Subscription Concerts 2022-2023Program B
No. 1976 Subscription (Program B)

Bartók left Europe in 1940 to protest the actions of the Nazis. He, terminally ill and destitute, spent his last years in New York and died there in 1945. The four works (two of which are incomplete) penned during this difficult period are surprisingly amazing and inspiring.
These four include the Viola Concerto of which Bartók left us only the sketches. The solo part was almost finished but the orchestra part was far from completion, therefore his friend Tibor Serly, Hungarian composer and violist, reconstructed the work. This version was premiered in 1949 by the violist William Primrose who initially commissioned Bartók to write the concerto. The opening movement in flexible sonata form starts with the viola's monologue over reserved string beats. This monologue will be recalled near the end of the expressive slow movement. Then the effervescent finale begins without pause. Its virtuosic primary theme is in the Rumanian dance style, and the slower secondary theme has also a folky tint.

[Kumiko Nishi]

The Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev (1872–1929) and his ballet company, Ballets Russes, created a lively sensation in Paris in the early twentieth century. Their big smashes were
Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring in collaboration with Stravinsky. Ravel was also among the artists involved in Diaghilev’s cutting-edge projects to leave us one of the most
important orchestral repertoires, i. e. the two suites from the ballet Daphnis et Chloé (Daphnis and Chloe) he scored for.
The ballet was premiered in 1912. The scenario, divided in three parts, is an adaptation of an idyllic love story written by the ancient Greek author Longus. It is based on the Greek legend of young Daphnis and Chloe, both brought up on the island of Lesbos. Although the set designed by Léon Bakst for the premiere was influenced by Hellenism, Ravel turned away from any archaic idiom to represent the Greece that "the French painters at the end of the eighteenth century imagined" (his own words).
Suite No. 1 consists of three excerpts from the first and second parts of the ballet. After Pirates abduct Chloe, Nocturne lets Nymphs dance so unconscious Daphnis is revived. Placid Interlude is followed by Danse guerrière (Battle Dance), a barbaric dance of Pirates. Suite No. 2 is almost identical to the third part of the ballet. Lever du jour (Daybreak) depicts the grotto of Nymphs at dawn. Then Chloe, freed, and Daphnis are reunited. At Pantomime, Daphnis
as the god Pan and Chloe as the nymph Syrinx mime. The flowing and elegant flute solo suggests the panpipes (or syrinx), the attribute of Pan. Then the young couple marry. Danse générale (General Dance) is the euphoric denouement of the ballet. Ravel, a.k.a "Magician of Orchestration," meticulously and inventively brings out every instrument's infinite potential to make the ballet sound truly gorgeous and evocative.

[Kumiko Nishi]

By leaving the traditional language in terms of harmony, form and tone color, Debussy had a great influence on music history in the 20th century. La mer (The Sea) is often described as a representative example of Impressionist music, despite his dislike of the label. As a reaction
against excessively emotional music of the late Romantic period, Impressionism in music is characterized by more objective approaches and suggestion of atmosphere or feeling.
A great lover of the ocean, Debussy confessed in a letter, "I was destined for the lovely
career of a sailor, and only a quirk of fate led me to another path." Completed in 1905, La
mer paints a vivid picture of a mighty ocean changing every moment as the subtitle (Three
Symphonic Sketches) hints. Nevertheless, this music rises above descriptive, programmatic music. Indeed, the novelty of the work resides in its rigid but unconventional structure with cyclic themes (mentioned below) and a minute motivic manipulation, which is the reason why it is
often compared to a modern three-movement symphony.
De l'aube à midi sur la mer (From Dawn to Noon on the Sea) has a harmonically ambiguous introduction where two cyclic themes (recurrent elements unifying the whole work) are heard: a sliding-upward motif of two notes repeated by cellos at the beginning, and a fanfare-like wavy melody revealed softly by English horn and trumpet. The main section in D-flat major
becomes animated gradually and reaches its climax with brilliant brass. Jeux de vagues (Play of the Waves) is an intricately constructed yet jolly scherzo, fitful like water in constant change. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea) is a turbulent dialogue of which the main theme, a chromatically rising motif, is introduced by low strings at the start. In addition, this movement recalls the two cyclic themes in different ways with different instrumentation. The triptych ends at a high volume, which is unusual for Debussy, with the magnificent coda animated by the cyclic themes.

[Kumiko Nishi]