrote several piano and vocal works, along with chamber music, choral works, and several pieces for orchestra. He did work on two symphonies, but he suppressed publication of the first and only completed sketches of the second. 

• He’s known for defining Norwegian classical music, mostly by incorporating the scales, rhythms, and tunes from Norwegian folk traditions into his compositions. 

Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 16

• Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo) 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Timpani, Strings 

• Composed: 1868

• Three movements:

  • I. Allegro molto moderato

  • II. Adagio

  • III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato

• The work features prominently in pop culture, including the films Intermezzo, The Seventh Veil, and Red Sparrow. 

• The work had an auspicious start. Arthur Rubenstein was in the audience at the premiere; Franz Liszt read the opening and raved; and it was the first piano concerto (in abridged form) to be recorded.

• Length: 30 minutes

• Previous Wintergreen Music performance: 2006, 2015 (1st movement) 

What to Listen For

• I. Allegro molto moderato (Very moderately fast). This movement opens with one of the most famous openings of all time: a dramatic timpani roll that leads to a mini cadenza for piano. This is the first clue that Grieg is wedded to finding a Norwegian voice! The descending second followed by a descending third is straight out of the traditional scales of folk music! What follows this cadenza is a traditional orchestral introduction that will soon be ornamented by the soloist.

•  II. Adagio (Slowly). The lyrical second movement begins with the strings muted, creating a soft and dark mood that leads seamlessly to the piano entrance. Grieg has written a solo part that is incredibly ornamented with impressive passage work, but also serene and peaceful.

• III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato (Very moderately fast and accented). What starts quietly with just clarinets, bassoons, and pizzicato (plucked) strings turns into a full-throated Norwegian Halling Dance. This feisty traditional style of music would have accompanied a dance competition in the valleys of Norway. Of course, in the Valleys, they wouldn’t have had a concert pianist interrupting the festivities with virtuosic and impressive solo passages and cadenzas (of which there are several in the finale!). 

Quotable

• “Splendid! That’s the real thing. . . . Keep it up, I tell you. You have what it takes — and don’t let anyone scare you.” – Franz Liszt, upon encountering Grieg’s Piano Concerto for the first time.

Further Reading

• https://www.theclassicalgirl.com/exploring-griegs-exquisite-piano-concerto/

• https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/grieg-s-piano-concerto-a-deep-dive-into-the-best-recordings

• https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/masterclass-grieg-s-piano-concerto

Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)

• French composer and pianist

• She composed three symphonies and multiple chamber, choral, and piano works.

• After the successful premiere of her Nonet (performed at Wintergreen in 2019), she was one of the first women to demand – and receive – equal pay at the workplace. 

• Studied with Clementi and Hummel

• Taught for 30 years at the Paris Conservatory

Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 35 

• Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings

• Composed in: 1845

• The work follows the traditional symphonic structure: The first movement as described below, a slow second movement, the scherzo third movement, and a rousing, feisty finale.

• Length: 11 minutes (Full symphony: 36 minutes)

• Wintergreen Music Premiere

What to Listen For

• I. Andante – Allegro (Walking tempo – Fast): The slow introduction follows in the footsteps of Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart – powerful and striking, with dotted notes abounding. As the Allegro begins, we hear a whimsical duet between the cellos and basses and the violins, leading to an energetic, full orchestra passage. The second theme features the woodwinds alone, joined soon thereafter by the strings. Throughout, the dotted notes from the powerful introduction find their way into even the most delicate of moments. 

Quotable

• “Unfortunately, the genre of large scale-instrumental music to which Madame Farrenc, by nature and formation felt herself called, involves performance resources which a composer can acquire for herself or himself only with enormous effort…. This is the reason why her oeuvre has fallen into oblivion today, when at any other epoch her works would have brought her great esteem.” – Francois-Joseph Fetis, French biographer

Further Reading

• https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/louise-farrenc-story/

• https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/arts/music/classical-music-farrenc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TE8.gzDE.IwucXsONLWlq&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

• https://www.classical-music.com/features/composers/farrenc-louise

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

• Austro-Bohemian composer and conductor

• He composed nine symphonies (and began a tenth), several song cycles, and a handful of chamber works.

• Mahler lived and worked in many cities throughout his life, including Vienna, Prague, Leipzig, and New York, where his final concert as conductor was at Carnegie Hall.

• Mahler met with Sigmund Freud, who diagnosed him with mother fixation.

“Adagietto” from Symphony No. 5

• Instrumentation: harp and strings only in the second movement. 

• The full symphony requires 4 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings. 

• Composed in: 1901-1904

• The “Adagietto” is the fourth movement and was famously performed at Robert Kennedy’s funeral in 1968 under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.

• Length: 12 minutes (Full symphony: 75 minutes, including 5 movements)

• Last performed at Wintergreen Music: 2004

What to Listen For

• Many believe that Mahler dedicated the Adagietto to his wife, Alma, hence the intimate nature of the instrumental ensemble and the passionate swells of sound throughout.

• The movement has several changes in tempo. In fact, in104 measures, Mahler provides around 18 different instructions (depending on how you count them) for altering the pulse.

• The opening two measures are characterized by descending arpeggios in the violas cellos and harp, but soon the rising melody appears in the first violins and gives us a clue as to the construction of the entire movement. 

• This melody initially rises in pitch from a low C to a high D. It maintains the intensity of the high D for two bars before descending again and passing the tune over to the cellos. The entire movement takes on this structure: the first section is more lyrical and calm; the middle features more intense leaps in the melody and more extreme registers in all of the instruments; then the opening music returns, winding down the music to a serene F major chord, marked pppp (pianissississimo!).

Quotable

• A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” – Gustav Mahler

Further Reading

• https://utahsymphony.org/explore/2021/03/mahler-adagietto-from-symphony-no-5/

• https://theclassicreview.com/beginners-guides/mahler-symphony-no-5-a-beginners-guide/

• https://www.benjaminzander.org/library/mahler-some-reflections-on-symphony-no-5/

• https://weta.org/fm/features/classical-breakdown/mahlers-symphony-no-5-story-uncertainty-and-triumph

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

• French composer

• Won the Prix de Rome in 1857

• His most popular work is Carmen, which was completed at the very end of his life. In fact, he died soon after its premiere, not ever knowing how popular the work would become.

• Other works by Bizet: Carmen, Les pêcheurs de perles (Opera: The Pearl Fishers), La jolie fille de Perth (Opera: The Fair Maid of Perth), incidental music to L'Arlésienne (The Girl from Arles), Symphony No. 1 in C Major (performed at Wintergreen in 2024), the Petite suite, Overture Patire, the Te Deum, and several (largely ignored) songs and piano works.

• He was a child prodigy, entering the Paris Conservatory when he was only nine years old.

• He met and admired the music of Gioacchino Rossini; and he impressed Franz Liszt with his skills at the piano.

Scherzo from Fantaisie symphonique in C Major, (“Roma”)

• Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 1 bass trombone, timpani, harp, strings

• Composed in: 1860-1871 

• The full symphony took Bizet 11 years to compose, and even then, there were still editorial and compositional issues left unresolved.

• The Scherzo, performed in our Symphony for the Mountain, is the second movement of the symphony, and according to many, the most characterful and successful. 

• Length: 5 minutes (Full symphony: 30 minutes)

• Wintergreen Music Premiere

What to Listen For

• The opening features the strings in a joyful romp of a fugue (not unlike the Magic Flute overture!). 

• Throughout the movement, the orchestra has typical Bizet melodies, worthy of features in Carmen and The Pearl Fishers. While the rhythm tunes of these moves slowly, the energy of the opening fugal section is always scurrying underneath. 

Quotable

• “[Bizet’s] music has the tang of sunny climates, their bracing air, their clearness. It voices a sensibility hitherto unknown to us.” – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Further Reading

• https://www.wqxr.org/story/bizets-underrated-and-underfinished-second-symphony/

• https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/bizet-symphony-roma

• https://www.classicfm.com/composers/bizet/guides/facts-gallery/

Franz Berwald (1796-1868) 

• Swedish composer and violinist

• He composed 4 symphonies, 5 concerti, 6 tone poems, 15 pieces of chamber music, 6 stage works, and several vocal and piano works.

• He was a professional musician, but had to embark on a career as an orthopedist to make income for his financially destitute family.

• Out of his four symphonies, only the first was performed in his lifetime. The fourth symphony was premiered in 1878, the third symphony in 1905, and the second in 1914. 

Presto from Symphony No. 3 in C Major

• Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings

• Composed in: 1845

• Length: 8 minutes (Full Symphony: 30 minutes)

• Wintergreen Music Premiere

What to Listen For

• Feisty and stormy, the final movement of our Symphony for the Mountain is rhythmically unpredictable and exciting.

• It begins in C minor, and makes quick work of orchestral shifts, pivoting swiftly between winds, strings, brass, and timpani. 

• A woodwind chorale in the middle gives temporary respite from the storm, but soon the opening returns, and we’re back to thunder and lightning. 

• Towards the end, however, all of the drama turns into triumph, and all of the C minor resolves to C Major!

Quotable

• “Neither the media, money nor power can damage or benefit good Art. It will always find some simple, decent artists who forge ahead and produce and stand up for their works. In Sweden you have the finest example of this: Berwald” – Carl Nielsen

Further Reading

• https://www.swedishmusicalheritage.com/composers/berwald-franz/

• https://thelistenersclub.com/2017/10/13/franz-berwald-the-first-great-scandinavian-symphonist/

• https://interlude.hk/franz-berwald-shoe-fits-wear/

Alex Berko (b. 1995)

• Composer currently based in Chicago

• Has written music for and with Conspirare, the Crossing, the New York Youth Symphony, the Miró String Quartet, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Monterey Symphony, among others. 

• Has been honored by such organizations as ASCAP, regional EMMY awards, the American Prize, the American Choral Directors Association, Rice University, and has had compositions featured on three GRAMMY-nominated recordings. 

Sacred Place

• Instrumentation: SSAATTBB chorus, SATB soloists, Piano, String Orchestra

• Composed: Original version in 2023; Version for full string orchestra in 2025.

• This performance is the world premiere of the full string orchestra version.

• Length: 20 minutes

• Original work commissioned by Conspirare, Conductor Craig Hella Johnson; orchestration commissioned by Wintergreen Music!

• The composer writes: “Sacred Place is an ecological service that connects the old with the new, the sacred with the secular, and the individual with their community. The outline of the work is a Jewish service. However, rather than Jewish prayers, the text is made up of various writers and thinkers who speak of the environment as a place of safety, comfort, and beauty. …The six-movement piece is at times a meditation and at times an impassioned prayer for the world we inhabit and share.”

• Text by Wendell Berry, John Muir, William Stafford, and Rabindranath Tagore, as well as an old testament prayer: Mi Shebeirach

• Wintergreen Music premiere; World Premiere of the newly orchestrated version.

What to Listen For

• I. Opening Prayer (text by Wendell Berry): The 8 measure opening movement is fully a cappella, with a single singer presenting text from Wendel Berry’s “The Porch over the River”. 

• II. Amidah (text by John Muir): The strings and piano emerge seamlessly from the opening movement, with a pulsing piano piano part over sustained strings. As John Muir’s letter to Teddy Roosevelt describing the wonders of Yosemite National Park unfolds, we hear the strength of the rocks in bold upward gestures while birds (and bees and butterflies) flit around in overlapping vocal phrases. 

• III. Shema (text by William Stafford): This movement is a setting of Stafford’s stunning “In Response to a Question: ‘What Does the Earth Say?’” Two soloists accompanied by rolling chords in the piano set the scene. When the chorus enters, the texture is homophonic (sounding all together) and rhapsodic with full orchestral accompaniment. Berko cleverly sets the text “Listening, I think that’s what the earth says” a cappella, as if to make sonic space for hearing the earth’s reply. 

• IV. Mi Shebeirach (Traditional Jewish Prayer): Berko sets the choral part of this prayer of comfort and healing in a straight-forward manner, almost like a hymn. It begins a cappella, but soon the orchestra enters, and it is anything but straight forward. The piano plays colossal chords in quarter note triplets and syncopations in the right hand and powerful (and low!) foundational notes in the left while the strings execute a series of overlapping harmonics. The range in the orchestra is massive and the message is powerful. 

• V. Kaddish (text by Rabindranath Tagore): This short text is a plea to be remembered after ones passing, set within the imagery of a lingering sunset. Given its placement near the end of the work, it recalls the text from Revelation 14: 13 that Brahms uses to conclude his German Requiem: “Blessed are the dead…. So, says the spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” The mood is much more restrained than the Mi Shebeirach and leads seamlessly to the work’s conclusion.

• VI. Closing Prayer (Wendell Berry): Much like the final movement of the Brahms Requiem recalls the first, here Berko repeats the opening strains, but this time accompanied by orchestra and joined by chorus. The piece fades away with repeated chords in the piano as the music becomes one with its surroundings, combining humanity with nature in the most artistic of ways. 

Quotable

• “The title ‘Sacred Place’ holds many meanings. Each writer that I have chosen views the earth as sacred. They speak of us as inhabitants, as visitors. Without the earth, there is no us. Another dimension is the experience that the listener has while hearing the piece live. It is not a coincidence that a piece framed in a Jewish service was premiered in a Lutheran church. I find it beautiful that the audience will be entering one sacred space with its own history and religious traditions and experiencing elements of another culture’s service. There is a deep unifying power in collective listening that transcends a single person or a single group’s traditions. I am thinking about the concept of the “service” in the broadest sense: coming together to sit, listen, breathe, and understand. The audience is entering a sacred space within themselves, silently resonating with those around them.” – Alex Berko

Further Reading

• https://www.alexberko.com/sacred-place

Text

• I. Opening Prayer

  In the dusk of the river, the wind gone, the leaves grow still—

  The beautiful poise of lightness,

  The heavy world pushing toward it.

  — Wendell Berry

• II. Amidah

  “How softly these mountain rocks are adorned, and how fine and reassuring the company they keep – their brows in the sky, their feet set in groves and gay emerald meadows, a thousand flowers leaning confidingly against their adamantine bosses, while birds bees butterflies help the river and waterfalls to stir all the air into music – things frail and fleeting and types of permanence meeting here and blending as if into this glorious mountain temple Nature had gathered her choicest treasures, whether great or small to draw her lovers into close confiding communion with her.”

  — John Muir to Teddy Roosevelt (on preserving Yosemite National Park)

• III. Shema

  The earth says have a place, be what that place requires; hear the sound the birds imply and see as deep as ridges go behind each other.

  The earth says every summer have a ranch that’s minimum: one tree, one well, a landscape that proclaims a universe - sermon of the hills, hallelujah mountain, highway guided by the way the world is tilted, reduplication of mirage, flat evening: a kind of ritual for the wavering.

  The earth says where you live wear the kind of color that your life is and by listening with the same bowed head that sings draw all things into one song, join the sparrow on the lawn, and row that easy way, the rage without met by the wings within that guide you anywhere the wind blows.

  Listening, I think that’s what the earth says.

  — William Stafford

• IV. Mi Shebeirach

  May the source of strength

  Who blessed the ones before us

  Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing

  And let us say Amen

  Bless those in need of healing with r'fuah sh'leimah

  The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit

  And let us say Amen

  — Old Testament

• V. Kaddish

  “Let my thoughts come to you, when I am gone, like the afterglow of sunset at the margin of starry silence.”

  — Rabindranath Tagore

• VI. Closing Prayer

  In the dusk of the river, the wind gone, the leaves grow still —

  The beautiful poise of lightness,

  The heavy world pushing toward it.

Notes by Nicoletta Moss

Gustav Holst (1874-1934)

• English composer and teacher, played piano, violin, and trombone

• Influenced by Mendelssohn, Chopin, Grieg, and others

• Taught at the St. Paul’s Girls’ School, advocating for music education for women

• Significant contributions to the English folksong revival in the early 20th century

St. Paul's Suite, op. 29

• Instrumentation: String Orchestra

• Dates: composed in 1913 but published in 1922 due to revisions (later added wind parts)

• Composed for the opening of the St. Paul’s Girls’ School music department wing. Holst was the director from 1905-1934. Dedicated to his students.

• One of Holst’s most well-known works! 

• Movements:

  • I. Jig: Vivace

  • II. Ostinato: Presto

  • III: Intermezzo: Andante con moto

  • IV: Finale (The Dargason): Allegro

• Length: 13 minutes

• Wintergreen Premiere (although movements done as part of Play with Us! In 2017)

What to Listen For

• Holst forges a personal/English compositional style through his use of folk/dance rhythms ― they are quite catchy! His orchestration/texture allows each melodic and harmonic line to shine through.

• I. Jig: lively dance in compound meter (6/8 and 9/8) with driving rhythms/tempo. A new melody appears in the middle of the movement that soars above the dance. The original tune returns, getting faster and faster and bursting with excitement until the final bar!

• II. Ostinato: The second violins introduce an ostinato motive (swirling eighth note figure) at the beginning. As more layers join, the sense of meter/pulse becomes obscured. Two characters mingle ― a lilting waltz and a meandering voice. This movement is in ternary/ABA form. The middle section suddenly shifts to a different style, harkening back to the more energetic dances in the suite. The opening material/section returns at the end. 

• III. Intermezzo: Features a bold solo violin part that begins and ends the movement. Pizzicati in the rest of the strings provide the foundation for this voice. When the rest of the violin section joins the soloist, the music comes alive. This moves us into a contrasting rustic dance section. Throughout, Holst seamlessly connects these sections (which continue to jump back and forth) with sudden and captivating transitions. With all the musical drama, this movement keeps you on the edge of your seat! 

• IV: Finale: This theme is drawn from Holst’s Second Suite in F (for band) ― Dargason ― and an arrangement of Greensleeves. These themes overlap and continue building together. Try to catch how many times you hear the Dargason!

Quotable

• “I’ve learned what ‘classical’ means. It means something that sings and dances through sheer joy of existence.” ― Gustav Holst

Further Reading

• https://classicalexburns.com/2019/09/06/gustav-holst-st-pauls-suite-a-homage-to-english-folk-song/ 

• https://stringsection.co.uk/2012/11/30/holst-st-pauls-suite-an-exceptional-example-of-string-writing/ 

• http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/holst/stpaul.php

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

• English composer, conductor and pianist

• Studied at the Royal College of Music with John Ireland and Ralph Vaughan Williams

• Britten’s long time partner, Peter Pears, was also his musical partner, premiering several songs and song cycles, including the Serenade.

• Britten was a conscientious objector in World War II and was exempt from having to serve.

• Known mostly for his vocal music, some of his most celebrated works include operas Albert Herring, Peter Grimes, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Billy Budd; choral works War Requiem and Ceremony of Carols, and song cycles: Les Illuminations and Phaedra.

• He also composed one of the most influential pieces for young audiences: A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, op. 31

• Instrumentation: Solo Tenor, Solo Horn, String Orchestra

• Composed in: 1943

• Written at the request of horn player Dennis Brain, only 22 years old at the time and set to become the most famous horn player in England by the time he was 24

• Composed for Brain and Peter Pears, both of whom premiered the work in 1943 at Wigmore Hall.

• The text is compiled from several different poets ranging from the 15th to the 19th centuries.

• Dedicated to music critic Edward Charles Sackville-West, the 5th Baron of Sackville, who helped Britten select the texts

• Sackville-West describes the work best: “The subject is Night and its prestigia [conjuring tricks]: the lengthening shadow, the distant bugle at sunset, the Baroque panoply of the starry sky, the heavy angels of sleep; but also the cloak of evil—the worm in the heart of the rose, the sense of sin in the heart of man. The whole sequence forms an Elegy or Nocturnal (as Donne would have called it), resuming the thoughts and images suitable to evening.”

• Length: 20-25 minutes

• Wintergreen Music Premiere

What to Listen For

• Throughout, the horn is almost like a second singer, playing passages with such character that one almost expects text to emerge from the instrument.

• 1. "Prologue" (horn solo): To horn players, the opening three notes clearly identify this as Britten’s Serenade. It commands our attention and brings us to a pastoral, evening landscape.

• 2. "Pastoral” (Text by Charles Cotton [1630-1687] from "The Evening Quatrains"): With expansive tenor and horn lines descending from the highest register, you can hear the setting sun as it casts long shadows. The strings underneath the soloists are muted, playing like the sound of dusk.

• 3. "Nocturne" (Text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson [1809-1892] from "Blow, bugle, blow"): In this setting of the Romantic era text, the horn takes on the role of the bugle, with quick trumpet-like arpeggios interspersed with the tenor’s solo declarations.

• 4. "Elegy (Text by William Blake [1757-1827] from "The Sick Rose"): The horn begins and ends this movement with long, sorrowful lines, leaping from low to high in despair or sorrow, while the strings pulse relentlessly underneath. In the middle section, the throbbing pulse disappears, and the tenor, as if alone, laments the death of the rose in Blake’s menacing text. 

• 5. "Dirge" (Anonymous text from the 15th century called the “Lyke-Wake Dirge”): The strings play an imitative section, reminiscent of a fugue, that leads to a virtuoso horn part. The tempo does not change throughout, evoking the stride of a funeral march, as the tenor mourns at the top of the register. 

• 6. "Hymn" (Text by Ben Johnson [1572-1637] from "Hymn to Diana"). Fast and virtuosic, this movement recalls some of Britten’s most vibrant operatic writing – think Albert Herring or Midsummer Night’s Dream.

• 7. "Sonnet" (Text by John Keats [1795-1821] from "To Sleep"): The music becomes Romantic and languid, as the activity of night turns to heavy, drowsy sleep. Note the lack of horn in this particular movement. Musically, it makes sense, as our tenor soloist is left alone to doze. Logistically, it sets us up for the final movement.

• 8. "Epilogue" (Horn solo - reprise of the Prologue): While this is a repeat of the opening strains, there are two main differences. Once is the horn player’s distance from the stage. The other is that the player is asked to play with natural harmonics (rather than using valves). The sound and tuning of such playing stirs up an otherworldly existence - one veiled by the magical effects of the night.

Quotable

• “It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony.” – Benjamin Britten

Further Reading

• https://www.brittenpearsarts.org/news/work-of-the-week-26-serenade

• https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4800/serenade-for-tenor-horn-and-strings

• https://crosseyedpianist.com/2019/02/25/repertoire-in-focus-serenade-for-tenor-horn-and-strings-by-benjamin-britten/

• https://www.richardcooke.org/blogtext.htm?blog=64

Text

• 1. Prologue (solo horn only)

• 2. Pastoral 

  The day's grown old; the fainting sun

  Has but a little way to run,

  And yet his steeds, with all his skill,

  Scarce lug the chariot down the hill.

  The shadows now so long do grow,

  That brambles like tall cedars show;

  Molehills seem mountains, and the ant

  Appears a monstrous elephant.

  A very little, little flock

  Shades thrice the ground that it would stock;

  Whilst the small stripling following them

  Appears a mighty Polypheme.

  And now on benches all are sat,

  In the cool air to sit and chat,

  Till Phoebus, dipping in the West,

  Shall lead the world the way to rest.

  – Charles Cotton (1630–1687)

• 3. Nocturne

  The splendour falls on castle walls

  And snowy summits old in story:

  The long light shakes across the lakes,

  And the wild cataract leaps in glory:

  Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,

  Bugle blow; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

  O hark, O hear, how thin and clear,

  And thinner, clearer, farther going!

  O sweet and far from cliff and scar

  The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!

  Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying:

  Bugle, blow; answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

  O love, they die in yon rich sky,

  They faint on hill or field or river:

  Our echoes roll from soul to soul,

  And grow for ever and for ever.

  Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying;

  And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

  – Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)
  

• 4. Elegy

  O Rose, thou art sick;

  The invisible worm

  That flies in the night,

  In the howling storm,

  Has found out thy bed

  Of crimson joy;

  And his dark, secret love

  Does thy life destroy.

  – William Blake (1757–1827)
  

• 5. Dirge

  This ae nighte, this ae nighte,

  Every nighte and alle,

  Fire and fleet and candle‑lighte,

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  When thou from hence away art past,

  Every nighte and alle,

  To Whinnymuir thou com'st at last;

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  If ever thou gav'st hos'n and shoon,

  Every nighte and alle,

  Sit thee down and put them on;

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  If hos'n and shoon thou ne'er gav'st nane

  Every nighte and alle,

  The whinnes sall prick thee to the bare bane;

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  From Whinnymuir when thou may'st pass,

  Every nighte and alle,

  To Brig o' Dread thou com'st at last;

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  From Brig o' Dread when thou may'st pass,

  Every nighte and alle,

  To Purgatory fire thou com'st at last;

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  If ever thou gav'st meat or drink,

  Every nighte and alle,

  The fire sall never make thee shrink;

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  If meat or drink thou ne'er gav'st nane,

  Every nighte and alle,

  The fire will burn thee to the bare bane;

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  This ae nighte, this ae nighte,

  Every nighte and alle,

  Fire and fleet and candle‑lighte,

  And Christe receive thy saule.

  – Lyke Wake Dirge, Anonymous (15th century)

• 6. Hymn

  Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,

  Now the sun is laid to sleep,

  Seated in thy silver chair,

  State in wonted manner keep:

  Hesperus entreats thy light,

  Goddess excellently bright.

  Earth, let not thy envious shade

  Dare itself to interpose;

  Cynthia's shining orb was made

  Heav'n to clear when day did close:

  Bless us then with wishèd sight,

  Goddess excellently bright.

  Lay thy bow of pearl apart,

  And thy crystal shining quiver;

  Give unto the flying hart

  Space to breathe, how short so-ever:

  Thou that mak'st a day of night,

  Goddess excellently bright.

  – Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
  

• 7. Sonnet

  O soft embalmer of the still midnight,

  Shutting with careful fingers and benign

  Our gloom‑pleas'd eyes, embower'd from the light,

  Enshaded in forgetfulness divine:

  O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close

  In midst of this thine hymn my willing eyes,

  Or wait the "Amen" ere thy poppy throws

  Around my bed its lulling charities.

  Then save me, or the passèd day will shine

  Upon my pillow, breeding many woes,

  Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords

  Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;

  Turn the key deftly in the oilèd wards,

  And seal the hushèd Casket of my Soul.

  – John Keats (1795–1821)

• 8. Epilogue (solo horn – off stage)

Notes by Nicoletta Moss

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

• German composer & pianist

• Composed 9 symphonies, 7 concertos (depending how you count them), 35 piano sonatas, and 16 string quartets

• He started noticing his loss of hearing in 1798 and was completely deaf by around 1814

• After his world went completely silent, he wrote some of his most adventurous pieces, including Missa Solemnis, Diabelli Variations, Grosse Fuge, and his 9th symphony

• The Wintergreen Music legend is that every time we perform Beethoven, the Mountain experiences a great thunderstorm – no surprise, as Beethoven died during a thunderstorm!

Symphony No. 6 in F Major, op. 68 (“Pastorale”)

• Instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, Timpani, and Strings

• Composed in: 1808.

  • Composed simultaneously with his Fifth Symphony, also premiered both works together

• Length: 40 minutes

• Four movements: 

  • I. Allegro ma non troppo (Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside)

  • II. Andante molto mosso (Scene by the brook)

  • III. Allegro (Merry gathering of country folk)

  • IV. Allegro (Thunder, Storm)

  • V. Allegretto (Shepherd's song. Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm)

• The work is programmatic, meaning it tells a story or paints a picture of something nonmusical – in this case, Beethoven’s love of nature.

What to Listen For

• I. Allegro ma non troppo (Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside): If you were whistling a tune while on a leisurely walk outside, it might be something like the opening of this symphony. It’s relaxed, cheerful, and feels like a breath of fresh air. Dynamic contrast and repetition/development of small rhythmic motives contributes to a sense of growth. These little cells portray the organic/regenerating processes found in nature. 

• II. Andante molto mosso (Scene by the brook): The serene mood of this movement depicts flowing water (12/8 meter and rhythms). At the end, there’s a cadenza for woodwinds that imitates bird calls ― of the nightingale, quail, and cuckoo.

• III. Allegro (Merry gathering of country folk): This scherzo features festive country folk dancing – a grand celebration of harvest! The form strays from other scherzi and minuet/trio movements ― the trio happens twice and is even interrupted by a section in 2/4!

• IV. Allegro (Thunder, Storm): In a minor mode and with large instrumentation, Beethoven depicts a storm with rain, lightning, and thunder (strings, piccolo, and timpani, respectively). As the storm clears, the flute plays an ascending scalar passage ― a pleasant rainbow.

• V. Allegretto (Shepherd's song. Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm): The main theme of this finale is based on the shepherds’ song/hymn of thanksgiving and is joyful/celebratory throughout. The coda gradually builds to a huge culmination, followed by a moment of prayer. Just as in the Berko and the Britten, the ending is calm – creating an organic connection between the concert experience and the sounds of nature.

Quotable

• “It is left to the listener to find out the situations…Anyone that has formed any idea of rural life does not need titles to imagine the composer’s intentions.” – Ludwig van Beethoven

Further Reading

• https://www.classical-music.com/features/works/guide-beethovens-symphony-no-6-pastoral

• https://cso.org/experience/article/9859/take-6-beethovens-pastoral-symphony-in-popula

• https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/4952/symphony-no-6-pastoral

Notes by Nicoletta Moss

Libby Larsen (b. 1950)

• American composer

• Prolific repertoire (over 500 works); includes orchestra, opera, vocal, chamber music, wind ensemble

• Professional collaborations with the Library of Congress and several professional orchestras (Minnesota Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, Colorado Symphony)

• Champion of living composers; founded the American Composer’s Forum in 1973 (formerly known as the Minnesota Composers Forum)

Deep Summer Music

• Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (1 doubling Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 1 Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 1 Trumpet, 3 Trombones, Timpani, Percussion (Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Triangle, Chimes), and Strings

• Composed: 1982

• A local community foundation commissioned this work while she was in residency with the Minnesota Orchestra. The premiere was performed in their town, Terrance, MN, which had a population of about 100. At the outdoor premiere, 8,000 audience members were in attendance!!

• Programmatic music / tone poem

  • Outdoor music ― with dreamy, warm, and lush harmonies and textures

  • In her program notes, the composer notes that “one cannot help but be affected by the sweep of the horizon and depth of color as the eye adjusts from the nearest to the farthest view.”

• Length: 8 minutes

• Wintergreen Music premiere

What to Listen For

• From the opening bars, we find ourselves in a new sound world! Filled with a diverse harmonic language, we experience frequent shifts in color and mood. Filled with emotion and nostalgia, Larsen’s harmonies may sound and feel familiar to us.

• There’s a driving/pulsing rhythm in the strings that moves us throughout the scenes, evoking a sense of movement and growth. We don’t stay in one place for very long ― we’re constantly on the move!

• You’ll recognize repeated rhythms/motives that get passed throughout the orchestra, often played by solo winds. These fragments seamlessly blend into an interwoven orchestral texture. 

• Simultaneously, warm/lush melodies soar above the foundation below, creating an expansive horizon. 

• The trumpet plays two solos (quasi cadenzas) ― this instrument serves as a reminder of the individual/human perspective “amidst the vastness of the landscape.”

• Here at Wintergreen, Deep Summer Music takes us on our own journey through nature as we experience the awe-inspiring process of growth and community with those around us.

Quotable

• “Panorama and horizon are part of the natural culture of the plains states. On the plains, one cannot help but be affected by the sweep of the horizon and depth of color as the eye adjusts from the nearest to the farthest view. The glory of this phenomenon is particularly evident at harvest time, in the deep summer, when acres of ripened wheat, sunflowers, corn, rye, and oats blaze with color. In the deep summer, winds create wave after wave of harvest ripeness which, when beheld by the human eye, creates a kind of emotional peace and awe: a feeling of abundance combined with the knowledge that his abundance is only as bountiful as nature will allow.” – Program note by composer, Libby Larsen

Further Reading

• https://libbylarsen.com/works/deep-summer-music/ 

• https://www.yourclassical.org/episode/2012/07/02/libby-larsen-outdoors

Notes by Nicoletta Moss

Jeff Midkiff

• American composer, mandolinist, and clarinetist from Roanoke, VA

• While pursuing classical music and a music education degree from Virginia Tech, Midkiff also entered numerous bluegrass competitions as a mandolin and fiddle player.

• Throughout his career, Midkiff has enjoyed touring and recording with prominent bluegrass bands, while also playing in professional orchestras. Currently, he is an orchestra director in Roanoke City Schools.

From the Blue Ridge: Concerto for Mandolin and Orchestra

• Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (1 doubling Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, 1 Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (Drum Set, Triangle, Bell Tree, Wood Blocks, Bongos), Solo Mandolin, and Strings

• Composed for and premiered by the Roanoke Symphony in 2011. Since then, it has been performed by many professional and regional orchestras across the country. In 2023, Midkiff made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

• Standard concerto form with three movements (and cadenzas!): 

  • Allegro

  • Andante

  • Allegro

• Length: 20 minutes

• Wintergreen Music premiere

What to Listen For

• Balancing difficult technical passages with an expressive and improvisatory voice, this concerto showcases the virtuosity of the mandolin. Within familiar tonalities (i.e. major and minor modes), Midkiff incorporates extended chords that bring a sense of brilliance and expansion. Lots of beautiful orchestral textures and colors throughout!

• Inspired by the fall season, the opening bars in the first movement introduce the mandolin’s voice through a noodling passage that spreads throughout the orchestra. The contour of these melodic lines reflect the falling leaves in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the fall season.

• This music dances all the time ― fusing Classical waltzes and bluegrass jams together. You can’t help but tap your foot and move to the music. It’s a delightful balance of new and old traditions (i.e. concerto form is still there, with themes returning throughout the movements). 

• The second/middle movement explores peaceful life in the rural countryside. It might remind you of Copland and the American orchestral sound. This movement offers a space for individual reflection. 

• The final movement is filled with excitement! With the help of a drum set and extra percussion, the entire orchestra grooves through jazzy/bluegrass tunes. Sudden dynamic contrasts and syncopated rhythms contribute to this thrilling ending.

Quotable

• “My love for playing the mandolin, and a lifetime doing so, began to take on new meaning and motivation just a few years ago. After decades of also performing as a clarinetist, and countless orchestral concert situations, I felt a deep-seated desire to bring my favorite instrument in line with that experience. I truly enjoy the color, language and structure of the symphony orchestra, and my many years as a clarinetist made me very familiar with it. At the same time, I enjoyed a highly improvisational approach to the mandolin that was uniquely my own. I had struggled to keep the two ― orchestra and mandolin ― a ‘safe’ distance apart. But I knew I could say something with the mandolin on a symphonic scale. Deep down, I wanted to bring my most natural companion to the orchestra ― two seemingly different worlds, together.” – Interview with composer, Jeff Midkiff

Further Reading

• https://www.jeffmidkiff.com/compo-blueridge.html

• https://news.vt.edu/articles/2023/07/cm-alumnusperforms-bostonsymphony.html

Notes by Nicoletta Moss

Edward Elgar (1857-1934)

• English composer, self taught at an early age, highly influenced by composers from continental Europe; also a violinist and pianist

• In his 20s, he traveled across Europe ― heard/met Saint-Saens, Dvorak, and others.

• He struggled to achieve success from his compositional career ― until the Enigma Variations!

• He taught (and eventually married) Caroline Alice Roberts, who wholly supported Elgar in his career/life.

• Composed over 150 works; choral, orchestral, chamber music, songs

“Enigma” Variations, op. 36

• Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (1 doubling Piccolo), 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 1 Contrabassoon, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, 1 Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (Bass Drum, Triangle, Cymbals), Organ, and Strings

• Length: 30 minutes

• Dedicated “to my friends pictured within” ― each movement is a musical sketch of his close friends and self

• The title “Enigma” has invited speculation about its true meaning (perhaps a hidden melody), but no one really knows the truth or significance.

• After its successful premiere in London, this work launched Elgar’s international reputation as a composer.

• Original theme and 14 variations

• Last performed at Wintergreen Music: 1997

What to Listen For

• Each movement depicts his friends and colleagues, portraying their characters, emotions, and memories together.

• The introspective main theme embodies a great amount of gravitas. Some movements reflect a serious, personal tone, while others contrast with bright, lively characters.

• You might be able to easily spot the theme in some movements! However, unlike traditional theme & variations works, Elgar’s theme is often fragmented, developed, and might be almost unrecognizable! 

• Movements & brief descriptions

  • Theme

  • Variation I: C.A.E. ― Caroline Alice Elgar (wife); whistling motive in the double reeds

  • Variation II: H.D.S-P. ― Hew David Steuart-Powell (amateur pianist); frantic diatonic runs on the piano

  • Variation III: R.B.T. ― Richard Baxter Townshend (author & amateur actor, W.M.B.’s brother-in-law); wide vocal range from deep bass to high soprano

  • Variation IV: W.M.B. ― William Meath Baker (squire/lord); bombastic character ― ends with a bang!

  • Variation V: R.P.A. ― Richard Penrose Arnold (amateur pianist, son of a poet); juxtaposition of serious and witty

  • Variation VI: Ysobel (viola student); solo viola voice throughout, romantic style

  • Variation VII: Troyte ― Arthur Troyte Griffith (architect & amateur painter); stormy, thunderous character

  • Variation VIII: W.N. ― Winifred Norbury (colleague at the Worcester Philharmonic Society); pastoral mood

  • Variation IX: Nimrod ― dedicated to August Jaeger (music editor & close friend); deeply personal, emotional, and nostalgic memories

  • Variation X: Dorabella / Dora Penny (W.M.B.’s niece); light-hearted dance character

  • Variation XI: G.R.S. ― George Robertson Sinclair (organist); his bulldog falls into the river and tries to get back out (ends with a bark!)

  • Variation XII: B.G.N. ― Basil George Nevinson (amateur cellist); melancholic lament, ends with a cello solo

  • Variation XIII: Romanza ― might be inspired by Lady Mary Lygon’s voyage; recalls a theme from Mendelssohn’s Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture

  • Variation XIV: E.D.U. ― “Edu” (nickname from his wife); self portrait of the composer, brings back previous variations throughout

Quotable

• “This work, commenced in a spirit of humour and continued in deep seriousness, contains sketches of the composer’s friends. It may be understood that these personages comment or reflect on the original theme and each one attempts a solution of the Enigma, for so the theme is called. The sketches are not ‘portraits’ but each variation contains a distinct idea founded on some particular personality or perhaps on some incident known only to two people. This is the basis of the composition, but the work may be listened to as a ‘piece of music’ apart from any extraneous consideration.” – Edward Elgar

Further Reading

• https://fwsymphony.org/program-notes/elgar-edward-variations-on-an-original-theme-opus-36-enigma

• https://www.bso.org/works/elgar-enigma-variations

• https://www.nashvillesymphony.org/classical-program-notes/edward-elgar-variations-on-an-original-theme-enigma-op-36/