CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Orchestra of St. Luke´s

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 2:00 PM

Orchestra of St. Luke's
Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Joshua Bell, Violin

JOAN TOWER In Memory
BARBER Violin Concerto, Op. 14
JAY GREENBERG Violin Concerto (World Premiere)
HAYDN Symphony No. 93 in D Major

Program Notes:

JOAN TOWER In Memory (String Quartet No. 2)
Born September 6, 1938, in New Rochelle, New York.

Tower composed In Memory, her second string quartet, in 2002 on a commission from the Tokyo String Quartet (Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violins; Kazuhide Isomura, viola; Clive Greensmith, cello), which gave the first performance at the 92nd Street Y in February of that year as well as the Carnegie Hall premiere, in Weill Recital Hall on January 16, 2004. Tonight’s performance marks the Carnegie Hall premiere of the version of the piece for string orchestra.

Joan Tower’s music has been shaped in part by the fact that she grew up in South America, where her father worked as a mining engineer, and where she absorbed the wide range of styles of music and dance. When she returned to the US, she attended Bennington College and Columbia University, and founded the Da Capo Players, with whom she played the piano until her increasing fame and demand as a composer made it impractical to continue. She has taught since 1972 at Bard College, where she is Asher Edelman Professor of Music.

Over the years, Tower’s music has become increasingly intuitive. As she once told an interviewer, “I composed serial music for ten years, but I’ve gone totally the other way.” At another point she commented, “I don’t trust systems at all. Even A-B-A can be a straitjacket.”

Certainly a work like In Memory lent itself to a kind of immediacy of conception. The work was at first written in memory of a friend who had recently passed away, calling up elegiac moods in its thoughts of death and loss. Then, while she was composing the piece, as Tower explains, “9/11 hit about a month later and the intensity of the piece got higher. It veers between pain and love and anger.” The materials of the work include sustained, high, ethereal ideas that evoke the poignancy of loss and the hope of consolation, but they interact with more dissonant, emotionally restless music that calls up the rage and anger at such senseless loss and the pain that it causes. The shape of the piece unfolds along the path of its emotional expression, which is so direct that no more detailed description is necessary.
—Copyright © 2007 Steven Ledbetter


SAMUEL BARBER Violin Concerto, Op. 14
Born March 9, 1910, in West Chester, Pennsylvania; died January 23, 1981, in New York.

Composed in the spring of 1939 on a commission from Samuel Fels, Barber’s Violin Concerto was first performed on February 7, 1941, with Albert Spalding, violin, and The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy; the same players gave the New York premiere of the Concerto at Carnegie Hall a few days later, on February 11.

Scoring: solo violin, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and 2 trumpets, timpani, percussion, piano, and strings.

Samuel Barber’s musical technique was formally developed during the eight years he spent as a student at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, whose first class he joined in 1924 (when he was just 14). His compositional style was always conservative, emphasizing the long lyrical line and relatively traditional tonal harmonies. His setting of language was felicitous, his ear for color acute, and for many years he was one of the most popular American composers. Though changes in the American musical world after World War II gradually made Barber feel that he was an outsider, his music has been heard more frequently in recent years and appreciated for its craft and expressive directness.

Barber composed his Violin Concerto quite early in his career, after he had sprung to instant prominence when Arturo Toscanini performed two of his works. This led to his first major commission, from Samuel Fels, the maker of Fels Naptha Soap and a trustee of the Curtis Institute. Fels offered Barber $1000 for a violin concerto intended for his adopted son, Iso Briselli. Barber worked on the piece during the summer of 1939 in Switzerland and completed the finale in the United States in the early fall, after the outbreak of war in Europe.

Differences of opinion between Barber and Briselli threatened to break the contract and leave the composer without his full fee (he had been paid half in advance). Briselli complained that the first two movements were “too simple and not brilliant enough,” but this did not bother Barber much, because he intended to close with a virtuosic, flashy finale. Yet when the finale was delivered, Briselli objected again, allegedly declaring it unplayable. A test, however—in which a young violin student at Curtis was instructed to learn the last movement in two hours and return ready to play it to a few people—vindicated Barber. Fels paid the remainder of the commission, and Briselli relinquished the right of the first performance. The work has since become by far the most often performed and recorded violin concerto by an American composer.

Barber plays to his strengths as a lyricist throughout the first two movements. The soloist enters in the first bar, singing sweetly, and the movement continues to unfold with only a few outbursts from the orchestra, mostly growing out of the contrasting figure, lightly syncopated, first heard in the clarinet soon after the opening.

Barber had already written his famous Adagio for Strings and again demonstrates his command of the long melodic line in his second movement. The solo violin enters pensively, building quickly to a subdued passion that dominates the flow of the movement. It builds gradually to its expressive climax, then sinks back to the delicate world from which it sprang.

The finale is the shortest movement, but its lean athleticism provides a superb foil to the sweet and dreamy romanticism of what preceded it and makes a most effective close.
—Copyright © 2007 Steven Ledbetter


JAY GREENBERG Violin Concerto
Born December 13, 1991, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Composed in 2007, Greenberg’s Violin Concerto receives its world premiere tonight.

At one point in my life, I resolved that I would never write a violin concerto. I no longer recall why exactly I made this resolution; perhaps it was sour grapes, as all of my attempts at violin writing up to that point had been failures. (The audience is invited to comment on how well I did this time around.) Nonetheless, I promptly forgot all about it upon receiving a commission on behalf of Joshua Bell. The resulting one-movement Concerto features much dialogue between soloist and orchestra; while it opens with an orchestral introduction, a practice first developed in the 1700s and 1800s in order to accommodate latecoming aristocrats so that they would not miss the “main event.” It also contains many virtuosic passages showing off the full range of the violin. Throughout, the Concerto contains a variety of dancelike elements, (the motionless opening aside) from the 7/8 orchestral hammer-blows of the exposition to the extended accelerando at the end.

The main theme of the piece is introduced by woodwinds and glockenspiel. A short cadenza for the soloist leads into the first of three major divisions of the piece. The first division consists of the orchestral exposition and the soloist exposition, introducing three distinct themes. The second division is slower and more lyrical, corresponding to the Classical Adagio. The third division, or finale, is a restatement of the first division with the major elements reorganised in a sort of frenzied dervish dance, interrupted only by a march rhythm in the middle. The work concludes with the introductory theme, this time harmonized and scored for full orchestra.
—Jay Greenberg


Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 93 in D Major
Born March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, Lower Austria; died May 31, 1809, in Vienna.

Composed in England in the summer of 1791, Haydn’s Symphony No. 93 received its first performance in London, with the composer conducting, on February 17, 1792; it received its Carnegie Hall premiere on March 2, 1932, with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.

Soring: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, and strings.

So successful was Haydn’s 1790–91 season in London that he decided to stay on for another year and spend the summer working on the two symphonies we now know as Nos. 93 and 94. The result was even greater success than he had enjoyed the year before. When Symphony No. 93 was first performed, the Times commented:

"Such a combination of excellence was contained in every movement, as inspired all the performers as well as the audience with enthusiastic ardour. Novelty of idea, agreeable caprice, and whim combined with Haydn’s sublime and wonted grandeur, gave additional consequence to the soul and feelings of every individual present."


The symphony appealed to “the English taste” from the first moment, with a brief but bold slow introduction that implies some hair-raising harmonic adventures before settling onto the jumping-off point for the Allegro. The principal theme is, as H. C. Robbins Landon has remarked, “born popular,” a melody of such directness and familiarity that we seem always to have known it.

The slow movement is an effective theme and variations emphasizing a number of soloists within the orchestra. A dramatic contrast comes with a section in the minor key filled with weighty dotted rhythms—Haydn’s homage to Handel, whose music he was discovering in London. We are set up to expect something poignant and serious as delicate solo statements die away in an ethereal silence, but suddenly the bassoons sound a humorous low C, fortissimo—a musical Bronx cheer.

Haydn’s Menuetto is a much faster movement than he generally wrote in Austria, and it is full of surprises, too. Among these is the strikingly scored passage with a flute playing eighth-notes on a high D while the timpanist, in a rare solo, plays sixteenth-notes on a low D. Oboes and violins speak alternately in the empty octaves in between, seemingly foreshadowing sonorities favored by Gustav Mahler a century later. The Trio is marked by repeated fanfares on the woodwinds and brass; each time the strings respond in a different—usually unexpected—key.

The finale begins with a lighthearted theme that carries a poignant shift to the minor even within its initial statement. Haydn’s treatment leads us to the brink of harmonic cliffs, only to pull us back at the last moment. The return to the tonic is especially witty, convincing us first that we are still a long way from home, when suddenly the entire orchestra blares out the octave leap on D, the home key. Another brief silence, as if to take stock, and the restatement begins.

—Copyright © 2007 Steven Ledbetter

Orchestra of St. Luke's
Roberto Abbado, Conductor
Acclaimed as “a conductor you want to hear again and again,” Roberto Abbado’s crisp, dramatic music making, instinctive lyricism, and evocative command of varied composers and styles have made him an esteemed conductor among orchestras and opera companies today.

Highlights of Mr. Abbado’s 2007–08 season include a performance series with the Israel Philharmonic, three subscription weeks with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra with a focus on symphonies of Franz Schubert, a return to Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s featuring Joshua Bell, and appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, and the Juilliard Orchestra. In opera, Mr. Abbado conducts the world premiere of Fabio Vaccchi’s Teneke for Teatro alla Scala, La Clemenza di Tito at Teatro Regio di Torino, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera for performances of Verdi’s Ernani. Mr. Abbado joined the team of Artistic Partners at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in the 2005–06 season, a position that he recently extended into a second, three-year term. Born into a dynastic musical family, his grandfather was a famous pedagogue of violin, his father was director of the Milan Conservatory, and his uncle is Claudio Abbado, the former music director of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Roberto Abbado studied with renowned conducting teacher Franco Ferrara at Venice’s La Fenice and Rome’s Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S

The 2007–08 season marks the 33rd year of America’s foremost chamber orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. This unique musical organization began as a chamber ensemble in the Church of St. Luke in the Fields in New York’s Greenwich Village and comprises the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and St. Luke’s Arts Education Program. St. Luke’s currently performs approximately 100 orchestral, chamber, and educational concerts throughout New York each year, all showcasing the hallmark collaborative spirit that has garnered consistent critical acclaim for vibrant music making of the highest order.

Music embracing an unusually eclectic range, paired with a stellar roster of conductors and guest artists, marks the 2007–08 season of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. To launch the season, the OSL premieres a bold new multimedia work, In the Grace of the World, featuring music, videography and staging, the first such piece conceived by the OSL. The Orchestra’s Carnegie Hall series features the world premiere of an OSL–commissioned violin concerto by young composer Jay Greenberg, performed by Joshua Bell; the New York premiere of Thomas Adès’s Three Studies from Couperin; the Fauré Requiem conducted by Bobby McFerrin; and a concert under the baton of Xian Zhang in her Carnegie Hall professional debut.

Formed at the Caramoor International Music Festival in the summer of 1979, the Orchestra evolved from the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble (founded in 1974), with Ensemble members forming the Orchestra’s artistic core as principal players. In addition to being presented by Carnegie Hall in an annual series in the Isaac Stern Auditorium, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s continues a 20-year collaborative relationship with that institution that currently includes participation in such Carnegie events as the Choral Workshop, Family Concerts, and concert presentations of musical theater, including the recent presentation, recording, and telecast of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. The Orchestra is also engaged throughout the year in a number of artistic collaborations, which have included the US premiere of Paul McCartney’s Ecce Cor Meum at Carnegie Hall and the opening night gala of the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s season at City Center. The Orchestra serves each summer as the Orchestra-in-Residence at the Caramoor International Music Festival.

In chamber music, St. Luke’s performs three concert series annually: a series in Gilder Lehrman Hall in the newly-renovated Morgan Library & Museum; a three-concert series at the Brooklyn Museum; and Second Helpings, a contemporary music series marking its 15th anniversary in 2008 and taking place both at the Chelsea Art Museum and at Dia:Beacon in upstate New York. The St. Luke’s Arts Education Program comprises free education performances and year-long in-school residencies supported by professional development for teachers and standards-based curriculum materials. Twenty thousand New York City school children and their teachers are served by the program annually.

The Orchestra has released two critically acclaimed recordings on its own label, St. Luke’s Collection: Mozart’s Symphonies Nos. 39 and 41, “Jupiter,” under the direction of Donald Runnicles; and Bach’s “Brandenburg” Concertos, performed by the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. The Collection also includes Morning, Noon & Evening, featuring Haydn’s Symphonies 6, 7, and 8; With Valour Abounding, music by Handel inspired by the Old Testament; and a recording of J. S. Bach’s complete wedding cantatas entitled Wedding Gifts. These are the most recent additions to an already stellar and extensive discography, numbering more than 70 recordings, that includes four Grammy Award–winning discs.

For the St. Luke’s calendar of events, tickets, and more information, visit www.OSLmusic.org.

Joshua Bell, Violin
Joshua Bell’s 2007–08 season follows a seminal year highlighted by receiving the coveted Avery Fisher Prize and his appointment to Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music faculty. In concerts and on recordings, his charismatic artistry brings a fresh voice to the most venerable masterpieces and new works, as with the September 4 premiere of The Red Violin Concerto CD by John Corigliano.

After performances at Tanglewood, the Verbier Festival, and Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center, Mr. Bell’s concert season includes the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall, a European tour with the Orchestre National de France, and appearances with the Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Chicago symphonies; the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra; and the Tonhalle-Orchester. Mr. Bell concludes 2007 with the New York Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve Gala at Lincoln Center. A recital tour with Jeremy Denk includes Europe and the US with appearances at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Bell will also tour Europe as guest soloist with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

For over two decades, Mr. Bell has been captivating audiences with his poetic musicality. He came to national attention at age 14 in his orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and The Philadelphia Orchestra. A Carnegie Hall debut, the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a recording contract further confirmed his presence in the music world.

Mr. Bell has recorded more than 30 CDs since first signing at age 18 with London/Decca. He joined Sony Classical—A Masterworks Label in 1996 resulting in a richly varied catalogue of recordings. Recently released is The Essential Joshua Bell. His Voice of the Violin continues to soar on the heels of Romance of the Violin. He received a Mercury Prize and Grammy Award for the Maw Violin Concerto. He received the Gramophone Award for his recording of the Barber and Walton violin concertos and Bloch’s Baal Shem. He has collaborated with numerous artists and on film scores including the Oscar-winning soundtrack for The Red Violin.

In 1989, Mr. Bell received an artist diploma from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. A Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame inductee, he serves on the artist committee of the Kennedy Center Honors. He plays the 1713 Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius.