The Magazine of the Minnesota Orchestra and Orchestra Hall

MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA

I Sponsoring assistance by I\!iPWednesday, May 7, 1986Thursday, May 8, 1986Friday, May 9, 1986

*Saturday, May 10, 19868:00 p.m,

Orchestra HallOrdway Music TheatreOrchestra HallOrchestra Hall

SIR NEVILLE MARRINER conductingSUSAN DUNN, sopranoJOANNA SIMON, mezzo-sopranoKEITH LEWIS, tenorSTEPHEN DUPONT, bassDALE WARLAND SYMPHONIC CHORUS

Dale Warland, music directorSigrid Johnson, assistant conductor

WAGNERPrelude and Liebestod, from Tristan and Isolde

Intermission

BEETHOVENSymphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125 (Choral)

I. Allegro rna non troppo, un poco maestosoII. Molto vivace- Presto

III. Adagio molto e cantabile-Andante moderatoIV. Finale: Presto-Allegro; Allegro assai; Presto

Performance time, including intermission, is approximately one hour and 55 minutes.*A pension benefit concert.The Friday evening concert is broadcast live throughout the region on Minnesota PublicRadio stations, including KSJN-FM (91.1) in the Twin Cities. The H. B. FullerCompany underwrites the broadcast, which is also heard throughout the country onstations of the American Public Radio Network.

28 SHOWCASE MAY 1986

Sir Neville Marriner(Biography appears on page 22.)

Susan DunnSoprano Susan Dunn is remembered byTwin Cities audiences for a variety of per-formances with the Minnesota Orchestra,particularly last Sommerfest's concertpresentation of Turandot, when hercreation of the role of Uti drew thunder-ous applause. Dunn, an Arkansas native,gained the attention of the music world bywinning three prestigious competitions in1983: the Richard Tucker Award, Chi-cago's WGN-Illinois Opera Competitionand Dallas' Dealey Competition. She hassubsequently made debuts with such emi-nent ensembles as the Chicago LyricOpera, as Leonora in La Forza delDestino; the Montreal Symphony inStrauss' Four Last Songs; the Washington

and San Diego Operas as Leonora in IITrovatore; the Saint Louis Symphony Or-chestra in a concert Tosca with LeonardSlatkin; and, in different performances of'verdi's Requiem, the San Francisco Sym-phony with Edo de Waart, the PittsburghSymphony with Robert Shaw, and theCincinnati May Festival with James Con-lon. Her European debuts include per-formances with the Radio Symphony ofBerlin in Schoenberg's Gurrelieder and aVerdi Requiem engagement in Bologna,both last year, and the portrayal of Aidaat Milan's La Scala this April.

Dunn, who received a master's degreeat Indiana University, continues herstudies with John Wustman.

Joanna SimonJoanna Simon, mezzo-soprano, who makesher Minnesota Orchestra debut in theseconcerts, presents a wide-ranging reper-toire on the concert and operatic stages andin recital. Appearing in such major operahouses as the Teatro Colon in Buenos Airesand Salzburg's Festspielhaus, she hascreated the roles of heroines ranging fromPurcell's Dido to Countess Geschwitz inBerg's Lulu. She has performed a numberof world premieres, including Ginastera'sBomarzo and Pasatieri'sBlack Widow; shehas been Carmen with the PhiladelphiaOpera, the Baltimore Opera and the IsraelPhilharmonic, with Placido Domingo asher Jose, and regularly performs at theSalzburg Festival and with the New YorkCity Opera. In addition to singing the roleof Brangane in Tristan and Isolde withLeonard Bernstein and the New York Phil-harmonic, she has been soloist with thesymphony orchestras of Boston, Philadel-phia, Chicago and Los Angeles in thiscountry, and abroad with the Berlin Phil-harmonic, the Bavarian Radio Orchestraand the Vienna Philharmonic, the latterunder Herbert von Karajan. An earlymusic specialist much in demand for pro-grams of Handel, Vivaldi, the Scarlattisand Bach, she also is known for her render-ings of Mahler works, among other master-pieces of the nineteenth and twentieth cen-turies.

Keith LewisTenor Keith Lewis, who last appearedwith the Minnesota Orchestra in Septem-ber 1984 subscription performances ofBach's Magnificat, has steadily extendedhis career from the major concert andopera halls of his native New Zealand andneighboring Australia to those of Franceand Great Britain, and to such countriesas Germany, Italy and the U.S. His calen-dar has recently included appearances inThe Barber of Seville at the Royal OperaHouse in Covent Garden, Eugene Oneginin Frankfurt, Cosi jan Tutte at Berlin'sDeutsche Oper, and Don Giovanni in SanFrancisco and at the GlyndebourneFestival, where he has often been reen-gaged. Among his concert performanceshave been appearances in Beethoven'sMissa Solemnis in Cologne and with Mac-kerras at the Leeds Festival, Bach'sB-minor Mass under Muti in Philadelphiaand the St. Matthew Passion at Tangle-wood, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony inStuttgart with Sir Neville Marriner andwith the Halle Orchestra in Manchester,and Handel's Messiah in Montreal.Among Lewis' current recordings arealbums of Rossini's Tancredi, Otello andMoses; Gluck's Armide; Don Giovanniwith Bernard Haitink; Messiah with Solti;and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Pau-kenmesse with Sir Neville Marriner.

Stephen DupontStephen Dupont, bass, maintains a busyschedule of concert and operatic appear-ances in both Europe and North America.Among his debuts this season were his firstappearances at the Glyndebourne Festival,as Masetto in Don Giovanni, a role he alsocreated with the Washington Opera; withthe Philadelphia Orchestra in Rigoletto;with the Winnipeg and Edmonton Operas,as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammennoor andSarastro in The Magic Flute, respectively;and the New Orleans Opera, again as Rai-mondo. Last season, besides performingin Rigoletto and The Magic Flute with theNew York City Opera, he appeared at theSpoleto Festival in Italy as well as

Charleston, as Jake Wallace in The Girl ojthe Golden West. Dupont made his ParisOpera debut in Rameau's little-heardHippolytus and Aricie, in the roles ofJupiter, Neptune and Apollo; he has alsobeen engaged by the Orchestre de Paris.In his last Minnesota Orchestra appear-ance, in Sommerfest '84, he played theFirst Nazarene and the Cappadocian in aconcert version of Strauss' Salome, con-ducted by Leonard Slatkin.

Dale WarlandSymphonic ChorusDale Warland, Director

The Dale Warland Symphonic Chorus, anextension of the Dale Warland Singers,also performed with the Minnesota Or-chestra in the Sommerfest '85 concertpresentation of Turandot, conducted byLeonard Slatkin. The Dale Warland Sin-gers, the group forming the core of theSymphonic Chorus, is a professionalchoral ensemble founded in 1972. Itsbroad repertoire of a cappella musicincludes a special emphasis on contem-porary works, and it has commissionednew works from such composers as Domi-nick Argento, Stephen Paulus, LukasFoss, William Schuman, George Shearingand the Danish composer Bo Holten.

SopranoSally AllenPolly BartenDoris F. BergetJudy BerkowitzMary BohmanJill BoydNancy CosgriffSue DieterRita DocterMary EdlundCarolyn GemberlingRolaine GreenCarolyn J. HarmonKathy HeringJulie HimmelstrupMelinda Hudson-OrianiJan Johnson

• Sigrid JohnsonJoanna JohnstonJoni KellyDeborah J. LoonMary Elizabeth MalbergMarilyn L. McCormackBarbara NelsonJoyce.NolopAlvina O'BrienSandra Oltman

Mary PattonMargaret Westin PerryLea Anna Sams-

McGowanMarcia SchultzMarie Spar

• Linda SteenJanet A. YoungdahlAltoCoralie J. AllenMary L. AlmenMargie AnkenySusan BarnesRoxanne L. BentleyLaVerne BingeaMargaret BringewattAnn BrookeLinda BurkHarriet CollopyLeanne DotsonTheresa M. EclovSylvia ElrodRuth GaylordJacqueline Gordy

• Joanne HalvorsenDebra HarrerWendy Holmes-Nelson

SHOWCASE MAY 1986 29

~SHOWCASEMagazine of the Minnesota Orchestra and Orchestra HallVolume XVIII, No.9April 24 to May 18, 1986

MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAMinneapolis Symphony Orchestra

founded in 1903Sir Neville Marriner (1979- )

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski (1960-1979) Eugene Ormandy (1931-1936)Antal Dorati (1949-1960) Henri Verbrugghen (1923-1931)Dimitri Mitropoulos (1937-1949) Emil Oberhoffer (1903-1922)

Contents8 General Information9 Orchestra/WAMSOIYPSCA News

14 Sir Neville Marriner: The Minnesota Years

Minnesota Orchestra Concerts17 Subscription Concert-April 24

Coffee Concerts - April 24, 25Philippe Entremont

22 Subscription Concert No. 23-April 30, May 2Coffee Concert - May 2Sir Neville Marriner/Kaaren Erickson/Rudolf Lekhter

28 Subscription Concert No. 24-May 7, 8, 9, 10Sir Neville Marriner/Susan Dunn/Joanna Simon/KeithLewis/Stephen DupontlDale Warland Symphonic Chorus

35 Weekender Concert No.8-May 16, 17, 18The Canadian Brass/Henry Charles Smith

Orchestra Hall Presents37 Tokyo String Quartet - May 138 Merrill Lynch Great Performers Concert No.7 - May 15

The Philadelphia Orchestra/Riccardo Muti

About the CoverThe cover photograph of Sir Neville Marriner, who now concludes his tenureas Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra, was taken at Longleat Houseat Warminster, Wiltshire, England. The home of the Marquis of Bath, it wasbuilt between 1568 and 1580,and is considered to be one of England's finestTudor houses. Photo by Richard Holt; used with kind permission of EM!.

The Minnesota Orchestral Association is the recipient of an operating subsidy grantfrom the Minnesota State Arts Board, with funds appropriated by the MinnesotaState Legislature. '

Showcase is published monthly by the Minnesota Orchestral Association,Orchestra Hall, 1111Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55403. ©1986.Editor: Karen KoeppProgram Annotator: Mary Ann FeldmanPublisher: Group 7 Inc., 4530 West 77th St., Edina, 55435 (telephone: 831-2022).

• •Christ Presbyterian Church

presents

The Chancel Choirand Orchestra

with

esther JeindsSoprano

in

Z;;iaand other sacred classics

June 8,19868:00p.m.

at

Orchestra Hall• • ••

Tickets - $12.50 donation

• Call 920-0277 or 920-8515 •

SHOWCASE MAY 1986 3

Martha HopemanVicki R. HultineKaren M. JohnsonJulie D. KahnRamona KaszasBarbara KnowlesTerry KnowlesLois LaitinenJan LechmanChris LudwigMarilyn MillerMary Maiden MOllerHolly Sue OlsonKaren Welle PhillipsJoan Quam-MacKenzieKay E. SandeenGail SchumacherDennie McCollom ScottCarrie StevensRica VanMara VijumsDenise WahlinRuth Warland

TenorPaul J. AndersonJames H. AndrewsLarry BachPeter BartholomeJay Winston BlakeDan BowersTom BrowneRuss BurschJon BursethCraig CarnahanAndrew S. CarrBob CollopyDavid DocterCraig EdwallJames EmeryJames FiskumPaul William GerikeJohn William HenleyDan JohnsonTim JohnsonJoel LillethunLee MaukPaul W. McGinnisTim McNary

Mike MillerP. Robert Maiden

MOllerJerry NelsonJeffrey NielsenTim OlsenJohn T. OpsataDominic T. OrdingSteve PearthreeRob ReidDavid ReecePatrick RomeyBob Salter

BassDavid BensonLeif O. BergetRay BingeaMark BlivenRonald J. BraceMichael BrauerSteve BurgerGordon DoeringRobert HainlenPaul HjelmstadSteven HodulikWaynne HornickeTor Erik JohnsonTim KowalikArthur LaRueDavid LeitzkeFredrick LokkenGerald LoewenRobert MillerLuther MoenTom MurphyChuck NolopDavid A. PetersonEdward PullenDoug RasmusonChuck Risser

• Jerry RubinoJohn M. SailerJulian SellersFrank SteenPaul TheisenJohn Woodward

• section leaders

Program Notesby Mary Ann Feldman

Prelude and Liebestod,from Tristan and IsoldeBy Richard Wagner

Born May 22, 1813, Leipzig; diedFebruary 13, 1883, Venice

Instrumentation: piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes,English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet,3 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trom-bones, tuba, timpani, harp, strings andsoprano

The passion of the lovers mountssuddenly to a vivid flame, and eachavows to each that they belong tonone save one another. Henceforththere is no end to the yearning, thebliss, the misery of love. The world,power, fame, splendor, honor,knighthood, loyalty, friendship-all are scattered like a baselessdream. One thing only remains:desire, desire unquenchable, for-ever born anew ... one sole re-demption-Death, surcease of be-ing, deliverance.-Wagner


It took only four sentences for Wagner tosummarize the glowing, soaring, feverishexpanse of sumptuous orchestral soundthat constitutes the forever linked Preludeand Liebestod, the unfulfulled beginningand serenely resolved close, of Tristan andIsolde. His description appears in a letterto the current object of his passion,Mathilde Wesendonk, a German poet fif-teen years his junior and wife of OttoWesendonk, at whose beautiful villa onLake Zurich the first act of the opera wascompleted and much of the second actsketched. Right in the middle of composingSiegfried, whose tale proceeds without afemale protagonist until the hero awakensBrunnhilde on the mountain top in the fin-al scene, Wagner halted work on the Ringcycle to create his poem for the Tristanlegend and write the music without delay.If the cynics have their way, Mathilde wasnot necessarily his muse; rather, the com-poser managed to entangle himself in anerotic love affair whose purpose, if subcon-sciously, was to unlock the ecstatic musicdrama that burned within him. The operawas hardly the result of the affair; in fact, itwas quite the other way around, and in thefmal pangs of getting a production to thestage, Tristan was indirectly assisted by agenerous stipend from the cuckolded hus-band. Wagner wrote Tristan because hehad become obssessed with the four-notemelodic phrase that rises chromatically inthe oboes out of the dissonant "Tristan"chord. The unvoiced longing of thatfamous theme avoids harmonic resolution

until the end of the love story, when Isolde,standing over Tristan's transfigured corpse,at last joins him in death-the Liebestod,or Love-Death. Through Wagner's music,the lovers were blessed with immortality.

The juxtaposition of Wagner and Beet-hoven on Sir Neville Marriner's final pro-gram as music director of the MinnesotaOrchestra is a fitting gesture, for eachcomposer looms over a different half ofthe ninteenth century. Each was a colossuswho radically altered the destiny of music,and Tristan was the towering achievementof the romantic age. When Debussyobserved that "Wagner is the sunset thatcomposers mistook for a sunrise," he wasacknowledging that the tonal system hadreached its outer limits. The powerfulscore, too dissonant and "modern" tocatch on at first, virtually shook thefoundations of Western music-a quakefrom which it never quite recovered. In anapt metaphor, Jean Cocteau assigned itscomposer his role in music history:"Wagner's funeral procession has lastedso long that composers are still unable toget to the other side of the street."

Love, night and death are the chiefthemes of the opera, and the yearning forthe fulfullment of love in annihilationbroods over the whole story but is com-pressed in the Prelude and Liebestod.There are so few actual events in thecourse of the story that even the composerwas astonished at the sheer size of what hewas producing. "This Tristan is turninginto something terrifying!" he exclaimed

Mild und leise wie er lachelt,Wie das Auge hold er offnet,seht ihr's, Freunde? Seht ihr's nicht?Immer lichter, wie er leuchtet,stern-umstrahlet hoch

sich hebt?Seht ihr's nicht?Wie das Herz ihm mutig schwillt,vall und hehr im Busen ihm quillt?Wie den Lippen, wonnig mild,susser Atem sanft entweht,Freunde! Seht! Fiihlt und seht ihr's nicht?Hare ich nur diese Weise,die so wundervoll und leise,Wonne klagend, alles sagend,mild versohnend aus ihm tonend,in mich dringet, auf sich schwinget,hold erhallend urn mich klinget?Heller schallend, mich

umwallend,sind es Wellen sanfter Lufte?Sind es Wogen wonniger Diifte?Wie sie schwellen, mich umrauschen,soli ich atmen, soil ich

lauschen?Soil ich schliirfen, untertauchen?Suss in Duften mich verhauchen?In dem wogenden Schwall, in dem

tonenden Schall,in des Welt-Atems wehendem Allertrinken, versinkenunbewusst-s-hochste Lust!

LiebestodHow gentle and quietly he smiles,how fondly he opens his eyes!See you, friends? Do you not see?How he shines ever higher,soaring on high, stars sparkling around

h· ?un.Do you not see?How his heart proudly swellsand, brave and full, pulses in his breast?How softly and gently from his lipssweet breath flutters:-see, friends! Do you not feel and see it?Do I alone hear this melodywhich, so wondrous and tenderin its blissful lament, all-revealing,gently pardoning, sounding from him,pierces me through, rises above,blessedly echoing and ringing around me?Resounding yet more clearly, wafting

about me,are they waves of refreshing breezes?Are they clouds of heavenly fragrance?As they well and roar around me,shall I breathe them, shall I listen to

them?Shall I sip them, plunge breath them,to expire in sweet perfume?In the ,surging swell, in the

ringing sound,in the vast wave of the world's breath-to drown, to sinkunconscious-supreme bliss!

in a letter to Mathilde, as the score beganto show signs of spanning four hours inlength. The audaciously harmonized andsensuously colored music evolved in sucha storm of inspiration that in later yearsthe megalomaniac Wagner found italmost impossible to believe that he hadwritten it. In fact, the very project was aparadox, for he had set out to producesomething lyric and singable to give thepopular Italian opera a run for its money;he had in mind something of a potboilerthat would be easy to sell and would there-by rescue him from his financial problemsso that he could get back to work on TheRing of the Nibelungen. Out of his genius,however, flowed a work that is in a classby itself. With a perverse pride he boastedthat only bad performances of Tristanwould save him, for' 'if well performed, itwill render the listener insane."

For all its ecstasy and sweep of sublimeideas, Tristan was less than a success at itsMunich premiere in 1865, an enterpriseultimately financed by "Mad" King Lud-wig of Bavaria after all other attempts toput it on the boards had failed. With thebest intentions, the Vienna Opera alsoundertook a production but abandoned itas hopeless after 50 rehearsals. But muchearlier, in 1860, Wagner had introducedthe Prelude at an orchestral concert inParis, and reported to his inamorata ofthe Tristan years: " ... as though scaleshad fallen from my eyes, I saw how im-measurably far I have travelled from theworld during the last eight years. This lit-tle overture [sic] was so incomprehensiblynew to the musicians that I had to leadthem from note to note as if searching forprecious stones in a mine."

The cellos, in the languid opening bars,give out the prolonged sigh that is extendedin the theme of yearning; the chromatic lineand texture intensify the passion, like aphysical aching. Chords that melt into eachother and voiceless phrases searching invain for fulfillment evoke the unquench-able desire that underlies the tragedy. Themusic builds to an anguished climax thateven yet is deprived of release, and theyearning motive sounds gloomily from thelow winds, its depression echoed by cellosand basses.

Then, in a hush, two pizzicato chordssignal the fmale of the opera, the famousLove-Death. In a strong, slow pulse themusic evokes the vitalityof the magnificentheroine. Whether in the opera house orconcert hall, we suspend all logicin order toembrace with her the salutation of death:"Unbewusst, hochste Lust!" (Uncon-scious, supreme bliss!) Against rapturoustremolos, the clarinets, followed by horns,sound the exultant death motive, and thewondrous orchestral arch reaches higherand higher to a consummate climaxbeforeIsolde falls lifelessupon her lover's body.

At the telecast Tonight Scandinavia con-cert that opened the 1982-83season, BirgitNilsson joined Sir NevilleMarriner and theOrchestra in a performance of this work.

Among this writer's girlhood memories isthe day when she held her ear to the crackof the center doors at Northrop Auditor-ium as Kirsten Flagstad, in an appearancehere in 1952,rehearsed the Liebestod underAntal Dorati.On record: Wagner, Prelude and Liebestod(orchestral version), Stanislaw Skrowac-zewski conducting the Minnesota Orches-tra (Turnabout QTV 34642)

Symphony No.9 inD minor, Opus 125(Choral)By Ludwig van Beethoven

Born December 16, 1770, Bonn; diedMarch 26, 1827,Vienna

Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes,2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon,4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani,triangle, cymbals, bass drum, strings, solosoprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass and4-part chorus

Beethoven's real teaching ... wasnot to preserve the old forms, stillless to follow in his early steps. Wemust throw wide the windows tothe open sky.-Debussy

THE CHRONICLEBeethoven's Ninth Symphony is a shiningbeacon that flooded the entire romanticage with the light of its idealism. From themonumental struggle of the opening tothe final cry of anguish before the humanvoice carries the revelation of triumph,Beethoven has given us a transcendentalwork whose utopian concepts are stillworth striving for. The titanic sounds andultimate jubilation are often reserved forspecial occasions, such as this exchange offarewells with our music director. Forsheer splendor of sound, there is no musicquite like this, and one comes away exul-tant and cleansed of any taint of despair.The Ninth is not a tone painting but an en-tire fresco-the giant Beethoven en-

Beethoven's study in the Schwarzspanier-haus, his last residence in Vienna

countered in his most gigantic creation.Such masterpieces as Hamlet, the

Sistine Chapel, Don Giovanni and theSymphony No.9 stand apart from all else,defying imitation. Berlioz, Wagner andBrahms were so profoundly affected byBeethoven's last symphony that they werestymied. Debussy's language may havebeen overwrought but hardly wrong whenhe said that the magnificent score hadbecome a "universal nightmare." That isto say, like Wagner's Tristan, it set up aroadblock beyond which other composersstruggled to proceed. With the program-matic symphony, Berlioz cut innovativelyacross Beethoven's path, while Wagnertrampled onwards with a gargantuangenre of his own, the music drama, inwhich symphonic development takes onpsychological implications. Brahms, onthe other hand, cowered in the shadowsuntil he was past 40 before he dared tofollow the Beethoven trail. Still, there isnothing quite like the Choral Symphony,not even in Mahler, and to describe it inmere words is a dangerous and humblingtask.

Death was only three years off whenBeethoven put the final touches on his lastsymphony, but the idea for it had beenbrewing in him since he was a young man.In his own words, it "hung from hisneck" like a millstone; and his notebooks'200-plus sketches reveal the labored evo-lution of the stirring theme to which hefinally set portions of Friedrich vonSchiller's Ode to Joy. Beethoven was notthe first composer to be moved bySchiller's poetry, to which others hadgiven music almost immediately after itspublication in 1786.According to Beetho-ven's old friend from Bonn, LudwigFischenich, the notion of a musical settingof the words that distilled the new demo-cratic spirit had occured to the composer asearly as 1793: "I expect somethingperfect," Fischenich remarked of the23-year-old composer, "for, as I knowhim, he is wholly devoted to the great andthe sublime." If Beethoven actually setanything to paper back then, the result hasbeen lost. Still, a musical realization ofSchiller's call for brotherhood remainedin his vision for the next 30 years. Thethematic germ-cell of a song composed in1795, Gegenliebe, provided the nucleus ofthe prophetic work he produced halfwayalong the path to the Ninth: the ChoralFantasia, Opus 80, with a grand obbligatofor piano that the composer himself im-provised at the 1808premiere.

The leaves of an 1812sketchbook con-tain fragments of other ideas for theemerging symphony, but six years passedbefore still another book unveiled the fin-al shaping of the opening theme. Then,early in 1819,despite a handsome commis-sion from the Philharmonic Society ofLondon, Beethoven suddenly abandonedthe project. It was a gesture of hopeless-ness, for seven years had already elapsedsince his Eighth Symphony. Needless to


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say, these days were full of anguish andfrustration, and at no time in his life washe less productive. Deafness had engulfedhim, and he was embroiled in a bitterdomestic and legal battle for the custodyof his nephew Karl. Somehow he managedto write his last three piano sonatas and aparcel of other works, including themajestic Missa Solemnis, but still no sym-phony. Not until 1822 did Beethoven getback to his sketches, but by the followingsummer he was deep in concentration."Don't bother to come here," he warned hisconfidant, Anton Schindler, while hard atwork in 1823.When his publisher engagedthe prominent portraitist FerdinandWaldrnuller to paint a likeness for a newBeethoven edition, the composer protestedthat he had no time to sit still. Schindlerrecalls:

"No matter how much Waldmullerhurried with sketching the head androughing out the portrait, the preoccupiedmaster was· impatient to get back to hiswork, and would repeatedly stand up,pace the floor irritably, and go to hiswriting-table in the next room."

Before the first layer of paint had driedon the canvas, Beethoven called a halt tothe enterprise, and Waldmuller was forcedto capture the image of the. man frommemory. While it may not be the mostfaithful likeness, it looms as one of themost powerful Beethoven portraits, me-morializing both his strength and his suf-fering.

By the spring of 1924 the score of theNinth was ready for performance. Waryof indifference among the Viennese, whoin those days were mad for Rossini, Beet-hoven initially contacted a Prussiannobleman about arranging for a Berlinpremiere. An affirmative response cameposthaste from the director of the courttheater. But Beethoven's friends were ap-palled by the plan, and they drafted a peti-tion as eloquent as it was sincere. Refer-ring at the same time to the Missa Solem-nis, they begged: "Do not allow these,your latest offspring, to be introduced asforeigners in the city of their birth."

Moved by their plea, Beethoven re-lented, and Schindler was entrusted withadministering the premiere. Only tworehearsals preceded the first performanceon May 7, 1827, at the KarntnerthorTheater in Vienna, and these were stormysessions; a third suddenly was cancelled toclear the stage for ballet practice. Thechorus, consisting of amateurs newlyweaned on Rossini, simply stopped sing-ing when the phrases soared too high fortheir throats, and the spirited contraltoCaroline Unger told the composer outrightthat he was "a tyrant over the vocalchords." To no avail did the soloists makea case for alterations in their "unsingable"parts, but Beethoven conceded only a min-or change to the bass.

Advertisements promised that "HerrLudwig van Beethoven himself will takepart in conducting the ensemble." It took

some persuading to convince the deaf butstubborn Beethoven that he should standby merely to set the tempo for each move-ment, whileMichael Umlauf led the forces.The composer stood onstage at Umlauf'sside, and after he had established the beat,he kept right on marking time, so that theplayers and singers were hard put to con-centrate on the actual conductor. Facingstage rear, eyes riveted on the performers,the deaf Beethoven was oblivious to thecheers that erupted at the triumphantclose. Music like this had not been heardbefore-and seldom since. Fortunately,Mme. Unger had the presence of mind totug on his sleeve and tum him to thecheering audience, so that at least hewould see the waving hats and handker-chiefs.

Beethoven dedicated the score of theSymphony No.9 to Frederick Wilhelm IIIof Prussia, who acknowledged the distinc-tion in a note which also mentioned theenclosure of a diamond. Unwrapped, thegem turned out to be a "a reddish stone"of questionable value, probably substi-tuted for the original by some thievingministry en route. Thus was Beethoven'scolossus honored with a trivial token forwhich the passionate hymning of genera-tions of players and singers has more thanatoned.

I. ALLEGRO MA NON TROPPO,UN POCO MAESTOSO

It is impossible that the work of amaster should ever have seized thepupil's heart with such enthrallingpower as mine was seized by thefirst movement of his symphony.Whoever heard me poring over theopen score to contrive its means ofexecution, or heard my fits of sobsand moaning, would certainly haveasked if this was meet behavior fora Royal Saxon Kapellmeister!-Wagner

Out of the mists of the beginning, anopen fifth hovering in tonal space, comedropping fifths, like great waves piling upon a shore, before the full orchestra de-livers the powerful crash of the descendingD-minor triad. The tone is severe, for thisis a symphony that begins in darkness andends in radiance. Leading a host of con-trasting motives is a strain of purestsweetness, set off by flutes (with lowwinds) and promptly taken up by oboes.Whether forceful staccatos or swellingmelodic curves, the remaining ideas buildan almost unbearable tension. With thismovement Beethoven foretold the destinyof the romantic symphony.

Reverting first to the bare interval andominous hush of the opening, the devel-opment proceeds to examine every ramifi-cation of the materials; it seems thatscarcely a shred willbe left for revival. Butwhen the reprise comes, signaled by a roarof timpani, the main theme rears up asawesome as before. Instead of merely

rounding out all these concerns, the codavirtually assumes the stature of a seconddevelopment, as if Beethoven has foundstill more to say. Before the movementends, he adds a new thought that is per-sonal in its aura of grief. Listen for thewrithing chromatic figure that begins lowand soon pervades the strings; above itwill be heard the most melancholy ofthemes, given out in instrumental voicesthat approach a human plaint. But Beet-hoven is not vanquished by this sorrowand defies it with the final proclamation.

II. MOLTO VIVACE-PRESTOI know nothing finer than thatscherzo. I myself could not makeanything to touch it. The rest of thework lacks charm, and what ismusic without that?-Rossini

The blazing second movement, in theform of a scherzo, is too full of irony to betaken lightly. The theme all but explodes,its rhythmic zest magnified by timpani.Beethoven had promised that the Ninthwould have "plenty of fuguing," and so ithappens that after the burst of the open-ing bars, the crisp theme is bridled bystrict counterpoint, serving as the subjectof a five-voiced fugue. The relentlessenergy ofthe commanding three-note pat-tern spreads across the entire movement,not to be upstaged even by an attractivesubordinate theme. Wagner found him-self "whirled away to giddiness, to loss ofreason" in the flight of these sounds.

The exhilarating sweep of the scherzo isinterrupted by a pastoral trio. Now Beet-hoven adds the trombone to his forces: asSir George Grove noted in his longanalysis of the Ninth, "The bass trom-bone wakes up from its long sleep" towelcome a rustic tune piped by oboes andclarinets while the bassoon babbles an ac-companiment marked by its own melodicprofile. In combining the themes Beetho-ven again flexes his extraordinary coun-trapuntal skill. Another motive, smoothlyrising in cellos and violas, luxuriates in thewarmth of the long-postponed major key.

After the full reprise of the scherzo, thetrio seems about to tag along until sudden-ly, as if to cry "Enough!," the movementrushes headlong to a close in which theswift octaves seem almost to trip over theirheels.

III. ADAGIO MOL TO E CANTA-BILE-ANDANTE MODERATO

When in the Adagio all the heavensopened to receive Beethoven like asoaring saint, it was impossible notto forget the pettiness of this worldand not to feel a presentiment ofthe Beyond thrilling the beholders.-Schumann, describing a per-formance of the Ninth conductedby Mendelssohn

After the sparkling scherzo appears a lu-

minous movement whose spiritual impli-cations are whatever we choose to makeof them. Beethoven intended that thismusic should elevate at the very point inthe curve of the symphony at which dark-ness has yielded to light. To accomplishthis, he created two celestial themes, theone calm and noble, retaining its identitythrough elaborate variations; the other, inquickened triple time, deeply expressiveand by its very nature loathe to accumu-late ornaments. It bows, however, to theascendancy of the first, in this mostoriginal of symphonic forms. The themesappear alternately, the first elaboratelydecked out, while its companion main-tains a profound simplicity. In the finalvariation, the conglomerate voice of thetutti sounds oratorical, heightening thesense of impending language. Soon theNinth will do what no symphony beforehad dared: absorb the human voice.

IV. FINALEThe unspeakable cheapness of thechief tune, "Freude, Freude!" Doyou believe way down in the bot-tom of your heart that if this musichad been written by Mr. John L.Tarbox, now living in Sandown,N.H., any conductor here or inEurope could bepersuaded to put itinto rehearsal?-Critic Philip Hale, MusicalRecord, 1909

The fierce orchestral outcry is startling.More surprising, cellos and basses beginto utter recitative, so that the effect is likean operatic baritone who has forgotten hiswords. Consider the bewilderment of Beet-hoven's players: one by one, the ideas ofthe preceding movements pass in review,and are tested and dismissedby the author-itative voice of low strings. Then, some-what shyly, the winds quietly outline thecontours of a new theme, and before longcellos and basses give it a try. As newvoices join in, the subject wins full ap-proval, for this glorious theme-the NewEnglander's above observation notwith-standing-is the very definition of joy.The noisy clamoring of the openingrecurs, only to be dismissed by the bassvoice in stirring rhetoric, deliveringBeetho-ven's own words in the transition that hadgivenhim no end of problems. "One day,"Schindler relates, "Beethoven rushed intothe room shouting, 'I've got it! I've gotit!" What he had hit upon was the pro-nouncement of the bass, addressed not on-ly to the performers but to the audience aswell.

Now the bass begins Schiller's hymn.By no means did Beethoven attempt to setthe entire Ode to Joy, rather, he selectedcertain passages and arranged them to suitthe musical structure, which is built byvariation. Do not overlook the text in theenthrallment of the moment, for hereword and music mirror each other. To-gether, they document the philosophical


thought of the Enlightenment.In the tenor solo, with chorus (Allegro

assai vivace, alia marcia), percussion in-struments strike up the sounds of a Turk-ish band to usher in fresh colors for a mar-tial episode that varies the theme of joy. Inthe subsequent Andante maestoso themood is spiritual. Three trombonessolemnly affirm the unity of mankind,proclaimed in a majestic choral sectionthat culminates in an ethereal image of thestars and skies above, the voices strainingat their highest.

Cast in brilliant double counterpoint-the ample fuguing that Beethoven hadpledged-the broad theme of "Seid um-schlungen" is combined with the maintheme of the ode, even more jubilant inthis transmutation into dancing triplemeter (Allegro energico, sempre ben mar-cato). Ultimately the solo quartet pausesto pour out an elaborate cadenza, Adagio,which is followed by a lively bridge to thecoda.

The exuberant conclusion (Prestissimo)exploits three vivid phrases, now familiar,and in the last moments, the brilliant set-ting exults in a choral shout and noisy in-strumental fanfare. The English composerRalph Vaughan Williams sums up Beetho-ven's great inspiration: "The climax to allthis rowdyism is a sudden chorale-likepaean in praise of joy, 'the daughter ofElysium.' Once more the drums beat, thecymbals clash, the trumpets blare and intwenty quick bars the symphony is over."

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Solo Quartet, and ChorusFreude trinken aIle Wesenan den Briisten der Natur;AIle Guten, aIle BosenFolgen ihrer Rosenspur.Kiisse gab sie uns und RebenEinen Freund, gepruft im Tod;Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.Tenor Solo, and ChorusFroh, wie seine Sonnen fliegenDurch des Himmels pracht 'gen Plan,Wandelt, Briider, eure Bahn,Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.(Text of Verse I, repeated)ChorusSeid umschlungen, Millionen!Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt.Briider-iiberm SternenzeltMuss ein lieber Vater wohnen!Ihr sturzt nieder, Millionen?Ahnest du den Schopfer, Welt?Such' ihn iiberm Sternenzelt!Uber Sternen muss er wohnen.

Joy, thou spark from flame immortal,Daughter of Elysium!So inspired, 0 heavn'ly Goddess,We invade thy hallowed home.Let thy magic bring togetherAll whom earth-born laws divide;All mankind shall be as brothers,In thy love we shall abide.

SCHILLER'S "ODE TO JOY"Bass Soloo Freunde, nicht diese Tone, 0 friends, these tones no longer!sondern lasst uns angenehmere Rather let us raise our voicesanstimmen, und freudenvollere. in cheerful songs, more full of joy.

(The words of the introductory statement are by Beethoven.)Bass and ChorusFreude, schoner Gotterfunken,Tochter aus Elysium,Wir betreten feuertrunken,Himmlische, dein Heiligtum.Deine Zauber bind en wieder,Was die Mode streng geteilt;Alle Menschen werden Bruder,Wo dein sanfter Flugel weilt.Solo Quartet, and ChorusWem der grosse Wurf gelungen,Eines Freundes Freund zu sein,Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,Mische seinen Jubel ein!Ja-wer auch nur eine SeeleSein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehleWeinend sich aus diesem Bund.

He who has that best good fortuneTo his friend a friend to be,He who wins a noble woman,Let him join our jubilee!Yes, and he who's known such friendshipWelcome to our joyful throng,But let him who's never known itSteal away in tears alone.

Joy doth every living creatureDraw from Nature's ample breast;All the good and all the evilFollow on her glowing quest.Kisses doth she give, and promise,Friends who firm in death have stood;Joy of life the worm receiveth,And the angels dwell with God!

Glad as burning suns that gloriousThrough the heavenly spaces sway,Haste ye brothers, on your way,Joyous as a knight victorious.

This embrace for all ye millions,Give your heart to all the world!Brothers, out beyond the stars,Some kind father has his dwelling.Fall ye prostrate, 0 ye millions!Do you sense God's presence, world?Seek him o'er the tent of stars;O'er the stars rise his pavilions.

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