Concerts of Thursday, March 31, and Saturday, April 2, 2016, at 8:00p
Thomas Søndergård, Conductor
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Le corsaire Overture, Opus 21 (1844)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Concerto for the Left Hand for Piano and Orchestra in D Major (1930)
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Intermission
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Rapsodie espagnole (1908)
I. Prélude à la nuit. Très modéré
II. Malagueña. Assez vif
III. Habanera. Assez lent et d’un rythme las
IV. Feria. Assez animé
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
La mer (The Sea), Three Symphonic Sketches (1905)
I. De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From Dawn until Noon on the Sea)
II. Jeux de vagues (Play of the Waves)
III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea)
Notes on the Program by Ken Meltzer
Le corsaire Overture, Opus 21 (1844)
Hector Berlioz was born in La Côte-Saint-André, Isère, France, on
December 11, 1803, and died in Paris, France, on March 8, 1869. The first
performance of Le corsaire took place at the Cirque Olympique in Paris on
January 19, 1845, with the composer conducting. Le corsaire is scored for
two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two
trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.
Approximate performance time is nine minutes.
First Classical Subscription Performances: November 20, 21, and 22, 1969,
James Levine, Conductor.
Most Recent Classical Subscription Performances: February 2, 3, and 4,
2006, Emmanuel Krivine, Conductor.
The stories behind the musical works of Hector Berlioz are often as captivating
as the pieces themselves. In February of 1831, Berlioz, while en route to Rome,
made a voyage from Marseilles to Livorno. The journey nearly ended in disaster
when a raging storm threatened to capsize the vessel. During the voyage,
Berlioz made the acquaintance of a “Venetian, an underbred fellow, who spoke
abominable French, (who) averred that he had commanded Lord Byron’s
corvette during the poet’s adventurous excursions in the Adriatic and the Grecian
Archipelago.”
While in Rome that summer, Berlioz spent hours in St. Peter’s Basilica,
immersed in Byron’s poetry:
Nor did I ever see St. Peter’s without a thrill. It is so grand, so
noble, so beautiful, so majestically calm! During the fierce summer
I used to spend whole days there, comfortably established in a
confessional, with Byron as my companion. I sat enjoying the
coolness and stillness, unbroken by any sound save the splashing
of the fountains in the square outside, which was wafted up to me
by an occasional breeze; and there, at my leisure, I sat drinking in
that burning poetry. I followed the Corsair in his desperate
adventures; I adored that inexorable yet tender nature—pitiless, yet
generous—a strange combination of apparently contradictory
feelings; love of woman, hatred of his kind.
During this time, Berlioz learned that his fiancée, Camille Moke, had married
another man. The feverish Berlioz planned to avenge his dishonor with the
murder of the offending parties and his own suicide. The intricate plot, which
involved Berlioz disguising himself as a chambermaid (!), ended when the
composer threw himself into the Mediterranean and was “yanked out like a fish.”
Berlioz spent three weeks recuperating in Nice, where he made the first sketches
of what would ultimately become his Corsaire Overture.
In 1844, Berlioz returned to Nice to recover from an illness. There, Berlioz
completed the first version of the Overture, which he entitled The Tower of Nice,
in commemoration of an ancient ruin that captivated his imagination during the
composer’s 1831 and 1844 visits. The premiere of Le tour de Nice took place in
Paris on January 19, 1845, with Berlioz conducting. Berlioz revised the Overture
while in London in 1851-2. He called the new version Le corsaire rouge, a
reference to James Fenimore Cooper’s The Red Rover, another work Berlioz
greatly admired. Finally, Berlioz shortened the title to Le corsaire (The Corsair),
after the Byron verse drama.
Musical Analysis
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The great 19 -century conductor Hans von Bülow compared the Overture’s
bracing opening to “a shot from a pistol.” Berlioz launches his Corsaire Overture
with two sharp chords, followed by scurrying violins and chirping winds. A lyrical
interlude (Adagio sostenuto) leads to the principal Allegro assai, featuring a
reprise of the opening violin and woodwind figures, followed by the introduction of
the bold descending and ascending main theme. The violins present a
contrasting lyrical theme, derived from material first presented in the Adagio. But
for the most part, the Corsaire Overture proceeds in heroic fashion right to the
fanfares and C-major chords that cap the work.
Concerto for the Left Hand for Piano and Orchestra in D Major (1930)
Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, France, on
March 7, 1875, and died in Paris, France, on December 28, 1937. The
first performance of the D-Major Concerto took place in Vienna,
Austria, on November 27, 1931, with Paul Wittgenstein as soloist. In
addition to the solo piano, the Concerto is scored for piccolo, three
flutes, two oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets in A and
B-flat, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three
trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, triangle,
cymbals, suspended cymbal, bass drum, wood block, tam-tam, harp,
and strings. Approximate performance time is nineteen minutes.
First Classical Subscription Performance: March 4, 1952, Robert
Casadesus, Piano, Henry Sopkin, Conductor.
Most Recent Classical Subscription Performance: January 10, 11, and 12,
2008, Adam Golka, Piano, Donald Runnicles, Conductor.
Robert Shaw Performances: April 12, 13, and 14, 1972, Grant Johnnesen,
Piano
Paul Wittgenstein
The history of music provides many examples of the triumph of the human spirit
over seemingly insurmountable hurdles. Ludwig van Beethoven overcame
deafness to compose his greatest masterworks. Giuseppe Verdi’s first great
success, Nabucco (1842), followed in the wake of early professional failures, and
the deaths of his wife and two young children.
The story of the Austrian pianist, Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1961), is yet another
source of spiritual and musical inspiration. The member of an affluent Viennese
family, Paul Wittgenstein (brother of philosopher Ludwig) made his professional
debut as a pianist in December of 1913. His promising career was interrupted by
World War I, and seemed to come to an early and tragic end when Wittgenstein
lost his right arm as a soldier on the Russian front.
After this horrific turn of events, Wittgenstein arranged several solo pieces for left
hand that he played in concerts throughout Europe, the United States, and the
Near East. Wittgenstein also commissioned piano concertos from such prominent
composers as Richard Strauss, Paul Hindemith, Sergei Prokofiev, Benjamin
Britten, and Maurice Ravel.
Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Ravel accepted a commission from Wittgenstein in 1930, at a time when the
French composer was already at work on his G-Major Concerto. In a letter to a
friend, Ravel observed:
Planning the two Piano Concertos simultaneously was an
interesting experience. The one in which I shall appear as
the interpreter (the G-Major)... is written very much in the
same spirit as those of Mozart and Saint-Saëns...
The Concerto for the Left Hand alone is very different. It
contains many jazz effects; the writing is not so light. In a
work of this kind, it is essential to give the impression of a
texture no thinner than that of a part written for both hands.
From the time of the work’s premiere, critics have marveled at how the Concerto
sounds as if it is indeed written for performance by two hands. At the Paris
premiere, critic Henry Prunières exclaimed that at times, it seemed to be a work
scored for piano duet! Of course, the illusion is due in great part to Ravel’s
genius with instrumental colors. But it must also be acknowledged that a piano
virtuoso of the highest order is required for the Concerto to weave its magical
spell. In this Concerto, Ravel often requires the left hand to perform the work of
two (if not four).
Like many iron-willed individuals who succeed in spite of tremendous adversity,
Wittgenstein was not always the most conciliatory of people. Upon receipt of
Prokofiev’s Fourth Concerto, Wittgenstein responded: “My thanks for the
Concerto, but I don’t understand a single note of it, and will never play it.” As for
the two glorious solo cadenzas in Ravel’s Concerto, Wittgenstein commented in
rather ungrateful fashion: “Had I wanted to play alone, I wouldn’t have
commissioned a Concerto with orchestra!” We’re fortunate that the two
cadenzas—and indeed, the entire work—have remained intact. The Ravel DMajor Concerto remains a supreme challenge for all pianists, not just those who,
by physical necessity, must avail themselves of Paul Wittgenstein’s musical
legacy.
Musical Analysis
Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand is in a single movement, featuring various
contrasting sections. The dark, mysterious opening (Lento) features the cellos
and basses playing quietly in the depths of their ranges. The contrabassoon
softly and ominously intones the beginnings of what will become the Concerto’s
main theme. The opening gradually builds to a full orchestral climax. The soloist
enters with the first of two lengthy cadenzas, during which the main theme is
introduced.
The cadenza, featuring many of the effects that create the impression of a twohanded performance, leads into a full orchestral statement of the main theme.
The piano reemerges with a gentle, lyrical solo, finally joined by the English horn
(Andante). This section gathers momentum and leads headlong into the central
jazz-oriented portion (Allegro). A descending motif, first played by the trumpets,
is echoed by the soloist. A dance-like tune in 6/8 time, introduced by the pianist,
becomes the main theme of the “jazz” section. Ravel himself noted that, “(o)nly
later does it become manifest that the jazz music is built on the same theme as
the opening part.” An orchestral repetition of the theme (Tempo 1o) emphasizes
this relationship, and introduces the second extended cadenza, preceding a final
outburst by soloist and orchestra.
Rapsodie espagnole (1908)
Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, France, on March 7,
1875, and died in Paris, France, on December 28, 1937. The first
performance of the Rapsodie espagnole took place in Paris at the Théâtre
du Châtelet on March 15, 1908, with Edouard Colonne conducting the
Colonne Orchestra. The Rapsodie espagnole is scored for two piccolos,
two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three
bassoons, sarrusophone (a contrabassoon may substitute for the
sarrusophone), four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani,
xylophone, triangle, tam-tam, military drum, tambourine, castanets,
cymbals, suspended cymbals, bass drum, two harps, celeste, and strings.
Approximate performance time is sixteen minutes.
First Classical Subscription Performances: March 29 and 30, 1962, Henry
Sopkin, Conductor.
Most Recent Classical Subscription Performances: November 8, 9, and 10,
2012, Matthias Pintscher, Conductor.
In an autobiographical sketch, Maurice Ravel noted: “I was born in Ciboure, a
township in the Lower Pyrenees next to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, on March 7, 1875.
My father, originally from Versoix, on the shore of Lake Geneva, was a civil
engineer. My mother belonged to an old Basque family.”
It was from Marie Delouart Ravel that the young Maurice learned about Basque
history and culture. Among Ravel’s earliest memories were the Spanish folk
songs that his beloved mother sang to him. It is therefore not surprising that
several compositions by this French composer, including such pieces as
Alborado del gracioso (1905), L’heure espagnole (1911), Boléro (1928), and Don
Quichotte à Dulcinée (1933) reflect a marked Spanish influence.
Ravel composed his Spanish Rhapsody during the span of thirty days in the
summer of 1907. Ravel originally composed the piece as a work for piano fourhands, ultimately completing the orchestration shortly before the Rhapsody’s
March 15, 1908 premiere at the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet.
The premiere, conducted by Edouard Colonne, was not without incident. After
the performance of the second-movement (Malagueña), some of the members of
the audience began to hiss. Suddenly, the voice of Ravel’s colleague Florent
Schmitt resonated from the balcony: “Once more, for the public downstairs,
which didn’t understand!” Colonne and his orchestra then repeated the
movement. This inspired another exhortation from Schmitt: “Tell them it’s
Wagner and they will find it very good.”
But most of the audience and critics at the premiere reacted favorably to the
Rapsodie espagnole, a work whose vibrant rhythms, enticing melodies, and
brilliant orchestration continue to weave their magic spell.
Musical Analysis
I. Prélude à la nuit. Très modéré—The Spanish Rhapsody opens with muted
violins and violas intoning a descending four-note motif whose hypnotic presence
dominates the opening Prélude. Magical cadenzas for the clarinets and
bassoons yield to a return of the four-note motif, and the Prelude to the Night’s
hushed conclusion.
II. Malagueña. Assez vif—Pizzicato cellos and basses introduce the rhythmic
foundation for this brief and vibrant Spanish dance. Toward the close, the strings
and celeste reprise the Prélude’s four-note motif.
III. Habanera. Assez lent et d’un rythme las—This sensual dance was originally
part of an 1895 suite for two pianos, entitled Les sites auriculaires.
IV. Feria. Assez animé—“Feria” is the Spanish word for an outdoor fair, market,
or holiday. The festivities are depicted in the movement’s vibrant outer sections,
bursting with energy and vibrant orchestral colors. The slow central episode
(Très modéré) features evocative wind solos and a reprise of the four-note
Prélude motif.
La mer (The Sea), Three Symphonic Sketches (1905)
Claude Debussy was born in St. Germaine-en-Laye, France, on August 22,
1862, and died in Paris, France, on March 25, 1918. The first performance
of La mer took place in Paris on October 15, 1905, at the Concerts
Lamoureux, with Camille Chevillard conducting. La mer is scored for
piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, three bassoons,
contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two cornets, three trombones,
tuba, timpani, orchestra bells, tam-tam, cymbals, suspended cymbal,
triangle, bass drum, two harps, and strings. Approximate performance
time is twenty-four minutes.
First Classical Subscription Performances: December 1 and 2, 1961, Henry
Sopkin, Conductor.
Most Recent Classical Subscription Performances: February 23 and 25,
2012, James Gaffigan, Conductor.
Robert Shaw Performances: (Classical Subscription, unless otherwise
noted) November 21, 22, and 24, 1968; November 25 and 26, 1968 (Tour);
September 24, 25, and 26, 1981; November 29, 1981 (Runout—Thomasville)
“I still have a great passion for the sea”
The first mention of Claude Debussy’s La mer occurs in a September 12, 1903
letter. There, Debussy informed composer André Messager: “I am working on
three symphonic sketches under the title La mer: Mer belle aux îles
Sanguinaires; Jeux de vagues; and Le Vent fait danser la mer.” (Debussy later
changed the titles of the outer movements.)
In that same letter, Debussy confided: “You perhaps do not know that I was
destined for the fine life of a sailor and that it was only by chance that I was led
away from it. But I still have a great passion for the sea.” This “passion” may be
traced as far back as Debussy’s childhood visits to Cannes. And, the
composer’s fascination with the sea continued throughout his life.
In 1889, the young Debussy responded in a questionnaire that if he were not a
composer, he would like to be “a sailor.” That same year, Debussy traveled with
his friends—the brothers René and Michel Peter—to St. Lunaire, located on the
north coast of Brittany. During the visit, Debussy and the Peters made a twentymile voyage in a fishing boat from St. Lunaire to Cancale. The trip occurred
during a raging storm. René and Michel Peter feared for their lives—and for
good reason.
Debussy, on the other hand, relished the experience: “Now here’s a type of
passionate feeling I have not before experienced—Danger! It is not unpleasant.
One is alive!” After the travelers safely returned to St. Lunaire, the Peters did not
see Debussy for several days. He left a note that read: “I have been smitten not
with sea-sickness, but with sea-seeing-sickness.”
It is perhaps ironic that the majority of the composition of La mer took place when
Debussy was at inland locations. However, Debussy did not view this as a
handicap. As he told Messager:
(Y)ou’ll reply that the Atlantic doesn’t wash the foothills of
Burgundy...! And that the result could be one of those hack
landscapes done in the studio! But I have innumerable memories,
and those, in my view, are worth more than a reality which,
charming as it may be, tends to weigh too heavily on the
imagination.
In fact, Debussy once admitted to a friend that he found it difficult to compose
while in close proximity to the sea he loved so much.
The premiere of La mer took place in Paris on October 15, 1905, at the Concerts
Lamoureux, with Camille Chevillard conducting. While critical reaction varied,
most recognized the importance of La mer in the development of French musical
expression. Debussy himself penned revisions to the score in 1909, although
some conductors and orchestras continue to perform the 1905 version.
Regardless, Debussy’s La mer is a brilliant musical product of the composer’s
lifelong fascination with the sea and its infinite mysteries. Debussy’s La mer, like
its subject, continues to elude description, all the while exerting a powerful
attraction.
Musical Analysis
I. De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From Dawn until Noon on the Sea)—A slow,
mysterious introduction depicts the grandeur of the sea at dawn. Soon, the sea
awakens and activity increases as Debussy introduces several masterfully
orchestrated rhythmic motifs. A grand concluding section, containing a chorale
theme that will appear again in the finale, radiates the magnificence of the sea
glistening in the noonday sun.
II. Jeux de vagues (Play of the Waves)—If the first movement of La mer serves
as the equivalent of a symphony’s vibrant opening movement (with slow
introduction), Jeux de vagues is the scherzo. The play of the waves is reflected
in the orchestra’s quicksilver introduction and exchange of rhythmic and melodic
fragments. The peaceful conclusion of the movement is in sharp contrast to the
almost frenetic activity that precedes it.
III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea)—The finale
begins ominously, with a roll of the timpani and terse interjections by the lower
strings, answered by the woodwinds. The music gathers strength, momentum,
and at times, violence. A contrasting lyric section soon gains energy of its own.
The chorale, first heard in the opening movement, heralds the climax of the
finale.