FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Symphony No. 82 in C Major, Hob.I:82, The Bear
Vivace
Allegretto
Menuetto
Finale: Vivace
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93
Moderato
Allegro
Allegretto
Andante—Allegro
Program notes by Rebecca Jemian
The two pieces on today’s concert are both symphonies—multi-movement works
for orchestra—but of two entirely different casts. Haydn’s symphony dates from the age
of enlightenment, when the form was new and being standardized. Shostakovich’s work,
composed in the post-Stalin Soviet era, treats the form with greater flexibility, resulting
in a pensive and dramatic piece.
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Born March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, Lower Austria
Died May 31, 1809, in Vienna
Symphony No. 82 in C Major, Hob.I:82, The Bear
I. Vivace (Lively); II. Allegretto (Moderately Fast); III. Menuetto (Minuet); IV. Finale:
Vivace (Finale: Lively)
The ever-inventive Haydn worked most of his professional life for the noble
Esterházy family. The first five years were at their Eisenstadt estate, and, from 1761 until
1790, he was located at their grand palace Eszterháza. Sometimes referred to as “the
Versailles of Hungary,” this home was located seventy miles from Vienna. Haydn
commented that the remoteness of the location forced him to become original and
independent. The terms of his employment changed over the nearly four decades of their
contract. Combining such job security with the abundant musical resources provided by
his employers and his innate creativity afforded Haydn ample opportunity to develop his
style. The Symphony no. 82 was composed in 1786.
Haydn’s earliest job description was “to compose and direct instrumental music
for the princely court, together with some church music, and from time to time to
compose and perform an opera.” A glorious theater was built in 1776 for more opera
staging, and his duties adjusted to provide more original music as well as to oversee all
the productions of the theater. In order to fulfill these expectations, Haydn was required
to travel more frequently to Vienna to hire singers. Such duties cut into his available
time for composition. A new employment contract of 1779 gave Haydn control and
ownership over publications of his compositions, and this encouraged him to respond
more favorably to outside requests. He gave up composing operas in 1783-84 and
focused his writing on instrumental music.
His Symphony no. 82, nicknamed “The Bear,” was part of a commission for six
symphonies composed for the Concert de la Loge Olympique, in Paris. The symphony’s
key, C Major, is often cited as a “festive” key used by composers for works with a
celebratory feeling. This description amply fits this work and achieves its goal through
high rhythmic energy and the instrumentation—trumpets and horns creating a jubilant
sound. The slow movement is a graceful set of double variations with some charming
touches of instrumental scoring. The Menuetto offers abundant motivic contrast between
instruments, and its trio shows off the oboe and bassoon.
The nickname, “The Bear,” was not given to this symphony until after Haydn’s
death, and its cause is revealed in the Finale. The opening idea, which recurs throughout
the movement, is a pedal tone, frequently preceded by a grace note, and this imitates the
sound of the bagpipe. Bagpipes were the traditional instrument used to accompany
dancing bears, typical entertainments at fairs in this period. So, the movement is called
“The Bear” because the style is reminiscent of music used for dancing bears.
Haydn scholar, Jens Peter Larsen comments, “The Paris commission seems to
have arrived at just the right moment for Haydn, as a challenge. His work in Eszterháza
was approaching a state of humdrum routine. In the works composed for publishers, like
piano trios, sonatas or songs, he could—and did—excel in fine craftsmanship; but such
pieces allowed only limited opportunities for novelty. The Paris symphonies, on the
other hand, are so personal and original that it is immediately clear that Haydn was
setting out again to create something entirely his own.”
Haydn’s Symphony no. 82 is scored for flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets,
timpani and strings. It lasts approximately 25 minutes.
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Born September 25, 1906, in St. Petersburg, Russia
Died August 9, 1975, in Moscow
Symphony No. 10 in E Minor, Op. 93
I. Moderato (Moderate); II. Allegro (Fast); III. Allegretto (Moderately fast); IV.
Andante—Allegro (Moderate—Fast)
The Symphony no. 10 by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich has an odd
pacing in which the 25-minute first movement is longer than the other three movements
combined. Shostakovich composed this work in the months after Joseph Stalin died;
these months were pivotal as the end of a horrific totalitarian regime gave way to what
many artists felt to be a thaw in the cultural climate. The symphony both figuratively and
literally contains the composer’s musical signature.
Shostakovich plays an important role in Soviet musical history because he is the
most prominent composer who lived entirely in the Soviet era. He received his formal
musical education after the 1917 Revolution to overthrow the tsar and lived the rest of his
life in the USSR under the rule of the communist party. He died well before the end of
the USSR in 1991 was considered a possibility.
The two great musical centers of Russia have been Moscow and St. Petersburg
(whose name changed to Petrograd and then to Leningrad during the twentieth century).
Shostakovich grew up in St. Petersburg and, although he did not study directly with
famous Russians—Rimsky-Korsakov had died in 1908, Stravinsky left the homeland in
1910, and Prokofiev finished his conservatory studies just a couple of years before
Shostakovich began—he had lessons with Maximilian Steinberg who had worked with
Rimsky-Korsakov himself. Shostakovich was an accomplished pianist as well as
composer and helped support his mother and sisters after his father’s death by playing for
silent movies.
Strongly patriotic, Shostakovich lived in a time when his country’s politics were
constantly undergoing change. The government instituted cultural committees who
decreed standards for the arts, including music composition. The state promoted an
artistic style called Socialist realism which dictated that art must be understandable by the
common man, art should be representative of real things rather than abstract, art should
support the aims of the state and the communist party, and the subjects of the art should
be drawn from everyday life. As the Soviet party changed, the demands for Socialist
realism were enforced with varying amounts of rigor. Artists who were found to be out
of compliance were punished, not infrequently at the cost of their lives, especially during
the term of Joseph Stalin, who led the country from 1924 to 1953. When the communist
party charged a composer with formalism, it meant that the composer’s music was not
adequately following the guidelines of Socialist realism.
Shostakovich dutifully tried to balance the party’s aesthetic vision with his own
artistic views. However, twice in his life he was publicly reprimanded in ways that could
have had dire consequences. The first was in 1936 after Stalin and other prominent party
members took offense at one of Shostakovich’s operas. The second time was in 1948 and
was directed to a group of composers. Shostakovich apologized and thanked the party
for pointing out his waywardness; he then adjusted his style by simplifying his musical
language and turning his attention to movie music and vocal pieces which could deliver a
clear patriotic message through their texts. He also did two other things: he withheld
several pieces that might have been found faulty and he held his breath for his life and
those of family and close friends. Stalin’s death in March 1953 (coincidentally on the
same day as Prokofiev’s death) signaled an end to the worst times of creative oppression;
many pieces could now be brought out for performance, and Shostakovich felt that he
could write others that previously might have been censured.
He composed the Symphony no. 10 in 1953, and it was first performed in
Leningrad on December 17, 1953, Moscow. This somber work followed the witty and
bright ninth symphony written in 1945—before the 1948 reprimand—that marked a
successful conclusion to World War II.
A serious beginning sets the tone for the first movement which winds up
gradually. A contemplative clarinet solo quotes a passage from Mahler’s second
symphony before the orchestra returns to a more hopeful version of some of the opening
themes. Then a flute solo inaugurates a theme that is taken up across the orchestra and
reprised in the solo bassoon. The movement is not given to sections with discrete edges,
but instead is episodic and interwoven. The drawn-out coda is notable for an expressive
piccolo duet.
In stark contrast to the laborious unfolding of the first movement, the second
movement whips by with great speed. This scherzo in the style of a galop is both
sardonic and grim, and the driving music is joined toward the end by more somber
themes. Michael Steinberg writes, “For something so intense, this movement is as long
as is manageable or even tolerable without introducing a major contrasting section, and
such a contrast would only weaken the effect of this terrifying outburst.”
The third movement also has scherzo ambitions with its fast triple meter and
flippant attitude. However, its structure has more drama than the typical scherzo. The
rapid motion is interrupted by an unaccompanied horn whose intense call spreads wide
across the piece. The return of the opening theme in the English horn is marked by an
eviscerated accompaniment. As the movement continues, the musical ideas coalesce into
a single motive of the pitches D, E-flat, C, B. The German names for these four pitches
are D-S-C-H, and those represent the composer’s signature, for Dmitri SCHostakovich.
This piece marks the first of many compositions in which he would sign his name using
these pitches.
The cello and double bass sections offer a thoughtful opening to the last
movement, leading to a plaintive oboe solo (reminiscent of one in the fifth symphony).
Then, a perky clarinet motive ushers in an almost manic section that drives incessantly
throughout the movement. The D-S-C-H motive is stated forcefully as the symphony
concludes with a march. Steinberg again writes, “Here is one of the most brilliantly
vivacious of his Haydn finales, though it finds room for fleeting and always touching
moments of a darker, sadder music.”
Following the first performances of the symphony, critics began to debate the
piece. Boris Schwarz notes, “The hard-line opposition maintained that the work was
‘non-realistic’ and deeply pessimistic in approach, but in the end the liberal faction won
with the slogan that the new symphony was ‘an optimistic tragedy’.” Even now, scholars
continue to debate the influence of the politics of Shostakovich’s time on his
compositional output. Schwarz writes, “When forced on to the defensive, he did not
argue; but through the strength of his genius he overcame the limitations of Socialist
realism to the point where it no longer inhibited free musical creation, in the battle for
which it was Shostakovich who ultimately emerged victorious.”
The orchestra for Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 10 includes 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes,
English horn, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets,
3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, tambourine, tam-tam, snare drum, bass
drum, xylophone and strings. The work lasts between 50 and 55 minutes.