Interview with Kate Tamarkin on Upcoming Vermont Symphony Orchestra Concert

And if I move this it will be heard right. Yeah but that's OK. OK we'll see how if it's two loves in us. Who is he. OK. Is Mr. tape rolling. OK. I get Remington and with me is the VSS music director Kate to market Hi Kate. Hi Kate. And we're here to talk just a little bit about the pieces that will be on the upcoming Vermont Symphony Orchestra concert this concert includes a brand new piece by Vermont composer Eric Nielsen as well there are some Gershwin Paul Hindemith's Easter Mahler and music of Paul de Kock. And I thought first since the Eric Nelson was written especially for this performance that we talk about that one a little bit. Yes Eric Nielsen is a Vermont composer he lives in Randolph East Randolph to be exact. And he has written a piece for us we're very excited about it's called October dream for Mont. So we are of course premiering this

October. I'd like to give you a few of his own words which are better than mine about the piece. He says I seldom write overt program music but this is a musical impression of the late summer brilliance of light of September leading through the height of the foliage colors of the rains wind and leaf fall that marked the starkness of late October and early November. I think you said a poet as well. And it's about nine minutes of a very impressionistic work. And will he be at the rehearsals so you'll have a chance to get his input on what you're doing with the orchestra. Absolutely that is one of the wonderful things about having a living composer there he'll be at the rehearsals he'll be. At the Burlington performance as well. It sounds like a wonderful piece and it sounds like a really festive way to begin this season's concerts with the VSO. We wanted to do to do something special and he certainly provided that for us. And we'll be hearing some Gershwin

a piano concerto. George Gershwin is a very popular name in American music and you might like to know that he was admired by several what we call mainstream or quote unquote classical composers bar talk admired him. Sure and Berg admired him. Williams admired him. Many many others took him very seriously. And his Concerto in F actually was a direct result of the Rhapsody in Blue. It was received so well that Damrosch from the New York symphony society then asked him to write the Concerto in F which is a much more classical departure for him. You can see the title Concerto in F is much more classical in nature. It has the traditional three movements Exactly and he orchestrated it himself. Before that he had always relied on for digraph a way from the Grand Canyon suite. So this was. A new departure for him and I believe a very successful one.

Well you were mentioning that the the opening with the timpani is quite a classical way of beginning a major work. That's correct it's been associated always with the symphony and the romantic you're in the classical era and he starts off that way and it lasts all of one bar. Before you asserts himself. Well the middle movement is so linked to blues and American popular song very bluesy there's one indication for the trumpeter to play into his hat really into a felt hat to get that that sort of sound that will the NOT operator this performance be playing into his hat too. We haven't talked about it but I think we'll come out with a hat someplace to do that. Well you were mentioning that there's a kind of a funny story about Gershwin studying with Ravel. Yes Gershwin perhaps and then in an attempt to quote unquote legitimize himself which he didn't need to do but he went to ravel to take lessons. And the story goes that Ravel asked him his salary and said What do you

make. And Gershwin said Oh I make about a hundred thousand dollars a year. At which point rebel said then you should give me lessons. So I believe had he lived longer he only lived to be 38 unfortunately and died of a brain tumor. But I believe had he lived longer that the whole trend in classical music would have been different the outcome where we would be now I think would have been dramatically changed because he very much wanted to do that and he was working that way. Well also on this the program for this concert is music of Paul Hindemith 20th century work or Mahler which is inspired by the life of the painter Matthias Greene a vault. And there are some interesting parallels between Hindemith's life and Green vaults. Yes and and we thought also that we would take the program in after going as light as the Gershwin we would go as heavy as the

Hindemith. And this piece was written one thousand thirty four to five composed in Nazi Germany as an opera and it was banned by the Nazis and not produced until the the opera until four years later in Zurich. And he was a man of very high character and he was concerned with the artist and his place. And he says that Mati said this is how these are Hindemith's words is the embodiment of problems wishes and doubts that have occupied the minds of all serious artists from remote his times. And I'm sure we can only imagine what he was struggling with also under that regime. Well I had read somewhere that he intimate felt quite in sympathy with Matthias Greene of all because they both were artists in difficult times. We're playing the suite that comes from it. It's all actually based on the Isen hime altarpiece in the triptych and the

third movement of that suite. It's called the temptation of Saint Anthony. And it's a very unrelenting deep and riveting kind of third movement and where he really unleashes all of the temptations that come at St. Anthony and we can imagine it. And all the things that he was dealing with and it's very vivid very pictorial of the first movement to the chorus of angels is so light it's almost Vivaldi esque in a way because the flutes and just the eerie quality it is it has that quality. All of his music is very contrapuntal he comes out of the tradition of Bach and Braun's and Reiger and it's very very well crafted I remember as a former horn player how fun it was to play Hindemith because it lives so well for the instruments and and it's very gratifying to play. And I'm also reminded a little bit of Mahler in the symphony where he has the angels baking

bread in heaven. And you can almost feel that Heaven is a rather busy place in that first movement although you know we've all all the angels carrying out their tasks their task and then of course by contrast the second movement which is called in to moment is. A short but very grief stricken movement so there's a lot of diversity in this piece. Also on the program is a very brief fanfare by Paul Duca. We should mention something about you. Paul do call is the man who brought us The Sorcerer's Apprentice and we can assure you of that that it's a lot shorter than the Sorcerer's Apprentice this is a beautiful three minute brass fanfare which opens his opera La Prairie. Well we'll be looking forward to hearing all of those pieces. And thanks so much for dropping by. Thank you. I'm Kate Remington. And with me is Kate to market the VSS music director. Hi

Kate. Hi Kate. We'll be talking a little bit about the pieces that are on the upcoming Vermont Symphony Orchestra Concert some Haydn Charles Ives and a small piece by the English composer George Butterworth. His tone poem the banks of green willow. And that's based in part on English folk songs. Yes a lot of people don't know George Butterworth and it's not surprising since he died in at the age of 31 killed in World War 1 at the Battle of the Somme. That's correct. And left us a few tone poems and influenced a lot of people including Yvonne Williams. And some of you may know a piece called A Shropshire Lad and that came out in 1913 it's his best known work as an orchestral Rhapsody. But the following year he came out with the banks of green willow which is a beautiful folk song which takes its own way for about six or seven minutes for Chamber Orchestra which we're going to perform on the concert. It's very pastoral sounding lovely just charming and lovely and it has that

quality that I so admire sounding spontaneous like we've just come across a beautiful scene in an English countryside and turn the corner and here it is. Cows in the field and a few white clouds. Well also on the program is music of Charles Ives his third symphony which I understand is sort of a traditional work he described as a link between the old ways and the new ways. Yes he did and something interesting about the Third Symphony is that it received the Pulitzer Prize in 1947. Forty two years after it was composed. He was in his 70s and he achieved recognition very late. And when that occurred he told the award committee well prizes are for boys and I'm grown up. I think gave the $500 away. And it is a very you know in some ways traditional work that has a lot of hymn tunes in it. But I was a

difficult character for a lot of people. It might help to realize that his thinking he thought of almost every technique that's been used in the 20th century and he did it before people like Stravinsky and sure in Bourke he was quite a thinker he influenced many many people who came after. In fact after Sherman burghs death and 1951 his widow found a note in his papers and she sent it to and it said this this is sure in Berg's words there is a great man living in this country. A composer he has solved the problem of how to preserve oneself and to learn. He responds to negligence by contempt he is not forced to accept praise or blame. And his name is Ives. And here was a man who made his way in the insurance business for 20 years wrote music on his own terms and most of it was left in his barn

in Connecticut. Where it was found and acted upon later but this was a man with a wonderful sense of humor the son of a civil war band master and loved to experiment and loved to assert his humor into his music. And we had a conductor come to a place where I was studying who did a piece by Ives and the orchestration can be difficult things were not always clear. And this conductor tried to clean it all up by doubling the flutes and doubling the horns and adding a clarinet here so it would all be clean and nice and spanking new and our conducting teacher at the time thought he had just ruined lives because this wasn't IV's idea at all. Well you mentioned that there are some difficult things about conducting IVs and how do you get around the fact that there's so much going on. A conductor tries to be conscious of what's going on. You can't

always pointed out or bring it forward but if it's in your mind it's an amazing thing about conducting If it's in your consciousness. Somehow it does translate to the players and it can come out. You balance things as well as you can. You allow the humor to come out the different lines that are playing you let them have each their own style whatever their style is and some of what Ives wrote was very simple. Many of the things that are based on him tunes are very simple and straightforward and I try not to overstate sentimentalize them because I'm sure he would not have approved probably something over sentimentalized. And then bringing out the humor and then let the music speak for itself. Well also on the program is music of Haydn and his last symphony the London Number 1 0 4. And this was one of a group of symphonies that was written for performances in London very late in Ivan's life.

That's correct and one all four is his final Symphony and the crowning achievement of 40 years of working with a symphonic form which he perfected his lifetime totally encompassed Mozart's life. His years were 17 32 to 18 0 3 and Mozart had a much shorter life. Seven hundred fifty six to ninety one. So Haydn had done a lot of pre-pay ving of the way for Mozart and continued after and he really was very consistent all of his life he developed the symphony and developed really the string quartet form too. Yes and Theme and Variations and he made a comment. He was employed for many years by Prince Esther Hotsy. And as such he said this. My prince was pleased with all my work. I was commended and as conductor of an orchestra I could make experiments observe what strengthened and what weakened an effect and therefore improved

substitute omit and try new things. Here's the Corker I was cut off from the world. There was no one around to mislead or harass me and so I was forced to become a original. Well it must have been such a kick for him to be so appreciated in London because according to the stories of Prince Esterhazy didn't always treat him very well or he took him for granted. So it must have been so exciting to be in London where the British were so impressed with what he was doing. And that's why he went back and I think he did have a wonderful time there. The nice thing about Esther Hotsy is he had an orchestra of 25 players a dozen singers. And had to produce operas every week there were a lot of resources at his disposal as well but no he. He was taken for granted a bit I'm afraid. We have a few stories that go with Haydn as well. It says that in his bedroom he hung a set of 24 cannons that he composed so there's music paper all over his walls. I'm not rich enough said Haydn to buy good painting so I

found myself hanging's which few others possess. When his wife complained one day there was not enough money in the house to bury him if he died suddenly Haydn replied Well if such a calamity occurs. Take these cannons to the publisher and I'm sure they'll cover a decent funeral. Well the concert is not going to be morbid at all. No and I should mention to you that our principal flutist Susan Thomas is going to be our soloist and she's playing two works. One is by stom it's a concerto in G and the other is by another American named Gryphus best known for a few tone poems. Well he was born in 1874 but we have a beautiful beautiful piece called poem from flute an orchestra and we're very much looking forward to featuring her and a concert and we're looking forward to hearing her too. Thanks so much for dropping by. Thank you. I'm Kate Remington. And with me is Kate to mark in the VSO as music director. Hi Kate. Hi

Kate. And we'll be talking a little bit about some of the works that are going to be presented in the upcoming Vermont Symphony Orchestra concert. It's music of Tchaikovsky rebel music of American composer Ellen takes will like and some Brahms and both of these as well like in the Brahms are double concertos. And I understand that we've got some very good soloists coming for the Brahms. Yes we have a husband and wife team Jamie Laredo and Sharon Robinson coming to play both concertos and actually this will it was written for them. The Brahms was not written for him though in fact the Brahms I understand was written as a reconciliation for us if you Joachim who had been Brahms a good friend and they had a major disagreement when you walk in marriage. Oh yeah and so as a peace offering Brahms wrote this double concerto and I never heard whether or not it worked. It did work. Brahms wrote to you all King that he was composing the piece and he wanted to speak of him to him of things of an artistic

nature. And then you Akim replied that he was looking forward to hearing it. And that broke the ice so they got together and it helped him helped a lot. What's interesting about this piece is Clara Schumann's reaction because she was quite a pivotal person in all of this. She heard the work on the piano at a rehearsal and she said afterwards that the score contains very many tricky parts. And then she wrote he could easily alter them. But no doubt he won't. Sometimes one gets the impression he gets pleasure out of keeping the listener on tender hooks. And the second movement of this double concerto which many people find the most beautiful is the one that Clara didn't think too much of. She doesn't say exactly why but it didn't thrill her too much. And the third movement is the one that sounds most Brahms Ian sounds like a Slavonic has a Slavonic type of theme. The piece did get quite a lukewarm reception. It was his last piece and we know that Brahms

didn't have a lot of confidence and so these things were difficult for him when things were not received well. But we know that we will not get a lukewarm reception Saturday night hopefully not with Jamie Laredo and Cher and also little doubt of that. Well you had a great quote from Sigmund Freud about concertos and maybe that could lead us into this we're like sure Freud wrote that we are so made that we can derive intense enjoyment only from a contrast. That was his feeling perhaps he was thinking of pleasure and pain or something on that order. But concerto certainly. Contrast the soloing instruments with the orchestra and a violin and cello that is an interesting combination. There are some inherent difficulties in it one is that the violin being so high can carry above the orchestration. The thickness of an orchestra cello has more trouble doing it than when you put them together. There are more

problems even than that and I know that when we do that the Brahms that we have to work very hard on making sure the balance works for the cello as well as the cello is very much an equal partner in it. And in 1991 Ellen's Willie wrote this concerto so it's new I'm sure it's a Vermont premiere. And a lot of people associate her name with the fact that in 1983 she was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in composition. She was also the first woman to receive a doctorate in composition from the Juilliard School. And since those two events her career has really taken off and she's right now composing a third symphony for the New York Philharmonic. Wow. It was the first symphony that won the Pulitzer Prize and her double concerto is quite a bit shorter than Brahms Brahms runs a good half hour maybe 35 minutes or so. Hers runs 18 and

is a rhapsodic work in sections but quite rhapsodic. Has a dark tone to it like Brahms as well I'll be interested to see how people compare them. It sounds like it will be a really exciting contrast and sounds like a compliment each other as well. And Freud would approve. And also on the program is one of Ravel's best known pieces he is loveall CE which has always struck me as being kind of surreal. That's a good word for it. He had wanted to write a piece to glorify the Viennese Waltz as early as 1906 but 13 years later and a world war later he gave it a different flavor and it is sort of like a dance my cob my teacher called it the waltzing tank. There is a sort of a dancing Titanic quality to it as the ship is sinking. Right.

Of the decadence that Germany had become is symbolized by the waltz. And so it's all turned around and there's that bittersweet quality. Ravel wrote about it though he said through whirling clouds we catch a glimpse of couples waltzing the clouds gradually lift revealing an immense hall filled with dancers and the scene is gradually lit up and there's a burst of light from the chandelier years. Well there's a real burst at the end and we'll let our listener come to the concert to hear those those final bursts. Well we were talking earlier about what a sad and Rev Al came to. He was struck with the unusual disease which left him aware and alert but not able to move or talk. It's it is very tragic it's tragic that at the end of his life he felt he still had so much to say. And one of his last dying sentences was I was not a great composer my life has been a failure. And we're just grimacing at this because we know now

that all of his pieces are in the repertory field composers not Beethoven not Bach have all of their pieces played and Ravel to us and our lives would be so much dimmer without his music. Well let's hope that he's still around somewhere and aware that all of his pieces are being still played. Well we have a piece to open the program. I call it a gumdrop is the Polonaise from Eugene Oregon by Tchaikovsky. It's a nice bookend to the dance that finishes and also because the music in the middle is fairly serious a lot of it all part of the Brahms dances also Yeah. Well thanks so much for coming and talking with us and we'll look forward to the concert. Thanks so much.