Ravinia 2023 Issue 2

music, beginning piano lessons at age 11 and eventually enrolling in the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. She studied composition as an undergradu- ate at The Juilliard School and received both master’s and doctoral degrees in composi- tion from Yale University. The child of a Portuguese-Indian mother and Indian-Pakistani father, Esmail’s appreciation of Indian music developed much later, when she “realized that [Western classical music] was starting to separate me from my own culture.” Yale hired a new professor of Indian classical music, who invited Esmail to a con- cert of Hindustani music at the Metropolitan Museum of Art featuring violinist Daniel Hope and sitar player Gaurav Mazumdar. Inspired by this musical encounter, Esmail subsequently applied for and received a Ful- bright-Nehru grant to study Hindustani mu- sic in India—in 2011–12, between her grad- uate degrees—with Mazumdar and Srimati Lakshmi Shankar. This period of discovery left a permanent imprint on her compositions and influenced the subject of her doctoral dissertation, “Finding Common Ground: Uniting Practices in Hindustani and Western Art Musicians.” See Me explores this “common ground.” The choral score is subdivided musically and tex- tually into two sections—the first using San- skrit lyrics from the “Hymn of Creation” and the second employing Esmail’s English text— separated by the uniting word “light” sung by treble voices. The Nāsadīya Sūkta , oftentimes translated as the “Hymn of Creation,” might also be ren- dered the “Hymn of Origin” or “Hymn of Not Non-Existence.” Its verses originate in the Rigveda , an ancient collection of Sanskrit hymns of knowledge and praise, organized in 10 books or mandalas. The 10th and final mandala contains 191 hymns, the 128th of which is this cosmological hymn. Esmail’s text affirms the existence, uniqueness, value, and brilliance of every individual by seeing deep into the soul (the Hindi word “darshan,” which also implies worship). LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125 Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani, strings, solo vocal quartet, and chorus Few works of art elevate, inspire, and mystify with the same indescribable power that Bee- thoven’s Symphony No. 9 possesses. The mu- sic dramas of Richard Wagner and the sym- phonies of Gustav Mahler, to name a few, owe their very existence to this work. Gustav Klimt’s wonderfully sensual, art-nouveau Bee- thoven Frieze embodies a personal reflection on the Ninth Symphony. Musical analyses of this complex score (such as Heinrich Schenk- er’s tome) have filled volumes. The depth of meaning in Beethoven’s inspired setting of Friedrich von Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” has not been exhausted. It probably never will be. Even before moving to Vienna permanently in 1793, Beethoven announced his desire to compose music for the “Ode to Joy.” The idea of including this text in a symphony, though, struck with jarring force 30 years later. An- ton Schindler, Beethoven’s secretary and bi- ographer, remembered the magical moment: “One day, when I entered his room, he called Ludwig van Beethoven by Joseph Willibrord Mähler (1815) out to me, ‘I have it! I have it,’ holding out his sketchbook, where I read these words, ‘Let us sing the immortal Schiller’s song, Freude .’ ” With that declaration, the master solved the aesthetic impasse presented by the final movement. Borrowing a notion (and actual melodic phrases) from his Choral Fantasy, op. 80, for piano, orchestra, and chorus, Bee- thoven made the unprecedented decision to incorporate chorus and vocal soloists into his symphony. However, Schiller’s drinking-song text required patient selection and rewriting to extol universal peace and brotherhood. Although the Symphony No. 9 originated as a work for the Philharmonic Society of Lon- don, its premiere took place on May 7, 1824, at Vienna’s Kärntnertor Theater, as part of a monumental program with the Overture to Consecration of the House , op. 124, and three movements from the Missa solemnis , op. 123. Totally deaf, the composer stood beside con- ductor Ignaz Umlauf, beating time and turn- ing pages. Beethoven negotiated with several publishers for rights to the Symphony No. 9, which he finally offered to the Mainz firm B. Schott and Sons. The printed score, com- plete with metronome markings and lavish title page, was dedicated to Friedrich Wil- helm III of Prussia. Structurally, the Symphony No. 9 remains within the standard boundaries of early Ro- mantic instrumental practice: sonata-form first movement, scherzo–trio–scherzo, slow variations, and fast sonata-rondo. However, Beethoven saturates his movements with a bounteous stream of melodic motives, rhyth- mic energy, daring harmonic progressions, and developmental expansion that stretch standard forms to the point of destruction and irrelevance. His colossal expression dominates every aspect of the music and in the final movement demands both a larger performing medium (solo and choral vocal forces in addition to the typical orchestral “families”) and an enduring text. In the Allegro, ma non troppo, un poco mae- stoso , the robust triadic first theme slowly emerges from a sparse, hushed opening. A quiet composite of lyrical motives, serving as a second theme, does not completely still the turbulence boiling beneath the surface. Beethoven manipulates thematic fragments in an extensive development. The recapitula- tion begins in major, then reverts to minor in preparation for a massive coda. The second movement combines scherzo and sonata ideals. A fleet, triple-meter sona- ta form, with repeated exposition, functions as a scherzo. Turning to cut-time, Beethoven introduces a quieter trio before resuming the scherzo music. The Adagio molto e cantabile consists of interlocking sets of variations such as Beethovenmight have learned fromHaydn. A chaotic dissonance inaugurates the finale. Basses and cellos anticipate the solo bass voice recitative, while the orchestra reminisc- es on themes from earlier movements. Com- plete statements of the “Ode to Joy” melody emerge first in the low strings, then the full ensemble; without text it appears a beautiful yet empty tune. Chaos strikes with greater force in a tone cluster containing every mem- ber of the D-minor scale. The bass solo rejects all music heard to this point, implores the gathered company (“O Friend …”), then be- gins the famous “Ode,” which the chorus and other soloists join. This melody, varied in each repetition, alternates like a refrain be- tween new vocal themes. Beethoven con- cludes his exhilarating hymn with a quicksil- ver orchestral coda. The interpretive adaptability of Schiller’s German text has thrust this symphony into the service of politics and nationalism. One popular notion, that the poet intended an ode to “Freiheit” (freedom) but changed it to “Freude” (joy), circulated widely during the 19th century. As a result, Beethoven’s setting achieved almost universal significance during this age of Revolution and political upheaval. Interestingly, this viewpoint turned against the composer’s own culture during World War I. The French poet and novelist Camille Mauclair was one of many who believed that “the ‘Ode to Joy’ was the unique hymn of the Allies, the credo of all our just hopes, and it would be necessary to forbid criminal Ger- many ever to play a single bar of it.” After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a once-torn German nation celebrated its re- unification to these strains. Leonard Bern- stein assembled an orchestra and chorus for two special Christmastime concerts on both sides of the Brandenburg Gate. These 220 mu- sicians from the East and West performed on December 23 in West Berlin’s Philharmonie concert hall—timed to conclude at midnight Christmas Eve—and then on December 25 in East Berlin’s Schauspielhaus theater. Caught in the spirit of the event, Bernstein substitut- ed the word “Freiheit” for “Freude.” Tracy K. Smith, 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States (2017–19) tǝmǝ āsit tǝmǝsā ghŭlǝm āgrӗ prǝkӗtǝn sǝl˘ılǝm sǝrvǝ āīdǝn — Nāsadīya Sūkta (Hymn of Creation) from the Rigveda , 10th mandala, 129th hymn, verse 3 At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness. All this was only unillumined cosmic water. —Translation by Arthur Llewellyn Basham (1954) Light … See me. See my light. I see you. I see your light. —Text by Reena Esmail RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 3 – JULY 16, 2023 34