programme notes 26th june, 2020 · best. since 2005, when he gave up his last music directorship...
TRANSCRIPT
Benalla & District Inc.
Programme Notes 26th June, 2020
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Camille Saint-Saens
About Today’s Music Selections
I guess it wasn’t surprising that Beethoven’s symphonies were ranked highly in the recent ABC
Classic FM Beethoven Top 100 survey, with four of his nine symphonies occupying all but one
of the top five spots. It wasn’t rocket science to predict that the ninth would be No. 1. In fact,
if I am allowed a little boast, I actually picked the quinella with the Emperor Concerto coming
in at No. 2. Since I have already earmarked the ninth to wind up our Beethoven 2020 later
on this year and have previously presented the Emperor Concerto, how serendipitous it is that
on the planned MSO schedule of recitals for this month is the work that came in at No.3 –
the 6th Symphony. A recent recording of it by the Vienna Philharmonic will conclude today’s
presentation.
An interesting footnote to this
recording is that up until 1997
women could not audition for the
Vienna Philharmonic. Today, 15
of the Vienna Philharmonic’s 145
permanent members are women,
with four more going through the
statutory transition period to
becoming full members.
But how about this for a bit of
gender inequality: The Vienna
Philharmonic has had a woman
performing regularly with it —
the harpist Anna Lelkes played with them for 26 years, but was not allowed to join formally,
and did not receive full payment, until 1997!!!
Since then one woman has held the position of
concertmaster and in January 2005, Australian
conductor Simone Young became the first woman to
conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Hence I spent a bit
of visual energy to see how many female members
there were in this performance. I think I spotted two.
You might like to see if you can see any more.
But, regardless, do make sure you enjoy the VSO’s interpretation of this memorable work.
Opening our programme is Bruckner’s fourth symphony. It’s a monumental work occupying
more than an hour to listen to in one sitting. But what else is there better to do while we are
still confined to home (more or less) than tune into glorious music. Here I must apologise to
those who receive these presentations via DVD: because of its length it wasn’t possible to record
the whole work along with the others on a single disc, so regrettably, you are only seeing and
hearing the first movement. Even so, that lasts for twenty minutes. There a number of
recordings of this famous symphony, and I guess the major reason for my choice (the
Staatskapelle Dresden) is the conductor – Herbert Blomstedt. When he recorded this (only a
couple or so years ago) he was 90 years of age.
When an Orchestra Was No Place for a Woman
Simone Young
Interviewed recently (at age 92) he said now all
he has to do is conduct, which is what he likes
best. Since 2005, when he gave up his last music
directorship (of Leipzig’s renowned Gewandhaus
Orchestra), Blomstedt has spent his time on a
rewarding roundelay as guest conductor with
the finest American and European orchestras,
including those in Berlin, Vienna, Chicago,
Cleveland and Philadelphia. He gets to visit,
perform, do his work and be on his way again.
“My life is largely the same”, he told his interviewer, “The only difference is that I don’t have
any responsibility for the orchestra’s well-being. I just have to make sure we play as well as
possible during the week I’m here. I love it. I don’t lecture the players or tell them how they
should sound. I set the framework, and then we learn from each other how the music should
go”. It’s an ideal setup, he claimed. It frees him to keep discovering new works and unearthing
new secrets in the familiar ones.
What inspiration is that to any of us who are tempted to believe that in older age we have no
contribution worth making to the world around us?
A couple of works for cello come between the two symphonies. Tchaikovsky, made famous by
his symphonies, concerti and ballet music , left only one completed major work for cello that
I am aware of – “Variations on a Rococo Theme” (Tchaikovsky did start work on a cello
concerto but died before he could finish it). “Rococo” is a term which perhaps we associate
more readily with furniture and architecture. The word “Rococo” is derived from the French
word rocaille, which denoted the shell-covered rock work that was used to decorate artificial
grottoes. The Rococo period grew out of the Baroque period, but where Baroque style of
architecture is serious, dramatic, and heavy, Rococo, on the other hand is light, airy, and
decorative. And this, I suppose, can be applied to music of the same era. There is something,
maybe, then even Mozartian in the Tchaikovsky work.
Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto – is a virtuosic showpiece
that positively erupts with unique and imaginative
melodies. Saint-Saëns wrote it in 1872 in the wake of
one of France’s most extraordinary moments in history,
a moment of upheaval and newness and tragedy. In the
few short years before this Concerto, France had
experienced, in short succession, a humiliating defeat at
the hands of the German States in the Franco-Prussian
War, the dissolution of Napoleon III’s somewhat brief
Second Empire, another Parisian revolt, and the setting
up of the short-lived Commune of Paris.
The concerto will be played for us by Argentine-French cellist of Russian origin Sol Gabetta,
of whom it is said that when she performs “she impresses with her captivating interpretations,
her passionate, full-bodied play and her charismatic, conquering personality”.
So…. Make yourself comfortable , and sit back and enjoy.
Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major (WAB 104) “Romantic”.
In February 1881, the Vienna Philharmonic began rehearsing a symphony unlike any they
had ever played before. This expansive work possessed mythic grandeur and ideal beauty,
combining lyrical Schubertian melodies, intense Wagnerian harmonies and thundering, organ-
like climaxes. Though it was Anton Bruckner’s fourth symphony, most of the musicians had
heard little if any of his music.
At age 57, Bruckner was still largely unknown as a composer; the
son of a village schoolteacher, he had become Austria’s best organist
and a professor of harmony and counterpoint at the Vienna
Conservatory after years of tireless work, but his original music was
largely ignored or dismissed by the sophisticated capital’s musical
establishment. After the rehearsal, Bruckner approached the
conductor, Hans Richter, and gave him a coin. Speaking with his
rustic Upper Austrian accent, Bruckner said, “Take this and drink
my health with a glass of beer.” Richter kept the coin on his watch
chain for the rest of his life.
The premiere of his Fourth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic proved a major turning
point in Bruckner’s career. Though critics remained divided, the audience responded
enthusiastically, and the musicians of the Philharmonic realized that Bruckner was one of the
major composers of their time. The genesis of this work—considered by many to be his first
symphonic masterpiece—had been difficult for the perfectionist composer; after completing
the first draft in 1874, he revised it thoroughly in 1878, completely rewriting the last two
movements. He rewrote the finale again in 1880, producing the version most frequently heard
today.
THE ROMANTIC SYMPHONY
The subtitle “Romantic” was Bruckner’s own. In this instance, the term (it has many
meanings) refers to the medieval era, as is revealed by the programmatic description Bruckner
left of the symphony’s opening:
“Medieval city—Daybreak—Morning
calls sound from the city towers—the
gates open—On proud horses the
knights burst out into the open, the
magic of nature envelops them—
forest murmurs—bird song—and so
the Romantic picture develops
further…”
Bruckner’s images fit remarkably well with the beginning of the work; above shimmering
tremolo strings, a solo horn plays the dawn theme, a primordial melodic idea from which the
rest of the piece will evolve:
Bruckner in 1886
Developing organically, the music crescendos to
a powerful statement featuring the orchestra’s
brass section—the knights riding out of the city
gates. After a breath, a lyrical new theme
appears in the violins—the magic of nature.
This melody was inspired by the birdsong of the
Kohlmeise, a European cousin of the chickadee.
Though Bruckner was vague about what happened next, the music is very suggestive. The
riding theme makes a thunderous return then fades away as the “forest murmurs” end the
first half of the movement.
The harmonies then darken as the dawn theme builds to a harrowing transformation of the
riding theme. Turned upside-down, this version of the theme wrestles with the original, which
ultimately prevails, leading to a solemn, prayerful chorale for brass. The music becomes softer
and softer until the dawn theme returns, now overlaid with a countermelody in the flute.
After a reprise of the other themes, a sweeping coda based on the dawn theme seems to open
up new vistas.
SERENADE AND HUNT
For a number of commentators, the slow second movement has evoked the atmosphere of a
solemn religious procession (similar to the one depicted by the second movement of
Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony). Bruckner’s own remarks, however, suggest a more secular
source of inspiration. In a letter, he described this movement as “song, prayer, serenade,” and
according to one of the composer’s contemporaries, Bruckner said that “In the second
movement an infatuated youth wants to climb through his sweetheart’s window, but isn’t
allowed in.”
The movement begins with an introspective song without words for cellos in the dark-hued
key of C minor. A prayerful, chorale-like passage for strings then transitions to a long melody
for violas accompanied by lute-like pizzicato strings—presumably the youth’s serenade. The
music gains momentum during a developmental passage, which leads to a reprise of the
opening cello song.
This time, the prayerful, chorale-like
music is replaced by a more
fragmentary transition to the viola
serenade, and the movement’s
extended coda builds to an
emotionally intense climax before
fading away.
Bruckner described the third
movement as a hunting scene, which
fits with the exuberant brass fanfares
that begin it. Bruckner noted that in
the central section “a barrel organ
plays during the midday meal in the
forest.”
GRAND FINALE
Regarding the finale, Bruckner was more mysterious; when asked what inspired it years later,
he rather implausibly claimed to have forgotten. Earlier versions of the movement bear
suggestive markings such as “Regenwetter” (“rainy weather”) or “Volksfest” (“carnival” or
“festival”), but while these discarded versions of the movement share some thematic material
with the 1880 finale, the versions are different enough that it is difficult to say whether
Bruckner’s remarks carry through.
As it stands, the finale forms a dramatic conclusion to this Romantic symphony of knights,
serenades and forest hunts. It instantly creates an air of mystery as the blended tones of
clarinets and a solo horn introduce a falling figure of three notes, a shadowy counterpart to
the dawn theme of the first movement. Becoming faster, this figure crescendos to the dark,
severe main theme of the movement, stated fortissimo by the orchestra. The music then builds
again, this time to the shining return of the dawn theme.
A series of more lyrical, rhapsodic themes ensues, until a final, explosive theme suddenly erupts.
This fades away as the development begins. The mysterious opening motif returns in a new
form as the three notes are turned upside-down: instead of falling, they rise. First the more
lyrical themes are developed, leading to an intense passage based on fragments of the severe
main theme of the movement.
Exhausted, the music collapses, until the
imposing main theme returns in an
extended form. After a dramatic pause,
the lyrical themes are reprised as well,
leading to one of the most masterful codas
in the symphonic repertoire. The falling
and rising forms of the mysterious
opening motif are combined as the music
gradually crescendos. Rising then backing
away, the symphony climaxes with the
return of the dawn theme that began it.
(Acknowledgement: houstonsymphony.org)
As stated earlier in the notes, the recording we hear is by the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted
by Herbert Blomstedt.. The YouTube link is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-2AluBas8&t=815s
The Staatskapelle Dresden is a German orchestra
based in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. Founded in
1548 by Maurice, Elector of Saxony, it is one of the
world's oldest and highest ranked orchestras. Its
home is the “Semperoper” an opera house dating
back to 1841 although that building was lost in a fire
in 1869. Rebuilt and completed in 1878, it was
extensively damaged by bombing in War II and
reconstructed post war, opening in 1985. Interior of the 1841 Opera House
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – The Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra
Opus 33
"Do you know what Rococo means?" Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
asked Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, professor of cello at the Moscow
Conservatory, and answered himself: "It is a carefree feeling of
well-being," and he sang a melody, which had the rhythm of a
gavotte.
Such was the origin, according to a Tchaikovsky intimate, of the
composition of his Variations on a Rococo Theme. ……..(laphil.com).
Fitzenhagen, to whom the work is dedicated, premiered the work
in Moscow on November 30, 1877. In one of his letters
Tchaikovsky emphasized that Rococo was, to his mind, a pure
style which emerged at the time of Haydn and Mozart, and that
the meaning of the term had deteriorated because of the coloristic
excesses of romantic composers.
“Though one would not infer it from the music, Tchaikovsky wrote his Variations on a Rococo
Theme in grievous depression. His fourth opera, Vakula the Smith, one of the series of works
between the Fourth and Fifth symphonies, had just enjoyed what he called “a brilliant failure”
at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg; Sergei Taneyev had reported from Paris that
Jules‑Étienne Pasdeloup had “shamefully bungled” Romeo and Juliet and that the work had
not pleased; and he had learned that in Vienna, Hans Richter had had no success with Romeo
either and that the feared Eduard Hanslick had written one of his most abusive reviews. All
this happened within two weeks at the beginning of December 1876. But Tchaikovsky was
learning to escape depression through work. Though ill, he pursued a project begun a couple
of months earlier (and to be abandoned soon after), an opera based on Othello, and he rapidly
composed the Rococo Variations”.
Fitzenhagen intervened considerably in the shaping of “his” piece, so much so that it be
attributed as being composed by both men. The cellist changed the order of the variations,
omitting one altogether, making other cuts and restitchings as he went, and he is responsible
for much of the detail in the solo part, actually entering his alterations in Tchaikovsky’s
autograph. Tchaikovsky did not explain Fitzenhagen’s role to his publisher, Jürgenson, and the
latter wrote to him: “Horrible Fitzenhagen insists on changing your cello piece. He wants to
“cello” it up and claims you gave him permission.
But Tchaikovsky, in another fit of unsureness
about his own work, yielded authority to his
German-trained friend and acquiesced in
Jürgenson’s publication of the work as recomposed
by Fitzenhagen—with piano in 1878 and in full
score eleven years later. Moreover, in 1887
Tchaikovsky made sure to send his next piece for
cello and orchestra, the Pezzo capriccioso, Opus
62, to Fitzenhagen for vetting.
Wilhelm Fitzenhagen
One can easily argue that Tchaikovsky’s original is better than Fitzenhagen’s recension, yet it
is beyond dispute that Fitzenhagen himself enjoyed immense success with this grateful,
gracious, and charming piece whenever he played it, and so have most of his successors. The
theme, so far as we know, is Tchaikovsky’s own. Its invention and what he builds upon it form
one of his most warm-hearted declarations of love to what he perceived as the lost innocence
of the eighteenth century.
Acknowledgement: Michael Steinberg Programme Notes, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra ….. (sfsymphony.com).
The work itself….;.
After a brief orchestral introduction, Moderato quasi andante (moderate speed, walking pace),
the Rococo theme, in A major, is presented by the cello solo; the tempo is Moderato semplice
(semplice = simple, plain).
There are seven variations in all. The first two, which are marked Tempo del tema, are
ornamental and elegant in style. The third variation, Andante sostenuto (slowly, with the
notes are performed in a sustained manner beyond their normal values), in the key of C
major, is a waltz; the Rococo theme is artfully dislocated, altering the metrical position of the
cadences; in this new guise it assumes the character of a Russian folk song.
The fourth variation, Andante grazioso (slowly gracefully), is a courtly gavotte in the French
manner.
In the fifth variation, Allegro moderato (moderately fast), the flute recapitulates the melody
in its original form.
An elaborate and effective cadenza, appended to this
variation, is not found in Tchaikovsky's original manuscript; it
was probably added by the German cellist Hugo Becker, who
often played the work.
The sixth variation, Andante, in a minor key, has the air of a
Russian elegy. The final, seventh variation, Allegro vivace
(lively and fast), brings the suite to a brilliant conclusion, in a
fine succession of A-major chords. (Acknowledgement laphil.com).
Our Performance is by the cellist Mischa Maisky (pictured) with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi. The YouTube link is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygkRtPsgnf4&t=525s
Camille Saint-Saens - Concerto No. 1 for Cello and Orchestra in A minor,
Op. 33 “A Cut Above the Rest”
Context
Composed for cellist Auguste Tolbecque in 1872, Camille Saint-Saëns’
First Cello Concerto is still regarded as one of the most successful of its
kind. During a time where instruments such as the piano and violin were
often centre stage at concerts, Tolbecque was promoting the cello through
his work as an educator and virtuoso. The concerto was premiered in
January 1873 in Paris, and the success from this work enhanced Saint-
Saëns’ reputation for the rest of his life. Auguste Tolbecque
The Music
Saint-Saëns broke some classical conventions with this concerto, with the
main being the structure. Traditionally, a concerto is in three separate
movements. Although there are three movements, Saint-Saëns
structured the work in one long continuous movement. The three sections
are interlinked through harmony and melody.
Movement I: Allegro non troppo (Fast, but not too fast)
Instead of opening with a long orchestral introduction, Saint-Saëns opens the concerto with
a stab chord from the orchestra, with the cello then taking over and proclaiming the opening
theme. Based on intricate triplet movement, the soloist’s melodic lines are thrilling, enchanting
and carefully woven into the fabric of the orchestra.
Slowly introducing countermelodies and shifts in harmony, Saint-Saëns carefully sets up a
dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra who end up playfully communicating in a call
and answer set up. Although much of the material is shared with the orchestra, the drama
and atmosphere created by the composer still keeps the cellist firmly centre stage.
Movement II: Allegretto con moto (Slower than allegro – with movement)
The rather brief second movement is a
standard, but unique, minuet. Saint-Saëns
biographer Stephen Studd comments on the
composer’s use of the cello: “His feeling for
the cello, with its deep, dark tone and
capacity for both dignified and impassioned utterance, was now rekindled by the melancholy
that set in after a family bereavement.” Motifs from this movement highlight the cello is
varying lights, which corresponds with Studd’s above comments.
This enchanting middle movement is further enhanced by the muted string accompaniment,
whilst the sweet minuet sits on top. The cello plays in its upper register throughout, which
creates that sense of yearning from the soloist. An impressive cadenza for the soloist is then
played before the reminiscent finale movement takes hold.
Movement III: Tempo primo (First or original tempo)
The fast and fiery finale section highlights Saint-Saëns’
flair for orchestration. With a restatement of the
opening material from the first movement, the rest of
the movement is largely used as a recapitulation of
earlier movements. The cello reconsiders earlier themes
through a highly virtuosic lens. Everything is now
enhanced and twice as intense. The depths that Saint-
Saëns goes to to create this movement is one of the
many reasons why it has remained so popular today. Auditorium Copenhagen Concert Hall
After tying up all these melodic loose ends throughout this movement, Saint-Saëns makes the
ingenious choice to complete this iconic concerto with a ‘coda’ section of completely new
musical ideas for the soloist. The pace quickens even more before the orchestra then steers the
music from a mysterious A minor to A major, then the soloist takes over for a flourishing
conclusion to this iconic concerto.
Final Thoughts
Saint-Saëns uses the cello as a strong declamatory instrument
throughout. Always at the heart of this concerto, the cello goes
through various trials and tribulations before flourishing into
a brilliante finish. Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto has
remained popular in the cello repertory, despite its difficulty
level. It’s certainly a work for virtuosi performers, although
the real beauty of this work comes from the raw passion from
Saint-Saëns’ pen.
(Acknowledgement: classicalexburns.com - published by Alex Burns on 1st June, 2019).
Sol Gabetta is accompanied by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra directed by British
conductor Paul McCreesh in a recent concert from the Copenhagen Concert Hall.
The YouTube link is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Xrn-igcog&t=440s
John Eliot Gardner, who this
year has given concert
performances of all the nine
symphonies of Beethoven said in
an interview between concerts:
“Beethoven was the first composer of symphonies who was addressing a public audience, as
opposed to a court audience or an aristocratic audience. And he decided that not the piano
sonata, not the string quartet, not any of the other forms was to be his arena. The symphony
was to be his arena for dealing with highly charged, important philosophical and political
issues. You have to remember that he was composing in Vienna, which was the most
conservative society that's existed, until Donald Trump's America. He was writing subversive,
radical music that was not totally appreciated by the audiences of the time — nor even by
the orchestras, who were sight reading them on very little rehearsal.
The Fifth Symphony [is] a bold polemical statement espousing the values of equality, fraternity
and liberty that came from the French Revolution. Actually, the famous opening, the knocking
on the door, is a quotation from a French Revolutionary hymn by Cherubini called "Hymn du
Panthéon." The derivation of that rhythm and the words, which of course are not spoken,
contain a message which, had it been made explicit by Beethoven, would have landed him in
the deepest possible water. It's based on a text which goes "We swear, sword in hand, to defend
and fight for the Republic and for the rights of man." That's pretty outspoken”.
What’s this got to do with the 6th Symphony? The interesting connection is that the 5th and
6th were written at the same time and premiered at the same concert in December 1808. In
many ways, it is a walk down the sunny side of the same street. Bright and relaxed, where
the Fifth is dark and driven. A writer for “The Guardian” in 2014 claimed:
“The realisation that Beethoven was composing both symphonies at the same time is
simultaneously baffling and astounding – and it’s proof that there ain’t just one Beethoven.
On one hand, there’s the scowling man-of-the-people fomenting musical revolution and
purging his inner demons through proto-minimalist compression and white-hot energy (that’s
the Fifth, by the way!), and on the other, there’s the composer content to luxuriate in an early
kind of musique concrète by transcribing birdsong into a symphony, who has time to allow his
imagination to flow and fly, apparently unfettered by the constraints of formal convention or
symphonic concision (that’s the Pastoral). They’re both wildly different, but they’re still only
two sides of the nine-sided coin that is Beethoven’s symphonies”.
But, then, is it not an equally radical composition
in another way?
A notice on the MSO website states: “In June, the
MSO will participate in an international project to
raise awareness and inspire our city to take a
stance on climate change. And there is nothing
more evocative of the beauty and fragility of the
natural world, than Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6,
affectionately known as the Pastoral.
For Beethoven, nature was a place of relaxation, solitude and inspiration. Today, nature is
under threat and humankind is on a course to damage our environment beyond repair.
Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony musically depicts the harmonious unity between mankind and
nature this special project seeks to champion worldwide”.
Maybe it’s drawing a longish bow, but is there this kind of social expression in the Sixth?
But back to the work itself: Beethoven gave titles only to two of his symphonies: the third
“Eroica” or “Heroic” and the sixth “Pastoral”. It is also the only time in Beethoven’s symphonic
career that he wrote any “programme notes.” At the premiere of his Sixth Symphony on
December 22, 1808, at the Theatre an der Wein, in the printed programme that evening,
this guide appeared:
“Pastoral Symphony, more an expression of feeling than painting. First piece: pleasant feelings,
which awaken in men on arriving in the countryside. Second piece: scene by the brook. Third
piece: merry gathering of country people, interrupted by the fourth piece: thunder and storm,
which breaks into the fifth piece: salutary feelings combined with thanks to the Deity.”
Programme notes for a performance of the 6th by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra indicate
that “Although Beethoven wasn’t by nature a man of words (spelling and punctuation led a
perilous existence in his hands), he normally said what he meant. We must then take him at
his word, believing that he had good reason (for the only time in his career) to preface his
music with a few well-chosen words and that curious disclaimer “more an expression of feeling
than painting.” Perhaps Beethoven was anticipating the controversy to follow, for in 1808,
symphonies weren’t supposed to depict postcard scenes or bad weather….. (cso.org).
While in many ways an urban man, known and revered in Vienna, and central to the city’s
reputation within European culture at the time, yet Beethoven, as the five descriptively titled
sections of this piece so amply prove, also had a joyous view of the countryside and all it
contains. The work is one of the first real examples of what became known as 'programme
music': music that tells a specific story or paints an aural picture of a particular scene - just
one of the many ways in which Beethoven was a ground-breaking composer.
We are fortunate that Beethoven gave titles not only to the symphony itself but to each of
the movements as well. Because some movements begin without a break between, the times
into the recording for the approximate start of each movement are:
2nd - 13mins 7 secs; 3rd- 26 mins 45 secs; 4th- 32 mins 15 secs; 5th- 36 mins 3 secs.
The first movement -
“Awakening of Cheerful
Feelings on Arrival in the
Country” - is followed by
another long movement -
“Scene by the Brook”: It
includes the famous
birdcalls: flute for the
nightingale, oboe for the
quail, and two clarinets
for the cuckoo).
The third movement is about the people on the
land and their folklore - “The Merry Gathering
of Country Folk” - therefore it should feel
rustic. Their dancing is interrupted by a
“Thunderstrom”. The Storm which approaches
from afar as ominous rumblings give way to
the full fury of thunder and lightning.
Just as the storm had approached gradually, so it
passes, leaving some scattered moments of disruption
before the “Shepherds’ Song - Happy and Thankful
Feelings after the Storm" brings the work to its close.
What makes the piece so special is that it is a relief from everyday life, an expedition and
escape into the countryside or the woods. So what better therapy is there for these constricted
times than to sit back, relax, and enjoy this symphony once more (for I’m sure you’ve listened
to it many time before), as the members of the Vienna Philharmonic ‘strut their stuff” under
the baton of Christian Thielemann. The YouTube link is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VcuR55_j4