The Philadelphia Orchestra

Itzhak Perlman Conductor and Violin

Beethoven Romance No. 1 in G major, Op. 40, for violin and orchestra

Beethoven Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50, for violin and orchestra

Dvorák Serenade in E major, Op. 22, for strings I. Moderato II. Tempo di valse III. Scherzo: Vivace IV. Larghetto V. Finale: Allegro vivace

Intermission

Beethoven Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36 I. Adagio molto—Allegro con brio II. Larghetto III. Scherzo (Allegro) and Trio IV. Allegro molto

Brahms Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80

This program runs approximately 2 hours.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM.Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.

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Season 2013-2014Thursday, November 21, at 8:00Friday, November 22, at 2:00Saturday, November 23, at 8:00Sunday, November 24, at 2:00

2 Story Title

The Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, renowned for its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for a legacy of innovation in music-making. The Orchestra is inspiring the future and transforming its rich tradition of achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging and exceeding that level, by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and around the world.

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth artistic leader of the Orchestra in fall 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. Yannick has been embraced by the musicians of the Orchestra, audiences, and the

community itself. His concerts of diverse repertoire attract sold-out houses, and he has established a regular forum for connecting with concert-goers through Post-Concert Conversations.

Under Yannick’s leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on the Deutsche Grammophon label of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. In Yannick’s inaugural season the Orchestra has also returned to the radio airwaves, with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM.

Philadelphia is home and the Orchestra nurtures an important relationship not only with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center but also those who enjoy the Orchestra’s other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other venues. The Orchestra is also a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the U.S. Having been the first American orchestra

to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall while also enjoying annual residencies in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and at the Bravo! Vail festival.

Musician-led initiatives, including highly-successful Cello and Violin Play-Ins, shine a spotlight on the Orchestra’s musicians, as they spread out from the stage into the community. The Orchestra’s commitment to its education and community partnership initiatives manifests itself in numerous other ways, including concerts for families and students, and eZseatU, a program that allows full-time college students to attend an unlimited number of Orchestra concerts for a $25 annual membership fee. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

Jessica Griffin

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Music DirectorYannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton “the ensemble … has never sounded better.” In his first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His second builds on that momentum with highlights that include a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three leading composers have been commissioned to write solo works for three of the Orchestra’s principal players; the next installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré’s Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of Strauss’s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production with Opera Philadelphia.

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. In addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music’s conducting fellows program in the fall of 2013. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on that label of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.

Nigel P

arry/CP

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Conductor and SoloistItzhak Perlman made his debut as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1965 and his conducting debut with the ensemble in 1999. His long history with the Philadelphians includes recording Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Eugene Ormandy for EMI in 1978 and performing with pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma at the opening of the Kimmel Center in 2001. Mr. Perlman has performed with every major orchestra and at venerable concert halls around the globe, and in 2003 he was granted a Kennedy Center Honor in celebration of his achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of the U.S. He has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012 at the invitation of President Obama for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres.

Born in Israel in 1945, Mr. Perlman completed his initial training at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv. He came to New York and was propelled to national recognition with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. Following his studies at the Juilliard School, he won the Leventritt Competition in 1964, which led to a burgeoning worldwide career. A four-time Emmy Award winner and recipient of 15 Grammy awards, Mr. Perlman was honored in 2008 with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His most recent recordings include Eternal Echoes: Songs & Dances for the Soul (Sony), featuring a collaboration with cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot in liturgical and traditional Jewish arrangements for chamber orchestra and klezmer musicians; a recording of Mendelssohn piano trios (Sony) with Mr. Ma and Mr. Ax; and a recording for Deutsche Grammophon with Mr. Perlman conducting the Israel Philharmonic.

Mr. Perlman has established himself as a cultural icon and household name in classical music, beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent. Highlights of his 2013-14 season include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony; an eight-city recital tour of Asia with pianist and longtime collaborator Rohan De Silva; and conducting appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony. His presence on stage, on camera, and in personal appearances of all kinds speaks eloquently on behalf of the disabled, and his devotion to their cause is an integral part of Mr. Perlman’s life.

Lisa-Marie M

azzucco

Framing the ProgramThree relatively early works by Beethoven show him heading toward more ambitious projects that would later change perceptions about music forever. He composed his two lyrical Romances for violin and orchestra around 1800, when he was about to turn 30; they foreshadow the more familiar slow movement of his Violin Concerto from 1806.

In contrast to his Third Symphony, the monumental “Eroica,” Beethoven’s Second now seems much tamer and more Classical, looking back to the models of Haydn and Mozart. When it premiered in 1803, however, critics found the Symphony enormously challenging. It was composed at a time of great personal crisis in Beethoven’s life, as he was confronting the reality of his hearing loss and contemplating suicide. Yet the boundless humor and vitality of the work, which French composer Hector Berlioz later remarked is “smiling throughout,” forces us to challenge facile connections between the immediate events at a given time in Beethoven’s life and the music he created.

In 1875, at age 33, Dvorák won the prestigious Austrian State Stipendium, awarded to poor young artists to help advance their careers. Johannes Brahms became terrifically impressed by the young Czech, whose career he generously promoted. The financial security the grant provided helped unleash a flood of new pieces, including the beguiling Serenade for Strings.

Today’s concert concludes with the Academic Festival Overture, which Brahms composed in 1880 after he was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau. As a gesture of thanks he wrote this ebullient concert overture in which he inserted various student songs and crowned it with “Gaudeamus igitur.”

Parallel Events1801BeethovenSymphony No. 2

1875DvorákSerenade for Strings

1880BrahmsAcademic Festival Overture

MusicHaydnThe SeasonsLiteratureChateaubriandAtalaArtGoyaThe Two MajasHistoryFulton produces first submarine

MusicTchaikovskyPiano Concerto No. 1LiteratureTwainThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnArtMonetBoating at ArgenteuilHistoryRebellion in Cuba

MusicBruchKol NidreiLiteratureZolaNanaArtRodinThe ThinkerHistoryNY streets first lit by electricity

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The MusicRomance Nos. 1 and 2

Ludwig van BeethovenBorn in Bonn, probably December 16, 1770Died in Vienna, March 26, 1827

When Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792, he was regarded primarily as a pianist who also composed (as any aspiring professional pianist of the day was expected to do). But during those early years, he increasingly thought of himself as a composer first, one who also happened to play the piano. He sought to establish bona fide compositional credentials by taking lessons in counterpoint from Haydn, and by producing stylish solo and chamber works that could function as compositional “calling cards” among the influential music circles in Vienna. It was only later, after establishing himself as one of the stars of the post-Mozart generation, that he turned to orchestral music. His First Symphony, for example, wasn’t composed until 1800, when he was nearly 30 years old.

Published in Reverse Order Among the first of Beethoven’s completed orchestral compositions, though, is the Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50, for violin and orchestra. The opus number is misleading: Although the work was published in 1805 alongside middle-period masterpieces like the “Eroica” Symphony and the Triple Concerto, the Romance No. 2 was actually completed seven years earlier, in 1798. Although Beethoven had begun writing a number of concertos before then, they were either abandoned or not completed until later. It’s safe to suggest, then, that Beethoven cut his orchestral teeth to some degree on this second Romance, composed at a time when piano sonatas and chamber works dominated his compositional output. The F-major Romance even predates the Romance No. 1 in G major, which was composed several years later in 1802. But it was the G-major Romance that was published first (in 1803), hence its earlier numbering and opus designation.

These two violin Romances were published just as Beethoven was thinking about and working on his only completed Violin Concerto (Op. 61), and it’s tempting to regard them as perhaps practice attempts at a violin concerto’s slow movement. They may also have even been intended for a Concerto in C major, WoO 5, that Beethoven started a decade earlier in Bonn and never completed. (The Romances and the early concerto

fragment share exactly the same instrumentation for orchestra.)

In the French tradition, the designation of “Romance” was considered especially appropriate for a concerto slow movement, while in Germany a “Romanze” was a song-like instrumental work in a slow duple meter. The best-known model (and one that Beethoven knew well) was the “Romance” slow movement from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466. Beethoven’s violin Romances demonstrate features of both the French and German traditions, as well as the influence of Mozart.

A Closer Look The G-major Romance is in the form of a rondo with two contrasting episodes (ABACA). It opens with an unaccompanied violin solo that presents a leisurely main theme in double stops. The melody is then handed over to the orchestra, and the solo violin and orchestra trade another pair of phrases before joining together for a new musical idea (the B section). For the restatement of the main rondo theme, the violin and orchestral parts are slightly more elaborate, embellished with passing tones and ornaments. Then a second episode—a dance-like passage in E-minor—leads into the final statement of the rondo theme, this time in its most ornamented and virtuosic form.

Though it follows a somewhat similar formal outline, the earlier Romance in F major is the more lyrical and complex of the two pieces. The solo part lies higher in the violin’s register, giving it a greater expressivity and making it a little more rewarding to play. While the orchestra and solo parts are evenly balanced, the work is clearly led by the soloist, with the orchestral accompaniment functioning more as a response and a commentary (as it had in the first Romance as well). The endearing main melody is vocally-conceived, like an instrumental aria. But the first episode, which continues in the same character as the main theme, includes concerto-like figuration for the soloist, and makes a dramatic feint toward D minor. After a repeat of the rondo theme, the second episode is even more passionate, developing motifs from the main theme through several other harmonic areas (and consequently bringing the movement’s form closer to a sonata-rondo). After the final, abbreviated statement of the theme, a short coda concludes the work intimately.

—Luke Howard

Beethoven composed his G-major Romance in 1802 and his F-major Romance in 1798.

Norman Carol was the soloist in the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the Romance No. 1, in February 1983 with Riccardo Muti. The work has only been heard once since then, in 1990 at Saratoga with Pinchas Zukerman as both conductor and violinist. Jacob Krachmalnick and Eugene Ormandy gave the first Orchestra performance of the Romance No. 2, on a Pension Fund Concert in April 1952. The most recent performances were the above 1983 concerts, with Carol and Muti.

Krachmalnick, Ormandy, and the Orchestra recorded the Second Romance in 1952 for CBS.

The score for each work calls for solo violin, flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, and strings.

The Romance No. 1 runs approximately eight minutes and the Romance No. 2 runs approximately nine minutes in performance.

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The MusicSerenade for Strings

Antonín DvorákBorn in Nelahozeves, Bohemia, September 8, 1841Died in Prague, May 1, 1904

The immediate appeal of so much of Antonín Dvorák’s music has won the hearts of audiences for nearly 150 years. So too its excellence won the young composer some very influential early supporters who helped pave the way to an enormously successful international career. The most prominent advocate proved to be Johannes Brahms, just eight years Dvorák’s senior but a powerful figure who eventually became a close friend.

Helping a Poor Young Artist After studies in Prague and some years playing viola in an orchestra conducted by the great Czech composer Bedrich Smetana (another early advocate), Dvorák was eager to devote more time to composing. With this goal in mind he entered a competition that gave grants to poor young artists. He had to prove genuine need and got approval with a comment that “the applicant, who has never been able to acquire a piano of his own, deserves a grant to ease his straitened circumstances and free him from anxiety in his creative work.” Among the Vienna-based jury for the Austrian State Stipendium were such musical heavy hitters as critic Eduard Hanslick, and conductors Johann Herbeck and Otto Dessoff. In 1875 Dvorák submitted 15 pieces, including his Third and Fourth symphonies, and won on his first try.

Brahms joined the jury the next year and was so impressed by the young composer that he contacted his own publisher, Fritz Simrock in Berlin: “Dvorák has written all manner of things: operas (Czech), symphonies, quartets, piano pieces. In any case, he is a very talented man. Moreover, he is poor! I ask you to think about it! The duets will show you what I mean.” Simrock took the good advice and published the Moravian Duets Brahms mentioned, as well as the first set of Slavonic Dances. The exposure opened even more doors. Distinguished conductors and soloists took up Dvorák’s cause, further spreading his international fame, and highly desirable commissions began to come his way. A wave of creative energy also followed winning the stipend the first time with one of the happiest results being the charming Serenade for Strings, composed in just 12 days in May 1875. The carefree mood of the piece shows that the composer was indeed freed “from anxiety in his creative

work”; he was also newly married and had recently become a father.

A Little Night Music A musical dictionary from 1732 defined a “serenade” as “an evening piece; because such works are usually performed on quiet and pleasant nights.” Initially it was entertainment music, usually written for aristocrats, and meant to divert (hence the related genre of the “divertimento”). Such pieces often functioned as Tafelmusik, literally “table music” that accompanied eating and other activities—thus a type of background music, aural wallpaper, or 18th-century Muzak. Mozart composed the most famous serenades of the 18th century, usually scored for wind instruments. He also wrote the famous Serenade in G major for strings, subtitled “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” (A Little Night Music).

While Mozart provided an important model for Dvorák, Brahms did as well. Brahms put off writing a symphony for many years, until his mid-40s, but in the late 1850s he composed two impressive orchestral serenades that might be considered “disguised symphonies.” (The First Serenade, in D major, Op. 11, for a time even bore the title “Symphony-Serenade.”) Dvorák followed suit with two serenades of his own, the one for strings we hear today in 1875 and another for winds three years later. (He started a third one in 1879 but diverted the music to his delightful Czech Suite.) In some respects Dvorák’s serenades might be said to merge Mozart and Brahms, combining some of the simple freshness of the former with the lush Romanticism of the latter.

A Closer Look The Serenade for Strings is in five movements, most of them in an ABA form with contrasting middle sections. Dvorák’s enormous lyric gifts are immediately apparent in the opening Moderato, which has a dancelike middle section. The Tempo di valse offers a slow waltz and boldly modulating trio of a more melancholy nature. The lively Scherzo: Vivace brings humor to the piece. Loving lyricism returns in the Larghetto, which makes references back the second movement. The Finale: Allegro vivace is in a modified sonata form, departing from the ABA structures of the preceding movements, but provides a large-scale rounding off of the entire piece by bringing back the opening theme of the first movement before a fast and furious coda.

—Christopher H. Gibbs

The Serenade for Strings was composed in 1875.

Eugene Ormandy was on the podium for the first complete Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the Serenade, in November 1955. An excerpt from the Finale had been performed at a Children’s Concert in December 1950, with Alexander Hilsberg conducting. The most recent performance was in December 1955, with Ormandy.

The score calls for strings only.

Performance time is approximately 27 minutes.

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The MusicSymphony No. 2

Ludwig van Beethoven

In the summer of 1801, while composing his Second Symphony, Beethoven disclosed the secret of his deteriorating hearing in a long letter to a childhood friend, Franz Wegeler. After recounting assorted professional successes, the 30-year-old composer went on to relate that “that jealous demon, my wretched health, has put a nasty spoke in my wheel; and it amounts to this, that for the past three years my hearing has become weaker and weaker.” To Wegeler, a physician who lived in the composer’s native Bonn, Beethoven provided a detailed account of symptoms and lamented the constraints placed on his personal life (“I have ceased to attend any social functions just because I find it impossible to say to people: I am deaf”) and professional situation (“… if my enemies, of whom I have a fair number, were to hear about it, what would they say?”).

A little more than a year later, just as he was completing the Second Symphony, Beethoven penned his “Heiligenstadt Testament,” the famous unsent letter to his brothers in which he expressed utter despair over his loss of hearing. In this revealing confession he stated that on account of his torments, “I would have ended my life. Only my art held me back. It seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt was within me.”

A “Smiling” Symphony in Difficult Times The Beethoven who thought of killing himself at 31 is very different from the mythic figure who eventually came to redefine music and whose life in so many ways epitomizes that of the Romantic artist. During his 20s he was better known as a performer—a brilliant pianist and improviser—than as a composer. He had written a good many works in various genres, but nowhere near what Mozart, Schubert, and other masters accomplished by the age of 30. And indeed Beethoven was about to embark on a “new path,” as he told his student Carl Czerny.

Beethoven began sketching the Second Symphony as early as 1800, but most of the work took place during the summer and early fall of 1802—exactly at the time he confronted the crisis explained in the “Heiligenstadt

Testament.” The boundless humor and vitality of the work—French composer Hector Berlioz later remarked that “this Symphony is smiling throughout”—challenge the simplistic connections so often made between the immediate events at a given time in Beethoven’s life and the music he created. Indeed, as with his witty Eighth Symphony (1812), also written during a period of considerable personal distress (in the aftermath of his affair with the “Immortal Beloved”), Beethoven may have sought refuge in musical “comedy” at times of personal “tragedy.”

First Reactions Despite its good humor, the Second Symphony initially challenged listeners. One critic remarked in 1804: “It is a noteworthy, colossal work, of a depth, power, and artistic knowledge like very few. It has a level of difficulty, both from the point of view of the composer and in regard to its performance by a large orchestra (which it certainly demands), quite certainly unlike any symphony that has ever been made known. It demands to be played again and yet again by even the most accomplished orchestra, until the astonishing number of original and sometimes very strangely arranged ideas becomes closely enough connected, rounded out, and emerges like a great unity, just as the composer had in mind.”

Today we might assume such an observation would be about Beethoven’s monumental Third Symphony, or perhaps his Fifth or Ninth—almost any of his symphonies but the Second. Yet this early reaction is echoed by other contemporaries, who also initially found the piece difficult, imposing, and puzzling. Early-19th-century listeners, of course, were hearing it in the context of the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart, and of Beethoven’s own initial one.

A Closer Look: Berlioz on Beethoven Berlioz, who penned some of the greatest music criticism of the century, wrote extensively about Beethoven, especially about the symphonies. It is interesting to consider what Berlioz valued in Beethoven and how he heard his symphonies, especially as they so inspired his own orchestral music, such as the Symphonie fantastique. Here is his discussion of the Second Symphony:

In this Symphony everything is noble, energetic, proud. The Introduction [Adagio molto] is a masterpiece. The most beautiful effects follow one another without confusion and always in an unexpected manner. The song is of a touching solemnity, and it at once commands respect and puts the hearer in an emotional mood. The rhythm

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Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 was composed from 1801 to 1802.

The Second Symphony was first performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra in March 1903, with Fritz Scheel on the podium, as part of the Orchestra’s first Beethoven symphony cycle. It was most recently performed on subscription concerts in March/April 2011 with Jun Märkl.

The Philadelphians have recorded Beethoven’s Second Symphony twice: in 1962 for CBS with Eugene Ormandy, and in 1987 for EMI with Riccardo Muti.

Beethoven scored the work for an orchestra of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings.

The Second Symphony runs approximately 35 minutes in performance.

is already bolder, the instrumentation is richer, more sonorous, more varied. An Allegro con brio of enchanting dash is joined to this admirable introduction. The fast motif which begins the theme, given at first to the violas and cellos in unison, is taken up again in an isolated form, to establish either progressions in a crescendo or imitative passages between wind instruments and the strings. All these forms have a new and animated physiognomy. A melody enters, the first section of which is played by the clarinets, horns, and bassoons. It is completed by the full orchestra, and the manly energy is enhanced by the happy choice of accompanying chords.

[The second-movement Larghetto] is not treated after the manner of that of the First Symphony: It is not composed of a theme worked out in canonic imitations, but it is a pure and simple song, which is first stated sweetly by the strings, and then embroidered with a rare elegance by means of light and fluent figures whose character is never far removed from the sentiment of tenderness that forms the distinctive character of the principal idea. It is a ravishing picture of innocent pleasure, which is scarcely shadowed by a few melancholy accents.

The Scherzo is as frankly gay in its fantastic capriciousness as the previous movement has been wholly and serenely happy; for this symphony is smiling throughout; the warlike bursts of the first Allegro are entirely free from violence; there is only the youthful ardor of the noble heart in which the most beautiful illusions of life are preserved untainted. The composer still believes in immortal glory, in love, in devotion. What abandon in his gaiety! What wit! What sallies! Hearing these various instruments disputing over fragments of a theme, which no one of them plays in its entirety, hearing each fragment thus colored with a thousand nuances as it passes from one to the other, it is as though you were watching the fairy sports of Oberon’s graceful spirits.

The finale [Allegro molto] is of like genius. It is a second scherzo in duple meter, and its playfulness has perhaps something still more delicate, more piquant.

—Christopher H. Gibbs

The MusicAcademic Festival Overture

Johannes BrahmsBorn in Hamburg, May 7, 1833Died in Vienna, April 3, 1897

Though our image of Brahms has tended to emphasize the serious and the profound—taking cues from the weighty grandeur of his symphonic gestures—in fact the composer’s humorous nature was as witty and down-to-earth as his sober side was earnest. He was eager to show his lighter side, too, in works such as the Hungarian Dances, or piano works such as the Intermezzo in C major (Op. 119, No. 3), or even the scherzo of the Fourth Symphony. But perhaps his most enduring “lighter” piece for orchestra was the Academic Festival Overture of 1880—a piece that, despite a title suggesting learned counterpoint, is academic only in the sense that it weaves into its whimsical texture several university songs that were popular in the late 19th century.

Written in Exchange for a Degree In 1879 Brahms was offered an honorary doctorate by the University of Breslau—Wroclaw in Poland—in recognition of his achievements in orchestral music. (Specifically, the first two symphonies and the Violin Concerto had established him as Europe’s leading composer, of instrumental music at least.) Unable to attend the initial ceremony in March 1879, Brahms received the degree in absentia—but officials of the University made it clear that in return they hoped for “a symphony or at least a festive song.” Finally in the summer of 1880 the composer sketched out the Academic Festival Overture, writing for the largest orchestra he was ever to use—the standard ensemble of his day, supplemented with piccolo, contrabassoon, tuba, triangle, cymbals, and bass drum.

The Breslau diploma cited him as Artis musicae severioris in Germania nunc princeps—“First among masters of serious music in Germany.” Almost as if to challenge the “serious” part of the epithet, he wrote one of his most lighthearted works. For the premiere at the University of Breslau the following January (1881), Brahms rushed to complete a work he had sketched a decade before, the inspired and glowering Tragic Overture. Both pieces were played on this occasion, under the composer’s baton; together the two presented an intriguing juxtaposition of gravity and cheer that some have interpreted as a glimpse at the two sides of Brahms’s personality.

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A Closer Look The Academic Festival Overture weaves four student songs into a seamless fabric containing a logic and a development all its own. After an introduction based on original material, the first tune, “Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus” (We had built a stately house), is heard as a trumpet fanfare; the second, “Der Landesvater” (The Father of Our Country), appears later in the strings. The high humor of the third, “Was kommt dort von der Höh’?” (What Comes from Afar?), is expressed through a witty bassoon duet, which quickly expands into an extroverted tutti for full orchestra. Strings and horns begin the final “Gaudeamus igitur,” which brings the work to a bracing close.

—Paul J. Horsley

Brahms composed the Academic Festival Overture in 1880.

Fritz Scheel was the conductor in the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances, in January 1903. Most recently on subscription David Zinman led the Overture, in March 2001.

The Orchestra has recorded the Academic Festival Overture twice: in 1966 for CBS with Eugene Ormandy and in 1988 for Philips with Riccardo Muti.

Brahms scored the work for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, triangle), and strings.

The Overture runs approximately 10 minutes in performance.

Program notes © 2013. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association.

Musical TermsGENERAL TERMSAria: An accompanied solo song (often in ternary form), usually in an opera or oratorioCanon: A device whereby an extended melody, stated in one part, is imitated strictly and in its entirety in one or more other partsChord: The simultaneous sounding of three or more tonesCoda: A concluding section or passage added in order to confirm the impression of finalityCounterpoint: A term that describes the combination of simultaneously sounding musical linesDouble-stop: In violin playing, to stop two strings together, thus obtaining two-part harmonyMeter: The symmetrical grouping of musical rhythmsMinuet: A dance in triple time commonly used up to the beginning of the 19th century as the lightest movement of a symphonyOp.: Abbreviation for opus, a term used to indicate the chronological position of a composition within a composer’s outputOratorio: Large-scale dramatic composition originating in the 16th century with text usually based on religious subjects.

Oratorios are performed by choruses and solo voices with an instrumental accompaniment, and are similar to operas but without the costumes, scenery, and actions.Romance: Originally a ballad, or popular tale in verse; now a title for epico-lyrical songs or of short instrumental pieces of sentimental or romantic nature, and without special formRondo: A form frequently used in symphonies and concertos for the final movement. It consists of a main section that alternates with a variety of contrasting sections (A-B-A-C-A etc.)Scherzo: Literally “a joke.” Usually the third movement of symphonies and quartets that was introduced by Beethoven to replace the minuet. The scherzo is followed by a gentler section called a trio, after which the scherzo is repeated. Its characteristics are a rapid tempo in triple time, vigorous rhythm, and humorous contrasts.Serenade: An instrumental composition written for a small ensemble and having characteristics of the suite and the sonataSonata: An instrumental composition in three or

four extended movements contrasted in theme, tempo, and mood, usually for a solo instrumentSonata form: The form in which the first movements (and sometimes others) of symphonies are usually cast. The sections are exposition, development, and recapitulation, the last sometimes followed by a coda. The exposition is the introduction of the musical ideas, which are then “developed.” In the recapitulation, the exposition is repeated with modificationsTrio: See scherzoTutti: All; full orchestraWoO: Without opus

THE SPEED OF MUSIC (Tempo)Adagio: Leisurely, slowAllegro: Bright, fastCon brio: Vigorously, with fireLarghetto: A slow tempoModerato: A moderate tempo, neither fast nor slowTempo di valse: Tempo of a waltzVivace: Lively

TEMPO MODIFIERSMolto: Very

DYNAMIC MARKSCrescendo: Increasing volume

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TICKETS Call 215.893.1999 or log on to www.philorch.org PreConcert Conversations are held prior to every Philadelphia

Orchestra subscription concert, beginning 1 hour before curtain.

All artists, dates, programs, and prices subject to change. All tickets subject to availability.

November/December The Philadelphia Orchestra

Vivaldi’s Four SeasonsNovember 29 & 30 8 PM December 1 2 PMRichard Egarr Conductor Giuliano Carmignola Violin

Vivaldi The Four Seasons Purcell Suite No. 1 from The Fairy Queen Haydn Symphony No. 101 (“The Clock”)

The November 29 concert is sponsored by MEDCOMP.

Grimaud and SymphoniefantastiqueDecember 5 & 7 8 PM December 8 2 PMYannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Hélène Grimaud Piano

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

The December 7 concert is sponsored by the Louis N. Cassett Foundation.

Enjoy the ultimate in flexibility with a Create-Your-Own 4-Concert Series today! Choose 4 or more concerts that fit your schedule and your tastes. Hurry, before tickets disappear for this exciting season.

There’s still time to subscribe and receive exclusive subscriber benefits! Choose from over 50 performances including:

Pete C

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Tickets & Patron ServicesTICKETS & PATRON SERVICES

Subscriber Services:215.893.1955Call Center: 215.893.1999

Fire Notice: The exit indicated by a red light nearest your seat is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency, please do not run. Walk to that exit.

No Smoking: All public space in the Kimmel Center is smoke-free.

Cameras and Recorders: The taking of photographs or the recording of Philadelphia Orchestra concerts is strictly prohibited.

Phones and Paging Devices: All electronic devices—including cellular telephones, pagers, and wristwatch alarms—should be turned off while in the concert hall.

Late Seating: Latecomers will not be seated until an appropriate time in the concert.

Accessible Seating: Accessible seating is available for every performance. Please call Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1999 for more information. You may also purchase accessible seating online at www.philorch.org.

Assistive Listening: With the deposit of a current ID, hearing enhancement devices are available at no cost from the House Management Office. Headsets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Large-Print Programs: Large-print programs for every subscription concert are available in the House Management Office in Commonwealth Plaza. Please ask an usher for assistance.

PreConcert Conversations: PreConcert Conversations are held prior to every Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert, beginning one hour before curtain. Conversations are free to ticket-holders, feature discussions of the season’s music and music-makers, and are supported in part by the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Lost and Found: Please call 215.670.2321.

Web Site: For information about The Philadelphia Orchestra and its upcoming concerts or events, please visit www.philorch.org.

Subscriptions: The Philadelphia Orchestra offers a variety of subscription options each season. These multi-concert packages feature the best available seats, ticket exchange privileges, guaranteed seat renewal for the following season, discounts on individual tickets, and many other benefits. For more information, please call 215.893.1955 or visit www.philorch.org.

Ticket Turn-In: Subscribers who cannot use their tickets are invited to donate them and receive a tax-deductible credit by calling 215.893.1999. Tickets may be turned in any time up to the start of the concert. Twenty-four-hour notice is appreciated, allowing other patrons the opportunity to purchase these tickets.

Individual Tickets: Don’t assume that your favorite concert is sold out. Subscriber turn-ins and other special promotions can make last-minute tickets available. Call Ticket Philadelphia at 215.893.1999 or stop by the Kimmel Center Box Office.

Ticket Philadelphia StaffGary Lustig, Vice PresidentJena Smith, Director, Patron

ServicesDan Ahearn, Jr., Box Office

ManagerCatherine Pappas, Project

ManagerMichelle Parkhill, Client Relations

ManagerMariangela Saavedra, Manager,

Patron ServicesGregory McCormack, Training

SpecialistSamantha Apgar, Business

Operations CoordinatorElysse Madonna, Program and

Web CoordinatorPatrick Curran, Assistant Treasurer,

Box OfficeTad Dynakowski, Assistant

Treasurer, Box OfficeMichelle Messa, Assistant

Treasurer, Box OfficePatricia O’Connor, Assistant

Treasurer, Box OfficeThomas Sharkey, Assistant

Treasurer, Box OfficeJames Shelley, Assistant Treasurer,

Box OfficeTara Bankard, Lead Patron

Services RepresentativeJayson Bucy, Lead Patron Services

RepresentativeMeg Hackney, Lead Patron

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Analyst

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