Classics Series
MUSIC FOR THE JOY OF IT!
Smith Ad
Beethoven’s “little Symphony in F” is everything
you’d want from a good friend. It’s light-hearted,
cheerful and humorous. Pure joy. Plus, cellist
Amit Peled brings technique, stamina and plenty
of heart to Haydn’s great concerto.
Take Off! 2013/14
25
Center Stage
Symphony No. 8
Ludwig van Beethoven
Straight from
the Heart
Music for the Joy of It!
November 9 & 10, 2013
Jung-Ho Pak, Conductor
Amit Peled, Cello
Moz-Art à la Haydn
Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998)
Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Intermission
Symphony No. 8 in F Major
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
I. Allegro vivace e con brio
II. Allegretto scherzando
III. Tempo di Menuetto
IV. Allegro vivace
26 B
“My Little
eethoven was one of the most radical musical
innovators of his time – and perhaps of all time. He
inherited a highly developed and incredibly subtle
musical style from his predecessors Haydn and Mozart
and infused that style with unprecedented emotional
expressivity.
Beethoven was 19 when the French Revolution broke
out, and he was marked for life by the ideas of “liberty,
equality and fraternity.” The main themes of many of his
works are freedom and victory over adverse fate. The
composer was struggling with his own cruel fate as well.
He was chronically ill and started losing his hearing well
before his 30th birthday. He had a close and devoted circle
of friends and confided that his hearing loss caused him
difficulties in social and professional settings. He often
avoided conversations altogether. Eventually, he became
completely deaf.
Yet, great artist as he was, he transcended his own
circumstances. In between monumental, dramatic works, he
created pieces that were cheerful, joyful and carefree.
Beethoven was especially fond of this work and referred
to it as “My Little Symphony in F.” When his student Carl
Czerny asked him why audiences and critics seemed to
Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra
Symphony in F”
prefer the Seventh, the composer replied,
“Because the Eighth is so much better.”
The Eighth could be considered a “respite” of
sorts between the composer’s powerful Seventh
and grandiose choral Ninth (Ode to Joy). This is
a shorter work, lighter in tone, though certainly
not lacking in energy. There are many surprising
pauses, mood changes and even moments of
great dramatic power. Yet, gentle humor usually
has the last word. The end of the first movement
fades into pianissimo in a way that summons a
smile.
The incessant ticking of wind instruments
sets the pace for the playful second-movement
(moderately quick and playful). It was inspired
by the ticking of the metronome, newly invented
by Beethoven’s friend Johann Nepomuk
Mälzel. Beethoven used the main theme of this
movement in a canon written in 1812 on the
words “Ta ta ta ta… dear, dear Mälzel.”
The third movement (slowly, gracefully) looks
back on the minuets of Haydn’s and Mozart’s
Take Off! 2013/14
time from a certain distance
and with noticeable nostalgia.
Yet, Beethoven delivers some
heavy accents that give the
music a certain edge. The Trio,
or middle section, is a dialog between the pair
of horns and the first clarinet over the lively
accompaniment of the cellos. It is not a kind of
orchestration older composers would have used.
The final movement (lively, quickly) is the
most grandiose. Tchaikovsky thought it was
one of Beethoven’s “greatest symphonic
masterpieces.” Maestro Pak describes it as
“rambunctious, more challenging to play. It
actually leaves your breathless.” The movement
starts in a whisper on high-pitched instruments
only, but the whole orchestra soon enters
in a thundering fortissimo. Such contrasts
characterize the entire movement, right up
to the ending which contains another joke:
in a seemingly unending
succession of F-major
chords, high and low,
soft and loud, one can
never be sure exactly
when the piece
will end.
27
The Music
Moz-Art à la Haydn
Alfred Schnittke
Cello Concerto No. 1
Franz Joseph Haydn
Moz-Art à la Haydn
J
oseph Haydn is celebrated both as
“the father of the symphony” and
“the father of the string quartet.”
He made both genres central to what
became known as the music of the
Classical era. He was born in a small
Austrian village and educated in Vienna.
However, as music director to Prince
Nikolaus Esterházy, Haydn spent 30
years in the Hungarian countryside, far
away from the musical centers of his
time. He often remarked that isolation
forced him to be original. He certainly
thrived in the provinces. He had his own
orchestra and the freedom to try out
new ideas. And, thanks to a flourishing
music-publishing industry, his works
became known all over Europe.
Haydn wrote the piece for Joseph
Weigl, first cellist in Esterházy’s orchestra,
perhaps so that the musician could show
off his abilities at court. The concerto’s
extremely demanding passagework
frequently ascends to the highest
register of the instrument. The central
movement, in which the winds are
silent, calls for an exceptionally beautiful
tone, and the last movement calls for
uncommon brilliance and stamina.
Haydn’s Cello Concerto in D major
has been in the standard repertory for
a long time. But, this earlier concerto
in C Major, which probably dates from
the early 1760s, was presumed lost
for almost 200 years. Everyone in the
musical world knew it existed because
Haydn kept a catalog of his works in
which he entered each new composition
“This piece has everything we love
about the cello, which is sound…”
– Amit Peled
28 Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra
as it was written, complete with “incipits” (the beginning
of the piece in musical notation). There is a cello
concerto in C major listed, but the music was not
discovered until 1961. Czech musicologist and archivist
Oldrich Pulkert discovered it at the Czech Museum
of Music in Prague. The incipit in Haydn’s catalog
confirmed the concerto’s authenticity.
Somehow, way back in the 18th century, a copy of
Haydn’s concerto found its way into the personal library
of Count Kolowrat-Krakowsky at Radenín Castle in
Southern Bohemia. After World War II, it was confiscated
and deposited in the state museum, awaiting an expert
who would recognize the treasure hidden there.
Cellist Amit Peled says that many of the world’s
great cellists like Pablo Casals and Bernard Greenhouse
never learned this concerto because it was discovered
after they were already established. On the contrary, he
learned this piece as a child. It’s one he knows well and
loves.
“The slow movement is one of the more gorgeous in
our repertoire, but the other movements, the third one
especially is very, very exciting and fast and joyous. It’s
one of those pieces where people are standing up even
before you finish the last note,” says Peled.
Take Off! 2013/14
Russian composer Alfred Schnittke
came from a mixed ethnic
background. His music is also
“between worlds,” often playing
subtle games with the past and
putting it in radically modern
contexts.
In this unabashedly comical
piece, he uses raw musical
ingredients from the two legends of
the Classical era and reassembles
them in new and unexpected ways.
The piece begins in total darkness.
Each of the 13 players onstage
gradually begins to improvise,
and the magic of Schnittke begins.
There are passages where everyone
plays a melody in a different key
and snippets from a humorous
pantomime. The composer
also gives us a taste of Mozart’s
Symphony No. 40 and borrows
Haydn’s famous idea from the
“Farewell” Symphony, where the
musicians leave their seats one by
one until only two players remain
to finish the piece.
29
The Artist
A
Amit Peled:
A Man and His Cellos
Including Pablo Casals’ Famed Instrument
mit Peled was 22. His service with the
Israeli Army had ended, and he had just
completed his first year at Yale University,
in New Haven, Connecticut, where he received
a full scholarship. It was then he made the
phone call that would change his life.
“I really want to study with you. You are
my hero,” Peled told noted cellist Bernard
Greenhouse of Wellfleet. Talk about chutzpah.
Peled had never met Greenhouse, but had
admired him as much as his other childhood
idol, Pablo Casals. When he was a young boy
living in a small kibbutz in Israel, each night he
popped in a cassette tape of Casals’ recordings
and drifted off to sleep.
Greenhouse, a student of Pablo Casals,
agreed to teach Peled for free if he moved to
Cape Cod. And so Peled left Yale and became
his neighbor. Each day they practiced for two
hours, shared a Manhattan at 4 p.m., cooked
meals together, tended the garden and talked
about music and life. Greenhouse taught Peled
the importance of finding your voice.
“I remember him – at age 81 – being like a
little child, enthusiastic in the morning, because
he found a new fingering or he put a new string
on the cello that made it sound differently. It
made him excited. I realized that it never ends –
this journey to look for your voice,” said Peled.
In the summer of 2012, Peled’s cello training
came full circle when he had the opportunity
to audition for Pablo Casals’ widow, Marta
Casals. Impressed by his skill and voice, Mrs.
Casals offered to loan her husband’s beloved
instrument to Peled. He remembers the 18th
century Goffriller still harbored the scent of the
master’s pipe smoke.
“It’s like a fairytale story for cellists. The only
thing I regret is that Greenhouse passed away
and I cannot share this exciting instrument with
him. That would have been such a closing of
the circle. I can only imagine his face and even
the tears in his eyes when he would see that
cello.”
These days Amit Peled plays one of
three cellos at his performances. There’s his
“ordinary” cello, his Pablo Casals cello (which
he affectionately dubbed “Pablo”) and a
custom cello made for him four years ago by
German cello maker Wolfgang Schnabl.
“It’s a big, big cello – like me. I’m 6’5” and
this cello is quite huge. It has a big lush, juicy
sound and quite masculine I would say. It’s very
different from the Casals cello, which is very
delicate and more like a tenor,” said Peled, who
feels the sound of each cello is different and
dependent upon his mood.
“Each instrument brings out from you
different sides of your personality. Sometimes
we are angry. Sometimes we are happy.
Sometimes we are gentle. Whatever emotion
the instrument is strummed with, it brings more
of that character from you.”
Today, Peled is scheduled to play “Pablo”
with the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra. After
not being used for many, many years, the 17th
century Goffriller cello spent several months
undergoing maintenance. He once compared
playing the infamous cello for the first time to
“waking an old man.” Now the two are fast
friends, capable of making beautiful music
together.
Whether or not “Pablo” made the trip to
Cape Cod (it was slated to be done just a week
ago and long after this article was printed),
Peled will undoubtedly prove that he is capable
of finding the voice – and captivating an
audience – with any cello he plays.
Listen to Amit Peled tell more of his story at capesymphony.org
30 Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra
Take Off! 2013/14
31
At the
Conservatory
The Cellist
Who May also Become a Dentist
I
f nine-year-old Andrew Juan seemed perfectly
comfortable playing cello in the lobby before
a concert last season, it may be because he
first did it on piano when he was even younger.
Or, it may be because his teacher at the
Conservatory, Bo Ericsson, encourages students
to watch cellists perform.
Either way, Andrew says it’s fun. A lot of people
came by to compliment him and say they
enjoyed it. It’s not every day a cello student gets
to perform for 1400 people and then watch
his teacher play a concert in front of the same
audience. (Ericsson, is also Principal Cellist in the
Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra).
“It’s fun to watch, and I learn from watching him,”
Andrew said of seeing Ericsson at the Symphony.
He also sat right up front when Yo-Yo Ma played
with the Symphony, watching where his bow was
and how he played.
Andrew works from a Suzuki book, a duet book
and a technique book, which he calls a “work on
scales” book. He likes practicing because he says
“if you play well enough, you can put your heart
in it so people can feel the music.”
When he grows up, Andrew thinks he’ll probably
be a dentist like his dad, but he’ll play music for
his kids if he has them. “I also like singing,” he
said, “so I can play and sing for them.”
Andrew says the classical radio station isn’t
just for adults. Kids like it, too. “Music is for
everyone.”
Prior to every concert, students from the Conservatory perform
individually or in small ensembles in the lobby. Preparing for
a performance encourages practice which, in turn, improves
students’ technical skills and musicality. Performing in front of
an audience helps students gain confidence and encourages
them to continue their musical endeavors. This program is
sponsored by The Smith Print, Inc.
32 Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra
Take Off! 2013/14
33