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WHAT IS SPANISH MUSIC?
Spanish music has a distinct “flavour” of its own. The
influence of the Moorish Occupation of Southern Spain,
which lasted for seven centuries, is shown in the love
of plucked-string instruments, especially the guitar and
in the favoured type of percussion, such as tambourines
and castanets – a peculiarly Spanish instrument used to
accompany dancing.
Gypsy music and native dances (the Pavan and the
Sarabande) have also coloured the work of native
composers like Albeniz, de Falla, Granados, Sarasate,
Turina and, of course, Rodrigo.
The French have also shown interest in the life and art
of their neighbouring country and it has been frequently
said that the best Spanish music is written by French
composers – Debussy, Ravel and, included in tonight’s
concert, Bizet and Chabrier.
A somewhat unexpected connection between Spain and
Russian composers began with Glinka, continued
with Balakirev and culminated in the extremely
successful Capriccio Espagnol by Rimsky-Korsakov.
(Alexis) Emmanuel CHABRIER (1841-1894) “Espana” –
rhapsody
At the age of fifteen this most lovable French composer
came to Paris where he entered the Civil Service, at the
same time studying composition, writing a comic opera,
publishing piano pieces and developing into a brilliant
pianist.
His friends included Verlaine, Manet, Faure, Chausson,
D’Indy and Duparc, who encouraged his admiration for
Wagner.
When Chabrier was nearly 40 he devoted himself entirely
to composition and, while visiting Spain in 1882, he
collected the materials and impressions which emerged
two years later in “Espana” – one of the best pieces
of light music ever written.
This admirably un-Wagnerian piece is a lively mixture of
Spanish dance-tunes and rhythms. The composer’s
enjoyment is communicated in sparkling melodies,
accompanied by extraordinary scoring for a large
orchestra.
In mid-career, suffering from nervous exhaustion,
Chabrier had a stroke and died at the age of 53.
Georges (Alexandre Cesar Leopold) BIZET (1838–1875)
“Carmen” – Suite
Bizet was one of the most gifted French composers of
the nineteenth century. He was born in Paris in 1883,
learned the piano from the age of four and entered the
Paris Conservatoire at the age of nine. Among his
teachers was Jacques Halevy, who stimulated Bizet’s
interest in operatic composition and whose daughter,
Genevieve, also stimulated Bizet’s interest, to the
extent that he married her in 1869.
Despite the dictum that the best Spanish music is
written by French composers, Bizet’s Carmen is not
regarded very favourably by the Spaniards. They maintain
that Merimee’s admirable story of Spanish life is
distorted in the libretto and that the music rarely
suggests the Spanish idiom. It is unlikely that this
opinion had much to do with the unsatisfactory premiere
of the opera in 1875 and, ironically, three months
later, on the very evening of Bizet’s funeral, the opera
was suddenly discovered to be a masterpiece. Bizet was
only 37 when he died. What might he have achieved had he
been given more time? He joins the company of
Schubert, Mozart and Mendelssohn in this respect.
The Suite consists of nine pieces:
1. Prelude to Act One
The “Fate” motive, which sounds ominously before the
brilliant scene of the first act, is echoed again and
again throughout the opera and at the end, after
Carmen’s murder, it blazes forth luridly.
2. Aragonaise
The Prelude to Act Four is a rapid, impetuous dance.
Tones of plaintive longing are mingled with impassioned
gypsylike phrases which grow to a tumultuous climax. The
piece ends in a mood of vague foreboding.
3. Intermezzo
The Prelude to Act Three is an interlude of great
beauty. A simple, exquisitely graceful pastoral melody
is first heard in the liquid tones of the flute.
Solo flute: Eileen Montgomery.
4. The Toreadors
The music presents a vivid picture of the colourful
crowd that pour in to the bull-ring at Seville, in the
last act: magnificent, dark Spanish beauties with their
lace mantillas and heavily embroidered silken
garments…their escorts in gala attire, even more
brilliant…the excitement of the bull-fight that is about
to take place.
5. Smugglers’ March
cf. Sullivan’s “With catlike tread”
written four years later!
6.
Habanera
Carmen’s lascivious Habanera is based on a song by
the Spanish composer Sebastian Yradier who wrote
“La Paloma”
7. The Toreador’s Song
Escamillo’s boastful song is performed by a blaring
trumpet.
8. The Changing of the Guard
A troop of street urchins imitate the step of the
marching dragoons.
9. Bohemian Dance
The rhythm of the gypsy song “Near the walls of
Seville” is taken from a Spanish folk dance.
Joaquin RODRIGO (Vidre) (1901 – 1999) Concierto de
Aranjuez
Joaquin Rodrigo was born in Sagunto (Valencia) on St.
Cecilia’s day the 22nd November. At the age
of three he lost his sight almost completely as a result
of diphtheria and this event, coupled with his hearing a
performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto, led to his
interest in music. At the age of eight he began to study
piano and violin. In 1927, following the example of
other Spanish musicians - Albeniz, de Falla,
Granados and Turina - he moved to Paris, where he
became a pupil of Paul Dukas. From the start of his
career Rodrigo poured out a stream of attractive works,
all written in Braille and later dictated to a copyist.
With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936
Rodrigo returned permanently to his homeland. By the
time he took up residence in Madrid his music had taken
on a warm Mediterranean spirit and when his Concierto
de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra was produced in
1940 it brought him immediate fame.
There is a royal palace in the town of Aranjuez which is
situated on the River Tagus, S.E. of Madrid. In 1991, to
celebrate the 90th birthday of the composer,
Joaquin Rodrigo was raised to the nobility by H.M. Juan
Carlos I, King of Spain, with the title “Marques de los
jardines de Aranjuez”.
At the time of its premiere the Concierto de Aranjuez
was regarded as a curiosity, apparently because of the
seeming incongruity of pitting a guitar against an
orchestra. As Berlioz, an amateur practitioner of the
guitar wrote, “The guitar is an instrument suitable for
accompanying the voice and for taking part in
instrumental compositions of an intimate character”.
In seeking a satisfactory solution to the problems of
balance between guitar and orchestra, the composer
wisely began by leaving out the trombones and
percussion. This made it possible for him to achieve his
aim of making the work sound “like the hidden breeze
that stirs the treetops in the parks”.
1. Allegro con spirito
This aim was furthered by the unusual beginning of the
work, where one hears not an orchestral tutti but an
introduction for the solo guitar, strumming a persistent
3 bar pattern of chords, while the double-basses sustain
a pianissimo pedal-point. After the strings repeat
the introductory rhythm the principal theme is heard for
the first time played by the first violins and oboe.
Throughout this movement the orchestration is clear and
colouristic, the guitar continually contrasted with the
rich timbres of various other solo instruments – cello,
clarinet, oboe, flute. As a result, the work suggests a
concerto feeling without the guitar ever having to
compete with massively large forces
2. Adagio (Cor anglais:
George Dodds)
The second movement is celebrated for its lyrical,
expressive melody. The guitar begins in the role of the
accompanist to the cor anglais, which states the
theme. Then the guitar repeats the theme, adding
embellishments of its own. The movement draws to a close
with an extended cadenza in which motifs of the
theme provide the basis for a variety of figurations.
The full orchestra majestically declaim the theme,
before the soloist returns in the coda to bring the
movement to a peaceful conclusion.
3. Allegro gentile
In the final movement the guitar once again sets the
pace by exploring a single terse, witty theme. It
appears several times in a number of keys, with varying
orchestration, and the concerto concludes with a brisk,
descending pianissimo – a gesture of farewell.
In achieving his compositional goals, Rodrigo made no
concessions to the difficulty of the guitar, with the
result that this concerto requires exceptional
virtuosity from the soloist.
We are privileged, and delighted, to welcome Roberto
Carillo-Garcia as our distinguished soloist in this
performance.
INTERVAL
Moritz MOSZKOWSKI (1854 –1925) Three Spanish Dances
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Born in Breslau (Poland) in 1854, Moszkowski lived
as teacher and performer in
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Berlin and then for nearly thirty years in Paris,
where he died in poverty owing to the
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loss of his savings through war-depreciation. He had
a great reputation as a solo
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pianist, violinist and conductor. He retired from
his concert career in 1897 and
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concentrated on teaching. His pupils included Sir
Thomas Beecham and the
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harpsichordist Wanda Landowska.
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As a composer Moszkowski’s works include an opera,
two piano concertos, a ballet and a Violin Concerto.
His attractive piano music includes two books of
Spanish Dances, originally for piano duet, then
arranged for solo piano and later orchestrated by
Phillipp Scharwenka.
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The three dances to be performed this evening are
taken from the five which comprise
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Book 1, Op. 12.
Jules (Emile Frederic) MASSENET (1842 – 1912) “Le
Cid” – Ballet Music
Massenet arrived at the Paris Conservatoire at the age
of 11 and studied composition with Ambroise Thomas,
winning the Rome Prize at twenty-one. After a period in
Rome he returned to Paris, married in 1866, and had his
first opera produced at the Opera- Comique in 1881. For
eighteen years he was Professor of Composition at the
Paris Conservatoire.
Over the years many nasty things have been said and
written about Jules Massenet. His unique gift for
expressing certain elements of female sensibility in
music led to him being cruelly referred to as “Gounod’s
mother”. “The mere mention of his name was enough
to set the table in a roar; to make lady members of the
Bach choir turn pink with disapproval; to induce
apoplexy in the most bloodless cathedral organists.”
And yet - currently fresh interest is being shown in his
work. (Opera North staged a highly successful new
production of Manon in Newcastle in October.)
His operas are a mixture of lyrical sweetness and
dramatic fervour and demonstrate his gift for melody of
a suave, voluptuous and eminently singable kind.
Despite being a colossal success at its first
performance in 1885, “Le Cid” is remembered today by
only a soprano aria, a tenor aria and the ballet music.
The title “Le Cid” is from the Arabic “El Seid”, the
conqueror, and refers to the hero of the opera, Rodrigo
Diaz de Bivar (1026 – 1099 A.D.), a great warrior and
champion who led the common people in their struggles
against the Moors in Spain.
The ballet music, in which Massenet evokes
eleventh-century Spain through the use of national
rhythms and tunes, is set in the square of Burgos where
a carnival is taking place in front of the King’s
palace. The crowd looks on in mounting excitement as
seven dances unfold (based on the various provinces of
Spain) to a richly coloured sequence of warm melodies,
mirroring swift changes of mood from a soft, sinuous
languor to headlong gaiety.
1. Castillane
2. Andalouse
3. Aragonaise
4. Aubade
5. Catalane
6. Madrilene (Flute:
Eileen Montgomery Cor Anglais: George Dodds)
7. Navarraise
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