The Philadelphia Orchestra

Gianandrea Noseda ConductorNadja Salerno-Sonnenberg ViolinWomen of the Philadelphia Singers ChoraleDavid Hayes Music Director

Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances for the Lute, Suite No. 2 I. Laura soave II. Danza rustica III. Campanae parisienses IV. Bergamasca

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 I. Allegro molto appassionato—Presto— II. Andante— III. Allegretto non troppo—Allegro molto vivace

Intermission

Holst The Planets I. Mars, the Bringer of War II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace III. Mercury, the Winged Messenger IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age VI. Uranus, the Magician VII. Neptune, the Mystic

This program runs approximately 2 hours, 5 minutes.

designates a work that is part of the 40/40 Project, which features pieces not performed on subscription concerts in at least 40 years.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.

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Season 2014-2015Friday, March 20, at 8:00Saturday, March 21, at 8:00Sunday, March 22, at 2:00

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The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, renowned for its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for a legacy of imagination and innovation on and off the concert stage. The Orchestra is transforming its rich tradition of achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging—and exceeding—that level by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and around the world.

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike since his inaugural season in 2012. Under his leadership the Orchestra returned to recording with a celebrated CD of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions on the Deutsche Grammophon label, continuing its history of recording success. The Orchestra also reaches thousands of listeners on the radio with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM.

Philadelphia is home, and the Orchestra nurtures an important relationship with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center, and also with those who enjoy the Orchestra’s other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other cultural, civic, and learning venues. The Orchestra maintains a strong commitment to collaborations with cultural and community organizations on a regional and national level.

Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, the Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the United States. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The ensemble annually performs at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center while also enjoying summer residencies in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Vail, Colorado.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has a decades-long tradition of presenting learning and community engagement opportunities for listeners of all ages. The Orchestra’s recent initiative, the Fabulous Philadelphians Offstage, Philly Style!, has taken musicians off the traditional concert stage and into the community, including highly-successful Pop-Up concerts, PlayINs, SingINs, and ConductINs. The Orchestra’s musicians, in their own dedicated roles as teachers, coaches, and mentors, serve a key role in growing young musician talent and a love of classical music, nurturing and celebrating the wealth of musicianship in the Philadelphia region. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Jessica Griffin

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Music DirectorMusic Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin continues his inspired leadership of The Philadelphia Orchestra, which began in the fall of 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Nézet-Séguin “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton, “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.” He has taken the Orchestra to new musical heights. Highlights of his third season as music director include an Art of the Pipe Organ festival; the 40/40 Project, in which 40 great compositions that haven’t been heard on subscription concerts in at least 40 years will be performed; and Bernstein’s MASS, the pinnacle of the Orchestra’s five-season requiem cycle.

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. He has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic since 2008 and artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000. He also continues to enjoy a close relationship with the London Philharmonic, of which he was principal guest conductor. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, and he has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with a CD on that label of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. He continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic on DG, EMI Classics, and BIS Records; the London Philharmonic and Choir for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec in Montreal and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.

Chris Lee

ConductorMusical America’s 2015 Conductor of the Year, Gianandrea Noseda has propelled the Teatro Regio Torino into the ranks of the leading opera houses of the world since becoming its music director in 2007. A regular guest conductor at many of the most renowned international orchestras, he is also principal guest conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, the De Sabata Guest Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, principal conductor of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, and artistic director of the Stresa Festival in Italy. He was at the helm of the BBC Philharmonic from 2002 to 2011. In 1997 he was appointed the first foreign principal guest conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre, a position he held for a decade. He has appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra every season since his debut in December 2010.

Under Mr. Noseda’s leadership, the Teatro Regio has launched its first tours outside of Torino with performances in Austria, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and at the Edinburgh Festival for its United Kingdom debut. In December Mr. Noseda led the Teatro Regio in a historic first tour of North America, with concert performances of Rossini’s William Tell in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Toronto, and at Carnegie Hall. Other highlights of the season include his Berlin Philharmonic and Salzburg Festival debuts. Mr. Noseda’s relationship with the Metropolitan Opera dates back to 2002. He has conducted many new productions at the Met, including, in 2014, Borodin’s Prince Igor staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov and now available on DVD from Deutsche Grammophon. His commitment to young musicians continues this summer with the European Union Youth Orchestra’s European Tour with soprano Diana Damrau.

An exclusive Chandos artist, Mr. Noseda has a discography that includes nearly 40 recordings. His critically acclaimed Musica Italiana recording project, which he initiated 10 years ago, has chronicled underappreciated Italian repertoire of the 20th century and brought to light many masterpieces, including works by Alfredo Casella, Luigi Dallapiccola, Alfredo Petrassi, and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. Born in Milan, Mr. Noseda is a leading cultural ambassador for Italy and holds the honor of “Cavaliere Ufficiale al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.”

Sussie A

hlburg

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SoloistViolinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg is renowned for her work on the concert stage, in the recording studio, and as music director of the San Francisco-based New Century Chamber Orchestra, which she joined in January 2008. Her Philadelphia Orchestra history dates to the 1970s, when she won three separate student competitions. She made her Orchestra debut in 1971 at the Mann and her subscription debut in 1990. In addition to these current performances, highlights of the 2014-15 season include concerts with the Oregon, Milwaukee, and Colorado symphonies; the Louisiana Philharmonic; and a U.S. tour with the Moscow State Symphony.

A powerful and creative presence on the recording scene, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg continues to add to the offerings of her own record label, NSS Music (www.nssmusic.com), which she started in 2005. The label’s roster of artists includes pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, horn player John Cerminaro, pianist/composer Clarice Assad, conductor Marin Alsop, the American String Quartet, the Colorado and São Paulo symphonies, and the New Century Chamber Orchestra. In addition to nearly two dozen releases on the EMI and Nonesuch labels, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg has made several recordings for NSS Music featuring both concerto and chamber pieces. The latest release, From A to Z (May 2014), features violin concertos by Ms. Assad, William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, all commissioned by New Century since Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg joined the ensemble.

Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg has hosted the Backstage/Live from Lincoln Center program for PBS and appeared with Big Bird on Sesame Street. She was the subject of the 2000 Academy Award-nominated film Speaking in Strings, an intensely personal documentary on her life, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her autobiography, Nadja: On My Way, written for children and discussing her experiences as a young musician building a career, was published by Crown Books in 1989. An American citizen, Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg was born in Rome and emigrated to the United States at the age of eight to study at the Curtis Institute of Music. She later studied with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School.

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Kristin H

oebermann

ChorusDescribed by Wolfgang Sawallisch as “one of the musical treasures of Philadelphia,” the Philadelphia Singers has won acclaim for artistic excellence for more than 40 years. Founded in 1972 by Curtis Institute of Music graduate Michael Korn, the professional chorus began as a 32-voice chamber ensemble, performing repertoire that ranged from Renaissance to contemporary works in an annual concert series. During the 1980s the group rose to prominence, presenting the Philadelphia premieres of works by Poulenc and Gershwin and world premieres of Romeo Cascarino’s William Penn and Vincent Persichetti’s Flower Songs. The chorus performs regularly with leading national and local performing arts organizations, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Curtis Institute of Music, and Pennsylvania Ballet.

In 1991 the Philadelphia Singers founded the Philadelphia Singers Chorale, a symphonic chorus composed of professional singers and talented volunteers, and the ensemble made its Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1992. The Chorale was resident chorus of the Orchestra from 2000 to 2011. Past performances with the Orchestra include Orff’s Carmina burana; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Das klagende Lied; Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet, The Damnation of Faust, and Requiem; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s The Singing Rooms; Ravel’s complete Daphnis and Chloe; Fauré’s Requiem; and Handel’s Messiah. The Chorale returns to Verizon Hall again next month for Magnus Lindberg’s Graffiti.

David Hayes was appointed music director of the Philadelphia Singers in 1992. Music director of the New York Choral Society and the Mannes Orchestra of the Mannes College of Music in New York, he is also staff conductor of the Curtis Symphony and from 2000 to 2010 served as a cover conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also served as a cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic as well as for André Previn on the Curtis Symphony’s 1999 European Tour with Anne-Sophie Mutter. Mr. Hayes studied conducting with Charles Bruck at the Pierre Monteux School and with Otto-Werner Mueller at the Curtis Institute of Music.

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Framing the ProgramFrom ancient times to outer space, the concert today moves from the delicate sounds of dance to grand imaginings of the cosmos.

For centuries Italian music was primarily associated with vocal music, opera above all, which made Ottorino Respighi an unusual figure in the early 20th century. His greatest successes came from orchestral music, most of it inspired by Rome, the city he loved, and by the art and music of past centuries. For his Second Suite of Ancient Airs and Dances for the Lute, Respighi drew upon Italian and French music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, which he reimagined for a 20th-century orchestra.

Already as a teenager Felix Mendelssohn produced orchestral masterpieces that seemed fully mature. At the other end of his relatively short life (he died at age 38) he composed works that remained fresh and youthful. His beloved Violin Concerto turned out to be his final orchestral work.

The prominent English composer Gustav Holst is remembered today primarily for his grand orchestral suite The Planets. Cast in seven movements (Earth is not included and Pluto was not yet discovered), the composer’s stated goal was to represent “the character” and “the astrological significance of the planets.” Each movement names the god and an associated quality, mood, or activity, starting with “Mars, the Bringer of War” and ending with “Neptune, the Mystic.”

Parallel Events1844MendelssohnViolin Concerto

1916HolstThe Planets

1923RespighiAncient Airs and Dances for the Lute, Suite No. 2

MusicVerdiErnaniLiteratureThackerayBarry LyndonArtTurnerRain, Steam, and SpeedHistoryYMCA founded

MusicProkofievSymphony No. 1LiteratureJoycePortrait of the Artist as a Young ManArtMatisseThe Three SistersHistoryEaster Rebellion in Dublin

MusicGershwinRhapsody in BlueLiteratureWodehouseThe Inimitable JeevesArtBeckmannThe TrapezeHistoryEarthquake in Tokyo

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The MusicAncient Airs and Dances for the Lute, Suite No. 2

Ottorino RespighiBorn in Bologna, July 9, 1879Died in Rome, April 18, 1936

There has to be music, it seems clear, before there can be musicology. In the late 19th century and early 20th, however, musicology sometimes came first. Scholars were unearthing music that, long forgotten, appeared as fresh as ever to composers of the time. And it did so partly because those composers were seeking alternatives to the great major-minor system that had ruled western harmony for a quarter of a millennium. Ralph Vaughan Williams, for one, studied the English polyphonists, notably Thomas Tallis. Ottorino Respighi turned his gaze to lute pieces from the 16th and 17th centuries, and in 1917 produced the first of what were to be three collections of Antiche arie e danze: Ancient Airs and Dances.

The appeal of that work, and of the previous year’s Fountains of Rome, brought Respighi a worldwide audience and prompted more orchestral scores from him, including The Birds, based on old French keyboard pieces, as well as the two further suites of Ancient Airs and Dances. He wrote this Second Suite in 1923, and it was introduced on November 7, 1924, by the Cincinnati Symphony, conducted by Fritz Reiner—the first of severable notable premieres the composer was to enjoy in the U.S. The Third Suite was for strings only, and he conducted that premiere himself, at the Milan Conservatory, in 1932.

Renaissance and Baroque Inspiration Each suite has four movements, for which Respighi found material in editions prepared in the late 19th century by Oscar Chilesotti, himself a lute player, who did pioneering work in transcribing lute music from Renaissance tablature into modern notation. Chilesotti’s publications, several of which remain in print, derived from anthologies of the period, including Fabritio Caroso’s dance manual Nobiltà di dame (Nobility of Ladies, 1600), the ultimate source of the opening movement of this Respighi suite.

Caroso was a dancing master with important connections in Rome. He is not known to have been a composer and probably was responsible only for choosing the pieces he published as examples of dance styles, among which “Laura soave” he dedicated to Christina of Lorraine, wife

of Ferdinando, the ruling Medici grand duke of Tuscany. Presumably it was Chilesotti who added the subtitle Respighi includes: Balletto con gagliarda, saltarello e canario.

A Closer Look The first movement (Laura soave) is, in other words, a suite in itself, having an introduction followed by three variations in different dance forms. Respighi gives the introduction to woodwinds accompanied by pizzicato strings, then brings in his full orchestra, including two musicians at a harpsichord, for the vigorous and vivid galliard. The saltarello features strings supported by horns, with a wind-instrument link to the canary, which is hardly more than a coda, after which the introductory music returns, but with harp replacing strings. All three dances were at the time somewhat athletic: “I have seen a medicine | That’s able to breathe life into a stone, | Quicken a rock, and make you dance canary” (All’s Well that Ends Well).

The second movement (Danza rustica) also has its origins in a compendious collection of lute music from the time of the author of the aforementioned play. Respighi’s score gives the compiler’s name as “Giovanni Battista Besardo,” but this gentleman, born in Besançon, probably thought of himself as Jean-Baptiste Besard—a man of parts, who practiced both medicine and law, largely in Germany, while also putting out collections of lute music, the Danza rustica that appealed to Respighi coming from his Novus partus of 1617.

Respighi starts this piece going with bright, full orchestration, the first section as if about to break into a round. Subsequent sections show the same motifs in different lights, sometimes bringing forward the oboe, to reinforce the “rustica” element. It would be easy to imagine the villagers in a Bruegel painting dancing to music such as this, which Respighi repeats and then brings to a gentle close.

Next comes the Suite’s slow movement, drawn from an anonymous piece, Campanae parisienses (The Bells of Paris), to which Respighi adds an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne as a still slower middle section. The serene chimes of the former music are enjoyably rendered by an orchestra with celesta and harp prominent, while the aria belongs above all to the strings. Mersenne, a contemporary of Descartes, was a thinker with many interests, including the science of sound, but there is no firm record of him as a composer.

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The Second Suite of the Ancient Airs and Dances for the Lute was composed in 1923.

Respighi himself led the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the work, in January 1926. The Second Suite has only been heard one other time since then, on subscription concerts in February/March 1932, with Bernadino Molinari conducting.

The score calls for three flutes (III doubling piccolo), two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, harp, harpsichord (two people playing four-hands), celesta, and strings.

Performance time is approximately 20 minutes.

Finally comes what will probably be the most familiar movement (Bergamasca), based on the robust harmonic progression and stamping rhythm of the bergomask—again a dance with rustic origins. Respighi appropriately chose an example from late in the lute’s active career, one by Bernardo Gianoncelli, from a volume of pieces by him that his widow published in 1650. Blazing orchestral colors and syncopation easily elide the time between then and the 1920s, and there is humor in the movement, too, not least when, as the key changes, some smaller groupings start to come forward: oboes and bassoons, followed by flutes and piccolo with harp in the high treble, and then harpsichord and pizzicato strings. From here the full resources gradually reassemble, towards the brilliant conclusion. One might again think of that playwright, this time of the last scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where Theseus has no problem deciding how the evening’s entertainment should end: “But come, your Bergomask: let your epilogue alone.”

—Paul Griffiths

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The MusicViolin Concerto

Felix MendelssohnBorn in Hamburg, February 3, 1809Died in Leipzig, November 4,1847

As early as 1838 Felix Mendelssohn envisioned a violin concerto for his friend Ferdinand David, Leipzig’s leading violinist, whom the composer had named concertmaster upon being appointed music director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. “I have a concerto in E minor in my head,” he wrote to David that July. “The opening gives me no rest.” Alas, Mendelssohn’s furiously paced activities as conductor, pianist, and educator prevented him from finding the time to sketch out the Concerto until six years later, in September 1844. He completed most of the piece in a few weeks that year while on a tranquil holiday with his family in Bad Soden, near Frankfurt. “Thus I am once more on German soil,” he wrote to his brother, Paul, on July 19. (Mendelssohn had recently returned from an English tour.) “Having returned home happy and healthy and merry, I found all my family in good health as wished! … We are enjoying cheerful, pleasant days in this exquisite spot.”

Mendelssohn completed the Concerto that fall, and David performed it in Leipzig in March 1845, with Niels Gade conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra in place of the ailing composer. It was an instant success. The 36-year-old Mendelssohn, at the peak of his creative powers, could never have suspected that the work would be his last orchestral piece; two years after its first performance he suffered a series of debilitating strokes that would claim his life.

A Mature Concerto The E-minor Concerto serves as a confident summation of Mendelssohn’s musical achievement. It infuses the Classical style in which his music was rooted with the full-blooded Romanticism of the operas of Weber and the lyrical charm of the chamber music of Schubert. Its moods span a wide range, from the passionate dramatics of the opening movement, through the unadorned lyricism of the slow movement, to the dashing sparkle of the finale.

Mendelssohn’s autograph manuscript for the Concerto was among the cache of musical treasures that had vanished from the Berlin Royal Library during World War II, and were “rediscovered” in the Jagiellonian Library in Krakow during the late 1970s. Earlier, during the early

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1950s, another violin concerto was discovered as well, a work in D minor that Mendelssohn composed at the age of 14; the early piece has now come to be called No. 1, and thus the E-minor work is sometimes referred to as the Second Concerto.

A Closer Look The Concerto begins with the perennial theme (Allegro molto appassionato) that was doubtless the melody that gave Mendelssohn no rest; it is at the same time mournful and defiant, plaintive and aggressive. There is no “orchestral exposition” here, as in the Classical concerto. Instead the solo violin begins with the orchestra, and its continued presence throughout the movement looks back to the Baroque concerto grosso, and at the same time forward to the 20th-century violin concerto.

As in several of Mendelssohn’s concertos, the movements in the E-minor Concerto are linked into a single flow, with no pauses between. The second section is ushered in by a wayward bassoon, which holds its pitch from the first movement’s final chord by way of transition into the key of C major for the Andante (reminiscent, perhaps, of a similar situation in Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto for piano, where the bassoon effects the transition from slow movement to rondo). Again the soloist leads the proceedings through this tuneful interlude, and the finale (Allegro molto vivace), full of wit and irresistible charm, follows without pause.

—Paul J. Horsley

Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto was composed in 1844.

The first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the E-minor Concerto were given in November 1901 by Charles Gregorowitsch, with Fritz Scheel on the podium. Many great violinists have performed the work here, including Fritz Kreisler, Efram Zimbalist, Zino Francescatti, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, and Leonidas Kavakos. The last subscription performances of the Concerto were in February 2012, with violinist James Ehnes and Charles Dutoit.

The Orchestra has recorded the work three times, all with Eugene Ormandy for CBS: in 1950 with Stern; in 1955 with Oistrakh; and in 1958 again with Stern.

The Concerto is scored for an orchestra of solo violin, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.

Performance time is approximately 27 minutes.

The MusicThe Planets

Gustav HolstBorn in Cheltenham,England, September 21, 1874Died in London, May 25, 1934

During the first half of the 20th century, Great Britain was blessed with at least five marvelous composers, of whom Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams have become a regular part of our concert life—albeit through a mere handful of works—and Frederick Delius and Arnold Bax are perhaps not far behind in making inroads here. But no British master is known through fewer works than Gustav Holst, who despite a large and excellent output remains for most listeners the composer of a single composition: the popular and influential Planets, which continues to make its mark today in everything from television to Star Wars.

Born in Cheltenham, England, of Swedish, German, and English parentage, Gustavus “von Holst” received his schooling at the Royal College of Music, where he studied harmony and counterpoint with Charles Villiers Stanford. A severe case of neuritis forced him to give up his ambition of becoming a pianist, and he subsequently took an interest in composition. Later he studied trombone and played in the Carl Rosa Opera Company, which proved to be extremely valuable experience for his experiments in orchestral composition. Some have cited his travels in the Far East as being partly responsible for Holst’s streak of mysticism, which colors a number of his works. He was an impressive scholar of languages, and learned enough Sanskrit to set parts of the Rig Veda to music.

In any case it appears that it was partly the astrological significance of heavenly bodies that first sparked the composer’s idea to forge a set of orchestral tone poems to reflect the character of each planet. He began the cycle that became The Planets in 1914, just moments before the first shots of World War I were sounding in Sarajevo.

A Non-programmatic Work The hardships of the war years slowed the work on this unprecedented composition—which took two years to complete—and appear to have influenced the outcome as well. The Planets was completed in 1916, and was first presented in a private performance in London in September 29, 1918, under Adrian Boult’s baton. The public premiere

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was not until after the war—on November 15, 1920, with Albert Coates conducting.

There are seven movements, each with a distinctive musical character that seems to relate both to the god for which the planet is named—and to the quality, mood, or activity that this god has come to represent. (Earth is not represented in The Planets, and although Pluto’s existence had been “theorized” as early as 1919, it wasn’t actually discovered until 1930.) To the very end Holst insisted that his goal in this concert favorite was to represent “the character, … the astrological significance of the planets,” and that the pieces had no further extramusical meaning. “There is no program music in them,” he said, “neither have they any connection with the deities of classical mythology bearing the same names. If any guide to the music is required, the subtitle to each piece will be found sufficient, especially if it be used in a broad sense.”

Partly, Holst’s insistence that these works were only “suggested” by astrological concepts was the composer’s way of keeping The Planets from becoming ludicrously sentimental or programmatic. Indeed, one can easily listen to this work as a marvelous symphony, without giving a thought to gods or heavenly bodies, and still derive meaning and pleasure from the music’s sheer sonic vitality.

A Closer Look But it’s more fun, perhaps, to listen for programmatic ties. “Mars, the Bringer of War,” for example, might well be about the god Mars—but since this god represents war anyway, there is really no way to separate the war-god Mars from the overtly “martial” character that the planet has come to embody. In fact Holst himself said, on another occasion, that he was seeking here to express “the stupidity of war.” The piece is not a “march” per se, but it does contain something of the relentless gunfire and violence of the battlefield. Its resemblance to John Williams’s Star Wars music is hardly coincidental, for music such as this plainly formed one of that composer’s most potent influences.

Holst’s daughter, Imogen, would later greet speculation about the work’s programmatic nature—especially the notion that it was some sort of statement on World War I—with a caveat, pointing out that “Mars” was completed in 1914, before the war had begun. “It would be easy to take it for granted that ‘Mars’ had been commissioned as background music for a documentary film of a tank battle.

But Holst had never heard a machine gun when he wrote it, and the tank had not yet been invented.”

In grave contrast, “Venus, the Bringer of Peace” is a lyric love song, not unlike the goddess for whom this most tranquil of planets was named. “Mercury, the Winged Messenger” is a fleet scherzo that conveys the volatile nature of both god and planet.

“Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” is less about the imposing nature of this god—and this most mysterious of planets—than about what Holst called the spirit of “one of those jolly fat people who enjoy life.” Clearly this Jupiter is more Falstaff than Zeus. A contrasting middle section employs a broad-limbed and rather innocently constructed tune that was later adapted to a sentimental patriotic hymn, “I Vow to Thee, My Country.”

“Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age” is a ghostly funeral-march that reminds us of the forceful vision of old age and destiny. “Uranus, the Magician,” forceful but mystical (and more than a bit like Paul Dukas’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice), stands as one of the most skillful uses of the modern orchestra of the era.

“Neptune, the Mystic” brings the work to a puzzling yet deliciously lyrical close; again the textures of more recent film scores seem to have been derived from this piece. Some have claimed also to hear the influence of Debussian evocations of “Neptune’s realm”—such as the “Sirens” movement from Nocturnes (which also features a wordless women’s choir), and of course La Mer, a work whose influence could hardly be avoided in the first half of this century.

—Paul J. Horsley

The Planets was composed from 1914 to 1916.

Leopold Stokowski presented the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of The Planets in November 1934, just six months after Holst’s passing. The Women’s Glee Club of the University of Pennsylvania collaborated in the “Neptune” movement. The Planets was most recently heard on subscription in May 2011, with Charles Dutoit leading women from the Philadelphia Singers Chorale.

The Orchestra recorded the work with Eugene Ormandy and women of the Mendelssohn Club in 1975 for RCA.

The Planets is scored for an orchestra of four flutes (III doubling piccolo I, IV doubling piccolo II and alto flute), three oboes (III doubling bass oboe), English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, six horns, four trumpets, two tenor trombones, bass trombone, tenor and bass tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, chimes, cymbals, glockenspiel, snare drum, tam-tam, tambourine, triangle, xylophone), two harps, celesta, organ, strings, and women’s chorus.

The work runs approximately 50 minutes in performance.

Program notes © 2015. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and/or Paul Griffiths.

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Musical TermsGENERAL TERMSBergomask: A tune widely used for instrumental variations and contrapuntal fantasias in the late 16th and the 17th centuries, probably based on a folksong or folkdanceCadence: The conclusion to a phrase, movement, or piece based on a recognizable melodic formula, harmonic progression, or dissonance resolutionCanary: A form of dance and music popular in Europe from the mid-16th century to the mid-18th, the earlier version often employing a short, two-phrase scheme that is relatively fixed melodically and harmonicallyChord: The simultaneous sounding of three or more tonesCoda: A concluding section or passage added in order to confirm the impression of finalityConcerto grosso: A type of concerto in which a large group (known as the ripieno or the concerto grosso) alternates with a smaller group (the concertino). The term is often loosely applied to any concertos of the Baroque period except solo ones.Contrapuntal: See counterpointCounterpoint: A

term that describes the combination of simultaneously sounding musical linesDissonance: A combination of two or more tones requiring resolutionFantasia: A composition free in form and more or less fantastic in characterGalliard: A lively, triple-meter court dance of the 16th and early 17th centuriesHarmonic: Pertaining to chords and to the theory and practice of harmonyMeter: The symmetrical grouping of musical rhythmsOp.: Abbreviation for opus, a term used to indicate the chronological position of a composition within a composer’s output. Opus numbers are not always reliable because they are often applied in the order of publication rather than composition.Pizzicato: PluckedPolyphony: A term used to designate music in more than one part and the style in which all or several of the musical parts move to some extent independentlyRondo: A form frequently used in symphonies and concertos for the final movement. It consists of a main section that alternates with a variety of contrasting sections (A-B-

A-C-A etc.).Saltarello: An Italian 16th-century dance in quick triple meterScherzo: Literally “a joke.” Usually the third movement of symphonies and quartets that was introduced by Beethoven to replace the minuet. The scherzo is followed by a gentler section called a trio, after which the scherzo is repeated. Its characteristics are a rapid tempo in triple time, vigorous rhythm, and humorous contrasts. Also an instrumental piece of a light, piquant, humorous character.Syncopation: A shift of rhythmic emphasis off the beatTreble: A high vocal or instrumental part

THE SPEED OF MUSIC (Tempo)Allegretto: A tempo between walking speed and fastAllegro: Bright, fastAndante: Walking speedAppassionato: PassionatePresto: Very fastVivace: Lively

TEMPO MODIFIERSMolto: VeryNon troppo: Not too much

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March The Philadelphia Orchestra

Mahler 5Thursday, March 26 8 PM Friday, March 27 2 PM Saturday, March 28 8 PMGianandrea Noseda Conductor Carol Jantsch Tuba

Daugherty Reflections on the Mississippi, for tuba and orchestra Mahler Symphony No. 5

St. Matthew PassionWednesday, April 1 8 PM Saturday, April 4 8 PMYannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Carolyn Sampson Soprano Karen Cargill Mezzo-soprano Andrew Staples Tenor (Evangelist) Andrew Foster-Williams Bass-baritone (Jesus) Philippe Sly Bass-baritone The American Boychoir James Alexander Stage Director Jon H. Weir Lighting Designer

Bach The Passion According to St. Matthew

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Jessica Griffin

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