Program Notes

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AUDIO PROGRAM NOTES
Listen to the audio version of these program notes, with music excerpts.

John Adams (1947- )
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Duration: ca. 4 minutes

What to listen for:

• Note how the piece revolves around an insistent clack of the woodblock, which serves as a sort of metronome until the orchestra frees itself of its grip.

Have you ever ridden in a car going too fast, with an inexperienced driver behind the wheel? John Adams did when a relative with a new Ferrari took him on a late-night joy ride. The “absolutely terrifying experience,’’ Adams recalls, inspired him to compose a Short Ride in a Fast Machine in 1986, a four-minute jaunt that quickly became popular with American orchestras.

“It’s a piece that gets done a lot,’’ Adams has said. “Every composer is grateful to have a hit, but I certainly didn’t expect that to be the case.’’

The Pittsburgh Symphony, which needed a new piece to kick off its Great Woods Festival, commissioned the work, and Adams responded with what he calls a non-traditional fanfare. He didn’t want to compete, he said, with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.

The music begins with persistent tapping on the woodblock, while the brass follows in a wash of pulsating repetition – a hallmark of minimalism. Chaos ensues as each instrumental section competes for the spotlight as if trying to break free from the pulse of the woodblock; instead, they succumb to a state of perpetual motion. Only near the end does the woodblock cease its infernal ostinato, setting the orchestra up for an exhilarating bang to close the work.

“Part of the fun is making these large instruments − the tuba and double basses, and contrabassoon – move,’’ Adams said in his notes on the piece. “They have to boogie through this very resolute and inflexible pulse set up by the woodblock. It’s only at the very end that the orchestra feels free − as if it’s the third stage of a rocket that’s finally broken loose of earth’s gravity and is allowed to float. It’s at that moment that we hear the triumphant ‘real’ fanfare music in the trumpets and horns.’’

Guillaume Connesson (1970- )
A Kind of Trane Saxophone Concerto
Duration: ca. 22 minutes

What to listen for:

• The last movement uses a woodblock rhythm similar to that in Short Ride in a Fast Machine, which opens this program.

Mention the saxophone and you might think of jazz and pop, but the instrument long ago found a place in classical music, where its unique sound added spice to the orchestra. In fact, in the mid-1800s, its inventor — Adolph Sax — intended it to be part of the traditional brass section. Sadly, it lacked the natural blend required to be a permanent member of the band.

The saxophone survived, however, making appearances in works such as Bizet’s L’Arlésienne, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Gershwin’s An American in Paris, to name just a few. Fast forward to today, and more composers are featuring the sax as a solo instrument in concertos — a forum for its versatility and dynamic range.

One inventive work from 2015 comes from the French composer Guillaume Connesson, whose A Kind of Trane Saxophone Concerto is an homage to the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane (1926-67). The composer writes that “Coltrane’s phrasing, his tonal freedom of invention and his mystical virtuosity have nourished my writing.”

Coltrane and his “sheet of sound’’ approach pushed traditional jazz to its edge, and his expressive style continue to influence performers and composers. Although Connesson doesn’t quote Coltrane directly, the music reflects his evolving styles in bebop, modal and free jazz, and requires an alert orchestra to complement the saxophone’s slippery maneuvers. If the music sounds improvisatory, Connesson choreographed every single note.

Here are the composer’s notes for each of the three movements:

I. There is None Other (soprano saxophone) opens with the tam-tam beat and a slow intro in which the soloist unfurls capricious diatonic phrases. A five-beat bass in a four-beat measure sets in, leading to the exposition of the main theme, which is developed in imitation. The movement ends with the calm music of the introduction.

II. Ballade (alto saxophone) is a long, continuous melody by the soloist, leading to a lyrical outburst from the orchestra. A second theme then appears, accompanied by a steady bass that gives the music a slow processional character. When the first theme returns at the end, it gradually deconstructs, ending in a final sigh of sadness.

III. Coltrane on the Dance Floor is the unlikely meeting of two musical universes at opposite ends of the spectrum: the unpredictable rhythmic freedom of Coltrane and the robotic nature of techno music. This friction between the free and the constrained is the basis of this movement, which culminates in a madcap cadenza. The soloist’s trance is then supported by a percussion pattern, leading to the wild coda. A cry from the soloist, cut short by the orchestra, concludes the score.

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
Suite from Romeo and Juliet. Op. 64
Duration: ca. 42 minutes

What to listen for:

• The tenor saxophone makes a rare appearance in a symphony orchestra with the theme representing Juliet.

If Prokofiev was remembered for nothing other than his Romeo and Juliet, he would still be held in high regard. Of his nine ballet scores, this is undoubtedly his finest effort, a masterstroke in synthesizing music, drama − and motion.

Composed in 1935, the music for Shakespeare’s famous play was revised over the next five years, and for reasons beyond production problems with the ballet company. The Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, ruled – and censored – the arts in Russia with an iron first, threatening anyone who ignored his demand for socialist realism. Stalin’s humiliation of Dmitri Shostakovich as a “degenerate modernist’’ most certainly got Prokofiev’s attention.

Prokofiev’s first mistake was to give his ballet a happy ending, in contrast to the Bard’s tragic coda. The censors found this not only curious, but controversial. Officials urged Prokofiev to revise his score, and despite his objections, an “altered’’ version was performed in 1940 by the Kirov Theatre. Ironically, it won the State Stalin Prize. A film version would go on to win a top award at the Cannes Festival in 1955, two years after Prokofiev’s death.

The complete ballet consists of 52 numbers and nine scenes, from which Prokofiev composed three suites and 10 pieces for piano. Prokofiev is at his best here, shaping the characters as Mozart does in his operas, capturing the tensions and emotional sweep of Shakespeare’s writing, and dressing his score with biting, original colors. Adding depth to a fully loaded orchestra are tenor saxophone, tambourine, xylophone and tubular bells.

From this wealth of musical material, TFO performs the following sections:

Suite 2, No. 1 – Montagues and Capulets: the feuding families engage in a brawl
Suite 2, No. 2 – Juliet, The Young Girl: Looking in the mirror, she sees a beautiful woman
Suite 1, No. 4 – Orchestral Minuet
Suite 1, No. 5 – Masks: Romeo makes his entrance at the Capulets’ ball
Suite 1, No. 6 – Romeo & Juliet: The famous balcony scene
Suite 1, No. 7 – Death of Tybalt: Romeo delivers a mortal wound to his adversary
Suite 2, No. 6 – Dance of the Maids from the Antilles
Suite 2, No. 7 – Romeo at Juliet’s Grave: Romeo plunges a dagger into his heart
Suite 3, No. 6 – The Death of Juliet: This is the emotional peak of the ballet

Program notes by Kurt Loft, a journalist and arts writer who has covered classical music in Florida for more than 40 years. A member of the Music Critics Association of North America, he lives in St. Petersburg.