Des Moines Symphony

By Robert Markow

WEBER: JUBEL OVERTURE, OP. 59

CARL MARIA VON WEBER: Born in Eutin (near Lübeck), Germany, November 18, 1786; died in London, June 5, 1826

Carl Maria von Weber holds a position in music history of far greater importance than his music might suggest, at least by the standards of what is "popular" today. Aside from three overtures (Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon), one opera (Der Freischütz) and possibly the Konzertstück for piano and orchestra, most of Weber's music exists on the fringes of the repertory. Yet as a representative of the new wave of musical romanticism that began sweeping Europe in the early nineteenth century, Weber stands out as a vital link between Beethoven and Wagner.

Weber wrote much for the stage, and opera was his most successful medium. However, the Jubel (Jubilee) Overture was not associated with anything theatrical. In 1818, while music director in Dresden, Weber was called upon to write a work in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the ascension to the throne of the King of Saxony (Friedrich August III). In just eleven days, he wrote a Jubilee Cantata, Op. 58, but due to court machinations during his absence from Dresden, the cantata was replaced on the scheduled program with a piece by the Italian Francesco Morlacchi, a conducting colleague at Dresden with a higher position than Weber. When Weber returned to Dresden, just prior to the ceremonial event, he was understandably enraged. After the dust settled, he agreed to substitute a much shorter work, the Jubel Overture, Op. 59, a separate and distinct piece from the cantata.

HINDEMITH: SYMPHONIC METAMORPHOSES ON THEMES OF CARL MARIA VON WEBER

I. Allegro

II. "Turandot," Scherzo: Moderato - Lebhaft

III. Andantino

IV. Marsch

PAUL HINDEMITH: Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, November 16, 1895; died in Frankfurt, December 28, 1963

After the Nazis rose to power in 1933, Hindemith, along with so many others, learned that his music was "degenerate" and banned from performance in Germany. He eventually found artistic haven in America, where he took up a professorship at Yale University, remaining until 1953. His best known work from this period remains the Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber, written in 1943 and first performed by the New York Philharmonic under Arthur Rodzinski on January 20, 1944. 

The work's full title, while cumbersome, is explicit, for Hindemith did truly "metamorphose" Weber's themes in this brilliant orchestral work.  Weber's themes, used as points of departure, are transformed from their originals even upon initial presentation. Harmonic alterations, rhythmic displacements and orchestral clothing are all called into service as Hindemith stamps his unmistakably personal stylistic fingerprints on the music.      The opening movement is based on the fourth of Weber's eight pieces Op. 60 for piano duet. Weber described it as "all' ongarese," and indeed, there is an unmistakable Hungarian flavor to the fiery first theme. The second theme is a proclamation from the brass in chorale style, which is later wittily developed in inverted form by various woodwind instruments, beginning with the oboe and extending from the piccolo down to the contrabassoon.

brought orchestral virtuosity to the fore, especially in the central jazzy section where the theme is fragmented and tossed about the orchestra like so many bits of broken toys.  The percussion department (a small orchestra in itself consisting of timpani, tubular bells, triangle, tam-tam, woodblocks, gong and cymbals) is twice given an extended solo passage, the second of which constitutes the movement's coda, where a remarkable clangor of duple and triple meters compete for supremacy.

A quiet, pastoral piece in ternary form follows. Its outer sections feature the solo clarinet singing a lyrical theme based on the second of Weber's piano duet pieces from Op. 10. The central portion consists of a particularly rich, even sensuous theme that might easily serve as the basis for a vocalization as well. The reprise of the clarinet theme is richly embroidered by a continuous fine tracery in the flute.

For the concluding March, based on Weber's Op. 60, No. 7, Hindemith used a theme originally intended by Weber as a funeral march, dressing it up first with eerie, ghostly effects and colors, then transforming it into something nobly tragic. The mood suddenly changes as the horns announce a joyous new theme against skittering woodwinds. The death theme momentarily clouds the picture again, but Hindemith concludes his Symphonic Metamorphoses with a spectacular display of orchestral brilliance based on the horn quartet motif.

SHOSTAKOVICH: VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1, OP. 77

I. Nocturne: Moderato

II. Scherzo: Allegro

III. Passacaglia: Andante

- Cadenza -

IV. Burlesque: Allegro con brio - Presto

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH: Born in St. Petersburg, September 25, 1906; died in Moscow, August 9, 1975

Throughout most of his long career as one of the Soviet Union's foremost composers, Dmitri Shostakovich was forced to be ever vigilant against the vicissitudes of official Party doctrine regarding artistic expression. "Socialist Realism" was in; "Formalism" was out. The terms are largely meaningless in themselves, but they signified that the only acceptable music was that which was understandable by the masses, music promoting optimism, music imbued with heroic sentiment and richly laden with simple, tuneful themes. Proscribed were such subversive elements as strong dissonance, atonality, introspection and deliberate avoidance of tuneful melodies. These qualities were regarded as synonymous with the contemptible, bourgeois, decadent culture of certain Western countries, and to be shunned by any respectable Soviet citizen. 

The Violin Concerto No. 1, completed in 1948, is a deeply personal statement that emanates from the composer's innermost artistic soul, designed to satisfy first and foremost the dictates of his own creative sensibilities, not those of government bureaucrats. Much of the concerto is darkly introspective, reflective and somber in mood - hardly material to inspire Soviet workers to greater productivity or to further some political cause. Shostakovich prudently waited until after Stalin's death 1953) to present this concerto to the public. To have done otherwise would have incurred almost certain condemnation. David Oistrakh, for whom the concerto was written (as were the Concerto No. 2 of 1967 and the Violin Sonata of 1968), was soloist in the highly successful world premiere, given on October 29, 1955 with the Leningrad Philharmonic conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky. The score was published the following year as Op. 99, and for years it retained this opus number. However, Shostakovich had had the foresight to leave lacunae in his opus numberings during the most troublesome years, particularly from 1948-1953. Opus 77 signifies the concerto's proper chronology. (A film score now bears Opus 99.) Oistrakh was also the soloist at the American premiere (December, 1955) when Dmitri Mitropoulos conducted the New York Philharmonic

The concerto is unorthodox in form, symphonic in scope and largely avoids the virtuosic display found in many Russian concertos. Oistrakh called the solo role "very profound, Shakespearian, demanding from the artist the greatest emotional and intellectual dedication."