UW Symphony: Strings Faculty Showcase

David Alexander Rahbee directs the UW Symphony and UW Strings faculty Saeunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Melia Watras, Rachel Lee Priday, Jordan Anderson, and Valerie Muzzolini in a program including the world premiere of a new work by violist/composer Melia Watras, and music by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Bottesini, Brahms, and Giuseppe Sammartini. 

Masks are recommended in all indoor spaces. Proof of vaccination remains a requirement for everyone 12 and over at Meany Hall and all ArtsUW Ticket Office events, including Meany Center, DXARTS, Dance Department, School of Drama, and School of Music. Individuals unable to be fully vaccinated, including people with a medical or religious exemption, must have proof of a negative provider-administered COVID-19 test (taken within 72 hours of the performance). UW staff will check for proof of vaccination and negative COVID tests at the doors as a condition of entry. Proof of negative test result must come from a test provider, a laboratory or a health care provider. Home or self-administered tests will not be accepted.  Details of these policies and procedures are at: https://artsevents.washington.edu/covid-protocols 

Program

University of Washington Symphony
Strings Faculty Showcase
David Alexander Rahbee, Daren Weissfisch, conductors

Classical Symphony, op.25 (Symphony No. 1)……Serge Prokofiev (1891-1953)
I. Allegro con brio
II. Larghetto
III. Gavotte: Non troppo allegro
IV. Finale: Molto vivace
 
A brazen butterfly alights (2021) …………………….…….Melia Watras (b. 1969)
Melia Watras, viola; Valerie Muzzolini, harp
Song: An Endless Flight, poem by Herbert Woodward Martin
Herbert Woodward Martin, recorded voice
 
Gran duo concertante………………….……….Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889)
Rachel Lee Priday, violin; Jordan Anderson, bass
In celebration of the composer’s 200th birthday
 
-Intermission- 
 
Pastorale, from Concerto grosso in G minor, op.5, no.6…………….Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750), orchd Giuseppe Martucci (1856-1909)

Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33…..Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello
 
Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 ….….. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
 Daren Weissfisch, conductor

Program Notes

Serge Prokofiev: Classical Symphony, op.25 (Symphony No. 1) 

Composed the year of the Russian Revolution in 1917, Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony is a look to the past but also perhaps a delivery of the past into the future. He was inspired by the desire to write a piece as if a classical composer like Mozart or Haydn were a contemporary of his, and thus the title Classical was given by Prokofiev himself. While he certainly achieved his goal, the symphony is also injected with enough of his own sensibilities such as dissonances, unexpected harmonies, and sharp melodies to make it something else entirely. It was also his first major work to be composed without a piano, as he felt that the orchestra sounded more natural without that particular aid. It was written according to the traditional movements of the Classical period: the first movement being a lively Allegro, the second a more lyrical Larghetto, a dance-like third movement (replacing the typical minuet with a courtship dance, the gavotte), and a rondo finale in a quick molto vivace. Prokofiev composed this work in the countryside near Petrograd, now named St. Petersberg, often while taking long walks.  – Katie Tchida

Melia Watras: A brazen butterfly alights

Melia Watras:  A brazen butterfly alights (2021)  takes its title from a line in the poem Song: An Endless Flight by Herbert Woodward Martin, poet extraordinaire whom I’m grateful to call a longtime family friend. Herb dedicated the work to me and my husband, Michael Jinsoo Lim, and, on the occasion of our wedding, included it in his memorable reading. My piece is an exploration of the different worlds I find myself in when hearing, reading and ruminating on this poem. The work is written in gratitude and dedicated to Herbert Woodward Martin, the fantastic harpist Valerie Muzzolini and expert conductor David Rahbee. Valerie’s generosity in sharing her knowledge of the harp was instrumental in the creation of the work, and I am always so excited to share the stage with this world-class performer. I am thankful to David for including A brazen butterfly alights on tonight’s program and providing it with its premiere.

Giovanni Bottesini: Gran duo concertante 

Although Botttesini was a bassist, he began his studies on the violin. His switch to bass was necessitated in order to gain a scholarship to attend the Milan Conservatory, where he studied with Luigi Rossi. He gained such success as a soloist that he became known as the “Paganini of the double bass”. Bottesini also frequently wrote for his own instrument, including other concerti and chamber works featuring the double bass. His Gran duo concertante, originally written for two basses, was arranged for bass and violin by Paganini’s only student Camillo Sivori. At the time talented violinists were much more common than bassists, and this move greatly expanded the piece’s capability for performance. Bottesini performed it with a number of well-known violinists including Sivori himself and, among others, Henry Wieniawski.  

Giuseppe Sammartini,: Pastorale, from Concerto grosso in G minor, op.5, no.6 (orchestrated by Giuseppe Martucci)

Giuseppe Sammartini in his time was regarded as both a great composer and a talented oboist, although slightly overshadowed as a composer by his younger brother Giovanni Battista. Both brothers were taught the oboe by their father, and found their success not in their home country but in London. Sammartini composed a plethora of instrumental works, often in what has come to be known as the rococo style. This style refers to a specific point in the transition between the Baroque and Classical eras, characterized by simple elegance, light and pleasant phrases, and frequent ornamentation. The title Pastorale is referring to a style of music invoking a rural scene, usually accompanied by a sustained note in a lower register and a simple melody. Sammartini ended up in the service of Frederick, the Prince of Wales, as his Music Master, and dedicated many of his works to him and his family. Giuseppe Martucci was a conductor, composer, pianist, and teacher. Unusual amongst his fellow 19th-century Italian composers, he wrote no operas, instead focusing on absolute music (music that is non-representational). He orchestrated this work in the late 19th century, including pairs of woodwinds that capture the pastoral sound in the expanded orchestra. 

Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33

When Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme was premiered in 1877, performed by William Fitzhagen, he was not in attendance, being at the time out of the country recovering from his failed marriage. Although the premiere was done according to Tchaikovsky’s original manuscript, the piece as it is commonly performed today is actually a result of significant changes from Fitzhagen. Those changes include the cutting and reordering of variations and adding detail to the solo part. Upon learning of the numerous revisions, Tchaikovsky was upset but ultimately let it lie, having reportedly said “The Devil take it! Let it stand as it is". Although the original piece has been fully reconstructed and was published in 1956, Fitzhagen’s version remains predominantly performed. Tchaikovsky was inspired by the rococo period, but the theme he wrote was an original in the rococo style rather than a borrowed theme.

Johannes Brahms: Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80

Johannes Brahms was never a student himself, but when he was twenty he was able to experience the life of one. Upon being fired from touring with the violinist Eduard Reményi after an unfortunate encounter with Franz Liszt, he stayed with the violinist Joseph Joachim (to whom he later would dedicate his Violin Concerto) at Göttingen. There he enjoyed many aspects of student life, including among other things the local student songs. Four years after his successful premiere of his first symphony, he was offered an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the University of Breslau. Though originally intending to simply write a thank you note he was convinced by Bernard Scholz, the music director at Breslau, to instead compose a piece. The melodies of this piece come from student songs (“Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus”, “Der Landesvater”, “Was kommt dort von der Höh”, and “Gaudeamus igitur”), and the piece itself was described by Brahms as “a very boisterous potpourri of student songs.”. Brahms conducted the premiere in January of 1881, according to some sources with the accompaniment of students singing along. – Katie Tchida

BIOGRAPHIES

The UW Symphony is the top orchestral ensemble on campus, performing major symphonic literature and presenting six to seven concerts per year (an average of two per quarter). The orchestra is made up of music majors and non majors alike. Seating auditions are held at the start of each academic year; seating rotates throughout the year. The ensemble is open to both undergrads and graduate students. Under the leadership of Dr. Rahbee since the fall of 2013, the UW Symphony has performed over 180 works, spanning from the early baroque through contemporary. The orchestra collaborates regularly with distinguished faculty soloists as well as with members of the Seattle Symphony and other local and national arts organizations, and performs annually with the combined university choirs. Performances are given in Gerlich Theater (formerly known as Meany Theater), and occasionally at Benaroya Hall. 

The UW Symphony has been nationally recognized with numerous awards from The American Prize non-profit competitions in the performing arts. Winner of the 2021 American Prize in orchestral performance (small program, college/university division), the orchestra has placed in the finals in the category of orchestral performance for each of the last three seasons, and in the category of orchestral programming for the past six seasons.