A Far Cry – Program Notes

Season Listing | Program | Program Notes | Biography

MOZART, Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K.546

It’s a given that every composer profits from the study of Bach. This was true even during the late-18th century, when audiences rejected his dense “learned” style in favor of the lighter galant. Mozart’s own exposure to the Baroque master was indebted to Baron Gottfried van Swieten during his early days in Vienna. As he recounted in a 1782 letter to his sister: the Baron, “whom I visit every Sunday, gave me all the works of Handel and Sebastian Bach to take home with me after I had played them through to him. When Constanze heard the fugues she fell quite in love with them. She will listen to nothing but fugues now . . . Having often heard me play fugues off the top of my head, she asked if I had ever written any down, and when I said I had not, she scolded me very thoroughly for not having written anything in this most artistic and beautiful of musical forms . . . ” The 26-year-old’s lighthearted tone masks a more profound emotion; as Alfred Einstein pointed out more than 50 years ago, Mozart’s study of Bach’s fugues represented “a revolution and a crisis in his creative activity,” internalized through string arrangements of Bach fugues and reflected in major compositions—directly in the Requiem and the “Jupiter” Symphony, more diffusely in the increasingly polyphonic conception of many works from his last decade.

The C minor fugue was first composed in 1783 for two pianos (K. 426) then re-arranged for strings, with an introductory Adagio, in June 1788—the prolific summer during which he also penned his last three symphonies. The adagio alternates a dotted-rhythm reminiscent of a French overture with a more lyrical passage. A French overture normally begins a more extended multi-movement work; in this case, its use serves to establish a period flavor and a sense of occasion. The theme of the fugue is strongly rhythmic, with little of Mozart’s melodic charm—and yet it has the uniquely Mozartean quality of suggesting a character through gesture and nuance. The “crisis in creative activity” was not for naught.

– Susan Key

SUK, Serenade for Strings

If this Serenade for Strings brings to mind echoes of another work by the same name, it isn’t totally coincidence. One of Suk’s most famous teachers was Antonín Dvořák, who was not just a source of musical instruction and inspiration for the teenage composer, but the man who would eventually become his father-in-law.

Bedřich Smetana and Dvořák were two composers responsible for grafting in, and emphasizing, Czech folk idioms or programmatic elements into their compositions, and featuring them in concerts of largely German programming. As the Austro-Hungarian Empire strained under the pressure of ethnic groups grasping for more independence, this was not simply an aesthetic choice, but also a political statement via cultural assertion. Their students would follow suit, though it has been observed that Suk’s compositions eventually utilized fewer Czech idioms, perhaps in an effort to stop comparisons between his music and that of Dvořák.

Dvořák, Three Slavonic Dances

The Slavonic Dances are a series of 16 orchestral pieces composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1878 and 1886 and published in two sets as Opus 46 and Opus 72, originally for piano four hands. Lively and nationalistic, the pieces were well received at the time and today are among the composer’s most memorable works, occasionally making appearances in popular culture.

Prior to the publication of the first set of Slavonic Dances, Dvořák was a relatively unknown composer of modest means. Consequently, he applied for the Austrian State Prize fellowship in order to fund his composing work. After he won the prize three times in four years, Johannes Brahms, one of the members of the award committee, referred Dvořák to his own publisher, Fritz Simrock. The first of Dvořák’s music to be published by Simrock was the Moravian Duets, which attained widespread success; encouraged, Simrock asked the composer to write something with a dance-like character.

Unsure how to begin, Dvořák used Brahms’s Hungarian Dances as a model—but only as a model; there are a number of important differences between the two works. For example, whereas Brahms made use of actual Hungarian folk melodies, Dvořák only made use of the characteristic rhythms of Slavic folk music: the melodies are entirely his own. Simrock was immediately impressed by the music Dvořák produced, and asked the composer for an orchestral version as well. Both versions were published within the year, and quickly established Dvořák’s international reputation. The enormous success of the Opus 46 dances led Simrock to request another set of Slavonic Dances in 1886; Dvořák’s subsequent Opus 72 dances met with a similar reception.

The three dances on this program are, respectively, a furiant, a starodávný (ancient dance), and a furiant.

MOZART, Symphony No. 29

Mozart wrote Symphony No. 29 when he was just 18 years old, following his return to Salzburg after years performing and studying music in Italy with his father. Evidently sufficient funds were available to provide the young prodigy a paid musical position, granting him important opportunities in the development of his career. Symphony No. 29 could be said to represent the beginning of a period of explosive development—although it followed 28 others, the 29th exhibits new musical growth that, in they eyes of many scholars, resulted from Mozart’s exposure to the great works of Joseph Haydn, Gregorio Allegri and others during his Italian travels. After composing the first 27 symphonies in a 9-year period leading up to his 18th birthday, Mozart paused in his symphonic writing for a four-year hiatus following the completion of the Symphony No. 29, as if in acknowledgement of the significance of the piece (during this time, Mozart turned his attention to the concerto, producing five for violin and four for piano).

Symphony No. 29 marks a new phase not only in Mozart’s compositional style, but also in the development of the classical symphony. Staying true to the character of well-established forms (the piece consists of three sonata-form movements and a third-movement minuet), Symphony No. 29 is an early move towards the increased scope of symphonic form, with thematic material that reappears throughout the movements, deepening the unity of the overall work. In keeping with traditional technique, Mozart demonstrates a careful attention to harmony and cadence, but the piece also showcases the beginnings of Mozart’s clever manipulation of such conventions, for example the innovative use of chromaticism, heightened sensitivity to the presence and force of the dominant, starkly contrasting melodic motifs, extrapolation of motivic segments into larger harmonic units. This ingenuity would come to define Mozart’s contributions to the symphonic genre. Symphony No. 29 requires an ensemble of similar scale to prior symphonic works, much smaller than the vast ensembles that would be demanded by the composer’s later symphonies. (Adapted from a note by Mia Tsui)

A Far Cry – Program

Season Listing | Program | Program Notes | Biography

A FAR CRY, Program, Green Bay, Wisconsin
March 29, 2015

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K.546

Josef Suk (1874-1935)
Serenade for Strings in E-flat major, Op. 6

Andante con moto
Allegro, ma non troppo e grazioso
Adagio – Più andante – Tempo I
Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo presto – Vivace

— intermission —

Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) (arr. Alastair Eng)
Three Slavonic Dances
Op. 46 No. 1 in C, Presto
Op. 72 No. 2 in E minor, Allegretto grazioso
Op. 46 No. 8 in G minor, Presto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201/186a

Allegro moderato
Andante
Menuetto: Allegretto – Trio
Allegro con spirito

A Far Cry appears by arrangement with Lisa Sapinkopf Artists, www.chambermuse.com

March 2015 E-Notes: A Far Cry

A Far Cry Sunday, March 29, 2015 • 7:30 p.m.

Enjoy an evening with Mozart with this Grammy Award-nominated, 18-player, Boston-based chamber orchestra! The self-conducted ensemble features leading New England Conservatory of Music alumni. The New York Times said the group “brims with personality or, better said, personalities, many and varied.” For our concert, the ensemble will add four woodwind players and perform Mozart’s landmark Symphony No. 29 in A major. See the program and program notes.

This tightly-knit collective was founded in 2007 by 17 young professional musicians, partly with the idea of fostering their individual personalities. The ensemble uses an innovative, collective, decision-making process with rotating leadership. For each piece the members choose five principal musicians who guide the rehearsal process and shape the interpretation. Because each program includes several works, the multiple-leader approach adds musical variety to the concerts.

A Far Cry’s musical philosophy has led to collaborations with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Jake Shimabukuro, Urbanity Dance, and Roomful of Teeth. The result is an expansion of the boundaries of the orchestral repertoire and how the music is prepared, performed, and experienced. A Far Cry has performed hundreds of concerts across the U.S. and around the world. They also have a strong presence on the internet.  See A Far Cry’s biography.

Learn more at: afarcry.org.

Post-Concert Reception

You’re invited to meet and greet the performers and your concert-going friends at Titletown Brewing Company and nibble on complimentary snacks after the concert. A big thanks to the Titletown Brewing Company for providing the space and the snacks.

Location: Titletown Brewing Company, 200 Dousman St, Green Bay, WI

Classics by Request

Every Saturday from 10 am to 11 am on WPNE, 89.3, WPR Host Ruthanne Bessman plays listener’s classical requests on Classics by Request.

Listeners can submit their requests online at http://www.wpr.org/classics-request or call in toll free during the show at 800-442-7106. This is a great chance to get the word out about Brown County Civic Music Association and hear Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra perform something they will perform at our May 9 concert by requesting a movement from Brahms’ Second Symphony (MSO Classics). If you’d rather hear something from Mozart, request an MSO recording of a movement from his 38th or 39th symphonies. Both are on the MSO Classics label. Be sure to mention that Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Brown County Civic Music Association Concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, in Ralph Holter Auditorium at West High School, Green Bay.

Dine to Donate – Perkins

Mark your calendars! Perkins Restaurants will donate 10% of all sales between 5 and 8 pm to Brown County Civic Music Association on the following designated evenings throughout the summer:

Perkins on the corner of Military and Shawano – Third Wednesday of each month.

Perkins on South Oneida in Ashwaubenon – First & third Thursdays of each month.

Tell your family, friends, and neighbors to take a break and have dinner at Perkins. All diners (no need to be a CM member) are included in the donation! Your participation makes this an easy, delicious fundraiser for Brown County Civic Music!

Early membership incentives

Purchase a membership – new or renewal – by June 1 and be automatically entered in a drawing to win one of four restaurant gift certificates from program advertisers:

  • Alpha Delights
  • Mackinaws
  • Titletown Brewing Company
  • Union Hotel

The winner will be notified by phone and/or email.

Announcing the 2015-16 Season

The Brown County Civic Music Association is pleased to announce the 2015-16 concert season. Click here 2015-16 season brochure (pdf)

Date Concert
Sun., Oct. 18, 2015 St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble
Sat, Nov. 21, 2015 Accordion Virtuosi of Russia
Sat., March 19, 2016 Quartetto Gelato
Sat., April 23, 2016 Isthmus Brass Ensemble
Sat, May 21, 2016 Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

All performances in the 2015-16 season:

  • are at Ralph Holter Auditorium,
  • Green Bay West High School
  • begin at 7:30 p.m. (auditorium doors open at 7 p.m.)
  • are general admission seating