Program Notes for May 2, 2010
Program Notes
By Francis Lynch
John Corigliano (born 1938)
To Music
The son of the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, John Corigliano began his composing career with works in a relatively conservative American style but later explored an array of modern techniques. He won the Grawemeyer award in 1990 for his first symphony which commemorated the death from AIDS of various friends, and his opera The Ghosts of Versailles became the first new opera in twenty-five years to be premiered at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Any name recognition he might enjoy with the general public derives from his writing the film scores for Altered States in 1981 and The Red Violin in 1997. To Music dates from 1994, and the composer has supplied these notes:
It is a short, lyrical, and introspective piece, involving the orchestra and some offstage players. The onstage orchestra plays a long chorale-like passage, answered by short fanfare elements. Later the offstage players take up these fanfare elements, and the ensemble builds to a peak before resolving into a gentle setting of Schubert’s masterly song, An die Musik (hence the title of the work), from which all the earlier fanfare elements were taken.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Symphony No. 1 in c minor, Op. 68
If Mendelssohn was the composer who kept traditional forms alive in the first half of the nineteenth century, it was Johannes Brahms who did so in the second half. His musical abilities were recognized at an early age, and it was a stroke of good fortune that the young Brahms was steered to Eduard Marxsen, a fine pianist and teacher who nurtured him in Bach and Mozart. The ultimate classical form for the Germanic tradition in which he was steeped was, of course, the symphony, and as he developed his compositional skills, Brahms desperately wanted to write one. In spite of this, he approached this task with the same unhurried deliberation with which he approached all of his compositional tasks. The first symphonic sketches were written in 1853 but ended up being included in other works, in particular his first piano concerto. Brahms continued to work on a symphony off and on over the next twenty years, at the same time gaining experience with orchestral writing in such works as A German Requiem and the Alto Rhapsody. It was the success of his Haydn Variations that convinced him that he was finally ready to complete a symphony, but Brahms did not finish the manuscript until September 1876. Though a number of famous conductors would have been delighted to conduct the premiere, Brahms chose to give that privilege to his friend Felix Otto Dessoff, who directed a fine orchestra in the small city of Karlsruhe. The composer continued to make revisions to the score throughout the rehearsals leading up to the first performance on November 4, 1876. Brahms then conducted a number of subsequent performances, beginning with one in Mannheim only three days later.
After twenty years of preparation, Brahms had at last produced his first large-scale symphonic work. The symphony is of massive proportions, featuring lengthy introductions to both the first and the last movements. In this work Brahms was finally able to come to terms with the symphonic heritage of Beethoven, both by incorporating many Beethoven-like features (the intensely dramatic writing and even the main theme of the last movement) and by extending the master’s compositional techniques into new territory. The comparisons with Beethoven were inevitable at first: Hans von Bülow even dubbed the symphony “the Tenth,” much to the embarrassment of Brahms, and many observers noted the similarity between the main themes of its last movement and of the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth. “Any ass can notice that,” Brahms observed with typical acerbity. After the symphony was more widely performed, such comparisons were no longer made as audiences came to appreciate the work on its own merits. That long gestation period had paid off for Brahms, allowing him to produce what is arguably the finest first symphony anyone ever wrote.
An interview with 2010 Music Institute of Chicago competition winner, Matthew Lipman, viola
Tell us how you came to be playing viola, not a traditional solo instrument. What is it that you love about the viola?
I started playing the viola when I was about ten in a public school string program. After wanting to play the trumpet but being too young, I started playing viola to give myself a head start reading music. Why the viola? I think it was recommended to me because the program didn't have enough violists. Luckily, from the moment I started, I fell in love with everything about it. I love the deep and mellow timbre, I love being a middle voice, and I even love the somewhat limited solo repertoire!
What were your early music influences in your life?
My mother was my earliest music influence. Although she is not a musician (visual artist), she has always been passionate about classical music, so naturally I grew up listening to Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Chopin. When I was in fifth grade, my elementary school teacher and violist Roz Torto influenced my general concept of sound greatly, because she would demonstrate with an incredible lush vibrato. My first private teacher, Matt Mantell, was a huge influence on my playing because through strict yet very encouraging teaching, he helped me develop all of the mechanics needed to play at a high level.
What music do you have on your i-pod?
I have so much music on my iPod, and admittedly, most of it has been copied from friends. I have practically all of the solo viola repertoire, with seven renditions of the Walton concerto. I have complete sets of Schubert Lieder, Mozart operas, Brahms symphonies, Beethoven, Mozart, Shostakovich and Mendelssohn string quartets, and much more. Despite all of this great classical music, my iPod also contains artists like the Beatles, Queen, AC/DC, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and of course Lady Gaga.
Tell us about the viola you play
I am remarkably fortunate to be able to play an extraordinary viola crafted in 1700 by Matteo Goffriller of Venice thanks to the generosity of the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation, which provides instrument loans and education/career grants for financially deserving young artists.
Whom do you admire in the music world? Whom would you most like to be like?
I admire several musicians for different reasons. I admire Roland Vamos, my current private teacher, for his incredible dedication to teaching young string players. I admire Itzhak Perlman's godly phrasing, Hilary Hahn's astonishing accuracy, violist Tabea Zimmermann's tonal palette, violist Lawrence Power's articulation precision, and Pinchas Zukerman's ability to have the biggest sound ever, on violin and viola. I would like to incorporate many of these into my playing, but ultimately I want to be a violist with a unique and individual voice.
What are your plans for next year after you graduate high school?
I definitely plan to major in viola performance next year. By only applying to music conservatories, I kind of ruled out any other option. I am currently trying to decide between the Juilliard, Curtis, Colburn, and Oberlin conservatories.