Notes on the Program
Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1877-1878
5 minutes
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings
The character Eugene Onegin, taken from the Pushkin novel, is truly despicable. He is a self-absorbed playboy who condescendingly rejects the true love of a naive young woman, then kills his best friend in a duel. Many years later, in the 3rd act of the opera at a ball in her honor, Onegin again meets the woman he had rejected. She is now married to an aristocrat.
Perhaps Tchaikovsky means for the stately character of the Polonaise to emphasize her classic beauty and confidence, as Onegin realizes his mistake and makes an attempt to rekindle her feelings for him. Spoiler alert—she does not fall for him a second time!
Tchaikovsky the genius was clearly the master of multiple genres—ballet, symphony, opera, and more. But this Polonaise, a dance in three/four time, would have been a part of his musical DNA. He effortlessly depicts the flowing movement of the couples as they dance through the St Petersburg evening.
The world in 1877
Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake debuts in Moscow, Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, the first Wimbledon tournament is held, Cincinnati Enquirer first uses term "bullpen" to indicate baseball field foul territory where late-coming spectators were herded like cattle
Sinfonia Concertante in B-flat major, H. I:105
Franz Joseph Haydn, 1792
22 minutes
flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and solo oboe, bassoon, violin, and cello
The man we reverently call "Papa Haydn" was for the most part of his life basically a musical house servant. In the days before recordings, the Hungarian royal family of Esterhazy employed him to compose and conduct for their personal enjoyment. He fulfilled his duties as he basically invented and formalized what we now consider to be classical chamber music.
After the patron's death he was able to travel to London, where he wrote this concertante. It was commissioned by a London violinist for a concert series and reports were that it might have been written very quickly, but that did not diminish the very positive audience reception and newspaper reviews.
The work was lauded in the press as being " profound, airy, affecting, and original." Haydn now had the freedom to write for himself.
The world in 1792
Amidst the French Revolution, France declares war against Austria, beginning the French Revolutionary Wars, George Washington is re-elected President of the United States, Ludwig van Beethoven moves to Vienna to study with Haydn, the US Postal Service is created
Symphony No. 9 in E-minor, Op. 95, B. 178,
"From the New World"
Antonín Dvořák, 1893
40 minutes
2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (2nd doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, triangle, and strings
Dvořák's style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them." He conquered Europe with his Slavonic Dances and Stabat Mater and in 1892 was called to New York City to become the head of the National Conservatory of Music of America.
The journalists of that time frequently invented quotes and stories to sell newspapers, so it is difficult to know the truth about everything written regarding Dvořák's time in America, but there are some things that appear to be indisputable:
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He was a wide ranging intellect with interest in locomotives, steamships, native and folk music, as well as birdwatching. Note the depiction of birdsong in the 2nd movement!
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He was fascinated by Black Spirituals and Native American rhythms, believing they were "the sound of America".
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He intended to write an opera based on "Song of Hiawatha" by Longfellow and even jotted down musical ideas, some of which ended up in the 9th Symphony. For example the opening melody in the horn spells out "Hi-a-wa-tha".
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One of his students sang spirituals for him, including Go Down, Moses and Deep River. Dvořák was able to internalize these songs, then compose a totally original melody for the 2nd movement, which is frequently mistaken for an American folk melody (interestingly, the words to Going Home were added nearly 30 years later in 1922).
And finally, note the subtitle of the symphony: "From the New World". Dvořák did not write an American symphony - he used American musical vocabulary and European form to send a message from America to Europe showing the potential future of American music, one that our orchestra has a history of embracing through our programming.
The world in 1893
American pharmacist, Caleb Bradham invents the recipe for what later becomes Pepsi, English author, Beatrix Potter writes the story of Peter Rabbit, the first Ferris wheel opens at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, Tchaikovsky dies 9 days after the premiere of his sixth symphony, New Zealand becomes the first country to grant all women the right to vote