TuneNew York Philharmonic Young People’s Concert®Saturday,May 2nd,2009

Delta David Gier, conductorTom Dulack, scriptwriter and directorAdam Alexander, actorThomas Baird, actor/dancerHeather Lipson Bell, actor/dancerAlesia Lawson, actor

Welcome to the Young People’s Concerts!St. Petersburg—Russia’s “Window on the West” and Europe’s windowon vast, exotic Russia. In 1703 Tsar Peter the Great decided to createa modern city where there was only marshland, and in just nine years St. Petersburg replaced Moscow as the

capital of Russia. In the 1870s and 80s, the city was full of young artists celebrating their national traditions in new forms ofart and music. The “Mighty Handful” were five composer friends, including Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, and NikolaiRimsky-Korsakov. Their music tells stories from Russian history and folktales in operas, ballets, and purely musical works thathelped make their nation’s culture unique and distinct. St. Petersburg is the most different of the Capitals of Music we have

visited this year, and from there comes some ofthe world’s most beloved orchestral music.MUSSORGSKY’S ST. PETERSBURG

CAN YOU IDENTIFY EVERYTHING IN AND AROUND MUSSORGSKY’S ST. PETERSBURG STUDIO? LOOK ON THE BACK PAGE TO SEE WHETHER YOU’RE RIGHT.

TuneUp!T H E P R O G R A M :

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MUSSORGSKY’S ST. PETERSBURG

MUSSORGSKY Promenade, from Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel) BORODIN Selections from Polovtsian Dances, from Prince Igor RIMSKY-KORSAKOV The Story of the Kalendar Prince, from ScheherazadeLERA AUERBACH Humum mandere, from Symphony No. 1, ChimeraMUSSORGSKY Selections from Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

With the Dead in a Dead LanguageThe Hut on Chicken Feet: Baba-YagaThe Great Gate of Kiev

A lways seeking a distinctly Russianmusical style, Mussorgsky looked toRussian history and folklore for

inspiration and broke all the rules of Westerncomposition. His clashing harmonies and clumsyscoring drove some people crazy, but few coulddisagree that Mussorgsky’s music was some ofthe most vivid and imaginative of the time. Inaddition to being a composer and virtuosopianist, he followed his family tradition andbecame a cadet in the Russian Imperial Guard.Often suffering from bad health and financial

hardship, Mussorgsky believed that art should portray the realities oflife and the human experience. Due to life’s circumstances he wasnot able to complete or orchestrate all of his works. But Mussorgsky’screativity and fresh ideas about music inspired his composer friends—and musicians of future generations—to finish his compositions.

about the composers and their music…

Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881)

P ictures at an Exhibition was inspired by amemorial exhibition of paintings anddesigns by Viktor Hartmann, a close friend

of Mussorgsky. Each movement depicts variousartworks or the composer himself promenadingfrom picture to picture at the exhibition. There are five Promenademovements in the work: they all have the same tune, but each one has its own mood, color, and key in response to the different paintings.In With the Dead in a Dead Language, Mussorgsky reflects on a visit toParis’s catacombs (ancient Roman burial sites). He notes in his scorethat Hartmann’s creative spirit “leads me towards skulls; the skullsbegin to glow softly from within.” The Hut on Chicken Feet depicts thehome of the Baba-Yaga, a type of witch in Russian folklore who drivesthrough the forest in a giant mortar which she steers with a pestle. TheGreat Gate of Kiev depicts a design that Hartmann created to celebratea monumental occasion in the life of Tsar Alexander II. Pictures at anExhibition was originally written for piano. The version heard today isorchestrated by the French composer Maurice Ravel.

Borodin was a well-regardedscientist by profession, creditedwith several important discoveries

in chemistry. He was born in St.Petersburg and in addition to hisdoctorate in medicine he took lessons incomposition and the cello. Borodin metMussorgsky while the two were working ata military hospital and they became fastfriends, drawn together by a shared lovefor music. Borodin’s music, unlikeMussorgsky’s, was well received by European

audiences of the day who enjoyed its beautiful melodies and lushharmonies. Like Mussorgsky’s, his music expresses a truly Russianflavor. He is buried in St. Petersburg’s Alexander Nevsky Monastery,next to his dear friend Mussorgsky.o

Alexander Borodin (1833–1887)

Borodin’s opera, Prince Igor, is considered tobe the composer’s greatest work and oneof the most important historical Russian

operas. It tells of the Russian Prince Igor and hisbattle against the invading Polovtsian tribes fromCentral Asia in the 12th century. Act Two of theopera takes place in a Polovtsian camp. Prince Igorand his son have been captured during combat bythe Khan of the Polovtsians. The Khan offers Igorfreedom in exchange for the Prince’s promise notto wage war on his tribe again, but Igor refuses.The Khan commands the Polovtsian slaves to

dance for the entertainment of Igor and himself. Borodin diedbefore his opera was finished. It was completed with help fromRimsky-Korsakov and premiered at the Mariinsky Theater in St.Petersburg in 1890.

Pictures at an Exhibition(1874; orchestrated by Maurice Ravel in 1922)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908)

The youngest member of the “MightyHandful” and the only one to haveacademic training in composition,

Rimsky-Korsakov often acted as a musicalmentor to Mussorgsky and Borodin, helpingthem to orchestrate and complete theircompositions. He embraced folk songs andRussian materials and at the same time learneda great deal from Western musical techniques.He shared an apartment and piano withMussorgsky, who was also the best man at hiswedding. Rimsky-Korsakov became a professor

of harmony and orchestration at the St. Petersburg Conservatorywhere he spent decades teaching the next generation of Russiancomposers, including Glazunov, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky.

T he Kalendar Prince is a movementfrom Scheherazade, a compositionbased on the Arabian Nights folk

tales. Scheherazade is the newest wife ofthe Sultan Schahriar, who has marriedmany times and sworn to kill each of hiswives after one night of marriage.Scheherazade saves her life byentertaining the Sultan with marveloustales that she creates each night over1,001 nights. Rimsky-Korsakov uses a full palette of orchestral colors to illustrateexotic tales from the Persian Empire. In TheStory of the Kalendar Prince, a royal prince disguises himself as amember of a tribe of wandering holy men and has adventures thatare left up to our imagination.

The Story of the Kalendar Prince,from Scheherazade (1888)

Selections from Polovtsian Dances, from Prince Igor (1875)

The Hut on Chicken Feet,by Viktor Hartmann

Lera Auerbach (b.1973)Humum mandere, fromSymphony No. 1, Chimera (2006)

Born in Chelyabinsk, a city in the UralMountains bordering Siberia, Lera Auerbach isone of the most widely performed composers

of her generation. In addition to composing for arange of leading artists, orchestras, operacompanies, and music festivals, Auerbach is also avirtuoso pianist and award-winning poet. She holdsdegrees in piano and composition from The JuilliardSchool and is the youngest composer represented bythe prestigious international music publishingcompany Hans Sikorski. She made her Carnegie Hallpiano debut in 2002 performing one of her own

works and has been presented there each season since then. This concertis the first performance of one of her works by the New York Philharmonic.

T he subtitle of this symphony,Chimera, refers to the mythologicalfire-breathing monster with a head

of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon. This marvel of acreature, made up of different parts, relates to Auerbach’ssymphony—the sound of the work is a mixture of a romantic-erasymphony and modern sounds. The sixth movement from SymphonyNo. 1, Humum mandere, means “to bite the dust.” Like so muchmusic of the “Mighty Handful,” it suggests a story largely left up to ourimaginations. The music is dark and edgy, suggesting frustration andanger. The composer writes, “one can imagine a wild tiger, pacing in asmall cage….[or a] man turned into a machine-like ant colony,” whereone is confined to a situation beyond one’s control.

The New York Philharmonic is by far the oldestsymphony orchestra in the United States, andone of the oldest in the world. It was founded in

1842 by a group of local musicians, and currently playsabout 180 concerts every year. On December 18,2004, the Philharmonic gave its 14,000th concert — a record that no other symphony orchestra in the worldhas ever reached. The Orchestra currently has 106members. It performs mostly at Avery Fisher Hall, atLincoln Center, but also tours around the world. TheOrchestra’s first concerts specifically for a youngeraudience were organized by Theodore Thomas for the1885–86 season, with a series of 24 “Young People’sMatinees.” The programs were developed further byconductor Josef Stransky, who led the first YoungPeople’s Concert in January of 1914. The YoungPeople’s Concerts were brought to national attention in1924 by “Uncle Ernest” Schelling, and were madefamous by Leonard Bernstein in the 1960s with livetelevision broadcasts.

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Delta David Gieris music director of theSouth Dakota Symphony

Orchestra, and has been a coverconductor of the New YorkPhilharmonic for the past 10seasons. He first conducted the

Philharmonic in 2000, during theConcerts in the Parks. After completing his studies, he wasinvited by Riccardo Muti to spend a year as an apprenticeat The Philadelphia Orchestra. As a Fulbright Scholar, hehas led many performances in Eastern Europe. Mr. Gierhas served as visiting professor at the Yale School ofMusic, the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati,San Francisco Conservatory, and SUNY–Stony Brook.

Delta David Gier The New York Philharmonic

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Alesia Lawsonactor

Adam Alexanderactor

Thomas Bairdactor/dancer

Heather Lipson Bellactor/dancer

The Young People’s Concerts® and Kidzone Live! are made possible with generous support from the The Theodore H. Barth Foundation.

Tune Up! is made possible by an endowment in the name of Lillian Butler Davey.

MetLife Foundation is the Lead Corporate Underwriter for the New York Philharmonic’s Education Programs.

S O W H AT ’ S I N A N D A R O U N D M U S S O R G S K Y ’ S S T . P E T E R S B U R G S T U D I O ?1. The Mariinsky Theater—many of the “Mighty Handful’s” masterpieces had their premieres here.

2. A costume design for a Polovtsian maiden in Borodin’s Prince Igor. 3. The Great Gate of Kiev by Viktor Hartmann. 4. The “Mighty Handful” (Moguchaya kuchka) were self-trained, amateur musicians who had a big impact on Russian culture.

5. Matryoshka dolls were created to revive and preserve Russian folk art.

Saturday, November 7, 2009Benjamin Britten The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Saturday, December 12, 2009Claude Debussy La Mer

Saturday, March 6, 2010Magnus Lindberg Feria

Saturday, March 27, 2010Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphony No. 41, Jupiter

CAPITAL IDEAS!What do you remember about the Capitals of Music?

Below you’ll find a list of musical descriptions we’ve explored this season. Match them to the Capitals or create your own!

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Mixed-up metersJazzy brass

Infectious syncopationsKaleidoscope of colorElegance and clarity

Lyrical and lightheartedOpera buffa

Modernity and innovationIntense expressionPerfect proportions

Big-city buzzBalanced musical formsBright, bold harmonies

Boisterous dance

Unique and exotic soundsEnchanting fairytalesAtmospheric musicDazzling spectacle

Percussive orchestrationPlayful and witty

Festivals and fanfares

Devilish danceHeartbreaking conflictEccentric and strange

Castanets and tambourinesClashing harmoniesVivid imagination

Chinoiserie

Imperial eleganceRomantic dreams

Frantic paceFantastic fusion

Optimism and energyColorful palette

Latin-beat dances

MOZART’S VIENNA

MUSSORGSKY’S ST. PETERSBURG

Awork of genius contains a wealth of past influences along with theseeds of new musical growth. Next season, each Young People’s

Concert focuses on a single masterpiece, through which we will explore how music develops and how the orchestra itself brings the music alive.

BERNSTEIN’SNEW YORK

RAVEL’S PARIS

POINTS OF ENTRY