Aldemaro Romero (1928-2007)
Fuga con Pajarillo para Cuerdas
Aldemaro Romero (1928-2007) was a self taught Venezuelan pianist, composer, arranger and conductor working in a wide range of musical styles. These included Caribbean, jazz, Venezuelan dances, and various classical genres: works for large orchestral works, solo and chorus and orchestra, and chamber music. He is credited with the creation of a new form of Venezuelan music Onda Nueva (New Wave) which was derived from the traditional dance Joropo and influenced by Brazilian Bossa Nova style. During the 50s and 60s he collaborated with various artists such as Charlie Byrd, Dean Martin, Stan Kenton, Tito Puente, touring, recording on the RCA label, and promoting Latin American music abroad. He was awarded the Moscow Cinema Festival’s Peace Prize in 1969 for his film score, Simón Bolivar. In 1979 he acquired government funding to found a second major orchestra in the Venezuelan capital, the Caracas Philharmonic Orchestra. The primary purpose of this orchestra was to promote the music of Romero and other Latin American composers as well as classical orchestral repertoire.
The Fuga con Pajarillo para Cuerdas (Fugue on a Pajarillo for String Orchestra) is built on the popular Venezuelan/Columbian dance pajarillo (a dance in 3/4 time), contrasting the impulse of dance with elements of the classical fugue. The piece is essentially episodic rhythmic variations on the Fugato theme interspersed with additional material. Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel describes the piece, “The pajarillo pervading the melody gives a sense of improvisation and contrast with the predetermined fugal form.” The version of the Fuga that will be heard tonight is the original version for strings. Later versions have been made for larger orchestral forces, and improvised sections with folk instruments are inserted in some performances. Tonight the Cuatro, a Venezuelan folk instrument of the guitar family, will be used to provide the same color and rhythmic accentuation as the harpsichord does in traditional baroque orchestras. It’s Bach meets folk dance.
Bibliography
Johannes Brahms (1856-1897)
Variations on a Theme of Haydn, op. 56a
Poco piu animato
Piu vivace
Con moto
Andante con moto
Vivace
Vivace
Grazioso
Presto ma non troppo
Finale
It was with the composition of the Haydn Variations that the 40-year-old Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) broke new ground for himself and for the musical world. Having wrestled for a number of years with two of the great major classical forms, string quartet and symphony, he returned to symphonic writing during his 1873 summer holiday in the Bavarian town of Tutzing using the variation form as a preparation for his first symphony. He was accomplished at writing in the variation form having previously done so for piano and movements of chamber works, but this set of variations would prove to be the first ever written for full orchestra. Although Brahms had previously used full orchestra in an accompanying role, this work served to usher in Brahms’ own symphonic phase (his four symphonies, Academic Festival & Tragic Overtures, as well as two more concertos would follow). It was Brahms’ friend, C.F. Pohl, librarian for the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna and Haydn scholar, who introduced the composer to a group of manuscripts supposedly by Haydn. Brahms jotted down a portion that had been used as a theme for a set of variations, “Chorale St. Antoni.” Most scholars now believe that Haydn had nothing to do with the chorale or the variations, but it was this chorale and its original orchestration for winds that provided the basis for Brahms’ variations. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra premiered the work that November with Brahms conducting. The piece was enthusiastically received and remains one of the composer’s most popular works.
The theme, “Chorale St. Antoni” is thought to be a pilgrim hymn from Bergenland. Through the course of the work, Brahms melds a classical form with romantic lyricism and color and ends this journey with an evocation of Bach. While the eight variations following the theme adhere to the rhythmic structure, harmony and melodic contours of the theme, each one displays a unique mood, tempo, and orchestration. Brahms employs the forces of the classical orchestra (pairs of winds, timpani, and strings) but experiments with additional possibilities of orchestral color by adding two additional horns, contrabassoon, piccolo and triangle. The theme features the winds, similar to the instrumentation found in the manuscript that Pohl showed him. Bell-like tones from the ending of the theme appear against the sweeping string melody of Variation I; the theme’s dotted note rhythm is explored in Variation II; in Variation III notice the passing of material from one part of the orchestra to another featuring beautiful lines for the various wind instruments; moving to the minor mode, Variation IV explores complex contrapuntal lines; Variation V sports an effervescent scherzo; the horns call us to a stately hunting party in Variation VI; the lilting siciliano of Variation VII pulls us gently along through elaborate counterpoint and with Brahms’ signature hemiolas in the strings (the shifting of the beat from 2 to 3 and back again); the penultimate variation returns to minor beginning in the lower register moving relentlessly up. The finale introduces another type of variation form–a passacaglia. Built on a five measure ground bass taken from the opening of the theme, the spirit of Bach appears through the ensuing 17 repetitions. The triangle and piccolo are employed to color the final triumphant expressions of the chorale theme.
Bibliography
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Scottish Fantasy, op. 46
German romantic composer Max Bruch (1838-1920) wrote melodically and successfully in many genres, but during his lifetime was known primarily as a conductor, teacher and for his choral compositions. (Vaughan Williams and Respighi were two of his students.) Today Bruch’s reputation rests mostly on a handful of concerted string works–notably his Violin Concerto in g minor, Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra, and the Scottish Fantasy for violin, harp, and orchestra. Friendship with eminent violinists such as Ferdinand David, Joseph Joachim, and Pablo Sarasate inspired nine works for violin and orchestra. Bruch was not a string player but was drawn to the violin because “it can sing a melody better than a piano, and melody is the soul of music.” Drawing on his passion for folk music as a source of melody, he set and utilized traditional Jewish, Swedish, Russian, and Scottish tunes in his compositions. While holding a conducting post in Berlin, Bruch wrote the Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46 during the winter of 1879-80. It was dedicated to Spanish violinist Sarasate, but Bruch’s friend Joachim also played a significant role in advising him on violinistic matters. Its original title was Fantasie for violin with orchestra and harp, with the free use of Scottish folk melodies. Considering its scope and the virtuosity demanded of the soloist, the piece rivals any violin concerto, in fact it was often called the Scotch Concerto in early concert programs.
Because Bruch considered the violin and harp to be indigenous to the folk music of northern England and Scotland, the harp plays a major role as it supports and accompanies the soloist. The piece begins with somber statements from the brass, alternating with recitative-like passages for the violin. Bruch, who like Mendelssohn, was fascinated with the novels of Sir Walter Scott, was said to have described this opening as “an old bard, who contemplates a ruined castle and laments the glorious times of old.” This rather gloomy beginning flows into a lovely rendering of the enchanting melody, Auld Rob Morris. The vivacious scherzo movement, featuring the tune Hey, the Dusty Miller, evokes bagpipes and fiddles at the village dance. The tender air, I’m a-Doun for Lack o’ Johnnie, used in the andante movement is set as variations demanding exquisite virtuosity from the soloist. The finale, Allegro guerriero, presents variations on an old war song, Scots Wha Hae, concluding the work with increasingly more brilliant fireworks.
Bibliography
Program notes by Linda Mack. Copyright 2009.
Send me e-mail.
| Program notes home | Alphabetical Index of Composers | Chronological Index of Pieces | Chronological Index of Concerts |