PROGRAM NOTES
by John Green
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
The Bartered Bride: Overture
Incorporating bright melodic elements of Bohemian folk music, Smetana’s overture is intended as a joyful and delightful introduction to his opera The Bartered Bride. The overture is drawn principally from the finale of the opera’s second act, a story of simple village life, ordinary people in ordinary circumstances. In doing so, it breaks from the operatic tradition of stories centered on noble themes. A revealing entry in Smetana’s diary reads,
“I determined to try and see whether, if I succeeded in writing in a lighter style, I could not prove to all my opponents that I knew my way about very well in the minor musical forms…”
His success in this endeavour is amply illustrated in his brilliant overture, music that stands independent from the opera—vigorous and energetic, a celebration of just being alive!
Samuel Bisson
Une marche à la gare centrale de Prague (A Walkto Prague Railway Station)
Antonín Dvořák was a great admirer of trains—so much so that he once declared, “I would give all my symphonies for having invented the locomotive.” Every day, he walked from his home to the Prague Railway Station, a routine that brought him both comfort and creative inspiration. It was on one of these daily walks that the first theme of his 7th Symphony came to him, sparked by the arrival of what he called the “festive train bringing our countrymen from Pest.”
Une marche à la gare centrale de Prague draws inspiration from these walks through the heart of the city to one of its major transportation hubs, reflecting on how artistic ideas can emerge from both the everyday and the extraordinary.
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
The Bartered Bride: Three Dances - Polka, Furiant, Dance of the Comedians
The Polka is but one of many dance pieces that Smetana weaves throughout his comedic opera The Bartered Bride. The music features a strong powerful rhythm in a syncopated motif full of joy and exuberance. More than a dance, the piece also carries some of the opera’s thematic content using a variety of orchestral instruments including brass and strings. The whole canvas creates a colourful mural of interactions between the villagers as they sing and dance in front of the village inn on a spring holiday, a key part of the opera’s celebration of rural life.
The Furiant movement is taken from the beginning of Act II. Inside an inn, the men sing a drinking song, and after the women join them, all dance a furiant - a fast Bohemian folk dance.
Dance of the Comedians occurs in Act III. A circus has come to town, as part of its acts, it offers a folk dance, a spirited skočná.
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 7, D minor
The creation of Dvorak’s 7th Symphony is one of the most interesting stories in all of classical music. The composer began sketches of the music after hearing Brahm’s Symphony No. 3, a work he greatly admired. Coincidently, at that same time, the Royal Philharmonic Society named him as an honorary member, and asked him to write a new symphony to celebrate the honour. It was Dvorak’s habit to take a daily walk from his home to the Prague railway station. It was during one of these outings that “the first subject of my new symphony flashed into my mind on the arrival of the festive train bringing our countrymen from Pest”. The event was a musical evening in support of Czech’s political turmoil. The symphony reveals much of this along with his personal struggles reconciling his intense patriotism.
The first movement sketch was finished in five days; the second, slow movement, just ten days later. A footnote at the bottom read “For the sad years”—an obvious reference to the death of his mother and probably the death of his eldest child.
But even in the light of his grief he wrote, What is in my mind is love, God and my Fatherland. God grant that this Czech music will move the world!” A month later the third and fourth movements were completed; then in1885, four years after its first conception, the symphony received a brilliant successful first performance with Dvorak as conductor
What followed was nothing less than chaos. Despite the work’s success, German publisher Fritz Simrock insisted he would not publish it until Dvorak had completed a piano duet of the symphony. Also, Simrock wanted the composer’s first name changed to Anton from Antonin, and that the title page be printed in German, not Czech. After several more arguments, Simrock finally agreed to publish the work paying Dvorak far less than what the composition was worth
Bernard Shore, English viola player and music critic, wrote, There is no doubt that Dvorak’s 7th Symphony is the finest of the series of all Dvorak’s symphonies”.
