Puget Sound Symphony Orchest rapresents:

Winter ConcertMarch 7, 2020

Live Streamedfrom Town Hall

Seat t le, Washington

Outdoor Overture - Copland

Pines of Rome - Respighi

Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale"

The Gr eat Outdoor s

Music Director?s Notes

A warm welcome to our winter concert! Tonight?s program celebrates the great outdoors, a fit t ing theme for all of us living in the Pacific Northwest. Copland kicks off our concert with his Outdoor Overture. This piece was commissioned by what is now known as Laguardia High School of Music and Art. The music director at the t ime (1938) wanted to perform a piece that would appeal to the youth of America. From the prominent trumpet solo to the raucous counterpoint of rhythm, this work was a key inflect ion point that defined Copland?s music language. Some of Copland?s most famous pieces (Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, Fanfare for the Common Man) were writ ten right after Outdoor Overture. Next on the project is Respighi?s Pines of Rome, a work which depicts pine trees in four dist inct locat ions throughout Rome. More important ly, each locat ion paints a cultural picture of historical Rome? the people, the colors, the sounds. As Respighi weaves seamlessly from one movement to the next, let your imaginat ion wander as he transports you to ancient Rome for a virtual tour. We conclude with Beethoven?s Sixth Symphony, ent it led ?Pastorale?, one of the few Beethoven works containing a programmatic storyline. It?s an unusual combinat ion of five movement, taking us across the cheerful countryside, the brook, a country fest ival, a thunderstorm, and a giving of thanks for surviving the storm. Cleverly, both the Respighi and Beethoven feature ?bird calls? a some point in the piece. How rare is that! As we cont inue our ?Celebrate Beethoven? theme, be sure to mark May 16th on your calendar. Amy Chen returns to center stage with a rousing performance of Beethoven?s 4th Piano Concerto. If you enjoyed tonight performance, please consider gett ing involved. We could always use donations of t ime, talent, and money to keep this orchestra going for a third decade. Tonight?s concert is made possible only through the cont inued support of the greater Puget Sound community. My heartfelt thanks to all of you for support ing us. Enjoy the concert and here?s to another excit ing decade of music making!

Sincerely,

Alan Shen

Alan ShenMusic Director

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 2Winter Concert - March 7, 2020

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 3Winter Concert - March 7, 2020

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra presents

T h e Gr eat O u tdoor sWinter Concert

Live Streamed from :Town Hall Seatt le WA

March 7, 2020 - 7:30 pm

Outdoor OvertureAaron Copeland (1900 - 1990)

The Pines of Rome Ottaorino (1879-1936)

i. Pines of Villa Borgheseii. Pines near the Catacombsiii. Pines of Janiculumiv. Pines of the Appian Way

Intermission

Symphony No. 6. "Pastorale"Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

i. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the countryii. Scene by the brookiii. Merry gathering of peasantsiv. Thunderstormv. Shepherds? hymn: happy and thankful feelings after the storm

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 4Winter Concert - March 7, 2020

Outdoor Overture (1938)Aaron Copeland (1900 - 1990)

Notes by Scott Selfon

The musical giant of what is today labeled as ?Americana,? Aaron Copland?s roots were actually somewhat more traditionally European. A Brooklyn native, he began piano lessons in elementary school and his early compositions were decidedly Romantic. Upon his return from studying modernist avante garde styles in Europe, he decided to more fully pursue music close to home, borrowing occasionally from jazz and popular music composers of the day, but tilting towards a more abstract (yet still authentically American popular- and folk-influenced) language.

Aaron Copland

In the mid-1930s, Copland began to express particular interest in creating ?utilitarian? music: compositions designed to accompany or depict a specific event or activity (ballet, radio broadcasts, processionals, film music, and more), and which were intended to be accessible to broader audiences, especially in the midst of the Great Depression.An Outdoor Overture was among the first of these efforts, and was a prototype for many of his most successful works soon after:Billy the Kid (1938),Rodeo (1942),Fanfare for the Common Man (1942),and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Appalachian Spring (1944).An Outdoor Overture was a commission from the High School for Music and Art (today LaGuardia High School) in New York City, aimed to appeal to and engage American youth in orchestral music. The work is an optimistic, unpretentious, and expansive depiction of both the American spirit and the wide open spaces that support and buoy it.

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 5Winter Concert - March 7, 2020

The Pines of Rome (1924) Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)

Notes by Annie Burt

Pines of Rome was written by Ottorino Respighi and premiered in 1924 in Rome, Italy. The piece was composed as a tone poem and is comprised of four movements played without pause.

Pines of Rome is Resphigi?s most played orchestral work and one of three Roman-themed pieces he composed - along with Fountains of Rome and Roman Carnival. For Pines of Rome, Respighi, in his own words, used ?nature as a point of departure, in order to recall memories and vision. The centuries-old trees which so characteristically dominate the Roman landscape become witnesses to the principal events in Roman life.?

Ottorino Respighi

The work opens with Pines of Villa Borghese, an energetic and rambunctious piece that depicts children playing among the pine groves - running in circles, playing soldier, etc. Respighi used some variations of Italian nursery songs for some of this movement - which he learned from his wife, Elsa, 15 years his junior.

The next movement,Pines Near the Catacombs, provides a stark contrast to the first movement. It is a solemn dirge that conjures images of lone pine trees shadowing a catacomb. Respighi employs an off-stage trumpet for part of the movement. A mournful psalm can be heard echoing through the piece before dispersing.

Pines of Janiculum, the third movement, provides a serene but more jovial and pastoral setting than the second movement. It ends uniquely, with a specific recording of a nightingale - a controversial musical choice at the time.

The piece concludes with the majestic and triumphant,Pines of the Appian Way. Harkening back to the days of the Roman Empire, it is easy to imagine soldiers triumphantly marching home between lines of pine trees. The movement proudly and steadily crescendos to a powerful and sonorous ending dominated by the brass section.

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 6Winter Concert - March 7, 2020

Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" (1808)I. Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country

II. Scene by the brook

III. Merry gathering of peasants

IV. Thunderstorm

V. Shepherds? hymn: happy and thankful feelings after the storm

Ludwig van Beethoven 1770-1827

Notes by Kevin Tao

It was December 22nd 1808 at the Theater an der Wien that Beethoven?s Sixth Symphony was premiered in a gargantuan program sure to test the endurance of even audiences of the time? the concert likewise saw the premieres of the Fifth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto, and Choral Fantasy, rounded off with movements from the Mass in C, a concert aria, and improvisations at the piano by the composer.

The Sixth Symphony was one of Beethoven?s most groundbreaking works, though one would be forgiven for failing to realize it upon hearing a piece so cheerful, bucolic, unhurried, perhaps even lackadaisical. Notably, its concert ?twin,? the famous Fifth Symphony, was wildly different--dramatic, fiery, and triumphant.

Ludwig van Beethoven

What sets apart the Pastoral Symphony is its programmatic nature: it is one of the first examples of a piece of music explicitly depicting extra-musical scenes, a device that would become a favorite of later Romantic-era composers such as Berlioz, Liszt, and Richard Strauss. The program for the premiere noted the symphony was ?more an expression of feeling than painting,? and each movement carried a descriptive title. From a technical standpoint, however, the piece is unlike any other of the period: its spacious, at times static treatment of harmony and melody and its frequent use of

repetition in lieu of development foreshadow the minimalist movement in music of the twentieth century.

The sonata form first movement,?Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country? opens with a rustic drone below a naïve tune in the violins. The tune dissolves into ten measures of literal repetition of a fragment of the melody, the first of many. Throughout, Beethoven continues this practice, making extensive use of repetition both as a means of intensification and relaxation. The development section exemplifies this with prolonged blocks of repeated melodic fragments over unchanging harmony lasting twelve measures at a time. When they finally happen, each change in harmony is magical in effect.

The slow movement,?Scene by the brook,? contains the first depiction of a concrete image, a babbling brook, played by the strings under a piecemeal melody in the first violins. Sunny and untroubled, the movement?s near forays into minor keys each swerve back at the last second. As the movement closes, we hear another innovation: the direct imitation of bird calls--the nightingale by the flute, quail by the oboe, and cuckoo by the clarinet.

The third movement scherzo,?Merry gathering of peasants,? evokes a rustic tavern band and the ensuing trio section a lively peasant dance. The festivities are cut short mid-phrase by dark clouds, raindrops and ominous rumblings. The fourth movement,?Thunderstorm?bursts forth with all of the Beethovenian fury and fire that had so far been missing--as well as the first appearances of the piccolo, trombones, and timpani (used to great thundering effect). And as abruptly, the clouds part and a yodeling passage brings forth the fifth and final movement,?Shepherds? hymn: happy and thankful feelings after the storm,? which draws the symphony to a joyous close.

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 7Winter Concert - March 7, 2020

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 8Winter Concert - March 7, 2020

Tara AlexanderSheryl AlthauserRyan Ambruster Ryan & Mary Armbruster Daniel Azuma Jesse Bearden Liz Bearden Miranda Bearden Gomez Mer Bee Stefana Berceanu Allison Bigelow John Bigelow Malia Brennan Lance Busick Michelle Codd Lauren Davis Sharon Davis Samantha DeLuna Zart Dombourian-Eby Matthew Dunning Robert E. Michael Ellis Denise Englehart Jean Epperson Lynn ErnstLewis Feder Lisa Fischer Zoe Funai Linda Harris Peter & Diana Hartwell Mark Hendrickson John Hill Tami Horner Webster Hutchins Douglas Ili jev James Janning Wanda Jerrit Julie JohnsonYennie Jun Kiyomi Kaneko Yoko Kawaguchi Stephen & Anne KeylCharlie King Jason LeBrun Flora Lee Brenda Leonard Donald Lew Mark Lloyd William Looney Jordan Louis Jody McPeakStacy Mitaru Kiyomi Morton Tiffany Moss Scot Nunes Gerald Overbeck

Nathaniel Oxford Judy Ozinga Brandon Patoc Matt Paxton Luc Purdy Raymond Quan Madelyn Rawlinson Michael Redburn Robin Reed Phil Sanders Scott Selfon Brian Selfon Maureen Selfon Shaina Shepherd Ryan Shepherd Paul Shipley Larissa Singletary Kristina Stern William Stewart Karin Swenson-Moore Tamiko Terada Frieda Shen TongSteven Tran Bill Verthein Lee R. Wales Stephanie Wall Bruce Warsgaw David Yanacek

Fr iends of PSSO

The Orchestra would like to thank the following for their generous donations so far this year:

PSSO Contact Informat ionAddress: P.O. Box 20371

Seatt le, WA 98102

Website: http://psso.org/

General inquiries: info@psso.orgAudit ions: audit ion@psso.orgVolunteering: volunteer@psso.orgPress inquiries: market ing@psso.org

PSSO Board of DirectorsSamuel VanFleet, presidentAndrew Trindle, vice presidentPaige DeChambeau, treasurerVictor Reyes, director

Alysia Paxton, directorJen Lotshaw, directorDante Rodriguez, directorBill Verthein, director

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Mark your calendarsPuget Sound Symphony Orchestra?s Spring Concert "The Human Spirit" will be held on May 16, 2020 at Town Hall in Seatt le. Join us for the last concert of this season!

Tickets can be purchased and updates found on-line at psso.org.

Violin IDaniel Shen *Heather BorrorAnnie BurtMelinda GrayCarolyn HoRichard KimFlora LeeKarissa LewClarisse SchneiderJohn SpringmannAndrew Sumitani

Violin IIJamie Kowalski *Ben CopeJulia GuoSoohyung HurNozomi OhsumiPablo Trefftz PosadaAmy QuanDanny ShihLie TjoengAndy Wickell

ViolaTricia Wu *Robert BabsKeith CohonWendy DevaneyAnna KwaJason LakisDmitri LevineMeredith RawlsScott SelfonKevin TaoAlex Xu

CelloDG Kim *Laura BoothLa Verne Sheu ChenDana FederShamin GopinathYumi HiragaJessica JerritSusan KeylCharles PeachJoshua ShinLauren Wearsch

BassAnthony Balducci *Chris BalducciMoe WeisnerMichael Moore

FluteLauren Redburn *Abby Schachter

PiccoloAntonio Alessandro Deleo

OboeLindsay Scattergood-Keepper *Robert Knoll

English HornKieran Matz

ClarinetHsing-Hui HsuKatie Beisel Hollenbach

Bass ClarinetJeff Bruce

BassoonDavid Wall *Julian Banbury

HornDavid Yanacek *Julie AllenSally HadzimuhovicRaleigh MostovMichael Tisocco

TrumpetRabi LahiriMike MorrealeDavid SilversteinJanet Young

TromboneMatt Clegg *John OchsenreiterNathaniel Oxford

TubaTony Elvig

TimpaniDavid Miller

PercussionJim BeckElizabeth FitzpatrickIan Washburne

PianoKevin Chien

HarpTamara Dobranic

The Orchest ra

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra 9Winter Concert - March 7, 2020