Details
Bill Eddins explores the music of fin de siècle Paris, a hotbed of innovation, in a program that includes Debussy's treasured Clair de lune, and Bizet's youthful Symphony. Conducting from the keyboard, Mr. Eddins brings to life a dazzling fusion of ballet and salon music by Poulenc, and Principal Harp Nora Bumanis plays Germaine Tailleferre's enchanting Concertino for Harp.
Debussy: Clair de lune
Bizet: Symphony in C
Poulenc: Aubade for Piano and Orchestra
Tailleferre: Concertino for Harp
$65 Dress Circle (A)
$53 Terrace (B)
$39 Orchestra (C)
$25 Upper Circle (D)
$20 Orchestra Front (F)
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Program Information
Debussy: Clair de lune (from Suite bergamasque) (arr Caplet) (5')*
Bizet: Symphony in C major (34')*
Intermission
Poulenc: Aubade - Concerto choréographique for Piano and Orchestra (21')*
Tailleferre: Concertino for Harp (16')*
Nora Bumanis, harp
*Indicates approximate performance duration
Program Notes
Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune (orch. A. Luck)
Claude Debussy
(b. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1862 / d. Paris, 1918)
Last ESO performance of the Luck arrangement: October 2003
This most famous of all Debussy’s works is the third movement from a four-movement suite written for solo piano called the Suite bergamasque. Debussy’s maturity as a composer of piano music came later than his mastery of orchestral works. While he had already turned out masterpieces for orchestra such as Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune prior to 1900, the piano pieces that he wrote around this time often would not even have dates on them – they were works intended to put food on the table, and not pieces to which Debussy felt particularly close.
Yet many of those pieces, the Suite bergamasque included, are enchanting pieces. They show a debt, of course, to piano masters of the past – especially Chopin, whom Debussy greatly admired, and perhaps that is why Debussy was reluctant to stand by them more strongly than he did. Clair de lune (“Moonlight”) is marked Andante très expressif in the piano score, and its haunting and memorable melody is indeed most expressive. It has been refashioned for any number of instruments, and tonight’s performance features what is probably the most famous orchestration of Clair de lune, the one done by Arthur Luck.
Symphony in C Major
Georges Bizet
(b. Paris, 1838 / d. near Paris, 1875)
First performance: February 26, 1935 in Basel
Last ESO performance: March 2000
Georges Bizet wrote two symphonies. One, he laboured over throughout his maturity (he died tragically young at only 37 years old), a work based on his travels in Italy following his Prix de Rome victory in 1857. The other symphony was an inspired flash of juvenilia, written at only 17 years old – a work which he disavowed later in life.
Yet the young man’s Symphony in C has certainly achieved a fame and acceptance that the later work, called Roma, has failed to capture. Because of his reluctance to acknowledge the work, it was not published in his lifetime, nor performed until 60 years after his death. The work’s opening movement begins with a rhythmic pattern from which a wealth of brief melodic ideas spring, all very busy and breezy. A horn call ushers in a more sedate counter-subject, though the rhythmic pulse is still there underneath. A sense of hushed anticipation is presented as the second movement begins, ushering in a long, languid song for the oboe (Lidia Khaner). Many have compared the oboe’s cantilena to arias to come in Bizet’s operas Carmen and The Pearl Fishers. It is answered by a section of quiet passion in the violins, all set to pizzicato in the lower strings. Halfway through the movement (a true “echo of the baroque,” as our concert’s title would indicate), Bizet presents a fugue, though the oboe’s beautiful song returns to re-establish the mood of the movement.
The third movement bears the stamp of the “Father of the Symphony,” Franz Josef Haydn. The Allegro vivace is a merry, timpani-punctured dance, answered by a Trio section complete with the musette drone Haydn used so often in his own trios, lending a folk-like feel. The finale is sunny and effervescent, with several melodies entering and exiting, all in a delightful scamper, leading to a mischievous coda.
Aubade – Concerto choréographique
Francis Poulenc
(b. Paris, 1899 / d. Paris, 1963)
First performance: 1929 in Paris
Last ESO performance: 1977
Like Tailleferre (see below), Francis Poulenc was one of Les Six – a group which banded together for only a brief, though important, time in the story of French music. After getting his start in the quirky, jazz-tinged music that had all Paris talking, Poulenc tended toward more conservative works later in life, though a sense of humour was always there. His Aubade dates from 1929, and is a deliberately unusual work. “Amphibious” was how Poulenc described it, as it is both a concerto for piano and 18 instruments, as well as a ballet. It was always meant to be either danced to or presented in concert, but in either case, it was important for Poulenc that the story told in the music be known.
It is the story of Diana, the huntress of Greek myth, who finds herself, “burning with a love that consumes her purity.” Upon awakening in the forest of Fontainebleau, she is dressed by her handmaidens. Condemned to chastity and despondent over the love that consumes her, she dances while clasping to her breast a bow her friends had given her. Suddenly, she throws the bow away and darts into the woods. The piano takes the part of Diana in this concert setting of the work, which was commissioned by the Vicomte de Noailles and his wife.
Concertino for Harp
Germaine Tailleferre
(b. Parc-Saint-Maur, Seine, 1892 / d. Paris, 1983)
First performance: 1927 in Boston
This is the ESO premiere of the piece
In the early decades of the 20th century, Paris was a hotbed for new art. In music, Erik Satie was regarded as a pioneer of new French music, which sought to distance itself from the weight of Debussy and Wagner. Around him a circle gathered, six young composers who, while extremely different in style and vision, were united by their desire to explore new ground. Dubbed “Les Six,” these young Turks numbered only one woman in their ranks – Germaine Tailleferre. She showed her musical talents early, and despite the objections of her father, pursued a music career.
She wrote the Concertino for Harp and Orchestra in 1927. It was premiered by the Boston Symphony, and dedicated to American caricaturist Ralph Barton, whom Tailleferre had married two years earlier, and had settled with him in Manhattan. A steady pulse from the harp propels the other instruments in the opening movement, and from thereon, the harp dictates the musical material, introducing new themes or arpeggiating under the orchestral forces. A small orchestra is used to avoid overpowering the harp, and a taxing cadenza displays not only the solo instrument’s range of sounds, but also its range of moods. The movement ends very quietly, leading to an equally quiet beginning to the second movement, which begins with the harp alone, eventually joined by a flute (Elizabeth Koch) which shares a dominant role in the movement, even as the other instruments enter. This Lento (“slow”) movement paints an ethereal landscape, a sharp contrast to the merry dance which breaks out as the Rondo third movement begins. The harp presents the main subject, which is taken up by the orchestra. The trumpet (Robin Doyon) is given a featured place in this movement, full of mischief and revelry.
Program Notes © 2010 by D.T. Baker
Artist Information
William Eddins is in his fifth season as Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. A native of Buffalo, New York, he currently resides in Minneapolis with his lovely wife Jen, a clarinetist, and their two boys Raef (AKA Raefster; Munchers) and Riley (AKA Squeaky; The Imp; Dr. No).
Bill has been playing piano since he was five when his parents bought a Wurlitzer Grand piano at a garage sale. He started conducting during his sophomore year at the Eastman School of Music, and most of the '80s were spent trying to decide whether to pursue a career in conducting or piano. The quandary was answered for him when he realized that the life of a poor, starving pianist was for the birds. In 1989 Bill decided to study conducting with Dan Lewis at the University of Southern California, from whence he managed to land assistant conductor posts with the Chicago Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra in 1992.
Bill has many non-musical hobbies including: cooking, eating, discussing food, and planning dinner parties. He is also quite fond of biking, tennis, reading, and pinball. Unfortunately, due to pianistic paranoia his days in the martial arts are long over.
Bill is committed to bringing classical music to the greater public. He has started a podcast – Classical Connections – which is dedicated to exploring the history of classical music and highlights live chamber music performances in which Bill has taken part (check it out for yourself at Bill Eddins' website). He has also produced a solo piano CD – Bad Boys, Volume I – which features Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata and Albright's Nightmare Fantasy Rag. His latest recording, on the Naxos label, features American music for cello and orchestra.
Nora Bumanis, harpNora Bumanis has been Principal Harpist of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since 1980. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where she studied with Judy Loman. She also studied with Alice Chalifoux at the Salzedo Harp Colony in Camden, Maine and with Lynne Palmer in Seattle, Washington. In addition to her busy orchestral schedule, Ms. Bumanis is much in demand as a soloist, recitalist and teacher. She has performed with many of the leading Canadian symphony orchestras, including the Toronto Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Calgary Philharmonic. In addition she has performed with the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian Opera Company orchestras.
Nora Bumanis has given many recitals in North America, including Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Seattle and Mexico City. She is also in great demand as a chamber musician and has frequently been broadcast on CBC radio and television. Ms. Bumanis teaches at the University of Alberta and Alberta College Conservatory. In 1998, she was on the faculty of the International Banff Festival.
Nora Bumanis and Julia Shaw began their collaboration as Canada's only professional harp duo in 1988 when they were the principal harpists of the Edmonton Symphony and the Calgary Philharmonic orchestras. Their first CD, Dances For Two Harps, which was released in 1993, has proven to be enormously popular. A second CD was recorded in February of 1997 in the Glenn Gould Studio of the CBC's Broadcasting Centre in Toronto. Their latest recording features works of J.S. Bach arranged for two harps.
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