Second Concert of the 82nd Season

The toccata was developed during the late Renaissance period and was largely a vehicle for the organ and harpsichord. Toccatas feature an improvisatory style (though there is no actual improvisation) with a variety of moods and tempos. Frescobaldi's toccata heard on the program today is often played in transcriptions for band or orchestra; it's his most often-heard of many compositions in the genre.

I. Like most orchestral suites of the Baroque age, Telemann's Don Quixote Suite begins with a French overture. French overtures come in two parts: a slow introductions with dotted figures that create jagged, snappy rhythms, and a quick second part with imitation. The first part is often reprised.

II. Like most Baroque orchestra suites, the Don Quixote Suite is a dance suite. Telemann wrote many of these orchestral suites, and he often included a descriptive title or even programmatic content, such as in the Quixote suite -- based on Miguel de Cervantes' tale of a slightly delusional knight.

III. Don Quixote comes upon some windmills which he takes to be fearsome giants. He decides to engage them in battle.

IV. This movement features the "Baroque sigh" -- a motivic device common in Baroque music. It has only two pithces and descends by step. The first note is emphasized, with a relaxation on the second, creating an expressive "sighing" gesture.

V. Don Quixote's sidekick, Sancho Pansa, is only a simple farmer. The music features frequent shifts in dynamics, which create some "musical confusion."

VI. Musical depictions of the mighty steeds of Don Quixote and his squire.

A concerto grosso divides the orchestra into two groups: a smaller "concertino" group and a larger "tutti" group. The sound features mixtures of the two groups playing alone as well as combined.

II. The second movement has a distinctive main theme that uses only open strings.

III. The third movement borrows its structure from the Baroque suite with the sarabande, a dark, triple meter dance. But the dance characters is overshadowed by melodies that suggest a stark, haunting British landscape, with rich, dusky harmonies.

IV. The scherzo contrasts vigorous, short staccato figures with a lilting, cantabile melody. Much of the movement suggests a bleak and foreboding mood.

V. The final movement begins with a jaunty march, which is interspersed and combined with several quirky secondary themes. The piece closes with a restatement of the opening Intrada.

The Hopak is a Ukrainian folk dance. Mussorgsky wrote one for the finale of his comic opera, The Fair at Sorochinsk. It is probably the best-known music from the opera.