FIFTH SEASON, 1910-1911 Sixth Concert, Mar. 16th, 1911 TORO N~T~0 SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FRANK S. WELSMAN :: CONDUCTOR KATHLEEN PARLOW :: VIOLINIST ASSISTING ARTIST lVf ISS KATHLEEN PARLOW was born at Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She gave her first recital at Bechstein Hall, London, England, on March 23rd, 1905. On November 1st follow¬ ing she played with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Queen’s Hall, and in the same year had the honor of a Royal Command to play before Her Majesty the Queen. Programm e SIR EDWARD ELGAR, Prelude to “The Dream of Gerontius” PETER TSCHAIKOWSKY, Violin Concerto, D Major, Op. 35 I. Allegro Moderato. II. Andante III. Allegro vivacissimo WOLFGANG MOZART.Symphony, G. Minor I. Allegro molto II. Andante III. Menuetto; Trio IV. Finale; Allegro assai GOD SAVE THE KING NEW SCALE WILLIAMS PIANO USED Page Threi Programme Notes PRELUDE TO “THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS” . Sir Edward Elgar Born at Broadheath, June 2nd, 1857. “ / T V HE DREAM OF GERONTIUS” was written in 1900, after the University of Cambridge had conferred on the composer the honorary degree of Doctor of Music, and upon a request for him to compose a work sufficiently long for a morning’s performance at the Birmingham Festival, which was to take place in the same year. The Prelude gives out no less than ten themes, each of which holds an important place in the main part of the oratorio. The work itself is based upon Cardinal Newman’s poem of the same name, the theme of which is the dream of the dying Gerontius. of his soul’s passage to the unseen world, its reception by the angels, and the mysteries of that world. This poem had especially im¬ pressed the composer some years before as a fit subject for a great religious musical work, and was completed at this time from partly developed ideas. In 1902 renewed interest was awakened in the work by a performance of a German translation at the Lower Rhine Musical Festival at Diisseldorf, where Richard Strauss delivered a speech in which he proclaimed it a masterpiece, and eulogized Elgar to such an extent that “even the English musical public was moved by such an unheard of tribute from abroad,” and hastened to honour the prophet in his own country by repeating Gerontius at both the Sheffield and Worcester Festivals, where it was received with immense enthusiasm. During the next two years it was performed several times in London, and in 1903 at Westminster Cathedral; while Covent Garden was devoted for three entire days in March, 1904, to an “Elgar Festival,” at which his most important works were given. It was also performed in New York in 1904 by the Oratorio Society under Mr. Frank Damrosch, and also by the Page Foi Apollo Club of Chicago, and at the Cincinnati May Festival in 1906, was personally conducted by the composer. The work throughout is sincere, fine and noble, delicately graduated and exquisitely poetical, and is pronounced by leading authorities to be the most important oratorio of recent times, and worthy to rank with Dante’s Divine Comedy and Michael Angelo’s Last Judgment. The score is built up in truly Wagnerian style and contains no suggestion of the classical oratorio form. CONCERTO, D Major, for Violin, Op. 35. Peter Tschaikowsky Born at Votkinsk, Russia, May 7th, 1840; Died at St. Petersburg, Nov. 6th, 1893 I. Allegro moderato II. Andante III. Allegro vivacissimo npHIS concerto was composed in 1878 and dedicated to Leopold Auer, who, in spite of his great friendship for the composer, at once pronounced it impossible and refused to try to conquer its difficulties. It was afterwards dedicated to Adolph Brodsky, who gave its first performance in Vienna in 1881. The orchestral part of the concerto is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, kettledrums and strings. The first movement, Allegro moderato, D major, opens with brief preluding in strings and wood-wind,which, thematically,has no connection with what is to follow. The strings then suggest the first theme, and after a crescendo development the solo violin is introduced, and gives out the first theme, develops it and enters into passage work. The second theme, A major, is also given out by the solo instrument, which it also develops at some length and passes on to passage work. A free fantasie then follows, opening with the first theme, ff, as an orchestral tutti in A major, the solo violin then performing elaborate ornamental passages, after which an unaccompanied cadenza brings in the return of the first theme in D major. There is then a long coda. The second movement, Canzonetta: Andante, G minor, begins with introductory measures in wood-wind and horns after the style of a free instrumental ritornello, the song itself being sung by the solo violin. At the close of the first theme, flute and clarinet imitate the initial phrase; the violin sings the second theme in E flat major, and after extensive passage work the first theme returns with arpeggios by the clarinet. The wierd harmonies of the ritornello Page Six are again heard, interrupted by the solo violin, after which follows a short coda. The finale, Allegro vivacissimo, D major, is in the style of a rondo, and is based on two themes decidedly Russian in character. The first is introduced in A major by the solo violin, and after¬ wards played in F sharp minor by alternating oboe and clarinet. There are then sudden, restless shiftings ot tonality and strange harmonic progressions, which finally end in a deliriously tempes¬ tuous climax. Regarding the Russian element in this compostion, Tschaik- owsky says: “My melodies and harmonies of folk-song character come from the fact that I grew up in the country, and from my earliest childhood was impressed by the indescribable beauty of the Russian folk-music; also from this, that I love passionately the Russian character in all its expression; in short, I am a Russian in the fullest meaning of the word.” SYMPHONY, G Minor . . . . Wolfgang Mozart Bornat Salzburg Jan.27,1756 Died at Vienna, Dec. 5, 1791 I. Allegro molto II. Andante III. Menuetto; Trio IV. Finale; Allegro assai 1\/T OZART wrote his three greatest symphonies in 1788. The one in F flat is dated June 26th, the one in G minor July 25th, and the one in C with the fugue-finale, August 10th. The first movement, Allegro molto, G minor, begins at once with the principal theme and without the customary Adagio; the melody is sung by the first and second violins in octaves over a simple accompaniment in the other strings. The theme is sixteen measures long and ends on the dominant. The orchestra concludes it in four measures and the first eight measures of the theme are repeated by the strings with sustained harmonies in oboes and bassoons, after which there is a modulation to B flat major. The subsidiary theme is of an energetic, restless character. The second theme is in B flat major, and is of a plaintive nature. The first part is then repeated, and the free fantasia begins with the first theme, now in the remote key of F sharp minor. The develop¬ ment is long and elaborate. Especially noteworthy is the com¬ bination of the beginning of the first motive with the second half of the subsidiary theme, which is now played legato by the wood¬ wind; also the preparation for the repetition with the sudden entrance of the first theme; also the treatment of the first theme in imitation at the end. The second movement is an Andante, E flat major, also in the Sonata form, and is made up of short groups which are thrown from the instruments and betrays rather an agitated spirit. The chief theme is a melodic song, somewhat disconnected. It begins in the violas with a rhythmic figure, which is imitated by the second violins, then by the first. The true melody lies in the basses, and Page Eight in the repetition of the first eight measures is sung elegiacally by the first violins. The second theme is in B flat major, and it con¬ sists chiefly of passage-work, in which the fluttering figure of the accompaniment of the concluding period of the first theme assumes thematic importance. The free fantasia is short. Energetic modulations in chromatic ascension lead to a half-cadence, when the first rhythmic motive appears in the bassoons, accompanied by wood-wind instruments and figuration in the strings, which in turn leads to the repetition. The third movement, Menuetto: Allegro, G minor, is stern and contrapuntal and there is much stubborn syncopation which is noticeably incisive at the beginning of the second part. The trio in G major, is light and simple. The Finale: Allegro assai, G minor, begins in an earnest, almost passionate mood, which is maintained to the entrance of a second theme, cantabile, in B flat major, sung first by the strings, then by the wood-wind. In the repetition of this theme there is a characteristic and melancholy variation in the first violins. The free fantasia is an elaborate development of the first theme in imitative counterpoint. The third part is practically a repetition of the first, with the second theme in G minor instead of G major as might be expected. The Finale is a work of such marvellous skill that the listener is never oppressed by its intricacies. All is clear, beautiful, and full of life and energy from the opening phrase. Commentators have called attention to the fact that the first seven notes of the scherzo theme in Beethoven’s Fifth Symhony are identical with the corresponding notes of the first theme of this finale, save that the key is different. Page Nini The Orchestra FIRST VIOLIN F. E. Blachford, Concertmeister Mrs. B. Dreschler Adamson Roland Roberts Miss Lina Dreschler Adamson F. H. Grattan Miss Lena Hayes Z. Caplan Miss Norah Hayes Ernest Johnson Miss C. A. Rutley A. M. Glionna Jean Bovy SECOND VIOLIN L. Andrieux, Principal Percy Thomas Alfred Bruce Benedick Clarke Alfred Speil Eugene Storch J. Arthur Herman A. McBride A. B. Inkley Ernest G. Knaggs VIOLA F. Converse Smith, Principal A. Easter Smith August Andersen Fred L. Napolitano Robert G. Manson PICCOLO W. J. Robson OBOE Clifford Guise Oliver E. Woods M. Mirschnick ENGLISH HORN Oliver E. Woods CLARINET J. Dineen C. E. Wilkin BASS CLARINET J. Kelly BASSOON H. Crowther F. E. Dennis CONTRA BASSOON Clarence Woods FRENCH HORN George A. Stimm W. H. Thornton R. L. Jose Ernest Bridges VIOLONCELLO Dr. F. Nicolai, Principal Oswald Roberts . George Bruce H. S. Saunders Leo Smith, Mus. Bac. DOUBLE BASS C. Greenwood, Principal John B. Napolitano Robert Cochrane S. W. Smith L. F. Addison FLUTE H. H. Bradfield W. J. Robson D. F. Dineen TRUMPET A. J. Jones E. E. Farringer TROMBONE H. E. Hawe G. T. Blackwell R. E. Lee TUBA T. B. Jones TYMPANI Frank Clegg ACCESSORIES John Clegg M. Mirschnick Page Ten Librarian Percy Thomas FIFTH SEASON, 1910-1911 Seventh Concert, Apr. 20,1911 TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FRANK S. WELSMAN :: :: Conductor FRANCES ALDA :: SOPRANO ASSISTING ARTIST