September 29 Program Notes

“Overture” from La Forza del Destino (The Power of Fate) - Giuseppe Verdi

This afternoon’s performance begins with a popular concert opener: the overture to Giuseppe Verdi’s acclaimed opera, La Forza del Destino (The Power of Fate). An adaptation of Ángel de Saavedra’s Spanish drama, Don Álvaro o la fuerza del sino, Verdi’s opera about fate tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, Don Alvaro and Donna Leonora. In Verdi’s opera, fate—a theme that is musically represented by the very opening notes of the overture—constantly intervenes throughout the opera, preventing Leonora and Alvaro from being together. After mediocre ticket sales for its performances in Russia, New York, Vienna, Buenos Aires, and London, Verdi was compelled to revise the opera. By the time of its run in Milan’s La Scala in 1869, Verdi had revised the libretto, various scenes, the ending, and, notably for today’s performance, the overture.

Despite how frequently the opera is performed today, it has an unusual history of misfortunes. The opera’s premiere at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in Saint Petersburg was delayed after the soprano who was to perform the role of Donna Leonora became ill. In 1865, after a few years of the opera running, De Saavedra, the author of the source material, died. Almost a century later, in 1960, acclaimed baritone singer Leonard Warren collapsed and died during a performance at the Met. The superstition surrounding the opera deterred the famed tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, from ever performing the opera.

“Fate Now Conquers” - Carlos Simon

Ludwig van Beethoven’s output has been the source of inspiration for innumerable pieces of concert music. In the case of Carlos Simon’s composition, “Fate Now Conquers,” it was not just Beethoven’s notes that provided a muse, but his writing. In his journal, Beethoven quotes Homer’s Iliad: “But Fate now conquers; I am hers; and yet not she shall share. In my renown; that life is left to every noble spirit And that some great deed shall beget that all lives shall inherit.” Taking inspiration from this journal entry, Simon composed a five-minute piece that uses the harmonic structure of the second movement from Beethoven’s celebrated seventh symphony. In speaking further about the inspiration for “Fate Now Conquers” and why Beethoven may have quoted such a powerful passage in his journal, Simon notes how Beethoven grappled with various obstacles throughout his lifetime, notably his deafness. Simon sought to represent the great German composer’s desire to prevail over his ailment; however, “In the end, it seems that Beethoven relinquished to fate. Fate now conquers.”

“The Unanswered Question” - Charles Ives

The ways in which musical ideas flow across the various instruments in the orchestra is one of the many joys of listening to concert music. Effective orchestration—a compositional technique that concerns how musical ideas are assigned to instruments or instrumental groups—establishes a compelling dialogue between instruments that draws us in as listeners. But how complex can a musical conversation be? How might, for example, a discussion on existentialism unfold? This is something that Connecticut-born composer Charles Ives explores in his piece “The Unanswered Question.”

Considered one of the foremost figures of twentieth-century concert music, Ives won the admiration of Gustav Mahler, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann, Arnold Schoenberg, and even Frank Zappa. Igor Stravinsky has offered insights into Ives’s compositional influence: “Polytonality; atonality; tone clusters; perspectivistic effects; chance; statistical composition; permutation; add-a-part, practical-joke, and improvisatory music” were “Ives’s discoveries a half-century ago as he quietly set about devouring the contemporary cake before the rest of us even found a seat at the same table.” Yet, it wasn’t until later in his career that Ives received such recognition. He had stopped composing altogether by 1926 and, instead, chose to focus on revising many of his earlier compositions. “The Unanswered Question” is an apt example. Composed in 1908 and revised between 1930 and 1935, “The Unanswered Question” was not performed until 1946.

Ives establishes a conversation between the members of the orchestra. Over the subdued string parts, a solo trumpet (Chris Ten Eyck) asks what Ives describes as “The Perennial Question of Existence,” while four woodwind players attempt to respond. As the piece develops, dissonance ensues, reflecting the frustration of the interlocutors. Each of these three instrumental groups—the strings, the solo trumpet, and the woodwinds—perform their parts at different tempos, resulting in a unique rendition of the piece each and every time.

“The Unquestioned Answer” - Cindy McTee

Contrast is at the center of Cindy McTee’s “The Unquestioned Answer.” In the words of the composer, “I have always been particularly attracted to the idea that disparate musical elements - tonal and atonal, placid and frenetic - can not only coexist but also illuminate and complement one another.” The aforementioned Charles Ives was one such composer who embraced musical contrast. Drawing from Ives’s work, in McTee’s “The Unquestioned Answer,” consonant string parts contrast with the dissonant brass passages. Here, the instruments engage in a conversation similar to that of the disgruntled members of the ensemble in “The Unanswered Question.” 

The work was commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and premiered on November 21, 2010. In addition to being a response to Ives’s work, it also is a tribute to another composer, Elaine Lebenbom, who was the first woman composer to earn a degree from the University of Michigan and who focused on composing pieces that celebrated and reflected the lived experience of Jewish women.

Symphony No. 12 - Dmitri Shostakovich

The final piece for this afternoon’s concert is one of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s lesser-recognized symphonies, Symphony No. 12, subtitled The Year 1917. It is a programmatic symphony in that its musical elements (titles, subtitles, structure, and ideas) are informed by extra-musical elements. Shostakovich’s symphony depicts and celebrates Vladimir Lenin’s rise to power. Shostakovich had announced his plans to compose a dedicatory piece to Lenin at various points in his career. While this project was closest to coming to fruition in 1959 (the 90th anniversary of Lenin’s birthday), Shostakovich missed the deadline. It wasn’t until October 1st, 1961, that the symphony was complete, with two performances of the work on the same day: One by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Yevgeny Mravinsky and the other a few hours earlier at Kuybyshev by the Kuybyshev State Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Abram Stasevich.

              Described as a folk heroic epic, the programmatic symphony has four uninterrupted movements. The first, “Revolutionary Petrograd,” includes several quotations: a revolutionary song and the Polish composition The Warsaw March. The second movement, “Razliv,” is named after Lenin’s headquarters in Razliv. “Aurora,” the title of the third movement, is the name of the cruiser that fired at the Winter Palace, marking the beginning of the Russian Revolution. The fourth and final movement, “The Dawn of Humanity,” includes a funeral march that transforms into a celebratory theme, reflecting Soviet life under the new leadership of Lenin.

- James Heazlewood-Dale