Giuseppe Verdi

Born Oct 9, 1813, Le Roncole (near Parma, Italy). Died Jan 27, 1901, Milan.

Overture to Nabucco

After a long apprenticeship in the provincial towns of Italy, the young Giuseppe Verdi finally reached Milan, experienced success in the production of his first opera, Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio, at La Scala in 1839, and with that success a commission for three more operas. Tragedy struck: added to the loss of his two children was the illness and death of his beloved wife, Margherita, in July 1840. Despite the composer’s emotional devastation, La Scala demanded that the commission of a comic opera for the fall season be fulfilled. Not surprisingly, the ensuing work was not a success and was withdrawn after only one performance; Verdi vowed to never compose music again. However, La Scala’s impresario persuaded Verdi, against his will, to take home a libretto for Nabucodonosor.

Despite his vow, Verdi felt compelled to set to music the dramatic conflict of the Hebrew slaves and their Babylonian captors. Following the triumphant premier of Nabucco at La Scala in March 1842, Va Pensiero, the chorus of the Hebrew slaves, was heard on the streets—overnight becoming a symbol of the Italian quest for liberty. One of Verdi’s great operatic innovations is the importance he gives the chorus. This results in making Nabucco not only a drama of people, but a drama of a people.

The overture, written at the last moment, is a dramatic assortment of themes taken from the opera, primarily choruses and themes trumpeting military exercises to come. Verdi’s stroke of genius, however, is the opening chorale on the lower brass, vividly symbolizing the steadfastness of the Hebrews in the face of Babylonian persecution.


Adapted from Linda Mack.

Frédéric Chopin

Born Mar 1, 1810, Zelazowa Wola, near Warsaw. Died Oct 17, 1849, Paris.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11
I. Allegro maestoso
II. Romance: Larghetto
III. Rondo: Vivace

Frédéric’s musical talent became apparent early on, and it was compared with the childhood genius of Mozart. Already at the age of 7, he was the author of two polonaises. His first professional piano lessons lasted from 1816 to 1822. From 1823 to 1826, Frédéric attended the Warsaw Lyceum where his father was one of the professors. He became well acquainted with the authentic folk music of the Polish plains, with its distinct tonality, richness of rhythms and dance vigor. In the autumn of 1826, Chopin began studying at the Warsaw School of Music.

In the autumn of 1831 he arrived in Paris, where his reputation as an artist grew rapidly. As a pianist, Chopin was ranked among the greatest artists of his epoch, such as Kalkbrenner, Liszt, Thalberg, and Herz, but, in contrast to them, he disliked public performances and appeared rarely and rather unwillingly.

With the author George Sand, Chopin spent the winter of 1838-1839 on the Spanish island of Majorca. There he became gravely ill and showed symptoms of tuberculosis. For many weeks, he remained so weak that he was unable to leave the house, but nonetheless continued to work intensively and composed a number of masterpieces: the series of 24 Preludes, the Polonaise in C minor, the Ballade in F major, and the Scherzo in C# minor.

Grievous personal experiences as well as the 1947 loss of a summer home where he composed intensely, had a devastating effect on Chopin's mental and physical state. He almost completely gave up composition, and from then to the end of his life wrote only a few miniatures. Fighting the ravages of tuberculosis, Chopin gave his last concert on 16 November 1848 in the Guildhall in London.

The E minor Concerto was begun a few weeks after Chopin's twentieth birthday and was finished by the fall of 1830. Something of the nationalistic fervor which fueled the Polish independence movement can be heard in its opening and closing movements. The grimly determined opening theme of the first movement, Allegro maestoso, has a decidedly heroic cast, while the contrasting second subject is an expressive cantabile melody, first heard in the solo piano, which clearly points the way to the composer's later Nocturnes. The second movement, which Chopin designated as a Romance, is introduced by a dozen hazy measures of muted strings followed the piano's hushed announcement of the principal theme.

The Concerto's Finale is a spirited rondo in the form of a highly stylized Krakowiak, a popular Polish dance said to have originated near the ancient city of Krakow. After each subsequent appearance of the playful rondo theme, the contrasting episodes become increasingly imaginative and technically demanding until the powerful concluding coda.

Adapted from Jim Svejda. Memphis Symphony Orchestra.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Born May 7, 1840, Votkinsk, Russia. Died Nov 6 1893, St. Petersburg.

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op.64
Andante – Allegro con anima
Andante cantabile
Valse: Allegro moderato
Andante maestoso – Allegro vivace

More than a decade passed between the time Tchaikovsky completed his fourth symphony and the time he wrote his fifth—years of insecurity and deep self-doubt for the composer. During much of this period, Tchaikovsky was filled with guilt over the termination of his brief and disastrous marriage, and beset by upheaval in almost every area of his professional and private life. It was not until 1885 and afterwards, with the enthusiastic admiration of the Czar, increased popularity of his works in Russia, and an enormously successful tour of Europe in 1887 that Tchaikovsky began to recover from this emotional maelstrom. The Fifth Symphony was composed in 1888 at the composer's summer retreat in Frolovskoe. He conducted the first performance in St. Petersburg on November 17, 1888.

It was not until the next year, following a superb performance in Hamburg, and amid glowing reports of its success elsewhere, that Tchaikovsky himself began to express some satisfaction with the work. Although the Fifth Symphony does not contain an explicit theme, it is apparent from the composer’s writings that both this work and the fourth symphony have Fate as their central idea.

The work begins with a slow statement of the “Fate” theme or motive that provides the dramatic underpinnings of the entire work. The main theme is then introduced by the clarinet and bassoon, followed by contrasting ideas in the strings. The music is expressive throughout, creating moods of yearning, sadness, and emotional turmoil.

The second movement presents one of Tchaikovsky's most beautiful and expressive melodies, a seductive and poignant theme begun by the horn and answered by the oboe and clarinet. The lyrical flow is halted by the motive, first announced midway through by the full orchestra over a fierce timpani roll, and once again just before the end.

Tchaikovsky's waltz is set in a three-part form. The main theme was inspired by a street melody he had heard some years earlier in Florence. The trio has a lighter character, dominated by a quick melody passed between the strings and woodwinds.
It concludes with a coda, which includes an ominous statement of the Fate motive by the clarinet and bassoon.

The finale opens with the motive, now in full harmony and in the major mode. The body of the movement then returns to the original E minor. The first group of themes are generally quite forceful, while the second group, dominated by solo woodwinds, seem more hesitant. The exposition finishes with the “Fate” motive reappearing throughout this movement and finally set in an extended, march-like coda. At the end, the main Allegro melody of the first movement returns, transformed, like the “Fate” motive, into something exultant and optimistic.

The score calls for three flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, and strings. Performance time is approximately forty-five minutes.

William Dawson