Tausk Conducts Dvořák’s New World Symphony

In 1937, renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini was planning programs for the debut season of the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Wishing to include a short American work, he consulted conductor Artur Rodzinski, who had recruited and rehearsed the new ensemble. Rodzinski, who had just conducted Barber’s Symphony No. 1 at the Salzburg Festival to great acclaim, recommended Barber. The composer responded with two pieces: the brand new Essay for Orchestra, and the Adagio for Strings, a transcription for string orchestra of the slow movement of the string quartet he had composed in 1935.

Both works were broadcast nationwide on November 5, 1937, bringing his name to a wide audience in the most prestigious way imaginable. The eloquent simplicity and grave beauty of the Adagio for Strings have led to its becoming not only an international concert favourite, but an appropriate element of solemn public ceremonies. It has also been used to poignant effect on the soundtrack of several films, including The Elephant Man, and Platoon (as recorded by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra).

Program Notes © 2019 Don Anderson

Berio was one the most active and influential musicians of recent years. He composed a large number of works for many different combinations of instruments: orchestral pieces, chamber music, multimedia presentations, concertos, vocal works and electronic music. He has also created a variety of arrangements of other composers’ music, from Monteverdi and Gabrieli through Brahms, Weill and the Beatles.

He created this unique suite of Folk Songs in 1964. Neither of the first two numbers is actually a folk song, but rather an original composition in folk style. Black Is the Colour of My True Love’s Hair, and I Wonder as I Wander were written by John Jacob Niles (1892–1980), a singer and musical scholar born in Kentucky.

Loosin yelav is an authentic folk song from Armenia. It describes the rising of the moon. An old French song, Rossignolet du bois (Nightingale of the Woods) follows. The bird of the title advises a lover to sing his serenades two hours after midnight, and identifies the “apples” in his garden as the moon and the sun. A la femminisca comes from Sicily. The wives of fishermen sing it as they wait by the docks for their husbands’ return.

Two more original numbers in folk style come next. In this case, their composer was Berio himself. He wrote the music for them in 1949. La Donna Ideale (The Ideal Woman) is sung in a Genoese dialect. The text advises that any man who comes across a woman who is well-born, well mannered, good looking and who brings a good dowry with her should not let her get away. Berio sets another old Italian poem in Il Ballo (The Ball). The wisest of men lose their heads over love, it says, but love can resist the sun, ice, and any other force of nature.

Motettu di tristura is Sardinian in origin. Its melancholy words are addressed to the nightingale, and express the poet’s unhappiness at being separated from a lover. Two folk songs from the Auvergne district of France follow. Malurous qu’o uno fenno presents the age old paradox of marriage: those who aren’t married wish to be; those who are wish they were not! Lo Fïolairé is sung by a girl who exchanges kisses with a shepherd as she sits by her spinning wheel. The suite concludes with a humorous love song from Azerbaijan.

Program Notes © 2019 Don Anderson

WorldBy the early 1890s, Dvořák’s fame had become so great that he was invited to become the Director of the newly opened National Conservatory of Music in New York. His arrival in the autumn of 1892 marked the beginning of a three year period spent almost entirely in America. He developed a deep interest in the music of African-Americans and Native Americans, though he didn’t quote authentic folk tunes in any of his “New World” compositions, of which this symphony was the first to appear. Four days before the première, which took place in New York on December 16, 1893, he made his methods and goals perfectly clear: “I have simply written themes embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music, and have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, and orchestral colour.”

Following a short, expectant introduction, the opening movement presents two themes. The first is bold and commanding. It is the idea that binds the entire symphony together, appearing at least briefly in all four movements. The second subject appears on solo flute. It is as sweet, restful and haunting a theme as Dvořák ever penned. A solemn brass chorale ushers in the slow movement. The English horn then gives out the main theme, a tranquil melody that gives eloquent voice to the homesickness that Dvořák felt throughout his stay in America. The following scherzo bustles with dynamic dance rhythms, be they old world or new. Two separate trios provide graceful contrast. The finale surges ahead urgently, its unfolding shot through with episodes of nostalgic expressiveness. Dvořák interleaves new themes with fleeting reminiscences of melodies from each previous movement.

Program Notes © 2019 Don Anderson