Second Concert of the 63rd Season

Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian violinist and composer. He was born in Venice around 1675, the sone of a locally esteemed violinist in the service of St. Mark's Cathedral. The known circumstances surrounding Vivaldi's youth and early manhood are meager, but it has been established that he was ordained to the priesthood in 1703. Folklore tells us that he was defrocked within a short time for interrupting a mass to dash into the sacristy and jot down a theme that had come to him at the altar. Apparently, he slipped out during a lull, expecting to return before he was "on," but got so involved in his composition that he forgot to return, leaving the congregation waiting in puzzlement!

As to Vivaldi's contribution to music, it needs only to be recalled that J.S. Bach was so entranced by his instrumental forms that he made them his own. Although he composed operas, cantatas, motets, and works in various other forms, it is by his violin concerti that Vivaldi is best known today. In the category of music for church use, the present Gloria, rediscovered in the 1930s, is already recognized as an authentic masterwork.

The Gloria in Excelsis is a canticle (song or hymn) taken from the Gospel of St. Luke. It is sometimes called the "Angelic Hymn" because its opening lines are from the anthem sung by the heavenly choir above the fields of Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born.

The earliest manuscript of the Gloria dates from the fourth century, written in Greek for the Eastern Church. In its original form, it was a "private psalm" for the bishop's services. It was most likely introduced into the service of Communion in the Western Church in connection with the Christmas Vigil, because of its reference to the Song of Angels. However, since the eleventh century, it has been included in the festive services of the Church as a hymn of praise and joy. It is the joy of believers in God's merciful goodness in sending his Son into the world. For a brief moment it stoops to invoke mercy and help for mankind, but then lifts the worshipper to a Trinitarian ascription of worship and praise to Christ and the Holy Ghost as "most high in the glory of God the Father."

In the summer of 1994, Geraldine Mayer, a patron of the arts in Orange County, CA, approached the Pacific Symphony Orchestra with the idea that she would like to commission a work to be used during the orchestra's holiday concerts that would feature the music celebrating Hanukkah. During my term as assistant conductor for the Pacific symphony I had always bemoaned the lack of robust arrangements of Hanukkah music when planning my holiday programs, so I was delighted to be approached as the one to fulfill the commission. After surveying the many songs and melodies that have been written to commemorate the story of Hanukkah, I decided upon six specific tunes that either spoke of the miracle of the oil that burned seven days longer than it should have, or that illustrated the manner in which the holiday is celebrated today. Hanukkah, O Hanukkah, S'vion (Hebrew for dreidle), Hanukkah,, and The Dreidle Song are treated in alternately classical or klezmer (traditional Jewish Eastern European) settings, leading us to the prosaic Mi Yimalel? (Who can retell the things that befall us?) And the final candle blessings, before the orchestra gallops to a rousing finish. Chag Sameach! (Happy Holidays!)

Jeff Tyzik was educated at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned the Bachelor of Music and the Master of Music degrees. He lives in Rochester, New York. Tyzik has worked mostly in the popular and jazz worlds. He has written theme music for many TV shows on all the major networks, as well as theme music for cable networks such as HBO, American Movie Classics, and Arts & Entertainment. He has traveled widely as guest conductor of such ensembles as the Detroit Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Minnesota ... well, I could go on.

Tyzik won a Grammy Award in 1986 for an album he produced of the Tonight Show Band with Doc Severinsen. His interest lies particularly with jazz. He has released six albums of his own music and written music for the Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman Orchestras. His more serious compositions have been recorded by the Londond Symphony Orchestra and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tyzik has been very active with civic groups, particularly in public school education, and in 1997 was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International for such service.