Third Concert of the 9th Season

Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany, and boasted ancestry of approximately 200 musicians. Nevertheless, when he made his home with a brother after being left an orphan at the age of ten, his musical aspirations gained little sympathy and he had to pursue a course of self-instruction. As a grown man he was simple, extremely religious, leading a life of happiness. His greatest works extol the glory of God.

Bach's fugues contain some of the finest examples of contrapuntal writing. These fugues were written for organ but are very adaptable for orchestral transcription. The version of the G Minor Fugue on today's program is by Lucien Cailliet, a native of France now living in California, who has received great acclaim as an arranger throughout the country.

George McKay is a native of the Pacific Northwest. His first musical studies were at the University of Washington. He later attended the Eastman School of Music and graduated in 1923. His major works convey an inherent Americanism which goes far deeper than conscious purpose or surface objective. Some critics have acclaimed him as possessing one of the strongest and most independent creative gifts in our country.

The three movements of the Symphonie Miniature are intended to approximate the psychological order of the basic form-types of the classical symphony, but on a very free and natural basis. The American character is present in the spirit and flavor of the music itself; it does not require any special name or dedication.

Johann Strauss, Jr., was a distinguished Austrian violinist, conductor and composer of dance music, light opera, and a grand opera. His father had also been a favorite musician in Vienna. The father's stern insistence that he pursue a mercantile career, however, forced young Johann to study composition secretly. He appeared as a rival to his famous father in 1844 and five years later they united their bands and toured Europe with tremendous success.

In the Emperor Waltzes Strauss honors Emperor Franz Joseph who was ruler of Austria for forty years. The waltzes reflect the loneliness of Franz Joseph who, though he lived as simply as any Austrian citizen, was ringed in by a mystic aloofness. A Frenchman, William Ritter, said that the Emperor Waltz "was the most beautiful flower that the fantastic tree of Strauss music had borne for seventy-five years."

Henry Kimball Hadley, born in Massachusetts, was one of the most prominent of American composers. Until his parents saw some waltzes that young Henry had written, they were much opposed to his following a musical career in spite of the fact that he was vitally interested in music at an early age. Upon realizing his talent, they gave him the best musical training that could be had in Boston. He was a prolific composer. He could compose even when his friends were talking to him. He conducted many leading orchestras in the United States after he had toured Europe for six years.

The Enchanted Castle Overture is programmatic in nature, suggesting a beautiful princess besieged in her tower by an unwanted lover, perhaps a villainous character, and later her rescue by some prince charming. The introduction to the Overture implies the mood of "once upon a time," thus giving it the misty veil of fairyland.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The personnel changes in the orchestra from concert to concert have been relatively few. The average number of players has been sixty-two, of which thirty-nine were college students, four college teachers, eleven school teachers, two high school students, two housewives, and four in business or professional pursuits. The loyalty of the orchestra personnel has made it possible to maintain the ideal of being the smallest community in the United States with a symphony orchestra of such size.