About the Music
claude debussy (1862–1918)
Jeux (1912–13)
by Johanna Gruskin, flutist in the Artist Diploma program of
the Colburn Conservatory of Music.
Written in the late summer of 1912, Jeux was the last
orchestral score completed by Debussy before his death in
1918. It was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the
Ballets Russes, and premiered in Paris on May 15, 1913, for the
opening of the ballet’s season. Debussy was not enthusiastic
about the original plot line suggested by Diaghilev, which
involved three young men who play tennis, make love, and, at
some point, are interrupted by a plane crash. Debussy needed
the money, however, and agreed to the commission with some changes to the plot. In the
end they settled for a tennis game with two girls vying for the attention of one man and no
plane crash. The story published for the audience at the premiere explained the plot.
The scene is a garden at dusk. A tennis ball has been lost; a boy and two girls are
searching for it. The artificial light of the large electric lamps shedding fantastic
rays about them suggests the idea of childish games: they play hide and seek, they
try to catch one another, they quarrel, they sulk without cause. The night is warm,
the sky is bathed in pale light; they embrace. But the spell is broken by another
tennis ball thrown in mischievously by an unknown hand. Surprised and alarmed,
the boy and girls disappear into the nocturnal depths of the garden.
The odd setting and storyline of Jeux baffled most of the ballet audience who were
accustomed to works based on myths and folklore, rather than an everyday tennis match.
That, and the fact that the work was completely overshadowed by the riotous premiere of
Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring by the Ballets Russes just two weeks later, quite literally
forced Jeux into immediate obscurity. Renowned choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, who
also choreographed Stravinsky’s Rite, apparently had never played tennis: the dancers’
movements looked much more like golf and the ball was the size of a football. Critic Henri
Quittard wrote of the premiere of Jeux, “Composer and choreographer take absolutely no
notice of each other in this ballet . . . Nijinksy manages to turn even the insignificant into
absurdity.” Debussy was furious and set to distance himself from Nijinsky’s choreography. A
few weeks after the performance he wrote, “Among recent pointless goings-on I must include
the staging of Jeux, which gave Nijinsky’s perverse genius a chance of indulging in a peculiar
kind of mathematics. This chap adds up triple crotchets with his feet, checks them on his
arms, then suddenly, half-paralyzed, he stands crossly watching the music slip by. It’s awful.”
Although Jeux may have been dismissed by much of the public and was quietly forgotten after
being eclipsed by the shocking premiere of Rite of Spring, it is innovative in its own, more
subtle way, and today has taken its place in the orchestral repertoire. It was highly regarded
by avant-garde composers, including Pierre Boulez, as opening the door for the twelve-tone
works yet to come. Jeux is particularly notable for its audacious harmonies and the absence
of repetitive material—it is made up of a series of short motifs that seem to float away,
never to be heard again. The tempo rarely stays consistent for more than a few measures,
in some ways making Jeux more difficult for the orchestra than Rite of Spring. Debussy said,
“I must find an orchestra ‘without feet’ for this music. Don’t believe that I am considering
an orchestra made up exclusively of legless cripples! No! I am thinking of that orchestral
color [that] seems to be illuminated from behind.” As sometimes is the case with great
works of art, Jeux was not initially well-received, but over time has established itself as one of
Debussy’s orchestral masterworks.
About the Music
Concerto for Clarinet, Viola, and Orchestra
in E Minor, Op. 88 (1911)
max bruch (1838–1920)
by Tanner Menees, violist in the Artist Diploma program of
the Colburn Conservatory of Music.
When one thinks of Max Bruch, his Violin Concerto No. 1,
Scottish Fantasy, and Kol Nidrei come to mind. Although
these works have given Bruch a permanent foothold in the
classical repertoire, he was frustrated by the fact that these
more popular pieces overshadowed his countless other works,
which include three operas, three symphonies, and numerous
songs, choral works, and chamber pieces.
As a child, Bruch was a precocious and promising young talent who composed a septet
at age 11 and won the Frankfurt Mozart-Stiftung prize at age 14. These accomplishments
drew attention to the prodigy and afforded him the opportunity to study with prominent
contemporary composers including Carl Reinecke and Ferdinand Hiller. Bruch idolized
the compositions of Mendelssohn and Schumann and therefore felt no need to innovate
harmonically like some of his contemporaries; in fact, he looked with distaste on the
New German School of Wagner and Liszt. It is perhaps this harmonic conservatism that
ultimately has caused much of his music to be rarely performed. Despite this compositional
shortcoming, Bruch is acknowledged as a consummate craftsman of poetic and lyrical
melodies and a master of orchestration. These strengths are obvious in his Concerto for
Clarinet, Viola, and Orchestra in E Minor.
Similar to his more successful contemporary, Johannes Brahms, Bruch came to write for
the clarinet late in his life. The clarinetist who inspired Bruch was his then 25-year-old
son, Max Felix Bruch. Upon hearing Bruch’s Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano,
performed by Max Felix, music director Fritz Steinbach told the composer that his son’s
ability was similar to the legendary Richard Mühlfeld, the clarinetist who inspired Brahms.
The concerto’s first movement, marked Andante con moto, opens with the viola in a
recitative-like setting, evocative of opera. The clarinet answers in a similar recitative style
before the instruments intertwine their tones, transporting the listener to the main melody
of the movement first played by the clarinet. Bruch’s melody is beautifully simple and has
a sweet longing similar to an aria in a tragic opera. The Andante con moto is melancholy
overall, but a glimmer of sunlight peeks through when Bruch shifts from minor to major as
the movement comes to an end.
The Allegro moderato second movement is a carefree dance with interplay between the
viola and the clarinet that becomes more involved as they trade off bubbling triplets. The
movement briefly becomes darker in the more introverted Trio, before Bruch returns to the
cheerful dance of the opening. Once again, Bruch pulls a brief sleight-of-hand at the end of
the movement by briefly venturing into minor, but capriciously brings the work back to major
for a light-hearted and contented plagal close.
The final movement, Allegro molto, is a flurry of triplet gymnastics for the clarinet and viola,
enriched by several grand and demanding orchestral passages. The movement has a raw
vitality that seems at odds with, yet also complementary to, the more mellow quality of the
previous two movements. Bruch sets the concluding movement of the concerto in E major,
and creates a joyous celebration to fittingly conclude the piece.
About the Music
joseph haydn (1732–1809)
Symphony in D Major, Hob. I:96, “Miracle”
(1791)
by Michael Marks, double bassist in the Bachelor of
Music program of the Colburn Conservatory of Music.
While many composers are known for their prolific output,
none has matched Joseph Haydn in originality, innovation,
and sheer volume. Haydn’s musical works include over
100 symphonies, almost 70 string quartets, 14 operas,
and 45 piano trios. He is regarded as the father of the
string quartet and the modern symphony, both because of
innovative contributions to the genres and his codification
of the forms. As a mentor to Beethoven, his innovations inspired some of the most
important compositions of the Romantic era. Haydn’s music has come to define the
sound of the Classical era and his “Miracle” Symphony is a textbook example of his style.
The symphony was the first of his 12 “London Symphonies,” which marked his two very
successful musical journeys to London.
Several of Haydn’s symphonies have earned nicknames due to their compositional
quirks or sometimes, as was the case with “Miracle,” events that transpired at the
premieres. The legend goes that during the premiere of this first London Symphony,
much of the audience pushed forward in order to get a closer look at Haydn conducting,
which left a sizable unoccupied space in the middle of the hall. It was into this space
that an enormous chandelier dropped from the ceiling during the concert. The nickname
was due to the fact that there were only a few minor injuries and the catastrophe was
“miraculously” circumvented. It was long believed this miracle happened at the premiere
of the 96th symphony, but more recent research indicates it more likely occurred at the
premiere of Haydn’s Symphony No. 102 in B-flat Major. Nonetheless, No. 96 retains its
“Miracle” moniker.
As is true with many of Haydn’s symphonies, the first movement of Symphony No. 96 is
in sonata form and begins with a brief Adagio introduction, which, in this case, concludes
with a concise oboe cadenza that cascades in pitch to the Allegro. The movement is
exceptional for its frequent and quick character changes. It begins at a modest piano
and trots along for eight measures until it abruptly changes to a boisterous, syncopated
orchestral feat of strength for another eight measures. These contrasts continue through
the exposition and provide the motivic basis for the rest of the movement.
The Andante slow movement begins as playful game of call and response. The violins
begin by presenting a fragment of the motif and, after a brief pause, resume with a
continuation of the theme. The winds join and pass the opening theme around as the
first violins repeat their melody. Soon after, Haydn switches to an ominous minor key and
delves into swirling, heavily textured counterpoint. After exercising his contrapuntal and
developmental ingenuity, he brings back the opening material, which is now extended by
two violins trading arpeggiated triplets over orchestral accompaniment. The flutes and
oboes respond in a similar fashion and quietly round out the movement with a final, slower
descending arpeggio.
Haydn next presents a robust and stately Menuetto with a strong pulse, evocative of
the dance. The Trio features a gentle, soaring oboe melody over the unassuming texture
created by the strings. As form and tradition dictate, the charming Menuetto returns to
close out the third movement.
The joyous Finale mirrors aspects of the first movement. It begins quietly and playfully
before being interrupted, more surprisingly this time, by the unison strings. The middle
section is also in a tumultuous minor key and extensively develops the movement’s
underlying motif. Haydn uses unaccompanied first violins to make a transition from minor
back to the recapitulation and key of D major. He restates the material from the opening
section, and the symphony concludes with a fortissimo flourish in the coda as the joyous
movement drives to a close.
About the Music
richard strauss (1864–1949)
Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59 (1944)
by Robinson Schulze, trombonist in the Professional Studies
Certificate program of the Colburn Conservatory of Music.
The Suite from Der Rosenkavalier was premiered in New
York on October 5, 1944, by the New York Philharmonic,
conducted by Artur Rodziński. Strauss completed Der
Rosenkavalier in late September of 1910, and it became an
instant success after its premiere in 1911 at the Dresden
Court Opera. This “comedy for music” was based on an
original libretto written by the Austrian poet Hugo von
Hofmannsthal (1874–1929) and Strauss’s rendering is rife
with virtuosic orchestral writing, reminiscent of his popular group of tone poems. In the
spirit of those tone poems, the orchestral suite provides a satisfying panoramic view of the
entire opera, moving through opera’s most memorable themes to encapsulate the story in
music.
The opera’s plot, set in 18th-century Vienna, is centered around the Marschallin and her
lover, the much younger, seventeen-year-old Count Octavian. There is also the maladroit,
lecherous Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, the Marschallin’s cousin, who, with his deficit of
money and social etiquette, has arranged to marry Sophie von Faninal, the daughter of
a wealthy businessman. Von Hofmannsthal contrives a scheme whereby the Count is
selected to present Sophie with the traditional silver engagement rose on behalf of
Baron von Ochs and, of course, the two immediately fall in love. Octavian leaves
the Marschallin for the younger, prettier Sophie; the Baron finally withdraws his bid
for engagement to the young girl; and the Marschallin bows out to allow true love to
take its course.
The orchestral suite begins, as does the opera, with a sweeping horn melody, which
portrays a night of passion between the young Octavian and the Marschallin.
The music then becomes tender, portraying the bestowal of the silver rose by Octavian–
der Rosenkavalier (“the rose-bearer”). A lush love duet between Octavian and Sophie, set
for horn and oboe, follows, only to be interrupted by the arrival of the lecherous Baron in
a powerful orchestral tutti and one the opera’s most memorable waltzes. The nostalgic
music returns as the Marschallin realizes she has lost Octavian. The suite then moves to
the exquisite trio for the Marschallin, Sophie, and Octavian, followed by the final love duet.
Unlike the opera, the suite closes with a final spirited waltz.