| Daniel Bernard Roumain |
|
Classical Two RACHMANINOFF: SYMPHONIC DANCES, OP. 45 SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Born at Oneg, near Novgorod, April 1, 1873; died in Beverly Hills, California, March 28, 1943 Rachmaninoff wrote his last composition in a surge of creative inspiration while recuperating from an illness at his summer home in Huntington, Long Island. On August 21, 1940, he wrote to Eugene Ormandy, conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra: "Last week I finished a new symphonic piece, which I naturally want to give first to you and your orchestra. It is called Fantastic Dances. I shall now begin the orchestration." Rachmaninoff had enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with The Philadelphia Orchestra, so it was only natural that he offer this superb ensemble the honor of the world premiere, which took place on January 3, 1941. The original title was probably given in memory of Shostakovich's work of the same title. The composer also had thoughts of balletic possibilities, since his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini had already been successfully choreographed by Michel Fokine, but Fokine died before the plans could come to fruition. Rachmaninoff also considered calling his work just Dances, and assigning titles "Noon," "Twilight" and "Midnight" to the three movements, but later rejected the. At any rate, the music leaves a stronger impression as symphonic rather than as dance music. Exceptionally brilliant orchestration contributes significantly to making the Symphonic Dances one of the finest scores in Rachmaninoff's catalogue. Nevertheless, it should be noted that he also prepared a two-piano version of the score that, in its own medium, is as masterly as the full orchestral work. The composer enjoyed playing this privately with his friend and neighbor in New York, Vladimir Horowitz. The care Rachmaninoff lavished on the orchestration can be seen in his taking the trouble to consult Robert Russell Bennett about the use of the saxophone, which Rachmaninoff used for the first and only time in this work. To an otherwise normal-sized orchestra, the composer also added a large number of percussion instruments that shine, glisten and tinkle: glockenspiel, xylophone, piano, chimes, triangle, tambourine, cymbals and two harps. The first movement is characterized by vigorous rhythmic drive and a theme built from a tiny, three-note motif announced first by the English horn and followed immediately by clarinet, then bassoon. The pervasive use of this three-note motif, which is found in nearly every measure of the opening and closing sections of the movement, calls to mind Beethoven's use of a four-note motif in the first movement of his Fifth Symphony. The central lyrical section features the solo saxophone in an expressive melody reminiscent of a Russian folk song. Here Rachmaninoff scales down the orchestra to chamber music proportions, using just a woodwind quintet for much of the time. Near the end of the movement we hear another new theme, this one warmly consoling and played by violins. The theme actually evokes a poignant autobiographical memory, as it is derived from a theme in the composer's First Symphony, written nearly half a century earlier, a work that was deemed at the time so poor that Rachmaninoff nearly abandoned his career as a composer. Sinister harmonies from the brass introduce the second movement, an uneasy, mysterious waltz tinged with nostalgia and melancholy. On and on the music swirls, becoming increasingly energetic and eventually gyrating nearly out of control. The final movement too opens with mysterious, ominous mutterings and rumblings, but soon launches into a rousing, brilliantly scored movement full of fantastic images, rhythmic excitement and tintinnabulation from the percussion department. The music winds down for a somber central section full of haunting, spectral sounds and evocations of lost worlds.Here Rachmaninoff introduces the Dies irae motif of which he was so fond. (It is found also in his First Symphony, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Isle of the Dead, among many other works). But shortly before the end of the movement, the word 'Alliluya" appears in the score. This provided a clue that led to Geoffrey Norris' discovery that the coda is derived from the Russian chant Blagosloven esi Gospedi, which Rachmaninoff had used in his Night Vigil, Op. 37 Michael Steinberg sums up the importance of this fact by stating: "Given what we know of Rachmaninoff's state of mind in 1940, it is likely that he thought of this as his last composition even as he was getting it onto paper with such intensity and speed. We see him then taking leave of his craft with a hymn of thanks and praise. Perhaps it is not too much to imagine that the symbolic victory of the Blagosloven theme over the Dies irae is Rachmaninoff's own affirmation of the faith that 'Death shall be swallowed up in Victory.'" The Symphonic Dances end in a blaze of spectacular colors that bring to mind some of the most memorable pages of Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov. ROUMAIN: VOODOO VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1 DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN The first thing you’re likely to learn about Daniel Bernard Roumain is that he doesn’t fit the conventional profile of a classical violinist. That’s because there’s nothing conventional about DBR, as he’s commonly called. Casual attire, waist-length dreadlocks and an assortment of rings present immediate clues that the audience is in for a different kind of musical experience. He was born in south Florida of Haitian parents and began playing the violin at the age of five. As a teenager he became turned on by hip-hop, simultaneously pursuing formal classical studies that took him up to a PhD from the University of Michigan, where he studied composition with William Bolcom, Michael Daugherty and Bright Sheng. “I never stopped listening to hip-hop,” he says. “Now I’m trying to find a way to integrate and reflect on all these things, and, to borrow a hip-hop term, also to ‘keep it real.’ … I believe that, to the extent that jazz has had a very real impact on classical chamber and orchestral music, hip-hop will have an even more profound effect. … I believe that hip-hop is going to exceed the influence that jazz has had on the classical music world.” DBR is as comfortable working in nightclubs with his nine-piece band, DBR & The Mission (amplified string quartet, drum kit, keyboard, DJ and laptops), as he is performing with a symphony orchestra. In addition to both electric and acoustic violin, DBR plays piano, guitar, bass, flute, viola, percussion and a dozen other instruments in addition to singing. Rock, funk, minimalism and jazz also go into the worldview that crosses and blends cultural, ethnic and stylistic boundaries. “DBR is about as omnivorous as a contemporary musician gets,” wrote the New York Times. In addition to all else, DBR is a deeply committed teacher. He is chairman of theory and composition at the Harlem School of the Arts, and regularly tours the country giving workshops - “high-energy events where classical techniques are combined with jazz, hop-hop and avant-garde possibilities in a burst of creativity that students find irresistible,” in the words of one observer. In its original form, Voodoo Violin Concerto No. 1 was commissioned by The Kitchen and performed at the Kitchen House Blend in 2001. The full orchestra version was written in 2006 and first performed by the Vermont Youth Orchestra in Burlington on September 24, 2006, conducted by Troy Peters. So far this is the only “Voodoo” violin concerto DBR has written, but he plans more, “upwards of five, perhaps like Mozart,” he notes. “Most of my music could be described as a diary or journal of my life,” explains DBR. “As I mature as an artist and travel more extensively, my opinions on the world, its pleasures, beauty and even the horrors and toxins, all amount to a macabre, sometimes unreal amalgam of adventures that I sometimes refer to as ‘voodoo.’ This violin concerto is most concerned with the notion of the ritual, of our collective rites of passage.” TCHAIKOVSKY: MARCHE SLAVE, OP. 31 PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: Born in Votkinsk, May 7, 1840; died in St. Petersburg, November 6, 1893 Tchaikovsky wrote a number of marches, some as part of larger works (like the "Marche militaire" in The Nutcracker or the third movement of the Pathétique Symphony) and some conceived as independent works. In the latter category belong the Coronation March (1883), Marche solennelle (1885) and the Military March for the 98th Regiment (1893). Preceding all of these came the Marche slave, written for a benefit concert in Moscow. Uprisings and skirmishes with Turkey along the Serbian front had resulted in Russian casualties. To raise money for the wounded, a concert was held in September, 1876, to which Tchaikovsky contributed his Marche slave. The work is in five sections and incorporates folk tunes and patriotic songs of Serbia. At the conclusion, one of these melodies is combined contrapuntally with the Tsarist national anthem, which concertgoers will recognize as also belonging to the equally rousing conclusion of the 1812 Overture. |