CONCERT PROGRAM
November 24, 2013
St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra
Steven Jarvi, conductor
CHÁVEZ/BUXTEHUDE Chaconne in E minor (1937)
(1899-1978)/(c. 1637-1707)
ARVO PÄRT Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten (1977)
(b. 1935)
BRITTEN The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
(1913-1976) (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell),
op. 34 (1945)
Theme: Allegro maestoso e largamente
Variation A (flutes and piccolo): Presto
Variation B (oboes): Lento
Variation C (clarinets): Moderato
Variation D (bassoons): Allegro alla marcia
Variation E (violins): Brillante - Alla polacca
Variation F (violas): Meno mosso
Variation G (cellos): [L’istesso tempo]
Variation H (basses): Comminciando lento ma
poco a poco accelerando al Allegro
Variation I (harp): Maestoso
Variation J (horns): L’istesso tempo
Variation K (trumpets): Vivace
Variation L (trombones): Allegro pomposo
Variation M (percussion): Moderato
Fugue: Allegro molto
INTERMISSION
DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8 in G major, op. 88 (1889)
(1841-1904)
Allegro con brio
Adagio
Allegretto grazioso
Allegro ma non troppo
The St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra is supported by the
G.A., Jr. and Kathryn M. Buder Charitable Foundation.
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FROM THE STAGE
Julie Holzen, cello, on Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8: “I’m particularly partial to this
symphony. I even got the score to it for Christmas. I’m a big fan of Dvořák. I
like how he gets right into the work with these solo melodies, and how every
movement has an equal presence, a specific mood.
“The first movement establishes the character of the piece, every element
is reminiscent of folk song. The flute melody is like bird song. When it occurs
again you are more aware of the orchestral propulsion underneath it. Dvořák
creates a calm that leads to a storm—a dynamic that continues right through
the piece.
“One of the challenges of this piece is that it is really fun to play. You can
get carried away with the gorgeous melodies, but you don’t want to give away
the surprises that are to come. When you get to the fourth movement—the
finale, climactic as it should be—you just want to go ‘Yes!’”
STL Symphony musician Bjorn Ranheim works with the YO cello section.
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PROGRAM NOTES
BY RE NÉ S P E N C E R S AL L E R
CARLOS CHÁVEZ/ DIETRICH BUXTEHUDE
Chaconne in E minor
TIMELINKS
1889
DVOŘÁK
Symphony No. 8 in
G major, op. 88
Eiffel Tower completed
1937
CHÁVEZ
Chaconne in E minor
Golden Gate Bridge
opens
1945
BRITTEN
The Young Person’s
Guide to the Orchestra
(Variations and Fugue
on a Theme of Purcell),
op. 34
World War II comes to
an end
1977
ARVO PÄRT
Cantus in memoriam
Benjamin Britten
Red Brigade terrorist
group commits acts of
kidnapping and murder
and Italy
MUSICAL MELTING POTS The Chaconne in E
minor was originally composed for organ by
Danish-born Dietrich Buxtehude, who remained
in Denmark until he was 30. He was then hired
as the organist at St. Mary’s in Lübeck, Germany,
where he spent the rest of his life. The appointment was quite prestigious, and Buxtehude dazzled not only the church’s regular congregants
but also such luminaries as J.S. Bach and George
Frideric Handel, who both made pilgrimages to
witness the older man’s artistry. By the time of
his death, in 1707, he was considered the leading
German composer of his time.
Approximately 300 years after Buxtehude’s
birth (estimated to be 1637), Carlos Chávez
arranged and orchestrated his baroque organ
masterpiece for 20th-century audiences. He
wrote two arrangements: one for chamber orchestra and one for full orchestra. Like Buxtehude,
Chávez was highly regarded in his lifetime. He
is often called the “dean of Mexican composers”
and held many important appointments: conductor of the Mexico Symphony Orchestra, director
of the National Conservatory in Mexico City,
and director general of the National Institute of
the Fine Arts. He traveled widely, and his many
compositions reflect his cosmopolitan nationalism. His music melds modern European and
pre-Conquest influences and makes imaginative
use of regional instruments and techniques borrowed from indigenous Indian cultures.
BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME It is fitting that this
Danish/German/Mexican cultural confection is
a chaconne. The baroque dance in slow triple
meter has a French name, but it was inspired
by a snappier dance called a chacona that came
about in Latin America during the 16th century
and took Spain by storm early in the 17th century. By the time Buxtehude got hold of the form,
it was usually conceived as a series of variations
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Born
June 13, 1899, Mexico City/ c.
1637, Helsingborg, in presentday Sweden
over a repeating bass line (ostinato, or “obstinate” in Italian). With its myriad reiterations
and embellishments of a single chord progression, it was both stately and catchy, elegant and
lively. Over the course of 31 variations, Chávez
respects Buxtehude’s underlying melodic structure, while imparting to it the tonal richness
afforded by the modern symphony orchestra.
He underscores the Chaconne’s dance origins
without ignoring its debt to Northern German
sacred music. The resulting collaboration spans
both continents and centuries, making it a multicultural tour de force.
Died
August 2, 1978, Mexico
City/ May 9, 1707, Lübeck,
Germany
YO Premiere
This concert
Scoring
2 flutes
2 piccolos
2 oboes
English horn
3 clarinets
E-flat clarinet
bass clarinet
3 bassoons
4 horns
4 trumpets
3 trombones
tuba
timpani
strings
St. Louis Symphony musician Andy Gott works with
YO bassoonists.
Performance Time
approximately 7 minutes
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ARVO PÄRT
Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
HOLY MINIMALIST In 1935, when Arvo Pärt was
born, his native Estonia was an independent
Baltic state. Five years later, the Soviet Union
launched an occupation that would last for the
next half-century (excluding a three-year stint
under German rule). Although he attended conservatory, Pärt lacked most of the advantages
enjoyed by his European and American contemporaries. Aside from a few contraband scores and
tapes, he was largely ignorant of all music created
outside the Soviet Union. Yet somehow he managed to develop a style that was not only assured
but groundbreaking.
As a student in the late 1950s and early
’60s, Pärt adopted the neoclassicism of Bartók,
Shostakovich, and Prokofiev and then shifted to
the serialism of Arnold Schoenberg. These stylistic experiments were banned by Soviet censors.
Frustrated by political oppression and the creative
constraints imposed by his predecessors’ theories, he retreated from composing and immersed
himself in the study of plainsong and Gregorian
chant—the sacred roots of early European polyphony. By focusing so intensely on the distant past,
Pärt found an original voice: austere, tonal, liturgical, and strategically simple. Commentators often
classify his style as “holy minimalism” to distinguish it from the work of contemporaries such as
Philip Glass and Steve Reich.
ALONE WITH SILENCE Written in 1977, Cantus
in memoriam Benjamin Britten was written to
commemorate the recent death of the titular
British composer, whom Pärt believed possessed an “unusual purity.” Sadly, he never had
the chance to meet Britten and had only limited
exposure to his music until he moved to Austria
in 1980, four years after the English master had
died. Cantus is an elegy for a peer who was both
a stranger and a kindred spirit. It exemplifies a
stylistic technique that Pärt dubbed tintinnabulation, a word that denotes the ringing of bells.
“The complex and many-faceted only confuses
me, and I must search for unity,” he explained.
“What is it, this one thing, and how do I find my
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Born
September 11, 1935, Paide,
Estonia
Now Resides
Berlin, Germany and Tallinn,
Estonia
YO Premiere
This concert
Scoring
chimes
strings
Performance Time
approximately 6 minutes
way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in
many guises—and everything that is unimportant falls away. Tintinnabulation is like this. Here I
am alone with silence. I have discovered that it is
enough when a single note is beautifully played.
This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of
silence, comforts me.”
Born
November 22, 1913,
Lowestoft, England
Died
December 4, 1976,
Aldeburgh, England
Most Recent YO
Performance
November 30, 1984, Peter
Susskind conducting
the only previous YO
performance
Scoring
2 flutes
piccolo
2 oboes
2 clarinets
2 bassoons
4 horns
2 trumpets
3 trombones
tuba
timpani
percussion
harp
strings
Performance Time
approximately 18 minutes
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Variations
and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell), op. 34
BRITTEN, ANDERSON, AND PURCELL Anyone who
has seen Wes Anderson’s 2012 film Moonrise
Kingdom is already familiar with The Young
Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. It not only serves
as soundtrack at critical junctures; it also informs
and shapes the director’s coming-of-age narrative.
This seminal Benjamin Britten composition was,
as its title implies, designed to teach, although
not in a drearily didactic way. It was written in
1945 for an educational documentary, in which
the London Symphony Orchestra demonstrated
the color and range of each instrument, and it
remains a staple of children’s musical education.
It comprises variations on a theme by his countryman Henry Purcell, widely considered to be
the greatest English composer of all time, or at
least the second half of the 17th century. Britten,
who made no secret of his ambition to be the
greatest English composer of his age, was both
paying tribute to Purcell and announcing himself
as Purcell’s rightful heir.
FROM TEACHER TO TORCHBEARER That Britten
would accept a commission to teach children
about the mechanics of the orchestra is not surprising, given his oft-stated desire both to entertain and to be “of use to people.” He wrote two versions of the score: one accompanied by narration
and one that is purely instrumental. The latter is
most often recorded and will be performed this
afternoon. It begins with the full orchestra playing Purcell’s original theme (the Rondeau from
the incidental music for Abdelazer). Then each
section of the orchestra—from woodwinds, to
brass, to strings, to percussion—plays variations
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on the theme, with each instrument in the family
appearing, for the most part, in high-to-low
order. After the orchestra is systematically deconstructed, it becomes whole again with Britten’s
own fugue, which begins with the piccolo (the
highest member of the woodwind family) and
gradually incorporates the rest of the orchestra,
once again ending with the percussion section.
After a gong strike, the brass reprise Purcell’s
melody while the rest of the orchestra continues
playing Britten’s fugue. The aims of the piece are
twofold: to instruct young people in the wideranging tonal capacities of each instrument and
to demonstrate Britten’s own prowess as a composer, one indebted to his greatest countryman,
certainly, but also his equal.
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Symphony No. 8 in G major, op. 88
A BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Unlike his other symphonies and the prevailing temper of his time,
Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 is hopeful
and jovial. It is a pastoral idyll in bright contrast
to the tempestuous Romanticism typical of the
late 19th century. The Czech composer wrote
the Eighth in 1889, when he was in his late 40s,
in a mere two and a half months, while staying
at his summer home in the Bohemian countryside. The occasion was a happy one: Having just
been admitted to Prague Academy, he dedicated
the work to “the Bohemian Academy of Emperor
Franz Joseph for the Encouragement of Arts and
Literature, in thanks for my election.”
The symphony is structured according to
the traditional four-movement format, but its
rich array of thematic variation and the thorough
development of each movement make it anything but predictable. It honors the folk music
of Dvořák’s beloved homeland, and it strongly
evokes the bucolic splendor of his immediate
surroundings, but it also displays his innovative
approach to harmony and orchestral color while
alluding to Beethoven’s “Pastorale” and Brahms’
Symphony No. 2. With his Eighth symphony,
Dvořák explained, he hoped to create something
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Born
September 8, 1841,
Nelahozeves, Bohemia
Died
May 1, 1904, Prague
YO Premiere
February 15, 1971, Leonard
Slatkin conducting
Most Recent YO
Performance
May 15, 2005, Scott Parkman
conducting
Scoring
2 flutes
piccolo
2 oboes
English horn
2 clarinets
2 bassoons
4 horns
2 trumpets
3 trombones
tuba
timpani
strings
Performance Time
approximately 34 minutes
that was “different from the other symphonies, with individual thoughts
worked out in a new way.”
MOVEMENT BY MOVEMENT In the upbeat and spirited first movement,
Bohemian folk tunes weave and wind through numerous birdsongs, and brass
fanfares vie with hunting horn calls. Cellos, bassoons, and trombones circle in
a G-minor chorale before a lyrical solo flute introduces the symphony’s dominant key, G major. The tranquil Adagio begins in a slightly melancholy minor
key and then works its way to sunny C major. The third movement starts with
a dulcet waltz, transitions to a livelier, folk-inspired dance, and culminates in a
breathtakingly speedy coda. The finale is a wide-ranging and dramatic series
of variations on a central theme. A cheerful Czech revision of Beethoven and
Brahms that fulfills the composer’s goal of presenting symphonic ideas in
an original way, it jumps from slow to fast, from noisy to soft, from major to
minor. The movement begins and ends with jubilant brass bursts, a triumphal
close to Dvořák’s happiest symphony.
Program notes © 2013 by René Spencer Saller
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STEVEN JARVI
Steven Jarvi is the newly appointed Resident
Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony, Music
Director of Winter Opera Saint Louis, and the
Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth
Orchestra. Formerly the Associate Conductor of
the Kansas City Symphony (KCS), he won the
Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award in
2009. He came to the KCS after several years as the
Conducting Fellow with Michael Tilson Thomas
and the New World Symphony in Miami Beach,
as an Associate Conductor for the New York City
Opera at Lincoln Center, and as the Apprentice
Conductor with the Washington National Opera
at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
While Associate Conductor of the Kansas
City Symphony, Jarvi led over 150 performances.
In his first season with the KCS, he made his
Classical Series debut after filling in on short
notice with violinst Midori, as Music Director
Michael Stern awaited the birth of his second
child. Jarvi returned the following season, after
studying in Vienna with principal members of
the Vienna Philharmonic, conducting a highly
praised subscription weekend of Viennese music
featuring pianist Simone Dinnertstein.
As the Resident Conductor of the St. Louis
Symphony, which began in September 2013,
Jarvi leads a wide range of events including the
Live at Powell Hall concert series, Family and
Educational concerts, and other selected classical
events. He also conducts the St. Louis Symphony
Youth Orchestra and assists Music Director
David Robertson.
Raised in Grand Haven, Michigan, Steven
Jarvi holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Theory
from the University of Michigan where he studied with Kenneth Kiesler, Martin Katz, and Jerry
Blackstone, along with a master’s in Orchestral
Conducting from the Peabody Institute of Johns
Hopkins University, where he studied with the
legendary conducting pedagogue, Gustav Meier.
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Steven Jarvi will next conduct
the Holiday Celebration
concerts, December 20-22,
at Powell Hall.
ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA 2013-2014
Steven Jarvi
Resident Conductor and
Director of the St. Louis
Symphony Youth Orchestra
Madelaine O’Reilly-Brown
Faith Tan
Emily Xu
Anna Zhong
Stephanie Zhong
Jessica Ingraham
Youth Orchestra Manager
Violas
Marisa McKeegan
Principal
Sharanya Kumar
Assistant Principal
Adam Garrett
Stephen Ahrens
Matt Diller
Caleb Henry
Daniel Larson
Samuel Larson
Jonathan Shields
Brett Shocker
Phoebe Yao
Eunnuri Yi
First Violins
Christopher Goessling
Concertmaster
John Li
Assistant Concertmaster
Hava Polinsky
Rachel Cheung
Caroline Cordell
Will Crock
Katelyn Hamre
Gajan Kumar
Aisling O’Brien
Hannah O’Brien
Chad Pleasant
Matthew Rho
Julia Riew
Julia Son
Madison Ungacta
Tiffany Wilkins
Aishwarya Yadama
Jinghang Zhang
Cellos
Sean Hamre
Principal
Eric Cho
Assistant Principal
Grant Riew
Camille Cundiff
Michelle Dodson
Joshua Hart
Julie Holzen
Nathan Hsu
Melinda Lai
Dylan Lee
Ann Ryu
Jason West
Second Violins
Anthony Su
Principal
Rebecca Liu
Assistant Principal
Cherry Tomatsu
Kayla Brown
Amanda Cao
Jason Cohn
Elizabeth Cordell
Madeline Hornsey
Aidan Ip
Sarah Kim
Judy Luo
Bryar Abas Omer
Basses
Alex Niemaczek
Principal
Ryan Wahidi
Assistant Principal
Ben Vennard
Pieter Boswinkel
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John Paul Byrne
Alex Hammel
Annamarie Phillips
Phillip Sansone
Justus Schriedel
Rachel Martin
Jonas Mondschein
Eli Pandolfi
Trumpets
Thomas Barron
Charles Prager
Benjamin Steger
Garrett Thomas
Harp
Katie Hill
Flutes
Madeline Bert
Leah Peipert
Rachel Petzoldt
Shiori Tomatsu
Trombones
Ashley Cox
Michael McBride
Caleb Shemwell
Piccolos
Leah Peipert
Rachel Petzoldt
Bass Trombone
Carter Stephens
Tuba
Alec Lang
Oboes
Brenna Cunningham
Ethan Leong
Aura Martin
Percussion
Matthew Clark
Ryan Firth
Steven Kruszka
Brandon Lee
Sam Lopate
Joshua Luthy
English Horn
Ethan Leong
Bassoons
David Carter
Alex Davies
Joseph Hendricks
David Schwartz
Coaches from the
St. Louis Symphony
Dana Edson Myers, violin I
Jooyeon Kong, violin II
Beth Guterman Chu, viola
Chris Tantillo, viola
Bjorn Ranheim, cello
Sarah Hogan, bass
Megan Stout, harp
Jennifer Nitchman, flute
Andrea Kaplan, flute
Cally Banham, oboe
Tina Ward, clarinet
Andrew Gott, bassoon
Julia Erdmann, horn
Karin Bliznik, trumpet
Gerry Pagano, trombone
Will James, percussion
Clarinets
Earl Kovacs
Aleksis Martin
Wailani Ronquillio
Kentaro Umemori
E-flat Clarinet
Aleksis Martin
Bass Clarinet
Stephanie Uhls
Horns
Terrence Abernathy
Brandon Hoeflein
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A BRIEF EXPLANATION
You don’t need to know what “andante” means or what a glockenspiel is to
enjoy a St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra concert, but it’s always fun to
know stuff. For example, what is a “rondeau”?
Rondeau: you’ve sung rounds, such as “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and you
might know the Carly Simon song “Coming Around Again,” so the most basic
musical definition is a theme that recurs circularly, Young Person’s Guide is
like that
MY INSTRUMENT:
ALEC LANG, TUBA
“I got interested in the tuba because my
brother, who is five years older, started
playing it. I loved the big, huge sound it
made. Also, I was a small kid at the time
and I thought it would be funny to see me
carrying a big tuba.
“I think it is the most beautiful
sounding instrument. It can sound
mean and gnarly, and it can sound just
incredibly beautiful. On this program my
favorite piece is the Britten. The tuba does
a lot of different stuff. It’s not just keeping
time, which the tuba often does. I get to
play some melody, almost a small solo. I
love that.”
Alec Lang
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