First Concert of the 72nd Season

John Williams is a very popular film-score composer, has won more Academy Award nominations than any living composer, and ties Alfred Newman for the all-time record. He is best-known for his richly-orchestrated scores for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series. He scored the first three Harry Potter films, and his principle theme, Hedwig's Theme, appears in the subsequent films. There have been two other composers used in the series when Williams had other commitments, Nicholas Hooper scored Order of the Phoenix, and Patrick Doyle was chosen to do Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Both of these composers, though having characteristics of their own, were able to produce music which combines well with Williams' main theme. You will certainly notice the resemblance of this music to what you remember of the earlier, purely Williams scores, but you will also hear parts that sound like nothing you are used to from Williams' earlier Harry Potter films. But if you compare this music to much earlier films scored by Williams, such as Missouri Breaks, you would not be surprised. That film had music best described as "blues-western," with the main theme played on a harmonica. Johnny Williams (as he was known then) has written a lot of jazz music! He has a history of combining several styles in one score.

Like Williams, Patrick Doyle was classically trained. He was born in a suburb of Glasgow, and studied music at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 1975. Among his more notable scores are Sleuth, Dead Again, Carlito's Way, Donnie Brasco, and Sense and Sensibility, which received Golden Globe, Oscar and BAFTA nominations in the Best Score categories.

The original soundtrack for Goblet of Fire is too long for a concert of this length, so the music has been arranged into a suite by Jerry Brubaker, a composer with a long history as an arranger in Hollywood. The themes we will hear, besides Hedwig's Theme, are Voldemort, The Quidditch World Cup, Foreign Visitors Arrive, Potter Waltz, Harry in Winter, and Hogwart's Theme. The seventh Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, is to be released in mid-November.

Joseph Haydn was surely one of the greatest composers of the Classical era...that is, Classical in the musical sense of the word, referring to the eighteenth-century period marked by an emphasis on clarity, logical structure, and rationalism in general. This comment applies to art as well as music Goethe referred to architecture as "frozen music," alluding to the studied organization of the sonata form.

"Papa" Haydn, as he was affectionately known, has been considered by many to be the "father" of the symphony. Others dispute this, pointing out that there were many predecessors, such as Karl Friedrich Abel, Georg Matthias, Monn, Wagenseil...you remember them, don’t you?

It's true that the “symphony” was not exactly invented; it simply evolved, and many people had a hand in its evolution. Haydn’s predecessors created works based on the Italian overture, which consisted of three movements. Haydn, and then Mozart, increased the number of movements to four, by inserting a third movement, almost always in the form of minuet-and-trio. Whether or not Haydn can be rightly considered the father of the symphony, there can be no doubt that he made very successful use of the form. When we think of a "Classical" symphony, we think of Haydn and Mozart.

A typical "symphony" is a work for a large orchestra, consisting of four movements, the first of which has the structure of a sonata. Second movements were frequently written in the theme-and-variations form. The final movement, often a rondo, was almost always fast. That is true for Haydn, Mozart, and all their followers. But this symphony, Farewell, is an exception...sort of.

The musicologist Cecil Gray recounts a conversation he had with British composer, Alan Rawthshorne, who was having trouble with the completion of a final movement. Rawthshorne said, "...there is only one composer whose last movements are always absolutely and invariably right." Gray didn’t need to ask who that was: Haydn. However, the final movement of Haydn’s forty-fifth symphony might be considered an exception. Not that it isn’t "right," but that it breaks the tradition that Haydn had established during his earlier symphonies, as I will explain.

This symphony, not surprisingly has four movements: Allegro assai (very fast), Adagio (slow), Menuet, Allegretto (moderately fast)and Presto-Adagio (super fast, then slow).

Many of Haydn’s 107 symphonies have been given nicknames. Haydn, himself, may have named some of them, but most were named by others. The story about this nickname, Farewell, may well be true.

In 1772, when this symphony was written, Haydn was in the service of Prince Esterházy, who liked to summer at his estate in the country. His musicians had to spend that time with him, but without their families. On one occasion, the prince was enjoying his stay so much that he lingered on to such an extent that his players complained to Haydn. Haydn then wrote this piece as a hint to the Prince that it was time to go home. He already had a new symphony ready to go, but changed the final movement as a sort of musical joke.

This movement begins as expected, very fast, but after a little over seven minutes into it, there is a sudden pause, and the music continues very slowly and softly. One by one, the players extinguish their candles, and steal off the stage, leaving only Haydn and his second violin. Luckily, the Prince had a sense of humor, and let them all go home the following day.