David Alexander Rahbee leads the UW Symphony in a program of music by Schubert, Liszt, and Dvořák. Faculty pianist Cristina Valdés joins the orchestra for a performance of Liszt: Totentanz, S.126.
Program
Symphony in B minor, D. 759 “Unfinished”: Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante con moto
-Intermission-
The Water Goblin, op. 107: Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Totentanz, S.126: Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Cristina Valdés, piano
Program Notes
by Mica Weiland
Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Symphony in B Minor “Unfinished” (1822)
Franz Schubert was an Austrian composer renowned for his extensive and diverse oeuvre, which includes a substantial body of lieder (art songs), chamber music, symphonies, operas, incidental music, piano works, and sacred music.
Schubert’s Symphony in B Minor, commonly referred to as the “Unfinished” Symphony, was composed in 1822, just six years before his premature death at the age of 31. This work represents a notable shift toward a more expansive symphonic form compared to his earlier symphonies; the two completed movements alone span nearly thirty minutes, which is approximately the length of his previous symphonies in full. Evidence suggests that Schubert intended to develop the symphony further, as he drafted a scherzo for a potential third movement. Moreover, the Entr’acte from his incidental music for the play Rosamunde incorporates material believed to be originally intended for the symphony’s finale.
At the time of its composition, large-scale symphonies in minor keys were relatively rare. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor would not be completed until two years later, in 1824. This context may offer insight into Schubert’s reluctance or inability to complete the Unfinished Symphony. Following this work, he went on to compose the “Great” C Major Symphony, another large-scale composition but in a more familiar key.
The Unfinished Symphony consists of two complete movements. The first, set in a turbulent B minor, is marked by somber melodic lines, dramatic tremolo figures in the strings, and the distinctive use of the trombones’ dark timbre. The second movement, in a contrasting E major, adopts a lyrical, serenade-like character. Though predominantly tender and sentimental, it contains brief brooding passages that recall the atmosphere of the opening movement.
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904): The Water Goblin (1896)
Antonín Dvořák was a Czech composer born in 1841 in the Bohemian region, now part of the Czech Republic. As a child, he demonstrated exceptional talent on the violin, piano, and organ, and later became an accomplished violist. Over the course of his career, Dvořák produced a substantial body of work, including symphonies, chamber music, operas, and tone poems. His compositional style is often regarded as strongly nationalistic, drawing heavily on the folk melodies and rhythms of the Bohemian region.
Dvořák’s music was notably championed by Johannes Brahms, who played a significant role in securing a publisher for him. This endorsement greatly contributed to the enduring popularity of Dvořák’s music. By the time he began work on his series of tone poems, he recently returned from his directorship of the National Conservatory of Music in New York and had already completed his nine symphonies as well as the widely celebrated Cello Concerto. The Water Goblin is one of four tone poems that Dvořák composed based on the poetry collection Kytice by Karel Jaromír Erben. These tone poems are distinguished by their fantastical themes, mythical figures, and frequently tragic conclusions.
The Water Goblin narrates the story of a supernatural being who waits beside a tranquil lake in search of a bride for his forthcoming wedding. Nearby, a young girl lives with her mother. While washing laundry at the lake, the pier on which the girl stands collapses, the water overtakes her, and she is abducted by the goblin. They marry and have a child. As the girl sings a lullaby to the infant, the goblin grows angry. She pleads with him to allow her a visit to her mother on the shore. He consents under three strict conditions: she must not embrace a single soul, not even her mother; she must leave the child behind as a hostage; and she must return at the sound of the evening vesper bells.
As evening falls, the girl’s mother forbids her from returning, even when the bells begin to ring. Enraged, the goblin emerges from the lake and repeatedly knocks on their door, demanding that the girl fulfill her promise. The mother pleads with him to bring the child instead. Furious, the goblin departs in a storm, which culminates in a loud crash. When the mother opens the door, she discovers the child has been beheaded by the goblin, who then vanishes into the lake.
Dvořák conveys this story through carefully crafted musical themes in his tone poem. For the Austrian premiere, he prepared a letter to be included in the program notes, guiding the audience through the narrative. The themes described in his letter are as follows:
The piece begins with the Water Goblin, portrayed by the flutes, sitting alone by the lake.
We then meet a young girl, represented by the clarinet, and her mother, heard in the violins. The mother tells her daughter of a troubling dream and warns her not to go near the lake.
Ignoring her mother’s warning, the girl, voiced by the violins and oboes, approaches the lake. The pier collapses, and she falls into the water—right into the hands of the waiting Water Goblin.
The mood turns somber, capturing the sorrow and misery of the underwater world.
Now living beneath the surface, the girl sings a lullaby to her baby, tenderly expressed by the flute and oboe.
The Goblin suddenly interrupts, furious, and tells her to stop singing. A quarrel ensues, after which he agrees to let her visit her mother on land, but only if she returns before the evening vesper bells. She must not embrace anyone, and she must leave the baby behind as a hostage.
The girl returns to her mother, with their emotional reunion captured by the cellos and trombones.
A violent storm brews over the lake. As the church bells ring, the Goblin arrives and knocks repeatedly on the door. After being refused, he throws the child’s lifeless body against the door with a loud crash.
In the aftermath, the piccolo and flutes evoke the sound of croaking frogs. The mother mourns the events of that fateful day, with her grief expressed through the cor anglais and bass clarinet. Her anguish is echoed in the oboes, cellos, and basses, as the Water Goblin vanishes mysteriously into the depths of the lake.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886): Totentanz (1849)
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer and virtuoso pianist. A child prodigy, his innate affinity for the piano is evident throughout his entire body of work. The majority of his compositions were written for solo piano, including numerous transcriptions of standard orchestral repertoire, all of which are known for their formidable technical demands. His orchestral works, like his solo piano pieces, are characterized by vivid color and dramatic flair. One such composition, Totentanz (literally “Death Dance”) for piano and orchestra, combines diabolical virtuosity with a vivid orchestral color.
Totentanz is a set of variations on the “Dies Irae” theme, a Gregorian plainchant traditionally associated with the Mass for the Dead. This chant has appeared in many other musical works, notably in Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, a piece that Liszt both witnessed and found deeply inspiring. Much of Liszt’s music engages with macabre subject matter, reflecting his well-documented fascination with death. Totentanz exemplifies both his preoccupation with the morbid and his deep reverence for the piano. It is notable not only as a single-movement concerto but also for the intricate interplay between the solo piano and the orchestra. The piano writing is often percussive and conversational, responding to and engaging with the orchestral texture.
The work opens with the piano and timpani before introducing the plainchant theme. This theme is punctuated by three brief yet dynamic cadenzas, leading into the first variation, where the melody is passed between the bassoons, violas, and solo piano. The second variation is marked by its energetic character and elaborate piano flourishes. The third is rapid and militaristic in nature. The fourth variation features an extended solo cadenza for the piano, accompanied by a solemn clarinet line. The fifth variation adopts a baroque-inspired fugato, while the sixth presents a stately atmosphere, highlighted by a prominent horn part. The final section begins with another piano cadenza before launching into an allegro animato, which includes the eerie col legno technique in the strings, where the wood of the bow is struck against the strings. The piece concludes with the same furious energy with which it began.
University of Washington Symphony Orchestra
David Alexander Rahbee, Music Director and Conductor
Robert Stahly and Zach Banks, Assistant Conductors
Flute
Xinyi Liu, DMA Flute Performance
Xinyi Ma, DMA Flute Performance
Tracia Pan, BM Flute Performance/Statistics
Grace Playstead, MM Flute Performance
Peyton Ray, BM Flute Performance
Claire Wei, BM Flute Performance
Piccolo
Xinyi Liu, DMA Flute Performance
Peyton Ray, BM Flute Performance
Oboe
Max Bolen, Marine Biology
Minh-Thi Butler, BM Oboe Performance
Aika Ishizuki, Pre-science
English Horn
Max Bolen, Marine Biology
Clarinet
Cameron DeLuca, DMA Clarinet Performance
Ysanne Webb, DMA Clarinet Performance
Nick Zhang, BS Computer Science
Bass Clarinet
Cameron DeLuca, DMA Clarinet Performance
Bassoon
Levi Beck, BM Bassoon Performance
Alex Fraley, Music Education
Ryan Kapsandy, BM Bassoon Performance
Eric Shankland, BA Bassoon Performance
Contrabassoon
Eric Shankland, BA Bassoon Performance
Horn
Nicole Bogner, BM Horn Performance
Ethan Hicks, BM Horn Performance
Colin Laskarzewski, BS Physics
Elise Moe, BM Horn Performance
Sam Nutt, Molecular & Cellular Biology
Trumpet
Hans Faul, BM Trumpet Performance
Patrick Hunninghake, DMA Trumpet Performance
Antti Männistö, BS Physics
Drew Theran, MM Trumpet Performance
Trombone
Owen Fang, BM Trombone Performance
Neal Muppidi, BM Trombone Performance
Nathanael Wyttenbach, Music Composition
Bass Trombone
Miles Carter, BM Trombone Performance
Tuba
Adam Mtimet, DMA Tuba Performance
Chris Seay, DMA Tuba Performance
Timpani
Kaisho Barnhill, Music Education, Psychology
Percussion
Cyan Duong, Music Education
Devon Rafanelli, MM Percussion Performance
Tyler Smith, MM Percussion Performance
Regan Wong, Microbiology
Violin I
Grace Pandra, Violin Performance/Business Administration (Co-Concertmaster)
Hanu Nahm, Violin Performance/Intended Neuroscience (Co-Concertmaster)
David Teves-Tan, Pre-Sciences
Grace Hwang, BA Music, ECE
Michaela Klesse, Music
Yerin Hwang, Music
Justin Chae, Computer Science/Mathematics
Kieran Horowitz, Biology
Han Yeung, Political Science
Brandon Bailey, Computer Science
Nicole Chen, Informatics
Justene Li, Pre-Sciences
Vitaliy Duvalko, Engineering
Rosalia Feng, Statistics
Qurin Choi, Biochemistry
Danny Zhang, Pre-Sciences
Caleb Anderson, Mathematics
Lyle Deng, Computer Science
Violin II
Martessa Davis, MM Violin Performance (Principal)
Gustavo Berho, BM Music
Victoria Zhuang, Informatics and Geography: Data Science
Ethan Li, Engineering
Alice Leppert, Chemistry
Christina Kim, Pre-music
Cristina Kosilkina, BS Biochemistry
Ling Yang, Medical Anthropology and Global Health
Leo Li, Computer Science
Daniel Park, Biochemistry
Saraim Gebretsadik, Biochemistry
Amar Salmi, Biochemistry/CHID
Kate Everling, Applied Mathematics
Thea Higgins, MS Industrial Engineering
Mckinley Xia, Engineering
Lily Bingham, Engineering
Alessandra Fernandez, Pre-science
Freya Frahm, Computer Sciences/BM Piano Performance
Hailey Vaught, Business Administration
Viola
Flora Cummings, Viola Performance/Wildlife Conservation (Co-Principal)
Mica Weiland, Viola Performance (Co-Principal)
Emma Boyce, Music
Abigail Schidler, Computer Science/BA Music
Helen Young, MM Music Education
Annika Johnson, Earth and Space Sciences: Physics
Mia Grayson, Biochemistry
Lexi Scida, MA Music History
Jacob Dagen, History/Education
Henry Yang, Computer Science
Melia Golden, Biochemistry
Melany Nanayakkara, Material Science Engineering/Chemistry
Ryan Dakota Farris, DMA Orchestral Conducting
Violoncello
Cory Chen, BA in Music/Intended Neuroscience (Principal)
Sota Emura, BM Cello Performance
Ian Jung, Engineering
Loni Yin, Pre-Sciences
Nacho Tejeda, PhD Mathematics
Oliver Tiu, Biochemistry
Nathan Evans, BA Music History
Ben Gallafent, Pre-science
Jisung Lee, Computer Science
Katherine Kang, Human Centered Design & Engineering
Mimi Leung, Chemistry
Mina Wang, Informatics
Jayden Kang, Pre-business
Eli Kashman, Bioengineering
Lucy Finnell, Biochemistry
Bashir Abdel-Fattah, PhD Mathematics
Stephan Rivera, Engineering
Andrew Vu, Chemistry/Biochemistry/Math
Ally Wu, Electrical Engineering
Bass
Eddie Mospan, BM Bass Performance (Principal)
Nathan Eskridge, MM Bass Performance
Amelia Matsumoto, BM Bass Performance
Gabriella Kelley, English
Raiden Jones, Engineering
Biographies
David Alexander Rahbee is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Music in Seattle, where he is Director of Orchestral Activities and Chair of Orchestral Conducting. He is Music Director and Conductor of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra and founder of the UW Campus Philharmonia Orchestras. He is a recipient of the American-Austrian Foundation's 2003 Herbert von Karajan Fellowship for Young Conductors, the 2005 International Richard-Wagner-Verband Stipend, a fellowship the Acanthes Centre in Paris (2007), and is first prize winner in conducting from The American Prize national non-profit competitions in the performing arts for 2020. His work at UW has earned national recognition. In 2021 he was praised by The American Prize as “Consistently one of the most courageous and comprehensive [orchestral] programmers working in higher education in the U.S. today…”
Dr. Rahbee has appeared in concert with orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony, RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Kammerphilharmonie Berlin-Brandenburg, Guernsey Symphony Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony, National Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, Orchestre de la Francophonie, Orchesterakademie der Bochumer Symphoniker, the Dresden Hochschule orchestra, Grand Harmonie, the Boston New Music Initiative, Seattle Modern Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Loja (Ecuador), Savaria Symphony Orchestra (Hungary), Cool Opera of Norway (members of the Stavanger Symphony), Schönbrunner Schloss Orchester (Vienna), the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, the Kennett Symphony, and the Divertimento Ensemble of Milan. His collaborations with the Seattle Symphony include assistant conductor for the performance and recording of Ives’ Fourth Symphony, and as guest conductor for their Native Lands project and the North American premiere of Páll Ragnar Pallson's Quake with faculty cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir. He has collaborated with several prominent soloists such as Sarah Chang, Jon Kimura Parker, Yekwon Sunwoo, Glenn Dicterow and Jonathan Biss. He has been a guest rehearsal conductor for numerous young orchestras, such as the New England Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, The Symphony Orchestra of the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music at Chapman University, and the Vienna University of Technology orchestra. He has served on faculty of the Pierre Monteux School as Conducting Associate, has been resident conductor of the Atlantic Music Festival and guest conductor at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival.
Dr. Rahbee was an assistant at the Vienna State opera from 2002-2010. As part of his fellowship and residency at the 2003 Salzburg Festival, Dr. Rahbee was assistant conductor of the International Attergau Institute Orchestra, where he worked with members of the Vienna Philharmonic. He has been selected to actively participate in masterclasses with prominent conductors such as Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis, Jorma Panula, Zdeněk Mácal, Peter Eötvös, Zoltán Peskó and Helmut Rilling, and counts Nikolaus Harnoncourt to be among his most influential mentors. From 1997-2001, David Rahbee was founder and conductor of the Fidelio Chamber Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dr. Rahbeeʼs principal conducting teachers were Charles Bruck and Michael Jinbo at the Pierre Monteux School. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in violin and composition from Indiana University, a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory in orchestral conducting, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Montreal in orchestral conducting. He has also participated in post-graduate conducting classes at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Vienna. His brass arrangements are published by Warwick Music, and his articles on the music of Mahler have appeared in journals of the International Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft, among others.
In addition to being awarded first prize in conducting from The American Prize for 2020, he was awarded 2nd place in 2019. He has also placed among winners for five consecutive years for The American Prize Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award for Orchestral Programming, recognizing his programming with the UW Symphony and its affiliated ensembles for every season since he joined the faculty. The UWSO has also been a finalist in the category of orchestral performance in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Dr. Rahbee is co-editor of Daniels’ Orchestral Music (6thedition) and Daniels’ Orchestral Music Online (DOMO), the gold standard among conductors, orchestral administrators, orchestra librarians as well as other music professionals and students researching for orchestral programming.
Recently hailed by Fanfare Magazine as “excellent” and “clearly sensitive,” Cuban-American pianist Cristina Valdés is known for presenting innovative concerts with repertoire spanning over 300 years. A fierce advocate for new music, she has premiered countless works, including many written for her. She has performed across four continents and in venues such as Lincoln Center, Benaroya Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Roulette, Miller Theatre, Jordan Hall, and the Kennedy Center. Ms. Valdés has appeared both as a soloist and chamber musician at festivals worldwide including New Music in Miami, the Foro Internacional de Música Nueva in Mexico City, Brisbane Arts Festival, the Festival of Contemporary Music in El Salvador, Havana Contemporary Music Festival, and the Singapore Arts Festival.
An avid chamber musician and collaborator, Ms. Valdés has toured extensively with the Bang On a Can “All Stars”, and has performed with the Seattle Chamber Players, the Mabou Mines Theater Company, the Parsons Dance Company, and Antares. Her performances on both the Seattle Symphony’s Chamber Series and [UNTITLED] concerts have garnered critical acclaim, including her “knockout” (Seattle Times) performance of Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, and her “arrestingly eloquent performance” of Dutilleux’s Trois Preludes (Bernard Jacobson/MusicWeb International).
Ms. Valdés has appeared as concerto soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic, the Lake Union Civic Orchestra, Johns Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, the Binghamton Philharmonic, NOCCO, Philharmonia Northwest, the Eastman BroadBand, and the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. In 2015 she performed the piano solo part of the Ives 4th Symphony with the Seattle Symphony under the direction of Ludovic Morlot, which was later released on CD to critical acclaim and made Gramophone’s list of Top 10 Ives Recordings. Other recent recordings include Orlando Garcia’s From Darkness to Luminosity with the Málaga Philharmonic on the Toccata Classics label, and the world premiere recording of Kotoka Suzuki’s Shimmer, Tree | In Memoriam Jonathan Harvey. She can also be heard on the Albany, Newport Classics, Urtext, and Ideologic Organ labels.
In recent seasons she gave performances of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3, the world-premiere performance of Carlos Sanchez-Guttierez’s Short Stories for piano and string orchestra with the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and the US Premiere of Under Construction for solo piano and tape playback by Heiner Goebbels at Benaroya Hall. Last season included a wide variety of performances including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the premiere of her own composition Sketches of an Anniversary Prelude for trumpet and piano, and the premiere of composer Jeremy Jolley’s (contro-)clessidra IV for piano and electronics written especially for her.
Since 2006 she has made her home in Seattle where she has been an integral part of the new music scene. Ms. Valdés founded the SLAM Festival, a new music festival dedicated to the music of Latin-American composers, and is a core member of the Seattle Modern Orchestra - the only large chamber orchestra in the Pacific Northwest solely dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. With the Seattle Modern Orchestra, she has premiered works by Anahita Abbasi, Darius Jones, Wang Lu, Kaley Eaton, Jeremy Jolley, and Yigit Kolat, amongst others.
Ms. Valdés received a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from SUNY Stony Brook. While at Stony Brook, she was a recipient of the Thayer Minority Fellowship, a member of the Stony Brook Graduate Piano Trio, and a winner of the Concerto Competition. She is currently an artist-in-residence at the University of Washington, where she teaches piano and is the director of the UW Modern Music Ensemble.
Conductor Robert Stahly passionately furthers orchestral music through programs that reimagine classical works alongside engaging new and underperformed works. Robert made his debut conducting Copland’s “The Tender Land” in the Spring of 2023 at Colorado State University. He also conducted portions of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Symphony No. 33” in performance at the CCM Opera Bootcamp. Perpetually studying his craft, Robert additionally participated in conducting workshops at the Eastman School of Music, Bard College, University of Missouri Kansas City, and University of Colorado. His conducting teachers include Harold Farberman, Gianmaria Griglio, Mark Gibson, Apo Hsu, Neil Varon, Kevin Noe, Gary Lewis, Wes Kenney, and Dr. Rachel Waddell.
Robert is currently pursuing his doctorate in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Washington. He serves as conductor of the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra and is an assistant conductor for the University of Washington Symphony. In recent years Robert was the apprentice conductor for the Fort Collins Symphony, the conductor of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra String Ensemble and conductor of the Longmont Youth Symphony String Ensemble. Off of the podium he was the associate principal cellist with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra and was the cellist for the Elevation String Quartet. A conductor who is passionate about music education, Robert continues to visit school music programs to coach new generations of musicians and teachers. During his 13 years at Longmont High School Robert tripled the size of the orchestra program while at the same time increasing the quality and diversity of the ensembles. In 2016, he was recognized as one of the top six educators in the St. Vrain Valley School District with an “Encore Award” and in 2019 he was a finalist for “Teacher of the Year.” Robert received his Bachelor’s Degrees in Music Education, Tuba Performance, and a String Pedagogy Certificate from Colorado State University in 2008. In 2024 he completed a Master’s Degree in Instrumental Conducting at Colorado State University.
Zach Banks is a dedicated cellist, conductor, and educator, who resides in Seattle, Washington. What he loves most about the field of music are the abundant opportunities for collaboration, and the subsequent moments of growth for everyone involved - audiences, students, and performers alike.
As a cellist, he performs with numerous regional symphonies and chamber music festivals, and currently sits as principal cellist for the Oregon East Symphony. Outside of the concert hall, he has performed for many years in bluegrass folk bands, chamber music collectives, and has performed and recorded with various non-classical artists and recording studios throughout the Pacific Northwest.
From 2018 to 2025, Banks served as the music director of the Grande Ronde Symphony where he programmed and conducted classical, pops, and educational programs. Zach concurrently served as the education director and assistant conductor for the Oregon East Symphony, where in addition to conducting their youth orchestra, he maintained a multi-faceted music education initiative for young musicians in Eastern Oregon.
Banks, still carrying a passion for artistic growth, attended the Pierre Monteux School & Music Festival in 2022 and 2023 as a conducting fellow where he studied with renowned conductors such as Ludovic Morlot, Arthur Fagen, Hugh Wolf, Kenneth Kiesler, and Tiffany Lu. He is now attending the University of Washington to pursue a DMA in orchestral conducting with Dr. David Rahbee.
Banks received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance at Portland State University under the tutelage of Hamilton Cheifetz and Ken Selden.