John Philip Sousa (American -‐1854-‐1932). Chariots of Fire. Vangelis (Greek –
born 1943). La Rejouissance from The Fireworks Music. G. F. Handel (German ...
CIT in association with RTÉ lyric fm and Cork City Council presents
EVELYN GRANT And the CORK POPS ORCHESTRA In
The SOUNDS of MUSIC
CITY HALL, CORK
2012
TEACHERS’ NOTES
www.corkpops.ie
Programme
March Medley Chariots of Fire La Rejouissance from The Fireworks Music Hornpipe from The Water Music Flute Concerto ‘La Tempesta di Mare’ The Brendan Voyage Theme Music from the Soundtrack of Titanic Bolero March to the Scaffold from Symphony Fantastique Firework from the album Teenage Dream Riverdance
John Philip Sousa (American -‐1854-‐1932)
Vangelis (Greek – born 1943)
G. F. Handel (German – 1685 -‐1759)
G.F. Handel
Antonio Vivaldi (Italian – 1685 – 1741)
Shaun Davey (Irish – born 1948)
James Horner (American – born 1953)
Maurice Ravel (French 1875 – 1937)
Hector Berlioz (French 1803 -‐1869)
Katy Perry et al
Bill Whelan (Irish – born 1950)
Vocalist – Laoise O’Hanlon
Percussion Soloist :
www.voiceworksstudio.ie Alex Petcu-‐Colan
An Irish musician of Romanian origin, Alex has won all the recital and concerto competitions at the Cork School of Music and recently, took part in the Tromp International Percussion Competition 2010 where he reached the last six out of a total of ninety-five contestants. As a soloist, Alex has given recitals at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Crawford Summer Lunchtime Concert series and in Gryon, Switzerland among others. He also worked with the Irish Composers Collective on the development of new repertoire for solo percussion. Alex is also an active chamber and orchestral musician and has enjoyed performances with the R.T.E Concert Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, and also the Lucerne Festival Academy where he worked alongside Ensemble Intercontemporain and under the baton of Pierre Boulez, David Robertson and Peter Eotvos. Other recent engagements include a Music Network tour with the CAN Percussion Trio, concerts with Efterklang at the Cork Opera House and Dublin Fringe Festival,and the performance of major works by Steve Reich at the Reich Effect in Cork in 2011. He also set up the Cork New Music Ensemble with the main objective of performing new works by Irish composers.
Check out Alex Petcu-‐Colan’s performances on YouTube (Rebonds B by Xenakis)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DYNmj9zw9g&list=UUd3OVa_SvJEuAooTIiws0dA&index= 3&feature=plcp
(Bach:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT5bMkfRKNk&list=UUd3OVa_SvJEuAooTIiws0dA&index=2 1&feature=plcp
Programme Notes
John Philip Sousa -‐ Born in 1875, in Washington, to immigrant parents, Sousa became known as the ‘The March King’ – a reference to the huge reputation of the European composer Johann Strauss Jnr., who was known at the time as ‘The Waltz King’. On the concert, we will play a medley of Sousa’s most famous marches, including The High Cadets; Semper Fidelis; The Washington Post; and The Liberty Bell. Probably, his most famous march of all is The Stars and Stripes March, which has generated patriotic feeling since it was introduced in the U.S.A. in 1897. It has more recently become a football anthem! It was so popular, that audiences regularly rose to their feet, as though it were the national anthem. It became traditional to play The Stars and Stripes as the encore on every Sousa concert. Sousa’s father enrolled his 13–year-‐old son as a musical apprentice in the U.S. Marine Band, after he, allegedly, ran away to join a circus. He continued to receive private music tuition, and became an accomplished violinist and composer. He left after seven years with the Marine Band, but was invited back to be the director of the band in 1880. In the 12 years during which he held this position, the band became the finest military band in the world. In 1892, he left to form his own civilian band. The Sousa Band was hugely successful, performing to the highest standard and entertaining audiences with the composer’s very popular new music. At the height of its fame, the band rivaled the finest symphony orchestras of the day. The band was a concert band, not a marching band, as was more common. The band toured world-‐wide in 1910 – 1911; made four subsequent tours of Europe; and toured annually around the U.S. Sousa was a major influence as a composer, but was also a campaigner for music education and for composers’ copyright. He famously wrote an article in 1906, in which he expressed his concern about how the newest invention – the gramophone – would effect live music and musicians livelihoods. John Philip Sousa died in 1932, shortly after a rehearsal of his Stars and Stripes March, in Pennsylvania. Among the many awards he received, was his induction into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, -‐ only 102 people have received this honour. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington.
Vangelis – Chariots of Fire (Theme from the 1981 film)
The Greek composer, Vangelis, was the first composer to win an Oscar for an electronic music score. This was for the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire, which portrayed the story of three British athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. The film received renewed interest at the 2012 Olympics in London and was shown in cinemas throughout the country. As part of the Opening Ceremony, Mr. Bean joined the orchestra for a special rendition of the theme.
George Frederick Handel Born in Germany in 1685, Handel spent a significant part of his career in London, in the service of both King George the First and his successor. He was regularly commissioned to write music for royal occasions. One such event took place on the River Thames, on 17th July 1717. The river, at that time, would have been a very busy place – with much of the city’s business happening there, with merchant ships from all over the world delivering goods, and people of all classes and all ages travelling. For his river party, George the First commandeered the river and staged a lavish display. The Daily Courant newspaper reported at the time that : “On Wednesday evening, at about 8, the King took Water at Whitehall…Many other Barges with Persons of Quality attended and so great a Number of Boats, that the whole river was cover’d; a City Company’s Barge was emply’d for the Musick, wherein were 50 instruments of all sorts, who play’d all the Way from Lambeth …the finest Symphonies composed by Mr. Handel, which his Majesty liked so well, that he caus’d it to be plaid over three times in going and returning.” The ‘Alla Hornpipe’ featured on the concert is taken from the second of the three Water Music Suites – selections of short pieces in a variety of styles, including slow airs and dances. Handel was 64 years of age and acknowledged as the finest composer in Britain, when King George the Second asked him to write music for a Royal Fireworks display to celebrate the ending of nearly a decade of war – known as the War of the Austrian Succession – between Britain and Austria on one side, and France, Spain and various German principalities on the other. The King had wanted lots of ‘war-‐like’ instruments featured, but Handel insisted on including stringed instruments, although he included many more wind and brass for the outdoor performance. A huge structure was constructed in London’s Green Park as a back-‐drop to the fireworks. Unfortunately, one of these buildings caught fire during the fireworks display. While this may have affected the premiere of the Music for the Royal Fireworks, Handel’s music went on to be hugely popular, especially the ‘La Rejouissance’ (Rejoicing) movement. In this piece, Handel emphasises the difference in colour between the various sections of the orchestra by having them pass answering phrases between each other, in what is called an ‘antiphonal’ effect. Antonio Vivaldi -‐ born in 1678 – like Handel, he is a composer of the Baroque Period. He taught music in an orphanage school which educated poor or abandoned young girls who were musically gifted. Vivaldi produced many concerti to feature the special talents of the students, who were well known for their excellence. A concerto features the solo player in an individual role for, with an accompaniment usually provided by a chamber-‐sized (small) string orchestra. Some of his famous concerti (or concertos) have titles such as The Four Seasons; La Tempeste di Mare (Storm at Sea) or Il Cardellino (The Goldfinch). The titles are reflected in the music.
Irish composer -‐ Shaun Davey – produced his first concert work ‘The
Brendan Voyage’ in 1980. In his compositions, he has often chosen themes from Irish history – the Relief of Derry Symphony, which was commissioned by Derry City Council to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Siege of Derry (1689); Granuaile deals with the mix of legend and fact that surrounds the life of the ‘Pirate Queen’ of the 16th century, Grace O’Malley, from Clew Bay, Co. Mayo. The ‘Brendan Voyage’ is based on the fascinating story of St. Brendan the Navigator (who died c.583 AD.), who was, according to a 9th century manuscript, The Navigacio, the first man to discover the ‘Promised Land’ across the Atlantic. In 1976, Tim Severin, a modern day explorer, sailed from Ireland to the United States, re-‐enacting the Voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator, reputed to have discovered America centuries before Columbus. Time Severin built a leather-‐hulled wooden boat based on the vessel described in the manuscript, and on the Currach still used on Ireland’s West Coast. He and his crew then made the voyage with stops on the Aran Islands, in Donegal, the Hebrides and in the Faroes, over-‐wintering in Iceland, and proved that it was possible for St. Brendan to have made the voyage to America in such a craft. The actual boat used in this endeavour, by Severin and his crew, is on display in a specially constructed glass boathouse in Craggaunowen in Co. Limerick. Shaun Davey’s ‘Brendan Voyage’ is, effectively, a ‘concerto’ for Uileann Pipes and Orchestra. He uses the concerto form of composition to feature the Uileann Pipes as the boat battling with the challenges of the voyages, which are portrayed by the orchestral accompaniment.
Bill Whelan, from Limerick, achieved international fame with his score for
Riverdance. Riverdance was conceived as the 7-‐minute long interval entertainment for the 1994 Eurovision Contest, which was hosted by Ireland in the Point Theatre. Such was the reaction to the music and the dancing, that the producers decided to develop the piece into a full theatrical show, loosely based on Irish heritage and culture and on Irish emigration/immigration to the U.S.A. ‘Riverdance’, the show, has already been seen live by over 22 millions on all continents. The show returns to China soon, following its huge success there – the first western show to achieve such popularity. The soundtrack by Bill Whelan has sold over 3 million copies and won a Grammy Award in 1997. Like Shaun Davey, Whelan has composed many works for the theatre and for film. Among his film scores are ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, starring Meryl Streep, and ‘Lamb’, starring Liam Neeson. As a performer, he was a member of the group ‘Planxty’ and was very involved in traditional music during his time with the group. As a producer and arranger he has worked with performers such as U2 and Van Morrison. He has his own recording studio in Roundstone, Co. Galway and he is currently working on a new theatre piece, which has been commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center, N.Y.
Hector Berlioz -‐ (1803 – 1869) -‐ the French composer of the Romantic
Period, became obsessed with an Irish actress, Harriet Smithson, when he saw her perform the role of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet in Paris in 1827. As an expression of this obsession he wrote an epic symphony for a huge orchestra, which he titled ‘Symphonie Fantastique’. Through its movements, it tells the story of an artist’s self-‐destructive passion for a beautiful woman. The symphony describes his obsession and opium-‐fuelled dreams, moments of tenderness, and visions of murder, ecstasy and despair. The composer wrote : “The subject of this musical drama was none other than my love for Miss Smithson and the anguish and ‘bad dreams’ it brought me’. The object of the artist’s love is represented by a recurring theme – the ‘idée fixe’-‐ a compositional device used to great effect by Berlioz in this masterpiece. He was hugely influenced by the work of Beethoven, but brought very new ideas to this ‘Symphonie Fantastique’. There are five movements in the symphony, which received its premiere performance in 1830, to a mixed-‐reaction – which is usually the case with revolutionary new music. The ‘idée fixe’ features at some point in each movement, referring to the loved one. The opening movement is called ‘Dreams and Passions’; it is followed by ‘The Ball’ – a delightful waltz movement, during which ‘the artist’ tries to get the attention of the beloved. The third movement depicts Scenes in the Countryside, written while Berlioz was actually enjoying the Italian countryside and working on how to represent it musically. The fourth movement, March to the Scaffold, will be performed on the concert. In this section, ‘the artist’ has poisoned himself with opium, and has terrible visions, in which he dreams that he has murdered his beloved. The march echoes the sound of the real life band that would accompany a prisoner to the scaffold. Just at the end of the movement, he imagines he has seen his beloved – and we hear her ‘idée fixe’, but the music is interrupted by the blade of the guillotine. The snare drum rolls, as his head rolls down the step, to the roar of the crowd. The Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath is the title of the final movement, providing his 19th century audience with dramatic music like none they had experienced before, as ghosts, witches and other figures gather for the funeral of the ‘artist’. This dramatic music – telling a story with no words whatever – is one of the great masterpieces in ‘programme music’ – a phrase coined by the 19th composer Franz Liszt, to describe the fashion for story-‐telling through music. Maurice Ravel’s Bolero, written in 1928 and commissioned by choreographer Ida Rubenstein, does not seek to tell a story, but rather to explore colours in music. Ravel wanted to use the commission as an opportunity to experiment. As he put it, the score would be “uniform throughout in its melody, harmony and rhythm, the latter being tapped out continuously on the drum. The only element of variety is supplied by the orchestral crescendo.” He deliberately uses no contrasts, just themes that are Spanish-‐Arabian in character, played over and over by different instruments, sometimes at different pitches, always accompanied by the same rhythm played on the snare drum. The music builds up in volume continuously, creating what is known as the longest ‘crescendo’ in the musical repertoire.
