Symphony Preview: Dancing the night away with music you know Friday, March 13, 2015

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This weekend local classical fans get a double header with two different St. Louis Symphony concerts: a Whitaker Foundation "Music That You Know" program on Friday, March 13, and music of Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and James MacMillan on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15. David Robertson is at the podium for both.

The Friday program is "Folk Dances: Brahms and Bartók," and it features dance-inspired works with roots in the folk traditions of a half-dozen different countries. This is immensely appealing stuff that doesn't require a lot of advance preparation, so I'm going to limit myself to a few bits of background on each piece to supplement the Fun Facts SLSO blogger Eddie Silva provides in his program notes.

Johannes Brahms
en.wikipedia.org

Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor (1873) – Part of a set of 21 dances that Brahms wrote originally for piano four hands and then later orchestrated, this particular dance has become so popular that it's almost a cliché. It has, as a result, been the butt of a lot of musical jokes, such as Allan Sherman's "Hungarian Goulash No. 5" and the "Rhapsody From Hunger(y)" by Spike Jones (where it gets mashed up with Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2").

Brahms thought he was basing this dance on a Hungarian folk tune (as he did for all but three of the other dances) but, in fact, he was using a czardas by Hungarian composer and conductor Béla Kéler. Ah, those carefree days before copyright law!

Juventino Rosas: Sobre las olas (Over the Waves) (1891) – A true "one hit wonder," Mexican composer Juventino Rosas was an Otomi Indian who became a prominent purveyor of salon music in Mexico City. He died at the age of 26 from a fever contracted while touring in Cuba. In his liner notes for a 1981 recording of this piece, the late music critic Andrew Lamb tells us that Rosas dedicated the waltz to a young lady whom he wooed in vain. Fitted up with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, the main theme became the song "The Loveliest night of the Year". Mario Lanza introduced it in the 1950 film "The Great Caruso."

Ravel: Tzigane (1924) – The title is French for "gypsy," and while this fiercely difficult piece for violin and orchestra doesn't use any actual Hungarian folk tunes, it certainly conjures up the feel of that kind of music. The slow, smoldering romanticism of the opening eventually gives way to a wildly energetic finale that will test the skill of the best violinists.

Hugo Alfvén: Midsommarvaka (Midsummer Vigil), Swedish Rhapsody No. 1, op. 19 (1903) – This is the first of a set of three "Swedish Rhapsodies" from a composer who, while well known in his native land, is rarely heard elsewhere. In his notes for a 1994 recording of the complete rhapsodies, Swedish composer Lennart Hedwall notes that the first rhapsody is an "impression of one of the most important national feasts in Sweden, when the people celebrate the longest day and the brightest night of the year with almost ritual intensity." In 1957 the great Chet Atkins had a major hit with his solo guitar arrangement of the first theme.

Borodin: Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor (1869-70, 1874-87) – Left unfinished at the time of the composer's death in 1887, "Prince Igor" was eventually completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. Fortunately, you don't need to know anything about the opera's complex plot to appreciate these colorful dances. Three of the melodies were used by the songwriting team of Wright and Forrest for their 1953 musical "Kismet," where they became "He's in Love," "Not Since Nineveh," and "Stranger in Paradise."

Bartók: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra (1928-29) – And now for something completely different: Hungarian music based on Hungarian folk tunes collected by a Hungarian composer. Bartók's two rhapsodies were originally written for violin and piano and then later orchestrated. This first one packs over a half-dozen different folk tunes into its roughly eleven minute run time. Like Ravel's "Tzigane," it demands real virtuosity.

Alberto Ginastera
en.wikipedia.org

Alberto Ginastera: Four Dances from Estancia, op. 8a (1941) – In 1941 American dance impresario Lincoln Kirstein commissioned Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera to write "Estancia" ("ranch" in Argentine Spanish), a ballet based on the music and dances of Argentine cowboys, for his company. In April of 1942, celebrated choreographer Agnes de Mille called Aaron Copland and asked him to score a cowboy ballet for her company. Kirsten's company folded in 1942 and the ballet wasn't performed until 1952. De Mille's company did not fold and Copland's "Rodeo" was a huge and immediate hit.

Both "Estancia" and "Rodeo" are now better known for four-movement suites excerpted from their scores. Copland's suite is part of the standard repertoire here in the USA, but Ginastera's didn't get much traction with American audiences until its 2008 recording by Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela under Gustavo Dudamel began getting airplay on classical stations.

Which is a bit surprising, as it's seriously exciting stuff. If you can sit through all twelve minutes of it—especially the exuberant "Malambo" final movement—without getting energized then (to quote a Louis Jordan lyric), "Jack, you're dead."

The essentials: David Robertson conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with violin soloists Eva Kozma and Silvian Iticovici in a Whitaker Foundation Music That You Know concert on Friday at 8 p.m., March 13. The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.