When I was living in Vienna, I had many opportunities to see the Vienna Philharmonic play live, right there in the Musikverein- one of the most acoustically perfect halls ever built. I took every chance I had to hear them, even when I was unfamiliar with the repertoire. One of the concerts included a piece I had never heard before and it happens to be the piece that we are playing this week. The first- and only time I heard Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances was live with the Vienna Philharmonic. We've got some big shoes to fill this week.
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| The interior of the one and only Musikverein, oh the memories <3 |
"Symphonic Dances," originally titled "Fantastic Dances," was Rachmaninoff's final composition and I think it's fair to look at it as his swan song. If you've heard any of his other symphonic music you would know him to be conservatively Romantic. His symphonies and piano concertos gush with flowing melodies and sweeping lines blended into thick, full orchestration. If you remember a few months back, LPO performed his tone poem, "Isle of the Dead," which is extremely heavy, thick, romantic music, although a bit on the darker side. Symphonic Dances is a completely new approach to composition for Rachmaninoff as it was meant for ballet. Choreographer Michel Fokine had intended to create a ballet out of the Dances as he had for the incredibly popular Paganini Variations. Unfortunately, Fokine died before this could come to fruition.
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| Rachmaninoff hard at work, as usual! |
Rachmaninoff and his family had to flee Russia twice in his lifetime, once in 1906 during the Bolshevik revolution and then again in 1917 after the Russian revolution. He lived his last 25 years bouncing back and forth between America and Scandinavia, never fully adapting to the culture or getting comfortable with English, so he ended up feeling isolated living there. At this point in his life, most of his money was coming from soloing as a piano virtuosi, but the work wore on him over the years. He wrote:
"Perhaps the incessant practice and eternal rush inseparable from life as a concert artist takes too much toll on my strength; perhaps I feel that the kind of music I care to write is not acceptable today. And perhaps my true reason for adopting the life of an interpreter rather than that of a creator.. is none of these. For when I left Russia, I left behind the desire to compose: losing my country I lost myself also. To the exile whose musical roots, traditions and background have been annihilated, there remains no desire for self-expression."
Most of the music Rachmaninoff wrote during his lifetime was traditional romantic writing and was very popular in his early years (aside from his First Symphony, which was a complete failure). But later, at a time when Stravinsky and Schoenberg were on the rise, he was still composing like Tchaikovsky and Brahms. His music was not as popular as it once was, perhaps viewed as old fashioned, so when his 3rd Symphony was met with a lukewarm reception in 1936, he quit composing. Three years later when World War II began, he and his wife left Europe and landed in Long Island where he had time and a space to practice all day long (which he did from early morning until 11 at night! Workaholic, anyone?). In this environment, he finally felt relaxed and caved to his desire for self-expression once again and began composing the Symphonic Dances.
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| Sergei with his wife Natalya (who is actually also his cousin- scandal!) |
Symphonic Dances is truly unlike anything else Rachmaninoff had written. It is extremely colorful and vibrant as he plays with a 3 note melodic fragment (descending minor triad) throughout the very Russian, sinister opening march. Soon he transitions into a trance-inducing lyrical section which really is one of the most beautiful and mystical melodies that he wrote. Although many woodwinds weave in and out, the star of this section is the saxophone. Wait, what? You may be asking yourself, "did she mean to say saxophone?" Why yes, this is one of the few orchestral pieces that incorporates solo saxophone! Our very own John Reeks (also on bass clarinet) shines with his gorgeous sweet, mellow tone on this heart-wrenching melody. This melody is definitely one that speaks to me more than most- it is and incredibly striking musical moment. Especially when Rachmaninoff passes it off to the strings and any brass player (I just mean me..) is jealous as they soar through this haunting theme. Moving into the last section of the movement, we shift back into the original demonic march, and then the coda is a new theme that is actually a reference to his First Symphony- his biggest compositional failure. This was likely meant as a private reference that no one would actually recognize as he attempted to destroy all copies of his First Symphony. However, eventually a score and parts did appear after Rachmaninoff's death and now we all know his secret!
The middle dance is a somber waltz that comes across almost as ghostly with the melody passing between strings, oboe and english horn and others with occasional muted and stopped brass interjections, just how the movement opens. The final movement is mainly a struggle between the diabolical Dies Irae theme and another traditional Russian orthodox liturgical melody. In the end, the traditional melody wins the battle and the "Allilyua" theme from Rachmaninoff's "Vespers" rings out- signifying the victory of his deeply held religious faith over death and darkness.
This is not a horn feature program- it's no Eroica, no Mahler 5, just fantastic symphonic music. It's not too often that you play a truly great piece that doesn't have a ton of glorious horn moments for us to shine on.. *dusts off shoulder* but it's definitely a nice change of pace to get to relax, listen, and look around now and then!
Also on the program this week is Roberto Sierra's "Fandangos," which I absolutely love playing. It's a perfect compliment to the Rachmaninoff. It was based off of Antonio Soler's Fandango for harpsichord and is quite an exciting departure from that more traditional baroque music. It definitely has a strong Spanish flavor and style but also moves into some exotic modern harmonies and dissonances. As my colleague Josiah put it, "it's groovy," and I have to agree.
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| Roberto Sierra, looking stunning with his score |
We are also featuring Simon Shaheen on his own Concerto for Oud. Oud is a traditional Arabic stringed instrument that is over 35 centuries old. It looks a lot like a lute and has 11-13 strings total. I don't have a lot of work to do in this piece, but it is exceedingly fun to listen to and watch Mr. Shaheen mastering the many strings of the Oud. He is well known for combining traditional Palastinian melodies with western music (he studied violin also) as well as throwing in some jazz influence. This has been very enjoyable for me to be a part of as my first musical experiences were all singing prayers and songs in my Temple and the minor modes used in a lot of Jewish music strongly resembles what we're playing this week with Mr. Shaheen. I'm really looking forward to this weeks' concerts and you'll be sorry if you miss it! As our pun master Josiah said today, "It's going to be oud of this world!" Listen to Josiah. He knows best.
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| Simon Shaheen looking ecstatic with his Oud |
I have one final thought for you. I didn't mention before that when I saw the Rachmaninoff in Vienna for the first time, I didn't have a lot of experience with Rachmaninoff and what I did know was that I wasn't his biggest fan (yet). I felt like a lot of his early music was beautiful but kind of 'soupy.' I couldn't figure out how to really get into it, but there's no point in forcing it, so I let it rest. I enjoyed hearing his Symphonic Dances, but still I wasn't extremely drawn in. When I started listening to the piece again in preparation for this concert, I was blown away by the depth and immense character the piece had and couldn't understand how I brushed it off 8 years ago. It feels pretty incredible to see one's musical self grow without even noticing it along the way. It's always fun to come back to a piece you know you love, but it may be even more enjoyable to return to a piece you had no idea you would fall in love with.
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| Me with my teacher, Dale Clevenger after hearing the CSO perform at the Musikverein- one of the more inspiring times in my life |
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