Yannick and Mozart

March 18, 2021

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SEASON 2020-2021

The Philadelphia OrchestraThursday, March 18, at 8:00On the Digital Stage

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Patrick Williams FlutePhilippe Tondre OboeRicardo Morales ClarinetDaniel Matsukawa BassoonJennifer Montone Horn

Coleman Red Clay & Mississippi Delta, for wind quintet

Mozart Serenade in B-flat major, K. 361 (“Gran Partita”) I. Largo—Molto allegro II. Menuetto III. Adagio IV. Menuetto: Allegretto V. Romance: Adagio—Allegretto—Adagio VI. Tema con variazioni: Andante VII. Finale: Molto allegro

This program runs approximately 1 hour and will be performed without an intermission.

This concert is sponsored by Osagie and Losenge Imasogie.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM, and are repeated on Monday evenings at 7 PM on WRTI HD 2. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.

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OurWorld

Lead support for the Digital Stage is provided by: Claudia and Richard BalderstonElaine W. Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr.The CHG Charitable TrustThe Horace W. Goldsmith FoundationInnisfree FoundationGretchen and M. Roy JacksonNeal W. KrouseJohn H. McFadden and Lisa D. KabnickThe Andrew W. Mellon FoundationLeslie A. Miller and Richard B. WorleyRalph W. Muller and Beth B. JohnstonWilliam Penn FoundationPeter and Mari ShawDr. and Mrs. Joseph B. TownsendWaterman TrustConstance and Sankey WilliamsWyncote Foundation

The Philadelphia OrchestraYannick Nézet-Séguin Music Director Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair

Nathalie Stutzmann Principal Guest Conductor Designate

Gabriela Lena Frank Composer-in-Residence

Erina Yashima Assistant Conductor Lina Gonzalez-Granados Conducting Fellow

Frederick R. Haas Artistic Advisor Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ Experience

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First ViolinsDavid Kim, Concertmaster

Juliette Kang, First Associate Concertmaster Joseph and Marie Field Chair

Marc Rovetti, Assistant Concertmaster

Barbara Govatos Robert E. Mortensen Chair

Jonathan Beiler

Hirono Oka

Richard Amoroso Robert and Lynne Pollack Chair

Yayoi Numazawa

Jason DePue Larry A. Grika Chair

Jennifer Haas

Miyo Curnow

Elina Kalendarova

Daniel Han

Julia Li

William Polk

Mei Ching Huang

Second ViolinsKimberly Fisher, Principal Peter A. Benoliel Chair

Paul Roby, Associate Principal Sandra and David Marshall Chair

Dara Morales, Assistant Principal Anne M. Buxton Chair

Philip Kates

Davyd Booth

Paul Arnold Joseph Brodo Chair, given by Peter A. Benoliel

Dmitri Levin

Boris Balter

Amy Oshiro-Morales

Yu-Ting Chen

Jeoung-Yin Kim

Christine Lim

ViolasChoong-Jin Chang, Principal Ruth and A. Morris Williams Chair

Kirsten Johnson, Associate Principal

Kerri Ryan, Assistant Principal

Judy Geist

Renard Edwards

Anna Marie Ahn Petersen Piasecki Family Chair

David Nicastro

Burchard Tang

Che-Hung Chen

Rachel Ku

Marvin Moon

Meng Wang

CellosHai-Ye Ni, Principal

Priscilla Lee, Associate Principal

Yumi Kendall, Assistant Principal

Richard Harlow

Gloria dePasquale Orton P. and Noël S. Jackson Chair

Kathryn Picht Read

Robert Cafaro Volunteer Committees Chair

Ohad Bar-David

John Koen

Derek Barnes

Alex Veltman

BassesHarold Robinson, Principal Carole and Emilio Gravagno Chair

Joseph Conyers, Acting Associate Principal Tobey and Mark Dichter Chair

Nathaniel West, Acting Assistant Principal

David Fay

Duane Rosengard

Some members of the string sections voluntarily rotate seating on a periodic basis.

FlutesJeffrey Khaner, Principal Paul and Barbara Henkels Chair

Patrick Williams, Associate Principal Rachelle and Ronald Kaiserman Chair

Olivia Staton

Erica Peel, Piccolo

OboesPhilippe Tondre, Principal Samuel S. Fels Chair

Peter Smith, Associate Principal

Jonathan Blumenfeld Edwin Tuttle Chair

Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, English Horn Joanne T. Greenspun Chair

ClarinetsRicardo Morales, Principal Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Chair

Samuel Caviezel, Associate Principal Sarah and Frank Coulson Chair

Socrates Villegas

Paul R. Demers, Bass Clarinet Peter M. Joseph and Susan Rittenhouse Joseph Chair

BassoonsDaniel Matsukawa, Principal Richard M. Klein Chair

Mark Gigliotti, Co-Principal

Angela Anderson Smith

Holly Blake, Contrabassoon

HornsJennifer Montone, Principal Gray Charitable Trust Chair

Jeffrey Lang, Associate Principal Hannah L. and J. Welles Henderson Chair

Christopher Dwyer

Jeffry Kirschen

Ernesto Tovar Torres

Shelley Showers

TrumpetsDavid Bilger, Principal Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest Chair

Jeffrey Curnow, Associate Principal Gary and Ruthanne Schlarbaum Chair

Anthony Prisk

TrombonesNitzan Haroz, Principal Neubauer Family Foundation Chair

Matthew Vaughn, Co-Principal

Blair Bollinger, Bass Trombone Drs. Bong and Mi Wha Lee Chair

TubaCarol Jantsch, Principal Lyn and George M. Ross Chair

TimpaniDon S. Liuzzi, Principal Dwight V. Dowley Chair

Angela Zator Nelson, Associate Principal

PercussionChristopher Deviney, Principal

Angela Zator Nelson

Piano and CelestaKiyoko Takeuti

KeyboardsDavyd Booth

HarpElizabeth Hainen, Principal

LibrariansNicole Jordan, Principal

Steven K. Glanzmann

Stage PersonnelJames J. Sweeney, Jr., Manager

Dennis Moore, Jr.

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The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the world’s preeminent orchestras. It strives to share the transformative power of music with the widest possible audience, and to create joy, connection, and excitement through music in the Philadelphia region, across the country, and around the world. Through innovative programming, robust educational initiatives, and an ongoing commitment to the communities that it serves, the ensemble is on a path to create an expansive future for classical music, and to further the place of the arts in an open and democratic society.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is now in his ninth season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra. His connection to the ensemble’s musicians has been praised by both concertgoers and critics, and he is embraced by the musicians of the Orchestra, audiences, and the community.

Your Philadelphia Orchestra takes great pride in its hometown, performing for the people of Philadelphia year-round, from Verizon Hall to community centers, the Mann Center to Penn’s Landing, classrooms to hospitals, and over the airwaves and online. The Orchestra continues to discover new and inventive ways to nurture its relationship with loyal patrons.

SEASON 2020-2021

Jessica Griffin

THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

In March 2020, in response to the cancellation of concerts due the COVID-19 pandemic, the Orchestra launched the Virtual Philadelphia Orchestra, a portal hosting video and audio of performances, free, on its website and social media platforms. In September 2020 the Orchestra announced Our World NOW, its reimagined season of concerts filmed without audiences and presented on its Digital Stage. Our World NOW also includes free offerings: HearTOGETHER, a podcast series on racial and social justice; educational activities; and Our City, Your Orchestra, small ensemble performances from locations throughout the Philadelphia region.

The Philadelphia Orchestra continues the tradition of educational and community engagement for listeners of all ages. It launched its HEAR initiative in 2016 to become a major force for good in every community that it serves. HEAR is a portfolio of integrated initiatives that promotes Health, champions music Education, enables broad Access to Orchestra performances, and maximizes impact through Research. The Orchestra’s award-winning education and community initiatives engage over 50,000 students, families, and community members through programs such as PlayINs, side-by-sides, PopUP concerts, Free Neighborhood Concerts, School Concerts, sensory-friendly concerts, the School Partnership Program and School Ensemble Program, and All City Orchestra Fellowships.

Through concerts, tours, residencies, and recordings, the Orchestra is a global ambassador. It performs annually at Carnegie Hall, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. The Orchestra also has a rich history of touring, having first performed outside Philadelphia in the earliest days of its founding. It was the first American orchestra to perform in the People’s Republic of China in 1973, launching a now-five-decade commitment of people-to-people exchange.

The Orchestra also makes live recordings available on popular digital music services and as part of the Orchestra on Demand section of its website. Under Yannick’s leadership, the Orchestra returned to recording, with eight celebrated CDs on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. The Orchestra also reaches thousands of radio listeners with weekly broadcasts on WRTI-FM and SiriusXM.

For more information, please visit philorch.org.

SEASON 2020-2021 THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead The Philadelphia Orchestra through at least the 2025–26 season, a significant long-term commitment. Additionally, he became the third music director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 2018. Yannick, who holds the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Chair, is an inspired leader of The Philadelphia Orchestra. His intensely collaborative style, deeply rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called him “phenomenal,” adding that “the ensemble, famous for its glowing strings and homogenous richness, has never sounded better.”

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most thrilling talents of his generation. He has been artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000, and in 2017 he became an honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He was music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic from 2008 to 2018 (he is now honorary conductor) and was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic from 2008 to 2014. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s

SEASON 2020-2021 MUSIC DIRECTOR

Luke RatrayJessica Griffin

most revered ensembles and at many of the leading opera houses. Yannick signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 2018. Under his leadership The Philadelphia Orchestra returned to recording with eight CDs on that label. His upcoming recordings will include projects with the Philadelphians, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the Orchestre Métropolitain, with which he will also continue to record for ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick studied piano, conducting, composition, and chamber music at Montreal’s Conservatory of Music and continued his studies with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini; he also studied choral conducting with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada; an Officer of the Order of Montreal; Musical America’s 2016 Artist of the Year; and honorary doctorates from the University of Quebec, the Curtis Institute of Music, Westminster Choir College of Rider University, McGill University, the University of Montreal, and the University of Pennsylvania.

SEASON 2020-2021 MUSIC DIRECTOR

Todd Rosenberg

Patrick Williams was appointed associate principal flute of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2018 and holds the Rachelle and Ronald Kaiserman Chair. He was previously principal flute of the Louisiana Philharmonic and co-principal flute of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Nishinomiya, Japan.

He has also performed in the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Fort Worth, Princeton, and Curtis symphonies, and the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Sapporo. During the 2010 and 2011 seasons he was the Flute Fellowship recipient at the Aspen Music Festival. He currently serves on the faculty of Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and was an adjunct instructor at Xavier University of Louisiana and a clinician at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Loyola University New Orleans, and Louisiana State University. A Colorado native, Mr. Williams began studying the Suzuki flute method. After one year of study, he traveled to Nagano to perform with thousands of Suzuki students in a multicultural celebration during the 1998 Olympics. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy High School. At the Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, he pursued a double degree in flute performance and environmental studies. He received his performance degree at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Principal Oboe Philippe Tondre joined The Philadelphia Orchestra at the start of the 2020–21 season; he holds the Samuel S. Fels Chair. Born in Mulhouse, France, in 1989, he began studying oboe at age six at the Mulhouse National School of Music before attending the Conservatoire National

Supérieur de Musique de Paris. He has performed as a soloist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, the Geneva and Munich chamber orchestras, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, and the Osaka Philharmonic, among others. He made his debut in the Berlin Philharmonie in 2013 playing Martinů’s Oboe Concerto with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He is currently principal oboe of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the SWR Symphonieorchester, and the Budapest Festival, Mito Chamber, and Saito Kinen orchestras. During the 2016–17 season, he held the solo oboe chair at the Leipzig Gewandhaus and as a guest principal oboe has regularly performed

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with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. Since 2015 he is also a professor at the Musikhochschule Saarbrücken. He has recorded for BR-Klassik and is currently working with pianist Danae Dörken on three projects for the Klarthe and SWR Classic labels.

Ricardo Morales joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal clarinet in 2003 and made his solo debut with the Orchestra in 2004; he holds the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Chair. He previously served as principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He has been a featured soloist with the

Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Columbus, Memphis, and Flemish Radio symphonies, and the Seoul Philharmonic. He was also a featured soloist with the US Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” with which he recorded Jonathan Leshnoff’s Clarinet Concerto, a piece commissioned for him by The Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Morales has been asked to perform as principal clarinet with the New York and Berlin philharmonics and the Chicago Symphony. His debut solo recording, French Portraits, is available on Boston Records. His recent recordings include performances with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio; the Pacifica Quartet, which was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award; and the Mito Chamber Orchestra. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mr. Morales began his studies at the Escuela Libre de Musica along with his five siblings, who are all distinguished musicians. He currently serves on the faculty of Temple University and is visiting professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Daniel Matsukawa joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as principal bassoon in 2000; he holds the Richard M. Klein Chair. Born in Argentina to Japanese parents, he moved with his family to New York City at age three and began studying the bassoon at 13. He was a scholarship student of the pre-college

division of the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music and went on to study at Juilliard for two years before attending the Curtis Institute of Music. He has been a recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including a solo concerto debut in Carnegie Hall at age 18. Since then he has appeared as soloist with several ensembles, including The Philadelphia and New York String orchestras;

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the National, Curtis, and Sapporo symphonies; and the Auckland Philharmonic. Prior to his post in Philadelphia, he served as principal bassoon with the National, St. Louis, Virginia, and Memphis symphonies. Mr. Matsukawa is a faculty member of the Curtis Institute and Temple University’s Boyer College of Music. He also conducts regularly; his orchestral conducting debut took place in 2009 at the Pacific Music Festival. Since then he has been invited back to conduct every year, including a tour to other cities in Japan. He recently made his US professional debut conducting the Virginia Symphony.

As principal horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and an acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, Jennifer Montone (Gray Charitable Trust Chair) has been on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School since joining the Orchestra in 2006. Previously principal horn of the St. Louis

Symphony and associate principal horn of the Dallas Symphony, she was an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University and performer/faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She was third horn of the New Jersey Symphony, and she has performed as a guest artist with the Berlin and New York philharmonics and the Cleveland, Metropolitan Opera, Saint Paul Chamber, and Orpheus Chamber orchestras. She regularly appears as a soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, having made her solo debut in 2010. Her recording of the Penderecki Horn Concerto with the Warsaw National Philharmonic won a 2013 GRAMMY Award as “Best Classical Compendium.” Ms. Montone is a graduate of the Juilliard School. In May 2006 she was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. She is also the winner of the 1996 Paxman Young Horn Player of the Year Award in London. A native of Virginia, she was a fellow in the National Symphony’s Youth Fellowship Program.

Images: Pete Checchia, Nikolaj Lund, Jessica Griffin

SEASON 2020-2021 ARTISTS

When Valerie Coleman’s Umoja, Anthem for Unity, a Philadelphia Orchestra commission, launched the 2019–20 subscription season, it was first time they were performing a piece by a living African- American female composer. The next season, now amid the pandemic, the Orchestra commissioned another work from her to respond to these extraordinary times, honoring frontline workers. In June the Philadelphians premiered Seven O’Clock Shout virtually, the musicians filmed individually from their homes, and in September played the work together in person for the Opening Night of the 2020–21 season on the Digital Stage. On today’s concert, we hear an earlier composition, the lively Red Clay & Mississippi Delta, inspired by her mother’s family and the delta region from which they hail.

Coleman’s piece is scored for a woodwind quintet of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn (she is a virtuoso flutist herself). The concert concludes with Mozart’s most ambitious composition for wind ensemble, his magnificent Serenade in B-flat major, the so-called Gran Partita. Mozart’s early wind-ensemble pieces were primarily a form of pleasant background music. He gradually became more daring, using larger forces and requiring greater listener attention. The “Gran Partita,” scored for an impressive 13 players, represents the culmination of his wind scoring.

The Philadelphia Orchestra is the only orchestra in the world with three weekly broadcasts on SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall, Channel 76, on Mondays at 7 PM, Thursdays at 12 AM, and Saturdays at 4 PM.

SEASON 2020-2021 FRAMING THE PROGRAM

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1784Mozart“Gran Partita” SerenadeMusicSalieriLes DanaïdesLiteratureBeaumarchaisThe Marriage of FigaroArtGoyaDon Manuel de ZunigaHistoryTreaty of Constantinople

PARALLEL EVENTS

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Red Clay & Mississippi Delta Valerie Coleman Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1970 Now living in Miami

When The Philadelphia Orchestra opened its 2019–20 season with the world premiere of Valerie Coleman’s Umoja, Anthem for Unity, an Orchestra commission, Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer hailed it as “a terrific work” and “a powerhouse of emotional directness and bold orchestration.” He also asked, not unfairly, what had taken the Orchestra so long to program its first work by a living African-American female composer.

A Dynamic Composer with Varied Influences While the question, rife with historical complexity, demands ongoing dialog more than tidy platitudes, audiences may take heart that Coleman’s music has returned in such short order to the Orchestra’s offerings, with the world premiere of another commission, Seven O’Clock Shout in June 2020, and tonight’s Digital Stage performance of Red Clay & Mississippi Delta. In addition to manifesting this and other ensembles’ renewed efforts to amplify historically underrepresented musical voices, Coleman’s voice is moreover a uniquely dynamic one, thoroughly warranting the accolades she has amassed in recent years. She has been recognized as one of the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music by the Washington Post and in 2020 was named Classical Woman of the Year by Performance Today. Her music, as much an expression of her identity as is any composer’s, brings together classical, jazz, and other traditions, while often probing social and political themes. Umoja confronted, in Coleman’s words, “the clash of injustices, racism, and hate that threatens to gain a foothold in the world today.” And her inspiration for Seven O’Clock Shout was “the tireless frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the heartwarming ritual of evening serenades that brings people together amidst isolation to celebrate life and the sacrifices of heroes.”

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The “emotional directness” of Coleman’s music and her ear for “bold orchestration” evidenced by Umoja and Seven O’Clock Shout are as much on display in the short wind quintet Red Clay & Mississippi Delta. Coleman is also a virtuoso flutist and, in 1997 founded Imani Winds, an ensemble celebrated for its advocacy of living composers beyond the framework of the European tradition. Before her departure in 2018, she also functioned as the ensemble’s de facto resident composer and wrote Red Clay & Mississippi Delta for them in 2009.

Coleman states:

Red Clay is a short work that combined the traditional idea of musical scherzo with living in the South. It references the background of my mother’s side of the family that hails from the Mississippi delta region. From the juke joints and casino boats that line the Mississippi River, to the skin tone of kinfolk in that area: a dark skin that looks like it came directly from the red clay. The solo lines are instilled with personality, meant to capture the listener’s attention as they wail with “bluesy” riffs that are accompanied (“comped”) by the rest of the ensemble. The result is a virtuosic chamber work that merges classical technique and orchestration with the blues dialect and charm of the south.

A Closer Look The fluid writing for wind instruments in Red Clay & Mississippi Delta betrays a virtuoso’s intimate understanding of her instrument and, equally so, suggests Coleman’s trusting familiarity with her Imani colleagues’ abilities.

A wind quintet’s colorful palette of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn naturally conjures a feeling of dialog between distinct voices—arguably more so than it would for a homogeneous group of strings. Each instrument’s unique timbre immediately establishes its individuality within the ensemble. Moreover, instruments activated by breath inevitably evoke the inflection and cadence of speech. Red Clay & Mississippi Delta summons these qualities to evoke a spirit of lively conversation.

A buoyant opening clarinet solo—per the score’s instructions, to be “phrased like bebop”—is urged on by exclamations from the other instruments, like a gospel choir’s enthusiastic amens. Each

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voice takes subsequent solo turns: an effervescent outburst from the flute here, a horn line with a “jazzy lilt” there.

Accompanimental passages are no less characterful, as Coleman mixes colors with the deftness of a master painter. Clarinet, bassoon, and horn combine to croon mellow chords “like a southern drawl,” while playful runs in the high registers of the flute and oboe whip up a cool breeze. A low bassoon recitative is followed by finger snaps, pacing Red Clay toward its spirted final lap. The music slows for a moment: Oboe and bassoon issue a final “soulful” utterance before the work ends with a carefree wave.

—Patrick Castillo

Red Clay & Mississippi Delta was composed in 2009.

This performance on the Digital Stage is the first time the work has appeared on an Orchestra program.

The score calls for woodwind quintet: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn.

Performance time is approximately five minutes.

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Serenade in B-flat major (“Gran Partita”) Wolfgang Amadè Mozart Born in Salzburg, January 27, 1756 Died in Vienna, December 5, 1791

Many musicians and critics consider Mozart’s “Gran Partita” Serenade the greatest example of Harmoniemusik ever written. It was certainly the composer’s longest, grandest, and most ambitious engagement with this kind of music. Harmony, of course, is the term for tones sounding together simultaneously, and composers for centuries aspired to make beautiful harmony, even to imitate the “harmony of the spheres.”

In Mozart’s day, Harmoniemusik meant something much more specific: multi-movement works written for wind ensembles. As a teenager Mozart composed some such pieces, although they are not among his more ambitious efforts. These works were sometimes performed outdoors, associated with eating, military events, or court functions, and were more likely to serve the purpose of practical entertainment than an uplifting aesthetic one. Harmonie arrangements of popular pieces, especially of operas, were particularly common. Mozart even crafted a medley of tunes from his own Abduction from the Seralio, as did various other arrangers of that favorite opera and other ones.

The Vienna Wind Serenades Not long after Mozart broke out on his own in 1781, at last leaving behind his domineering father and oppressive Salzburg job to move to Vienna, he wrote three altogether more serious and exalted serenades for wind ensemble. The impetus seems to have been largely strategic. Vienna did not have the tradition of aristocratic Harmonie ensembles favored elsewhere, but Emperor Joseph II decided that should change. Mozart hoped his works would attract Imperial attention.

The make-up of wind groups is far more varied than it is for string ensembles, which blend together with greater ease. At their core, usually, are two French horns, supported by a pair of bassoons that play the fundamental bass notes. Against these anchoring instruments, analogous in some respects to the viola and cello of a string quartet, would be an additional pair of treble instruments, most often clarinets or oboes. Soon after arriving in Vienna, Mozart composed his Serenade in E-flat major, K. 375, for such a sextet (in this case with clarinets on top), and yet it turned out that the Emperor had grander plans, not for a wind sextet, but for an octet. Mozart duly added a pair of oboes to the E-flat Serenade and also wrote a new Octet in C minor, K. 388.

Breaking All Bounds The third of Mozart’s Vienna wind serenades broke all bounds: 13 instruments, seven movements, and nearly 50 minutes in length. One consequence of the Emperor’s interest in this type of music was the presence in Vienna of excellent musicians to play in his ensemble, while also performing in the orchestra of the Burgtheater, the principal court theater. The clarinetists in his employ were the Stadler brothers, and for the elder, Anton, Mozart wrote some of his greatest late works, including the Clarinet Trio, Quintet, and Concerto. The Serenade in B-flat major, K. 361, or rather four movements from it, was played at a concert given by Anton Stadler at the Burgtheater on March 23, 1784. One enthusiastic listener, Johann Friedrich Schink, commended both the piece and the expert performers: “At each instrument sat a master—Oh, what an effect it made—glorious and grand, excellent and sublime.” Mozart, by the way, could not attend the concert as he was performing elsewhere in Vienna that same night.

Although it is often assumed that Mozart wrote the piece specifically for this concert, recent studies of the type of music paper on which he composed indicate that it may date from some years earlier, perhaps 1781 or 1782. This finding has lent support to the report, previously viewed with some skepticism, that the Serenade was played at Mozart’s wedding. The name “gran Partitta” (sic) appears on the title page of the manuscript, but not in Mozart’s handwriting and does not seem to have authority with the composer.

The piece exceeds the scope of anything else Mozart wrote for winds. Two pairs of horns, in different keys to allow more harmonic

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variety, are supported not only by the pair of bassoons, but also by a lower instrument. Sometimes a contrabassoon provides this foundation, although that instrument was not yet in common use in Vienna. Mozart specified a string double bass and he marks pizzicato (to pluck the strings) at various points. For the treble instruments, Mozart goes beyond the pair of clarinets used in K. 375, or clarinets and oboes in K. 388, also including a pair of basset horns. (This is a type of bass clarinet, with “basset” keys to provide extra low notes. Mozart later used the instrument to great effect in The Magic Flute and Requiem.)

A Closer Look The first movement opens with an extended slow introduction (Largo), which immediately signals the seriousness of this piece and its symphonic proportions. The subsequent Molto allegro uses a theme adapted from an opera by the contemporary French composer François-André Philidor, a work Mozart might have heard while in Paris.

Then follows a Menuetto, the first of two such movements, in which Mozart revels in dynamic contrasts. Both minuets have two trio sections, which explore other moods in a typically spare and more soloistic fashion. A third-movement Adagio features the interplay of principal oboe, clarinet, and basset horn against a pulsating and repetitive rhythmic accompaniment. The second Menuetto (Allegretto) conveys a more dance-like character than the previous one. Once again, the minuet sections alternate with two trios to create an overall A-B-A-C-A structure.

A Romance (Adagio) appears as the fifth movement, which was a term Mozart used infrequently and that brings vocal music to mind. The movement explores contrasts between an uplifting E-flat-major opening section and a faster moving central part (Allegretto) in C minor, featuring a bubbling bassoon part. The sixth movement is a theme and variations (Andante), the last of which is a Ländler dance. The Finale: Molto allegro, a brief rondo form, is the fastest, loudest, and brightest movement and brings the composition to a happy conclusion, much in the spirit of a comic opera finale.

—Christopher H. Gibbs

Mozart probably composed the B-flat major Serenade sometime between 1783 and 1784.

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István Kertész was the conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra’s first performances of work, in February 1970. The only other complete performances of the Serenade by the Orchestra were in May 2002 with Wolfgang Sawallisch and in March 2014 with Herbert Blomstedt.

The score calls for an orchestra of two oboes, two clarinets, two basset horns, two bassoons, four horns, and double bass.

Performance time is approximately 50 minutes.

Program notes © 2021. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and/or Patrick Castillo.

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SEASON 2020-2021 MUSICAL TERMS

GENERAL TERMS

Chord: The simultaneous sounding of three or more tones

Harmonic: Pertaining to chords and to the theory and practice of harmony

Harmoniemusik: A term denoting a form of 18th-century chamber music almost exclusively for wind instruments

Harmony: The combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions

K.: Abbreviation for Köchel, the chronological list of all the works of Mozart made by Ludwig von Köchel

Ländler: A dance similar to a slow waltz

Minuet: A dance in triple time commonly used up to the beginning of the 19th century as the lightest movement of a symphony

Pizzicato: Plucked

Recitative: Declamatory singing, free in tempo and rhythm. Recitative has also sometimes been used to refer to parts of purely instrumental works that resemble vocal recitatives.

Romance: Originally a ballad, or popular tale in verse; now a title for epico-lyrical songs or of short instrumental pieces of sentimental or romantic nature, and without special form

Rondo: A form frequently used in symphonies and concertos for the final movement. It consists of a main section that alternates with a variety of contrasting sections (A-B-A-C-A etc.).

Scherzo: Literally “a joke.” Usually the third movement of symphonies and quartets that was introduced by Beethoven to replace the minuet. The scherzo is followed by a gentler section called a trio, after which the scherzo is repeated. Its characteristics are a rapid tempo, vigorous rhythm, and humorous contrasts.

Serenade: An instrumental composition written for a small ensemble and having characteristics of the suite and the sonata

Sonata: An instrumental composition in three or four extended movements contrasted in theme, tempo, and mood, usually for a solo instrument

Suite: During the Baroque period, an instrumental genre consisting of several movements in the same key, some or all of which were based on the forms and styles of dance music

Timbre: Tone color or tone quality

Trio: A division set between the first section of a minuet or scherzo and its repetition, and contrasting with it by a more tranquil movement and style

THE SPEED OF MUSIC (Tempo)

Adagio: Leisurely, slow Allegretto: A tempo between walking speed and fast Allegro: Bright, fast Andante: Walking speed Largo: Broad Menuetto: A minuet

TEMPO MODIFIERS

Molto: Very

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