music.indiana.edu

PhilharmonicOrchestra

2017–18 Season

Gilbert Varga, ConductorClaude Baker, Composer

Musical Arts CenterWednesday, April 18, 8:00 p.m.

music.indiana.edu

Nine Hundred Thirty-Eighth Program of the 2017-18 Season

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Philharmonic OrchestraGilbert Varga, ConductorClaude Baker, Composer

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Dances of Galánta (1933) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)

Shadows: Four Dirge-Nocturnes (1990) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claude Baker (born 1948)

Intermission

Feste Romane (Roman Festivals) (1928) . . . . . . . . . . . . Ottorino Respighi Circenses (Circuses) (1879-1936) Giubilio (Jubilee) L’Ottorbrata (October Festival) La Befana (The Epiphany)

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Musical Arts Center Wednesday Evening April Eleventh Eight O’Clock

Program Notes for Shadows: Four Dirge-Nocturnes

Shadows provides non-verbal commentary on four haiku texts of rather macabre imagery . A haiku is a very short, seventeen-syllable form of Japanese verse that is intended to evoke a wealth of thoughts and emotions . Because of its brevity, the haiku must depend for its effect on the power of suggestion and a deliberate elusiveness: the reader must “fill in” the outlines that have been drawn .

The music of Shadows seeks not only to reflect the moods suggested by the poetry, but also to amplify the implied meanings present in each haiku, and even to create additional associations . This is accomplished in part by the allusion to and quotation of passages from well-known vocal works that echo the spirit and content of the haiku selected . Formally, there is an attempt to parallel the classic structure of the haiku, transferring the special characteristics of the written art to sound . For example, the numbers five and seven, corresponding to the alternation of five and seven syllables in the haiku, are used as the numerical basis of the work . Further, motives that serve the musical function of kigo, or “season words,” are developed and expanded . These words or expressions denote the time of year, and their inclusion in the haiku is an almost inviolable rule . Each movement also exhibits an essentially binary construction, reflecting the “principle of internal comparison” that is so frequently employed in haiku writing . This technique creates a division of the poem into two or more parts that are to be equated or compared, and it should always be looked for .

The poems from which the piece gains its programmatic impetus are given below in English translations (the first three translated by Harold G . Henderson, the last by Peter Beilenson), each followed by a brief description of the respective movement . Since each of the four haiku refers to a different time of the year, the movements they inspire are laid out in a “four-seasons” sequence, from spring to winter .

I . Cool the moonlight: shadow of a tombstone, shadow of a pine . – Shiki (1867-1902)

Upon first encountering this haiku, I thought immediately of the text of “Der Abschied,” the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s symphonic song cycle Das Lied von der Erde, and in particular of the passage that reads, in translation:

O see, like some tall ship of silver sails, The moon upon her course, through heaven’s blue sea . I feel the stirring of some soft south-wind Behind the darkling pine-wood .

Herein is described the death of the day, when the sun sets and the world falls asleep . Midway through my first movement, after disjointed references to other elements in Mahler’s song, there appears an altered quotation of the music that underscores this text . Now, however, Mahler’s orchestral fabric is reduced to a string quartet, and the lines emerge as if recalled in distant memory .

II . A graveyard: low the grave mounds lie, and rank the grasses grow . – Shiki

This movement is an oblique parody of the “Dirge” from Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings . Britten’s song, based on an anonymous fifteenth-century text, utilizes an ostinato in the voice combined with a fugue for the strings and (ultimately) horn . In lieu of a single melodic ostinato, my music consists of three simultaneous and overlapping rhythmic ostinati, or taleae. This texture is punctuated intermittently with brief points of canonic imitation that are independent of the repeated rhythmic structure . The instrumentation of the movement also is a mirror of Britten’s work and calls for two horns, low strings, and percussion .

III . Grave mound, shake too! My wailing voice – the autumn wind . – Basho (1644-1694)

The pitch materials for this movement (and indeed, for the entire composition) are derived almost exclusively from permutations of the five-note row that serves as the basis of Igor Stravinsky’s In Memoriam Dylan Thomas for tenor, string quartet, and four trombones . Stravinsky selected as text for the “Song” (the principal section of his work) the poem Dylan Thomas composed in memory of his father, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. In my own movement, there are two modified quotations of the “Song’s” brief refrain, that portion of Stravinsky’s music written to the words “Rage, rage against the dying of the light .” The movement is scored for the full orchestra and is the dramatic and structural climax of the complete piece .

IV . The Mourning Father Deep under ashes… Burning charcoal chilled now by his hissing tears . – Basho

The final section is both a “coda” to the third movement (confirming its ultimate tonality of “D”) and the orchestrational “inverse” of the second . The instrumentation here calls for two flutes, “high” strings, and percussion, with the strings, rather than the percussion, now dominating . As befits the title given the haiku by its translator, the movement draws its material from the last song of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder. Mahler’s composition is a setting for voice and orchestra of five poems by Friedrich Rückert, written after the death of the poet’s own children . Although typically Mahlerian gestures are employed in the construction of the lines within my music, the only literal quotation occurs at the conclusion of the movement, where the final measures of the Mahler cycle are echoed in the violins . Thus, with the quotation of a fragment from “Der Abschied” in the first movement, Mahler’s music frames my own and brings to full circle the seasonal changes of the haiku .

– Claude Baker

Gilbert Varga has conducted orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO Berlin), Radio Symphony Berlin, Orchestre de Paris, Oslo Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony . Highlights of his 2017-18 season include his returns to Konzerthaus Berlin, Royal Scottish National, and Basque National and Malaysian Philharmonic orchestras, amongst others . In the United States

he conducts the symphony orchestras of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, the IU Jacobs School of Music, and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra on tour across the West Coast . Varga studied under three very different and distinctive maestros: Franco Ferrara, Sergiu Celibidache and Charles Bruck . In the earlier part of his conducting career Varga concentrated on work with chamber orchestras, particularly the Tibor Varga Chamber Orchestra, before rapidly developing a reputation as a symphonic conductor . He was chief conductor of the Hofer Symphoniker (1980-85), and chief conductor of the Philharmonia Hungarica in Marl (1985-90), conducting their debut tour to Hungary with Yehudi Menuhin . He was also permanent guest conductor of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (1991-95) and principal guest of the Malmö Symphony (1997-2000) . In 1997 Varga became music director of the Basque National Orchestra, leading them through ten seasons, including tours across the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and South America . Varga’s discography includes recordings with various labels, including ASV, Koch International, and Claves Records . His latest recording of cello concertos by Shostakovich and Martinů with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Christian Poltéra on BIS was released in May 2017, and his 2011 recording of concertos by Ravel and Prokofiev with DSO Berlin and Anna Vinnitskaya on Naïve Records was given five stars by BBC Music Magazine . (Headshot and cover photo by Felix Broede)

Claude Baker is Class of 1956 Chancellor’s Professor of Composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he is also the recipient of the university-wide Tracy M . Sonneborn Award for accomplishments in the areas of teaching and research . Prior to his appointment at IU, he served on the faculties of the University of Georgia and the University of Louisville, and was a visiting professor at the

Eastman School of Music . In the eight-year period from 1991 to 1999, he held the position of composer-in-residence of the St . Louis Symphony, one of the longest such residencies with any major orchestra in the country . Baker earned his doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, where his principal composition teachers were Samuel Adler and Warren Benson . The professional honors he has received as a composer include an Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; two Kennedy Center Friedheim Awards; a Manuel de Falla Prize from the Government of Spain; the Pogorzelski-Yankee Prize from the American Guild of Organists; the Eastman-Leonard and George Eastman Prizes; BMI-SCA and ASCAP awards; commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation, Fromm Foundation, Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, and Meet the Composer (now, New Music USA); a Paul Fromm Residency at the American Academy in Rome; and fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, Bogliasco Foundation, and the state arts councils of Indiana, Kentucky, and New York . Among the many orchestras, in addition to St . Louis, that have commissioned and/or performed his music are those of San Francisco, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Nashville, as well as the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de RTV Española, Orquesta Nacional de España, Musikkollegium Winterthur, and Staatskapelle Halle .

University Orchestra

Violin IAndrew CheshireEthan BalakrishnanKathryn ChamberlainPhoebe WhiteSydney HartwickElla LomanHenry JenkinsMengqi HongIan AegerterNicholas SafonovYeonglee KimYeajin KimSelena JanzenJoey ComellaElan SapirJonathan Yi

Violin IIHan Na LeeElizabeth DrabkinMia LaityMia OroscoJanani SivakumarMaria SandersonYuri SantosAlexi WhitselMarissa WestonSusie KohMoonsu Kim

ViolaSeido KarasakiUrsula SteeleLan WangCharlotte ParadisRebecca TangLeonardo VásquezPeter ChoChristian JohnsonYuxuan ZhangWilfred FarquharsonLarissa MapuaLyrica Smolenski

CelloChristopher DeFazioMarta GuðmundsdóttirBenjamin KochRobyn NeidholdPeter KimSeungchan SongHannah ScarboroughRebecca ChuangTravis ScharerShinae RaLindsay ChengElaine Lee

BassAleck BelcherJohn BunckNeil RodackJacob DiazWilliam KlineLogan BrownCassidy MorganDavid Nainiger

Flute/PiccoloLei LeiPeiyao ChengShannon Moore

OboeGabriel YoungJamie SanidadJacob Walsh, English Horn

ClarinetLi-Jie Yu, E-FlatLuke FolseChanul Kim, E-FlatKevin Vorabout, Bass

BassoonSamuel RhotonNicholas NickersonAndrew Flurer

HornJames PattersonMichael StilesKatherine WebbTessa PettitNathan Goldin

TrumpetCamas StredderDaniel LehmannIan RodeMalcolm Shier

BuccineClark HuntSamuel MilamEvan Bossenbroek

TromboneEric HungJason SteptoeAlexander Lowe, Bass

TubaItai Agmon

TimpaniBrad DavisNichada Jirawattanaphan

PercussionRussell WhartonMichael MetzStephen KarukasCary AndersonNichada Jirawattanaphan

Percussion (cont.)Brad DavisJohn TadlockMcKayla PhillipsDaniel SahyouniDenton Sutherlin

HarpXueying Piao

PianoHyeseon JinEun A KimYuseok Seol

OrganHansol Kim

MandolinMia Orosco

Orchestra ManagerAustin PancnerKathryn Chamberlain, Asst.

Orchestra Set-UpKathryn ChamberlainBryan PageSydney HartwickYena ParkJamie SanidadMonica Yang

LibrarianCynthia Stacy

I N D I A N A U N I V E R S I T Y J A C O B S S C H O O L O F M U S I C

Spring 2018 Orchestra EventsJanuaryWed Behind the Score: Dmitri Shostakovich's 24 Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 54 C������ O��������, 8pm MAC Sco� Sandmeier, guest conductor Jorja Fleezanis, project curator

FebruaryThu N�� M���� E�������, 8pm Auer Hall1 David Dzubay, director; Kate Soper, guest composer/soprano; Felipe Tovar-Henao, composer; Erin Helgeson Torres, guest fl ute; Summer Aebker, soprano Soper: Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say (2011) Tovar-Henao: Danzas encefálicas (2017, premiere) Soper: The Ulti mate Poem is Abstract (2016)

Sun U��������� O��������, 3pm MAC4 David Neely, conductor Chin-Li Sophia Lo, marimba soloist Shostakovich: Festi ve Overture, Op. 96 (1954) Séjourné: Marimba Concerto (2015) J. Strauss II: Blue Danube Waltz, Op. 314 Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole (1907)

Wed P����������� O��������, 8pm MAC7 Fabio Meche� , guest conductor; Noah Bendix-Balgley, guest violin/composer Bendix-Balgley/Adler: Fidl-Fantazye – A Klezmer Concerto (2016) Bartók: Concerto for orchestra, Sz.116 (1943)

Wed S������� O��������, 8pm MAC14 David Neely, conductor; Soyoung Kim and Seungkyu Oh, piano soloists R. Strauss: Burleske in D Minor (1886/89) Prokofi ev: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-Flat Major, Op. 10 (1912) Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio espagnole, Op. 34 Ogonek: As Though Birds (2013)

Wed P����������� O��������, 8pm MAC28 Arthur Fagen, conductor; William Karceski, trombone soloist Tomasi: Trombone Concerto (1956) Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35

MarchTue U��������� S������ & C������ O��������, 6 8pm Auer Betsy Burleigh, conductor Bri� en: Cantata misericordium, Op. 69 (1963) J. S. Bach: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Sti mme, BWV 140 Theofanidis: The Gift (2013)

March (cont.)Wed S������� O��������, 8pm MAC7 Mark Russell Smith, guest conductor; Lawrence DiBello, cello soloist Barber: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 22 (1945) Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

Thu N�� M���� E�������, 8pm Auer Hall8 David Dzubay, director; Francisco Cortés- Álvarez, composer; Sven-David Sandström, composer; Christopher LaRosa, composer; Zachary Coates, baritone; Vera Quartet Sandström: Drums (1980) Cortés-Álvarez: Canta y no llores (2011) Adès: The Four Quarters, Op. 28 (2010) LaRosa: Nights of 1998 (2017, premiere)

AprilWed C������ O��������, 8pm Auer4 Arthur Fagen, conductor; Jieun Yoo, violin soloist; Mary Chang, viola soloist Dallapiccola: Piccola musica nott urna (1954) W. A. Mozart: Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K.364 J. Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D Major (“London”)

Wed U��������� O��������, 8pm MAC11 Tõnu Kalam, guest conductor; David Bayard, saxophone soloist Higdon: Light (2007) Woodwind Concerto (to be announced) Tomasi: Concerto for alto saxophone (1949) Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (“From the New World”), Op. 95 (1893)

Sun A��-C����� O��������, 1pm Recital Hall15 David Jang, conductor

Wed P����������� O��������, 8pm MAC18 Gilbert Varga, guest conductor Kodály: Dances of Galánta (1933) C. Baker: Shadows – Four Dirge-Nocturnes (1990) Respighi: Roman Festi vals (1928)

Thu N�� M���� E�������, 7pm Auer Hall 19 David Dzubay, director; Alex Mincek, guest composer; Darío Mar� n, Ma� hew Schultheis, and Noah Sonderling, piano soloists Mincek: Chamber Concerto (2013) Lige� : Piano Concerto (1985/86)

Sun C������ O��������, 3pm MAC22 Thomas Wilkins, conductor; Bella Seo, violin soloist Brahms: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 Hindemith: Mathis der Maler Symphony (1934)