Program Notes

The Overture to the Barber of Seville is perhaps one of the best known works in the orchestral repertoire, performed regularly since its composition. Written in 1816 by Giacomo Rossini (1792-1868), it opens a regularly performed comic opera though none of the themes of the overture are found in the opera itself. Rossini is believed to have composed The Barber of Seville in a matter of weeks, drawing from themes from his own previous works to compose the overture. Despite its speedy composition, the work represents the pinnacle of the opera buffa genre of which Rossini is considered a master. Modern audiences will likely also recognize the overture from its use in a classic Looney Tunes episode, featuring Bugs Bunny as a literal barber and Elmer Fud as his unwitting client.

Besides orchestrating the works of others, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a noted composer and pianist in his own right. In contrast to Mussorgsky’s lack of advanced musical education, Ravel studied under the sometimes rigid French academic tradition. While Ravel’s works are not strictly part of the impressionist movement in French music, he was influenced by Claude Debussy and is often grouped with other impressionist composers. This is, in part, because of the rejection of innovations in art and music associated with impressionism by the French academy. In addition to other French composers, Ravel also was influenced by jazz and atonality, especially as the 20th Century progressed. Though popular as a pianist, orchestrator, and composer, Ravel was never fully celebrated by the more mainstream forces of French classical music.

Perhaps his most famous and oft-performed composition, Bolero shows Ravel’s mastery of orchestration. Unlike orchestral works that develop multiple musical themes across predictable structures with modulations in key, Bolero is a repetition of the same melody with no changes in key signature. All of the development of the piece comes from the different groupings of instruments and the continuous crescendo. Towards the end of the piece, the audience will hear the influence of jazz and atonality in dense harmonies, especially in the string section.  Though a popular piece during his life and today, Ravel considered Bolero to be an unserious work and was seemingly surprised at its popularity.

Dmitri Shostakovich’s (1906-1975) Festive Overture was composed in 1954 to celebrate the anniversary of the October Revolution. Shostakovich’s career in the Soviet Union had faced numerous political challenges, including two official denouncements of his music by the Community Party for ideological reasons. However, after Stalin’s death in 1953 Shostakovich began to regain popular favor. At the time of Festive Overture’s last-minute commissioning, he was serving as a consultant for the Bolshoi Theatre. Despite being composed in a matter of days, the piece was immediately well received and was performed repeatedly for later anniversaries. The piece calls for a large ensemble with extra brass personnel, in addition to woodwinds, strings, and percussion. It incorporates soaring brass fanfares with perpetually spinning melodies in the woodwinds and strings. It has remained a popular part of the orchestra repertoire for youth orchestras and professional ensembles alike.

Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881) originally composed Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) for piano after attending a posthumous exhibition of artwork by Viktor Hartmann. The two men were friends and had likely met several years earlier. Both were seeking through their respective art to develop a style that was uniquely Russian rather than heavily influenced by Western European artistic tastes. Mussorgsky is considered a part of “The Five,” a group of Russian nationalist composers in the late 1800’s who helped to birth a new era of uniquely Russian classical music. The audience can see and hear the influence of folk life and lore in the titles and musical settings of movements such a “Bydlo” which depicts an ox pulling a cart, “Gnomus” depicting a gnome scampering along, and “Baba Yaga” based on the folk tale of a witch. Mussorgsky’s own walking from picture to picture is denoted by a recurring theme titled “promenade.” The final two movements of the piece, “Baba Yaga” and “The Great Gates at Kiev” are perhaps the most well known and commonly performed movements. Listen for the “Promenade” theme to return in the final movement with an expanded brass section as it evokes the experience of walking through grandiose city gates.

Though written for piano in 1874, it was not until 1922 that the version of Pictures at an Exhibition performed today was orchestrated for full symphony orchestra. Because Mussorgsky lacked robust formal musical training (as did many members of “The Five”), many of his pieces were orchestrated by other composers. Maurice Ravel set about the task of translating the piano themes for all the instruments of the orchestra, adding musical color and contrast.  This version of Pictures marries Mussorgsky’s melodic descriptions of uniquely Russian themes with Ravel’s creative tone colors achieved through his mastery of orchestration. This version was commissioned by famous conductor Serge Koussevitsky and premiered in Paris and later recorded by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.