Fourth Concert of the 82nd Season

Brahms' 21 Hungarian dances were originally composed for piano four hands. He arranged 10 of them for solo piano, but only three for orchestra. Many other composers took up the task of arranging Brahms' dances for orchestra. The Hungarian dances have proved to be among Brahms' most popular works -- indeed, they were one of his best money-makers. Some of the Hungarian dances were among the classical works appropriated by various score composers for cartoons during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Number 5 has probably been used more than any other, and you may well recognize it even if you don't know it from the title.

Most of the dances make use of Hungarian dance melodies; only three use original melodies by Brahms. Number 5 is one of the several which use melodies thought by Brahms to be folksongs, but turned out to be compositions by Hungarian composers. In the case of No. 5, the melodies are borrowed from the csárdás "Bártfái emlék" by Béla Kéler.

Charles Ives was an American musical pioneer. Many of the techniques he employed in his pieces were not widely adopted by other composers until decades after he first used them, and many of his works are found difficult to listen to by audiences. One of his most often heard works is the Variations on America, which he wrote in 1891, when he was 17 years old. Ives had been serving as a church organist since he was 14, and so it would seem natural that he would choose that instrument for the Variations. The work is quite challenging, even by modern standards, but Ives said that it was "as much fun as playing baseball." Like many of his works, the Variations remained unpublished for several decades. It was "discovered" by E. Power Biggs after being published in 1949. Wider popularity came after the work was arranged for orchestra by William Schuman in 1962, and for band by William Rhodes in 1968.

The work follows the usual theme and variation structure: an introduction based on material from the theme, an introduction of the theme, and several variations of the theme. The presentation of the main theme makes use of col legno in the strings (when they strike the strings with the wood of the bow). The first variation involves many running notes in the woodwinds which at times sound as if they have lost their way. The second variation utilizes a highly chromatic and haunting theme in the bass instruments.

Ives also inserted two interludes, one after the second variation and one after the fourth. The interludes contain some of the most dissonant material in the entire work. After the jarring first interlude, the third variation begins with a rather jolly dance in which someone seems to be a bit tipsy. The fourth variation is marked "polonaise" although it sounds more Spanish than Polish. The second interlude follows this, again, quite dissonant, with muted brass. Schuman followed the structure of the original work pretty closely, but he did insert an extra variation -- or a "forward extension" of the fifth variation. This happens right after the second interlude and begins with a substantial trumpet solo. After the trumpet solo, the arrangement resumes following Ives' original material which features quick runs in the bass instruments (which would have involved some fancy footwork on the part of the organist), and this variation leads into a finale that resembles the opening.

Some Americans take offense at Ives' Variations, as the twentieth century techniques seem to inflict rather nasty insults on the familiar patriotic melody. British folks might take greater offense, as the tune is their national anthem. However, Ives certainly did not mean to heap any abuse upon the well-loved melody. He was simply fascinated by harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic combinations of sounds that were shocking in his own time and are still quite startling today. He occasionally asked, "Are my ears on wrong?" Fortunately, he set aside these occasional doubts and left a remarkable legacy of highly original American music. If you think you might not like the Variations on America, try putting your ears on wrong before it begins.

Heitor Villa-Lobos wrote nine Bachianas Brasilerases, beginning in 1930 and finishing in 1945. The works celebrate both Villa-Lobos' native Brazilian folk songs as well as the music of J.S. Bach. This is reflected in the dual titles which are used for each movement. The various Bashianses are composed for a variety of instrument combinations -- for example, the first is for an orchestra of cellos. However, most, such as No. 2, are for a fairly traditional orchestra. In No. 4, in addition to the traditional orchestra instruments, there are parts for saxophone and a greatly expanded percussion section.

The work is composed in four movements; today's concert includes the second and fourth. The second movement is "Aria-O canto da nossa terra." The aria term indicates the Bach connection -- a slow, lyrical, and expressive song-like piece; "O canto da nossa terra" roughly translates to "song of our land." The second movement is in three distinct sections, two outer slower sections with a quicker, more dance-like middle part. The fourth movement is "Toccata-O trenzinho: The Little Train of the Caipira." The toccata term refers to Bach -- many of his fugues are preceded by a toccata, a showy piece with a variety of tempos and styles. "Trenzinho" means train; a "caipira" is a person from a small rural town; the fourth movement is a vivid depiction of a train.

We hear the train beginning to move, gradually picking up pace, not entirely smoothly. Once a good "traveling" speed is attained, a cheery song begins. Gradually intensity increases -- the train would seem to be climbing a hill. Speed and momentum gradually slow, and just as it appears to lose all forward motion, the hill is crested and the previous pace is resumed. As the train approaches arrival at its stop, speed gradually slows. We hear the screeching of brakes and steam being released; finally the train lurches to a halt in a crunching chord.

Born and brought up in Trinidad, Dominique Le Gendre trained as a classical guitarist in Paris with Ramon de Herrera while composing music for experimental films and assisting Haitian film-maker Elsie Haas on her documentary La Ronde des Vaudou. Her musical trajectory spans performance, musical direction, teaching, curation, and producing music events, as well as composing music for theatre, dance, art installations, film, television, and radio drama for BBC Radio 3 and 4. She composed and produced music for all 38 Shakespeare plays for the audio collection, The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare.

A former Associate Artist of the Royal Opera House, her chamber music and operas have been commissioned and performed by numerous ensembles including the Royal Opera House and Royal Opera House Soloists, Philharmonia Orchestra, Manning Camerata, Tête-a-tête Opera (UK); Ibis Ensemble, Metamorphosis Dance, Natalia Dopwell (Trinidad and Tobago); Ensemble du Monde and Maegan Pollonais (USA); Clarinettist Jože Kotar and Pianist Luca Ferrini (Slovenia). Her musical-theatre work, Jab Molassie with libretto by Bassist Caitlyn Kamminga was produced by Calabash Foundation for the Arts, premiering at the Little Carib Theatre. Ms. Le Gendre is co-founder and artistic director of the UK arts charity StrongBack Productions.

Notes about "Songs of the Islands" by the Composer:

This collection of songs has emerged out of a commission that I received from the Classical Music Development Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago, a visionary foundation that was created by Annette Dopwell and her daughter, soprano Natalia Dopwell.

There are twelve songs here; the first six are arrangements of traditional songs from the edited collections of two of Trinidad's leading musicologists, Edric Connor and Olive Walke. It just so happens that Olive Walke was my first piano teacher, our next door neighbor, and chorale director of Trinidad's leading choir in the 1960s, La Petite musicale. Annette Dopwell, co-founder of CMDFTT was also a member of that choir for many years and our paths crossed unknown to each other as Annette rehearsed many of the songs in this collection with the choir at Olive Walke's home while my sister and I listened in to rehearsals from under the piano.

The second set of songs -- six in number -- are musical settings of poems by Caribbean poets, Edward Braithwaite, Martin Carter, Christina Dopwell, Claude McKay, and Derek Walcott. These are songs of resistance, faith, lament, exile, resignation, return, myth, time passing, and of landscapes, expressed in words richly evocative of the Caribbean.

Dominique Le Gendre
London, 26th July 2016

Margaret Bonds was one of the first Black composers to gain recognition in the U.S. A prodigious pianist and composer, Bonds wrote her first composition "Marquette Street Blues" when she was only five years old. Her most popular works were arrangements of African-American spirituals and her collaborations with poet Langston Hughes.

"He's got the Whole World in His Hand" is a traditional African-American spiritual. The song was first published in the 1927 hymnal, Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New. The work achieved lasting fame during the 1950s as it was performed and recorded by numerous singers, including Marian Anderson, Kate Smith, and Mahalia Jackson, as well as the young Laurie London (13 years old at the time of his recording) from the UK.