2011 Program Notes, Book 3 C23C22 2011 Program Notes, Book 3

culminating in a strange terror of death, which manifested itself in the fear inspired in him by heights, by rooms on an upper story, by all metal objects, even keys, and by medicines, and the fear of being poisoned.” Schumann complained of continual ringing and roaring in his ears, and it was at times even painful for him to hear music. He was almost frantic for fear of losing his mind. His physical symptoms, he was convinced, were a direct result of his mental afflictions. He was wrong.

In a 1971 article in The Musical Times, Eric Sams investigated Schumann’s illness, and his findings are both convincing and revealing. In those pre-antibiotic times, a common treatment for syphilis was a small dose of liquid mercury. The mercury relieved the external signs of the disease — but at the cost of poisoning the patient (victim?). Schumann, many years before his devoted mar-riage to Clara, had both the infection and the treatment. The problems he lamented — ringing ears, cold extremities, depression, sleeplessness, nerve damage — were the result of mercury poisoning. Sensitive as he was, Schumann first imagined and then was truly afflicted with his other symptoms until he became ill in both mind and body. It was, however, an insidious physical problem that led to his psychological woes rather than the other way around, as he believed.

Seen against this background of pathetic suffering, Schumann’s Second Symphony emerges as a miracle of the human spirit over the most trying circumstances. In his own words, “I was in bad shape physically when I began the work, and was afraid my semi-invalid state could be detected in the music. However, I began to feel more myself when I finished the whole work.” Of the philo-sophical basis of the Symphony, undoubtedly related to Schumann’s emotional state, Mosco Carner wrote, “The emotional drama in this Symphony leads from the fierce struggle with sinister forces (first movement) to triumphant victory (finale), while the intervening stages are febrile restlessness (scherzo) and profound melancholy (adagio).” This progression from darkness to light as a musi-cal process had its noble precedents in the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies of Beethoven, a musician whom Schumann revered, and it is probable that Schumann envisioned the construction of his Second Symphony as a mirror of his return to health during its composition.

This Symphony is the most formally traditional of the four that Schumann wrote. It com-prises four independent movements closely allied to Classical models. The sonata-allegro of the first movement is prefaced by a slow introduction which presents a majestic, fanfare-like theme in the brass and a sinuous, legato melody in the strings. (The brass theme recurs several times during the course of the work and serves as a motto linking this first movement with later ones.) The tempo quickens to begin the exposition, with the main theme heard in jagged, dotted rhythms. The second theme continues the mood of the main theme to complete the short exposition. The lengthy devel-opment section is mostly based on the second theme. The recapitulation employs a rich orchestral palette to heighten the return of the exposition’s themes, with the fanfare-motto heard briefly in the coda to conclude the movement.

The scherzo (“Schumann’s happiest essay in this form,” according to Robert Schauffler) has two trios: the first dominated by triplet rhythms in the woodwinds, the second by a legato chorale for strings. The horns and trumpets intone the motto theme at the end of the movement. The wonder-ful third movement is constructed around a nostalgic melody, one of Schumann’s greatest inspira-tions, first presented by the violins. A brief, pedantic contrapuntal exercise acts as a middle section, after which the lovely theme returns. The brilliant and vigorous finale is cast in sonata-allegro form, with a second theme derived from the opening notes of the melody of the preceding adagio. The majestic coda begins with a soft restatement of the motto theme by trumpets and trombone, and gradually blossoms into a heroic hymn of victory in the full brass choir. It is a grand conclusion to a work which displays, in Philip Spitta’s ringing phrases, “grave and mature depth of feeling, bold decisiveness of form and overpowering wealth of expression.”

©2011 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL Wednesday, July 20, 2011

GrantParkMusicFestivalSeventy-seventh Season

Grant Park Orchestra and ChorusCarlos Kalmar, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor

Christopher Bell, Chorus Director

Choral Masterpieces: Bernstein & FauréFriday, July 22, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. Jay Pritzker PavilionGRANT PARK ORCHESTRA AND CHORUSChristopher Bell, ConductorRyan Belongie, Counter-TenorLindsay Metzger, SopranoKeven Keys, Baritone

BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms for Chorus, Counter-Tenor and Orchestra Psalm 108, vs. 2 (Maestoso ma energico) — Psalm 100 (Allegro molto) Psalm 23 (Andante con moto, ma tranquillo) — Psalm 2, vs. 1-4 (Allegro feroce) — Meno come prima Prelude (Sostenuto molto) — Psalm 131 (Peacefully flowing) — Psalm 133, vs. 1 (Lento possibile)

Ryan Belongie

J.S. BACH Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, Cantata for Counter-Tenor, Oboe d’amore, Strings, Organ and Continuo, BWV 170 Aria: Vergnügte Ruh Recitative: Die Welt, das Sündenhaus Aria: Wie jammern mich doch die verkehrten Herzen Recitative: Wer sollte sich demnach Aria: Mir ekelt mehr zu leben

Ryan Belongie

FAURÉ Requiem for Soprano, Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 48 Introit et Kyrie (Requiem aeternam): Molto largo — Andante moderato (Chorus) Offertoire (O Domine Jesu Christe): Adagio molto — Andante moderato — Adagio molto (Chorus and Baritone) Sanctus: Andante moderato (Chorus) Pie Jesu: Adagio (Soprano) Agnus Dei: Andante (Chorus) Libera me: Moderato — Più mosso — Moderato (Baritone and Chorus) In Paradisum: Andante moderato (Chorus)

Lindsay Metzger, Keven Keys

2011 Program Notes, Book 3 C25

American counter-tenor RYAN BeLONGIe, a graduate of Northwestern University, is a two-time national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, winner of the 2009 Lola Fletcher Award from the American Opera Society, and recipient of 2009 and 2010 Richard F. Gold career grants from the Shoshana Foundation. Mr. Belongie is cur-rently a first-year Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, with whom he appeared in Cavalli’s La Calisto and in the title role in scenes from Handel’s Giulio Cesare. As a member of San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program in 2009 he performed in Menotti’s The Medium and in scenes from Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Handel’s Xerses. He has also sung with Wolf Trap

Opera, Berkeley Opera and Maison de la Danse in Lyon, France, and covered the role of Lychas in Handel’s Hercules for Lyric Opera of Chicago. He has appeared frequently with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque, with whom he was a featured soloist on public television in A Renaissance Christmas and on broadcasts on Chicago’s classical music station WFMT. Mr. Belongie has also performed a solo recital on the station’s series Live from WFMT, which was later chosen as one of the “Best of WFMT” broadcasts for 2009. Ryan Belongie has appeared in concert as a soloist with the Eureka Chamber Music Series, William Ferris Chorale, Kishwaukee Symphony, Janus Ensemble and Elgin Choral Union, and was a soloist with the Grant Park Music Festival in Bernstein’s Missa Brevis.

LINDSAY MeTZGeR, a Chicago area native, was a student of Jane Bunnell at the DePaul University School of Music, from which she re-cently graduated with a degree in vocal performance. This past winter Ms. Metzger performed the role of Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with Du-Page Opera Theater, and she has also sung with such area vocal ensembles as Bella Voce, William Ferris Chorale and Grant Park Chorus. She was recently a member of the chorus prepared by Donald Nally for Bach’s St. Matthew Passion conducted by John Nelson. In fall 2011, she appears in the title role in the Ryan Opera Center’s Opera in the Neighborhood pro-duction of Rossini’s La Cenerentola. Lindsay Metzger continues to study independently and plans to pursue a master’s degree.

Michigan native KeVeN KeYS, a doctoral candidate in vocal perfor-mance at Northwestern University, has sung a wide range of repertoire, from Bach to Bernstein, from opera to oratorio and art song. He has per-formed both classical and musical theater works, including Sam in Bern-stein’s opera Trouble in Tahiti and Elijah in Mendelssohn’s oratorio based on the Old Testament prophet. Mr. Keys has also played a wide variety of roles in musical theater, from the villain Mordred in Camelot and the anti-hero John Wilkes Booth in Sondheim’s Assassins to the romantic lead in Harnick & Bock’s She Loves Me. In Chicago, Mr. Keys’ career highlights include a recent performance with Carol Vaness, title roles in Verdi’s Fal-

staff, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Rachmaninoff ’s Aleko, as well as Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte and John Brook in Mark Adamo’s Little Women. Among his concert credits are Mahler’s Rückert Lieder, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, the Mozart and Fauré Requiems, and Bach’s solo Cantata No. 82, Ich habe genug. Keven Keys received his master’s degree in vocal performance from Northwestern University, where he studied with Karen Brunssen and Sherrill Milnes, and his B.A. in physics from Kalamazoo College.

Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011 GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL Congratulations to Christopher Bell

On the 10th anniversary as Chorus Director of the Grant Park Music Festival

Honor Christopher Bell by making a donation to the FestivalCall 312.742.7639 or donate online

www.grantparkmusicfestival.com/support-the-festival

2011 Program Notes, Book 3 C27

Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011 GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL

ChICheSTeR PSALMS FOR MIxeD ChOIR, COuNTeR-TeNOR AND ORCheSTRA (1965)Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms is scored for three trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, two harps and strings. The performance time is 19 min-utes. The Grant Park Orchestra and Grant Park Chorus first performed this work on July 6, 1992, with Geoffrey Simon conducting.

These psalms are a simple and modest affair,Tonal and tuneful and somewhat square,Certain to sicken a stout John CagerWith its tonics and triads in E-flat major.But there it stands — the result of my pondering,Two long months of avant-garde wandering — My youngest child, old-fashioned and sweet.And he stands on his own two tonal feet.

Leonard Bernstein, that Renaissance man among late-20th-century musicians, penned these verses about his Chichester Psalms for The New York Times as part of a poetic evaluation of the fifteen months of his sabbatical from conducting in 1964-1965. Bernstein considered several composi-tional projects during his year away from the rigorous duties as music director of the New York Philharmonic, including a theater piece based on Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth, but it was this set of Psalms for choir and orchestra that was the principal musical offspring of that hiatus in his public career.

The work was commissioned by the Very Rev. Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival, in which the musicians of Chichester have participated with those of the neighboring cathedrals of Salisbury and Winchester since 1959. The musical tra-ditions of these great cathedrals extend far back into history, to at least the time when the eminent early-17th-century keyboard artist and composer Thomas Weelkes occupied the organ bench at Chichester.

The mood of the Chichester Psalms is humble and serene, unlike the powerful but despairing nature of Bernstein’s “Kaddish” Symphony of 1963, composed shortly before this work. Both use traditional texts sung in Hebrew, but the message of the Psalms is one of man’s closeness to God rather than the one of frustration and anger and shaken faith engendered by God’s inexplicable acts as portrayed by the “Kaddish.” It is indicative that the composer chose the 23rd Psalm (“The Lord is my Shepherd”) for the second movement, the heart of the Chichester Psalms.

The first movement opens with a broad chorale (“Awake, psaltery and harp!”) that serves as the structural buttress for the entire composition. It is transformed, in quick tempo, to open and close the dance-like main body of this movement (in 7/4 meter), and it reappears at the beginning and end of the finale in majestic settings. The bounding, sprung rhythms and exuberant energy of the fast music of the first movement are a perfect embodiment of the text, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.”

The touching simplicity of the second movement recalls the pastoral song of David, the young shepherd. The sopranos take over the melody from the soloist, and carry it forward in gentle but strict imitation. Suddenly, threatening music is hurled forth by the men’s voices punctuated by slashing chords from the orchestra. They challenge the serene strains of peace with the harsh ques-tion, “Why do the nations rage?” The quiet song, temporarily banished, reappears in the high voices, like calming oil on troubled waters. The hard tones subside, and once again the shepherd sings and strums upon his harp. As a coda, the mechanistic sounds of conflict, soft but worrisome, enter once again, as if blown on an ill wind from some distant land.

2011 Program Notes, Book 3 C29

V’shav’ti b’veit Adonai And I will dwell in the house of the Lord L’orech yamim. Forever.

Psalm 2, verses 1-4: Lamah rag’shu goyim Why do the nations rage, Ul’umim yeh’gu rik? And the people imagine a vain thing? Yit’yats’vu malchei erets, The kings of the earth set themselves, V’roznim nos’du yahad, And the rulers take counsel together Al Adonai v’al m’shiho. Against the Lord and against His annointed. N’natkah et mos’roteimo, Saying, let us break their bonds asunder, V’nashlichah mimenu avoteimo. And cast away their cords from us. Yoshev bashamayim He that sitteth in the heavens Yis’hak, Adonai Shall laugh, and the Lord Yil’ag lamo! Shall have them in derision!

III.

Psalm 131, entire: Adonai, Adonai, Lord, Lord, Lo gavah libi, My heart is not haughty, V’lo ramu einai, Nor mine eyes lofty, V’lo hilachti Neither do I exercise myself Big’dolot uv’niflaot In great matters or in things Mimeni. Too wonderful for me. Im lo shiviti Surely I have calmed V’domam’ti, And quieted myself, Naf ’shi k’gamul alei imo, As a child that is weaned of his mother, Kagamul alai naf ’shi. My soul is even as a weaned child. Yahel Yis’rael el Adonai Let Israel hope in the Lord Me’atah v’ad olam. From henceforth and forever.

Psalm 133, verse 1: Hineh mah tov, Behold how good, Umah nayim, And how pleasant it is, Shevet ahim For brethren to dwell Gam yahad. Together in unity.

VergnügTe ruh, beLiebTe seeLenLusT (pLeasanT resT, beLoVed souL’s deLighT), CANTATA FOR COuNTeR-TeNOR AND ORCheS-TRA, BwV 170 (1726)Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Bach’s Cantata No. 170 is scored for oboe d’amore, organ, strings and continuo. The performance time is 24 minutes. This is the first performance of the work by the Grant Park Orchestra.

Bach wrote well over 300 cantatas, of which some 220, filling half the volumes of his collected works, are extant. Though these pieces have called forth countless exegetical flights, they were very practical items, intended, as was virtually all of the music before Beethoven, for a specific occa-sion and audience. In the case of Bach’s cantatas, which were the principal music of the main Lu-theran service, the occasion arose almost weekly and the audience was the congregation of Leipzig’s churches. The Hauptgottesdienst, the most important of the week’s devotions, was an imposing col-

The finale begins with an instrumental prelude based on the stern chorale that opened the work. The muted solo trumpet and the harp recall a phrase from the shepherd’s song to mark the central point of this introductory strain. The chorus intones a gently swaying theme on the text, “Lord, Lord, My heart is not haughty.” The Chichester Psalms concludes with yet another adaptation of the recurring chorale, here given new words and a deeper meaning. This closing sentiment is not only the central message of the work, and the linchpin of its composer’s philosophy of life, but also is a thought which all must hold dear in troubled times:

Behold how good, And how pleasant it is,For brethren to dwellTogether in unity.

I.

Psalm 108, verse 2: Urah, hanevel, v’chinor! Awake, psaltery and harp! A-irah shahar! I will rouse the dawn!

Psalm 100, entire: Hariu l’Adonai kol haarets. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Iv’du et Adonai b’simcha. Serve the Lord with gladness. Bo-u l’fanav bir’nanah. Come before His presence with singing. D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim. Know ye that the Lord, He is God. Hu asanu, v’lo anahnu. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Amo v’tson mar’ito. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Bo-u sh’arav b’todah, Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, Hatseirotav bit’hilah, And into His courts with praise, Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. Ki tov Adonai, l’olam has’do, For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, V’ad dor vador emunato. And His truth endureth to all generations.

II.

Psalm 23, entire: Adonai ro-i, lo ehsar. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, Al mei m’nuhot y’nahaleini, He leadeth me beside the still waters, Naf ’shi y’shovev, He restoreth my soul, Yan’heini b’ma’aglei tsedek, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, L’ma’an sh’mo. For His name’s sake. Gam ki eilech Yea, though I walk B’gei tsalmavet, Through the valley of the shadow of death, Lo ira ra, I will fear no evil, Ki Atah imadi. For Thou art with me. Shiv’t’cha umishan’techa Thy rod and Thy staff Heimah y’nahamuni. They comfort me.

Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchan. Thou preparest a table before me. Neged tsor’rai, In the presence of mine enemies, Dishanta vashemen roshi Thou annointest my head with oil, Cosi r’vayah. My cup runneth over. Ach tov vahesed Surely goodness and mercy Yird’funi kol y’mei hayai, Shall follow me all the days of my life,

Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011 GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011

C28 2011 Program Notes, Book 3

2011 Program Notes, Book 3 C31C30 2011 Program Notes, Book 3

lection of Roman and Protestant components that began at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday and lasted until almost noon: an organ voluntary, a motet, the Kyrie and Gloria, various hymns, gospels, prayers and announcements, communion and a sermon whose mighty length was certain to turn listen-ers’ thoughts to the hereafter. Just before the sermon, to prepare the congregation for the inspired homily and to celebrate that Sunday’s special significance in the church calendar, a cantata was performed whose texts were taken from, based on, or inspired by one of the Biblical verses for the day. Except for the Sundays in Lent and Advent, Bach was required to prepare a cantata every week with his choristers from the Thomasschule, as well as for various special festivals, such as Christmas, Easter and New Year’s Day — a total of 59 cantatas annually. During his tenure in Leipzig, Bach produced five complete annual service cycles, comprising some 300 sacred cantatas. The first two of these cycles (a total of 120 works) were completed during his first two years at the Thomaskirche (1723-1724) — an average of one new cantata every six days! (1723 was also the year of the Magni-ficat, the St. John Passion, a motet, a Sanctus, numerous organ works and the birth of a short-lived daughter.) The third cycle was written between 1725 and 1727, and the fourth by 1729, but the last extended into the 1740s, Bach by that time having built up a large library from which he could draw to meet his needs.

The cantata Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust is No. 170 in Wolfgang Schmieder’s standard catalog of Bach’s works — Bach Werke Verzeichnis. It was composed in 1726 for the sixth Sunday of Trinity (July 28th that year), the long liturgical season that stretches from the eighth Sunday after Easter to the beginning of Advent, four weeks before Christmas. The Cantata is modest in both its length and its scoring, which requires just soloist, oboe d’amore (a deeper-voice cousin of the oboe), strings and continuo. The words come from a 1711 collection of cantata texts by Georg Christian Lehms (1684-1717), the Darmstadt court poet whose verses Bach treated numerous times, and voice the pervasive 18th-century Lutheran plaint concerning the sinful wickedness of the world (strikingly portrayed in the stark central aria, in which Bach omitted the usual chordal cushion of the figured bass to give the effect of what he described as “an infernal whining and drawling”) and the longing for heaven and entrance into the presence of God (evoked by the sweet buoyancy of the closing movement).

AriaVergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, O pleasant rest, beloved soul’s delight, Dich kann man nicht bei Höllen-Sündens, one cannot earn thee through sin,Wohl aber Himmels-eintracht finden, but only by spiritual union with Heaven.Du stärkst allein die schwache Brust. Thou alone strengthenest the weak breast.Drum sollen lauter Tugendgaben Therefore thy virtuous giftsIn meinem Herzen Wohnung haben. shall have a dwelling-place in my heart.

RecitativeDie Welt, das Sündenhaus, The world, that house of sin,Bricht nur in Höllenlieder aus breaks out with songs of HellUnd sucht durch Hass und Neid and seeks through hatred and envyDes Satans Bild an sich zu tragen, to mirror Satan’s image.Ihr Mund ist voller Ottergift, Its tongue carries otter’s poison,Der oft die Unschuld tödlich trifft, with which to do the innocent to death,Und will allein von Racha sagen. and speaks only of vengeance.Gerechter Gott, wie weit ist doch Righteous God, how far ManDer Mensch von dir entfernet; has estranged himself from Thee;Du liebst, jedoch sein Mund Thou lovest him, yet still his tongueMacht Fluch und Feindschaft kund inspires hatred and blasphemy;Und will den Nächsten nur mit Füssen treten. he tramples his neighbor underfoot.Ach! diese Schuld ist schwerlich zu verbeten. Oh, this guilt is hard indeed to pardon.

Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011 GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011

AriaWie jammern mich doch How those souls who have gone astray die verkehrten Herzen, distress me;Die dir, mein Gott, so sehr zuwider sein. O my God, they are completely against Thee.Ich zitt’re recht und fühle tausend Schmerzen, I am frightened and feel a thousand hurtsWenn sie sich nur an Rach’ und Hass erfreu’n. when they glory in revenge and hatred alone.Gerechter Gott, was magst du doch gedenken, O God, what canst Thou thinkWenn sie allein mit rechten Satans-ränken when they alone, with devilish wiles,Dein scharfes Strafgebot so frech verlacht. jeer at Thy strict command.Ach! ohne Zweifel hast du so gedacht: Oh! without hesitation Thou has thought:Wie jammern mich doch “How those souls who have gone astray die verkehrten Herzen. distress me.”

RecitativeWer sollte sich demnach Who would wish to liveWohl hier zu leben wünschen, here on earthWenn man nur Hass und Ungemach when one can see only hatred and troubleVor seine Liebe sieht? instead of love?Doch weil ich auch den Feind But because I should love my enemyWie meinen besten Freund as my best friend,Nach Gottes Vorschrift lieben soll, after God’s command,So flieht mein Herze Zorn und Groll, my heart flies from anger and resentmentUnd wünscht allein bei Gott zu leben, and wishes only to live with God,Der selbst die Liebe heisst. whose own name is Love.Ach, eintrachtvoller Geist, Oh, spirit of concord,Wann wird er dir doch nur when will he give theeSein Himmels-zion geben? his heavenly reward?

AriaMir ekelt mehr zu leben, Life is distasteful to me,Drum nimm mich, Jesu, hin. Jesus, take me away.Mir graut vor allen Sünden, All sins frighten me,Lass mich dies Wohnhaus finden, let me find that dwelling-placeWoselbst ich ruhig bin. where I may be at peace.

RequIeM FOR SOPRANO, BARITONe, ChORuS AND ORCheSTRA, OP. 48 (1887-1888)Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)Fauré’s Requiem is scored for two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, harp, organ and strings. The perfor-mance time is 39 minutes. The Grant Park Orchestra and Grant Park Chorus first performed the Requiem on August 5, 1984, with Thomas Peck conduct-ing. Soprano Sarah Beatty and bass-baritone Kurt Link were the soloists.

It is one of the ironies of music history that some of the greatest sacred works have been com-posed by men who cared little for religion. Mozart paid scant attention to the faith after he left Salzburg, preferring the humanistic philosophies of Freemasonry; Beethoven was a theist who thought conventional religion stifled full realization of the deity; Verdi refused to set foot in a church for any religious services, and would wait outside in a carriage for his wife on Sunday mornings; and Gabriel Fauré, though he held some of Paris’ most prestigious musical positions as a church organist and wrote one of the most perfect of all sacred compositions, was an avowed agnostic. Upon reading a manifesto of faith in an important Catholic journal, Fauré wrote, rather condescendingly, “How

2011 Program Notes, Book 3 C33

Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011 GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL

C32 2011 Program Notes, Book 3

GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011

nice is this self-assurance! How nice is the naiveté, or the vanity, or the stupidity, or the bad faith of the people for whom this was written, printed and distributed.” Emile Vuillermoz, in his biography of the composer, explained that “only his natural courtesy and his professional conscience allowed him to carry out his duties as an organist with absolute correctness, and with the least amount of hypocrisy to write a certain number of religious works.... The Requiem is, if I dare say so, the work of a disbeliever who respects the beliefs of others.” Rather than a testament of dogmatic faith, then, Fauré’s Requiem is a work to console and comfort the living — music, according to Vuillermoz, “to accompany with contemplation and emotion a loved one to a final resting place.”

Fauré began his career as an organist and church musician in 1866 at Rennes and four years lat-er went to Clignancourt, a suburb north of Paris. In 1871, he was appointed organist at the Church of Saint-Honoré Eylau, and in the following years became assistant to Widor at Saint-Sulpice and frequently substituted for Saint-Saëns at the Madeleine. When Saint-Saëns left that post in 1877 to give his full attention to composing and concertizing, he was succeeded by Théodore Dubois, who named Fauré as his assistant. Fauré became chief organist at the Madeleine in 1896, when Dubois assumed directorship of the Paris Conservatoire. Fauré had contributed an occasional piece of ser-vice music as part of his duties at various churches, but the Requiem was his first large-scale work in any form. He said that it was begun in 1887 “just for the pleasure of it,” though the impulse to set the ancient text of the Catholic Mass for the Dead quite likely came from the passing of his father in 1885 and of his mother two years later. The score was completed early in 1888, and first heard, under the composer’s direction, at the Madeleine in Paris as part of a memorial service for Joseph Le Soufaché, one of the parishioners. This first version contained only five movements (Introit et Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei and In Paradisum), and was scored for a modest ensemble of divided violas and cellos, basses, harp, timpani and organ, with a part for solo violin in the Sanctus. Fauré prepared a new version of the score for a subsequent performance in 1893 that contained two additional movements (Offertorium, composed in 1889, and Libera me, originally written in 1877 as an independent composition for baritone and organ) and expanded the orchestration to include horns and trumpets. In preparation for the work’s publication by Hamelle in 1900, it was re-scored for full orchestra to make it available for concert as well as liturgical performances, though the or-chestration was probably done not by Fauré but by his student Jean-Jules Roger-Ducase. This final version was first heard at the Trocadéro Palace in July 1900 conducted by Paul Taffanel.

Unlike the grand, dramatic, sometimes tumultuous settings of the Mass for the Dead by Berlioz and Verdi, Fauré’s Requiem is intimate in scale and consoling in content. Fauré, perhaps under the influence of the Cecilian Movement, which sought a personal, uncomplicated and direct manner of religious expression, chose to omit the text of the Dies irae, the searing Medieval poem that so chillingly paints the terrors of the “Day of Wrath” — the Last Judgment. The composer’s pupil and friend Charles Koechlin believed that “the indulgent and fundamentally good nature of the master had as far as possible to turn from the implacable dogma of eternal punishment.” The composer himself wrote, “It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death; someone has even called it a lullaby of death. But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration toward happiness above....” In a letter of April 3, 1921 to René Fauchois, he further explained, “Everything I managed to entertain in the way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest.” The grace, restraint and calm Hellenic beauty that characterize Fauré’s best music find their perfect real-ization in this work, about which the celebrated pedagogue Nadia Boulanger said, “Nothing purer or clearer in definition has been written. No external effect alters its sober and rather severe expres-sion of grief, no restlessness troubles its deep meditation, no doubt stains its gentle confidence or its tender and tranquil expectancy.”

©2011 Dr. Richard E. Rodda

Introit

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Grant them rest eternal, O Lord;et lux perpetua luceat eis. and let perpetual light shine upon them.Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, There shall be singing unto Thee in Zion,et tibi redetur votum in Jerusalem. and prayer shall go up to Thee in Jerusalem.Exaudi orationem meam. Hear my prayer.Ad te omnis caro veniet. Unto Thee all flesh shall come.

Kyrie

Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy.Christe eleison. Christ have mercy.Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy.

Offertorio: Domine Jesu Christe

Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriae, Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,Libera animas defunctorum deliver the souls departedde poenis inferni from the pains of hellet de profundo lacu. and the bottomless pit.Libera eas de ore leonis, Deliver them from the jaws of the lion,ne absorbeat eas tartarus, lest hell engulf them,ne cadant in obscurum; lest they be plunged into darkness;Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, Lord, in praise we offer to Theelaudis offerimus, sacrifices and prayers,tu suscipe pro animabus illis, receive them for the souls of thosequarum hodie memoriam facimus: whom we remember this day:fac eas, Domine, de morte Lord, make them passtransire ad vitam, from death to life,quam olim Abrahae promisisti as Thou didst promise Abrahamet semini ejus. and his seed.

Sanctus

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Holy, holy, holy,Dominus Deus Sabaoth! Lord God of hosts!Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.Hosanna in excelsis! Glory to God in the highest!

Pie Jesu

Pie Jesu Domine, Merciful Lord Jesus,dona eis requiem, grant them rest,requiem sempiternam. rest everlasting.

Agnus Dei

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,dona eis requiem. grant them rest.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,dona eis requiem sempiternam. grant them eternal rest.

Lux Aeterna

Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, May eternal light shine upon them, O Lord,cum sanctis tuis in aeternam, with Thy saints forever,quia pius es. for Thou art good.Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Lord, grant them eternal rest,et lux perpetua luceat eis. and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Libera me

Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal deathin die illa tremenda, in that awful dayquando coeli movendi sunt et terra, when the heavens and earth shall be shaken,dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem. when Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.Tremens factus sum ego et timeo, I am seized with fear and trembling,dum discussio venerit atque venture ira: until the trial shall be at hand and the wrath to come:Dies illa, dies irae, That day, that day of wrath,calamitatis et miseriae, of calamity and misery,dies magna et amara valde, a great day and exceeding bitter,Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Lord, grant them eternal rest,et lux perpetua luceat eis. and let perpetual light shine upon them.

In Paradisum

In Paradisum deducant te Angeli; May the Angels lead you into Paradise;in tuo adventu at your comingsuscipiant te martyres, may the martyrs receive you,et perducant te and conduct youin civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. into the holy city, Jerusalem.Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat, May the chorus of Angels receive you,et cum Lazaro quondam paupere and with Lazarus, once a pauper,aeternam habeas requiem. eternally may you have rest.

GRANT PARK MUSIC FESTIVAL Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23, 2011

C34 2011 Program Notes, Book 3

help keep thrilling, outdoor classical music free for all Chicago! If you enjoyed tonight’s program, consider making a $10 donation

through your cell phone. Just text the word ‘GRANTPARK’ to 20222 to make a donation now.