Program Notes

THE GREAT OUTDOORS – Saturday, October 16, 2010

Tragic Overture, op 81……………………………….Johannes Brahms
This innovative adaptation of sonata form is a counterpart to “Academic Festival Overture,” another concert overture composed in 1880 after Brahms received an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau (now the University of Wroclaw, in Poland). Brahms himself commented that “one laughs and the other weeps”. As the title suggests, this is the piece that weeps, although it does not follow a specific dramatic program. The piece is considered by some to be one of the most important one-movement orchestral works of the 19th century because of Brahms’ skillful manipulation of the sonata form. Through its three main sections (Allegro ma non troppo, Molto più moderato, and Tempo primo ma tranquillo), Brahms’ manipulations include the disruption of the first theme during the recapitulation, the drastic tempo cut in the development, the long transition from the first to the second theme, and the disguised return of the opening tempo.

Symphony No. 88 in G Major…………………….Joseph Haydn
Completed in 1787, Symphony No 88 in G Major is one of Haydn's most famous and popular compositions. Haydn wrote the piece for Count Esterházy’s court violinist Johann Peter Tost, who initially cheated Haydn out of his royalties when he sold the publishing rights of this work and others to the Parisian publisher Sieber. 
The excellence of Haydn's composition is apparent throughout its four movements. The first movement, Adagio-Allegro, is energetic and uplifting.  Of the second Largo movement, Johannes Brahms is said to have remarked, "I want my Ninth Symphony to be like this!"  The third movement is a minuet, while the fourth movement - Allegro con spirito - brings the piece to a triumphant conclusion in its spirited coda. Symphony No. 88 is scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, harpsichord, and strings.

 Symphony No 6, op 68 in F major (“Pastorale”)……………Ludwig van Beethoven
Completed in 1808, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 held the title “Recollections of Country Life” at its first performance. Atypical of the Classical era, this symphony has five movements rather than the expected four. The movements follow a specific program, which was also rare for Beethoven: I) Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country; II) Scene at the brook; III) Happy gathering of country folk; IV) Thunderstorm; V) Shepherds’ song, cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm.  Beethoven is said to have remarked, “It is left to the listener to find out the situations ... Anyone who has formed any idea of rural life does not need titles to imagine the composer’s intentions.”  The symphony was composed alongside his more famous Fifth Symphony, and both works were premiered at a long concert in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, on December 22, 1808.  It is scored for piccolo, timpani, strings, and two of the following: flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and trombones.  

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