First Concert of the 18th Season

I. Adagio Molto -- Allegro con brio
III. Menuetto
IV. Finale

I. Polka
III. Dance of the Comedians

II. Larghetto
III. Finale

The Viennese audiences of the late seventeen hundreds were accustomed to the elegance, the "clear as crystal" tonal beauties of Mozart symphonies and the rustic good nature of Haydn's music. Into this setting came the young Beethoven with a new kind of musical message. To him, music was more than beautiful architecture in tone; it was a deep expression of the soul.

This was the time when our forefathers were arguing with Mother England about recognition and liberties; it was the day when the French were calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity." Beethoven's music, too, spoke up for the individual. His earlier audiences, even the orchestral players, were somewhat mystified by this new spirit, its restlessness, its new sonorities. Beethoven himself, conducted this, his first symphony, in Vienne, April 2, 1800.

The work is in the customary four movements; today we are hearing movements I, III, IV. The first movement is in sonata form. Following a 12-measure introduction the violins launch the first subject or theme; the second theme heard first by the oboe and flute is in the contrasting key of G major. After a discussion or development of these two, we hear again a brief restatement of each theme.

Movement III, while labeled Menuetto, or Minuet, is really a scherzo. Beethoven usually substituted the jovial or "joking" scherzo for the more stately minuet of earlier composers.

The Finale opens with a brief adagio, after which the violins rush off in a wild dance. Some of the underlying harmonies are reminiscent of the Menuetto. This movement maintains a brilliance throughout, bringing this entire work to a spirited close.

Bohemian nationalism in music reaches its first milestone in The Bartered Bride, an opera by Smetana. The composer, born in 1824, contributed richly to the culture of his country, and the world, in the areas of composition, music education, pianism, and the theater. A lingering illness took him at the age of sixty.

These two dances occur in the opera and both give the rich color and flavor of the countryside and village life; the music is effervescent throughout. A polka is a lively dance in 2/4 time, originating in Bohemia about 1830. The Dance of the Comedians is another country dance called a galop; by description it is a hopping round dance also in 2/4 time. It is performed, in the opera, by a group of strolling players who came to town. There is a verve and exhilaration in both these dances, in fact in the entire opera.

The contemporary composer, Francis Poulenc, is one of a group of French composers who sought to give a new surge of vitality to French music. The ideal in common among this loosely knit group of six, and known as "The Six," was the overthrow of Teutonic domination in the arts and a turning away from the atmospheric and veiled symbolism of impressionism.

Poulenc, born in 1899, has composed in a variety of areas -- chamber music, ballet, concertos, songs, and others. There is a spirit of exuberance and excitement in Poulenc's works and this concerto is no exception.

The term, concerto, indicates a composition for a solo instrument and full orchestra, each speaking on even terms. Here we have the delight of hearing two pianos, each with its own separate part, and the orchestra. The first movement is in brisk character with hints of Parisian cafés. The second, more songlike, suggests the simplicity of nursery rhymes and folk tunes. The final movement bounds with uninhibited gaiety, yet with the solid character of serious work. Poulenc is a capable craftsman in fusing these two differing qualities.