Friday April 16, 2010

Charley talks with Boulder Philharmonic music director Michael Butterman about their season finale on April 24.
Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
Michael Butterman, conductor
Peter Tchaikovsky: No.5 in E minor, Op.64 48:24 (2/14/09)
Also, Charley talks with Resonance Women's Chorus conductor Sue Coffee about their concerts tomorrow.
And, Charley anticipates pianist Susan Grace's appearance with the Chamber Orchestra of the Strings this weekend.
Anton Arensky: Waltz from Suite No. 1
William Wolfram, piano; Susan Grace, piano
Colorado College Summer Music Festival (Recorded 6/24/03)
Moreover, Charley talks with Mercury Ensemble music director Daniel Leavitt and Spring Strings director Kathleen Spring about their joint concert tomorrow.


Program Notes by Charley Samson, copyright 2010.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Opus 64
I. Andante; Allegro con anima
II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza
III. Valse: Allegro moderato
IV. Andante maestoso: Allegro vivace

``In the summer I shall certainly write a symphony,'' wrote Tchaikovsky to his brother Modeste in 1888. This was the first mention of what would become his Fifth Symphony. As early as May of that year, he complained: ``To tell the truth, at present I've no inclination at all to create. Have I really finally used myself up? But I hope that little by little materials for a symphony will accumulate.''
A month later, Tchaikovsky mentioned to a conductor that he was ``working fairly assiduously on a symphony, which if I'm not mistaken will be no worse than the previous ones. But perhaps it only seems so. Recently I've been haunted by the thought that I've written myself out.''
Despite the composer's doubts about his inspiration, the Fifth Symphony was finished in August. It was first performed on November 17, 1888 at a concert of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society, with Tchaikovsky conducting.
Typically, Tchaikovsky's opinion of his own work changed. After the third performance he wrote to his patroness, Nadejda von Meck: ``I have come to the conclusion that it is unsuccessful. There is something repellent about it; too much patchiness and insincerity, fabrication. And the public instinctively recognizes this. It was very clear to me that the ovations of which I was the object were on account of my previous works and that the symphony itself doesn't give pleasure.''
However, after a successful performance of the Fifth in Hamburg, Tchaikovsky had changed his mind: ``I no longer find the symphony bad, and love it once again.''
Tchaikovsky never revealed a program for the Fifth Symphony, but Nicolas Slonimsky discovered the following note among Tchaikovsky's sketchbooks: ``Introduction. Complete resignation before Fate, or, which is the same, before the inscrutable predestination of Providence. Allegro (I) Murmurs, doubts, plaints, reproaches against XXX....II. Shall I throw myself in the embraces of faith???'' What this note means is the subject of some speculation. ``Whether or not XXX refers to an actual person,'' writes John Warrack, ``it seems certain that Tchaikovsky is alluding to his central emotional problem, his homosexuality.''
The Symphony begins with a slow introduction, whose theme acts as a motto in the other three movements. Biographer Edwin Evans writes: ``The slow movement is a perfect poem, and more than one writer has professed to find here the finest symphonic movement Tchaikovsky has bequeathed us. The waltz, which takes the place of the scherzo, is also a triumph.'' In the finale, according to Ernest Newman, ``the motto phrase, which has appeared like a sinister intruder, an unwelcome guest at the musical feast, emerges as the chief thematic factor, not only of the introduction to the Finale, but of the whole movement.''
The score calls for piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani and strings.