Ravinia 2019, Issue 4, Week 8

and Haydn’s quest for greater contrast of instru- mental densities, from quiet, fragile unisons to quasi-orchestral sonorities. The Quartet in D major, H. III:70 (op. 71, no. 2), opens with the most substantial slow introduc- tion of the six quartets. Only four measures in length, its descending octave leap gains impor- tance in the subsequent fast section. When pre- sented in rapid succession by the four strings, this bounding gesture demarcates important sections of the form and occasionally spring- boards the music into unexpected harmonic territory. Haydn instills the Adagio with lyri- cal simplicity—a long-lined melody, sustained harmonies, and an undulating thread adding rhythm to the otherwise placid music—which he varies continually throughout. The Menuet harks back to the first movement’s downward leaping octave, now filled in with other chord members. Playful and serious materials alternate in the final movement, which gains excitement as the tempo increases from Allegretto to Allegro . SAMUEL BARBER (1910–81) String Quartet in B minor, op. 11 Growing up in West Chester, PA, Samuel Barber studied piano and cello from a young age, and his musical gifts quickly became apparent. By his teens, he was playing organ at a local church. Barber enrolled at the newly formed Curtis In- stitute of Music in 1924 (concurrently attending his regular high school for two years) and grad- uated eight years later. His principal teachers included Rosario Scalero, Isabella Vengerova, Emilio de Gogorza, and, briefly, Fritz Reiner. Barber displayed an early interest in composi- tion. His aunt was the famous contralto Louise Homer, whose husband Sidney was a composer of art songs. The vocal activities of these two relatives, as well as Barber’s own studies as a baritone at the Cur- tis Institute, provided an undeniable lyrical in- fluence on the young man’s compositions. A pair of student works—the Three Songs, op. 2, and Dover Beach , op. 3, for baritone and string quar- tet—reflect his Romantic lyrical style. Barber received numerous honors in his 20s. Twice he was awarded the Bearns Prize from Columbia University, first in 1928 and then in 1933, which allowed Barber his first opportunity to travel to Europe. A Pulitzer Travel Grant (1935) and the American Prix de Rome (1936) subsidized a fur- ther sojourn to Italy. One product of his Prix de Rome period was the String Quartet, op. 11. Barber began this score during the summer of 1936, while staying at St. Wolfgang in the Tyrol.The composer approached the string quartet medium with some trepida- tion. Barber wrote to Scalero on August 5: “I have started a string quartet: but how difficult it is! It seems to me that because we have so assiduously forced our personalities on Music—on Music, who never asked for them!—we have lost ele- gance; and if we cannot recapture elegance, the quartet form has escaped us forever.” Barber hoped the Curtis Quartet, then touring Europe, would give the premiere. However, its schedule could not accommodate a detour to Rome, and he ultimately extended that honor to the Pro Arte Quartet, who introduced the work at the Villa Aurelia on December 14. The composer felt quite satisfied with the aggres- sively Romantic opening sonata movement and the compelling Adagio (which he described as a “knockout”), but the sonata-rondo finale proved unconvincing. For the next five years, Barber struggled with several different conclusions to his string quar- tet. His solution, reached in 1943, was a compact structure in which the Adagio continues with only a brief pause into a varied return of the opening Allegro ’s themes: one jagged, chromat- ic, and impassioned; the other lyrical and sweep- ing. A Presto coda combines fleet scale passages with motives from the chromatic first theme. In 1938, Barber arranged the quartet’s slow movement for orchestra. Arturo Toscanini con- ducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in world premieres of this reworked Adagio for Strings and the First Essay for Orchestra on November 5, 1938. Other arrangements of the Adagio for chorus (Agnus Dei, by Barber), organ (William Strickland), clarinet choir (Lucien Caillet), and woodwind ensemble (John O’Reilly), among others, have since appeared. –Program notes © 2019 Todd E. Sullivan André Previn’s Penelope The Long Trip to the Stage André Previn died before completing his final composition—a monodrama about Homer’s Pe- nelope, commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, Aspen Music Festi- val and School, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—but he had neverthe- less done very substantial work on it. André’s commissioners, publisher, and agents consulted among themselves and asked me, his editor of 22 years and close friend, to gather up what he had done and, if possible, to bring it to conclusion. I was cautious about taking on the task, as I wanted to be sure I could respect André’s inten- tions. My deep familiarity with his work, the fact that he had done such significant work on it, and the tremendously helpful input from the musi- cians who were to perform the work, as well as crucial assistance from André’s son, Matthew, gave me confidence that I would be able to hon- or both André’s intentions and his memory with my labor. About two weeks after André’s death, I met Mat- thew at the apartment and was given a pile of manuscript pages. As was often the case with André’s compositions, there were no bar num- bers and few page numbers. Luckily, Tom Stop- pard’s text was there, which guided me in put- ting the pages in correct order. However, there were many more pages than needed; in some, text was unaccompanied, while in others the same text was accompanied. There were also some pages which were barely sketched in. I got everything in order and had my first meet- ing with soprano Renée Fleming; the Emerson Quartet’s first violinist, Eugene Drucker; and pianist Simone Dinnerstein. I went through the manuscript with them and we decided that I should set everything André had set, and then in rehearsal we would see what worked. Samuel Barber André Previn (photo: Lillian Birnbaum) RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 22 – JULY 28, 2019 116