Allegro
PROGRAM NOTES

“The Great Outdoors”

As Allegro, the Chamber Orchestra of Lancaster, completes year seven of its existence, one must wonder if Brian Norcross and his joyful musicians have finally “gone to the birds”. More likely, this ensemble, donning sky blue (perhaps even robin blue) golf shirts, is simply asking us to reflect on the relationship between nature and the art of music on this 2 nd Saturday in August. Can musical notes on a page actually depict a thunderstorm, a country wedding, a variety of flying creatures? In the masterful hands of Respighi, Copland, and Beethoven, the compositional pen is limitless in its power and creativity. By venturing into “The Great Outdoors”, we gain perspective as to the importance and significance of the individual in the larger scheme. As the composer paints his landscape through orchestral sounds, we are gifted to realize our good fortune and blessings on this planet…'tis a simple gift.

Gli Uccelli “The Birds” by Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)

Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. A composition student of Rimsky-Korsakov, Ottorino Respighi was primarily a violinist until 1908, relocating permanently from Bologna to Rome in 1913. He is best known for his orchestral Roman trilogy: “Fountains of Rome”, “Pines of Rome”, and “Roman Festivals”. Even more relevant for today's Allegro concert is Respighi's musicological interest in 16 th -18 th century music.

Respighi always had a profound sense of the past, and this appeared in his own music in many ways. He used his scholarly interest in Italian and French music of past centuries as a source for his own creativity. These could range from his use of Gregorian chant to incorporating themes by earlier composers in his own music.

One of Respighi's most charming uses of the past is his Gli Uccelli (The Birds), composed in 1927 and first performed that same year in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This five-movement suite of “bird-pieces” for small orchestra is based on lute and harpsichord pieces by earlier composers; inspired by different kinds of birds.

•  Preludio -based on a harpsichord piece of Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710), previewing themes that will return in subsequent movements.

•  La colomba (The Dove)-based on a lute piece by the Paris-based lutenist Jacques de Gallot (d. 1690); here the solo oboe sings the dove's melancholy song, which vanishes in a series of trills.

•  La gallina (The Hen)-derived from a harpsichord piece of Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). You might enjoy knowing that Rameau enjoyed writing musical depictions of everyday events. In fact, one of his harpsichord pieces describes his operation for gallstones! Our third movement hen clucks noisily and rushes about energetically.

•  L'usignuolo (The Nightingale)-based on an anonymous 17 th century melody that murmurs and coos softly.

•  Il cuccu (The Cuckoo)-also from a keyboard piece of Pasquini, makes a spirited conclusion to the suite. The bird can be heard “cuckoo-ing” throughout. Respighi's coda reprises the various bird calls from all the movements.

Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

“Appalachian Spring” is a ballet score that premiered in October 1944, and achieved widespread popularity as an orchestral suite. The ballet, scored for a thirteen-piece chamber orchestra, was created at the request of choreographer and dancer Martha Graham. Copland was awarded the 1945 Pulitzer Prize for his composition. In 1945, he rearranged the ballet work as an orchestral suite, preserving most of the music.

The story told is a spring celebration of the American pioneers of the 1800s after building a new Pennsylvania farmhouse. Among the central characters are a newlywed couple, a neighbor, a revivalist preacher, and his followers.

The orchestra suite is divided into eight sections, which Copland himself describes as:

1. Very Slowly . Introduction of the characters, one by one, in a suffused light.
2. Fast . Sudden burst of unison string arpeggios. A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote to this scene.
3. Moderate . Duo for the Bride and her Intended-scene of tenderness and passion.
4. Quite Fast. The Revivalist and his flock. Folksy feeling-suggestions of square dances and country fiddlers.
5. Still faster . Solo dance of the Bride-presentiment of motherhood. Extremes of joy, fear, and wonder.
6. Very slowly . Transition scene to music reminiscent of the introduction.
7. Calm and flowing . Scenes of daily activity for the Bride and her Farmer husband. There are five variations on a Shaker theme. The theme, sung by a solo clarinet, was taken from a collection of Shaker melodies .
8. Moderate. Coda . The Bride takes her place among her neighbors. At the end, the couple are left “quiet and strong in their new house.” Muted strings intone a hushed prayer-like chorale passage.

Originally, Copland did not have a title for the work, referring to it simply as “Ballet for Martha”. Shortly before the premiere, Graham suggested Appalachian Spring, a phrase from a Hart Crane poem, “The Bridge.” Copland was often amused when people told him he captured the beauty of the Appalachians in his music.

Symphony No. 6 (Opus 68) “Pastoral ” by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

  “It is left to the listener to find out the situations…Anyone that has formed any
ideal of rural life does not need titles to imagine the composer's intentions.”

- Beethoven

Completed in 1808, “The Pastoral Symphony” was one of Beethoven's few works of program music. The symphony was labeled at its first performance with the title “Recollections of Country Life”.

Beethoven was a lover of nature who spent a great deal of his time in the country. He frequently left Vienna to work in rural locales. As the composer said, the Sixth Symphony is “a matter more of feeling than of painting in sounds.” The Pastoral Symphony was composed simultaneously with Beethoven's more famous-and more fiery- Fifth Symphony. It was premiered along with the Fifth in a long and somewhat under-rehearsed concert in Vienna, December 22, 1808. It was received rather coldly, mainly due to the excitement caused by its more flamboyant counterpart.

•  Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country -The symphony begins with a placid and cheerful movement depicting the composer's feelings as he arrives in the country.

•  Scene at the brook -One of Beethoven's most beautiful and serene compositions. The strings imitate flowing water while the woodwinds imitate various species of birds: nightingale (flute), quail (oboe), and cuckoo (clarinet).

•  Happy gathering of country folk -country folk dancing and reveling…at least until everyone notices that raindrops are starting to fall.

•  Thunderstorm -thunder, as well as lightning, high winds, and sheets of rain. This movement depicts not just the storm itself, but the feelings of awe and fear experienced by a witness to the storm. See if you can hear the theme that could be interpreted as depicting a rainbow.

•  Shepherds' song: cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm -song of thanksgiving with a mood throughout of unmistakable joy.

*The last three movements are performed together without pause.

NATURE'S PEACE,
Doug Albert