‘Variaciones concertantes,’ Op. 23

Alberto Ginastera

The 20th-century Argentine master, Alberto (Evaristo) Ginastera was born in Buenos Aires on April 11, 1916, and died in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 25, 1983. He was the child of a Spanish father and Italian mother and began his formal musical education at the Williams Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires, from which he graduated in 1935. His stint as a professor at the Liceo Militar General San Martín was forced to an end by the Perón regime. Ginastera spent two years in the United States (1945 to 1947) which included studies with Aaron Copland at the Tanglewood Festival. In 1951, Ginastera founded the Julián Aguirre Conservatory of Music. He returned to Argentina until 1968, at which time he again visited the United States before moving to Europe in 1970. His Variciones Concertantes was composed in 1953 and received its first performance on June 2 of that year in Buenos Aires with the Asociacion de la Musica Orchestra, under the direction of Igor Markevich.  It is scored for two flutes (piccolo), oboe, two clarinets, bassoon, two horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, harp and strings.

Alberto Ginastera was Argentina’s most prominent composer, among whose pupils was Ástor Piazzolla. A composer of wide-ranging styles, he is best known to orchestral concert-goers for the suite from his ballet, Estancia (The Ranch, 1941), in which he celebrated the life of the Argentinian gauchos. His Variaciones Concertantes, in which each variation features individuals or sections of the orchestra, was composed at a time when the composer was facing ever-increasing pressure from the Perón government. It stems from a period of his career that he characterized as one of “subjective nationalism.” Writing about this work, Ginastera relates that “(t)hese variations have a subjective Argentine character. Instead of using folkloristic material, I try to achieve an Argentine atmosphere through the employment of my own thematic and rhythmic elements. The work begins with an original theme followed by 11 variations, each one reflecting the distinctive character of the instrument featured. All the instruments of the orchestra are treated soloistically. Some variations belong to the decorative, ornamental or elaborative type, others are written in the contemporary manner of metamorphosis, which consists of taking elements of the main theme and evolving from it new material.”

The work is organized into 12 sections, beginning with the presentation of the theme by a solo cello, accompanied by harp that plays notes that represent the open strings of a guitar: E, A, D, G and B. These pitches continue to inform the melodic and harmonic basis of the entire work. After a short “Interlude” for strings, the variations properly place a spotlight on the flute (joking), clarinet (scherzo), viola (dramatic), oboe and bassoon (in canon), trumpet and trombone (rhythmic), violin (in perpetual motion), and horn (pastoral). A second “Interlude” for winds precedes a reprise of the theme, now featuring the solo contrabass, and the finale in the form of a rondo. This rousing concluding section is in the style of a vigorous malambo — or Argentine folk dance — the same style of the final movement of Ginastera’s Estancia Suite.

Danzón No. 2         

Arturo Márquez

Arturo Marquez Navarro was born in Álamos, Sonora-Mexico, on Dec. 20, 1950. He studied music at the Conservatory of Music of Mexico, the Taller de Composicion of the Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico, California Institute for the Arts, and privately in Paris. His principal teachers have been Federico Ibarra and Morton Subotnick. He has received numerous grants and awards from the Mexican and French governments, as well as a Fulbright Scholarship. Danzón No. 2 is scored for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (claves, snare drum, suspended cymbal, guiro, tom-toms, bass drum), piano and strings.

Although Márquez’s accomplishments include a large and widely varied repertory of pieces, his series of Danzones in the early 1990s have brought him international fame. The Danzones are based on the music of Cuba and the Veracruz region of his native Mexico. Danzón No. 2 was commissioned by the National Autonomous University of Mexico and was debuted in 1994 in Mexico City by the Orchestra Filarmonica de la UNAM, under the direction of Francisco Savin. Danzón No. 2 was also performed by the Simon Bolívar Youth Orchestra, an ensemble comprising Latin American musicians led by the charismatic conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, during the group’s 2007 tour of Europe and the United States. Its popularity with audiences established Danzón No. 2 not only as one of the signature pieces performed by that orchestra, but also has allowed it to gain admirers throughout the musical world.

According to the composer, “this music is a tribute to all that gives birth to the danzón. ... I approach the dance rhythms in the closest possible way to express my respect ... towards genuine popular music.”

‘Tales from the Vienna Woods,’ Op. 325

Johann Strauss II

Johann (Baptist) Strauss II was born on Oct. 25, 1825, in Vienna, and died there on June 3, 1899. Known also as “Johann Strauss, the Younger” or the “Waltz King” he was to become the most famous of a family of musicians best known for their creation of lighter fare, including dance music and operettas. Leading his orchestras with violin in hand, Strauss, a highly prolific composer, was best known for his waltzes, quadrilles, polkas and other dance music, as well as his operettas, including Die Fledermaus and The Gypsy Baron. Among his most popular waltzes are the “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” the “Emperor Waltz,” and “Tales from the Vienna Woods.” The latter was composed in 1868 and is one of several waltzes featuring the zither, a stringed folk instrument popular in central Europe played either with hammers or plucked. When a zither is not available, the part is taken over either by a string quartet and/or a solo harp. The work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion and strings.

The waltzes of Johann Strauss II are, for many, emblematic of the charm of late 19th-century Vienna under the rule of Emperor Franz-Joseph. So popular were his waltzes, that when Johannes Brahms was asked to sign his autograph, he whimsically penned the opening measures of Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz, adding the words “unfortunately NOT by Johannes Brahms.” “Tales from the Vienna Woods (Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald)” is one his longest and most popular waltzes, taking on almost the aspect of a tone poem. Indeed, the solo flute heard in the remarkably long introduction imitates the sound of a bird call. As is the case with so many of Strauss’ waltzes, the work is actually framed as an introduction, followed by the first waltz theme and a series of contrasting waltz episodes.

The Suite from ‘Der Rosenkavalier’

Richard Strauss

Richard Strauss’ operatic masterpiece, Der Rosenkavalier (The Chevalier of the Rose) was first performed on Jan. 26, 1911, at the Hofoper in Dresden, Germany. Capitalizing on the opera’s success, the composer later arranged two “Waltz sequences” containing music derived from Acts I and II, and Act III, respectively. These orchestral pieces have taken on a life of their own in the concert hall. The Suite from Der Rosenkavalier is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, four clarinets (including E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet), two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, celesta and strings.

Der Rosenkavalier may be seen as a sentimental glimpse back to an 18th-century Vienna that never really existed. 

Indeed, its late-Romantic musical vocabulary and use of waltzes are charmingly anachronistic. Strauss uses a wonderful libretto by the great Austrian playwright and poet, Hugo von Hofmannthal, to give musical expression to a super-charged eroticism, free from the more disturbing sexuality and violence of his earlier scandalous operas, Salomė and Elektra. The action of Der Rosenkavalier is set in the Vienna of Habsburg monarch Maria Theresia, who reigned from 1740 to 1780. 

To make short work of a rather complicated plot, the story centers on a young nobleman, Octavian, the lover of the Marschallin (wife of the Field Marshall). 

The Marschallin is asked by her oafish and lascivious cousin, Baron Ochs, to find a representative to present a silver rose as a wedding offering to his young and innocent fiancėe, Sophie von Faninal. She gives the job to Octavian, who promptly falls in love with Sophie. 

The opera ends happily for the young lovers and wistfully for the wise and aging Marschallin.

Among the music that Strauss extracted from his three-act opera for The Suite from Der Rosenkavalier is the exciting and sensuous opening sequence from Act I, depicting the rapturous lovemaking of Octavian and the Marschallin. The music from near the start of Act II, featuring the solo oboe, accompanies Octavian’s presentation of the silver rose to Sophie. This music’s piquancy derives in part from an ethereal sequence of chords in the flutes, celesta and harp interpolated as the theme unfolds. 

This is followed by a waltz sequence based upon a tune sung by the vain Baron Ochs, “With Me” (“Mit mir”), the music that dominates the end of Act II. Strauss interpolates an Italianate aria for tenor, which is sung during the Marschallin’s morning toilette in Act I. 

The final music from the Suite is derived from the trio and duet (“Is it a dream, can it truly be?”) that ends the opera. The magical harmonies from the presentation of the silver rose punctuate the cadences of this heavenly love duet.