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Music from Jean Sibelius and Dmitri Shostakovich featured at recent Masterworks Concert

Music by Jean Sibelius and Dmitri Shostakovich was featured in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic’s Masterworks Series concert on Jan. 18, in Purdue Fort Wayne’s Rhinehart Music Center. Music director Andrew Constantine conducted the orchestra.

The concert was originally scheduled to begin with a rarely-heard work by the British composer, teacher, and conductor Gustav Holst (1874-1934). His “Japanese Suite” was composed in 1915 for the Japanese dancer Michio Ito, who supplied most of the themes for the six-movement orchestral composition. The official premiere was in London’s Queen’s Hall on Sept. 1, 1919, with the composer conducting the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra. Unfortunately, this fascinating work was dropped from the actual program, possibly because of time constraints.

Instead, the concert actually began with music by the Finnish composer and conductor Jean Sibelius (1865-1957).

Jean Sibelius

Sibelius, who was an amateur violinist, composed his only violin concerto (in D minor, Opus 47) in 1903 and 1904, then revised it in 1905. We usually hear the 1905 version in concerts and recordings today, but the Sibelius family has occasionally granted permission for performances of the original 1904 version.

Premiering on Feb. 8, 1984 with Victor Novacek (1873-1914) as soloist and Sibelius himself conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. That performance was considered a “disaster,” which led Sibelius to revise the score. The revised version was premiered on Oct. 19, 1905, with Karel Halir as soloist and Richard Strauss (1864-1949) conducting the Berlin Court Orchestra. Since the concerto did not initially become a concert standard, it took later performances by Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987) to establish this very challenging work in the repertoire.

The violin soloist for the Philharmonic’s performance was Paul Huang (born 1990), who is from Taiwan and began his violin studies at 7. He earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Julliard School in New York City. He plays the 1742 “ex-Wieniawski” Guarneri del Gesu violin, on loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago. His style is not showy or dramatic; he has a straightforward, competent, and skilled approach to his playing.

The concerto begins with a soft, lyrical section in which shimmering strings undergird the soloist. There is a mysterious and distant quality early in the score, as if Sibelius was reflecting on Finland’s deep woods and numerous lakes. His music is also often inspired by Nordic mythology with a certain degree of sadness and uncertainty. Indeed, Sibelius’ music during this time was said to be extroverted (outgoing) and often direct in its deep romanticism. The Philharmonic strings provided strong support for Huang’s sensitive and delicate approach to the music.

Soon there is more intensity in the music and Constantine ensured that the musicians built up the drama of the score.

The winds provided some additional color as the movement continued and they were joined by the strong brass that Sibelius favors in much of his music. As the music intensifies, the solo writing becomes more demanding, requiring considerable effort from the violinist. Huang responded with more animation in his playing and his body language, without becoming overly emotional or exaggerated. The musicians played with greater intensity, too, as the musical drama unfolded. There is a very challenging cadenza that requires so much from the soloist and Huang played this with great precision and feeling.

Paul Huang

The second movement is song-like for the most part. This is very moving music that is slow and sustained. There are some intense moments and, in places, Sibelius has the orchestra play without the soloist. Constantine was able to get the musicians to play these interludes with considerable intensity.

The third movement is essentially a sustained march with the cellos acting as an ensemble of drums; this was an impressive achievement by the Philharmonic’s cellists. The violin solos are again quite intense and demanding; this gave Huang ample opportunities to show his skills as a true virtuoso. Sibelius builds up the emotion here, something he restrained from in his later works. There are moments of joy and triumph, too, and all of this was a part of the overall performance. Little wonder that Huang received a tremendous, sustained ovation; he didn’t play an encore, perhaps because the concerto was challenging and even exhausting, even for a gifted and still youthful soloist.

On March 5, 1953, many Russian composers and others must have been relieved when they learned of the passing of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Unfortunately, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) died the exact same day.

One composer who had twice been censured by the Soviet government, likely at Stalin’s request, was Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975).

Shostakovich had first been censured after Stalin attended a 1936 performance of Shostakovich’s opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” and walked out, reportedly upset over the music and the controversial storyline. For a time, Shostakovich feared he might be arrested at anytime and sent to Siberia, but this never happened. Shostakovich responded by composing his popular fifth symphony, which pleased the Soviet leaders. Then, in 1948, Shostakovich and a number of other Russian composers were “condemned” for not adhering the government’s policy of “socialist realism.” Once again, no action was taken against Shostakovich and he wrote some patriotic music in attempt to satisfy the government critics.

With the death of Stalin, creative freedom for Russian composers definitely improved, but they were all aware of the fickleness of their leaders and strived to be careful in what they wrote. At the time of Stalin’s death, Shostakovich had been working on a new symphony, which was his tenth. The symphony is in four movements and it is, for the most part, a very dramatic and powerful work for large orchestra. Many musicians have suspected that Shostakovich responded to the creative restrictions under Stalin, but he never actually admitted if there was any program in the symphony. Friends and colleagues believed that the symphony is definitely a reaction to what he and others experienced under Stalin’s dictatorship.

Shostakovich’s tenth symphony, which is primarily in E minor and is his Opus 93, was premiered on October 17, 1953, by the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Shostakovich’s friend Yevgeny Mravinsky, and it was a great success. Shostakovich said he wrote the symphony between July and October of 1953, but friends said he may have begun work on the score as early as 1946. By the way, his fourth symphony, which was composed in 1935 and 1936, was not premiered until Dec. 30, 1961. It is one of the most unique of Shostakovich’s fifteen symphonies because of its structure and use of dissonance, and he knew Stalin would hate it.

Dmitri Shostakovich

The tenth symphony begins with a sad and somber melody by the strings, which are gradually joined by the winds, and then brass. As with the Sibelius concerto, Shostakovich gradually builds up the intensity. There are moments of real anguish and sadness. Since Shostakovich couldn’t actually say or write publicly what he thought about that time, he resorted to musical expression, while trying to adhere to the government’s standards on socialist realism. To a few close friends, Shostakovich did confide his feelings, but he never elaborated on what happened. The book “Testimony” may or may not have been written by Shostakovich, but it likely reflects his thoughts on the troubled times in the Soviet Union. Indeed, Shostakovich’s son Maxim said the book is correct about Shostakovich’s feelings of life under Stalin. The challenge for the intense and lengthy first movement is its technical demands on the musicians; it is clearly a matter of playing more than just the notes and this was certainly true in the Philharmonic’s performance.

The second movement is a crazy and sarcastic scherzo that is also a march. The music is nasty and ominous. It is dominated by solos by a snare drum and a xylophone. It is increasingly ruthless and menacing with great use of the trombones. It is believed to be a depiction of Stalin himself and what he did to millions of Russians, especially in the 1930s. Although Shostakovich was not arrested in 1936, some of his friends “disappeared” during this time known as the Great Purge. The Philharmonic performance was excellent in depicting the nastiness that Shostakovich had depicted in this movement.

The third movement has the quality of a waltz. It is calmer and more hopeful. Notably, Shostakovich includes his musical signature, which is based on German musical notation. Thus, the signature is D-S-C-H, which is actually D, E-flat, C, and B. He uses these four notes repeatedly in both the third and fourth movements. The movement included a very fine solo by concertmaster Violetta Todorova. Shostakovich typically gave a number of solo opportunities for the principal players and these were uniformly performed excellently.

The fourth movement begins with cellos and, once again, we had strong ensemble playing by the Philharmonic cellists. After so many moments of drama and sadness, the music becomes more hopeful and more upbeat. Shostakovich clearly shifts from the prevailing minor keys to major (in this case, E major). The tempo shifts from a walking pace to a true allegro. Then, before the finale, Shostakovich has an essential recapitulation of the music, as if to recall that terrible times had existed and now, at long last, they are gone. The Philharmonic performance made a strong transition during these final movements, ultimately leading to a joyous and ecstatic ending.

The Philharmonic’s next Masterworks Series concert will be at Jan. 31, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rhinehart Music Center at Fort Wayne. Constantine and the Philharmonic will explore of “The Romance of Brahms” by performing Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Opus 90, and Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Opus 98. This is a continuation of a program last season that was devoted to the first and second symphonies of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).

Rob Nylund is the host of WBOI's Classical Connection every Saturday evening from 6 to 8 p.m.