8.571203 5 6 8.571203

Raymond Davis

Susan Gulkis Assadi

Seth Krimsky

Charles Butler

Gerard Schwarz

Seattle SymphonyThe Seattle Symphony, founded in 1903, has gained international prominence with more than 140 recordings, twelve GRAMMY® nominations, two Emmys and numerous other awards. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Seattle Symphony performs in one of the world’s fi nest concert venues – the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall – in downtown Seattle. Gerard Schwarz led the orchestra from 1985 to 2011, and is now Conductor Laureate. The Seattle Symphony is internationally recognized for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. From September through July, the Symphony is heard live by more than 315,000 people. For more information on the Seattle Symphony, visit www.seattlesymphony.org.

David RittDavid Ritt began studying the trombone at the age of nine. He attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and received his Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance in 1979. He joined the Singapore Symphony in 1978 and later played in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Indiana. He joined the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Opera as Principal Trombone in 1981, and moved to Second Trombone in 2004. He has played bass trumpet for Seattle Opera’s Wagner Ring cycle since 1982, a specialism which has also taken him on several occasions to New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

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Joining the Seattle Symphony in 1961, Raymond Davis appeared as soloist on several Seattle Symphony series and recordings during his career with the orchestra. Virtually self taught, Davis was accepted as a scholarship student at The Juilliard School. He served as Leonard Rose’s teaching assistant, and won the coveted Lalo Prize. Before coming to Seattle, he was principal cello of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the San Antonio Symphony.

Seattle Symphony Principal Viola Susan Gulkis Assadi enjoys a varied career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, soloist and teacher. She has appeared often as soloist with Seattle Symphony: most notably, she helped inaugurate Benaroya Hall with Yo-Yo Ma in Strauss’ Don Quixote; performed and recorded David Stock’s Viola Concerto (written for her); and played the West Coast premiere of Paul Schoenfi eld’s Viola Concerto. She also performs with the Seattle-based Music of Remembrance and the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Seth Krimsky joined the Seattle Symphony in 1986 and was appointed Principal Bassoon in 1990. He has made solo appearances in Los Angeles, NewYork, Tokyo, Capetown, Seattle, Tallahassee, Kallispell and San Diego. He is the former Principal Bassoon for the CAPAB Orchestra of Capetown, South Africa. He has also performed with the Mostly Mozart Orchestra of Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, The Long Beach Symphony and the Pasadena Symphony. Krimsky also composes, and is on faculty at the University of Washington and the Cornish College of the Arts.

Prior to serving as Principal Trumpet for the Seattle Symphony, Charles Butler served as Pincipal of the Israel Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta. He also has been Principal Trumpet for the Pacifi c Northwest Wagner Festival and the Santa Fe Opera Festival. Butler holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwest University, where he studied with Vincent Cichowicz and Adolf Herseth, Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony. He participated in several recordings that included works by Stravinsky Prokofi ev, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. He has served on the faculty of the Puget Sound School of Music.

Gerard Schwarz has a vast repertoire that includes major commitments to Germanic, Russian and American music. He was Music Director of the Seattle Symphony from 1985 to 2011. He currently serves as Seattle Symphony Conductor Laureate and Music Director of the Eastern Music Festival. Previously, he was Music Director of New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and New York Chamber Symphony, as well as Artistic Advisor to Tokyu Bunkamura with the Tokyo Philharmonic. His considerable discography of over 300 releases showcases his collaborations

with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the London Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Tokyo Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony and the Seattle Symphony, among others. Born to Viennese parents, Schwarz has served on the National Council on the Arts. He has received two Emmy Awards, thirteen GRAMMY® nominations, six ASCAP Awards, and numerous Stereo Review and Ovation Awards. In addition, he holds the Ditson Conductor’s Award from Columbia University, was the fi rst American named Conductor of the Year by Musical America, and has received numerous honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater, The Juilliard School. In 2002, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Schwarz with its Concert Music Award, and, in 2003, the Pacifi c Northwest branch of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences gave Schwarz its fi rst “IMPACT” lifetime achievement award.

SEATTLE SYMPHONYC O L L E C T I O NSEATTLE SYMPHONYC O L L E C T I O N

Seattle Symphony Gerard Schwarz

COPLAND

CRESTON

Suite From ‘Appalachian Spring’Symphonic Ode

Symphony No. 3 ‘Three Mysteries’

COPLANDAaron

CRESTONPaul

8.571203 2 3 8.571203 4 8.571203

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Suite from ‘Appalachian Spring’Born in Brooklyn, the fifth and youngest child of Russian–Jewish immigrants, Aaron Copland was introduced to music by one of his sisters. By the age of twenty, Copland had saved enough money to go to Paris, where he enrolled in the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau and studied composition with the renowned Nadia Boulanger. During his four years in Europe, Copland immersed himself in the wealth of both traditional and modern music that surrounded him and became determined to develop a sophisticated musical style that was recognizably American. The challenges of musical life in America between the World Wars required both flexibility and creativity, and Copland and his music evolved. His voice, however, remained consistent and recognizable, featuring contrasting meter and accent and tempering dissonant textures with a strong sense of tonality. By the late 1940s Copland was widely regarded as the foremost American composer of his time. The Suite from Appalachian Spring, the ballet composed for Martha Graham’s dance company in 1944, is the work that made Copland the first American composer to win global recognition and popularity. First performed on October 4, 1945, by Artur Rodzinski and the New York Philharmonic, the Suite received both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Critics’ Circle award, and is widely considered Copland’s most impressive achievement in what he called his ‘vernacular style.’ Copland said of Appalachian Spring: ‘…it was [Martha Graham’s] very personal manner that inspired the style of the music. Martha is rather prim and restrained, simple yet strong, and her dance style is correspondingly direct. One thinks of these qualities as being especially American and, thus, the character of

my score, which quotes only one actual folk tune, ‘Simple Gifts’, but which uses rhythms, harmonies and melodies that suggest an American ambiance.’ The official synopsis of the ballet reads: ‘a pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania Hills in the early part of the last [i.e., nineteenth] century. The bride-to-be and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive, their new domestic partnership invites. An older neighbor suggests, now and then, the rocky confidence of experience. A revivalist and his followers remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human fate. At the end the couple are left quiet and strong in their new house.’

Viola Roth

Symphonic OdeWhile Copland’s fame rests on the accessible Americana of Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, A Lincoln Portrait and other works written between the late 1930s and early 1950s, his output includes a number of works in a more challenging modernist vein. Among them is his Symphonic Ode, commissioned by conductor Serge Koussevitzky to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Boston Symphony gave the first performance in February 1932. Copland made some revisions to the score in 1956, creating the version we know today. In his autobiography, Copland explained: ‘The title Symphonic Ode is not meant to imply a connection with a literary idea. It is not an ode to anything in particular, but rather a spirit that is to be found in the music itself.’ The work embodied an attempt to ‘write a piece of music with an unbroken logic so thoroughly unified that the very

last note bears a relation to the first.’ That structural unity stems from the use of a single melodic idea as material for the entire work. The piece unfolds in one movement with five sections, alternating between slow and fast tempos. Each section is based on a melodic motif that Copland took from his 1926 Nocturne for violin and piano. In that work, the figure had a lyrical, bluesy character. But Copland transformed it so that, at the outset of Symphonic Ode and in the ensuing slow sections, it conveys a rugged grandeur. In the fast-paced portions of the piece, the figure is treated in unusual rhythms and frequently shifting meters. Although Symphonic Ode has never enjoyed widespread popularity, Copland held it in high regard. ‘I have always regarded the Symphonic Ode as an important work,’ he declared. ‘I tried hard for something there, and I feel that I succeeded in what I attempted.’

Paul Schiavo

Paul Creston (1906-1985)Symphony No. 3Paul Creston was born Giuseppe Guttoveggio in New York City in 1906. During his childhood Creston visited Sicily with his mother, where he was exposed to the folk-songs and dances of the Sicilian peasants and his love of music was awakened. Upon Creston’s return to the States, he persuaded his parents to let him begin music lessons. The precocious Creston quickly surpassed the abilities of his teacher and by the age of fourteen began to seek his own way. Along with other sons of immigrants, Walter Piston and Peter Mennin, young Giuseppe decided to ‘Americanise’ his name. While working as an errand-boy, and later as a bank-clerk and as insurance claim examiner, Creston would rise early and work late into the night, practising piano and composing. His first

employment as a musician occurred from 1926 to 1929, when he worked as a theater organist for silent movies. In 1933, Creston approached the composer Henry Cowell with his work Seven Theses for piano, and Cowell published the score as part of his New Music Quarterly. Cowell also arranged for Creston to perform his works in a composers’ forum recital at the New School for Social Research in October 1934. Following his debut, commissions and accolades came to the industrious, self-taught composer – two Guggenheim Fellowships in 1938 and 1939, the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Symphony No. 1 in 1941, the Music Award of the National Academy of Arts and Letters in 1943, and the Alice M. Ditson Award in 1945. His international fame spread and his music was, along with that of Gershwin, Barber and Harris, the most frequently performed abroad by an American composer. His work as a teacher provided him with the opportunity to set down his unique theories of music composition, especially rhythm, in his books Principles of Rhythm, Creative Harmony and a massive ten-volume compendium entitled Rhythmicon. By the late 1960s, Creston’s music began to fall into obscurity, losing favour to the more experimental works of the younger avant-garde composers. In 1984, Creston was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, and died in Poway, California on 24th August 1985. In his Symphony No. 3 Creston expressed his deep religious feelings in an orchestral Life of Christ. Premiered by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on 27th October 1950, virtually all of the major themes are derived from or inspired by Gregorian chant. The symphony opens with a poetic evocation of night. The movement’s main theme is introduced by the horn and is derived from an ancient Gregorian Alleluia. A more dance-like episode follows, with the horn continuing its development of the Alleluia theme, answered antiphonally by the winds. This is followed by a more pastoral episode,

featuring solos from the woodwind. The dance material reappears, ending with a series of joyous restatements of the Alleluia theme. The second movement, The Crucifixion, begins with ominous chords in the lower brass and winds, over which a tender melody on the cello is played. A brief, outburst from the full orchestra is followed by an ostinato, in which an atmosphere of hushed tragedy is established. A solemn melody played on the oboe and later by the strings, building in intensity, becomes a militaristic trudging throughout the orchestra and the movement closes with a fragile restatement of the chant-like melody in violin harmonics. A shimmer of high strings open The

Resurrection, as another chant-inspired melody rises out of the cellos and basses. Regal horns harmonize the chant, which is then played on trumpet with the accompaniment of a harp. A faster, antiphonal passage between woodwinds and strings leads to a livelier section with hushed, murmuring strings playing as the chant is taken up and fragmented in the wind and brass. The movement ends with a glorious statement of the chant, harmonized in the brass, while the violins hover excitedly in their upper register.

Joshua Cheek

Also available:

8.571205 8.571206

8.571203 2 3 8.571203 4 8.571203

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Suite from ‘Appalachian Spring’Born in Brooklyn, the fifth and youngest child of Russian–Jewish immigrants, Aaron Copland was introduced to music by one of his sisters. By the age of twenty, Copland had saved enough money to go to Paris, where he enrolled in the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau and studied composition with the renowned Nadia Boulanger. During his four years in Europe, Copland immersed himself in the wealth of both traditional and modern music that surrounded him and became determined to develop a sophisticated musical style that was recognizably American. The challenges of musical life in America between the World Wars required both flexibility and creativity, and Copland and his music evolved. His voice, however, remained consistent and recognizable, featuring contrasting meter and accent and tempering dissonant textures with a strong sense of tonality. By the late 1940s Copland was widely regarded as the foremost American composer of his time. The Suite from Appalachian Spring, the ballet composed for Martha Graham’s dance company in 1944, is the work that made Copland the first American composer to win global recognition and popularity. First performed on October 4, 1945, by Artur Rodzinski and the New York Philharmonic, the Suite received both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Critics’ Circle award, and is widely considered Copland’s most impressive achievement in what he called his ‘vernacular style.’ Copland said of Appalachian Spring: ‘…it was [Martha Graham’s] very personal manner that inspired the style of the music. Martha is rather prim and restrained, simple yet strong, and her dance style is correspondingly direct. One thinks of these qualities as being especially American and, thus, the character of

my score, which quotes only one actual folk tune, ‘Simple Gifts’, but which uses rhythms, harmonies and melodies that suggest an American ambiance.’ The official synopsis of the ballet reads: ‘a pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania Hills in the early part of the last [i.e., nineteenth] century. The bride-to-be and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive, their new domestic partnership invites. An older neighbor suggests, now and then, the rocky confidence of experience. A revivalist and his followers remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human fate. At the end the couple are left quiet and strong in their new house.’

Viola Roth

Symphonic OdeWhile Copland’s fame rests on the accessible Americana of Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, A Lincoln Portrait and other works written between the late 1930s and early 1950s, his output includes a number of works in a more challenging modernist vein. Among them is his Symphonic Ode, commissioned by conductor Serge Koussevitzky to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Boston Symphony gave the first performance in February 1932. Copland made some revisions to the score in 1956, creating the version we know today. In his autobiography, Copland explained: ‘The title Symphonic Ode is not meant to imply a connection with a literary idea. It is not an ode to anything in particular, but rather a spirit that is to be found in the music itself.’ The work embodied an attempt to ‘write a piece of music with an unbroken logic so thoroughly unified that the very

last note bears a relation to the first.’ That structural unity stems from the use of a single melodic idea as material for the entire work. The piece unfolds in one movement with five sections, alternating between slow and fast tempos. Each section is based on a melodic motif that Copland took from his 1926 Nocturne for violin and piano. In that work, the figure had a lyrical, bluesy character. But Copland transformed it so that, at the outset of Symphonic Ode and in the ensuing slow sections, it conveys a rugged grandeur. In the fast-paced portions of the piece, the figure is treated in unusual rhythms and frequently shifting meters. Although Symphonic Ode has never enjoyed widespread popularity, Copland held it in high regard. ‘I have always regarded the Symphonic Ode as an important work,’ he declared. ‘I tried hard for something there, and I feel that I succeeded in what I attempted.’

Paul Schiavo

Paul Creston (1906-1985)Symphony No. 3Paul Creston was born Giuseppe Guttoveggio in New York City in 1906. During his childhood Creston visited Sicily with his mother, where he was exposed to the folk-songs and dances of the Sicilian peasants and his love of music was awakened. Upon Creston’s return to the States, he persuaded his parents to let him begin music lessons. The precocious Creston quickly surpassed the abilities of his teacher and by the age of fourteen began to seek his own way. Along with other sons of immigrants, Walter Piston and Peter Mennin, young Giuseppe decided to ‘Americanise’ his name. While working as an errand-boy, and later as a bank-clerk and as insurance claim examiner, Creston would rise early and work late into the night, practising piano and composing. His first

employment as a musician occurred from 1926 to 1929, when he worked as a theater organist for silent movies. In 1933, Creston approached the composer Henry Cowell with his work Seven Theses for piano, and Cowell published the score as part of his New Music Quarterly. Cowell also arranged for Creston to perform his works in a composers’ forum recital at the New School for Social Research in October 1934. Following his debut, commissions and accolades came to the industrious, self-taught composer – two Guggenheim Fellowships in 1938 and 1939, the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Symphony No. 1 in 1941, the Music Award of the National Academy of Arts and Letters in 1943, and the Alice M. Ditson Award in 1945. His international fame spread and his music was, along with that of Gershwin, Barber and Harris, the most frequently performed abroad by an American composer. His work as a teacher provided him with the opportunity to set down his unique theories of music composition, especially rhythm, in his books Principles of Rhythm, Creative Harmony and a massive ten-volume compendium entitled Rhythmicon. By the late 1960s, Creston’s music began to fall into obscurity, losing favour to the more experimental works of the younger avant-garde composers. In 1984, Creston was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, and died in Poway, California on 24th August 1985. In his Symphony No. 3 Creston expressed his deep religious feelings in an orchestral Life of Christ. Premiered by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on 27th October 1950, virtually all of the major themes are derived from or inspired by Gregorian chant. The symphony opens with a poetic evocation of night. The movement’s main theme is introduced by the horn and is derived from an ancient Gregorian Alleluia. A more dance-like episode follows, with the horn continuing its development of the Alleluia theme, answered antiphonally by the winds. This is followed by a more pastoral episode,

featuring solos from the woodwind. The dance material reappears, ending with a series of joyous restatements of the Alleluia theme. The second movement, The Crucifixion, begins with ominous chords in the lower brass and winds, over which a tender melody on the cello is played. A brief, outburst from the full orchestra is followed by an ostinato, in which an atmosphere of hushed tragedy is established. A solemn melody played on the oboe and later by the strings, building in intensity, becomes a militaristic trudging throughout the orchestra and the movement closes with a fragile restatement of the chant-like melody in violin harmonics. A shimmer of high strings open The

Resurrection, as another chant-inspired melody rises out of the cellos and basses. Regal horns harmonize the chant, which is then played on trumpet with the accompaniment of a harp. A faster, antiphonal passage between woodwinds and strings leads to a livelier section with hushed, murmuring strings playing as the chant is taken up and fragmented in the wind and brass. The movement ends with a glorious statement of the chant, harmonized in the brass, while the violins hover excitedly in their upper register.

Joshua Cheek

Also available:

8.571205 8.571206

8.571203 2 3 8.571203 4 8.571203

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Suite from ‘Appalachian Spring’Born in Brooklyn, the fifth and youngest child of Russian–Jewish immigrants, Aaron Copland was introduced to music by one of his sisters. By the age of twenty, Copland had saved enough money to go to Paris, where he enrolled in the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau and studied composition with the renowned Nadia Boulanger. During his four years in Europe, Copland immersed himself in the wealth of both traditional and modern music that surrounded him and became determined to develop a sophisticated musical style that was recognizably American. The challenges of musical life in America between the World Wars required both flexibility and creativity, and Copland and his music evolved. His voice, however, remained consistent and recognizable, featuring contrasting meter and accent and tempering dissonant textures with a strong sense of tonality. By the late 1940s Copland was widely regarded as the foremost American composer of his time. The Suite from Appalachian Spring, the ballet composed for Martha Graham’s dance company in 1944, is the work that made Copland the first American composer to win global recognition and popularity. First performed on October 4, 1945, by Artur Rodzinski and the New York Philharmonic, the Suite received both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Critics’ Circle award, and is widely considered Copland’s most impressive achievement in what he called his ‘vernacular style.’ Copland said of Appalachian Spring: ‘…it was [Martha Graham’s] very personal manner that inspired the style of the music. Martha is rather prim and restrained, simple yet strong, and her dance style is correspondingly direct. One thinks of these qualities as being especially American and, thus, the character of

my score, which quotes only one actual folk tune, ‘Simple Gifts’, but which uses rhythms, harmonies and melodies that suggest an American ambiance.’ The official synopsis of the ballet reads: ‘a pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania Hills in the early part of the last [i.e., nineteenth] century. The bride-to-be and the young farmer-husband enact the emotions, joyful and apprehensive, their new domestic partnership invites. An older neighbor suggests, now and then, the rocky confidence of experience. A revivalist and his followers remind the new householders of the strange and terrible aspects of human fate. At the end the couple are left quiet and strong in their new house.’

Viola Roth

Symphonic OdeWhile Copland’s fame rests on the accessible Americana of Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, A Lincoln Portrait and other works written between the late 1930s and early 1950s, his output includes a number of works in a more challenging modernist vein. Among them is his Symphonic Ode, commissioned by conductor Serge Koussevitzky to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Boston Symphony gave the first performance in February 1932. Copland made some revisions to the score in 1956, creating the version we know today. In his autobiography, Copland explained: ‘The title Symphonic Ode is not meant to imply a connection with a literary idea. It is not an ode to anything in particular, but rather a spirit that is to be found in the music itself.’ The work embodied an attempt to ‘write a piece of music with an unbroken logic so thoroughly unified that the very

last note bears a relation to the first.’ That structural unity stems from the use of a single melodic idea as material for the entire work. The piece unfolds in one movement with five sections, alternating between slow and fast tempos. Each section is based on a melodic motif that Copland took from his 1926 Nocturne for violin and piano. In that work, the figure had a lyrical, bluesy character. But Copland transformed it so that, at the outset of Symphonic Ode and in the ensuing slow sections, it conveys a rugged grandeur. In the fast-paced portions of the piece, the figure is treated in unusual rhythms and frequently shifting meters. Although Symphonic Ode has never enjoyed widespread popularity, Copland held it in high regard. ‘I have always regarded the Symphonic Ode as an important work,’ he declared. ‘I tried hard for something there, and I feel that I succeeded in what I attempted.’

Paul Schiavo

Paul Creston (1906-1985)Symphony No. 3Paul Creston was born Giuseppe Guttoveggio in New York City in 1906. During his childhood Creston visited Sicily with his mother, where he was exposed to the folk-songs and dances of the Sicilian peasants and his love of music was awakened. Upon Creston’s return to the States, he persuaded his parents to let him begin music lessons. The precocious Creston quickly surpassed the abilities of his teacher and by the age of fourteen began to seek his own way. Along with other sons of immigrants, Walter Piston and Peter Mennin, young Giuseppe decided to ‘Americanise’ his name. While working as an errand-boy, and later as a bank-clerk and as insurance claim examiner, Creston would rise early and work late into the night, practising piano and composing. His first

employment as a musician occurred from 1926 to 1929, when he worked as a theater organist for silent movies. In 1933, Creston approached the composer Henry Cowell with his work Seven Theses for piano, and Cowell published the score as part of his New Music Quarterly. Cowell also arranged for Creston to perform his works in a composers’ forum recital at the New School for Social Research in October 1934. Following his debut, commissions and accolades came to the industrious, self-taught composer – two Guggenheim Fellowships in 1938 and 1939, the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Symphony No. 1 in 1941, the Music Award of the National Academy of Arts and Letters in 1943, and the Alice M. Ditson Award in 1945. His international fame spread and his music was, along with that of Gershwin, Barber and Harris, the most frequently performed abroad by an American composer. His work as a teacher provided him with the opportunity to set down his unique theories of music composition, especially rhythm, in his books Principles of Rhythm, Creative Harmony and a massive ten-volume compendium entitled Rhythmicon. By the late 1960s, Creston’s music began to fall into obscurity, losing favour to the more experimental works of the younger avant-garde composers. In 1984, Creston was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, and died in Poway, California on 24th August 1985. In his Symphony No. 3 Creston expressed his deep religious feelings in an orchestral Life of Christ. Premiered by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on 27th October 1950, virtually all of the major themes are derived from or inspired by Gregorian chant. The symphony opens with a poetic evocation of night. The movement’s main theme is introduced by the horn and is derived from an ancient Gregorian Alleluia. A more dance-like episode follows, with the horn continuing its development of the Alleluia theme, answered antiphonally by the winds. This is followed by a more pastoral episode,

featuring solos from the woodwind. The dance material reappears, ending with a series of joyous restatements of the Alleluia theme. The second movement, The Crucifixion, begins with ominous chords in the lower brass and winds, over which a tender melody on the cello is played. A brief, outburst from the full orchestra is followed by an ostinato, in which an atmosphere of hushed tragedy is established. A solemn melody played on the oboe and later by the strings, building in intensity, becomes a militaristic trudging throughout the orchestra and the movement closes with a fragile restatement of the chant-like melody in violin harmonics. A shimmer of high strings open The

Resurrection, as another chant-inspired melody rises out of the cellos and basses. Regal horns harmonize the chant, which is then played on trumpet with the accompaniment of a harp. A faster, antiphonal passage between woodwinds and strings leads to a livelier section with hushed, murmuring strings playing as the chant is taken up and fragmented in the wind and brass. The movement ends with a glorious statement of the chant, harmonized in the brass, while the violins hover excitedly in their upper register.

Joshua Cheek

Also available:

8.571205 8.571206

8.571203 5 6 8.571203

Raymond Davis

Susan Gulkis Assadi

Seth Krimsky

Charles Butler

Gerard Schwarz

Seattle SymphonyThe Seattle Symphony, founded in 1903, has gained international prominence with more than 140 recordings, twelve GRAMMY® nominations, two Emmys and numerous other awards. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Seattle Symphony performs in one of the world’s fi nest concert venues – the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall – in downtown Seattle. Gerard Schwarz led the orchestra from 1985 to 2011, and is now Conductor Laureate. The Seattle Symphony is internationally recognized for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. From September through July, the Symphony is heard live by more than 315,000 people. For more information on the Seattle Symphony, visit www.seattlesymphony.org.

David RittDavid Ritt began studying the trombone at the age of nine. He attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and received his Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance in 1979. He joined the Singapore Symphony in 1978 and later played in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Indiana. He joined the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Opera as Principal Trombone in 1981, and moved to Second Trombone in 2004. He has played bass trumpet for Seattle Opera’s Wagner Ring cycle since 1982, a specialism which has also taken him on several occasions to New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

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Joining the Seattle Symphony in 1961, Raymond Davis appeared as soloist on several Seattle Symphony series and recordings during his career with the orchestra. Virtually self taught, Davis was accepted as a scholarship student at The Juilliard School. He served as Leonard Rose’s teaching assistant, and won the coveted Lalo Prize. Before coming to Seattle, he was principal cello of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the San Antonio Symphony.

Seattle Symphony Principal Viola Susan Gulkis Assadi enjoys a varied career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, soloist and teacher. She has appeared often as soloist with Seattle Symphony: most notably, she helped inaugurate Benaroya Hall with Yo-Yo Ma in Strauss’ Don Quixote; performed and recorded David Stock’s Viola Concerto (written for her); and played the West Coast premiere of Paul Schoenfi eld’s Viola Concerto. She also performs with the Seattle-based Music of Remembrance and the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Seth Krimsky joined the Seattle Symphony in 1986 and was appointed Principal Bassoon in 1990. He has made solo appearances in Los Angeles, NewYork, Tokyo, Capetown, Seattle, Tallahassee, Kallispell and San Diego. He is the former Principal Bassoon for the CAPAB Orchestra of Capetown, South Africa. He has also performed with the Mostly Mozart Orchestra of Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, The Long Beach Symphony and the Pasadena Symphony. Krimsky also composes, and is on faculty at the University of Washington and the Cornish College of the Arts.

Prior to serving as Principal Trumpet for the Seattle Symphony, Charles Butler served as Pincipal of the Israel Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta. He also has been Principal Trumpet for the Pacifi c Northwest Wagner Festival and the Santa Fe Opera Festival. Butler holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwest University, where he studied with Vincent Cichowicz and Adolf Herseth, Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony. He participated in several recordings that included works by Stravinsky Prokofi ev, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. He has served on the faculty of the Puget Sound School of Music.

Gerard Schwarz has a vast repertoire that includes major commitments to Germanic, Russian and American music. He was Music Director of the Seattle Symphony from 1985 to 2011. He currently serves as Seattle Symphony Conductor Laureate and Music Director of the Eastern Music Festival. Previously, he was Music Director of New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and New York Chamber Symphony, as well as Artistic Advisor to Tokyu Bunkamura with the Tokyo Philharmonic. His considerable discography of over 300 releases showcases his collaborations

with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the London Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Tokyo Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony and the Seattle Symphony, among others. Born to Viennese parents, Schwarz has served on the National Council on the Arts. He has received two Emmy Awards, thirteen GRAMMY® nominations, six ASCAP Awards, and numerous Stereo Review and Ovation Awards. In addition, he holds the Ditson Conductor’s Award from Columbia University, was the fi rst American named Conductor of the Year by Musical America, and has received numerous honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater, The Juilliard School. In 2002, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Schwarz with its Concert Music Award, and, in 2003, the Pacifi c Northwest branch of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences gave Schwarz its fi rst “IMPACT” lifetime achievement award.

SEATTLE SYMPHONYC O L L E C T I O NSEATTLE SYMPHONYC O L L E C T I O N

Seattle Symphony Gerard Schwarz

COPLAND

CRESTON

Suite From ‘Appalachian Spring’Symphonic Ode

Symphony No. 3 ‘Three Mysteries’

COPLANDAaron

CRESTONPaul

8.571203 5 6 8.571203

Raymond Davis

Susan Gulkis Assadi

Seth Krimsky

Charles Butler

Gerard Schwarz

Seattle SymphonyThe Seattle Symphony, founded in 1903, has gained international prominence with more than 140 recordings, twelve GRAMMY® nominations, two Emmys and numerous other awards. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Seattle Symphony performs in one of the world’s fi nest concert venues – the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall – in downtown Seattle. Gerard Schwarz led the orchestra from 1985 to 2011, and is now Conductor Laureate. The Seattle Symphony is internationally recognized for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. From September through July, the Symphony is heard live by more than 315,000 people. For more information on the Seattle Symphony, visit www.seattlesymphony.org.

David RittDavid Ritt began studying the trombone at the age of nine. He attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and received his Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance in 1979. He joined the Singapore Symphony in 1978 and later played in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Indiana. He joined the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Opera as Principal Trombone in 1981, and moved to Second Trombone in 2004. He has played bass trumpet for Seattle Opera’s Wagner Ring cycle since 1982, a specialism which has also taken him on several occasions to New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

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Joining the Seattle Symphony in 1961, Raymond Davis appeared as soloist on several Seattle Symphony series and recordings during his career with the orchestra. Virtually self taught, Davis was accepted as a scholarship student at The Juilliard School. He served as Leonard Rose’s teaching assistant, and won the coveted Lalo Prize. Before coming to Seattle, he was principal cello of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and the San Antonio Symphony.

Seattle Symphony Principal Viola Susan Gulkis Assadi enjoys a varied career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, soloist and teacher. She has appeared often as soloist with Seattle Symphony: most notably, she helped inaugurate Benaroya Hall with Yo-Yo Ma in Strauss’ Don Quixote; performed and recorded David Stock’s Viola Concerto (written for her); and played the West Coast premiere of Paul Schoenfi eld’s Viola Concerto. She also performs with the Seattle-based Music of Remembrance and the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Seth Krimsky joined the Seattle Symphony in 1986 and was appointed Principal Bassoon in 1990. He has made solo appearances in Los Angeles, NewYork, Tokyo, Capetown, Seattle, Tallahassee, Kallispell and San Diego. He is the former Principal Bassoon for the CAPAB Orchestra of Capetown, South Africa. He has also performed with the Mostly Mozart Orchestra of Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, The Long Beach Symphony and the Pasadena Symphony. Krimsky also composes, and is on faculty at the University of Washington and the Cornish College of the Arts.

Prior to serving as Principal Trumpet for the Seattle Symphony, Charles Butler served as Pincipal of the Israel Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta. He also has been Principal Trumpet for the Pacifi c Northwest Wagner Festival and the Santa Fe Opera Festival. Butler holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwest University, where he studied with Vincent Cichowicz and Adolf Herseth, Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony. He participated in several recordings that included works by Stravinsky Prokofi ev, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. He has served on the faculty of the Puget Sound School of Music.

Gerard Schwarz has a vast repertoire that includes major commitments to Germanic, Russian and American music. He was Music Director of the Seattle Symphony from 1985 to 2011. He currently serves as Seattle Symphony Conductor Laureate and Music Director of the Eastern Music Festival. Previously, he was Music Director of New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and New York Chamber Symphony, as well as Artistic Advisor to Tokyu Bunkamura with the Tokyo Philharmonic. His considerable discography of over 300 releases showcases his collaborations

with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the London Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Tokyo Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony and the Seattle Symphony, among others. Born to Viennese parents, Schwarz has served on the National Council on the Arts. He has received two Emmy Awards, thirteen GRAMMY® nominations, six ASCAP Awards, and numerous Stereo Review and Ovation Awards. In addition, he holds the Ditson Conductor’s Award from Columbia University, was the fi rst American named Conductor of the Year by Musical America, and has received numerous honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater, The Juilliard School. In 2002, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Schwarz with its Concert Music Award, and, in 2003, the Pacifi c Northwest branch of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences gave Schwarz its fi rst “IMPACT” lifetime achievement award.

SEATTLE SYMPHONYC O L L E C T I O NSEATTLE SYMPHONYC O L L E C T I O N

Seattle Symphony Gerard Schwarz

COPLAND

CRESTON

Suite From ‘Appalachian Spring’Symphonic Ode

Symphony No. 3 ‘Three Mysteries’

COPLANDAaron

CRESTONPaul

Also available:

8.571201 8.571202

8.559708 8.572741

BACHOrchestral transcriptions by

Respighi and Elgar

Tre Corali • Sonata in E minorPrelude and Fugue in D major • Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor

Fantasia and Fugue in C minor

Seattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz

SEATTLE SYMPHONYC O L L E C T I O N

NAXOS

NAXOS

Aaron Copland’s suite from the ballet Appalachian Spring won him a Pulitzer Prize and global recognition. The famous Quaker song ‘Simple Gifts’ and the American ambience of this suite contrast with the more modernist Symphonic Ode, which conveys rugged grandeur through an uncompromising structural unity. Neglected since the late 1960s, Paul Creston’s music was once amongst the most frequently performed of any American composer. His poetic Symphony No. 3 is an orchestral Life of Christ, movingly expressed through themes inspired by Gregorian chant.

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Playing Time70:28

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℗ 1992, 1995 &

© 2012

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ights International Ltd.

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COPLAND: Suite from ‘Appalachian Spring’ • Symphonic Ode CRESTON: Symphony No. 3

COPLAND: Suite from ‘Appalachian Spring’ • Symphonic Ode CRESTON: Symphony No. 3

David Ritt, Trombone • Raymond Davis, Cello Susan Gulkis Assadi, Viola • Seth Krimsky, Bassoon

Charles Butler, TrumpetSeattle Symphony • Gerard Schwarz

Recorded on 22 November 1994 (Suite from Appalachian Spring); 2 June 1993 (Symphonic Ode) and 6-7 January 1992 (Symphony No. 3) at the Seattle Center Opera House, USA

Executive Producer: Amelia S. Haygood • Recording Producer: Adam Stern • Recording Engineer: John M Eargle • Assistant Engineers: Al Swanson (Suite from Appalachian Spring, Symphony No. 3),

Li Teo (Symphony No. 3) & Peter McCracken (Suite from Appalachian Spring, Symphonic Ode)Booklet notes: Viola Roth, Paul Schiavo & Joshua Cheek

Cover photo & inlay photo of Gerard Schwarz by Ben VanHouten

8.571203

8.571203

1 Suite from ‘Appalachian Spring’ 24:272 Symphonic Ode 19:55

Aaron COPLAND

(1900-1990)

PaulCRESTON

(1906-1985)Symphony No. 3, Op. 48 ‘Three Mysteries’ 26:063 I. The Nativity (Lento; Allegro moderato) 9:324 II. The Crucifixion (Adagio) 8:425 III. The Resurrection (Lento moderato; Allegro ma calmo) 7:52

Publishers: Boosey & Hawkes (Copland); G. Schirmer (Creston)