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Reprehenderit quis polaroid aben digeth ## Program Notes - [Appalachian Spring: Concert Suite for Full Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/appalachian-spring-concert-suite-full-orchestra/) - In 1943 the great American dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham, armed with $500 from a prominent patron, approached Copland with the idea to write some music for her ballet company. He had already garnered success with Billy the Kid, and Rodeo—Copland was a lifelong aficionado of dance—and soon produced a half-hour or so of music appropriate to - [Color Field](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/color-field/) - Anna Clyne, born in London and educated at the University of Edinburgh, now lives in the United States. She began composing when quite young, receiving public recognition of her talent before even her teenage years. In the last couple of decades she has risen to the top of her profession, composing prolifically in multiple genres, - [Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30, TrV 176](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/also-sprach-zarathustra-op-30-trv-176/) - After a pivotal encounter with Franz Liszt’s symphonic poems, the young Richard Strauss found his first sweeping success in that genre. More or less the antithesis of a symphony—as in Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms—the symphonic, or “tone” poem, takes as its subject matter, not just an abstract musical theme, but something in the real - [Three Poems of Walt Whitman](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/three-poems-of-walt-whitman/) - Until his death in 2018 Fetler was Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota. His diverse background includes living as a child in Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. He served in the US Army as a Russian interpreter during WWII as was deeply influenced by Russian culture. While in the army, he was a - [Three Orchestral Excerpts from “The Damnation of Faust”, op. 24](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/three-orchestral-excerpts-damnation-faust-op-24/) - Today, despite our society’s flirtation with “multiculturalism,” audiences generally reflect little about cultural differences between the arts in the various countries of Western Europe. But, during the nineteenth century Romanticism in the various arts produced some very different national results. Perhaps the most interesting one was the difference between French and German musical preferences during - [Pagliacci](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/pagliacci/) - Since the birth of opera, over four hundred years ago, its composers and librettists have chosen gripping stories, whose themes, like all successful drama, explored human character in all its variety of virtues, flaws, and passions. Generally speaking, the origins of the specific choices have followed the tastes of the times. So for centuries the - [Fountains of Rome, P. 106](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fountains-of-rome/) - A kernel of truth often lies in a cliché, and that is so for the old saw that through the centuries Italian musical culture has preferred and been more successful in vocal music than instrumental. There are of course many and notable exceptions, and Ottorino Respighi is a case in point. After Puccini, it is - [Baile, cuadro sinfonico](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/baile-cuadro-sinfonico/) - Chavez was clearly the most significant musical personality in twentieth-century Mexico. In many ways his indefatigable energy, multiplicity of musical interests, and impressive, prolific creativity reminds us of Leonard Bernstein, who pretty much did it all, too. From an early age he and his family were surrounded by the cultures of Mexico’s indigenous peoples, and - [El Amor Brujo: Ballet Pantomine](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/el-amor-brujo-ballet-pantomine/) - The triumvirate of composers Granados, Albéniz, and Falla, are the most important composers of twentieth-century Spain, without question. But, many would award the palm of “first among equals” to Falla. His three relatively early works: The “Ritual Fire Dance” from his ballet, El amor brujo; his Nights in the Gardens of Spain; and The Three-cornered Hat are - [Dance Card](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/dance-card/) - Higdon is one of America’s leading composers of the last decade, enjoying wide recognition and commissions from a variety of distinguished symphony orchestras and virtuosi. She has a degree in flute performance and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an MA and a PhD. A relatively late bloomer, she points to musical influences from - [Promenade Overture](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/promenade-overture/) - John Corigliano is one of the new generation of composers that are equally at home in diverse idioms: concert, stage, film, and more. A native New Yorker, he attended Columbia University, and worked for WQXR, Columbia Masterworks, and with Leonard Bernstein on the Young People’s Concert series. He has taught at the Manhattan School, CUNY, - [Violin Concerto, op. 14](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-op-14/) - If any composer may truly be considered our national composer, Samuel Barber should surely be in the running. Notwithstanding the adulation of Aaron Copland’s populist music from the 1930s and 40s, most of the latter composer’s compositions in other musical styles are not well received by the American public--too dissonant and modern! On the other - [Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 47](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5-d-minor-op-47/) - On no other major recent composer has more ink been spilt attempting to understand what thought processes and motivations reveal the true inner self, than on Shostakovich. The evidence is fought over, sifted, and re-sifted to build the case that he was a musically-gifted, but incredibly naïve, tool of the worst instincts of Stalinism. Or, - [Cello Concerto in E Minor, op. 85](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/cello-concerto-e-minor-op-85/) - It would surely be no presumption that perhaps the most common image of Sir Edward Elgar is the walrus-mustachioed, imperious figure who—like the similar picture of Lord Kitchener on the WW I recruiting posters—represents all that is Edwardian England. In the popular imagination he might be the embodiment of Imperial Britain, the empire on which - [Pines of Rome, P. 141](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/pines-rome-p-141/) - After Respighi moved permanently to Rome in 1913--at the time, a center of orchestral concerts in Italy--he turned more attention to the composition of instrumental music. His first big success was the symphonic poem, Fountains of Rome, from 1916, although it did not garner accolades immediately. But, by the early 1920s it was fast becoming - [overture to omar](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-to-omar/) - Omar is a recent American opera based upon a remarkable, tragic, and true tale of Omar ibn Said, a wealthy Muslim scholar who was kidnapped from his home in a West African Islamic country (presently Senegal) in 1807 at the age of 37 and sold into a life of slavery in Charleston, South Carolina. There, - [theme from Mission impossible](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/theme-from-mission-impossible/) - Not long after Schifrin’s removal to Los Angeles, he was asked in 1966 to provide a theme for the new TV spy series, Mission: Impossible. The result was the catchy theme that became a signature for the 1966-73 series, starring Peter Graves. The story behind the theme is that Schifrin picked the Morse code rhythm - [Strum: Music for Strings](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/strum-music-for-strings/) - Montgomery is a native New Yorker, a graduate of the Juilliard School in violin performance, and holds a master’s degree from New York University in music composition. Her publications focus on various combinations of strings, and enjoy wide performance popularity with noted ensembles throughout the country. She is a devoted supporter of educational activities, and - [Tuba concerto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tuba-concerto/) - The tuba is an essential in the modern symphonic orchestra—and in the popular imagination, forever associated with bands and jazz. But, in the orchestra, there is no good substitute for its ability to serve as the bass of the brass section, and to blend equally well with the string section. But, it was not always - [piano concerto in one movement](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-in-one-movement/) - Florence Beatrice Price, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was a pioneer black American composer who distinguished herself early on. Most notably, she is remembered as the first black American woman to garner success as a composer of symphonic music. Her first symphony is perhaps her best-known work. Winner of the prestigious Wannamaker Competition prize - [Celebration](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/celebration/) - Zwilich is one of today’s most popular and listenable composers. She initially studied at Florida State University and then went on to Juilliard, where she worked with luminaries, Roger Sessions and Elliot Carter. She was the first to receive the DMA degree in composition there, and her early works quickly garnered critical acclaim. Eight years - [Princesa de la Luna for Harp and String Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/princesa-de-la-luna-for-harp-and-string-orchestra/) - Mason is one of America’s preëminent young composers, whose masterful and sensitive compositions have garnered him widespread honors, recognition, and performances. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, but raised in Dallas, he is thoroughly a proud Texan. He studied composition at Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, and the University of Texas. The professional ensembles that have - [Rhapsody in Blue](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/rhapsody-blue/) - George Gershwin was arguably the most successful and talented of America’s composers of popular music. His songs constitute the core of the “American Songbook,” whether composed as part of his immensely successful Broadway shows, or as stand alone popular tunes. Born of Russian Jewish immigrants, he didn’t evince his formidable musical talents until about the - [Harlem](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/harlem/) - Jazz is considered primarily a musical style defined by solo improvisers, and rightly so. But, it would be a mistake to diminish the important rôle played by composers and arrangers in that style. If Louis Armstrong is the apotheosis of the former, then surely Duke Ellington is the preëminent of the latter. Composer of perhaps - [Symphonic Dances from West Side Story](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphonic-dances-west-side-story/) - West Side Story is a tour de force of American music; its popularity is evergreen. Arguably Bernstein’s greatest work, it has taken its place as a masterpiece, not only in the context of Broadway musicals, but also as an icon in the larger musical life of the nation. But, its genesis was not spontaneous. The - [Concerto for Clarinet](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-clarinet/) - Aaron Copland is generally considered America’s greatest composer. That is, it is he, through his compositions and through his essays, books, lectures, and other thoughts on music, who has done more than any other individual to establish a corpus of “serious” music in this country that has largely defined an “American” style. He lived a - [Grand Canyon Suite](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/grand-canyon-suite/) - Early in his career, Ferde Grofé made an indelible mark on American music, for it was he who orchestrated Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Grofé was Paul Whiteman’s staff arranger, and without his experience and craftsmanship, there is no small doubt that Gershwin’s masterpiece would have been ready in time, or even have achieved the succès fou that it - [American Symphonette No. 2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/american-symphonette-no-2/) - While Leonard Bernstein is often seen as the multifaceted American musician who wore just about every musical hat—the garland could just as easily be shared with Morton Gould. What didn’t he do—and stunningly successfully? He was literally a household name during the nineteen forties and fifties, and was an active composer into his eighties. A child prodigy, - [Overture to Candide](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-candide/) - Thirty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy. What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors. Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical - [Piano Quartet in Eb major, op. 47](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-quartet-in-eb-major-op-47/) - Schumann did perhaps his most respected work in song and piano literature. A gifted and passionate musician, he was privileged to be married to the love of his life, Clara Wieck, herself a respected composer and highly regarded concert pianist. Known—at least during his lifetime—almost as much for his distinguished career as music critic and - [Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, op. 60](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-quartet-no-3-in-c-minor-op-60/) - The some two-dozen chamber music works of Brahms constitute the most significant contribution to the genre in the Romantic style after those of Robert Schumann. He began at the age of twenty-one with a piano trio, a “large, extravagant” work. It featured a multiplicity of themes, a new development section in the recapitulation, and a - ["Glitter and be Gay"](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/glitter-and-be-gay/) - If there is one Broadway song that personifies vivacity, vocal virtuosity, and exuberance, it is surely this one. And, indeed, some may recognize the melody of the over-the-top song for coloratura soprano (think of the young Barbara Cook or Madeline Kahn), “Glitter and Be Gay,” from its use as a theme for the Dick Cavett - [Symphony No. 2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2/) - Well over a century after Ives began composing his epochal works that challenged the mainstream tenants of musical composition, and over a half century after his death, he has remained a unique character in the history of American music. A true “Connecticut Yankee” in every way, after a thorough grounding in a traditional academic musical - [In Central Asia](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/steppes-central-asia/) - Successful composers who are also distinguished medical school faculty members, as well as research chemists with over forty respected publications are rare, to say the least. Yet, that was Borodin, holding doctorates in both fields. Born an illegitimate serf, he nevertheless was fortunate to have a loving father (a member of the nobility), who took - [Knoxville:  Summer of 1915, op. 24](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/knoxville-summer-of-1915-op-24/) - From the time of his student days until his death in 1981, Samuel Barber has stood in the first echelon of outstanding American composers. While not exactly a household word, his reputation as a composer of elegant, finely-crafted art is stellar. Notwithstanding the adulation of Aaron Copland’s populist music from the 1930s and 40s, most - [“Three Dance Variations” from Fancy Free](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/three-dance-variations-fancy-free/) - Thirty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy. What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors. Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical - [Three Dance Episodes from On the Town](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/three-dance-episodes-town/) - Thirty-five years after Leonard Bernstein’s death, the critics are still arguing over the meaning and impact of his legacy. What is clear, however, is that the world rarely enjoys the genius of someone who excels supremely in so many artistic endeavors. Pianist, conductor, television personality, teacher, mentor, social gadfly, and composer of both popular musical - [Symphony No. 9 in C Major, D. 944](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-9-c-major-d-944/) - Franz Schubert’s short life roughly coincided with that of Beethoven’s—both passing away within about a year of each other. But what a difference there is between the life and music of these two giants of early romantic music! Beethoven–world renowned with fiery temperament, and master of struggling to hammer out profundities from modest ideas—strode across - [Carnival, op. 92, B. 169](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/carnival-op-92-b-169/) - Antonín Dvořák owed his initial recognition to Johannes Brahms, who singled him out in a composition contest, the prize of which enabled the talented young composer to spend time in Vienna studying composition further. Dvořák’s music bears some elements of resemblance to that of Brahms, for he wrote stunningly well in the similar genres of - [Scheherazade, op. 35](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/scheherazade-op-35/) - Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s career stood in the very center of Russian musical life of the second half of the nineteenth century. His first career was in the Russian navy, but he soon garnered success in music. Known primarily for his fifteen operas, he was instrumental in the rising importance of that genre in Russia. In addition - [Coriolan Overture, op. 62](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/coriolan-overture-op-62/) - Beethoven wrote a gaggle of overtures, some were admittedly weak (his heart really wasn’t into them, but his financial needs were), but most were what we expect of the man. Two of the four overtures associated with his opera, Fidelio, stand in the forefront of them, but the Coriolan Overture is a major work, as - [Overture to Fidelio, op. 72](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-fidelio-op-72/) - While today, opera—for any number of reasons—is not heard as frequently as the symphony orchestra, before the twentieth century it dominated the musical scene. Only gradually did permanent instrumental ensembles evolve that focused upon symphonies and the like. Composers made their reputations, or not, as composers of opera, and that’s what the nobility (who paid - [Overture to Egmont, op. 84](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-egmont-op-84/) - Beethoven wrote almost a dozen overtures, perhaps the most famous, of course, being the four that are connected with his only opera, Fidelio. Of the rest, one is a potboiler--Wellington’s Victory--and some others are not heard often today. But most are of the stellar quality that all expect. Without doubt, in the forefront of the - [Brandenburg Concertos [all]](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/brandenburg-concertos-all/) - In the history of the arts, as in all fields of human endeavor, there often come times in which momentous changes occur in a relatively short period. And that is certainly the case in the years surrounding the end of the 1500s, for this period saw the beginning of most of what is familiar to - [Desert Transport](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/desert-transport/) - Ready for a helicopter ride over the desert? That’s what this imaginative composition is all about. Mason Bates is a young American composer known for his adroit blending of electronic resources into the traditional symphony orchestra medium. His highly acclaimed compositions for orchestra and “electronica” bear evocative titles such as Omnivorous Furniture, Rusty Air in - [Orchestra Suite No. 3, BWV 1068](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/orchestra-suite-no-3-bwv-1068/) - There are two great collections of instrumental ensemble music by Bach, one being the Brandenburg Concertos, and the other being the four orchestra suites, or as Bach called them, “ouvertures.” The latter were not composed as a set of four, but stem from various years, and perhaps various places of origin. Bach referred to them - [Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, BB 123](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-orchestra/) - Every great composer may be said to be unique, but Béla Bartók’s artistic position in the world of twentieth-century music stands apart. He was a Hungarian pianist and ethno-musicologist who also happened to compose, and as his career evolved he contributed some of the most esteemed and respected works to the standard repertoire. His was - [Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, op. 19](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/swedish-rhapsody-no-1-op-19/) - America’s concert stages have always been dominated by the composers of Germany, Austria, Italy, and France--and to some degree, Russia. But, of course, the rest of Europe has enjoyed an equally active musical culture. Imported musical style from the aforementioned countries dominated the peripheries of Europe for many centuries, but during the surge of nationalism - [Cello Concerto in A Major, W. 172](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/cello-concerto-major-w-172/) - A son of J.S. Bach’s first marriage, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, was the most distinguished of his siblings, and was the most important composer in northern Germany in the second half of the eighteenth century. His father, of course, was the most significant composer of the Baroque period, whose death in 1750 marked the end - [Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, op. 37](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-3-c-minor-op-37/) - It is Mozart, of course, to whom we owe the creation of the mature, symphonic piano concerto. Beethoven wrote five works in this genre; the first two were composed in the 1790s and they owe much to the example of Mozart. The third, in C minor, begun around 1800, was completed in 1803, about the - [Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, op. 58](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-4-g-major-op-58/) - It is Mozart, of course, to whom we owe the creation of the mature, symphonic piano concerto. Beethoven wrote five works in this genre; the first two were completed in the 1790s and owe much to the example of Mozart. The third, in C minor, was completed in 1803, around the time of his second - [Piano Concerto No. 5 in Eb Major, op. 73 ("Emperor")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-5-eb-major-op-73-emperor/) - It is Mozart, of course, to whom we owe the creation of the mature, symphonic piano concerto. Following in his stead, Beethoven wrote five works in this genre; the first two were composed in the 1790s and owe much to the example of Mozart. The third, in C minor, was completed in 1803, around the - [Romance No. 2 in F Major, op. 50](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/romance-no-2-f-major-op-50/) - By the late 1790s Beethoven had been in Vienna about six years, and was enjoying a growing reputation both as a virtuoso pianist and as a composer. While he had written some piano concertos for his own use, he had confined his compositional activities to more modest works. A dozen piano sonatas and chamber music - [Violin Concerto in D major, op. 61](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-d-major-op-61/) - By 1806 Beethoven had surmounted a series of significant distractions that had seriously affected his creative life. The difficulties that he had with writing his only opera, Fidelio, are well documented. Other factors were the misery of his ardent, but unsuccessful, personal relationship with the young widow, Josephine von Brunsvik, and, of course, dealing with - [Symphony No. 1 in C Major, op. 21](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-c-major-op-21/) - When Beethoven began work on his first symphony he had been a resident of Vienna for seven years, and was enjoying a growing reputation as a composer. He had already composed the first ten sonatas for piano, including the Pathétique. Other important completed works were the first two piano concertos and some of the op. - [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 36](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2-d-major-op-36/) - The years 1801-02 marked the nadir of Beethoven’s emotional life, as he grappled with the reality of his increasing and permanent deafness. His despair was total, and the prospect of suicide is clearly implied in the documentary evidence. Tumultuous and bitter family feuding entered into this cruel time, but the famous “Heiligenstadt Testament” records his - [Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major, op. 55 ("Eroica")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3-eb-major-op-55-eroica/) - Beethoven’s first symphony has been called “a fitting farewell to the eighteenth century” and dates to 1800, eight years after his arrival in Vienna as a young composer. His second symphony was completed in 1802, the momentous year of his “Heiligenstadt Testament.” The latter document marked the turning point in Beethoven’s life. It was an - [Symphony No. 4 in Bb Major, op. 60](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-4-bb-major-op-60/) - This symphony, along with the first and second symphonies of Beethoven, has not nearly the reputation of the rest of them. It especially stands in great contrast to its immediate predecessor, the monumental third—the “Eroica,” a work that changed forever the significance of the genre. Any great work of art must be - [Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, op. 67](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5-c-minor-op-67/) - Beethoven’s fifth symphony is the iconic work of classical music. It pervades the whole world of symbols and imagery of musical art as an evocation of a welter of ideas. In a sad way it is almost impossible to escape all of these associations extrinsic to the work itself and to focus only on Beethoven’s - [Symphony No. 6 in F Major, op. 68 ("Pastoral")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-6-f-major-op-68-pastoral/) - In 1808 Beethoven completed his sixth symphony at a time during which he was enjoying a rising popularity, albeit one without financial security. He already had written some of his most memorable and lasting works, and was a composer fully in possession of technical mastery and supreme musicality—in other words, even if he had composed - [Symphony No. 7 in A Major, op. 92](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-7-major-op-92/) - This work is simply a gem, and while certainly well known, deserves to be even better appreciated by concert audiences. Beethoven, himself, famously said that it was one of his best works. And, unlike so many works of genius that initially were pearls cast before swine, everybody knew on the spot that this work was - [Symphony No. 8 in F Major, op. 93](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-8-f-major-op-93/) - It is commonplace, of course, for scholars to think of Beethoven’s musical life in three great periods—the last one being the time of compositions that “challenge” comprehension and appreciation. The fecund middle period, roughly the first decade of the nineteenth century, is the time of dozens of the magnificent works that came to define the - [Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, op. 125](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/synphony-no-9-d-minor-op-125/) - In the decade leading up to about 1812 Beethoven had enjoyed the most productive period of his life. He not only had composed well over two dozen major works—works that stand in the highest ranks of Western music—and many more other compositions in various genres, but he had changed the game of musical composition in - [Harold in Italy, op. 16](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/harold-italy-op-16/) - Of all of the major composers of the nineteenth century, Hector Berlioz is perhaps the most personally interesting. What a vivacious, unique individual he was, both in his life and in his music. And, perhaps most refreshing--for one who lived such an intense and varied existence--on the whole he suffered from few pathologies in his - [Roman Carnival Overture, op. 9](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/roman-carnival-overture-op-9/) - Of all of the major composers of the nineteenth century, Hector Berlioz is perhaps the most personally interesting. What a vivacious, unique individual he was, both in his life and in his music. And, perhaps most refreshing--for one who lived such an intense and varied existence--on the whole he suffered from few pathologies in his - [Symphonie fantastique, op. 14](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphonie-fantastique-op-14/) - Of all of the major composers of the nineteenth century, Hector Berlioz is perhaps the most personally interesting. What a vivacious, unique individual he was, both in his life and in his music. And, perhaps most refreshing--for one who lived such an intense and varied existence—he was a relatively normal individual. He was single minded - [Academic Festival Overture, op. 80](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/academic-festival-overure-op-80/) - By the late 1870s Brahms’ position as a preëminent composer was well recognized. He was almost universally admired for his first two symphonies, his two serenades, and the “Haydn” variations. So, in 1879 the University of Breslau in Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), in the best tradition of universities everywhere, brought honor to the distinguished composer—and - [Variations on a Theme by Haydn, op. 56a](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/variations-theme-haydn-op-56a/) - Good things often come in modest packages, and this work is unquestionably one of those. Many have observed that Johannes Brahms was the major successor to the legacy of Beethoven in a century filled with musical progressives who moved in other directions. The darlings of that time—and in many regards, of today, as well—were those, - [Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 77](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-d-major-op-77/) - The music of Johannes Brahms has come to stand at the center of the best of Western art music; that it is so is owing to the composer’s firm grounding in the traditions of musical style and forms that lead directly back to the Viennese masters of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. Seriousness of purpose, - [Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, op. 68](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-c-minor-op-68/) - “This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. That’s taking - [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 73](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2-d-major-op-73/) - Simply put, the composers of the nineteenth century after Beethoven tended to divide themselves into two groups. The progressives were true “Romantics,” and were greatly influenced by the extra-musical ideas that were the subjects of contemporary literature, poetry, and painting, among others. They devised new genres, such as the tone poems of Smetana and Liszt, - [Symphony No. 3 in F Major, op. 90](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3-f-major-op-90/) - Generally speaking, the composers of the nineteenth century after Beethoven tended to divide themselves into two groups. The progressives were true “Romantics,” and were greatly influenced by the extra-musical ideas that were the subjects of contemporary literature, poetry, and painting, among others. They devised new genres, such as the tone poems of Smetana and Liszt, - [Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, op. 98](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-4-e-minor-op-98/) - “This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. That’s taking - [Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, op. 15](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-1-d-minor-op-15/) - Brahms wrote two piano concertos, separated by the passage of some twenty-two years. This first one is the product of his relative youth, having been completed in 1859, when he was twenty-five. A youthful work it is not, however. Brahms had labored over it for most of the decade of the 1850s, and during that - [Tragic Overture, op. 81](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tragic-overture-op-81/) - In 1879 the University of Breslau in Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), awarded Brahms with an honorary doctorate, and he returned the favor by writing his beloved Academic Festival Overture, a delightful potpourri of traditional songs known to all at German universities. He evidently felt the need to balance this work with a darker, more intense - [Suite No. 1 from Carmen](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/suite-no-1-carmen/) - Georges Bizet was a genuine musical prodigy, whose talent was early and widely recognized, who studied with the best teachers and composers in France, who perhaps was the close equal of Liszt as a pianist, who won the Prix de Rome, and who composed perhaps the most popular opera of all time. And yet--his career - [“Les voici la quadrille” from Carmen](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/les-voici-la-quadrille-carmen/) - Georges Bizet’s Carmen is at least partial evidence for the old observation that the French have written some of the best Spanish-flavored music. A composer of stunning talent, Bizet tragically died at the early age of only thirty-seven, three months after the première of his signature work. In the opera, set in Seville, Escamillo the - [Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, op. 31](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/serenade-tenor-horn-and-strings-op-31/) - Benjamin Britten is one of the last century’s most respected composers, and unquestionably the most influential and admired British composer from WW II until his death in 1976. Fantastically gifted from an early age (almost a thousand compositions before his first mature, published one!), he was blessed with the early attainment of an authentic personal - [Romanze for Violin and Orchestra in A Minor, op. 85](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/romanze-violin-and-orchestra-minor-op-85/) - Bruch was a talented and respected composer whose musical style was firmly in the camp of his contemporary, Johannes Brahms. Not for him the extravagant and progressive orientation of Wagner, Liszt, and their popular followers. Rather, like Brahms he composed in the more conservative tradition of Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and their admirers. He was a - [Symphony No. 4 in Eb, WAB 104 ("Romantic")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-4-eb-wab-104-romantic/) - It’s common musicological coin to observe that there is little in the life and personality of Anton Bruckner that informs our understanding and appreciation of his music. While he composed a large body of significant sacred vocal music, it is his nine symphonies (the last not completed) that have established his importance as a major - [Duo Ye No. 2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/duo-ye-no-2/) - Chen Yi is a remarkable composer who has achieved worldwide acclaim for her many compositions--compositions that seek to reconcile--or at least convincingly meld--the disparate musical styles of East and West. Born in Guangzhou, China in 1953, she studied violin early on, practicing surreptitiously with a mute upon the advent of the Cultural Revolution. Ultimately, she - [Billy the Kid](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/billy-kid/) - If there ever was an American “composer laureate,” then Aaron Copland is surely he. A native of Brooklyn, the son of Jewish immigrants of Lithuanian descent, he established what many call the “American sound” in art music. He had gone to Paris, like so many during the 1920s, to study advanced - [Fanfare for the Common Man](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fanfare-common-man/) - For the 1942-43 concert season, the distinguished English conductor of the Cincinnati Symphonic, Eugène Goossens, conceived the idea of commissioning fanfares from mostly American composers to open each of the forthcoming concerts. Those were dark times, indeed, for the world’s democracies, and he sought to more or less repeat his success with a similar project - [El sálon México](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/el-salon-mexico/) - Aaron Copland is a man who is hard to pin down. Clearly America’s most well-known and respected “classical” composer, he was the creator of some of the country’s most beloved compositions that brought the “American” style to the concert hall. Yet, for all that, he was a musician with a remarkably broad range of personal - [Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/four-dance-episodes-rodeo/) - Aaron Copland is a man who is hard to pin down. Clearly America’s most well-known and respected “classical” composer, he was the creator of some of the country’s most beloved compositions that brought the “American” style to the concert hall. Yet, for all that, he was a musician with a remarkably broad range of personal - [Letter from Home](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/letter-home/) - It is difficult, indeed, in these times truly to understand the profound differences—between then and now--of the impact of our nation’s wars upon our national experience. Our recent wars, while demanding great sacrifice of those directly involved, pale in their engagement of the vast majority of our people in comparison with the generation of World - [Three Latin American Sketches](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/three-latin-american-sketches/) - Copland is clearly regarded as the most significant American composer of “classical” music, and that reputation is considerably enhanced by the association with him of what many musical critics call the “American” style. It’s really difficult to exaggerate his impact upon serious music in American culture. The importance of his compositions is self-evident, of course, - [Symphony No. 3](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3/) - Aaron Copland is generally considered America’s greatest composer. That is, it is he, through his compositions and through his essays, books, lectures, and other thoughts on music, who has done more than any other individual to establish a corpus of “serious” music in this country that has largely defined an “American Sound." He lived a long - [Gazebo Dances](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/gazebo-dances/) - John Corigliano is certainly one of the new generation of composers that are equally at home in the theater and the concert stage. He is a native New Yorker, educated there at Columbia, and worked for WQXR, Columbia Masterworks, and with Leonard Bernstein on the Young People’s Concert series. He has taught at the Manhattan - [The Red Violin: Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/red-violin-chaconne-violin-and-orchestra/) - Films have been accompanied by music almost since their inception, whether adapted from pre-existing compositions, or newly composed. And from the beginning, for many there has been a somewhat subconscious tendency not quite to accord the genre of original music for the cinema the same artistic respect as that composed for the concert stage. Only - [Gee’s Bend for Electric Guitar and Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/gees-bend-electric-guitar-and-orchestra/) - It’s hard to know just where to start with this work and composer. Suffice it say that Michael Daugherty and his musical style springs directly from the heart of contemporary American culture. He now occupies an esteemed position as Professor of Composition in the music school of the University of Michigan, and has written compositions - [Choral Fantasy in C Minor for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra, op. 80](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/choral-fantasy-c-minor-piano-chorus-and-orchestra-op-80/) - The signal crisis of Beethoven’s life, in 1802, was the deep depression wrought by the stark reality of his increasing deafness. In his famous “Heiligenstadt Testament” from that year he articulated his resolve to live, work, and overcome this crushing development. There ensued the remarkable production of his artistic maturity—but it did not ease his - [Nocturnes, L. 98](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/nocturnes-l-98/) - The three movements of Debussy’s Nocturnes for orchestra were composed during 1897-99. Their early reception was not wholly enthusiastic, by any means, and they continued to receive mixed reviews for most of the next decade. It took quite a while before they gained their position as a respected part of the standard orchestral repertoire. He - [La mer, L. 111](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/la-mer-l-109/) - While others, notably Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, were on the forefront of stylistic change during the nineteenth century, it is surely Claude Debussy who forever established entirely new approaches to thinking about the fundamental ways of defining and composing music in Western culture. More than anyone, he truly was the father of much of - [In Nature’s Realm, op. 91, B. 168](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/natures-realm-op-91-b-168/) - Dvořák is the preëminent Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all of his successors, as well. This is no small achievement, considering the number of great musicians--Mozart, for example—who thought of Bohemia as the most musical country in Europe. Even today, one can hardly get on a streetcar in Prague without stepping - [Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, op. 70, B. 141](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-7-d-minor-op-70-b-141/) - Dvořák is the preëminent Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all of his successors, as well. This is no small achievement, considering the number of great musicians—think Mozart, for example—who thought of Bohemia as the most musical country in Europe. Even today, one can hardly get on a streetcar in Prague without - [Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, op. 95, B. 178 (“From the New World”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-9-e-minor-op-95-b-178-new-world/) - Dvořák is the preëminent Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all of his successors, as well. This is no small achievement, considering the number of great musicians--Mozart, for example—who thought of Bohemia as the most musical country in Europe. Even today, one can hardly get on a streetcar in Prague without stepping - [Violin Concerto in A Minor, op. 53, B. 96/B. 108](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-minor-op-53-b-108/) - Dvořák successfully composed in a wider variety of genres than do most major composers, owing to his receptiveness to commissions, his popular standing in the musical world, and his remarkable commitment to solving musical problems through effort, rather than waiting upon inspiration. That being said, it must nevertheless be observed that the solo concerto played - [Symphony No. 8 in G major, op. 88, B. 163](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-8-g-major-op-88-b-163/) - Dvořák is the preëminent Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all of his successors, as well. This is no small achievement, considering the number of great musicians--Mozart, for example—who thought of Bohemia as the most musical country in Europe. Even today, one can hardly get on a streetcar in Prague without stepping - [Suite from The River](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/suite-river/) - Jazz is considered primarily a musical style defined by solo improvisers, and rightly so. But, it would be a mistake to diminish the important rôle played by composers and arrangers in that tradition. If Louis Armstrong is the apotheosis of the former, then surely Duke Ellington is the preëminent of the latter. Composer of perhaps - [Rumanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A Major, op. 11](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/rumanian-rhapsody-no-1-major-op-11/) - George Enescu was the most significant composer and performer from Romania in the late nineteenth and twentieth century. A gifted composer of a large of body of compositions for most genres, he was also active as a touring violin virtuoso and conductor, making many appearances in the United States from the early 1920s until ill - [Double Concerto for Violin and Percussion](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/double-concerto-violin-and-percussion/) - Farberman was a well-known composer, conductor, and percussionist. Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, he was the son of a popular klezmer drummer. He attended both the Juillard School and the New England Conservatory. Later, he was invited to study composition with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood. In 1951 he joined the Boston Symphony - [Euphonium Concerto (“Swimming the Mountain”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/euphonium-concerto-swimming-mountain/) - This composition is surely a first for most orchestras and audiences. It features one of the most neglected of instruments that is yet one of the most beautiful and technically proficient. It does make an appearance in a few orchestral scores, most notably in The Planets by Gustav Holst and Don Juan by Richard Strauss—as - [Le Chasseur maudit](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/le-chasseur-maudit/) - Franck, along with Saint-Saëns, must be considered the most important French musician in the second half of the nineteenth century. In this country concert halls have long been dominated by the hegemony of German-speaking composers, for a number of reasons. Berlioz, of course, is well known, but after that, a few compositions by Franck, Saint-Saëns, - [An American in Paris](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/american-paris/) - After the rousing success of Rhapsody in Blue Gershwin’s financial security was assured; he moved his family to a spacious apartment in a fashionable section of the Upper West Side, and began to not only collect art, but began to paint, himself. He established his place in the smart set of New York society—no party - [Concerto in F](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-f/) - George Gershwin was arguably the most successful and talented of America’s composers of popular music. His songs constitute the core of the “American Songbook,” whether composed as part of his immensely successful Broadway shows, or as stand alone popular tunes. Born of Russian Jewish immigrants, he didn’t evince his formidable musical talents until about the - [Catfish Row](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/catfish-row/) - George Gershwin was arguably the most successful and talented of America’s composers of popular music. His songs constitute the core of the “American Songbook,” whether composed as part of his immensely successful Broadway shows, or as stand alone popular tunes. Born of Russian Jewish immigrants, he didn’t evince his formidable musical talents until about the - [Introduction and Allegro, op. 47](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/introduction-and-allegro-op-47/) - It would surely be no presumption that perhaps the most common image of Sir Edward Elgar is the walrus-mustachioed, imperious figure who—like the similar picture of Lord Kitchener on the WW I recruiting posters—represents all that is Edwardian England. In the popular imagination he might be the embodiment of Imperial Britain, the empire on which - [Tragedy Tomorrow](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tragedy-tomorrow/) - Gilbertson is a native of Iowa who has studied at the Juilliard School in New York with some well-known composers, including John Corigliano, and who has garnered enviable success with American orchestras and awards committees. Characterized by the young composer as inspired by his encounter with images of New York City during the 1920s, this - [Estancia: Four Dance Episodes, op. 8](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/estancia-four-dance-episodes-op-8/) - Ginastera was the most important Argentinean composer of the twentieth century—as important to that country as, say, Bartók, was to Hungary (incidentally, his name is pronounced after Catalan pronunciation style—JEE-nah-STEH-rah). He was a prolific composer, working in most all genres, stylistically focusing early on in his career on native Argentinean folk elements. During this time - [Violin Concerto in A Minor, op. 82](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-minor-op-82/) - A man of prodigious musical talents, Glazunov’s long career as a composer, performer, teacher, and music administrator spanned a period of profound evolutionary musical changes. As a young man he was a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory around 1880, ultimately succeeding him as director, but he lived well into the nineteen thirties, - [Variaciones concertantes, op. 23](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/variaciones-concertantes-op-23/) - Ginastera was the most important Argentinean composer of the twentieth century—as important to that country as, say, Bartók, was to Hungary (incidentally, his name is pronounced after Catalan pronunciation style—JEE-nah-STEH-rah). He was a prolific composer, working in most all genres, and stylistically focusing early on in his career on native Argentinean folk elements. During this - [Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-ruslan-and-lyudmila/) - Before there was Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and even Mussorgsky, there was Glinka. The latter is the precursor of all the great Russian composers so familiar to today’s concertgoer, but ironically, in this country, he is known to audiences for only one composition: the sparkling overture to his opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila. Composer of many songs, - [Irish Tune from County Derry](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/irish-tune-county-derry/) - There are melodies whose immortality is assured by an intrinsic beauty that defies straightforward analysis—and this is surely one. It has borne a variety of texts, most of them expressing deep sincerity and emotion, but most of those for whom it speaks directly to the heart associate it with the 1910 lyrics written by Frederick - [Norwegian Dances, op. 35](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/norwegian-dances-op-35/) - Edvard Grieg was the most significant Scandinavian composer during the years leading up to the beginning of the twentieth century. He was a prolific composer of songs and music for the piano--small lyric compositions being his obvious forte. In addition to his songs, he wrote a large number of choral works, many for unaccompanied male - [Selections from Peer Gynt, op. 23](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/selections-peer-gynt-op-23/) - Edvard Grieg was the most significant Scandinavian composer during the years leading up to the beginning of the twentieth century. He was a prolific composer of songs and music for the piano, small lyric compositions being his obvious forte. In addition to his songs, he wrote a large number of choral works, many for unaccompanied - [Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 16](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-minor-op-16/) - Easily Grieg’s most famous work, it was composed in 1868, when the composer was only twenty-five years of age. Married the year before, he, his wife, and their two-month old daughter were in Denmark, escaping the more rigorous Norwegian climate. Grieg was an excellent pianist—it was a major focus of his life as a composer—and - [Trombone Concerto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/trombone-concerto/) - The trombone has been characterized as a “donkey” among horses, owing to the inherent difficulty of operating the slide with the facility that comes easily to all other instruments. And, the general demise of bands--both “big bands” and “military bands”--as important elements in American musical life has had a deleterious influence upon the instrument’s popularity. - [Overture and Dances to Alcina HWV 34](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-and-dances-alcina/) - Handel, of course, along with J.S. Bach is one of the great masters of the late Baroque period (the early eighteenth century). Music from this time is not performed frequently on symphony concerts, but almost every music lover knows Handel’s Messiah, so that’s a good reference point for the style of this overture. Before Handel - [Messiah, HWV 56](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/messiah-hwv-56/) - In the world of the arts there are those works that have won a special place in history, and whose universal appeal have transcended time and place. In the midst of the wealth of creations of artistic genius throughout time, certain works of art, while not obviously superior to other exceptionally worthy creations of the - [Symphony No. 59 in A Major, H. I:59 (“Fire Symphony”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-59-major-h-i59-fire-symphony/) - The symphony has been the major genre for orchestra since the eighteenth century. While its viability seemed questionable as the twentieth century waned, it still has its adherents among contemporary composers, and will probably survive, though not with the same universality and vitality as before. As one can well imagine, from its roots in the - [Symphony No. 60 in C Major, H. I:60 (“Il distratto”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-60-c-major-h-i60-il-distratto/) - Haydn, more than any other, contributed significantly to the development of the symphony over the course of his long career. He wrote more than one hundred of them, taking advantage of his relative isolation out on the Hungarian plains at the estate of his employer, Prince Esterházy, to experiment and develop the genre. There was - [Symphony No. 85 in B Flat Major, H. I:85 (“La Reine”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-85-b-flat-major-h-i85-la-reine/) - The symphony has been the major genre for orchestra since the eighteenth century. While its viability seemed questionable as the twentieth century waned, it still has its adherents among contemporary composers, and will probably survive, though not with the same universality and vitality as before. As one can well imagine, from its roots in the - [Symphony No. 92 in G Major, H. I:92 (“Oxford”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-92-g-major-h-i92-oxford/) - The symphony has been the major genre for orchestra since the eighteenth century. While its viability seemed questionable as the twentieth century waned, it still has its adherents among contemporary composers, and will probably survive, though not with the same universality and vitality as before. As one can well imagine, from its roots in the - [Symphony No. 101 in D Major, H. I:101 (“Clock”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-101-d-major-h-i101-clock/) - The symphony has been the major genre for orchestra since the eighteenth century. While its viability seemed questionable as the twentieth century waned, it still has its adherents among contemporary composers, and will probably survive, though not with the same universality and vitality as before. As one can well imagine, from its roots in the - [Trumpet Concerto in Eb Major, H. VIIe:1](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/trumpet-concerto-eb-major-h-viie1/) - The Trumpet Concerto is from Haydn’s last period of composition, when he was universally recognized as one of the world’s greatest composers. The composition and publication of his “London” symphonies had sealed his success, and he returned to Vienna, where he focused primarily upon sacred vocal music for the rest of his life, the Trumpet - [Machine](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/machine/) - Higdon’s career is booming right now with commissions from a variety of distinguished symphony orchestras and virtuosi. She has a degree in flute performance and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an MA and a PhD. She went on to study composition at the Curtis Institute; her composition teachers include the distinguished composers - [Trombone Concerto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/trombone-concerto-2/) - The trombone has been characterized as a “donkey” among horses, owing to the inherent difficulty of operating the slide with the facility that comes easily to all other instruments. And, the general demise of bands--both “big bands” and “military bands”--as important elements in American musical life has had a deleterious influence upon the instrument’s popularity. - [Amor und Psyche (Farnesina)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/amor-und-psyche-farnesina/) - Subtitled, “Overture to a ballet for orchestra,” this delightful composition was composed during World War II (1943) and given its world première by the Philadelphia Orchestra. The “Farnesina” in the title refers to the marvelous early sixteenth-century Renaissance villa in the center of Rome, built by the powerful Chigi family, bankers to the Vatican. It - [Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphonic-metamorphosis-themes-carl-maria-von-weber/) - Hindemith is without question one of the most significant composers of the first half of the twentieth century, and one who stands almost alone in the breadth of his achievement. He espoused a musical philosophy that was founded in deep reverence of discipline, musicality, craftsmanship, mastery and respect for past musical traditions, and commitment to - [The Planets, op. 32, H. 125](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/planets-op-32/) - Gustav Holst is one of England’s most revered composers, creator of musical works in great variety: choral music, songs, band music, orchestral works, ballet, and more. His musical purview was remarkably diverse, and his compositions are frequently performed and appreciated in Great Britain. His popularity there bears comparison with his good friend and follow composer, - [And God Created Great Whales, op. 229 no. 1](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/and-god-created-great-whales-op-229-no-1/) - All accomplished composers find their own voices, and thus may be said to be “unique.” But within this distinction, most are heard as part of a broader stream of musical style, often with familiar traditions, sound, and techniques. Thus, for most folks Brahms is comprehended as following the path of Beethoven; late Stravinsky or Copland - [Overture to Colas Breugnon](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-colas-breugnon/) - Kabalevsky is perhaps best known to American audiences for his irrepressible orchestral classic, the Comedians' Galop. While the Russian “heavyweights” of the twentieth century were Shostakovich and Prokofiev, Kabalevsky is known for his accessible, cheerful, and popular musical style. His natural affinity for composing music well founded in traditional means was a distinct advantage for - [Concerto in D Minor (flute version)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-d-minor/) - Aram Khatchaturian was the third member of the mighty triumvirate of Soviet composers—the others, of course, being Shostakovich and Prokofiev. And like the others, he too, enjoyed a long, hot and cold relationship with the Communist party and those who dictated the musical æsthetics of that troubled time. A native Armenian—born in Georgia like Stalin—he - [Dances of Galanta](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/dances-galanta/) - Although many of his works are popular concert pieces in this country, perhaps the greatest knowledge of Kodály in the USA is through the use of his music education materials in our public schools, where he is highly influential. Born in what was the sprawling Austro-Hungarian Empire, he spent his childhood in Galanta, a small - [Symphonie espagnole, op. 21](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphonie-espagnole-op-21/) - French instrumental music during the nineteenth century generally was the poor sister of opera in that country, despite American familiarity nowadays with the instrumental works of Berlioz, Saint-Saëns, and Franck. It is to Edouard Lalo’s relentless pursuit of the composition and performance of chamber music that much of its renewed strength was achieved during the - [Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# Minor, G 21/2 S. 359/2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/hungarian-rhapsody-no-2-c-minor-s-359/) - Liszt was Hungarian, although he never spoke the language, his family having been assimilated Germans. He was greatly influenced by the gypsy music of his homeland, even playing recitals as a young man in native costume. He was, of course, one of the greatest piano virtuosos who ever lived, and his music for the piano - [Les préludes, “after A. de Lamartine,” LW G3, S. 97](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/les-preludes-after-de-lamartine-lw-g3-s-97/) - “What else is our life but a series of preludes to that unknown song, the first and solemn note of which is sounded by death?” So goes the putative source of the title of the first of Liszt’s thirteen tone poems. It is from Alphonse de Lamartine’s “Nouvelles méditations poétiques,” and alludes to life as - [Symphony No. 5](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5/) - When Gustav Mahler died in 1911, at the age of fifty-one, his years cut short by heart disease, by most measures he had enjoyed an enviable life and career. He was respected as one of the most effective and innovative of opera conductors; his leadership of some of the world’s most admired symphony orchestras had - [Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 21](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-midsummer-nights-dream-op-21/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. In point of fact, Felix and his sister were incredibly precocious. He was probably one of the best-educated major composers of - [Piano Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, op. 40](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-2-d-minor-op-40/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both. Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important - [Violin Concerto in E Minor, op. 64](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-e-minor-op-64/) - Mendelssohn wrote several concertos for both piano and for violin. The last concerto, for violin, is one of the most important solo works of the nineteenth century. Finished in the fall of 1844, after many years of work, the concerto is the product of a man at the height of his artistic powers. At the - [Symphony No. 3, op. 56 (“Scottish”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3-op-56-scottish/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both. Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important - [Symphony No. 4 in A Major, op. 90 (“Italian”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-4-major-op-90-italian/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both. Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important - [Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/clarinet-concerto-major-k-622/) - During his relatively brief life Mozart composed at an amazing rate, and so today we are blessed with a multiplicity of his works in almost all musical genres. His operas, of course, are his most important contributions, but they are followed close in significance by his concertos. Collectively, they defined the form and set the - [Divertimento in F Major, K. 138](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/divertimento-f-major-k-138/) - Mozart’s genius surfaced early, not only as a precocious performer, but as a composer, as well. His father was a successful court musician in their hometown of Salzburg, but he certainly was not above bolstering the family finances by sharing little Wolfgang’s talents with the greater musical world. As a result Mozart’s life early on - [Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-20-d-minor-k-466/) - Mozart is largely responsible for the creation of the modern piano concerto, composing them primarily for himself to support his career as a performer. His spending habits consistently placed him in financial difficulties, and since he usually desperately needed to concertize, concertos were a natural solution. He composed about two dozen of them, starting about - [Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K.488](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-23-major-k488/) - Mozart is largely responsible for the creation of the “modern” piano concerto. He wrote them primarily for himself to support his career as a performer. His spending habits consistently placed him in financial difficulties, and he usually desperately needed to concertize. Only his operas exceed his piano concertos in musical genius, and historical significance. He - [Contredanses, K. 609](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/contredanses-k-609/) - Mozart, like all composers before the nineteenth century, saw himself as more-or-less a craftsman, serving up what his patrons and audiences wanted and were willing to pay for. Hence, in addition to Olympian masterpieces such as Don Giovanni and his last symphony, we also have a plethora of smaller, more modest compositions written for everyday - [Marches, K. 408](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/marches-k-408/) - Unlike that of many composers of the first rank, Mozart’s genius found fruition in almost every musical genre--imposing or modest. While it is tempting for many to project romantic notions as the basis for Mozart’s professional motivations, we must remind ourselves that he wrote for his daily bread--not for the eternity of art. Whether producing - [Overture to Don Giovanni, K. 527](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-don-giovanni-k-527/) - Mozart’s incomparable musical gifts enabled him to compose at the highest level of artistic brilliance in almost every musical genre. We are privileged to experience his legacy in symphonies, chamber music, wind serenades, choral music, keyboard music—the list goes on and on. But, unquestionably, his greatest contributions to musical art are his operas. No one—not - [Overture to The Magic Flute, K. 620](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-magic-flute-k-620/) - Mozart’s incomparable musical gifts enabled him to compose at the highest level of artistic brilliance in almost every musical genre. We are privileged to experience his legacy in symphonies, chamber music, wind serenades, choral music, keyboard music—the list goes on and on. But, unquestionably, his greatest contributions to musical art are his operas. No one—not - [Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-marriage-figaro-k-492/) - Mozart’s incomparable musical gifts enabled him to compose at the highest level of artistic brilliance in almost every musical genre. We are privileged to experience his legacy in symphonies, chamber music, wind serenades, choral music, keyboard music—the list goes on and on. But, unquestionably, his greatest contributions to musical art are his operas. No one—not - [Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-41-c-major-k-551/) - Mozart’s symphonies are generally conceded to surrender pride of place to his incomparable operas and piano concertos. Nevertheless, they still constitute one of the treasures of symphonic music. Admittedly, he began composition of symphonies when both he and the genre were practically in their respective infancies. He had not yet the models of achievement of - [Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219 (“Turkish”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-no-5-major-k-219-turkish/) - Visitors to the small, sparse museum located in the putative home of the Mozarts in Salzburg will see a glass display case containing the little violin of the young Wolfgang. And it reminds us of the centrality of the violin in Mozart’s younger days. Indeed, his father, Leopold, was the - [Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-orpheus-underworld/) - Offenbach, in many ways, was the model for today’s famously scandalous and widely admired pop musicians. One has to remember the essential differences between the nature of the nineteenth-century (and earlier) musical public and what it heard, on the one hand, and today’s fragmented, vivid, and incredibly diverse musical tastes. There really wasn’t much of - [Voices Shouting Out](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/voices-shouting-out/) - The composer, educated at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, took her graduate degrees at Rutgers University. Brought up on Long Island as the daughter of an American mother and a Nigerian father, she is known for her compositions that reflect, not only subjects from the American Black experience, but also her African heritage, as well. She - [Sonata per la grand viola](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/sonata-la-grand-viola/) - Paganini is perhaps the best representative of a major characteristic of nineteenth-century romantic music: the rise of the astounding virtuoso performer. Today, musical audiences of more than a century later still revel in hearing performances by outstanding executants on their instruments. Franz Liszt, with Paganini as a model, was a rival showman on the piano, - [Upward Stream](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/upward-stream/) - The tenor saxophone makes only rare appearances on the concert stage. Generally speaking, the alto saxophone has been the classical solo instrument of choice, and there is a fairly large repertoire for that instrument. Appearances of the tenor saxophone with a symphony orchestra are even more rare; you may remember it from Ravel’s Bolero or - [The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/four-seasons-buenos-aires/) - Every artist aspires to develop a personal voice, and every good artist eventually does so. But few arrive at a style so personal and so reflective of a unique vision that, while nonetheless achieving great international popularity, it is strictly sui generis. The music of Astor Piazzolla is just that. Single handedly he created a - [Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, S. 93](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-g-minor-organ-strings-and-timpani-s-93/) - Francis Poulenc will forever be remembered by students as a member of the French group, “Les Six,” of the nineteen twenties--a coterie of close friends who had little in common stylistically. This misleading appellation was given to a group of young French composers with connections to Eric Satie and Jean Cocteau who espoused a musical - [Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, op. 26](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-3-c-major-op-26/) - Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union. Unlike, Shostakovich, however, Prokofiev enjoyed part of his career living and composing in the West, returning to the USSR in 1936 voluntarily. Like his compatriot, he must be counted as one - [Selections from “Romeo and Juliet”, op. 64](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/selections-romeo-and-juliet-op-64/) - Prokofiev and Dimitry Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union. Unlike, Shostakovich, however, Prokofiev enjoyed part of his career living and composing in the West, returning to the USSR in 1936 voluntarily. Like his compatriot, he must be counted as one - [Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in A Minor, op.43](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/rhapsody-theme-paganini-minor-op43/) - Those who create art, whether in the performing arts or in the visual arts, inevitably find their personal “niche” in matters of style. And it is of little consequence whether or not their artistic orientation is a conscious personal choice, or one seemingly imposed by their audiences and by professional critics. Simply put, there are - [Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, op. 27](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2-e-minor-op-27/) - Normally, a “Symphony No. 2” implies a considered and thoughtful next step from the composition of a “Symphony No. 1.” But in the case of Rachmaninoff, it is somewhat of a minor miracle that he was able to muster the strength, courage and interest to produce a second effort in the genre after the debilitating - [Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, op. 18](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-2-c-minor-op-18/) - Those who create art, whether in the performing arts or in the visual arts, inevitably find their personal “niche” in matters of style. And it is of little consequence whether or not their artistic orientation is a conscious personal choice, or one seemingly imposed by their audiences and by professional critics. - [Bolero](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/bolero/) - Ravel, was the son of a Basque mother and a Swiss father, but was quintessentially French in his elegant, stylish artistic imagination. He is clearly in the camp of those classicists who elegantly re-interpret the genres, forms, and musical syntax of the past. Only a cursory review of many of the titles of Ravel’s works - [Mother Goose Suite (Ma Mère l'Oye)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/mother-goose-suite-ma-mere-loye/) - On the one hand, Ravel’s considerable talent and intellect could be satirical and probing—and somewhat ambiguous--as in La valse. On the other, his Mother Goose Suite will reveal yet another aspect of his penchant for reinterpretation of time-honored musical traditions. Ravel took pleasure in the companionship of animals and children, and enjoyed reading fairy tales - [Rapsodie espagnole](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/rapsodie-espagnole/) - Ravel and Debussy are often paired in music lovers’ minds, and they certainly were friends, admirers of their respective talents and musical works, and both emblematic of French musical culture. But there the comparisons must end, for Ravel’s compositions constitute a unique body of work, not closely related to anyone. Late in his life Ravel - [Le tombeau de Couperin](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/le-tombeau-de-couperin/) - Ravel and Debussy are often paired in music lovers’ minds, and they certainly were friends, admirers of their respective talents and musical works, and landmarks, not only of French musical culture, but the world, as well. But there the comparisons must end, for Ravel and his compositions constitute a unique body of work, not closely - [Tzigane](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tzigane/) - Ravel is clearly in the camp of those classicists who adroitly re-interpret the genres, forms, and musical syntax of the past. Only a cursory review of many of the titles of Ravel’s works will bear out his deep fascination and appreciation for the musical past as a basis for imaginative, original contributions to a musical - [La valse](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/la-valse/) - Ravel in the popular imagination will probably always be associated with the other great French composer from around the turn of the last century, Debussy. Ravel, in fact, was the son of a Basque mother and a Swiss father, and this alone tells us much about the subtleties of his artistic imagination. Moreover, his compositions - [Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, op. 30](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-3-d-minor-op-30/) - Like J. S. Bach, who upon his death was looked upon as a more or less old fuddy-duddy (now we know better, of course), Rachmaninoff has borne his share of criticism for having composed in a hopelessly old-fashioned style, long after its relevance. His compositions are the last major representatives of vivid Russian Romanticism—long after - [Pictures at an Exhibition](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/pictures-exhibition/) - A staple of piano recitals given by virtuosi, this work is probably more familiar to many in its orchestration by Ravel. Unquestionably, a tour de force for the solo pianist, it is equally a sound spectacular for the modern orchestra. It lends itself admirably to reinterpretation in the orchestral idiom for the simple reason that - [Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 40, P. 40](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-minor-op-40-p-40/) - A kernel of truth often lies in a cliché, and that is so for the old saw that through the centuries Italian musical culture has preferred and been more successful in vocal music than instrumental. There are of course many and notable exceptions, and Ottorino Respighi is a case in point. After Puccini, it is - [Ancient Airs and Dances Suite III, P. 172](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/ancient-airs-and-dances-suite-iii-p-172/) - A kernel of truth often lies in a cliché, and that is so for the old saw that through the centuries Italian musical culture has preferred and been more successful in vocal music than in instrumental. There are of course many and notable exceptions, and Ottorino Respighi is a case in point. After Puccini, it - [Concierto de Aranjuez](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concierto-de-aranjuez/) - For composers not of the ranks of the immortals it is rare to have the privilege to create the one composition that--almost alone of their works—seems to take on a life of its own, and becomes cherished by the whole world. We can think of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, for example, and perhaps Alford’s Colonel - [Fantasía para un gentilhombre](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fantasia-para-un-gentilhombre/) - For composers not of the ranks of the immortals it is rare to have the privilege to create the one composition that--almost alone of their works—seems to take on a life of its own, and becomes cherished by the whole world. We can think of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, for example, and perhaps Alford’s Colonel - [Overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-italian-girl-algiers/) - There are any numbers of great composers who have been able to produce overtures that entertain, lift the spirits, and bring musical “sizzle” to a symphony concert. But almost none excel those of Gioachino Rossini in sparkle, wit, and vivacity. Their droll wit, sly contrasts of mood, and careening drive to the end are simply - [Overture to William Tell](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-william-tell/) - There are any numbers of great composers who have been able to produce overtures that entertain, lift the spirits, and bring musical “sizzle” to a symphony concert. But almost none excel those of Gioachino Rossini in sparkle, wit, and vivacity. Their droll wit, sly contrasts of mood, and careening drive to the end are simply - [Symphony No. 3 in C minor, op. 78 R 176](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3-c-minor-op-78/) - Camille Saint-Saëns lived a long life, and was remarkable for his wide-ranging intellectual interests and abilities. As a child he was, of course, a precocious musical talent, but even then he evinced a strong natural interest in almost every academic subject--including, but certainly not restricted to, astronomy, archaeology, mathematics, religion, Latin, and Greek. In addition - [Sinfonia in D Major (“La Veneziana”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/sinfonia-d-major-la-veneziana/) - Antonio Salieri was one of the most important, successful, and talented composers in Vienna in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Along with European luminaries such as Gluck, Paisiello, Soler, Gassmann and others, his compositions helped to create the sound of late classical music. There were also two others, by the way: Haydn and - [Symphony No. 5 in Bb, D.485](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5-bb-d485/) - The epitaph on Schubert’s tombstone reads: “The art of music has entombed here a rich treasure but even fairer hopes.” We all lament the “loss” of treasure that we never possessed, none perhaps more than great art that we presume may have come to pass but not for lives cut short in youth. But not - [Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, D. 759 (“Unfinished”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-8-b-minor-d-759-unfinished/) - The epitaph on Schubert’s tombstone reads: “The art of music has entombed here a rich treasure but even fairer hopes.” We all lament the “loss” of treasure that we never possessed, none perhaps more than great art that we presume may have come to pass but not for lives cut short in youth. We must - [New England Triptych](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/new-england-triptych/) - It’s hard to decide if William Schuman made a greater impact upon American musical life as a composer or as a music administrator, for he enjoyed a most distinguished career as both. Born in the Bronx, his early musical life revolved around popular music; he composed a tango as his first effort and formed his - [Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 54](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-minor-op-54/) - This work was Schumann’s first piano concerto, the best of the lot, and deservedly one of the most popular in all of the repertoire. Schumann composed in almost of the common genres, and notwithstanding his success in the larger forms, did perhaps his most respected work in song and piano literature. A gifted and passionate - [Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, op. 120](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-4-d-minor-op-120/) - Schumann composed in almost all of the common genres, and notwithstanding his success in the larger forms, did perhaps his most respected work in song and piano literature. A gifted and passionate musician, he was privileged to be married to the love of his life, Clara Wieck, herself a respected composer and highly regarded concert - [New Morning for the World: “Daybreak of Freedom”](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/new-morning-world-daybreak-freedom/) - Joseph Schwantner is one of America’s most distinguished composers, having gained recognition for his talent early in his career. Born in Chicago, he was educated at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago and at Northwestern University, having received a doctorate at the latter in 1968. In the following years he taught at the Eastman - [Symphony No. 1 in F Minor, op. 10](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-f-minor-op-10/) - Shostakovich is probably the most successful of those who sought to continue to write symphonies in the twentieth century--long after most had abandoned the form for other attractions. To be sure, others wrote symphonies as well during this time, but generally not with the long-term commitment or at the same high level of quality in - [Finlandia, op. 26](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/finlandia-op-26/) - The compositions of Jean Sibelius constitute a case study in the capriciousness of musical taste and the power of the artistic avant-garde. Pigeonholed by many as primarily a Finnish nationalist, whose dark, remote music was a shallow representative of Romanticism’s last gasp, Sibelius was nevertheless deemed the champion of American and British conservative musical tastes - [Violin Concerto in D Minor, op. 47](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-d-minor-op-47/) - The compositions of Jean Sibelius constitute a case study in the capriciousness of musical taste and the power of the artistic avant-garde. Pigeonholed by many as primarily a Finnish nationalist, whose dark, remote music was a shallow representative of Romanticism’s last gasps, Sibelius was nevertheless deemed the champion of American and British conservative musical tastes - [Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 43](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2-d-major-op-43/) - The compositions of Jean Sibelius constitute a case study in the capriciousness of musical taste and the power of the artistic avant-garde. Pigeonholed by many as primarily a Finnish nationalist, whose dark, remote music was a shallow representative of Romanticism’s last gasps, Sibelius was nevertheless deemed the champion of American and British conservative musical tastes - [Symphony No. 5 in Eb Major, op. 82](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5-e-flat-major-op-82/) - The compositions of Jean Sibelius constitute a case study in the capriciousness of musical taste and the power of the artistic avant-garde. Pigeonholed by many as primarily a Finnish nationalist, whose dark, remote music was a shallow representative of Romanticism’s last gasp, Sibelius was nevertheless deemed a champion by American and British conservative musical tastes - [The Moldau (Vltava)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/moldau-vltava/) - Smetana is the first great Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and—owing to the general trend towards nationalism during the late romantic period—the first significant Czech composer to integrate indigenous folk elements into his musical style. He is known the world over for having composed what is more or less the Czech national opera, The - [Symphony No. 1 (“Afro-American”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-afro-american/) - Still was a pioneer for African-Americans in “classical” music composition; he was the first American Black man in practically everything having to do with conducting and composing for symphony orchestras and opera companies. The scion of a distinguished family, he was a descendent of the famous 19th-century abolitionist, William Still. While more fortunate members of - [On the Beautiful, Blue Danube, op. 314](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/beautiful-blue-danube-op-314/) - Johann Strauss the elder and Joseph Lanner are responsible for turning the modest waltz—of humble Austrian, rural origins—into the celebrated Viennese Waltz. For over a century and half the Viennese Waltz has attained a status as the acme of sophistication, beauty, and elegance. What would New Year’s Eve be without visions of swirling dancers in - [Overture to Die Fledermaus](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-die-fledermaus/) - Johann Strauss the elder and Joseph Lanner are responsible for turning the modest waltz—of humble Austrian, rural origins—into the celebrated Viennese Waltz. For over a century and half the Viennese Waltz has attained a status as the acme of sophistication, beauty, and elegance. What would New Year’s Eve be without visions of swirling dancers in - [Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, op. 59, TrV 227](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/suite-der-rosenkavalier-op-59-trv-227/) - Richard Strauss lived a long and productive life, striding across the musical landscape of Europe from teenage success to triumph in old age. He was the son of a prominent musician, one of the world’s great horn players, and wrote works in his youth that are still performed and admired. He married a well-respected soprano, - [Pulcinella](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/pulcinella/) - Stravinsky’s reputation as one of a handful of the most respected and influential composers of the twentieth century has been secure almost from the beginning of his career. Yet, as he grew older, the bold changes in the nature and sources of his musical style stand as almost unique among his peers. We may speak - [Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/le-sacre-du-printemps-rite-spring/) - It’s somewhat fun to look back at the styles and fashions that shocked our ancestors, smugly reveling in our own sophistication and advanced thinking. Yet, it must be said that almost a century on, the musical impact of Stravinsky’s epochal ballet, Le Sacre du printemps, still has the power, if not to shock, at least - [Capriccio Italien, op. 45](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/capriccio-italien-op-45/) - By 1880 Tchaikovsky, at the age of 40, was a mature, successful composer who was achieving wide recognition for his talents. By then he had completed his first four symphonies, his violin concerto, and his opera, Eugene Onegin, to just mention a few of his significant works. At the same time, his life, personal and - [Marche Slav, op. 31](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/marche-slav-op-31/) - The story is depressingly familiar: In 1876 the Christians and the Muslims were slaughtering each other in a war between the Turks of the Ottoman Empire and the Slavs of Serbia. Plus ça change. Naturally, Russia supported its fellow Slavs, and in the general patriotic fervor, Tchaikovsky was commissioned by the director of the Russian - [Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bb Minor, op. 23](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-1-bb-minor-op-23/) - Most probably, no composer other than Beethoven has enjoyed the popularity in this country of that of Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His reputation has been secure since his early maturity, and yet, it is equally true that no other major modern composer has endured the distortions and indignities as that imposed upon his personality and personal life - [Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, TH 42, ČW 39](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/romeo-and-juliet-overture-fantasy-th-42-cw-39/) - Even a cursory review of the lives of most of the significant composers of the nineteenth century--from Berlioz to Verdi--shows them to have been fascinated with the timeless art of Shakespeare. In fact, it is a major trait of Romanticism as an intellectual movement to have plumbed the depths of his work for archetypes of - [Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, op. 36](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-4-f-minor-op-36/) - Tchaikovsky completed six symphonies, of which the last three are concert staples. The fourth is a product of a particularly tumultuous time in his life, centering around his relationship with two women. They are the wife of his short, disastrous marriage, and his patroness—whom he never personally met. He began composition of the symphony in - [Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, op. 64](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5-e-minor-op-64/) - Tchaikovsky completed six symphonies during his lifetime, the last three of which have long been concert staples. The three, while exhibiting both the tangible and intangible characteristics of the composer that endear him to music lovers everywhere, are each unique expressions of his musicianship and personality. Symphony No. 4 (with good reason associated with “fate”) - [Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, op. 74 (“ Pathétique”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-6-b-minor-op-74-pathetique/) - This symphony is Tchaikovsky’s last work—he died of cholera only nine days after its première—and it is universally hailed as one of his finest. It exhibits all of the characteristic passion and melodic beauty for which the composer justly is known, and is suffused with a dark and tragic essence. Tchaikovsky struggled all of his - [Overture to La forza del destino](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-la-forza-del-destino/) - The nineteenth century was an opera-mad time. With most composers giving it a shot, simply because, as Willie Sutton famously said, “That’s where the money is.” And fame, too. However many were composed, the operatic field was dominated by two artists who still are at the top of the repertoire: Wagner and Verdi. But that’s - [Bachianas brasileires No.5](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/bachianas-brasileires-no5/) - Brazil is a large and diverse country, with a veritable kaleidoscope of cultures and artistic styles. While many composers have sought to blend elements of their native lands into the techniques and traditions of European art music, few achieved the unique integration of Villa-Lobos’ personal style. Villa-Lobos from an early age was immersed, not only - [The “Four Seasons” op. 8](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/four-seasons-op-8/) - Concerto No. 1 in E Major, RV 269 “Spring” Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, RV 317 “Summer” Concerto No. 3 in F Major, RV 293 “Autumn” Concerto No. 4 in F Minor, RV 297 “Winter” Antonio Vivaldi was the most important composer of the Italian Baroque period, although appreciation of that fact was slow - [Overture to Euryanthe, J. 291](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-euryanthe-j-291/) - History is cruelly reductive, and it is the natural state of our collective memory that it often bears little resemblance to the balance of affairs that characterized the past. Whole lives, bodies of creative work, and popular acclaim of significant artists commonly disappear from our experience—or survive in a cartoonish reflection that often singles out - [Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/prelude-die-meistersinger-von-nurnberg/) - Many—perhaps, most--of the respected and honored composers left little of themselves behind to speak for them except their immortal music. And that’s usually enough. But no great composer found the time to write, speculate, theorize, philosophize, and generally inflict his ideas expressed through the written word, as did Wagner. Much was brilliant and influential—and some - [Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/prelude-act-iii-lohengrin/) - Lohengrin was first performed in 1850, and is certainly a Romantic opera in the strictest sense. It is based upon the legendary romance of the 13th century of Lohengrin, a knight of the Holy Grail, who is sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue the maiden, Elsa, who must never ask his name. - [“Ride of the Valkyries” from Die Walküre](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/ride-valkyries-die-walkure/) - The works of Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi together largely dominated the important world of nineteenth-century opera. But the two could not have been more different in almost every regard—save that of musical excellence. Verdi built simply upon the traditional elements of Italian opera and took them to new heights of dramatic artistry and coherence, gradually - [Harry’s Wonderful World [and generally for all his pop works]](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/harrys-wonderful-world-and-generally-all-his-pop-works/) - While John Adams, Phillip Glass, John Corigliano, and a host of others vie for the mantle of successor to Aaron Copland, in point of fact, the average American has probably heard more music for symphonic orchestra by John Williams than all of the others put together. He stands alone in his position as the most - [Concerto Grosso 1985](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-grosso-1985/) - Zwilich is one of today’s most popular and listenable composers. She initially studied at Florida State University and then went on to Juilliard, where she worked with luminaries Roger Sessions and Elliot Carter. She was the first to receive the DMA degree in composition there, and her early works quickly garnered critical acclaim. Eight years - [Cuban Overture](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/cuban-overture/) - George Gershwin was arguably the most successful and talented of America’s composers of popular music. However, the importance of so-called “serious” or “classical” musical interests and training in his life is quite unprecedented for someone who enjoyed Gershwin’s kind of success. He certainly was not some sort of untutored musical genius who later sought “legitimacy” - [Pelléas et Mélisande, op. 80](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/pelleas-et-melisande-op-80/) - For most of the concert-going public, Fauré is associated with his well-known work, the graceful Requiem, and little else. While he did contribute a modicum of symphonic works to the literature, they largely met with little success, and frankly, the composer’s bent was not directed to the orchestral medium. Rather, he was hugely successful as - [The Carnival of the Animals](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/carnival-animals/) - Camille Saint-Saëns lived a long life, and was remarkable for his wide-ranging intellectual interests and abilities. As a child he was, of course, a precocious musical talent, but even then he evinced a strong natural interest in almost every academic subject--including, but certainly not restricted to, astronomy, archaeology, mathematics, religion, Latin, and Greek. In addition - [Hungarian Dances No. 5 & No. 6, WoO 1](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/hungarian-dances-no-5-no-6-woo-1/) - Who, indeed, can resist the spirited, soulful music of the “Hungarian” Gypsies? Well, apparently, almost no one of the gifted, leading composers of nineteenth-century Europe, including such luminaries as Liszt, Schubert, and a host of others. And, most notably, our Johannes Brahms—he of the most classical bent, the most serious mien, and the most redoubtable - [Symphony No. 3 (mov't 3)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3-movt-3/) - Gustav Mahler famously observed, “ A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything.” On the whole this is manifestly not true of Glass’s symphonies, but in a very useful sense it seems to apply to the man, himself. If a composer may play the rôle of America’s foremost public intellectual in the - [Symphony No. 2 in C Minor (“Resurrection”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2-c-minor-resurrection/) - When Gustav Mahler died in 1911, at the age of fifty-one, his years cut short by heart disease, by most measures he had enjoyed an enviable life and career. He was respected as one of the most effective and innovative of opera conductors; his leadership of some of the world’s most admired symphony orchestras had - [Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/brandenburg-concerto-no-2-f-major-bwv-1047/) - One of the signal achievements of the music of the Baroque era was inauguration of the concerto. The fundamental principle of the genre is the contrasting of a soloist, a group of soloists, or even two or more groups of musicians with each other during the course of a composition. Almost every significant composer of - [“Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio,” K. 418](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/vorrei-spiegarvi-oh-dio-k-418/) - Today, in the performance of, let us say, a Bartok string quartet, if a movement by some other composer were added in the middle, the audience would understandably be astounded. But, until the twentieth century the practice of adding an aria by another composer to an opera was not only accepted, but also almost expected. - [Peter and the Wolf](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/peter-and-wolf/) - Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union. Unlike, Shostakovich, however, Prokofiev enjoyed part of his career living and composing in the West, returning to the USSR in 1936 voluntarily. Like his compatriot, he must be counted as one - [Dreamtime Ancestors](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/dreamtime-ancestors/) - Theofanides is an award-winning young composer, whose compositions currently enjoy wide popularity with orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the London Symphony. In addition, he has written extensive for both ballet and opera. Born and educated in Texas, as well as at Yale University and the Eastman School - [Firebird Suite](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/firebird-suite-0/) - It would be difficult, indeed, to posit a composer whose artistic achievement and influence on the direction of music during the twentieth century exceeded that of Igor Stravinsky. Moving through a series of explorations of different styles of composition, his works consistently exhibited a remarkable seriousness of purpose, solid musical integrity, and benchmark imagination. What - [Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68, BB 76](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/romanian-folk-dances-sz-68-bb-76/) - Every great composer may be said to be unique, but Béla Bartók’s artistic position in the world of twentieth-century music stands apart. He was a Hungarian pianist and ethno-musicologist who also happened to compose, and as his career evolved, he contributed some of the most esteemed and respected works to the standard repertoire. His was - [Violin Concerto No. 3 in B Minor, op. 61 R 198](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-no-3-b-minor-op-61/) - Camille Saint-Saëns lived a long life, and was remarkable for his wide-ranging intellectual interests and abilities. As a child he was, of course, a precocious musical talent, but even then, he evinced a strong natural interest in almost every academic subject--including, but certainly not restricted to, astronomy, archaeology, mathematics, religion, Latin, and Greek. In addition - [Piano Concerto No. 1 in Eb, No. 1, LW H4 S. 124](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-1-eb-no-1-lw-h4/) - In the pantheon of musical greats it would be difficult, indeed, to think of anyone whose reputation as man, performer, and composer has varied more with both scholars and the public. He was clearly one of the most influential musicians of the nineteenth century, both as composer and as one whose virtuosity as pianist was—and - [Symphony No. 1 in D major, op. 25 (“Classical”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-d-major-op-25-classical/) - Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union. Unlike Shostakovich, however, Prokofiev enjoyed part of his career living and composing in the West, returning to the USSR in 1936 voluntarily. Like his compatriot, he must be counted as one - [Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, op. 63](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-no-2-g-minor-op-63/) - Prokofiev’s first violin concerto was composed in quite different circumstances than that of the second. The first was begun in stormy 1917—the year of all of the cataclysmic events that initiated the Russian Revolution. It was nevertheless a year of great artistic productivity for the young composer. Among the compositions from that year familiar to - [Trombone Concerto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/trombone-concerto-3/) - Let’s face it, trombone concertos on symphony orchestra programs are fairly rare; concertos for piano, violin, and violoncello are the norm, and that pretty much has always been the case. Occasionally, other instruments share the limelight, such as flute, oboe, or clarinet. And, of the brass, the trumpet and horn usually get the call. But, - [Concerto in Eb ("Dumbarton Oaks")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-eb-dumbarton-oaks/) - Stravinsky’s reputation as one of a handful of the most respected and influential composers of the twentieth century has been secure almost from the beginning of his career. Yet, as he grew older, the bold changes in the nature and sources of his musical style stand as almost unique among his peers. We may speak - [“Flight of the Bumble Bee” from The Tale of Tsar Saltan](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/flight-bumble-bee-tale-tsar-saltan/) - Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s career stood in the very center of Russian musical life of the second half of the nineteenth century. His first career was in the Russian navy, but he soon garnered success in music. Known primarily for his fifteen operas, he was instrumental in the rising importance of that genre in Russia. In addition - [Symphony No. 7 in E major, WAB 107](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-7-e-major-wab-107/) - It’s common musicological coin to observe that there is little in the life and personality of Anton Bruckner that informs our understanding and appreciation of his music. While he composed a large body of significant sacred vocal music, it is his nine symphonies (the last not completed) that have established his importance as a major - [Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/daphnis-and-chloe-suite-no-2/) - Ravel was the son of a Basque mother and a Swiss father, but he was quintessentially French in his elegant, stylish artistic imagination. He is clearly in the camp of those classicists who elegantly re-interpret the genres, forms, and musical syntax of the past. Only a cursory review of many of the titles of Ravel’s - [Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/suite-miraculous-mandarin-op-19/) - Every great composer may be said to be unique, but Béla Bartók’s artistic position in the world of twentieth-century music stands apart. He was a Hungarian pianist and ethno-musicologist who also happened to compose, and as his career evolved he contributed some of the most esteemed and respected works to the standard repertoire. His was - [Concerto for Two Clarinets in Eb, op. 91, P. III:18](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-two-clarinets-eb-op-91-p-iii18/) - Krommer was born in Moravia, but like so many artists from that time and place, he spent his career moving easily throughout the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire. Serving at times in Hungary and Austria, he ended his distinguished career in Vienna, where he was composer for the Imperial Court. Today, it is not generally appreciated in - [Schelomo: A Hebraic Rhapsody](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/schelomo-hebraic-rhapsody/) - Ernest Bloch (not to be confused with the philosopher, Ernst Bloch) was born in Switzerland, and studied music in various European countries before moving to the United States in 1916. He lived the rest of his life here, except for a return to Switzerland during the 1930s. In addition to a distinguished career as a - [Sinfonia No. 7 in D Minor](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/sinfonia-no-7-d-minor/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. In point of fact, Felix and his sister were incredibly precocious. He was probably one of the best-educated major composers of - [Adagio for Strings, op. 11](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/adagio-strings-op-11/) - If any composer may truly be considered our national composer, Samuel Barber should surely be in the running. Notwithstanding the adulation of Aaron Copland’s populist music from the 1930s and 40s, most of the latter composer’s compositions in other musical styles are not well received by the American public--too dissonant and modern! On the other - [A Fiddler’s Fancy](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fiddlers-fancy/) - Fiddle music, along with so many other important indigenous musical styles in this country, is an integral part of our cultural heritage. And it comes in about as many distinct musical traditions as we have cultural and ethnic “folk.” But, central to the style is the repertoire and playing techniques that date back to seventeenth - [Serenade for Strings in E Major, op. 22, B. 52](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/serenade-strings-e-major-op-22-b-52/) - Dvořák is the preëminent Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all of his successors, as well. This is no small achievement, considering the number of great musicians--Mozart, for example—who thought of Bohemia as the most musical country in Europe. Even today, one hardly can get on a streetcar in Prague without stepping - [Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, op. 26](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-no-1-g-minor-op-26/) - Bruch was a talented and respected composer whose musical style was firmly in the camp of his contemporary, Johannes Brahms. Not for him the extravagant and progressive orientation of Wagner, Liszt, and their popular followers. Rather, like Brahms he composed in the more conservative tradition of Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and their admirers. He was a - [Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, op. 34](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/young-persons-guide-orchestra-op-34/) - Benjamin Britten is one of the last century’s most respected composers, and unquestionably the most influential and admired British composer from WW II until his death in 1976. Fantastically gifted from an early age (almost a thousand compositions before his first mature, published one!), he was blessed with the early attainment of an authentic personal - [Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BVW 565](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/toccata-and-fugue-d-minor-bvw-565/) - The marvelous resources of the nineteenth-century symphony orchestra serve the broadest musical imaginative purposes with amazing facility. Although the twentieth century added a broad array of percussion instruments, the fundamental sound resources of the orchestra were in place by around 1850. During the 1800s the instrumental colors available in the orchestra grew - [Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn, J. 8](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/peter-schmoll-und-seine-nachbarn-j-8/) - History is cruelly reductive, and it is the natural state of our collective memory that it often bears little resemblance to the balance of affairs that characterized the past. Whole lives, bodies of creative work, and popular acclaim of significant artists commonly disappear from our experience—or survive in a cartoonish reflection that often singles out - [Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 7](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-minor-op-7/) - "I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose—there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?" Schumann must have written these dark words in a moment of despair, for she was, nevertheless, a - [Four Sea Interludes, op. 33a from Peter Grimes](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/four-sea-interludes-op-33a-peter-grimes/) - Benjamin Britten is one of the last century’s most respected composers, and unquestionably the most influential and admired British composer from WW II until his death in 1976. Fantastically gifted from an early age (almost a thousand compositions before his first mature, published one!), he was blessed with the early - [Verdiana](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/verdiana/) - I. “Il Sambatore” II. “Un Bossa in Maschera” III. “Don Tangoletto” Shor unquestionably does not fit the stereotype of contemporary composers. Holder of a PhD in mathematics and a native of Kiev, Ukraine, he immigrated to Israel, and later to the United States. His compositions have enjoyed an international reception, and he is especially active - [Sholem-alekhem, rov Feidman!](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/sholem-alekhem-rov-feidman/) - This delightful work is nothing less than an inspired concert tribute to the amazing tradition of klezmer clarinet. Klezmer is the traditional music of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe. From its centuries old antecedents in the little string bands of the shtetls of the extensive Russian Empire, it has grown to worldwide popularity. In - [Symphony No. 3 in Eb Major, op. 97 (“Rhenish”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3-eb-op-97-rhenish/) - Schumann composed in almost all of the common genres, and notwithstanding his success in the larger forms, did perhaps his most respected work in song and piano literature. Known—at least during his lifetime—almost as much for his distinguished career as music critic and essayist, even today his analyses and commentaries lend valuable insights into the - [“Spring” from The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/spring-four-seasons-buenos-aires/) - Ástor Piazzolla has created a musical genre and style that began with the traditional elements of the Argentine tango, but has infused it with much of advanced twentieth century “classical” techniques. The result almost obscures its popular roots. Jazz, Stravinsky, Bartók, dissonance, counterpoint, ubiquitous chromaticism, and varied orchestration—they all are incorporated into Piazolla’s musical take - [“Summer” from Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi—The Four Seasons](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/summer-recomposed-max-richter-vivaldi-four-seasons/) - Max Richter, a British citizen, born in Germany, is an internationally renowned composer, recognized for his prolific artistic imagination and adroit blending of classical and popular musical styles and elements. He received a traditional music education, attending the Royal Academy of Music, and studied for a time with the giant of the avant garde in - [Rogue One: A Star Wars Story](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/rogue-one-star-wars-story/) - Giacchino’s work is ubiquitous in popular American media these days. Born in New Jersey and educated at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, he began his career with Universal Studios, but soon moved to Disney. Early on he achieved success as a composer for video games, with notable scores written for the - [Star Trek into Darkness Suite](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/star-trek-darkness-suite/) - This is Giacchino’s fourth collaboration with the director, J. J. Abrams, including Star Trek, from 2009. Abrams is Hollywood’s go-to guy for directing the science fiction adventure and super hero movies for which America’s movie-going public has an apparently bottomless appetite. Among his myriad hits have been many “Star Wars” sequels, even more continuing the immortal - [Music from Apollo 13](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/music-apollo-13/) - “Houston, we have a problem.” These (slightly misquoted) words have become iconic for the laconic understatements of danger seemingly common to the impressively courageous folks who fly. Apollo 13 was launched in April of 1970 for a third landing on the moon. Of course, as we all know, an exploding oxygen tank put the crew - [Trombone Concerto, Orion Machine, op. 55](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/trombone-concerto-orion-machine-op-55/) - Let’s face it, trombone concertos on symphony orchestra programs are fairly rare; concertos for piano, violin, and violoncello are the norm, and that pretty much has always been the case. Occasionally, other instruments share the limelight, such as viola, flute, oboe, or clarinet. And, of the brass, the trumpet and horn may get the call. - [“One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/one-hand-one-heart-west-side-story/) - Bernstein's position as one of the great conductors of the twentieth century, his facility as teacher, skill as a pianist, charm as a television personality, and, of course as a wonderful composer, left behind a legacy equaled by few. And while he worked assiduously as a composer of “serious” music, there is no doubt that - [Tango in D, op. 165, no. 2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tango-d-op-165-no-2/) - Isaac Albéniz was in the forefront of Spain’s composers during the nineteenth century, and was responsible for the surging interest and respect for the art music of the country during that time. A child prodigy, his peripatetic travels took him all over Europe, as well as to the Americas. But, his primary focus was in - [Conga del Fuego Nuevo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/conga-del-fuego-nuevo/) - A native of the Mexican state of Sonora, Márquez is known for his adroit incorporation of Mexican musical forms and styles into his compositions. One of Mexico’s eminent contemporary composers, he is widely popular with Latin Americans for the accessibility and attractiveness of his compositions. Educated at the Conservatorio Nacional in Mexico, he went on - [Mvt. 3 from Violin Concerto No. 2 “The American Seasons”](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/mvt-3-violin-concerto-no-2-american-seasons/) - If a composer may play the rôle of America’s foremost public intellectual in the arts, there is arguably no stronger candidate than Philip Glass. For the past half century or so, he has helped shape much of the direction of new and innovative music with his unique approach to composition, his thoughtful and deep exploration - [Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, op. 102](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-2-f-major-op-102/) - Delving into a major artist’s mind, seeking to relate the art that we see and hear with the contradictions and complexities inherent in us all is clearly problematic. And Shostakovich is a particularly knotty case in point. He left a maddeningly ambiguous record of his inner thoughts. On the one hand, he was capable of - [Oboe Concerto in C major, K. 314 (271k)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/oboe-concerto-c-major-k-314-271k/) - After his incomparable operas, Mozart’s twenty-seven piano concertos must take pride of place in posterity’s estimation. In addition to those masterpieces, which he largely composed for his own use, he also wrote concertos for other instruments. The latter group consists of five violin concertos, four for horn, two for flute, and one each for oboe, - [Elegía Andina](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/elegia-andina/) - Possessed of a remarkably reflective, practical, and articulate persona, Frank is one of American’s most praised and respected young composers. Born forty-six years ago in Berkeley, California to a Lithuanian-Jewish father and a Peruvian-Spanish mother, (her grandfather was Chinese) she enjoys and thrives upon her multicultural heritage. She recounts that her early days were “filled - [Symphony No. 5 in Bb major, WAB 105](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5-bb-major-wab-105/) - It’s common musicological coin to observe that there is little in the personal life and personality of Anton Bruckner that informs our understanding and appreciation of his music. His is the story of a provincial man of extremely modest origins, of little early genius, and who endured decades of obscurity. And yet, despite inordinately long - [Slava! A Political Overture](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/slava-political-overture/) - Bernstein was capable of composing some of the most scintillating, brilliant, joyous, and happy music of our time. This overture is all of that and more. It was composed in 1977 upon the occasion of the great Russian violoncello virtuoso, Mstislav Rostropovich, becoming the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, in Washington, DC. Rostropovich’s nickname - [Symphony No. 1 ( “Jeremiah")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-jeremiah/) - There is infinitely more to Bernstein than the bright and gay. All his life, he aspired equally to serious composition, and the Symphony No. 1 is a very early example—premièred in 1944 when he was twenty-five, in the youthful flush of success. His ascent to national acclaim was the success borne by his substitute appearance - [On the Waterfront Suite](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/waterfront-suite/) - On the Waterfront (1954) is easily one of the most important of American films. Directed by the great—and controversial—Elia Kazan, with a screenplay by Budd Schulberg, and an all-star cast of Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and Eva Marie Saint, it just doesn’t get much better than this in cinema. It - [Le corsaire, op. 21](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/le-corsaire-op-21/) - Of all of the major composers of the nineteenth century, Hector Berlioz is perhaps the most personally interesting. What a vivacious, unique individual he was, both in his life and in his music. He was intense and impassioned in his pursuit of the composition of music that reflected his literary interests, his interaction with his - [Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra, op. 102 (“Double”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-minor-violin-cello-and-orchestra-op-102-double/) - “This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. That’s taking - [Symphony No. 6 in D major, op. 60, B. 112](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-6-d-major-op-60-b-112/) - Dvořák is the preëminent Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all of his successors, as well. This is no small achievement, considering the number of great musicians--Mozart, for example—who thought of Bohemia as the most musical country in Europe. Even today, one can hardly get on a streetcar in Prague without stepping - [Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/music-royal-fireworks-hwv-351/) - Handel, of course, shares the bill with J. S. Bach as the two dominant, most respected, and influential composers of the late Baroque period—roughly the first half of the 1700s. And while they both exemplify the basic musical styles of the time, they differ in many important ways. Bach was a servant of the church, - [Concerto for Piano and Winds](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-piano-and-winds/) - Stravinsky burst onto the international musical scene as a Russian enfant terrible, with his epochal three ballets. Everyone grew to adore those works, and still do. But, Stravinsky’s restless mind soon gravitated to exceeding diverse musical places, never pausing to establish a consistent, life-long stylistic orientation. As he grew older, the bold changes in the - [Soirées musicales, op. 9](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/soirees-musicales-op-9/) - Benjamin Britten is one of the last century’s most respected composers, and unquestionably the most influential and admired British composer from WW II until his death in 1976. Fantastically gifted from an early age (almost a thousand compositions before his first mature, published one!), he was blessed with the early attainment of an authentic personal - [Suite from Our Town](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/suite-our-town/) - Aaron Copland is a man who is hard to pin down. Clearly America’s most well-known and respected “classical” composer, he was the creator of some of the country’s most beloved compositions that brought the “American” style to the concert hall. Yet, for all that, he was a musician with a remarkably broad range of personal - [Night on Bald Mountain](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/night-bald-mountain/) - Mussorgsky is, of course, familiar to concertgoers for his ever-popular work for solo piano, Pictures from an Exhibition—made even more well known in Ravel’s masterful orchestration. Opera lovers occasionally are afforded the opportunity to attend a performance of his stunning opera, Boris Godunov, but for most, that’s it. For the great preponderance of his work - [Danse macabre, op. 40 R 171](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/danse-macabre-op-40/) - Camille Saint-Saëns lived a long life, and was remarkable for his wide-ranging intellectual interests and abilities. As a child he was, of course, a precocious musical talent, but even then he evinced a strong natural interest in almost every academic subject--including, but certainly not restricted to, astronomy, archaeology, mathematics, religion, Latin, and Greek. In addition - [“This is Halloween” from A Nightmare Before Christmas](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/halloween-nightmare-christmas/) - Music for films, whether by a pianist improvising for silent films, or that scored for full romantic-era orchestras, has always been an essential element in the medium. And film composers, and their individual paths to success, have varied remarkably over the years. From so-called “classical” composers such as Aaron Copland, Virgil Thompson, and a host - [Music from Spider Man](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/music-spider-man/) - Music for films, whether by a pianist improvising for silent films, or that scored for full romantic-era orchestras, has always been an essential element in the medium. And film composers, and their individual paths to success, have varied remarkably over the years. From so-called “classical” composers such as Aaron Copland, Virgil Thompson, and a host - [Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24, TrV 158](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/death-and-transfiguration-op-24-trv-158/) - It is difficult, indeed, to think of a composer more possessed of an overweening ego than that of Richard Strauss (other than that of Wagner, that is). Thankfully, his was not malicious, and was to some degree justified. Strauss is almost unique in that his long life (unlike that of, say, Verdi) spanned remarkable changes - [The Sorcerer’s Apprentice](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/sorcerers-apprentice/) - Dukas is not alone in his misfortune in composing a piece whose overwhelming popularity has obscured other worthwhile compositions. While he is well known in France, and was an important composer, critic, and teacher in the early decades of the twentieth century, American audiences know him almost exclusively from his Sorcerer’s Apprentice. He was not - [Andantino from Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C Major, K. 299/297c](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/andantino-concerto-flute-harp-and-orchestra-c-major-k-299297c/) - There is some evidence that Mozart really didn’t care that much for the sound of the flute as a soloist, although he wrote beautifully and convincingly for it in ensemble. And, although a prolific composer, he only wrote one piece that included the harp—the present one. But, it doesn’t matter, Mozart being Mozart, the result - [Concierto pastoral for Flute and Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concierto-pastoral-flute-and-orchestra/) - For composers not of the ranks of the immortals it is rare to have the privilege to create the one composition that--almost alone of their works—seems to take on a life of its own, and becomes cherished by the whole world. We can think of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, for example, and perhaps Alford’s Colonel - [Suite No. 1 from The Three-Cornered Hat](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/suite-no-1-three-cornered-hat/) - The triumvirate of composers Granados, Albéniz, and Falla, are the most important composers of twentieth-century Spain, without question. But, many would award the palm of “first among equals” to Falla. American audiences know him primarily for three relatively early works: The “Ritual Fire Dance” from his ballet, El amor brujo; the symphonic suite for piano - [Trumpet Concerto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/trumpet-concerto/) - Gilbertson is a native of Dubuque, Iowa, who at the age of thirty is fast developing a reputation of one America’s most respected and successful young composers. Active as a composer while still a youth in high school, his relationship with the local symphony provided him with ample opportunities to hear and learn from the - [Concerto No. 2 for Violin in D minor, op. 22](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-no-2-violin-d-minor-op-22/) - Born into a distinguished family of Polish musicians, Wieniawski was the toast of the world of eminent violinists in the middle of the nineteenth century. Today, as with most virtuosos who composed modestly, his name is familiar mainly to violinists, who play his formidable etudes and salon works. The significant exception, though, is his second - [Three Spirituals for Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/three-spirituals-orchestra/) - Hailstork is an American composer, educated at Howard University, the Manhattan School, and Michigan State University, where he received his PhD. He has taught at various American universities, and is currently a member of the faculty of Old Dominion University in Virginia. His reputation for technical prowess, directness of expression, and stylistic accessibility for a - [Arirang](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/arirang/) - Arirang is a traditional Korean folksong, and it would be difficult, indeed, to posit another song more beloved and important in Korean culture. Dating back probably six hundred years, its melody and the story in the lyrics are ubiquitous in a variety of Korean social contexts. Five films—the first from 1926--festivals, pop music groups, the - [With the Heather and Small Birds](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/heather-and-small-birds/) - Born and raised in the coalmining district of South Wales, Tann has been a professor at Union College in Schenectady, New York for almost four decades. A graduate of both the University of Wales in Cardiff and Princeton University, during her long time in the United States she has established herself as one of the - [Symphony No. 94 in G Major, H. I:94 ("Surprise")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-94-g-major-surprise-h-i94/) - The symphony has been the major genre for orchestra since the eighteenth century. While its viability seemed questionable as the twentieth century waned, it still has its adherents among contemporary composers, and will probably survive, though not with the same universality and vitality as before. As one can well imagine, from its roots in the - [Der Schwanendreher](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/der-schwanendreher/) - Hindemith is without question one of the most significant composers of the first half of the twentieth century, and one who stands almost alone in the breadth of his achievement. He espoused a musical philosophy that was founded in deep reverence of discipline, musicality, craftsmanship, mastery and respect for past musical traditions, and commitment to - [Divertissement](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/divertissement/) - The music of Ibert is probably more familiar to music students and faculty, owing to his many contributions of interesting and apt chamber and solo instrumental compositions, as well as a large body of songs. But, American symphony audiences may well be familiar with his evergreen, early work Escales (Ports of Call). It was written - [Two World Concerto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/two-world-concerto/) - Deeply creative artists by nature must evolve with their constantly changing experiences. They begin in one place, creating art that reflects their place, and almost inevitably move on as their artistic vision encounters new and stimulating influences. This is certainly reflected in the music of James DeMars, professor of music composition at Arizona State University - [The Rhyme of Taigu](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/rhyme-taigu/) - Art is inescapably rooted in the experience of the artist—nationality, ethnicity, life events, gender, and much more—all contribute to the unique and personal perspectives that we value in the artistic vision. That has always been more or less true, even when we consider the importance of “universals” in art. For all their timeless and broad - [Mazeppa, LW G7 S. 100](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/mazeppa-s-100/) - Liszt was in the forefront of composers who were committed to striking out in completely new directions during the nineteenth century, and who largely abandoned traditional forms, such as the symphony. Liszt’s solution was his origination of what he called a “symphonic poem,” a single-movement composition of symphonic proportions, which focused on the exploration of - [Libertango](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/libertango/) - Every artist aspires to develop a personal voice, and every good artist eventually does so. But few arrive at a style so personal and so reflective of a unique vision that, while nonetheless achieving great international popularity, it is strictly sui generis. The music of Ástor Piazzolla is just that. Single handedly he created a - [Blue Cathedral](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/blue-cathedral/) - Higdon is one of America’s leading composers of the last decade, enjoying wide recognition and commissions from a variety of distinguished symphony orchestras and virtuosi. She has a degree in flute performance and was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an MA and a PhD. She went on to study composition at the Curtis - [Concerto No. 1 for Timpani and Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-no-1-timpani-and-orchestra/) - If there is a “grand old man” of American music, then it is surely William Kraft. Born in 1923, he was still active after a very long life as performer, composer, teacher, conductor, and pundit. Along the way, he has performed with and for a most impressive list of the world’s great musicians, as well - [Concerto for Violin, 'Cello, and Piano in C Major, op. 56](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-violin-cello-and-piano-c-major-op-56/) - The concerto in its various guises has long been an important part of the symphonic literature, going back to the middle of the seventeenth century. But by Beethoven’s time, some 150 years on, concertos were most often written for one instrument—usually piano, violin, or ‘cello--with orchestral accompaniment. Of course, many fine compositions were written for - [Overture in Eb Major, op. 24](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-eb-major-op-24/) - Until recently Farrenc has been practically unknown to symphonic audiences—especially in this country--but in her time she was held in high regard in the first half of the nineteenth century in France. Unlike so many women composers of the past, she suffered little obscurity during her lifetime. She evinced immense talent early on as a - [Danses sacrée et profane, L. 113](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/dances-sacree-et-profane-l-113/) - While others, notably Franz Liszt, were on the forefront of stylistic change during the nineteenth century, it is surely Claude Debussy who forever established entirely new ways of thinking about the fundamental ways of defining and composing music in Western culture. More than anyone, he truly was the father of much of the philosophical basis - [Canzon Septimi Toni No. 2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/canzon-septimi-toni-no-2/) - There is perhaps no composer more beloved by modern brass players, and yet, relatively unknown to the general audience for symphony concerts, than Giovanni Gabrieli. Standing at the juncture of the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque eras in music, he was a musical giant whose influence spread far beyond his - [Petite Symphonie](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/petite-symphonie/) - Popular acclaim in the arts is often a cruel mistress—those at the acme of public approbation, with the passage of time, can sink into “benign neglect.” For example, during the first half of the 1930s, there were perhaps few Hollywood stars to equal Kay Francis. She was the highest paid actor with Warner Brothers, making - [Hammers](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/hammers/) - This unusual composition for solo flute and four percussionists is unique in a variety of ways, but typical of the wide-ranging musical imagination of the composer. She is clearly in the forefront of avant-garde composers for flute with various other instruments, but is increasingly writing for larger ensembles, as well. A virtuoso performer, Loggins-Hull is - [Nocturno, op. 24](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/nocturno-op-24/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. In point of fact, Felix and his sister were incredibly precocious. He was probably one of the best-educated major composers of - [Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/exsultate-jubilate-k-165/) - Mozart was the master of all contemporary musical genres, but opera was his forte, and of course, none since has exceeded his remarkable achievement in the marriage of music and drama. It is easy to forget, today, that Italian opera ruled the roost in eighteenth-century European musical life, and so it was natural for young - [Suite of Dances](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/suite-dances/) - Florence Price, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was a pioneer black American composer who distinguished herself early on. Most notably, she is remembered as the first black American woman to garner success as a composer of symphonic music. Her first symphony is perhaps her best-known work. Winner of a national prize, it was given - [Carmen Fantasy, op. 25](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/carmen-fantasy-op-25/) - Sarasate was one of the preëminent violinists of the nineteenth century. Born in Pamplona, Spain, he studied there early on before attending the Paris Conservatory, and then embarking upon a life of world-wide touring. The dedicatee of numerous compositions for violin by some of the luminaries of the world’s composers, he composed many light pieces - [Fuga (Ricercata) a 6 voci from “The Musical Offering,” BWV 1079](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fuga-ricercata-6-voci-musical-offering-bwv-1079-0/) - In May of 1747, only three years before his death, Bach made a visit to the court of Frederick the Great of Prussia, the renowned “philosopher king,” at his sumptuous summer palace in Potsdam, Sanssouci. Bach’s son, C.P.E. Bach, an eminent musician in his own right, of a more modern style, was a court musician - [Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, L. 87a](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/prelude-afternoon-faun-l-86/) - While others, notably Franz Liszt, were on the forefront of stylistic change during the nineteenth century, it is surely Claude Debussy who forever established entirely new ways of thinking about the fundamental ways of defining and composing music in Western culture. More than anyone, he truly was the father of much of the philosophical basis - [Serenade in Eb, op. 7, TrV 106](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/serenade-eb-op-7-trv-106/) - As long as there have been garden soirées, outdoor wedding receptions, and patio cocktail parties, there have been ample opportunities for casual entertainment by small instrumental ensembles. A “serenade,” of course, has its origin as solo song of dedication, sung outdoors, and often accompanied by the singer on a guitar, lute, or other similar instrument. - [“Wotan’s Farewell and Magic Fire Music” from Die Walküre](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/wotans-farewell-and-magic-fire-music-die-walkure/) - The works of Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi together largely dominated the important world of nineteenth-century opera. But the two could not have been more different in almost every regard—save that of musical excellence. Verdi built simply upon the traditional elements of Italian opera and took them to new heights of dramatic artistry and coherence, gradually - [Belshazzar’s Feast](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/belshazzars-feast/) - William Walton was the most important British musician in the generation immediately after that of Vaughan Williams. His artistic orientation was quite different from that of the older man, and while certainly not an adherent of the revolution in musical style wrought by Schoenberg and his students, Walton was nevertheless a true child of the - [Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, op. 99](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-no-1-minor-op-99/) - On no other major recent composer has more ink been spilt attempting to understand what thought processes and motivations reveal the true self than that on Shostakovich. The evidence is fought over, sifted, and re-sifted to build the case that he was a musically-gifted, but incredibly naïve, tool of the worst instincts of Stalinism. Or, - [“Prelude and Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/prelude-and-liebestod-tristan-und-isolde/) - Many—perhaps, most--of the respected and honored composers left little of themselves behind to speak for them except their immortal music. And that’s usually enough. But no great composer found the time to write, speculate, theorize, philosophize, and generally inflict his ideas expressed through the written word, as did Wagner. Much was brilliant and influential—and some - [Symphony No. 1 in G Major, op. 11](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-in-g-major-op-11/) - It is difficult indeed, to know just where to begin with the amazing life of Saint- George (a.k.a. Joseph Bologne). If any life were said to be colorful and improbable it would be his. He was variously the first successful black classical composer; the champion swordsman of all Europe; colonel of his own regiment, which - [Seven O'Clock Shout](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/seven-oclock-shout/) - Coleman is one of America’s young composers whose appealing works have garnered high praise for their imagination, accessibility, and innate musical integrity. A native of Kentucky, she is a graduate of Louisville Male High School, Boston University, and the Mannes College of Music. She is an accomplished flautist as well as a composer, and early - [Carmen Suite](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/carmen-suite/) - Shchedrin is a distinguished contemporary Russian composer whose active career since his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory in 1955 has led him to compose a large number of pieces in a varied field of genres. Operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber works, piano works, concertos, and vocal music—all have been his bailiwick. Sometimes it seems as though - [Grass](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/grass/) - A man of many talents and remarkably broad artistic interests, Perkinson composed in classical, jazz, and pop musical styles, and was active in television, film, and dance, as well. A respected conductor and pianist, he was (probably) born in New York City. After attending the prestigious New York High School of Music & Art, he - [Symphonies of Wind Instruments](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphonies-of-wind-instruments/) - A few years after the end of WWI, Stravinsky’s musical thinking underwent a major shift. Of course, he was not alone in his generation, for ever since the turn of the century various composers had sought contrasts and answers to the inflated musical ideas of late Romanticism. Large orchestras gave way to - [Serenade for Strings in C Major, op. 48](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/serenade-for-strings-in-c-major-op-48/) - Tchaikovsky’s last three symphonies, two of his solo concertos, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake are surely mainstays of the traditional and popular symphonic repertoire, whose inimitable melodies no doubt most come to mind to music lovers everywhere. To this must be added the American contemporary mania for his ballet, The Nutcracker, at Christmastime and - [Horn Concerto No. 3 in Eb Major K. 447](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/horn-concerto-no-3-in-eb-major-k-447/) - During his relatively brief life Mozart composed at an amazing rate, and so today we are blessed with a multiplicity of his works in almost all musical genres. His operas, of course, are his most important contributions, but they are followed close in significance by his concertos. Collectively, they defined the form and set the - [Children’s Corner](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/childrens-corner/) - 1. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum 2. Jimbo’s Lullaby 3. Serenade for the Doll 4. The Snow is Dancing 5. The Little Shepherd 6. Golliwogg’s Cakewalk More than anyone, Claude Debussy truly was the father of much of the philosophical basis for the complete turnover in musical art that defined the twentieth century. His compositions established - [Symphony No. 1 in Bb, op. 38 (“Spring”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-in-bb-op-38-spring/) - Schumann composed in almost all of the common genres, and notwithstanding his success in the larger forms, did perhaps his most respected work in song and piano literature. Known—at least during his lifetime—almost as much for his distinguished career as music critic and essayist, even today his analyses and commentaries lend valuable insights into the - [Serenade for Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/serenade-for-orchestra/) - Still was a pioneer for African-Americans in “classical” music composition; he was the first American black man in practically everything having to do with conducting and composing for symphony orchestras and opera companies. The scion of a distinguished family, he was a descendent of the famous 19th century abolitionist, William Still. While more - [Dances in the Canebrakes](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/dances-in-the-canebrakes/) - Florence Price, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was a pioneer black American composer who distinguished herself early on. Most notably, she is remembered as the first black American woman to garner success as a composer of symphonic music. Her first symphony is perhaps her best-known work. Winner of a national prize, it was - [A Lincoln Portrait](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/a-lincoln-portrait/) - Aaron Copland is generally considered America’s greatest composer. That is, it is he, through his compositions and through his essays, books, lectures, and other thoughts on music, who has done more than any other individual to establish a corpus of “serious” music in this country that has largely defined an “American Sound.” He lived a long life; - [Symphony No. 103 in Eb Major, H. I:103 (“Drum Roll”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-103-in-eb-major-h-1-103-drum-roll/) - The symphony has been the major genre for orchestra since the eighteenth century. While its viability seemed questionable as the twentieth century waned, it still has its adherents among contemporary composers, and will probably survive, though not with the same universality and vitality as before. As one can well imagine, - [Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-24-in-c-minor-k-491/) - Mozart is largely responsible for the creation of the “modern” piano concerto. He wrote them primarily for himself to support his career as a performer. His spending habits consistently placed him in financial difficulties, and he usually desperately needed to concertize. Only his operas exceed his piano concertos in musical genius, and - [Bal masqué, op. 22](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/bal-masque-op-22/) - Amy Beach was a remarkable woman by any measure. Without doubt she was this country’s first woman to have carved out an acclaimed musical career that equaled that of any important American male musician, and transcended most. She enjoyed a noteworthy life as a piano virtuoso, composer, and influential leader in music - [Variations of a Theme of Frank Bridge, op. 10](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/variations-of-a-theme-of-frank-bridge-op-10/) - Benjamin Britten is one of the last century’s most respected composers, and unquestionably the most influential and admired British composer from WW II until his death in 1976. Fantastically gifted from an early age (almost a thousand compositions before his first mature, published one!), he was blessed with the early attainment of an authentic personal - [Symphony No. 5 in Bb Major, op. 100](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-5-in-bb-major-op-100/) - Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union. Unlike Shostakovich, however, Prokofiev enjoyed part of his career living and composing in the West, returning to the USSR in 1936 voluntarily. Like his compatriot, he must be counted as one - [Adoration](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/adoration/) - Florence Price, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was a pioneer black American composer who distinguished herself early on. Most notably, she is remembered as the first black American woman to garner success as a composer of symphonic music. Her first symphony is perhaps her best-known work. Winner of a national prize, it was - [Ceiling Full of Stars](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/ceiling-full-of-stars/) - Percussion instruments are perhaps the oldest form of musical instruments, going back beyond the limits of recorded history. In Western music drums are important in mediæval times, including the small copper bowls that are antecedents of today’s timpani—nakers. Timpani—with their close musical allies, trumpets—had an important and respected rôle in instrumental ensembles right through the - [Crouching Tiger Concerto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/crouching-tiger-concerto/) - Tan is unquestionably one of the leaders of current American avant-garde composers. Perhaps the most recognized of those who seek to incorporate both cutting edge classical Western musical styles and traditional Chinese musical elements into his personal voice, he has composed a large of body of work of stunning variety and originality. He has produced five operas, - [Chokfi'](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/chokfi/) - In the latter nineteenth century, as musical Romanticism succeeded Classicism, the legacy and generally abstract style of Haydn—Mozart—Beethoven and others was joined by an increasing number of major composers whose works reflected their national and ethnic origins. Whether Spanish, Czech, Russian, or Finnish, these new composers and their works brought - [Harp of Ages for Solo Harp and Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/harp-of-ages-for-solo-harp-and-orchestra/) - Suffice to say that Michael Daugherty and his musical style springs directly from the heart of contemporary American culture. He now occupies an esteemed position as Professor of Composition in the music school of the University of Michigan, and has written compositions for just about anybody and everybody in the “official” - [Carmina Burana](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/carmina-burana/) - Carl Orff is not a household name in this country, but is well known around the world for two signal accomplishments: the Orff Schulwerk and his unique and popular cantata, Carmina Burana. The Schulwerk is a well-established philosophy of elementary music education that substantial numbers of American teachers and music therapists employ in their work. - [Symphony No. 4 In G Major](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-4-in-g-major/) - Gustav Mahler’s excruciating beautiful music is laden with the melancholy and presentiment of hopelessness that often infused late nineteenth-century Romanticism. His large-scale symphonic works often require large numbers of performers (in great variety), and can challenge the endurance of the audience, as well as that of the players. More recognized in his time as conductor - [Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 1](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fanfare-for-the-common-woman/) - Tower, of course, is one of America’s most recognized and honored composers, having contributed a wealth of significant compositions primarily for orchestra, including several solo concertos, and chamber ensembles. While the composer of an impressive number of significant works, ironically, perhaps the public thinks of her most for her six fanfares entitled Fanfares for the - [Memorial to Martin Luther King](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/memorial-to-martin-luther-king/) - Morawetz for over half a century was considered one of Canada’s outstanding composers. He was born in what is now the Czech Republic before the end of WWI, and studied in Prague until the Nazi invasion of the Sudetenland in 1938. He thereupon continued his education in Vienna and Paris. With the advent of the - [O frondens virga](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/o-frondens-virga/) - It’s hard to know where to begin an examination of the life and works of the redoubtable Hildegard von Bingen. Today, she is certainly one of the most well-known, venerated, and respected figures of the Middle Ages who were not kings, warriors, or any of those whose exploits and power shaped the course of history. - [A German Requiem, op. 45](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/a-german-requiem-op-45/) - 1. Blessed are they that mourn 2. For all flesh is as grass 3. Lord, teach me that I have an end 4. How lovely are thy dwelling places 5. You now have sorrow 6. For we have here no abiding city 7. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord The - [Irish Rhapsody No. 1 in D Minor, op. 78](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/irish-rhapsody-no-1-in-d-minor-op-78/) - Fame, power, recognition, influence—all that and more, so ardently sought by so many—we tacitly agree is fleeting. And there are few musicians of recent times whose former position at the top of the profession are now generally so fallen into relative obscurity as Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. During the latter decades of the nineteenth - [Toccata festiva, op. 36](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/toccata-festiva-op-36/) - No major American composer of the twentieth century was a more ardent and eloquent champion of the lyrical, accessible, yet modern idiom than Samuel Barber. His musical style is founded in the romantic traditions of the nineteenth century, and built upon and extended the harmonic language and formal structures of that time. Unlike so many - [La Follia Variations](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/la-follia-variations/) - Wiancko is a gifted young violin virtuoso, composer, and arranger, whose talent and imagination have catapulted her into the upper echelon of the country’s musical scene. In her triple threat career she simultaneously has been a lauded violin soloist with some of our top symphony orchestras, an important member of the highly praised East Coast - [Don Juan, op. 20, TrV 156](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/don-juan-op-20-trv-156-0/) - It is difficult, indeed, to think of a composer more possessed of an overweening ego than that of Richard Strauss (other than that of Wagner, that is). Thankfully, his was not malicious, and was to some degree justified. Strauss is almost unique in that his long life (unlike that of, say, Verdi) spanned remarkable changes - [Horn Concerto, op. 58](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/horn-concerto-op-58/) - Ruth Gipps was a distinguished composer, performer, conductor, and public voice for feminism in the arts in Great Britain until her death in 1999. She born into a middle class English, business family, of which many were excellent musicians. Her talent surfaced when she was very young, and her skills as an oboist, pianist, and - [Entr’act](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/entract/) - Shaw gained instant recognition early in her career by becoming the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music, at the age of thirty in 2013. That work, Partita for 8 Voices, is an astonishing a capella choral work that pushed familiar conventional boundaries for choral music. It employed a variety of unusual vocal sounds - [Variations on an Original Theme (“Enigma”), op. 36](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/variations-original-theme-enigma-op-36/) - Elgar's first significant, acclaimed work, the Variations, was given its première in 1899, conducted by the great Hans Richter. It was an immediate success, and garnered performances and praise in Europe—including from Richard Strauss. Not bad for a composer of modest reputation who had chiefly labored far from the bustle of London. Although he had - [Symphony No. 7 in C Major, op. 65](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-7-c-major-op-65/) - In June 1941 the Germans invaded Russia, and the siege of Leningrad (formerly and presently, St. Petersburg) became a galvanizing exemplar of the valiant resistance of the noble Russian people. Shostakovich’s seventh symphony is the symbol of that remarkable siege, and has been since its composition. The date of the origin of the first movement—originally - [A Time to Vote](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/a-time-to-vote/) - Walker, born in 1947, grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut. She attended Brown University and the Hartt School of Music, ultimately receiving a DMA in music composition. She taught for fourteen years, ending her academic career at Oberlin College Conservatory. After which she moved to a dairy farm in Vermont, where she now resides as - [Symphony in E Minor, op. 32 (”Gaelic”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-in-e-minor-op-32-gaelic/) - Amy Beach was a remarkable woman by any measure. Without doubt she was this country’s first woman to have carved out an acclaimed musical career that equaled that of any important American male musician, and transcended most. She enjoyed a noteworthy life as a piano virtuoso, composer, and influential leader in music education, public music - [Overture in C Major](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-in-c-major/) - Fanny, of course, was the older sister (by four years) of Felix, and her musical talent was as remarkable as that of her brother. The two were inseparable in their youth, and spent their hours together pursuing their mutual interests in diverse activities. They were born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers, - [Shuo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/shuo/) - Chen Yi is a remarkable composer who has achieved worldwide acclaim for her many compositions--compositions that seek to reconcile--or at least convincingly meld--the very different musical styles of East and West. Born in Guangzhou, China in 1953, she studied violin early on, practicing surreptitiously with a mute upon the advent of the Cultural Revolution. Ultimately, - [Iubilo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/iubilo/) - Nabors is a busy young man. And justly so. His appealing music is garnering a flurry of performances around the country, including those by some of the august orchestras at the top tier of classical music. So much so, that his website has announced that he is no longer accepting commissions until he catches up - [Novelette, op. 52, No. 4](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/novelette-op-52-no-4/) - Taylor was an eminent British composer of the late nineteenth century. Born and bred in London and the vicinity, he enjoyed a highly successful career as both a prolific composer and an admired conductor during his relatively short life. He was the illegitimate son of a British woman and a mixed race Creole doctor from - [Concertino for Flute and Orchestra in D Major, op. 107](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concertino-for-flute-and-orchestra-in-d-major-op-107/) - Today, Cécile Chaminade’s flute concertino is a de rigueur composition for flautists everywhere, and generations of young pianists have played her little piano piece, Scarf Dance. Unfortunately, time is often cruel to artists, and many fine composers are remembered—if at all—for only one or two compositions. And so it is with Chaminade. Ironically, almost all - [Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, op. 25](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-1-g-minor-op-25/) - The Italian trip that inspired Mendelssohn's fourth symphony bore fruit in another significant way, for it was also the time of his first mature piano concerto, finished in 1831. Supposedly composed “hastily,” it was given its première in Munich in October of that year. There were several quite good student works composed in that genre - [Angelfire: “Fantasy” for Amplified Violin and Orchestra](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/angelfire-fantasy-amplified-violin-and-orchestra/) - Joseph Schwantner has been recognized as one of America’s important composers for many decades, now, and public accolades for his compositions have spanned over a half-century. A native of Michigan, he won his first award for composition at the age of sixteen. His first major work for orchestra, Aftertones of Infinity, garnered him a Pulitzer - [Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt, op. 27 (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/meeresstille-und-gluckliche-fahrt-op-27-calm-sea-and-prosperous-voyage/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny–also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. In addition to Mendelssohn’s remarkable, broad education in the liberal arts, he and Fanny studied music, of course. They matured - [Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op. 28 R 188](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/introduction-and-rondo-capriccioso-op-28/) - Camille Saint-Saëns lived a long life, and was remarkable for his wide-ranging intellectual interests and abilities. As a child he was, of course, a precocious musical talent, but even then he evinced a strong natural interest in almost every academic subject--including, but certainly not restricted to, astronomy, archaeology, mathematics, religion, Latin, and Greek. In addition - [Danse Bacchanale from Samson et Delilah, op. 47 R 288](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/danse-bacchanale-samson-et-delilah/) - Saint-Saëns worked on this opera for about ten years before its opening in Weimar, Germany in 1877. The pious French authorities would not permit a story from the bible on the operatic stage—nor would the English censors until 1909. The Bacchanale occurs at the very end of the opera, after all of the events of - [Cantata from Alexander Nevsky, op. 78](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/cantata-alexander-nevsky-op-78/) - Prokofiev and Dimitry Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union. Unlike Shostakovich, however, Prokofiev enjoyed part of his career living and composing in the West, returning to the USSR in 1936 voluntarily. Like his compatriot, he must be counted as one - [Symphony No. 39 in Eb Major, K. 543](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-39-eb-major-k-543/) - While Mozart had enjoyed some degree of success with his operas during the years leading up to 1788, by then he was again in deep financial trouble. His income from time to time was evidently encouraging, but he was notorious for his over-spending. So, there are extant some heart-rending letters to his friends, literally begging - [Transcend](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/transcend/) - Art is inescapably rooted in the experience of the artist—nationality, ethnicity, life events, gender, and much more—all contribute to the unique and personal perspectives that we value in the artistic vision. Today, our times—especially since the encounter of Western Europe with “orientalism” during the nineteenth century—have engendered closer and more vital connections with musical traditions - [Overture from Aristophanic Suite: “The Wasps”](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-aristophanic-suite-wasps/) - Ralph Vaughan Williams (incidentally, pronounced “Rayf, not Ralf”) is perhaps Britain’s most important and influential composer of the first half of the twentieth century. Prolific in most musical genres, he was an active composer from his student days right up until his death in 1958, at the age of eighty-six. He composed dozens of works - [Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 35](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/violin-concerto-d-major-op-35/) - Most probably, no composer other than Beethoven has enjoyed the popularity of that of Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His reputation has been secure since his early maturity, and yet, it is equally true that no other major modern composer has endured the distortions and indignities as that imposed upon his personality and personal life after his death. - [The Tempest, op. 18](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tempest-op-18/) - Most probably, no composer other than Beethoven has enjoyed the popularity of that of Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His reputation has been secure since his early maturity, and yet, it is equally true that no other major modern composer has endured the distortions and indignities as that imposed upon his personality and personal life after his death. - [Oboe Concerto in D Major, TrV 292](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/oboe-concerto-d-major-trv-292/) - Richard Strauss lived a long and productive life, striding across the musical landscape of Europe from teenage success to triumph in old age. He was the son of a prominent musician (one of the world’s great horn players), and wrote works in his youth that are still performed and admired. He married a well-respected soprano, - [Overture to The Bartered Bride](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-bartered-bride/) - Smetana’s most familiar composition is probably The Moldau, and now we encounter what is surely his other popular "hit”—and deservedly so. Smetana was the first great Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and—owing to the general trend towards nationalism during the late romantic period—the first significant Czech composer to integrate indigenous folk elements into his - [Symphonic Fanfares (A Festive Overture for Symphony Orchestra), op. 38](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphonic-fanfares-festive-overture-symphony-orchestra-op-38/) - Shchedrin is a distinguished contemporary Russian composer, whose active career since his graduation from the Moscow Conservatory in 1955 has led him to compose a large number of pieces in an varied field of genres. Operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber works, piano works, concertos, and vocal music—all have been his bailiwick. Sometimes it seems as though - [“Song to the Moon” from Rusalka B. 203](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/song-to-the-moon-from-rusalka/) - Dvořák is the preëminent Czech composer of the nineteenth century, and perhaps of all of his successors, as well. This is no small achievement, considering the number of great musicians--Mozart, for example—who thought of Bohemia as the most musical country in Europe. Even today, one can hardly get on a streetcar in Prague without stepping - [Symphony No. 1 in D Minor, H. I:1](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-d-minor-hob-i1-0/) - The symphony has been the major genre for orchestra since the eighteenth century. While its viability seemed questionable as the twentieth century waned, it still has its adherents among contemporary composers, and will probably survive, though not with the same universality and vitality as before. As one can well imagine, from its roots in the - [Clair de lune, L. 82](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/clair-de-lune-l75/) - While others, notably Franz Liszt, were on the forefront of stylistic change during the nineteenth century, it is surely Claude Debussy who forever established entirely new ways of thinking about the fundamental ways of defining and composing music in Western culture. More than anyone, he truly was the father of much of the philosophical basis - [The Second Viennese School](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/second-viennese-school/) - It is a commonplace, of course, in history to observe that there are times in which most aspects of life seem predictably to change little—whether economic, political, social, or artistic. Inevitably, there follow those times in which nothing is predictable and significant alterations in every facet of society seem to cascade, one upon the other, - [“È strano! / Ah, fors’ è lui / Sempre libera” from La traviata](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/e-strano-ah-fors-e-lui-sempre-libera-from-la-traviata/) - The nineteenth century was an opera-mad time. With most composers giving it a shot, simply because, as Willie Sutton famously said, “That’s where the money is.” And fame, too. However many were composed, the operatic field was dominated by two artists who still are at the top of the repertoire: Wagner and Verdi. But - [“Welche Wonne, welche Lust” from The Abduction from the Seraglio K. 384](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/welche-wonne-welche-lust-from-the-abduction-from-the-seraglio-k-384/) - Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) is the first of Mozart’s five mature and most famous operas, composed in 1781 for the Imperial Opera in Vienna and given its première there the next year, with the composer conducting. Like The Magic Flute, it is a Singspiel, that is, a German play, - [Short Ride in a Fast Machine](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/short-ride-in-a-fast-machine/) - Adams is perhaps the most important and distinguished American composer of our time. Many critics hail him as the clear successor to the mantle of Aaron Copland, and they have ample reason to do so. One respected writer deemed him “ . . . the exemplary American composer,” dismissing the music of Samuel Barber as - [Ge Xu (Antiphony)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/ge-xu-antiphony/) - Chen Yi is a remarkable composer who has achieved worldwide acclaim for her many compositions--compositions that seek to reconcile--or at least convincingly meld--the disparate musical styles of East and West. Born in Guangzhou, China in 1953, she studied violin early on, practicing surreptitiously with a mute during the privations of the Cultural Revolution. Ultimately, she - [Cello Concerto in B Minor, op. 104, B. 191](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/cello-concerto-b-minor-op-104-b-191/) - Completed in 1895, Dvořák’s cello concerto (actually his second for that instrument, but the first is an early work not nearly as popular as the second) was the last concerto that he composed. The concerto was not one of his favorite genres, notwithstanding his own ability as a public performer. The Violin Concerto in A - [Fingal's Cave Overture, op. 26 (Hebrides)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fingals-cave-overture-op-26/) - Mendelssohn was a prodigy, born into a distinguished family of Jewish bankers and philosophers. He and his sister Fanny--also a talented composer, conductor, and pianist—were raised in a warm, intellectual, highly supportive artistic family. They matured early, and a stream of musical compositions flowed from them both. Mendelssohn was clearly one of the most important - [Symphony No. 9 in E-Flat Major, op. 70](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-9-e-flat-major-op-70/) - Will the real Dmitri Shostakovich please hold up his hand—or at least the composer of Symphony No. 9? On no other major recent composer has more ink been spilt attempting to understand what thought processes and motivations reveal the true self than that on Shostakovich. The evidence is fought over, sifted, and re-sifted to build - [Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/fantasia-theme-thomas-tallis/) - Ralph Vaughan Williams (incidentally, pronounced: “Rayf, not Ralf”) is perhaps Britain’s most important and influential composer of the first half of the twentieth century. Prolific in most musical genres, he was an active composer from his student days right up until his death in 1958, at the age of eighty-six. He composed dozens of works - [Concerto for Two Pianos in E Major](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-two-pianos-e-major/) - In addition to Mendelssohn's remarkable, broad education in the liberal arts, he and Fanny studied music, of course. Their precociousness was recognized early on. Young Felix began piano lessons at the age of six—all four of the siblings studied piano. The family’s wealth and social position afforded them access to Europe’s outstanding teachers and performers, - [Festive Overture](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/festive-overture/) - Shostakovich is clearly regarded as one of the small group of the twentieth century’s most significant composers. Yet, on no other of his peers has more ink been spilt attempting to understand what thought processes and motivations reveal a composer’s own true self than that on Shostakovich. Was he a musically gifted, but incredibly naïve, - [Overture to the Barber of Seville](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-barber-seville/) - There are any numbers of great composers who have been able to produce overtures that entertain, lift the spirits, and bring musical “sizzle” to a symphony concert. But almost none excel those of Gioachino Rossini in sparkle, wit, and vivacity. Their droll wit, sly contrasts of mood, and careening drive to the end are simply - [Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-40-g-minor-k-550/) - While Mozart had enjoyed some degree of success with his operas during the years leading up to 1788, by then he was again in deep financial trouble. His income from time to time was evidently encouraging, but he was notorious for his over-spending. So, there are extant some heart-rending letters to his friends, literally begging - [Five Folksongs in Counterpoint](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/five-folksongs-counterpoint/) - Florence Price, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was a pioneer black American composer who distinguished herself early on. Most notably, she is remembered as the first black American woman to garner success as a composer of symphonic music. Her first symphony is perhaps her best-known work. Winner of a national prize, it was - [Concerto in D Major, op. 283](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-d-major-op-283/) - Public memory is cruel, and there are legions whose names were household words during their lifetimes, only to gradually fade into obscurity. Who today remembers folks like the formerly prominent Americans, Ida Tarbell, Edward Everett, and Father Coughlin, for example? And similarly the German composer, conductor, pedagogue, and pianist, Carl Reinecke. Influential in several musical - [An Outdoor Overture](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/outdoor-overture/) - By his very nature Copland was completely dedicated to the cause of the creation and encouragement of an indigenous American music—in every manifestation of the idea. So it came to pass that relatively early in his stylistic move to a more “accessible” musical style that explored American indigenous elements, he composed An Outdoor Overture. The - [Songs of a Wayfarer](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/songs-wayfarer/) - Gustav Mahler’s excruciating beautiful music is laden with the melancholy and presentiment of hopelessness that often infused late nineteenth-century Romanticism. His large-scale symphonic works often require large numbers of performers (in great variety), and can challenge the endurance of the audience, as well as that of the players. More recognized in his time as conductor - [Tales of Hemmingway](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tales-hemmingway/) - Suffice to say that Michael Daugherty and his musical style springs directly from the heart of contemporary American culture. He now occupies an esteemed position as Professor of Composition in the music school of the University of Michigan, and has written compositions for just about anybody and everybody in the “official” world of classical music - [The Red Pony](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/red-pony/) - Copland wrote the scores for eight films—including two documentaries—beginning in 1939. He was in the forefront of those who brought a modern musical style to a Hollywood that had been thoroughly dominated by pseudo-romantic film composers. His music for the film dramatization (1949—starring Myrna Loy and Robert Mitchum) of John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony was - [Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/robin-hood-prince-thieves/) - From 1991 we have Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which, while a box office success, was panned by the critics, but which was praised for the musical score by Michael Kamen. The picture’s theme song, “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” did win an Oscar for Best Original Song, but was composed by - [The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/lord-rings-fellowship-ring/) - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was a spectacular success from 2001 (earning almost a billion dollars in world-wide distribution), and was nominated for thirteen Oscars, including Best Original Score. Composer Howard Shore is a native of Toronto, with ten Oscars, Golden Globes, and Grammys to his credit. In addition to - [Concert Suite from Dances with Wolves](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concert-suite-dances-wolves/) - John Barry won an Oscar for his score to the 1990 film, Dances with Wolves, following a lifetime of successes familiar to us all, including eleven of the James Bond movies, Born Free, Out of Africa, The Lion in Winter, and Midnight Cowboy. He won five Academy Awards with his distinctive sound, owing much to - [Batman: The Dark Knight Rises](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/batman-dark-knight-rises/) - If there is a challenger to John Williams’ incredible record, it is certainly Hans Zimmer. Composer of over 150 film scores, his major successes include the various Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Gladiator, Dunkirk, Driving Miss Daisy, Rain Man, The Lion King, The Thin Red Line . . . well, you get the picture (sorry). - [Overture to Maskarade](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-maskarade/) - Carl Nielsen is now acknowledged as Denmark’s most distinguished composer, and more than deserving to take his place with Grieg and Sibelius in the pantheon of Scandinavia’s long-revered composers. It was not always so, of course, and it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that his music enjoyed broad admiration, study, and - ["Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/ich-bin-der-welt-abhanden-gekommen/) - As we all know, the world changed in permanent and profound ways shortly after Mahler’s death. In most respects the cataclysm of World War I was the turning point of modern history--all that was before passed away, and the horrors of the ensuing times began. Mahler’s introspection seems to understand that the “Guns of August” - [Lieutenant Kijé Suite, op. 60](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/lieutenant-kije-suite-op-60/) - Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the years of the Soviet Union. Unlike Shostakovich, however, Prokofiev enjoyed part of his career living and composing in the West, returning to the USSR in 1936 voluntarily. Like his compatriot, he must be counted as one - [Starburst](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/starburst/) - Montgomery is a native New Yorker, a graduate of the Juilliard School in violin performance, and holds a master’s degree from New York University in music composition. Her publications focus on various combinations of strings, and enjoy wide performance popularity with noted ensembles throughout the country. She is a devoted supporter of educational activities, and - [Huapango](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/huapango/) - Today, Moncayo is revered as one of the leading exponents of Mexican nationalism in musical style, important in the first half of the twentieth century. While his name is not as familiar to US audiences as perhaps that of Carlos Chávez and Silvestre Revueltas, he played an important part in the musical life of Mexico - [“Curse of the Black Pearl” from Pirates of the Caribbean](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/curse-black-pearl-pirates-caribbean/) - Music for films, whether by a pianist improvising for silent films, or those scored for full romantic-era orchestras, has always been an essential element in the medium. And film composers, and their individual paths to success, have varied remarkably over the years. From so-called “classical” composers such as Aaron Copland, Virgil Thompson, and a host - [Selections from The Perfect Fool, op. 39, H. 150](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/selections-perfect-fool/) - Gustav Holst is one of England’s most revered composers, creator of musical works in great variety: choral music, songs, band music, orchestral works, ballet, and more. His musical purview was remarkably diverse, and his compositions are frequently performed and appreciated in Great Britain. His popularity there bears comparison with his good friend and follow composer, - [Concerto for Two Clarinets in Eb, op. 35, P. III:3](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-two-clarinets-eb-op-35-p-iii3/) - Krommer was born in Moravia, but like so many artists from that time and place, he spent his career moving easily throughout the vast, multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire. That’s why his name, like that of everyone from Liszt to Stamitz was traditionally given in the German form. His real name was František Vincenc Kramář. Serving at - [Lyric for Strings](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/lyric-strings/) - An iconic figure among black American composers who worked in the classical field, Walker excelled marvelously in difficult times for men such as he. He was a native of Washington, DC, the son of a Jamaican immigrant. The first African-American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, he was educated at some of the - [Soul of Remembrance](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/soul-remembrance/) - Watkins is active not only as a composer, but also as a respected pianist in both jazz and classical circles. A native of Denver, Colorado, she was graduated from Howard University with a degree in music composition in Washington, D.C. in 1972. She established herself as a working jazz pianist there before moving to the - [Four Last Songs, TrV 296](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/four-last-songs-trv-296-0/) - Richard Strauss lived a long and productive life, striding across the musical landscape of Europe from teenage success to triumph in old age. He was the son of a prominent musician, one of the world’s great horn players, and wrote works in his youth that are still performed and admired. He married a well-respected soprano, - [Verklärte Nacht, op. 4](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/verklarte-nacht-op-4/) - While he was the leader of the musical revolution centered in Vienna in the early twentieth century, whose precepts led to completely new foundations for the composition of music, Arnold Schoenberg certainly possessed nothing of the personal aura of a revolutionary. Born into a poor family of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and almost completely self-taught as - [Five Movements, op. 5](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/five-movements-op-5/) - Unlike his fellow Schoenbergian acolyte, Alban Berg, Anton Webern was the more cerebral, quiet, and detached. While Berg is commonly thought of as more lyrical, comfortable in the larger forms of concerto and opera, Webern pursued a style of abstraction, brevity, and an almost mathematical precision of structure. He is known for his lightly orchestrated, - [Banner](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/banner/) - Montgomery is a native New Yorker, a graduate of the Juilliard School in violin performance, and holds a master’s degree from New York University in music composition. Her publications focus on various combinations of strings, and enjoy wide performance popularity with noted ensembles throughout the country. She is a devoted supporter of educational activities, and - [Hommage à Mozart](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/hommage-a-mozart/) - The music of Ibert is probably more familiar to music students and faculty, owing to his many contributions of interesting and apt chamber and solo instrumental compositions, as well as a large body of songs. But, American symphony audiences may well be familiar with his evergreen, early work Escales (Ports of Call), composed in a rather - [Symphony No. 3 in G Minor, op. 36](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-3-in-g-minor-op-36/) - Until recently Farrenc has been practically unknown to symphonic audiences—especially in this country--but in her time she was held in high regard in the first half of the nineteenth century in France. Unlike so many women composers of the past, she suffered little obscurity during her lifetime. She evinced immense talent early on as a - [Encuentros](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/encuentros/) - Zyman has been a member of the faculty at the Juilliard School since 1987 (as well as at Vanderbilt University for the last three years) and the composer of works performed widely, internationally. His more than seventy published compositions include chamber music, sonatas, symphonies, many concertos, vocal music, and a film score. Their variety is - [Adagietto](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/adagietto-0/) - Gustav Mahler’s excruciatingly beautiful music is laden with the melancholy and presentiment of hopelessness that often infused late nineteenth-century Romanticism. His large-scale symphonic works often require large numbers of performers (in great variety), and can challenge the endurance of the audience, as well as that of the players. More recognized in his time as conductor - [Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 (“Elvira Madigan”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-21-c-major-k-467-elvira-madigan-0/) - Mozart is largely responsible for the creation of the modern piano concerto, composing them primarily for himself to support his career as a performer. His spending habits consistently placed him in financial difficulties, and since he usually desperately needed to concertize, concertos were a natural solution. He composed some twenty-three of them, starting about 1767. - [Symphony No. 1 ("RiverRun")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-riverrun-0/) - Stephen Albert was an impressively talented American composer who studied with luminaries, achieved great recognition early on, and produced an impressive body of work before his untimely death at the age of fifty-one in 1992. That said, it does little justice at all to the remarkable musician and thoughtful human being that he was. His - [Chairman Dances: “Foxtrot for Orchestra”](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/chairman-dances-foxtrot-orchestra/) - This composition is a brilliant little piece that, despite its evident attractiveness, doesn’t quite convey the significance of its composer. Adams is perhaps the most important and distinguished composer of our time. Many critics hail him as the clear successor to the mantle of Aaron Copland, and they have ample reason to do so. One - [Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major, op. 83](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-2-bb-major-op-83/) - “This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. That’s taking - [Symphonic Dances, op. 45](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphonic-dances-op-45/) - Those who create art, whether in the performing arts or in the visual arts, inevitably find their personal “niche” in matters of style. And it is of little consequence whether or not their artistic orientation is a conscious personal choice, or one seemingly imposed by their audiences and by professional critics. Simply put, there are - [Central Coach Special](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/central-coach-special/) - Fiddle music, along so many other important indigenous musical styles in this country, is an integral part of our cultural heritage. And it comes in about as many distinct musical traditions as we have cultural and ethnic “folk.” But, central to the style is the repertoire and playing techniques that date back to seventeenth century - [Two Mountain Scenes](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/two-mountain-scenes/) - For over a century, now, and most especially for the last fifty years or so, there has existed a rather interesting difference between the receptivity of the lay public to contemporary visual art and to contemporary musical art. Today, there is almost a commercial “bubble” in the prices of, let’s say, contemporary painting—no matter how - [Symphony in C major](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-c-major/) - Georges Bizet was a genuine musical prodigy, whose talent was early and widely recognized, who studied with the best teachers and composers in France, who perhaps was the close equal of Liszt as a pianist, who won the Prix de Rome, and who composed perhaps the most popular opera of all time. And yet. His - [Danzon No. 2](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/danzon-no-2-0/) - A native of the Mexican state of Sonora, Márquez is known for his adroit incorporation of Mexican musical forms and styles into his compositions. One of Mexico’s eminent contemporary composers, he is widely popular with Latin Americans for the accessibility and attractiveness of his compositions. Recipient of an impressive list of honors, his recent works - [Tangents](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/tangents/) - An iconic figure among black American composers who worked in the classical field, Walker excelled marvelously in difficult times for men such as he. He was a native of Washington, DC, the son of a Jamaican immigrant. The first African-American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, he was educated at some of the - [Overture to The School for Scandal, op. 5](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-to-the-school-for-scandal-op-5/) - If any composer may truly be considered our national composer, Samuel Barber should surely be in the running. Notwithstanding the adulation of Aaron Copland’s populist music from the 1930s and 40s, most of the latter composer’s compositions in other musical styles are not well received by the American public--too dissonant and modern! On the other hand, - [Symphony in D Minor](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-in-d-minor/) - Franck, along with Saint-Saëns, must be considered the most important French musician in the second half of the nineteenth century. In this country concert halls have long been dominated by the hegemony of German-speaking composers, for a number of reasons. Berlioz, of course, is well known, but after that, a few compositions by Franck, Saint-Saëns, and others, - [Capriccio espagnol, op. 34](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/capriccio-espagnol-op-34/) - Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s career stood in the very center of Russian musical life of the second half of the nineteenth century. His first career was in the Russian navy, but he soon garnered success in music. Known primarily for his fifteen operas, he was instrumental in the rising importance of that genre in Russia. In - [Isle of the Dead, op. 29](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/isle-of-the-dead-op-29/) - Those who create art, whether in the performing arts or in the visual arts, inevitably find their personal “niche” in matters of style. And it is of little consequence whether or not their artistic orientation is a conscious personal choice, or one seemingly imposed by their audiences and by professional critics. Simply put, there are artists whose - [Concerto Grosso, op. 3, No. 11 in D Minor, RV 565](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/concerto-grosso-op-3-no-11-in-d-minor-rv-565/) - Antonio Vivaldi was the most important composer of the Italian Baroque period, although appreciation of that fact was slow in coming in later times. But, during his lifetime he was celebrated all over Europe, and his compositions were highly influential—mostly notably on J. S. Bach. He wrote almost fifty operas, but is remembered now for - [African Suite](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/african-suite/) - Sowande lived a remarkable life in music, both as performer and composer. Known as the “father” of Nigerian classical music, he was equally at home in jazz. He received a thorough music education in both his native country and later, in London, England. The son of a priest and college teacher, his early life in Nigeria was immersed - [Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K. 425 (“Linz”)](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-36-in-c-major-k-425-linz/) - In the crystalline perfection of Mozart’s works, pride of place must be given to his operas, non-pareil dramatic works that unified drama and music like none before or since. And secondarily, there are the piano concertos—a genre that Mozart more or less established in its mature guise. Then there are his symphonies. He wrote forty-one of them, and they span - [Overture to The Flying Dutchman](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/overture-to-the-flying-dutchman/) - The works of Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi together largely dominated the important world of nineteenth-century opera. But the two could not have been more different in almost every regard—save that of musical excellence. Verdi built simply upon the traditional elements of Italian opera and took them to new heights of dramatic artistry and coherence, gradually - [We Seven](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/we-seven/) - Jenkins is a young composer whose primary focus has been music for bands, although he has written a body of chamber music, as well. His compositions have been widely popular in the band and wind ensemble world, garnering him numerous prizes and broad recognition. A recipient of degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Rice University, - ["Un bel di, vedremo" from Madame Butterfly](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/un-bel-di-vedremo-from-madame-butterfly/) - Verdi, Mozart, and Puccini are the triumvirate of surely the most beloved opera composers of all time. And Madame Butterfly is by most accounts on the top ten listed of most frequently performed operas. It, and Puccini’s other three evergreen works--La bohème, Tosca, and Turandot—are all central to the operatic repertoire. Giacomo Puccini was born in 1858 in Lucca, Italy to a - [Helios Overture, op. 17](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/helios-overture-op-17/) - Carl Nielsen is now acknowledged as Denmark’s most distinguished composer, and more than deserving to take his place with Grieg and Sibelius in the pantheon of Scandinavia’s long-revered composers. It was not always so, of course, and it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that his music enjoyed broad admiration, study, and - [Mothership](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/mothership/) - Mason Bates is a young American composer known for his adroit blending of electronic resources into the traditional symphony orchestra medium. His highly acclaimed compositions for orchestra and “electronica” bear evocative titles such as Omnivorous Furniture, Rusty Air in Carolina, Desert Transport, and Music from Underground Spaces. Bates was graduated from both the Juilliard School and the University of - [“Ain’t it a pretty night” from Susannah](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/aint-it-a-pretty-night-from-susannah/) - Every since the inception of opera as an important genre in Western music, the subjects or “stories” that inform musical drama have largely focused on the exotic, the nobility, historical events, fantasy worlds, and in general, upon mysteries far removed from ordinary lives. That began to change more or less after WWI with the advent of - [Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major, op. 19](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/piano-concerto-no-2-in-bb-major-op-19/) - Of Beethoven’s five concertos for piano, the last three stand as immeasurably significant contributions to the genre. The first two are youthful works, No. 1 having been composed in 1795, three years after his removal from Bonn to Vienna. No. 2 was begun even earlier, around 1788, while he was still in Bonn, and only seventeen years - [Symphony No. 1 in D Major “Titan”](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-1-in-d-major-titan/) - When Gustav Mahler died in 1911, at the age of fifty-one, his years cut short by heart disease, by most measures he had enjoyed an enviable life and career. He was respected as one of the most effective and innovative of opera conductors; his leadership of some of the world’s most admired symphony orchestras had - [Symphony No. 2 in C minor, op. 17 ("Ukrainian")](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2-in-c-minor-op-17-ukrainian/) - The symphonies of Tchaikovsky clearly stand in the center of nineteenth-century orchestral repertoire. Beloved by audiences and musicians alike for more than a century, they were embraced enthusiastically from the onset. To be sure, there was a time when some commonly scoffed at what they perceived as the composer’s emotional theatrics and shallow playing to - [The Inheritors Overture](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/the-inheritors-overture/) - Loggins-Hull is one of the most successful of the new generation of young composers, and her musical style is a reflection of her diverse musical interests. During her youth she was exposed to all manner of music—classical, rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, electronic, acid jazz, and a “lot of - [The Inheritors Overture](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/the-inheritors-overture-2/) - Loggins-Hull is one of the most successful of the new generation of young composers, and her musical style is a reflection of her diverse musical interests. During her youth she was exposed to all manner of music—classical, rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, electronic, acid jazz, and a “lot of weird stuff.” She is clearly in the - [Holberg Suite, op. 40](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/holberg-suite-op-40/) - Edvard Grieg was the most significant Scandinavian composer during the years leading up to the beginning of the twentieth century. He was a prolific composer of songs and music for the piano--small lyric compositions being his obvious forte. In addition to his songs, he wrote a large number of choral works, many for unaccompanied male - [Quiet City](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/quiet-city/) - If there ever was an American “composer laureate,” then Aaron Copland is surely he. A native of Brooklyn, the son of Jewish immigrants of Lithuanian descent, he established what many call the “American Sound” in art music. He had gone to Paris, like so many during the 1920s, to study advanced composition, and his musical - [Symphony No. 2 in C minor, op. 17 "Ukrainian"](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/symphony-no-2-in-c-minor-op-17-ukrainian-2/) - The symphonies of Tchaikovsky clearly stand in the center of nineteenth-century orchestral repertoire. Beloved by audiences and musicians alike for more than a century, they were embraced enthusiastically from the onset. To be sure, there was a time when some commonly scoffed at what they perceived as the composer’s emotional theatrics and shallow playing to - [Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, op. 28 TrV 171](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note/till-eulenspiegels-lustige-streiche-op-28-trv-171/) - A precocious musician, Strauss benefitted from an outstanding family life that was immersed in music. He studied musical composition early on, was well grounded in all aspects of harmony, form, and orchestration, and participated in the orchestras that his father, the eminent horn player, conducted. By his teens a series of youthful symphonic works were ## Composers - [John Adams](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/johnadams/) - [Hugo Alfvén](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/hugoalfvn/) - [Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/carlphilippemanuelbach/) - [Johann Sebastian Bach](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/johannsebastianbach/) - [Anton Webern](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/antonwebern/) - [Samuel Barber](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/samuelbarber/) - [Béla Bartók](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/blabartk/) - [Mason Bates](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/masonbates/) - [Aaron Copland](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/aaroncopland/) - [Alan Hovhaness](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/alanhovhaness/) - [Alberto Ginastera](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/albertoginastera/) - [Aleksandr Borodin](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/alexanderborodin/) - [Alexander Glazunov](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/alexanderglazunov/) - [Allen Feinstein](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/allenfeinstein/) - [Anton Bruckner](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/antonbruckner/) - [Antonín Dvořák](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/antonndvok/) - [Antonio Salieri](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/antoniosalieri/) - [Antonio Vivaldi](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/antoniovivaldi/) - [Aram Khatchaturian](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/aramkhatchaturian/) - [Arturo Márquez](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/arturomrquez/) - [Bedřich Smetana](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/bedichsmetana/) - [Benjamin Britten](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/benjaminbritten/) - [Camille Saint-Saëns](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/camillesaint-sans/) - [Carl Maria von Weber](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/carlmariavonweber/) - [César Franck](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/csarfranck/) - [Chen Yi](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/chenyi/) - [Claude Debussy](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/claudedebussy/) - [Dmitri Kabalevsky](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/dmitrikabalevsky/) - [Dmitri Shostakovich](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/dmitrishostakovich/) - [Edouard Lalo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/edouardlalo/) - [Edvard Grieg](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/edvardgrieg/) - [Edward Elgar](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/edwardelgar/) - [Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/edwardkennedydukeellington/) - [Ellen Taaffe Zwilich](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ellentaaffezwilich/) - [Felix Mendelssohn](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/felixmendelssohn/) - [Ferde Grofé](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ferdegrof/) - [Francis Poulenc](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/francispoulenc/) - [Franz Liszt](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/franzliszt/) - [Franz Schubert](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/franzschubert/) - [George Enescu](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/georgeenescu/) - [George Frideric Handel](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/georgefriderichandel/) - [George Gershwin](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/georgegershwin/) - [Georges Bizet](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/georgesbizet/) - [Gioachino Rossini](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/gioachinorossini/) - [Giuseppe Verdi](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/giuseppeverdi/) - [Gustav Holst](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/gustavholst/) - [Gustav Mahler](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/gustavmahler/) - [Harold Farberman](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/haroldfarberman/) - [Hector Berlioz](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/hectorberlioz/) - [Heitor Villa-Lobos](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/heitorvilla-lobos/) - [Igor Stravinsky](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/igorstravinsky/) - [Jacques Offenbach](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jacquesoffenbach/) - [Jean Sibelius](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jeansibelius/) - [Jennifer Higdon](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jenniferhigdon/) - [Joaquín Rodrigo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/joaqunrodrigo/) - [Johann Strauss II](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/johannstraussii/) - [Johannes Brahms](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/johannesbrahms/) - [John Corigliano](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/johncorigliano/) - [John Williams](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/johnwilliams/) - [Joseph Schwantner](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/josephschwantner/) - [Launy Grøndahl](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/launygrndahl/) - [Leonard Bernstein](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/leonardbernstein/) - [Maurice Ravel](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/mauriceravel/) - [Max Bruch](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/maxbruch/) - [Michael Daugherty](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/michaeldaugherty/) - [Michael Gilbertson](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/michaelgilbertson/) - [Mikhail Glinka](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/mikhailglinka/) - [Modest Mussorgsky-Ravel](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/modestmussorgsky-ravel/) - [Niccolò Paganini](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/niccolpaganini/) - [Nkeiru Okoye](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/nkeiruokoye/) - [Ottorino Respighi](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ottorinorespighi/) - [Pablo de Sarasate](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/pablodesarasate/) - [Paul Hindemith](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/paulhindemith/) - [Percy A. Grainger](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/percyagrainger/) - [Richard Wagner](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/richardwagner/) - [Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/nikolairimsky-korsakov/) - [Robert Schumann](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/robertschumann/) - [Rodion Shchedrin](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/rodionshchedrin/) - [Russell Peck](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/russellpeck/) - [Sergei Prokofiev](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/sergeiprokofiev/) - [Sergei Rachmaninoff](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/sergeirachmaninoff/) - [William Grant Still](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/williamgrantstill/) - [William Schuman](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/williamschuman/) - [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/wolfgangamadeusmozart/) - [Zoltán Kodály](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/zoltnkodly/) - [Ludwig van Beethoven](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ludwigvanbeethoven/) - [Stephen Albert](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/stephenalbert/) - [Gabriel Fauré](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/gabrielfaur/) - [Philip Glass](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/philipglass/) - [Christopher Theofanides](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/christophertheofanides/) - [Christopher Rouse](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/christopherrouse/) - [Franz Krommer](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/franzkrommer/) - [Ernest Bloch](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ernestbloch/) - [Kevin Puts](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/kevinputs/) - [Richard Meyer](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/richardmeyer/) - [Calvin Custer](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/calvincuster/) - [Zhou Tian](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/zhoutian/) - [Carl Nielsen](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/carlnielsen/) - [Hans Zimmer](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/hanszimmer/) - [John Barry](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/johnbarry/) - [Howard Shore](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/howardshore/) - [Michael Kamen](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/michaelkamen/) - [Clara Schumann](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/claraschumann/) - [Alexey Shor](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/alexeyshor/) - [Béla Kovács](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/blakovcs/) - [Max Richter](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/maxrichter/) - [Michael Giacchino](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/michaelgiacchino/) - [James Horner](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jameshorner/) - [Takashi Yoshimatsu](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/takashiyoshimatsu/) - [Isaac Albéniz/Arnold](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/isaacalbnizarnold/) - [José Pablo Moncayo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jospablomoncayo/) - [Gabriela Frank](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/gabrielafrank/) - [Morton Gould](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/mortongould/) - [Modest Mussorgsky](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/modestmussorgsky/) - [Klaus Badelt/Ricketts](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/klausbadeltricketts/) - [Danny Elfman](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/dannyelfman/) - [Paul Dukas](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/pauldukas/) - [Manuel de Falla](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/manueldefalla/) - [Henryk Wieniawski](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/henrykwieniawski/) - [Adolphus Hailstork](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/adolphushailstork/) - [Anonymous](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/anonymous/) - [Hilary Tann](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/hilarytann/) - [Jacques Ibert](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jacquesibert/) - [James DeMars](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jamesdemars/) - [Zhou Long](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/zhoulong/) - [William Kraft](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/williamkraft/) - [Louise Farrenc](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/louisefarrenc/) - [Giovanni Gabrieli](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/giovannigabrieli/) - [Charles Gounod](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/charlesgounod/) - [Allison Loggins-Hull](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/allisonloggins-hull/) - [Jessie Montgomery](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jessiemontgomery/) - [Florence B. Price](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/florencebprice/) - [Carl Reinecke](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/carlreinecke/) - [George T. Walker](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/georgetwalker/) - [Mary Watkins](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/marywatkins/) - [Richard Strauss](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/richardstrauss/) - [Second Viennese School](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/secondvienneseschool/) - [Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/pyotrilyichtchaikovsky/) - [William Walton](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/williamwalton/) - [Ástor Piazzolla](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/storpiazzolla/) - [Astor Piazzolla/Desyatnikov](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/astorpiazzolladesyatnikov/) - [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ralphvaughanwilliams/) - [Chevalier de Saint-George](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/chevalierdesaint-george/) - [Joseph Haydn](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/josephhaydn/) - [Arnold Schoenberg](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/arnoldschoenberg/) - [Valerie Coleman](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/valeriecoleman/) - [Samuel Zyman](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/samuelzyman/) - [Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/coleridge-taylorperkinson/) - [Amy Beach](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/amybeach/) - [Fela Sowande](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/felasowande/) - [Derek Jenkins](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/derekjenkins/) - [Giacomo Puccini](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/giacomopuccini/) - [Carlisle Floyd](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/carlislefloyd/) - [Blake Tyson](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/blaketyson/) - [Tan Dun](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/tandun/) - [Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/jerodimpichchaachaahatate/) - [Carl Orff](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/carl-orff/) - [Joan Tower](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/joan-tower/) - [Oskar Morawetz](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/oskar-morawetz/) - [Hildegard von Bingen](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/hildegard-von-bingen/) - [Cécile Chaminade](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/cecile-chaminade/) - [Michi Wiancko](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/michi-wiancko/) - [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/samuel-coleridge-taylor/) - [Brian Raphael Nabors](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/brian-raphael-nabors/) - [Fanny Mendelssohn](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/fanny-mendelssohn/) - [Caroline Shaw](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/caroline-shaw/) - [Gwyneth Walker](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/gwyneth-walker/) - [Ruth Gipps](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ruth-gipps/) - [Charles Villiers Stanford](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/charles-villiers-stanford/) - [Charles Ives](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/charlesives/) - [Quinn Mason](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/quinn-mason/) - [Rhiannon Giddens](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/rhiannon-giddens/) - [Lalo Schifrin](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/lalo-schifrin/) - [Anna Clyne](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/annaclyne/) - [Paul Fetler](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/paulfetler/) - [Carlos Chavez](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/caroschavez/) - [Ruggero Leoncavallo](https://www.runyanprogramnotes.com/program_note_tax/ruggeroleoncavallo/)