October172010Concert

Broomfield Civic Orchestra

Broomfield, Colorado

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Our Last Concert

Our Guest Soloist: Rachel Segal

Philadelphia native Rachel Segal began her violin studies at age three, and has appeared as soloist with many Philadelphia area ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Segal received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan in the studio of Paul Kantor, and her Master of Music degree from The Yale School of Music in the studio of Sidney Harth. Other teachers have included Jascha Brodsky and Philadelphia Orchestra members Barbara Govatos and Jerome Wigler. In addition, her travels have taken her to five continents, performing as an orchestral and chamber musician.

Ms. Segal joined the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in 2003. Since 2005, she has served as Concertmaster of the Central City Opera Orchestra. She teaches privately and at Regis University, and participates regularly in outreach performances and residencies with the Quetzal Quartet.

More About the Program

Egmont Overture, Op. 84

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1787 drama Egmont is based on the life and death of Lamoral, Count of Egmont, a Flemish general, statesman and political activist executed in Brussels in 1548 by the governing Spanish authorities. Beethoven, whose 1805 opera Fidelio tells a similar story of oppression and liberation, was greatly attracted to Goethe’s treatment of these themes, and he eagerly accepted a commission to supply incidental music for Egmont’s first Viennese performances.

In addition to the overture, Beethoven wrote nine other movements, including entr’actes, songs, a “melodrama” (music to accompany spoken text), and, for a finale, a “Victory Symphony” referring to the Netherlanders’ eventual triumph over Spanish rule.

Goethe’s Egmont, with Beethoven’s music, was first performed in Vienna at the Burgtheater in June of 1810. Years later, Goethe wrote, “Beethoven has done wonders in matching music to text . . . he has followed my intentions with admirable genius.”

Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21

In 1792, Beethoven moved from his native Bonn to Vienna, where he intended to establish himself as a serious pianist and composer. Over the next several years, he wrote a number of piano sonatas, chamber works, and his first two piano concertos, but he didn’t feel ready to present a full symphony—the most sophisticated musical genre of the time—until 1800. One of Beethoven’s composition teachers was Franz Josef Haydn, who along with Mozart was considered a master of the form. Beethoven’s first effort at a symphony is in a way an homage to Haydn, but also shows a good deal of novel invention, energetic spirit, and sly playfulness (the first movement fools the listener by starting off in the “wrong” key, and the quick theme of the last movement is heard only after a confusingly hesitant introduction).

The Symphony No. 1 was first performed at a benefit concert in April of 1800 at the Burgtheater (where Egmont was to have its first Viennese production ten years later). It came at the end of a very long program that also included a Mozart symphony, two movements from Haydn’s Creation, Beethoven’s Op. 20 Septet for winds and strings, one of his piano concertos, and an interlude of spontaneous improvisation by the composer.

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

The Violin Concerto was first presented on December 23, 1806 in Vienna’s Theater-an-der-Wien, at a benefit concert for Beethoven’s young colleague Franz Clement. Clement was one of Europe’s leading violinists, and served as leader of the orchestra at this theater, where Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio had been premiéred the previous year. The Concerto’s first performance is said to have been sloppy and chaotic, as the composer had finished the solo part only just in time for Clement to sight-read a good part of it for the occasion. (As was customary at the time, the soloist inserted one of his own improvisations between the movements.) Like many of Beethoven’s works, the Concerto was not well received. No serious attention was paid to it until a revival in 1844, well after the composer’s death, when it was performed in London by the 12-year-old prodigy Joseph Joachim and an orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.

The Violin Concerto was initially met with puzzlement not only on account of the uneven first performance, but because its form was unlike anything familiar to contemporary listeners. Violin concertos of the time (and, indeed, well into the nineteenth century) were usually virtuoso showpieces with only incidental orchestral accompaniment. In contrast, Beethoven’s work is a study in expanded orchestral form--the first movement alone is longer than nearly any complete violin concerto of the time. Thematic material in all its movements is relatively simple, but is treated at length and with considerable emotional depth.

Broomfield Auditorium
# 3 Community Park Road
Broomfield, CO 80020

Last modified 04/25/2011 02:00:01 PM