Classical John Williams
PROGRAM NOTES by Guy Barast, Classical Program Annotator
Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990):
Candide, Leonard Bernstein’s third
musical work for the Broadway
theatre, was written in collaboration
primarily with Lillian Hellman, who
adapted Voltaire’s seminal work for
the stage. The musical (which really
borders on operetta, from its style,
structure and subject matter) was
premièred in 1956 and, unlike its
predecessors on the Broadway stage,
On the Town and Wonderful Town, it
was not a public success. It did garner
critical acclaim, with New York Post
critic Richard Watts writing: “There is
so much that is brilliant, so much in
the way of musical excellence, visual
beauty, grace of style and boldness
of design that it deserves attention
and respect from playgoers who are
interested in artistic enterprises.”
To create the libretto for the work,
Hellman turned to Candide, Voltaire’s
eighteenth-century satire on blind
optimism. Young Candide has been
taught by his tutor Dr. Pangloss that
everything is for the best “in this
best of all possible worlds.” With this
philosophy as their guiding light,
Candide and Pangloss and Candide’s
amour Cunegonde travel the globe in
search of adventure, only to discover
harsh reality in the forms of suffering,
atrocity and crime, and Candide is
ultimately forced to kill. They finally
return home from their adventures
with new wisdom and insight into the
true ways of the world.
The scintillating overture to this
unjustly neglected work is a fourminute masterpiece, and is a deftly
constructed whirlwind of a handful of
the more memorable vocal lines from
2016-2017 Center Magazine
Overture to Candide
the work. For example, the rousing
opening fanfare is taken directly from
Pangloss’s exhortation to his students
in the first ensemble number, “The
Best of All Possible Worlds,” when he
says “Any ques-tions?! Ask without
fear, I’ve all the answers here!” This
ensemble was given an entirely new
text in the final revised version of
1989, and those lyrics sadly disappear.
A second sprightly theme that receives
attention is actually the whizzing
coloratura line from Cunegonde’s
memorable aria “Glitter and Be Gay,”
where she alternately laments and then
celebrates her schizophrenic existence
as a prostitute in Paris. Finally, the
lyrical central theme, which returns
triumphantly at the overture’s
conclusion, is taken from Candide
and Cunegonde’s duet “Oh, Happy
We,” which has the lyrics “Soon,
when we feel we can afford it, we’ll
buy a modest little farm” (Candide);
followed by Cunegonde’s reply: “We’ll
buy a yacht and live aboard it, rolling
in luxury and stylish charm.”
Shades of Green Acres, anyone?
Horn Concerto
some of the best-known film scores
in the history of motion pictures,
including Close Encounters of the
Third Kind, Superman, the Star Wars
saga, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T:
The Extraterrestrial, Hook, Jurassic
Park, Schindler’s List and three of the
Harry Potter films. He won Academy
In 1948, Williams’s family moved
Awards for Fiddler on the Roof (1971),
to Los Angeles, where he studied
orchestration with Robert van Epps and Jaws (1975), and Star Wars (1977).
composition with Mario Castelnuovo Recordings of his film scores have sold
millions of copies.
Tedesco. He later continued piano
Williams has also composed an
studies with Josef Lhévinne at The
Juilliard School in New York. During impressive body of ‘serious’ music,
including Essay for strings (1966),
this time, Williams worked as a jazz
pianist in New York’s many clubs and Symphony (1966), Sinfonietta for wind
ensemble (1968), Violin Concerto (1974eventually studios, most notably for
76), Tuba Concerto (1985), Celebration
composer Henry Mancini.
Fanfare, for orchestra (1985), The
In a career spanning some six
Five Sacred Trees, concerto for bassoon
decades, Williams has composed
American composer, conductor and
pianist John Williams grew up in a
musical atmosphere, his father being a
film studio musician. Williams began
his musical studies with piano lessons
and later learned to play trumpet,
trombone and clarinet.
2016-17 SEASON
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APRIL 8
JUNE 3
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Classical John Williams
John Williams (1932):
Classical John Williams
and strings (1992-94) Cello Concerto
(1994) and Horn Concerto (2003).
concerto as a symphonic poem that
explores a variety of colors and moods.
Williams wrote his Horn Concerto in
2003 for principal horn player Dale
Clevenger of the Chicago Symphony.
The work was a commission from
the Edward F. Schmidt Family
Commissioning Fund, and the
première took place on November
29, 2003. Williams has described the
Departing once again from traditional
three-movement concerto form (as he
did in his Cello Concerto), Williams has
constructed this work following a fivemovement scheme. Each movement
is given a descriptive title drawn from
the works of various writers whose
works the composer admires.
The movements are as follows:
I. Angelus: Far far away, like bells…
At evening pealing – orchestral
bells and delicate percussion create
a magical atmosphere of a nearly
Baxian quality, serene and peaceful,
a perfect backdrop for the wideranging solo part. The movement
closes softly, amidst distantly
pealing bells.
II. The Battle of the Trees: Swift
Oak…Stout Guardian of the
Door – an agitated, dramatic
atmosphere with considerable use
of percussion, including orchestral
piano. There are running passages
of great virtuosity for the soloist,
reflecting an intense battle.
III. Pastorale: There Came a Day at
Summer’s Full – a plaintive oboe
solo opens this movement, evolving
into a duet with the bassoon.
Flowing lines for the soloist create
a calm pastoral mood. A tense
transition section leads into the
fourth movement.
IV.
The Hunt: The Hart Loves the
Highwood – the composer here
at times seems to evoke Henze
(La Selva Incantata, Aria &
Rondo for Orchestra) both in his
use of percussion and extended
nachmusik-esque harmonies.
Toward the movement’s end the
tempo slows somewhat and the
soloist has a brief cadenza passage
before the movement’s sudden
ending flourish.
V.
Nocturne: The Crimson Day
Withdraws – gentle harmonies in
the strings open the movement and
set the stage for the soloist’s pensive
entrance. Scintillating percussion
and a faster tempo signal the
movement’s central section. A
treacherously high, exposed solo
line gently closes the movement,
and the work.
2016-2017 Center Magazine
Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59
This suite from Der Rosenkavalier is a
medley of memorable sequences from
the opera, opening with the riotous
horn fanfare from Act I. A full brass
fanfare signals the “Presentation of
the Rose,” and Strauss’ full and lush
harmonies transport the listener to
a bygone age of elegance in “Ochs’s
Waltz.” Strauss’ incredible handling
Strauss heard his first Wagner operas
of the waltz in Rosenkavalier proves he
at the age of ten, but his musically
was every bit as worthy of the title of
conservative father forbade further
study of Wagner’s music, which would “Waltz King” as Johann Strauss II.
ultimately have a profound influence
on his son’s musical style.
German composer Richard Strauss
was the son of Franz Strauss, principal
horn at the Court Opera in Munich.
Young Strauss received a thorough
musical education from his father,
writing his first compositions at the
age of six and continuing to compose
almost until the time of his death.
Strauss entered Munich University in
1882, where he studied philosophy
and art history. A year later he went
to Berlin, where he secured a post
as assistant conductor to Hans von
Bülow. He married soprano Pauline
de Ahna on September 10, 1894,
who throughout his life proved to be
a source of great inspiration to him.
Strauss preferred the soprano voice
to all others; all of his operas feature
prominent soprano roles.
Der Rosenkavalier is considered the
first opera to which Strauss and
librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal
contributed equally as artists.
For the libretto of this drame des
sentiments, Hofmannsthal concocted
a “marvelous, untranslatable lingo
of Viennese and provincial dialects,”
while Strauss’ musical contribution
featured beautiful, airy melodies –
many of them waltzes –orchestrated
with a masterful touch.
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Classical John Williams
Richard Strauss (1864–1949):