Tuesday, July 20, 2021
8:15 p.m.
Amphitheater
Rossen Milanov, conductor
Repertoire
W.A. Mozart (1756–1791)/Arr. J.N. Wendt: The Marriage of Figaro, Overture [5']
Richard Strauss (1864–1949): Serenade in E-flat major, op. 7 (1881) [10']
Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904): Wind Serenade in D minor, B. 77, op. 44 (1878) [24']
Moderato, quasi marcia
Tempo di menuetto
Andante con moto
Finale: Allegro molto
This program is made possible by the William M. Kinley Fund for the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the Mr. and Mrs. Sam A. Miller and Mr. and Mrs. Edward S. Babcox Memorial Fund, and the Jim and Lynn Levinson Fund for the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
First Violin
Vahn Armstrong, Acting Concertmaster—28
Mischakoff Taylor Concertmaster Chair
Ming Gao, Acting Asst. Concertmaster—27
Adrienne Finet—5
Amanda Gates—20
David Hult—42
Olga D. Kaler—27
Liana Koteva Kirvan—3
Lenelle Morse—29
Erica Robinson—33
Anton Shelepov—5
Marian Tanau—28
Second Violin
Diane Bruce, Principal—41
Simon Lapointe, Assistant—11
Cheryl Bintz—31
Barbara Berg—42
Karen Lord-Powell—13
Jonathan Richards—5
Lara Sipols—19
Viola
Christopher Fischer, Principal—6
Karl Pedersen, Acting Asst.—5
Cynthia Frank—25
Kayleigh Miller—5
Jennifer Stahl—25
Eva Stern—20
Cello
Jolyon Pegis, Principal—27
Lars Kirvan, Assistant—5
Igor Gefter—4
Daryl Goldberg—35
Bass
Owen Lee, Principal—9
P.J. Cinque, Assistant—1
Kieran Hanlon— 1
Caitlyn Kamminga—25
Bernard Lieberman—45
David Rosi—28
Flute
Richard Sherman, Principal—32
Rita and Dunbar VanDerveer Symphony Principal Chair for Flute
Kathryn Levy (piccolo)—45
Oboe
Hougo Suza, Acting Principal Oboe (season sub)
Anna Mattix, Acting 2nd (season sub)
Clarinet
Eli Eban, Principal—28
Daniel Spitzer (bass)—7
Bassoon
Jeffrey Robinson, Principal—17
Sean Gordon—3
Benjamin Atherholt (contra)—5
Horn
Roger Kaza, Principal—19
William Bernatis, Assistant—23
Donna Dolson—37
Mark Robbins—37
Trumpet
Peter Lindblom, Assistant—29
Leslie Linn—23
Trombone
John Marcellus, Principal—42
Eric Lindblom (bass)—15
Christopher Wolf—5
Tuba
Frederick Boyd, Principal—35
Percussion
Brian Kushmaul, Principal—27
Thomas Blanchard, Assistant—24
Pedro Fernandez—3
Timpani
Brian Kushmaul—27
Harp
Beth Robinson, Principal—48
Diversity Fellows
Yan Izquierdo, violin
Scott Jackson, violin
Edna Pierce, viola
Maximiliano Oppeltz, cello
Amy Nickler, bass
Members on Leave
Peter Anderegg—5
Stuart Chafetz, Principal—24
Jan Eberle, Principal—36
Gabriel Pegis—13
Brian Reagin, Concertmaster—24
Charles Waddell—39
Substitute and Extra Musicians
The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra would like to acknowledge and thank its many substitute and extra musicians for their service.
Manager
Marian Tanau, Personnel Manager
Librarians
Lara Sipols, Principal
Adrienne Finet, Associate Principal
Dent Williamson, Emeritus
Administration
Steven Slaff, Managing Director
Matt Hart, Stage Manager
Notes
Numbers after names indicate years as members of the CSO prior to 2021.
by David B. Levy
Serenade in E-flat Major, Op. 7
Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss was born in Munich on June 11, 1864, and died in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on September 8, 1949. He was not related to the Viennese Strauss family of waltz fame, although he composed some impressive waltzes that are incorporated in his larger works. A brilliant conductor and composer, Strauss first came to public attention as a composer because of his sensational symphonic poems composed during the 1880s. At the beginning of the 20th century Strauss turned his attention to the world of opera, shocking the operatic establishment with the high-powered sexuality and violence of Salomé (1905) and Elektra (1909). Strauss later chose somewhat less scandalous subjects for his operas, beginning with his first collaboration with the Austrian poet and playwright, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Der Rosenkavalier (1911). Strauss composed his Serenade for Winds, Op. 7 in 1881, and it was first performed on November 27, 1882 in Dresden. The work scored for2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, and 4 horns.
In many respects, Richard Strauss was the “bad boy” of his generation, composing orchestral compositions and operas that were shocking to his contemporary audiences. Nevertheless, the bookends of his career were marked by works of a far gentler nature. While works composed toward the end of his life such as the Oboe Concerto and Four Last Songs are well known, we do not often hear some of the works from the earlier stages of his oeuvre. Growing up, the young Richard was surrounded by music. The French horn was especially near and dear to the composer’s heart, as it was the instrument superbly wielded by his father, Franz Joseph Strauss, in the Munich Court Orchestra. Franz, along with composer and theorist Ludwig Thuille, were the primary influencers on the young Richard. His father’s direction of an amateur orchestra, the “Wilde Gung’l,” gave the precocious youth hands-on experience with the art of orchestration. This primary education bore extraordinary fruit as the composer matured and entered into his maturity.
This early stage in Richard’s development resulted in the composition of symphonic and chamber music, chief among them being two concertos for his father’s instrument, the horn, as well as the work on this program, the delightful Serenade. Op. 7 for winds. The idea of the wind serenade (Harmoniemusik, in German) has a long history, having given rise to a number of works in the Classical Era, including masterpieces from the hands of Haydn, Mozart, and the young Beethoven. Other composers in the latter half of the nineteenth century, such as Antonín Dvořák, whose Serenade, Op. 44 (B. 77) shares the stage on this concert, turned their attention to this genre. Even the two serenades for small orchestra by Johannes Brahms, Op. 11 and 16, written for combined winds and strings, make fine expressive use of the wind family (especially Op. 16). Conservative in nature, perhaps self-conscious of its history, Strauss has given woodwinds a splendid and charming work. Using the traditional sonata-form design of exposition, development, and recapitulation, this short work is balm for the ears of its listeners.
Serenade for Wind Instruments in D Minor, Op. 44 (B. 77)
Antonín Dvořák
Dvořák had few peers of his generation for creating musical compositions of comparable tunefulness and sheer delight. Loyal to his Czech origins throughout his life, he had the uncanny ability to create music that at once reflected his heritage while at the same time enchanting audiences across all national boundaries. It is important to bear in mind that the Czechlands in Dvořák’s day were still part of the old Habsburg Empire. While some individuals in Vienna tried to resist his musical idiom, no less a figure than Johannes Brahms was to become one of Dvořák’s most devoted advocates. As a judge of the Austrian State Stipendium competition, the Serenade for Winds was one of the works that won Brahms’s favor.
The Serenade for Winds, like the companion work by Richard Strauss on tonight’s program, evokes a long tradition of works for winds with the title of serenade or cassation. Dvořák’s contribution to the genre comprises four movements. The first movement, Moderato, quasi marcia, as its name implies, evokes the spirit of a military march. It may be no coincidence that a later Czech composer, Leoš Janáček, invoked military music in his Sinfonietta. The second movement is a Minuetto, whose central trio section is a Furiant—a fast-moving Czech dance in triple-meter. The lyrical third movement, Andante con moto, ravishes the ear with achingly beautiful writing for the clarinet and oboe. Its middle section is more agitated, exploiting a plaintive three-note motive, while the end of the movement adds a touch a pathos before coming to its gentle conclusion. The finale, Allegro molto, is a spirited romp filled with rustic energy. A special treat is the return of the military march theme from the first movement, which yields to the high spirits of the movement’s opening, bringing the work to a joyful and heroic conclusion.