The finale of the Haydn Symphony 45 will test the laugh threshold of the orchestra and audience as one by one the musicians leave the stage during the last movement as directed in the score. The joined forces will no doubt give a rousing rendition of the Royal Fireworks Music.

Masterworks series III ~ FIREWORKS

Friday, January 27 at 8:00pm, Kelowna Community Theatre
(Open dress rehearsal - 2:00 - 4:30)
Saturday, January 28 at 7:30pm, Cleland theatre, Penticton
Sunday, January 29 at 7:00pm, Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre

Guest Artists: Youth Symphony of the Okanagan, Imant Raminsh, Music Director Night Owl Orchestra, Sheila French, Music Director Carriage House Orchestra, Bev Martens & Morna Howie, Music Directors



Program:
Gary Kulesha: Fireworks
Haydn: Symphony No. 45 "Farewell"
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
Handel: Royal Fireworks Music

The finale of the Haydn Symphony 45 will test the laugh threshold of the orchestra and audience as one by one the musicians leave the stage during the last movement as directed in the score. The joined forces will no doubt give a rousing rendition of the Royal Fireworks Music

Kelowna Performance Sponsored by Capri Insurance
Vernon Performance Sponsored by Larry & Marcia Bell

Program Notes
Fireworks and Procession
Gary Kulesha
b. Toronto, Ontario, Canada / August 22, 1954

Gary Kulesha is one of Canada's most active and most visible musicians. Although principally a composer, he is active as both a pianist and a conductor, and as a teacher. His music has been commissioned, performed, and recorded by musicians and ensembles all over the world. His works for Danish recorder virtuoso Michala Petri are toured by her throughout the world each year, and have been recorded on RCA Red Seal. Celebration Overture is one of the most performed orchestral pieces written in Canada. His first opera, Red Emma, was included in Opera America's book of â€Å"operas which should be performed more often," beside works by Copland, Bernstein, and Weill. In 1995, he was appointed Composer-Advisor to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where his duties include composing, conducting, and advising on repertoire. He has guest conducted frequently with several major orchestras throughout Canada, and has recorded for radio and CD. He is on the fulltime faculty of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto.

He composed Fireworks and Procession for a tour of northern Ontario that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra made in September 2005. Alain Trudel, who conducted the orchestra on the tour, wrote of the piece as follows:

"It is a festive and ceremonial work, which begins with a description of skyrockets. A procession interrupts the fireworks display, when someone important arrives on the scene. Once the procession passes, the fireworks resume briefly, and the work closes with ceremonial grandeur."

Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp Minor â€Å"Farewell"
Joseph Haydn
b. Rohrau, Lower Austria / March 31, 1732; d. Vienna, Austria / May 31, 1809

Prince Nicolaus Esterházy, the Hungarian nobleman who employed Haydn for decades, owned a palace in Vienna and two grand estates, one at Eisenstadt, the other a summer residence at Esterháza. The Prince adored his summer retreat, and it became his habit to spend more and more time there. In 1772, he stayed longer than ever, into November. This distressed the members of his orchestra, who had not been allowed to bring their families with them from Eisenstadt. They turned to Haydn for help. He composed this symphony in such a way as to give the Prince a gentle hint that it was time to leave.

There are no preliminary gestures. Haydn flings us directly into a turbulent, dramatic world. There is only minimal respite in the opening movement, which is filled with many sudden shifts in dynamics and nervous string tremolos. Haydn follows it with a full-scale adagio. Opening with a march-like tread, it strikes a pathetic mood, full of wistfulness and yearning. Could he have intended it is a portrait of his unhappy orchestra? Unusually, the following minuet begins quietly, almost hesitantly, a quick indoctrination into its nature, which is far removed from the dance floor. The central trio section includes a quote from an ancient Gregorian chant melody, the original text drawn from the lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah.

The finale returns to the minor-key activity and storms of the first movement. But then Haydn calls an abrupt halt, switching to a serene, restful adagio in the major. He gradually peels the orchestra away, singly or in pairs. At the first performance, the musicians (most of whom played standing up) snuffed out the candles on their music stands as they departed. Finally, just two violinists remained to complete the pantomime: Haydn and concertmaster Luigi Tomasini.

Prince Nicolaus took the hint, and gave orders to pack up and leave for Eisenstadt the next day. This episode did not anger the music-loving nobleman. In fact it served to endear Haydn to him more than ever.

Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051
Johann Sebastian Bach
b. Eisenach, Germany / March 21, 1685; d. Leipzig, Germany / July 28, 1750

In 1719, Bach's employer, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, sent him to Berlin, to bring back a new harpsichord. During Bach's visit, he made the acquaintance of Christian Ludwig, Margrave (or ruler) of Brandenburg, a town in Prussia. That gentleman asked Bach to send him some examples of his music. Bach responded by assembling a set of six concertos for various instruments. After revising and polishing them, he sent them off to Brandenburg, a lavish dedication attached. That inscription - which demonstrates that lengthy, flowery thank-yous to wealthy patrons are nothing - earned them the nickname Brandenburg Concertos. The Margrave showed little interest in the concertos, alas. They passed, probably unplayed, into a library in Berlin following his death. They were published for the first time in 1850, in an edition marking the centenary of Bach's birth.

Each concerto has a different set of featured instruments. The line-up of soloists in No. 6 is made up of lower-pitched string instruments, and the larger, accompanying string body omits violins. The resulting sound is soft and warm, a feeling reinforced by the relaxed and genial nature of the music itself. A pair of violas shares the greatest part of the solo writing, though Bach gives his other featured players their moments in the spotlight, too. The concerto consists of a bracing, busily textured first movement, a slow section in fugal style, and a merry, gigue-like finale.

Music for the Royal Fireworks
George Frideric Handel
b. Halle, Germany / February 23, 1685; d. London, England / April 14, 1759

It took some time for all the nations involved in the Austrian War of Succession to ratify the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Peace was declared in England only in February 1749. King George II felt that the agreement, which put to rest the disturbing possibility of a French invasion, merited the staging of a royal extravaganza. The treasury spared no expense. A renowned Italian scenic designer and fireworks specialist, Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, was imported from Paris to stage a grand display in Green Park, near Buckingham Palace.

By that time, Handel had been England's unofficial composer laureate for several decades. That made him the natural choice to bedeck the latest royal celebration with suitably pompous and circumstantial music. Completing his score ahead of the scheduled ceremony, the cagey composer staged a full, open rehearsal, without fireworks, at Vauxhall Gardens. It won great success, both artistically and financially. The official, royally-attended occasion was held on April 27. The weather, alas, refused to co-operate. Handel's stirring Overture was heard as planned, before the fireworks began, but as the disastrous event unfolded, fireworks went off at the wrong times, and part of the scaffolding built to erect one of the displays caught fire. The remainder of Handel's score went unheard beneath the general uproar.

It survived its disastrous launching and remains one of the most skillfully crafted and enjoyable of all scores written for ceremonial occasions. The regal Overture alternates sections of stately and vigorous natures, the latter of a suitably military caste. A sequence of strongly contrasted dances and character pieces follow: a playful and lightly scored example of the Bourrée, a French folk dance; a warm and serene Largo alla siciliano to represent and celebrate peace; a rowdy piece entitled La Réjouissance (Rejoicing); and a pair of Menuets, one a good deal more outgoing than the other.

Program Notes by Don Anderson © 2011







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