Concert Notes
Leonard Bernstein, Symphony No. 3, Kaddish
Born August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts Died October 14, 1990, in New York City Composed in 1961–63; Revised in 1977 Premiered on December 10, 1963 in Tel Aviv by the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein with mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel Performance Time: Approximately 41 minutes As Leonard Bernstein’s biographer Humphrey Burton notes, “Between 1957 and…
Read MoreReligion and Music in England at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Edward Elgar’s two monumental masterpieces for chorus and orchestra, The Dream of Gerontius and The Apostles, mirror the tensions and contradictions that surrounded religion at the end of the Victorian era. Elgar, a Catholic, had experienced isolation and prejudice, particularly in his younger years. But he also witnessed a Catholic revival in England, the rise…
Read MoreElgar’s The Apostles
In the usual narrative of Edward Elgar’s career, the composer sprang overnight from provincial obscurity to international fame with the 1899 premiere of his Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, now known as the Enigma Variations. Unsurprisingly, the truth is more complicated: Elgar was already becoming well known through a series of acclaimed choral…
Read MoreAFTER DVOŘÁK AND SMETANA: CZECH MUSIC IN THE 20th CENTURY
The four composers on this ASO program were major twentieth-century figures in the musical tradition of a region in Central Europe: the Czech lands of Bohemia and Moravia, famed for contributions to European culture, particularly in music. The historic capital of Bohemia, Prague is now the capital of the Czech Republic. Before this, it was…
Read MoreVítězslav Novák, In the Tatras
Born December 5, 1870, in Kamenice nad Lipou, Southern Bohemia Died July 18, 1949, in Skuteč, Czech Republic Composed in 1902 Premiered on November 25, 1902 in Prague by the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Oskar Nedbal Performance Time: Approximately 25 minutes Vítězslav Novák was a gifted and prolific composer who was at the core of…
Read MoreBohuslav Martinů, Symphony No. 3
Born December 8, 1890, in Polička, Czechoslovakia Died August 28, 1959, in Liestal, Switzerland Composed in 1944 Premiered on October 12, 1945 in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitsky Performance Time: Approximately 30 minutes Before coming to New York City in 1941 as a political refugee, Czechoslovak composer Bohuslav Martinů obtained recognition…
Read MoreJosef Suk, Scherzo fantastique
Born January 4, 1874, in Křečovice, Czechoslovakia Died May 29, 1935, in Benešov, Czechoslovakia Composed in 1903 Premiered on April 18, 1905 in the Rudolfinum, Prague Performance Time: Approximately 15 minutes Canonic figures like Felix Mendelssohn (Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture from 1826), Hector Berlioz (Queen Mab from the 1839 choral symphony Roméo et Juliette), and…
Read MoreErwin Schulhoff, Symphony No. 5
by Michael Beckerman Born June 8, 1894, in Prague Died August 18, 1942, in Würzburg, Germany Composed in 1938–9 Premiered on March 5th, 1965 in Weimar by the Weimar State Orchestra conducted by Gerhardt Pfluger Performance Time: Approximately 36 minutes There is no style shift more dramatic than that undergone by Erwin Schulhoff after his “conversion”…
Read MoreFriends and Colleagues: Bernstein, Brandeis, and the 1950s
Tonight’s concert gives voice to a web of interconnections. All five composers on the program knew one another and were, at one time or another, friends. The most active and close period of their engagement took place relatively early in Leonard Bernstein’s meteoric career—between his college days and 1957, the year West Side Story opened.…
Read MoreLeonard Bernstein, Overture to Candide
Born August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts Died October 14, 1990, in New York City Composed in 1956 Concert premiere on January 26, 1957 at Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein Performance Time: Approximately 4 minutes Despite its distinguished roster of collaborators, including Lillian Hellman and Richard Wilbur, among others, Leonard Bernstein’s…
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