presents

SAINT LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Leonard Slatkin, Music Director and Conductor

Catherine Comet, Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductor

103rd Season, 1982-1983

Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80

Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a

Intermission

Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 97 (the "Rhenish")*

Vivace Scherzo: Molto moderator Moderate Maes to so Vivace

Friday, March 25, 1983

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Robert Schumann

[a THIS CONCERT IS MADE POSSIBLE, IN PART, BY A GRANT FROM THE MISSOURI ARTS COUNCIL

TELARC, Moss Music Group, Nonesuch, New World Records Steinway Piano

David J. Hyslop, Executive Director Joan T. Briccetti, Manager

*Recorded by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra ·

In 1880, one hundred thirty six years after the founding of St. Louis, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra was established. The orchestra, which holds the distinction of being only second in age to New York's Philhannonic (1842) among surviving American orchestras, was organized originally as the St. Louis Ch_oral Society by a young Gennan irrmigrant. For many years of its existence, the ensemble served its corrmunity well and acted as host to internationally prominent guest artists and conductors without itself acquiring a national reputation to rival other American orchestras. In the past twenty-five years, however, through an increasingly amibitious schedule of recording, tour­ing, radio broadcasting, and hometown concert life, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra has taken a place among our country's nost respected. Its current Music Di rector and Conductor Leonard Slatkin--the orchestra's first American-born leader--has garnered high praise since he accepted its baton in 1979.

Recent activities that have added luster to the symphony's long tradition include the acquisition of its own home--the lavishly renovated vaudeville theater renamed Powell Symphony Hall--in 1968, its first European tour in 1978, and the gala festivities surrounding its centennial during the 1979-1980 season. Now, in i ts 103rd season, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra represents the finest attributes of contemporary American orchestral life.

Conducting the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra during its resi­de ncy in Columbia is Catherine Comet. A native of France and a former student at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris and the Juilliard School in New York, Comet was the recipient of the first prize at the International Young Con­ductors Competition in Besan)on, France (1966) and was a prize winner in the prestigious Dimitri Mitroupoulos International Con­test for Orchestra Conductors (1968). Her principal teachers inc lude Igor Markevitch, Pierre Boulez, and Jean Fournet. She has served as conductor and music director of the University of II i scons in-Madi son symphony and ch.amber orchestras. and of the Ballet Company of the Theatre National de 1 'Opera de Paris and, as wel 1, has made guest appearances with the BBC Symphony Orche ­stra (London), the Orchestre Philharmonique (Paris), the Chamber 2rchestra of the National Radio of Iran, and the Oakland Symphony :cal ifornia). Since 1981 she has been the Exxon/Arts Endowment C~nductor of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. This season she is also the music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Youth :rchestra and the artistic director of the Saint Louis Symphony e:ucational concert series.

* * * * *

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra 1982-1983 SEASON

LEONARD SLATKIN, Music Director and Conductor CATIIERINE COMET, Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductor

THOMAS PECK, Chorus Director JOSEPH SCHW ANTNER, Composer-in-Residence

ANTONIA JOY WILSON, Affiliate Artists Conducting Assistant

FIRST VIOLINS Jacques lsraelievitch

Concotmater, Eloiu ll1td Qw,r Jolutson.

Jr. Choir John Korman

Associate ConcatmaJtu, Louis D. S,,,unwn I Chdir

Takaoki Sugitani Assistant Conctrtmast~

James Krohn Assi.stont Conctrrmasur

Silvian Iticovici Dana Meryl Edson Darw yn Apple Charlene Clark Lawre nce Diamond Jenny Lind Jones Eiko Kataoka John Lippi Helen Shklar Robert Swain ~iran Viher Haruka Watanabe Hiroko Yoshida

+Manuel Ramos

SECOND VIOLINS Cara Mia Antonello

Principal, Dr. F~derick Eno

Woodruff Chair Beverly Sc hiebler

Associate Principal *Brent Akins

Deborah Bloom ~l a rk a Akins Peggy Andrix Elizabe th Crowder Carol Wolo wsky Denos Lorraine Glass M. Louise Grossheider 1 o uis Kampouris ·1 ho mas Le Yeck Thomas Pet tigre 1,1,: Wend y Plank Judith Riediger

+Wanda Becker

VIOLAS Th omas Dumm

Pn·,u:ipal, fk,i H. and A"atherme

G. Well, Chair Kathleen Mattis

As.sociore Principal • Joan Korman G erald Fleming« Leo nid Getman Lee Gronem<yer L)'nn Hague ~I o rris Ja cob William Martin ~1argaret Salomon Antho ny Verme Charles Weiser

VIOLONCELLOS John Sant' Ambrogio

Princi,,.J. Fn,n/c Y. ll1td Katherine G.Gl«/n,yCltoir

Catherine Lehr ActinK Auociau Prindpal

Savely Schuster Anne Fagerburg Marilyn Beabout Richard Brewer Aleksander Ciechanski Masayoshi Kataoka Kenneth Pinckney Robert Silverman Sall ie WeMott

tDavid Ellis

DOUBLE BASSES Henry Loew

Principal, Symphony Womtn 's

Associ4tion Chair Carolyn While

A ssocialt Prindpal *C hrislophe r Carson

Warren Claunch Joseph Kleeman Ralph Maisel Donald Martin Richard Muehlm ann

HARP Franc~ Tietov

Principal, Elizabtth £lio1

Mallinckrodt Chair

FLUTES J acob Berg

Pn·ncipal • Janice Smith Janice Colc:m an Jan Gippo

PICCOLO Jan Gippo

OBOES Peter Bo wman

Pn·ncipal *Barbara Herr Thomas Parkes Marc Gordon

ENG LISH HORN Marc Gordon

C LARINETS Ceorge Silfies

Principal, Walt t r Sunkind Choir

• Ro bert Coleman Ch risline Ward James Meyer

E FLAT CLARINET Ro bert Coleman

BASS C LARIN ET James Me yer

BASSOONS George Berry

Principal •Robert Mottl

Robert Wisneskey Bradford Buckley

CONTRABASSOON Bradford Buckley

HORNS Roland Pandolfi

Principal •Lawrence Strieby

Ca rl Schiebler t David Reiswig

Kaid Friedel

TRUMPETS Susan Slaughter

Principal, Symphony Women 's

Association Chair *Malcolm McDuffee

Roger Grossheider Gary Smith

-.ROM BONES Bernard Schneider

Principa.l *Timothy Myers

Roger Davenport Melvyn Jernigan

TUBA tDavid Fedderly

TIMPANI Richard Holmes

Principal, Symphony Women S

Association Chair *Tho mas Slubbs

PERCUSSION Richard O'Donnell

Principal, St. Louis Pon -Dispatch

Chair Joh n Kasica Thomas Slubbs

KEYBOARD INSTRUM ENTS Barbara Liberman

Florence G. and ,\ forton J. May Chair

PERSONNEL MANAGER Carl R . Scttiebler Joseph Kleeman , Assistant

LIBRARIAN John Tafoya Cheryl L. Robert s, Assistanl

STAGE MANAGER Mart in McManus Jule Ballard , Assislant

• Assistant Prin~•ral t Temporary Repla.:e ment

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchesua uulizes the revo lving sc:ati ng mc:thod for section stri ng playtrs who are lis t<d alphabet ically in lhe roster

~ Sept: 1 Oc;:t:

2 .9.ct:

4 ,Qct:

The -Projln1m

ijerr Brahms from ~amburg. Finished -the Vfolin ·C.once.r.to. V-isi-t from ~rahms {a geniu~). A .g_re~t d~al with ,Braho,$. _59,na.~ in F sh~rp n:ii.t19r • . H,ysi-c: at hQme .at .~ .. Brahms Pha-ntasi.e ..

,With these ter~,e ,no-t~s wrH·ten in Dllsseldorf in 185?, Rob.!!rt Sc;hµ­mann ( l8J 0-18,56) r:e,c:o.rded one of the ,mo.r.\! f_amou s encoun,te.rs -in the history .of musJc as well as -the _beginning of his friendship with Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). Sc.humann, with precarious health, had only three more ye.ars to live and had already suffer.ed periods of sev.ere mental illness, but it seems clear that the bond of profes­sional respect and personal affection that developed quickly between the two was a mutual blessing. The friendship sustained the worn­down "elder" composer, who was only 43, and bolstered the struggling young beginner. Scht6llann's wife Clara, a remarkable pianist in her own right, cemented the relationship with a devotion to both. Her account of their ~eting is more expansive than her husband's:

This month brougnt us the wonderful arrival of the twenty-year-old Brahms from Hamburg. It is as though he had been sent by God himself! He played sonatas, scherzos and so on that he had .written, everything brim.­ming over with i~~gination and emotional intensity, and consurrrnate in fo nn . . . . Robert says one can only hope that Heave n will grant him health.

Thus, irrrnediately, Sc numann wished for the young composer the .one thing of which he hi~self had been deprived--good health. Soon an inseparable member of the Schumann household, Brahms informally studied the music of his host and allowed himself to be guided by the master. Schuman n, for his part, proceeded to le.ad his guest to a world unknown to him--a realm of artistic and intellectual concerns and domestic harmony, both protected by middle-class com­forts. Before his death in 1856, Schumann had vociferously alerted the musical establis h,ent of the integrity of his protege's talent . Schumann had been--a nd is--in many respects the personification of Romanticism in music , and, although Brahms in his own maturity em­bra ced a kind of for,;;alism foreign to his idol, the ardor of his compo sitions represen:s enduring evidence of his admiration and discipleship.

* * * * * In the surrrner of 188G Srahms completed a pair of concert overtures and noted to a frien~, "one cries and t he other laughs." The lat­ter, the Academic Fes:ival Overture, Op. 80, was written in response to his having been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Philoso­phy by the University of Breslau. The citation, which identified him as "a most illusc:rious man ... the leader of the art of seri­ous music in Germany t oday," may have sparked his sense of humor and his sense of mis:~ ief: the work given its premiere on January 4, 1881, with the new Herr Doktor Brahms conducting, was certainly festi ve, but was prot !jly as nonserious and ~nacademic as such a

le_arned craftsman like BrallJis could be. In some re~ects it is reminiscent of a potpourri of popula.r tunes 9r a medley of op_er9ti<: airs--neither scholarly fare. Feat1,1r~d in the one-mo.vement .work are four Studentenl ieder--we·l l-known ~,ri n.k ing songs of college men. These themes, of cou-rse, are presente,d ~nd are gl u.ed together with con.siderable ingenuity. The memorable conclusion, a brilliantly orchestrated version of "~udeamus igitur," takes advantage of the extra brass and percussion ini;t_ruments prescribed f.o,r the piece. It would seem that Brahms had tne stu9ent_s in (llind when he compose_d Akadem1sche Festouverttlre ., not ~heir professors.

Whereas in some human endeavors imitation is the highest form of flattery, in creative ventures, because of the equally damning taint of plagiarism and show of no imagination, this is usually not so. There is in the arts, nonetheless, a long-standing and proba­bly inescapable tradition of creative borrowing. In music, for example, one composer has often honored another by borrowing a com­pelling melody and exploring its musical implications. Thus, with his highly-regarded set of variations on the "Chorale St. Antoni," first written for two pianos and then for orchestra in 1873, Brahms believed he was paying tribute to Joseph Haydn. (Not only is it probable that Haydn did not create the melody, it is now considered unlikely that he composed the divertimento from which Brahms bor-

. rowed it!)

As a connoisseur of old music, Brahms acquired impressive credentials. He participated in the preparation of scholarly editions of old masters (complete works of Handel, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, and Schumann; selected works of Couperin and C. P. E. Bach) and collected for his own pleasure antiquarian manuscripts. His efforts ·were more than musicological: in his compositions we find many indications of his reuses of the past. His source for the theme of his Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56, was a copy of the second movement from a divertimento for winds attributed to Haydn, kept by him in a folder labelled "outstanding masterpieces from the 16th-18th centuries for study purposes." The attribution to Haydn has since become a matter of controversy; some authorities now regard a Haydn pupil, Ignaz Pleyel, to be its composer. The source of the chorale theme and its name have yet to be explained.

The Haydn Variations has the distinction of being the first set of independent variations for orchestra (unassociated W\th a symphony) in the history of music. Equally noteworthy is its pivotal role in its composer's career--as the point of transition between the experi­mentation of his youth and the seasoned care of his maturity . Of probably greater significance than either of these points is the fact that the piece serves as a showcase for Brahms's special gift for variation technique. In fact, he might well be considered a variation "specialist." Of minimal concern here is the somewhat frivolous melodic ornamentation popular since the late Renaissance. Instead, what the composer has created in his explora tion of the "personality" of the theme is a set of character var iations after the style of Beethoven. In spite of its accessipili ty to listeners, the work is profoundly organized. With both his treatment of the theme and the original music to complement it, Brahms has provided a compendium of the art of composition up to his ti me.

* * * * *

Third in order of publication, but last in order of composition, Symphony in E Flat Major, Op. 97, was written by Robert Schumann in a matter of four weeks in the winter of 1850. Faced with de­teriorating mental and emotional health, he revelled in this burst of creative energy so like those that had been responsible for his early masterpieces. Because of its positive character, the fresh­ness of his ideas, and the vitality written into the music, this work stands out from others created in his closing years and re­calls those happier times in the composer's life. This symphony was written shortly after Schumann settled in DUsseldorf, on the Rhine, to conduct the city's orchestra and chorus.

Although it was not dictated by Schumann's, this symphony's nick­name--the "Rhenish"--is entirely justified. It was his intention to portray, as he hi mself recorded, "a piece of life by the Rhine." To accomplish this, he sought to capture the spirit of German popular music by creating themes with a veneer of popular music elements. The robust main theme of Movement I, the pleasing LMndler (a waltz-like peasant dance) as Movement II, the piquant song for orchestra as Movement III, and the "uncomplicated" finale (Movement V) with its witty, festive character and folkish manner­isms all affinn this goal. Note that the order of the internal movements has been transposed. According to the composer, the sight of the unfinished Cathedral of Cologne, obviously a symbol of a special kind for life along the Rhine, had originally in­

.spired him to attempt such a symphony. During its composition, details of the elaborate ceremonial surrounding the elevation of the Bishop of Cologne to the College of Cardinals reached him. In response, he inserted in penultimate position an "extra" move­ment with music appropriate for such an occasion: sacred music with serious-minded polyphony, arcane musical symbolism, and orchestration emphasizing the majestic brass. He had initially provided the rubric "In the character of a solemn ceremony" in the music, but deleted it when the score was published. By its nature and placement the movement creates a dramatic digression from the norm and makes the arrival of the finale all the more effective.

The relationship of this symphony to the musical mainstream should be readily apparent. Schumann's choice of the Rhine River is not capricious. The Rhine, an important image in German art and legend from earliest times, was an especially rich symbol to German Romantics. The emphasis on the people--das Volk--and their music is another reminder of the force of nationalism that pervaded nine­teenth-century music. Finally, there is the practice of assigning progra111Tiatic content to instrumental music. In this case the pro­gram is only evocative, but the work must still be considered a program symphony. On an expressive level this music makes constant reference to the moods favored by the Romantics, but especially meaningful to Schumann: Lebhaft (suggesting livel y excitement) and~ (suggesting heartfelt and tender warmth ).

No tes by Michae l J . Budds

THE \.NC CONCERT SERIES THANKS ITS SUPPORTERS

As another season comes to a close, the staff of the University of Missouri-Columbia Concert Series is happy to acknowledge publicly the assistance and support of individuals and organiza­tions in our corrmunity. Unfortunately the arts can flourish only with the generosity and enthusiasm of local patrons. We are, of course, grateful to the concert-going public in general; the following, however, are worthy of our special gratitude.

Contributors to the Herbert Schooling Concert Series Endowment Fund

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI UMca Administration UMC Administration and Staff Chancellor Barbara Uehling Provost Ronald Bunn Assistant Provost Otis Jackson Associate Provost Gerald Brouder Vice Chancellor Ria Frijters Mr. John Yeager, Academic Budget

and Resource Officer Faculty and Sta f f of the Depts.

of Music, Theater, and Dance Office of Equal Opportunity Alumni Center Deve 1 opment Fund Business Office Cashier's Office Parking Operations Student Development UMC Printing Services UMC Publications UMC Labor Shop UMC Police KBIA KOMU TV-8 Mizzou Weekly JMC News Services Spect n ::n Ma neater UMC Memorial Union UMC Hospital and Clinics University Bookstore

ORGANIZATIONS Museum Associates Friends of Music UMC Choral Union University Singers Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Si gma Alpha Iota Co lumbia Corrmission on the Art s Missouri Arts Council Mid-America Arts Allian ce National Endowment for the Arts Da ~ce Saint Louis Monsanto Fund

AREA COLLEGES Stephens College Administra­

tion and Depts. of Dance, Music, and Fashion

William Woods College Central Methodist College Columbia College Lincoln University

AREA BUSINESSES Columbia Missou ri an Columbia Tribune Campustown Journal KTGR TV-13 Group W Cable TV-1 0 KFRU KOPN KARO All othe ~ cooperating news­

par cr s , radio, and tel e­vi s i on s:at io ns

Wilhel m Pia no Service Hennessey & So ns Music Coli mbia Publi c Schools Columbia Public Library Mi ssouri Bookstore Columbia Chamber of Commerce Boone County Bank Streetside Records The Record Bar Whizz Record Exchange Farm and Home Sa vings Simmons Moving and Storage Taum Sauk Wilderness Outfitters The Pen Poin t School Music Service, Inc. Shaw Music Westside Art Gal lery The Art Mart Erlene's Hall mark Cards and

Gift Shop Carousel The Stereo Buf f The Kaffeeklat sc h Kaylor's Pi pe and Tobacco Sho p Biscayne Boo kst ore Lois Brown Sch oo l of Dan ce Perl man School of Dance Dance Arts of Col umbia Columbia Dance Center

HOSPITALITY President and Mrs. James C. Olson Chancellor Barbara S. Uehling Muse1111 Associates Dr. and Mrs. William Crowley Dr. and Mrs . . Ger a 1 d Perkoff Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Minor Dr. and Mrs. Carlos Perez-Mesa Professor and Mrs. Henry Lowe Dr. and Mrs. Victor Dropkin

OUTREACH Judge and Mrs. J. A. Finch, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Don Orscheln Mr. and Mrs. Robert Edmonds Mr. and Mrs. Andy Runge Mr. and Mrs. John Chance Mr. and Mrs. William Shrader Mr. and Mrs. David Collins Dr. and Mrs. Carl Marienfeld Ms. Ann Stinson

INDIVIDUALS Kenneth Lewis, Auditorium

Attendant Peggy Bowscher, Usher Renee Dowd, Usher Greg Pickens, Usher Raymond Harvey, Usher

CONCERT SERIES STAFF NOT LISTED ON PROGRAM COVER

Student Assistants

Chris Burner, Jesse Stage Wendy Eisenstadt, Operations Allison Felter, Publicity Jeff Meyer, Public Relations

Ticket Takers

William Christman El ton Crane Glen Maxwe 11 John McCrory Malcolm Perryman Robe rt Wiley

the ffiUSeu('BsSO(iOtes

cordiallB inuite uou to a reception

i1m11ediatrls foll0111ing tqr prrformnnre of

THE SAINT LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Jricap rurning, fflarrq 25, 1983

at tqr :'.lleeum of Art and Arrqrologg

Pirka:--t Hall, Jranrie ~undrnnglr

~prrial Exqibition

(ntr !Tcr:::r:--:1, Post !!lodrrn .;rrl1itrcturr:

Drsignin, ~ (mll 5rqool Duilding for 11::1~

~inr ro=.;:limrnts of el)r Hndrn Housr

COMING EVENTS

A German Requiem

At 3:00 p.m., this Sunday, March 27, the Univer­sity CHORAL UNION and its conductor DUNCAN COUCH will welcome as guests the SAINT LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, soprano GWENDOLYN BRADLEY, baritone JAY WILLOUGHBY, and conductor OTTO-WERNER MUELLER for a gala performance of A Gennan Requiem by Johannes Brahms. This composer's choice of beati­tudes, parables, psalms, and verses of consolation from Luther's Bible and his setting of these texts to music according to the grand gestures of the nineteenth century make this a timeless and univer­sal work of art.

The Toulouse Chamber Orchestra

The UMC Concert Series will welcome the TOULOUSE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA with flute soloist MICHEL DEBOST to Columbia on Monday evening, March 28. This dis­tinguished French ensemble will present a program of Frer.c., and German music from the mid-eighteenth century and will feature the a~clai med pl aying of DEBOS~ in concertos by C. P. E. Bach and Aubert . Come enjoy an evening of eighteenth century eler,ance!

A Week of the Lively Arts

The final flourish of the 1982-1983 season will ta kP the form of "a week of the lively arts" in mid- April. On April 16, an evening of contem­porary mus ic and dance will feature SUZANNE GRACE as soloist and choreographer and the local pre­miere of "Perpetua" with electronic score by com­poser W. THOMAS MCKENNEY, Professor of Music at UMC. The VANCOUVER CHAMBER CHOIR will present a potpourri of choral music spanning 400 years with the theme "Songs of Nature" on April 18. On April 19, the OHIO BALLET will present a program of clas­sical ballet pieces. The choral and ballet con­certs will be given in Jesse Auditorium; tickets are available. The contemporary program will be given in the University Theatre; admission is free. Finally, on April 21, violinist PETER WINOGRAD, a recent winner of the Annual Aspen Music School Competition, will offer a free recital in the Fi ne Arts Recital Hall. Plan to spend a spring evening or two with the "lively arts" at UMC.