The 2009-2010 season is Neal Gittleman’s fifteenth year as Music Director of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Gittleman has led the orchestra to new levels of artistic achievement and increasing acclaim throughout the

country. American Record Guide magazine has praised the orchestra’s performance as has the Cincinnati Enquirer, which called the DPO “a precise, glowing machine.” When the Orchestra christened the Mead Theatre in the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in March of 2003, the Enquirer reported that “Gittleman has brought the DPO to a new level.” During his tenure, the orchestra has received seven ASCAP awards from the American Symphony Orchestra League for adventurous programming.

Prior his arrival in Dayton, Gittleman served as Music Director of the Marion (IN) Philharmonic, Associate Conductor of the Syracuse Symphony, and Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, a post he held under the Exxon/Arts Endowment Conductors Program. He also served ten seasons as Associate Conductor and Resident Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Neal Gittleman has appeared as guest conductor with many of the country’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago, San Francisco, Minnesota, Phoenix, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Omaha, San Jose and Jacksonville symphony orchestras and the Buffalo Philharmonic. He has also conducted orchestras in Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and Mexico.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Neal graduated from Yale University in 1975. He studied with Nadia Boulanger and

Annette Dieudonné in Paris, with Hugh Ross at the Manhattan School of Music and with Charles Bruck at both the Pierre Monteux School and the Hartt School of Music, where he was a Karl Böhm Fellow. It was at the Hartt School that he earned his Arts Diploma in Orchestral Conducting. He won the Second Prize at the 1984 Ernest Ansermet International Conducting Competition in Geneva and Third Prize in the 1986 Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition in New York.

At home in the pit as well as on stage, Neal has led productions for Dayton Opera, the Human Race Theatre Company, Syracuse Opera Company, Hartt Opera Theater, and for Milwaukee’s renowned Skylight Opera Theatre. He has also conducted for the Milwaukee Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Chicago City Ballet, Ballet Arizona, and Theater Ballet of Canada.

Neal is nationally known for his Classical Connections programs, which provide a “behind the scenes” look at the great works of the orchestral repertoire. These innovative programs, which began in Milwaukee 23 years ago, have become a vital part of the Dayton Philharmonic’s concert season.

His discography includes the a recording of the Dayton Philharmonic in performances of Tomas Svoboda’s two piano concertos with Norman Krieger and the composer as featured soloists. Gittleman has also recorded a CD of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F with Krieger and the Czech National Symphony. Both recordings are available on the Artisie 4 label. The DPO’s second CD, A Celebration of Flight released in 2003 as part of the celebration of the centennial of the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight. The orchestra’s most recent CD, of live archival performances from four eras, was released in 2008 in conjunction with the DPO’s 75th anniversary.

When not on the podium, Neal is an avid player of golf, squash and t’ai chi ch’uan and has added yoga to his regimen. He and his wife, Lisa Fry, have been Dayton residents since 1997.

Photograph: Andy Snow

Neal GittlemanMusic Director & Conductor, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

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executive Staff Paul Helfrich.........................................................................President Laurie Cothran ........................... Executive Assistant/Office Manager

Development Staff Melanie Boyd ................................................Director of Development Connie McKamey .......................................................Grants Manager Cherie Adams ................................................... Database Coordinator

education Staff Gloria Pugh ........................................................Director of Education Ellen Bagley .....................................................Education Coordinator

Finance Staff Peter Klosterman ..................................................Director of Finance Debbie Phillips ................................................... Accounting Manager

Operations Staff Matthew Borger ............................................... Director of Operations Erika Niemi..........................................................Production Manager Jane Varella .........................................Orchestra Personnel Manager Bill Slusser ........................................................... Orchestra Librarian marketing Staff David Bukvic .................... Director of Marketing and Public Relations Steve Myers ...........................................................Outreach Manager Mya Cooper ...................................... Community Liaison Coordinator

Nevin Essex – Piano TechnicianLloyd Bryant – Recording Engineer/Broadcast Host

iATSe local #66 Schuster Center Stage CrewKim Keough – Head CarpenterClarence Rice – Assistant CarpenterSteve Williams – Master ElectricianKeith Thomas – Audio Engineer

The Staff of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra expresses its grateful appreciation to the following volunteers who generously donate their time

and talents in support of our efforts. Thank you!

Administrative VolunteersCarol AlexanderM. Patricia BerryTheodore HuterManfred OrlowShirley Williams

education VolunteersPat ArmstrongShari Hulsman

events VolunteerJan Clarke

Administrative Staff

The 2009-2010 concert season is my f i f teenth year (!) w ith the Day ton Phi lharmonic. My database of DPO performances says that I’ve conducted over 2,000 pieces of music with the orchestra over that time period. The vast majority of those are works of the standard repertory-Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler. There’s also a small but important subset of the “Neal Rep” - new works.

Some of these have been world premieres, like Steve Winteregg’s Fanfare for a City, Meira Warshauer’s Like Streams from the Desert, the four Wright-Brothers-Centennial works of the 2003 “Flight Project” and Robert Xavier Rodríguez’ Agnus Dei for the Mozart Mass in C Minor. Some have been what I like to call “deuxièmes” - performances of new works that have already been premiered elsewhere - like Steve Reich’s City Life, Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, and Michael Schelle’s Spirits.

Despite the conventional wisdom that “today’s audiences hate new music,” most of the new music we’ve played has been very well received. That’s good, because having some new music in our repertoire mix is important. Playing new works helps composers and allows us (and you) to participate in the ongoing evolution of classical music. New music also helps us illuminate and appreciate the standard repertoire in a different way.

2009-2010 is the “Legends” season at the DPO. The classical series is titled “The Romantics.” But we’re still playing some new works. The program book you’re reading now has two of them: Jeffrey Olmsted’s Songs of Rumi on October’s Demirjian Chamber Explorations program and Lowell Liebermann’s Clarinet Concerto on November’s Classical and Classical

Connections concerts. And both will be world premieres! Ever wonder how world premieres come about? Usually it’s the way these did - through personal connections.

Clarinetist Jon Manasse and composer Lowell Liebermann were classmates at the Juilliard School. Jon has always loved Lowell’s music and Lowell ranks Jon among the finest clarinet soloists of our day. So when Jon got the idea of commissioning a new concerto, Lowell Liebermann was an obvious choice. Jon asked his manager, Tom Parker (not Colonel Tom Parker!) to try to put together a consortium of orchestras and organizations to fund and support the commission. Tom asked the conductors whom he represents (I’m one of them) who’d be interested in getting in on the action. Being a big fan of both Lowell’s music and Jon’s playing, I was quick to jump in. Indeed, I guess I must have been the quickest, since the DPO got to do the world premiere of this beautiful, exciting new concerto.

School days figure prominently in the Songs of Rumi story, too. Composer Jeff Olmsted and I were classmates at Yale in the early 1970s. We lost touch after graduation, until Jeff and his family moved to Miamisburg a few years ago. He came to a Philharmonic concert, gave me a call, and we reconnected. When we got together to catch up over a cup of coffee Jeff gave me a copy of Don’t Go Back to Sleep, a CD of pop songs he had written to English translations of poems by the great 13th century Sufi poet Rumi. I loved the CD, and it wasn’t long before Jeff and I were talking about re-imagining some of the songs as a piece for the DPO. (Don’t Go Back to Sleep CDs will be on sale in the Wintergarden, and you might want to pick one up!)

Neal’s Notes “Brand new Tunes”

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neal’s notes continued

Unlike the Liebermann commission, which was funded by 13 different orchestras and organizations from across the U.S., the Olmsted commission is strictly a local affair. In addition to funding from the DPO, Songs of Rumi was made possible by generous contributions from a large number of Miami Valley music- and Rumi-lovers. Their names are listed on page 58 of the program book, and will be inscribed on the title page of the Songs of Rumi score. (And it’s not too late for you to become a part of the Rumi Project. Just contact DPO Development Director Melanie Boyd for information).

I th ink these two new pieces are fabulous additions to our repertoire. Lowell Lieberman’s Clarinet Concerto is a brilliant showpiece for solo clarinet (and for the orchestra) and is living proof that a composer can be modern and

romantic at the same time. I think it will quickly be recognized as a one of the great concertos for clarinet and orchestra, right up there with the ones by Mozart, Weber, and Copland.

And Jeff Olmsted’s Songs of Rumi is more than just a wonderful new piece of music. It’s also a bridge. It links the music of the symphony orchestra to the rock and pop traditions many of us grew up with. It links non-Muslims to the Miami Valley’s vibrant Muslim community. And it links all of us in the 21st century to the great beauty and profound truths contained in the timeless poetry of Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi.

New music may be only a small part of what we do at the Dayton Philharmonic, but it’s an important part, and it’s one reason why the DPO is a special part of Dayton’s arts and cultural scene.

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1ST ViOlinSJessica Hung, Concertmaster J. Ralph Corbett ChairAurelian Oprea, Associate Concertmaster Huffy Foundation Chair William Manley, Assistant Concertmaster Sherman Standard Register Foundation ChairElizabeth HofeldtKarlton Taylor Mikhail BaranovskyLouis ProskeNancy MullinsBarry BerndtPhilip EnzweilerDona Nouné- Wiedmann Janet GeorgeRachel FrankenfeldJohn Lardinois

2nD ViOlinSKirstin Greenlaw, Principal Jesse Philips ChairChristine Annin, Assistant PrincipalAnn LinGloria FioreKara LardinoisTom FetherstonLynn RohrYoshiko KunimitsuWilliam SlusserAllyson Michel Yen-Ting Wu

ViOlASSheridan Currie, Principal Mrs. F. Dean Schnacke Chair in Memory of Emma Louise OdumColleen Braid, Assistant PrincipalKaren Johnson Grace Counts Finch ChairChien-Ju Liao Belinda BurgeLori LaMattinaMark ReisScott SchillingKimberly Trout*

CellOSAndra Lunde Padrichelli, Principal Edward L. Kohnle ChairChristina Coletta, Assistant Principal Jane KatsuyamaNan WatsonMark HofeldtNadine MonchecourtMary Davis Fetherston*Ellen NettletonLinda Katz, Principal Emeritus

BASSeSDeborah Taylor, Principal Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Assn. C. David Horine Memorial ChairJon Pascolini, Assistant PrincipalDonald ComptonStephen UlleryChristopher RobertsJames FaulknerBleda ElibalNick Greenberg

FluTeSRebecca Tryon Andres, Principal Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Assn. ChairJennifer NorthcutJanet van Graas

PiCCOlOJanet van Graas

OBOeSEileen Whalen, Principal Catharine French Bieser ChairRoger MillerRobyn Dixon Costa

engliSH HOrnRobyn Dixon Costa J. Colby and Nancy Hastings King Chair

ClArineTSJohn Kurokawa, Principal Rhea Beerman Peal ChairRobert GrayAnthony Costa*

BASS ClArineTAnthony Costa*

BASSOOnSJennifer Kelley Speck, Principal Robert and Elaine Stein ChairKristen CanovaBonnie Sherman

COnTrABASSOOnBonnie Sherman

FrenCH HOrnSRobert Johnson, Principal Frank M. Tait Memorial Chair Elisa BelckTodd FitterAmy Lassiter

TrumPeTSCharles Pagnard, Principal John W. Berry Family ChairAlan SiebertAshley Hall

TrOmBOneSTimothy Anderson, Principal John Reger Memorial ChairRichard Begel

BASS TrOmBOneChad Arnow

TuBATimothy Northcut, Principal Zachary, Rachel and Natalie Denka Chair

TimPAniDonald Donnett, Principal Rosenthal Family Chair in Memory of Miriam Rosenthal

PerCuSSiOnMichael LaMattina, Principal Miriam Rosenthal ChairJeffrey Luft Richard A. and Mary T. Whitney ChairGerald Noble

KeYBOArDJoshua Nemith, Principal Demirjian Family Chair

HArPLeslie Stratton Norris, Principal Daisy Talbott Greene Chair

*Leave of Absence

Neal Gittleman, Music Director

Patrick Reynolds, Assistant Conductor and Conductor, DPYO

Hank Dahlman, Chorus Director

Jane Varella, Personnel Manager

William Slusser, Orchestra Librarian

Elizabeth Hofeldt, Junior String Orchestra Director

liVe & lOCAl SCHeDule 2009-2010

October 3 DPO – Russian Romantic (Sept. 10) October 10 DPO Chamber – Brass & Percussion (Sept. 16) October 24 DPO – Beethoven 9th (Oct 2) november 14 DPO – Classical Connections – Tchaikovsky (Sept. 11) December 12 DPO Special – PhilharMonster (Oct 24) December 26 DPYO – Winter Concert (Dec 6)/ Junior Strings Winter Concert (Nov 22) January 2 DPO – Songs of Rumi (Oct. 28) January 9 DPO – Clarinet Milestone (Nov. 5) January 16 DPO – Bartok & Brahms (Dec 4) January 23 DPO Young People’s Concert – Symphony in Flight (Nov 18) February 6 DPO Special – Lincoln Bicentennial (Nov 11) February 27 DPO Connections – Liebermann (Nov 6) march 27 DPO Special – New Year’s Eve (Dec 31) April 3 DPO Special – Handel’s Messiah (Dec 13) April 17 DPO Young People’s Concert-European Influences (Feb 11)/ Junior Strings – Spring Concert (Mar 21)

may 8 DPO Classical – Lise Meets Liszt (Jan 7) may 22 DPO Classical – DPO Maestros (Feb 5) may 29 DPO Symphony Sundae – Haydn (Feb 21)/ DPO High School Concert (Feb 9) June 5 DPO Special – Monteverdi Vespers (Feb 27) June 12 DPO Connections – Wagner (Jan 8) June 26 DPO Classical – American Icon (Mar 11) July 3 DPO Pops – Gershwin (Mar 19) July 17 DPO Chamber – Principal Quartet (Mar 31) July 24 DPO Classical – Fantastic Symphony (Apr 23) July 31 DPO Connections – Strauss & Schumann (Mar 12) August 14 DPYO – Spring Concert (May 9)/ DPO Symphony Sundae – Mozart (Mar 28) August 21 DPO Family – Childrens Games/ Dr. Seuss (Apr 25) August 28 DPO Classical – Great Britons (May 21) September 11 DPO Young People’s Concert – Humor in Music (May 5)/ DPO Family – Fairy Tale Fantasia (May 23) September 18 DPO Chamber – Jessica Hung Recital (May 26) September 25 DPO Symphony Sundae – Schubert (May 2)

Web streaming of the DPO’s radio broadcasts is made possible through the generous support of the Miriam Rosenthal Memorial Trust Fund. Tune your radio to FM 88.1 or FM 89.9, sit back, and enjoy a second helping of this season’s DPO concerts on Saturdays at 10:00 a.m. You may now also listen on-line at www.dpr.org.

DPO On Classical 88.1 wDPr2009–2010 Season Concerts

Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Personnel

Neal Gittleman Monthly radio Show

Tune in to Classical 88.1 WDPR and hear this season’s editions of Neal Gittleman on the Air, in which he plays excerpts of upcoming concert works and provides background on the music, composers, and guest artists.Airtime is 5 pm on the last Saturday of each month. Following is the schedule. Hope you can join Neal… on the air!

August 29, 2009

September 26, 2009 (pledge drive edition)

October 31, 2009

November 28, 2009

December 26, 2009

January 30, 2010

February 27, 2010

March 27, 2010

April 24, 2010

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Welcome to the Schuster Center and a concert by the Dayton Philharmonic! We’re very glad you’re here.

The Dayton Philharmonic’s 2009-2010 season is now in full swing. And literally so, given the great program of Benny Goodman music we’ll enjoy on the October pops concerts! Our guest for those programs, clarinetist Ken Peplowski, is a phenomenal artist, and I promise you, you’ll be amazed.

The clarinet will take center stage in a different way in November, as we present the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s Clarinet Concerto with soloist Jon Manasse. The DPO has a strong commitment to living composers and contemporary music. We have seven ASCAP awards for adventurous programming hanging in our office to prove it! One of the ways we express that commitment is by partnering with other orchestras to commission new works. That’s what we did to make possible this new work by Lowell Liebermann. We’re proud to be giving the world premiere, and excited that our performances will be recorded for a future CD release.

The Liebermann Clarinet Concerto is one of two world premieres we’ll give in the space of a few weeks, the other being Jeff Olmsted’s new setting of Songs of Rumi, to premiere on the Chamber Series concerts on October 28 & 29. This work was also commissioned by the DPO, with the support of community partners you’ll find listed elsewhere in this program book.

So there’s some great new music coming, but there will be plenty of familiar classics as well, including Franck’s towering Symphony in D Minor on November 5 & 7 and spooky family fun with PhilharMonster on October 24.

Did you know that, in the past season, the DPO performed 67 concerts for more than 250,000 people, including 10 free performances in area churches, parks, and other public spaces? And that our education program reached nearly 70,000 students every year in 13 Ohio counties, making it one of the largest such programs of any orchestra in the country?

It’s true! As Dayton’s largest and oldest resident performing arts organization and a cornerstone of the local arts community, the DPO plays a vital role in education, economic development, and the quality of life. Operating with an annual budget of $4.8 million, we provide full and part-time employment to nearly 100 persons (83 musicians, 16 administrative staff). And most of our non-payroll expenditures go right back into the local economy for such items as printing, advertising, and space rental.

The Dayton Philharmonic is a true community asset, one of which we can all be proud. But we can do what we do only through the support of generous contributors to the Philharmonic’s annual Crescendo Campaign. Our 09-10 campaign has recently begun. We all know times are tough, and we’re making the budgetary changes we need to make to stay fiscally sound. But even so, 60% of our annual budget comes from our generous contributors, and we’re counting on them like never before.

So if your name is not yet on the l ist of contributors found elsewhere in this program, I sincerely hope you’ll join me and the many others who make a personal contribution to keep the Dayton Philharmonic alive and well. You’ll feel good about doing so, as every time you hear the orchestra play, you’ll know you helped make it possible.

As always, we invite your comments on all aspects of your Philharmonic experience and your visit to the Schuster Center, as well as your suggestions. If you have comments you wish to share, or questions you wish to ask, please contact me at phelfrich@daytonphilharmonic.com.

Your support and patronage are deeply appreciated. Enjoy tonight’s concert!

With my hearty greetings,

Paul A. HelfrichPresident

Message from the President Paul Helfrich, President of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Dayton Philharmonic Chorus

Soprano

Amanda Alexander Pat Armstrong Carla Ballou Krissy Barker Amanda Cahill Lillian Chambliss Cindy Dahlman Alberta Louise Dynes Diane Erbland Lois E. Foy Elisia Getts Megan C. Holloway Marian H. Howard Pam Miller Howard Effie Sue Kemerley Cathy Morningstar Jennifer Myers Deborah Nash Lynn Nothstine Barbara Pade Erin Elizabeth Penney Bethany Reger Angela Riley

Annette Rizer Kristi L. Schnipke Tamera Schneider Christina Smith Marilyn Smyers Carol Stroud Rachel Taylor Susan W. Thomas Amy Vaubel Meghan A. Wakeley Jennifer Ward Louise Wier Danielle Yaple Janet Zelnick

Alto

Lynette A. Atkinson Ellen Bagley Stephanie Bange Michelle Beery Carolyn Bendrick Julia Crowl Teresa Cvetkov Amanda Dahlman Beverly Dean

Wendy Dereix Dee Earl Sallie Fisher Michele J. Foley Jaclyn Foster Laurel Franz Melinda D. Gilmore Roslyn Maureen Hall Tamera Hemmerle Brittany Ann Irwin Hirschfeld Peg Holland Yolanda C. Hunter Mimi Ledet Linda Lehman Valerie Little Sr. Mary Rose McCrate Kathryn Moore Sharon Norton Helen Oswald Patricia Peck Jane Rike-Koepfer Annette Salsman Patricia Schwab

Vicki Siefke Gail Stone Carolyn Sweezy Elizabeth Swisher Betsy Taylor Mildred Taylor Lynne Vaia Fran Walker Judi Weaver Sharon P. Williamson Pamela Yri

Tenor

Tom Beery Charles Garland Jonathan C. Hauberg Mitchell Hirschfeld Gregory Marx Steve Makofka Phil Minix Ken Pavy J. Richard Schairbaum

Bass

Ramon L. Blacklock Cullen Bower Doug Conrad Mark Corcoran Dan J. Duncan Christopher Edman John Fenic Michael Foley Frank C. Gentner Bruce George Ben Gordon Ellis Harsham Ron Knipfer Roger Krolak Lloyd D. Little III David McCray David McElwee Mark W. Munger Curtis R. Notestine Bruce Nordquist Andrew S. North B. J. O’Brien Byron O’Neal Grant Parks Dustin Payne

Lowell E. Reed Dave Roderick George Schmitt Craig Schneiders Karl Schroeder Kurt Schwab Ron Siemer Chuck Sowerbrower Frederick A. Stevenson Mike Taint Peter J. Torvik Barrie Van Kirk David Ward Max Weaver Jim Woodcock Dean Yoesting

Hank Dahlman, Director Linda Mench, Rehearsal Accompanist Amy Vaubel, Chorus Manager

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2003–2004 Midori

2002–2003 Emanuel Ax

2001–2002 Evelyn Glennie

2000–2001 Lynn Harrell

1999–2000 Nadja Salerno- Sonnenberg

1998–1999 Peter Serkin

1997–1998 Emanuel Ax

1996–1997 Cho-Liang Lin

1995–1996 Garrick Ohlsson

1994–1995 Giselle Ben-Dor and David Golub

1993–1994 Daniel Binelli

1992–1993 Pinchas Zukerman

1991–1992 John Browning and John Ferris

1990–1991 Eugene Istomin

1989–1990 Mark Kaplan

1988–1989 Earl Wild

1987–1989 Leon Fleisher

1986–1987 Misha and Cipa Dichter

1985–1986 Emanuel Ax

1984–1985 Misha Dichter

1983–1984 Susan Starr

1982–1983 Leonard Rose

1981–1982 Ruggiero Ricci

1980–1981 Nathaniel Rosen

1979–1980 Garrick Ohlsson

1978–1979 Susan Starr

1977–1978 Shirley Varrett

Olive W. Kettering was a well-known patron of the arts in Dayton. She and her husband, the late Charles F. Kettering, introduced some of the best-known artists of the concert stage to the community at special concerts given at their home, Ridgeleigh Terrace. In 1977 and 2004, the Kettering Fund presented gifts to the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Association. Mrs. Virginia Kettering and the granddaughters of Olive W. Kettering, requested that the funds be used to establish the Olive W. Kettering Fund. In accepting the generous gift, the Board of Trustees of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Association decided it was appropriate to use the income from the fund to underwrite the appearance of a distinguished artist with the Orchestra. The Olive W. Kettering Memorial Concert is a tribute to the memory of one who did so much for the arts during her lifetime.

OLIVE W. KETTERINGThe 33rd Annual Memorial Concert - Saturday, November 7, 2009

Olive W. Kettering1877–1946

Olive W. Kettering Artists:

2008-2009 Vadim Gluzman

2009-2010 Jon Manassee

2007–2008 Rachel Barton Pine

2006–2007 Horacio Gutierrez

2005–2006 Emanuel Ax

2004–2005 Peter Serkin

Miami Valley and Good Samaritan Hospitals

CLASSICAL SErIESDayton Philharmonic Orchestraneal gittleman, music Director

CLARINET MILESTONE: World PremiereJon Manasse, clarinetist – the 2009-2010 season Louis S. Cantor, Rose Sorokin Cantor, Samuel L. Cantor and Lena Cantor Endowed Guest Artist

The performance of Saturday evening, November 7, is the 2009-2010 season Olive W. Kettering Recognition Concert

Emil von reznicek Overture to Donna Diana(1860-1945)

Lowell Liebermann Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 110 (born 1961) (wOrLD PrEMIErE) I. Andante II. Larghissimo III. Allegro

Mr. Manasse

- I N T E r M I S S I O N -

César Franck Symphony in D Minor(1822-1890) I. Lento; Allegro ma non troppo II. Allegretto III. Allegro non troppo

Thursday

Nov.520098:00 PmSchuster Center

Saturday

Nov.720098:00 PmSchuster Center

Official Hotel of theDayton Philharmonic Orchestra

Season Media Partner

Official Automobile Dealershipof the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

Concert Broadcast on Saturday, January 9, 2010, at 10 AM.

Series Sponsor

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Instrumentation: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, keyboard (piano and celesta) and strings.

The DPO is giving the wOrLD PrEMIErE performances of this work.

The Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 110 was written for Clarinetist Jon Manasse, and commissioned by a consortium of orchestras and organizations comprised of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (which will present the world premiere performances in November, 2009), Bozeman, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (California) roanoke sy mphony orches t ras, Erie and Evansvil le philharmonic orchestras, The Chappaqua Orchestra, Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music at the University of rochester, Buffet Crampon USA, Vandoren Paris, river Concert Series at St. Mary’s College of Mar yland & The Chesapeake Orchest ra and the Universit y of Massachusetts at Amherst.

I have known Jon for many years, since our shared years as students at Juilliard. He performed and recorded my Clarinet Quintet, and I have always thought he is a fantastic player - one

of the absolute best. He was interested in my writing a clarinet concerto, and it fell to Tom Parker, Jon’s manager, to take on the heroic task of getting together a consortium - of 14 different orchestras and organizations - that commissioned the work.

The concerto, my first for clarinet and orchestra, was completed during the summer of 2009. It is scored for piccolo, with pairs of flutes, oboes, bassoons, horns, t rumpets, t rombones and tuba; plus timpani, two percussionists playing on a variety of instruments that include slapstick, bass drum, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, ratchet, woodblock, cowbell, jawbone, maracas, cymbals, snare drum, t r iang le, gourd, tambourine, tubular bel ls, glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba and vibraphone; harp, one keyboardist playing both piano and celesta, and the normal string complement. Orchestral clarinets are absent.

The work is in three movements. The first is an Andante that gives way to a Presto, ending with a restatement of the Andante; the second, marked Larghissimo with a central section of variations marked Grave; and the last, an Allegro with a pronounced Latin influence.

- Lowell Liebermann

Lowell Liebermann: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Op. 110

DOWN1. FIDELIO

2. GONG

3. STRING

4. CONCERTO

5. NOTRE

8. ENCORE

10. PREVIN

13. ORTRUD

16. ARNOID

17. CALUOPE

20. BRITTEN

21. MORTON

23. DAISY

25. LIFE

ACROSS4. CUNNING

6. RIGOLETTO

7. NEPTUNE

9. BERG

11. NOEL

12. ERIC

15. STERN

18. SITAR

19. CRUMB

22. OSUD

24. ALTO

25. LUTE

26. DOMINGO

27. PROKOFIEV

28. BONYNGE

Musical Knowledge

ANSWER KEY

cadamsText BoxNeeds removed, errors'Caluope' is actually spelled 'Calliope'

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Lowell Liebermann is one of America’s most frequently performed and commissioned composers. Noted by The New York Times “as much of a traditionalist as an innovator,” Mr. Liebermann’s music is known both for its technical command and audience appeal. Having writ ten over one hundred works in all genres, he has seen several of them go on to become standard repertoire for their instruments, including the Sonata for Flute and Piano, which has been recorded more t han t went y t i mes to date, and Gargoyles for piano, which has been recorded fifteen times.

A highlight of Lowell Liebermann’s current season is the world premiere of his Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra, Op. 110, with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Music Director Neal Git t leman. Commissioned for Jon Manasse, subsequent performances include those with the symphony orchestras of Evansville, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (CA), roanoke and the University of Massachusetts.

Lowell Liebermann has written two full-length operas, both of which enjoyed enthusiastic receptions at their premieres. His first, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was the only American opera to be commissioned and premiered by L’Opéra de Monte-Carlo. His second opera, Miss Lonelyhearts, to a libretto by J.D. McClatchy after the novel by Nathanael west, was commissioned by The Ju i l l iard School to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Among his orchestral works, Lowell Liebermann has composed two Symphonies - the second, with chorus, written for the centennial of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; a Concerto for Orchestra; three Piano Concertos; and Concertos for many other instruments. Piano Concerto No. 3, commissioned for pianist Jeffrey Biegel by a consortium of eighteen different orchestras, both here and abroad. Pianist Stephen Hough and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra presented Liebermann’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which the orchestra commissioned to commemorate raymond Leppard’s farewell concert as music director. His Violin Concerto was commissioned and premiered by The Philadelphia Orchestra, under the baton of Charles Dutoit, with soloist

Chantal Juillet. The New York Philharmonic and principal trumpet Philip Smith presented the premiere of Mr. Liebermann’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, which The Wall Street Journal described as “balancing bravura and a wealth of attractive musical ideas to create a score that invites repeated listening. [Liebermann] is a masterful orchestrator, and just from this standpoint the opening of the new concerto is immediately arresting,” also noting that the “rousing conclusion brought down the house.”

In the realm of chamber music, Lowel l Liebermann has composed four string quartets - the two most recent for the Ying and Orion quartets, respectively; four cello sonatas; two piano trios; sonatas for f lute, violin, viola, f lute and harp, and works for many other combinations.

Lowell Liebermann is also a noted performing pianist and has written a wealth of music for the solo instrument, much of which frequently appears on concert and competition programs. He was awarded the first American Composers’ Invitational Award by the 11th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition after the majority of f inalists chose to perform his Three Impromptus, which were selected from works submitted by forty-two contemporary composers. In an interview with newscaster Sam Donaldson, Van Cliburn described Mr. Liebermann as “a wonderful pianist and a fabulous composer.”

Lowell Liebermann’s Symphony No. 2 was premiered in February 2000 by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under the direction of Andrew Litton. Time magazine wrote, “Now brazen and gl it ter ing, now radiantly visionary, the Liebermann Second, a resplendent choral symphony, is the work of a composer unafraid of grand gestures and openhearted lyricism.” Mr. Litton and the DSO recorded the symphony and the Liebermann Concerto for Flute and Orchestra for Delos, with soloist Eugenia Zukerman. In February 2001, the Dallas Symphony gave the New York City premiere of Liebermann’s Piano Concerto No. 2 at Carnegie Hall, with Stephen Hough as soloist. Stephen wigler of The Baltimore Sun found the concerto to be “perhaps the best piece in the genre since Samuel Barber’s concerto.”

LOwELL LIEBErMANN, composer/conductor/pianist Biography

John Ardoin, of The Dallas Morning News, described the work as “more than a knockout; it is among the best works of its kind in this century.” Stephen Hough’s recording of the concerto - conducted by the composer - received a 1998 Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Sir James Galway has commissioned three works from Lowell Liebermann: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra and Trio No. 1 for Flute, Cello and Piano. Mr. Galway premiered the f lute concerto in 1992 with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the double concerto with The Minnesota Orchestra in 1995. That same year, Mr. Galway performed the flute concerto with James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Galway recorded both works, along with Mr. Liebermann’s Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra, for BMG, conducted by the composer.

Lowell Liebermann served as Composer-in-residence for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for four years. He f il led the same role for Sapporo’s Pacific Music Festival, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and many other organizations.

Lowell Liebermann’s music is widely represented on CD, with over sixty releases to date. Koch International Classics has released two discs in an ongoing series of his complete piano music, performed by David Korevaar, and a recording of his flute chamber music with flautist Alexa Still. Upcoming releases on that label include another chamber album, featuring his Piano Quintet and Clarinet Quintet, the latter with clarinetist Jon Manasse, a song disc and the complete cello music, performed by Andrés Díaz with Mr. Liebermann at the piano. Additional recordings of his music are available on the labels of Hyperion, Virgin Classics, Albany, New world records, Arabesque, Centaur, Cambria, Musical Heritage Society, Intim Musik, Opus One and others.

Orchestras worldwide have performed Lowell Liebermann’s works, including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The Phi ladelphia Orchestra, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre National

de France, and the symphonies of Dallas, Baltimore, Seattle, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Minnesota. Among the art ists who have performed Mr. Liebermann’s works are Sir James Galway, Charles Dutoit, Garrick Ohlsson, Andreas Delfs, the Beaux Arts Trio, raymond Leppard,, Stephen Hough, Kurt Masur, Joshua Bell, the Orion String Quartet, Hans Vonk, Steven Isserlis, Andrew Litton, Susan Graham, David Zinman, Jesús López-Cobos, Paula robison, wolfgang Sawallisch, the Ying Quartet, Steuart Bedford and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Lowel l Liebermann maintains an act ive performing schedule as pianist and conductor. He has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including flautists Sir James Galway and Jeffrey Khaner, violinists Chantal Juillet, Mark Peskanov, singers robert white and Carole Farley and cellist Andrés Díaz. He performed the world premiere of Ned rorem’s Pas de Trois for Oboe, Violin and Piano at the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival. He made his Berlin Philharmonie debut, performing his Piano Quintet with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. In , 2006, on Mr. Liebermann’s 45th birthday, the Van Cliburn Foundation presented an acclaimed al l-Liebermann concert as part of its “Modern at the Modern” series, with the composer at the piano and featuring the premiere of Liebermann’s 3rd Cello Sonata. Mr. Liebermann is an official Steinway artist.

Lowell Liebermann was born in New York City in 1961. He began piano studies at the age of eight, and composition studies at fourteen. He made his performing debut two years later at Carnegie recital Hall, playing his Piano Sonata, Op. 1, composed when he was fifteen. He holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School. Among his many awards is a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters as well as awards from ASCAP and BMI. Theodore Presser Company is the exclusive publisher of Mr. Liebermann’s music.

Lowel l Liebermann current ly resides in weehawken, New Jersey, with his partner, pianist and conductor williams Hobbs, their Australian Shepherd named Daphne and an American Eskimo named Phoebus. www.lowellliebermann.com

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That title is perhaps the oldest of listeners’ age-old laments. It can take the form of an aging baby boomer like myself preferring Joni Mitchell’s Blue to Kanyé west’s 808s & Heartbreaks. Or it can take the form of concert audiences’ warmth towards Beethoven and coolness toward Bartók. Since we have composer Lowell Liebermann as our guest for Classical Connections this month, it seems an appropriate (if delicate) topic to consider.

Orchestras are sometimes compared to art museums. Some conductors br ist le at the comparison. Not me. I think that an orchestra is very much like an art museum. we are the gateway through which people can experience great art “up-close and personal.” Just as the DAI lets me gaze right at Monet’s Waterlilies—the real thing just as Monet painted it, the DPO lets you listen to Beethoven’s Ninth—the real thing, just as Beethoven wrote it. Like an art museum, we have both a permanent collection (Bach, Mozart, Brahms) and visiting exhibits (new or unfamiliar works). Part of the beauty of a great art museum is that the proximity of old and new works helps art-lovers appreciate the connections and contrasts between art works of different eras. we do the same thing when we play a concert that combines new works and familiar favorites, like the programs that bracket tonight’s Classical Connections concert, where Lowell Liebermann’s brand new Clarinet Concerto appears between reznicek’s Donna Diana Overture and César Franck’s D Minor Symphony—two much-loved but somewhat-forgotten “old chestnuts” of the symphonic repertoire.

OK, so why don’t they write songs l ike they used to?

First, because art doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Art—even timeless art like Botticelli or Bach—is of its own time. A composer writes music that comes out of their world and their times. Brahms doesn’t sound like Mozart because Brahms didn’t live in Mozart’s world. Music, like any art form (and like the world), is constantly changing. So while it’s technically possible for a 21st century composer to write à la Schubert or Liszt, it’s esthetically impossible.

During my summer vacation in Door County, wisconsin, I happened to see an exhibit of paintings that were part of a plein air festival—artists assembled from around the country and painted Door County scenes on-site. Most of the paintings were neo-impressionist, which is what you’d probably expect from artists interested in plein air painting. But some were so slavishly neo- that you couldn’t help but say, “This is

imitation Monet. That’s a renoir rip-off. That’s bad Degas.” If you dare to borrow the style of a great master, you’d better be able to pull it off technically, and—more important—you’d better have something worthwhile to say. Otherwise, it’s a case of “They’re Chevy Chase and you’re not.” (See, they don’t even tell jokes like they used to!)

So Lowell Liebermann’s Clarinet Concerto doesn’t sound like the Mozart Clarinet Concerto because Lowell lives in 21st century New York (well, it’s actually New Jersey) and wolfgang Amadeus lived in 18th century Austria. But more importantly, what Liebermann has to say is sufficiently different from what Mozart had to say that it can’t be said using the same language.

Google Lowel l ’s name and you’l l f ind some interesting reading. He’s a composer of today whose music stil l ref lects attributes of older traditions, especially an inclination towards (and a gift for) melody. His concerto is in no way “experimental.” The clarinet plays music that is perfectly idiomatic for the instrument—sometimes really high, sometimes really fast, but always appropriate. The orchestra accompanies the soloist in a way that harkens back to the concertos of Brahms—sometimes supporting, sometimes taking over, sometimes welcoming the clarinet into a symphonic texture.

“Diehard modernists dismiss Mr. Liebermann’s music as reactionary,” reads a line from a 1999 New York Times article on Lowell’s opera The Picture of Dorian Gray. while that language may sting, I certainly hope Lowell wears the modernists’ dismissiveness as a badge of honor. Diehard modernists dismiss everybody. That’s part of being a diehard modernist. And if being part of a great musical tradition is reactionary, I’d say reactionary’s a good thing to be. There are aspects of Lowell’s Clarinet Concerto that evoke music of Maurice ravel. There are works of ravel that evoke music of Bach. There are works of Bach that evoke music of Palestrina. who wouldn’t want to be part of that tradition? (Yeah, I know. Diehard modernists!)

So why don’t they write music like they used to? Because there’s no reason to. And because if new music sounded just like old music we wouldn’t need it. But when a contemporary composer succeeds in writing music that is both new and traditional at the same time, they’ve achieved something extraordinary.

So I assure you, a hundred years from now someone will say, “why don’t they write music like Lowell Liebermann?”

Neal’s Notes Classical Connections “Why Don’t They Write Songs like They used To?”

LOwELL LIEBErMANN’S CLArINETfor Concerto and Orchestra was commissioned by the

Dayton Philharmonic Orchestraneal gittleman, music Director

(world premiere November 5, 6 & 7, 2009)

Additional Commission partners include:

BUFFET CRAMPON USAPartial support for this commission was provided by Buffet Crampon, the world’s oldest manufacturer of premiere woodwind instruments.

VANDORENPartial support for this commission was provided by Vandoren Paris, manufacturer of clarinet and saxophone reeds and mouthpieces, and its United States distributor, DANDr, Inc.

LAS CRUCES SYMPHONY ORCHESTRALonnie Klein, Music Director & Conductor (Southwest premiere February 6 & 7, 2010)

EVANSVILLE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRAAlfred Savia, Music Director & Conductor through the generous support of richard & rita Eykamp (Indiana premiere February 20, 2010)

BOZEMAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAMatthew Savery, Music Director & Conductor (Montana premiere)

EASTMAN SCHOOL OF MUSICPartial support for this commission was provided by the Hanson Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music at the University of rochester.

THE CHAPPAQUA ORCHESTRAMichael Shapiro, Music Director & Conductor (New York State premiere)

ERIE PHILHARMONICDaniel Meyer, Music Director & Conductor with the generous support of Erie Insurance (Pennsylvania premiere)

NORTH STATE SYMPHONYKyle Pickett, Music Director & Conductor (west Coast premiere May 15 & 16, 2010)

RIVER CONCERT SERIESat St. Mary’s College of Maryland

CHESAPEAKE ORCHESTRAJeffrey Silberschlag, Music Director & Conductor (Maryland premiere July 16, 2010)

ROANOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRADavid wiley, Music Director & Conductor (Virginia premiere January 18, 2010)

THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS - AMHERSTUniversity Orchestra, Lanfranco Marcelletti, Jr., Music Director & Conductor with the generous support of The Lively Arts Program, co - sponsored by The Fine Arts Center and the Department of Music and Dance (Massachusetts premiere March 4, 2010)

JUNEAU SYMPHONYKyle Pickett, Music Director & Conductor (Alaska premiere January 30 & 31, 2010)

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Among the most distinguished classical artists of his generation, clarinetist Jon Manasse is internationally recognized for his inspiring artistry, uniquely glorious sound and charismatic performing style.

Jon Manasse’s current season is highlighted by the world premiere performances and recording of Liebermann’s Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Music Director Neal Gittleman. Subsequent performances include those with the symphony orchestras of Evansville, Juneau, Las Cruces, North State (CA), roanoke and the University of Massachusetts. with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, he continues to tour throughout the United States as ha l f of the acc la imed Manasse / Nakamatsu Duo.

Jon Manasse’s guest orchestra appearances have been with the Augsburg, Dayton, Ev a n s v i l l e , Nap l e s a nd Na t i on a l philharmonics, Canada’s Symphony Nova Scotia, the National Chamber Orchestra and the Alabama, Annapolis, Bozeman, Dubuque, Florida west Coast, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jackson, Oakland East Bay, Pensacola, Princeton, richmond, Seattle, Stamford and wyoming symphonies, under the batons of Leslie B. Dunner, Peter Leonard, Eckart Preu, Matthew Savery, Alfred Savia and Lawrence Leighton Smith. Of special distinction was Mr. Manasse’s 2002 London debut in a Barbican Centre performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with Gerard Schwarz and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Jon Manasse is principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. In 2008 he was also appointed principal clarinetist and Ensemble Member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City. As one of

the nation’s most highly sought-after wind players, has also served as guest principal clarinetist of the New York Pops Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and New Jersey, Saint Louis and Seattle Symphony Orchestras. For several seasons, he was the principal clarinetist of the New York Chamber Symphony and has been a guest clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic, During the 2003-04 season, he served as the principal clarinetist of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

In addition to the premiere performances of Lowell Liebermann’s Clarinet Concerto, which was commissioned for him, Jon Manasse has also presented the world premieres of James Cohn’s Concer to for Clarinet & String Orchestra at the international ClarinetFest ‘97 at Texas Tech University and, in 2005, of Steven r. Gerber’s Clarinet Concerto with the National Philharmonic.

Jon Manasse is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with David weber. Mr. Manasse was a top prize winner in the Thirty-Sixth International Competition for Clarinet in Munich and the youngest winner of the International Clarinet Society Competition. Currently, he is an official “Performing Artist” of both the Buffet Crampon Company and Vandoren, the Parisian firms that are the world’s oldest and most distinguished clarinet maker and reed maker, respectively. Since 1995, he has been Associate Professor of Clarinet at the Eastman School of Music; in the fall of 2007 Mr. Manasse joined the faculty of his alma mater, The Juilliard School.

Jon Manasse and his duo-partner, the acclaimed pianist Jon Nakamatsu, serve as Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, an appointment announced during summer 2006.

Jon Manasse, clarinetist guest Artist

Instrumentation: 3 flutes (one doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, percussion, harp (optional), strings

The DPO last performed this piece on December 4, 1963, with Pau l Katz conducting.

Emi l Nickolaus von rezn icek (1860-1945), almost forgotten in our era, was an Austrian composer and conductor of some repute in his day.

reznicek was born in Vienna to a family from the upper crust of society, and he himself initially went to school to become a lawyer. This ambition however quickly fell by the wayside, and reznicek began his formal study of music at the Leipzig Conservatory. Although little record remains of his progress at the conservatory, he must have been a good student: before he was twenty-five he had worked as a rehearsal pianist and conductor for musical organizations throughout Germany, and he was still in his twenties when he became full-time military Kapellmeister with the 88th Infantry regiment in Prague. Subsequent posts included work as Kapellmeister to aristocratic courts, as manager and conductor of an orchestra in Berlin, and conducting positions in Poland, russia and England.

He was also successful as a composer and teacher. He wrote in several genres--symphonic, chamber, and vocal—but in his day his greatest successes were his operas, lauded by turn-of-the-century commentators.

Unfortunately, his latter career was marred by his association with the Nazis. He had worked closely with richard Strauss for decades, and, like Strauss, became more and more conservative in his musical outlook. when Strauss (under the influence of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda) set up an organization to promote tonal music over the “degenerate” influence of atonality, reznicek climbed on board. Yet this collaboration did him no good, since several of his own manuscripts were later confiscated by the Nazis; some were returned to his daughter after the war, but several were missing and must be assumed lost. He died shortly after the war in Europe ended.The Overture to Donna Diana

Chronologically, reznicek falls into the late romantic era, but he was certainly no flamboyant individualist. He was, like many of his late nineteenth century col leagues, instead a professional craftsman who had a fairly complete se t o f compos i t iona l prac t ic e s available, and which he had no interest in developing in any radical way whatsoever. Certainly his music is far

Emil Nickolaus von reznicek: Overture to Donna Diana

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less radical than contemporaries like Debussy for instance, who was only two years younger.

reznicek’s relationship with tradition is very much in evidence in his overture to the opera Donna Diana. Donna Diana was premiered in 1896 in a performance led by Gustav Mahler. reznicek himself had himself supplied the story for the opera, basing it on play by the Spanish dramatist, Agustín Moreto y Cavana. Moreto’s play, Disdain for Disdain, has a title which alone gives away the story: how a nobleman’s ruse wins the heart of a lovely, but uninterested noblewoman. reznicek’s operatic adaptation of the work itself is rarely, if ever performed, but the overture has become a staple of the orchestral repertory.

The attraction of the piece is obvious: a driving pace, fresh orchestration, and luc id s t ruc tu re w ith n icely contrasted themes deployed in sonata- allegro form.

One note in aside: For years, during the late 1940s and early 1950s, a little snippet from the overture to Donna Diana served as the theme song for the radio and television series Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. It is an interesting little sidelight on the nature of musical representation that the same piece of music could unproblematically serve both as an introduction to a frothy tale of romantic high jinx among the aristocracy and to signify the derring do of fearless lawmen in the frozen North. Maybe that plasticity is the true genius of music.

César Franck (1822-1890) was one of the most important French musicians of the nineteenth century, after Bizet. But, he never made the splash associated with his chief rival, Camille Saint-Saëns, and he spent most of his life working as a teacher.

Franck was actually born in Belgium, where he received his first music lessons. But his father, convinced that young César had the makings of a prodigy, relocated the family to Paris in the 1830s, and pressured him into a career as a budding virtuoso. This plan led to a series of concert engagements when Franck was in his late teens and early twenties, but his career as a performer came to a halt when he suffered a bout of ill health. However, the move to Paris did allow Franck to study at the Conservatoire, where he excelled in several subjects, and, most importantly worked on his compositional skills.

Franck’s physical and psychological health improved considerably when he finally broke away from his father and became engaged to marry. During his later twenties and early thirties he devoted most of his attention to freelance work as a teacher and, most importantly, as an organist. This latter skill was Franck’s forte; by all accounts he was a superbly skilled player, and he augmented this execution with prodigious improvisatory skills.

He was able to bring his skills as an organist to their highest pitch and entered the most congenial phase of his career when he was appointed organist at the basilica of Ste. Clotilde in Paris in 1858. Indeed he became so deft at improvising that his after-service impromptu performances became a kind of concert in their own right, with the church members and others staying

behind to listen to him. Franck was never afraid of a little hard work, and he augmented his income by teaching privately throughout his life. But his career as a composer did not really begin until he became the professor of organ at the Conservatoire in 1872. Despite the ostensible purpose of the position, tuition in performance on the instrument, Franck turned the lessons into unoff icial seminars in composition. He became the center of a group of young composers who would go on to become important musicians in their own right.

During this period of his life Franck began to produce music at a fantastic rate, a rate, made all the more impressive since he wrote the bulk of it during the summer break from teaching. He wrote a highly regarded quintet, several symphonic poems, and oratorios, as well as the Symphony in D minor. The only blot on this success was that his works were sometimes given less than polished performances, but, while his devoted students would feel badly for their master, he remained sanguine.

Indeed this good temper and modesty remained a trait remarked on by all who knew him. One of his students told of a publisher being startled to learn that the unfashionable Franck “whose trousers were too short” was a composer of merit. Franck may have been, at least in part, the inspiration for the fictional character Monsieur Vinteuil, the simple, country music teacher from Marcel Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time, who, subsequent to his death, is discovered to be a composer of genius.

Franck died in Paris where his funeral was attended by every leading musician of the day.

César Franck Biography

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Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 2 coronets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, strings

The DPO last performed this piece on December 18, 1991, with Isaiah Jackson conducting.

French composers of the middle part of the nineteenth century are not renowned for their work in the symphonic idiom. There were exceptions of course: S a i n t - S a e n s ’ “O r g a n” Sy m pho n y, Bizet’s youthful Symphony in C Major, Gounod’s two symphonies. But these works will not likely be in most listeners’ repertory; certainly Bizet and Gounod are far more familiar to us because of their operas, while their symphonies, however attractive they might be, remain almost curiosities.

Th is relat ive pauc it y of symphon ic literature in the Gallic tradition stems partly from institutional reasons. The French musical establishment—in essence the Paris Conservatoire and l’Opera—had set theatrical vocal music as the preeminent form of musical expression, and government funds promoting music went overwhelmingly to support theaters performing opera. However, this support for opera over the symphony was not driven solely by aesthetics. Opera might be beautiful, but more importantly, unlike the symphony, it was not Germanic. If one wanted to cultivate French music, why lavish cash on the philharmonic when it would only play music by composers with names like Haydn and Mozart?

Nevertheless, and despite this lack of inst itut ional suppor t, even the most chauvinist ic, or meretricious, French composer could not completely ignore the musical importance of composers l ike Beethoven, especially since an important element of the German composer’s style was derived from the French revolutionary composers. This sympathy with German music was developed even further in César Franck, who was stunned by wagner’s operas, but in particular by the latter’s overture to Tristan and Isolde. Franck,

far too modest to ever proclaim so grand an agenda out loud, still seemed to feel driven to reclaim the symphony for France. And he would do that by taking what wagner had done with the symphony and turning the process on its head. where wagner had taken the symphony and adapted its methods to opera, Franck would take these symphonically influenced operas and adapt thei methods again for the symphony.

Franck borrows from wagner the use of motives, brief but striking musical fragments (called leitmotifs by wagner). In wagner’s music these motives signify important thematic elements in his operas: from physical objects like wotan’s castle to emotional states like Tristan and Isolde’s desire for each other. Franck removes the programmatic element from his motives: we cannot say what the opening little fragment in the Symphony in d might represent, for instance, but we hear it used over and over again, always changing but always recognizable.

while the leitmotif worked at the local level, as a surface detail, this musical device could also serve composers as a means of organization, as a way to tie together vast stretches of music. wagner deployed these motives dramatically, working changes on them to depict changes in what they represent: the motives thus work almost like little characters. Franck adapts the same technique to his symphony by returning to the opening movement’s motives in the final movement of the symphony. If we do not know completely what Franck’s motives might signify, their appearance at the end of the symphony serves at least partially to mean closure. we return to where we began, but with a twist, since the old motive is heard in a new context.

But, finally, questions of musical architecture and national expression aside, Franck’s symphony remains a beautiful piece of music in its own right. Even if we lose track of the development of the motives, its fresh and vital rhythms and attractive, almost impressionistic harmony alone would merit a place in musical history, French or otherwise

César Franck: Symphony in D MinorIn Memory

Charles Abramovitz byJim and Arlene HermanMs. Marilyn K. ShannonPaul and Susanne weaver

George R. Beeler, Jr. and Irene Beeler byDaniel and Barbara Ledford

Stephen Braverman byJim and Arlene Herman

Max Gutmann byMr. and Mrs. Leon A. whitney II

Modelle Schuller byrichard P. Benedum and Julane rodgersPaul and Susanne weaver

Marilyn Smith byMr. and Mrs. Charles N. ThompsonPaul and Susanne weaver

Miriam E. Smith byMr. and Mrs. David HatlestadDr. Bruce E. and Leora K. Klinerobert w. and ruth B. Smith

Sharyn A. Veley byHarris and Pat ArmstrongMr. and Mrs. Brian H. CaseMr. and Mrs. Phillip w. DrakeDominion Academy of Daytonraymond and Margaret KolonayMs. Nancy KreeneDrs. Larry and Mary Kay LambeMs. Erin O’BrienMs. Marilyn K. rainesPaula reamsMs. Mary M. rodinMr. and Mrs. Michael A. SchneiderFred and Brenda StevensonDavid D. and Victoria A. TischlerDuane E. VeleyGerald and Kathleen VorholtZeta Phi Chapter 163 Sigma Theta Tau

Charles Wendelken-Wilson byDr. Charles and Patricia DemirjianNeal Gittleman and Lisa FryDr. Theodore and Elizabeth HuterDr. r. Alan KimbroughDaniel and Barbara LedfordMr. and Mrs. David M. MearsDr. and Mrs. william F. QuinlivanPaul and Susanne weaver

Emma Louise Odum byGail A. BrunDonald M. and Martha L. ComptonMs. Kermaline J. Cottermanwilliam and Dorothy FosterNeal Gittleman and Lisa FryLois HarrisBarbara S. HornerAlice and Thomas HotoppDr. Theodore and Elizabeth HuterMr. and Mrs. John C. JumpDr. Bruce E. and Leora K. KlineDaniel and Barbara LedfordDave and Karen McElweeMr. and Mrs. Louis M. SharpLois and roger Sutherland

In Tribute

Wendy Campbell’s Chairmanship bySusan and Tim Darcy

Floyd J. and Annabelle Cummings byMr. and Mrs. Leon A. whitney II

Alan Halpern byCantor Joyce Dumtschin and Mr. Irwin Dumtschin

Jim Harris bySteven Turek

Dr. Sharon Nelson byPatrick and Jennifer Carns

Memorials and Tributes