Program Notes

GRANT PARK ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS
Carlos Kalmar Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Christopher Bell Chorus Director

Wednesday, July 14, 2021 at 6:30 p.m.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 1

Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus
Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Christopher Bell, chorus director
Katelyn Lee, soprano
Sarah Ponder, mezzo-soprano

Anna Clyne
Sound and Fury

Franz Joseph Haydn
Mass in G Major, Hob.XXII:6, Nicolai Mass

Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei

KATELYN LEE
SARAH PONDER
HOSS BROCK
DAN RICHARDSON

Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 1 in C Major, op. 21

Adagio molto - Allegro con brio
Andante cantabile con moto
Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace
Finale: Adagio - Allegro molto e vivace

Major support for this concert is generously provided by William Blair,
our 2021 Diverse American Voices Series Sponsor
and Walter E. Heller Foundation with a grant given
in memory of Alyce DeCosta.

Organ provided by Triune Music/S.B. Smith & Associates.

This concert is being broadcast live on 98.7WFMT and streamed live at wfmt.com.

ANNA CLYNE (b. 1980)
SOUND AND FURY (2019)
Scored for: pairs of woodwinds, horns, trumpets, percussion and strings
Performance time: 15 minutes
First Grant Park Orchestra performance

London-born composer Anna Clyne has garnered a reputation for introducing modern sounds into the choral landscape. Clyne is no stranger to Chicago, having served as composer-in-residence to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti. She is a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods,” according to a New York Times profile. Called “fearless” by National Public Radio, Clyne includes a variety of mediums, including dance, visuals, collaborations with filmmakers and musicians. The inclusion of her symphonic work Sound and Fury on this concert alongside the Beethoven Symphony No. 1 is a natural fit, considering she composed a trilogy of her own works inspired by the music of Beethoven. In 2020 she premiered all three to mark Beethoven’s 250th anniversary: Stride for string orchestra, based on Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique, Breathing Statues for solo cello and Shorthand for string quintet. Of Sound and Fury, the composer stated “My intention with Sound and Fury is to take the listener on a journey that is both invigorating—with ferocious string gestures that are flung around the orchestra—and reflective—with haunting melodies that emerge and recede.”

Clyne further draws inspiration from Shakespeare’s famous Macbeth soliloquy, as well as themes from Haydn’s 60th Symphony, Il distrato. Using a rich complement of strings, winds, percussion and electronic resources, the piece marries the traditional colors of the orchestra with the contemporary. Just as the title implies, the work opens with an explosion of activity. The strings mark the mood with a sense of urgency as the sections of the orchestra fill in the depth of the excitement. Intermittently, lyrical melodies emerge over the repeated themes of the percussion, bringing the energetic piece to its close.

FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)
NICOLAI MASS (1772)
Scored for: two oboes, bassoon, two horns, organ and strings Performance time: 27 minutes
First Grant Park Orchestra performance

Among the great composers of the classical period was Austrian Franz Joseph Haydn. His symphonies and chamber pieces have certainly formed the cornerstone of many concert programs. In particular, he is credited with further establishment of the style exhibited in the symphonies and string quartets of the time. His choral mass settings like the Lord Nelson Mass and his oratorios The Creation and The Seasons have all remained popular staples in the choral literature.

Often referred to as the Nicolaimesse or Missa Sancti Nicolai, this setting of the mass is believed to have been composed in 1772 with revisions in 1802. A traditional setting of the mass, the work was written for chorus, vocal soloists, two oboes, two horns, strings and organ, later adding trumpets and timpani. This sixth setting of the mass had great significance for Haydn: The bulk of his career was spent as musician and Kapellmeister in the court of the famously wealthy Esterházy family. This mass in particular was composed in celebration of the name day of his patron Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, who kept music central to palace life.

First performed close to the season of Advent, musically the work has a lilting quality. Because of this, it is often referred to as the 6/8 mass. In the beginning, you hear the vocal soloists prominently in the Kyrie solely with the string accompaniment, followed by the entrance of the choir shortly thereafter. There is a buoyant feeling created by the strings that lends itself to a sense of stately grandeur. Much of the heavy lifting in this work is centered around the vocal soloists, who are featured throughout. The listener will also find that many of the themes or melodies in the opening Kyrie return in the Agnus Dei, restated in the Dona Nobis Pacem with a feeling of peaceful resolve.

Translation

Soloists and Chorus

Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy.
Christe eleison.
Christ, have mercy.
Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy.

Soprano and Chorus

Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Glory be to God on high,
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
and on earth peace, good will towards men.
Laudamus te. Benedicimus te.
We praise thee, we bless thee,
Adoramus te. Glorificamus te.
we worship thee, we glorify thee,
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
we give thanks to thee for thy great glory,
Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.
Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe.
O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ;
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus. Tu solus Dominus.
For thou only art holy; thou only art the Lord;
Tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe.
thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost,
Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris.
art most high in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Amen.

Chorus

Credo in unum Deum,
I believe in one God,
Patrem omnipotentem,
the Father almighty,
factorem coeli et terrae,
Maker of heaven and earth,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium.
and of all things visible and invisible
Et in unum Dominum
And in one Lord,
Jesum Christum,
Jesus Christ,
Filium Dei unigenitum,
Only begotten Son of God,
Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula.
Begotten of his Father before all worlds.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine,
God of God, light of light,
Deum verum de Deo vero.
Very God of very God.
Genitum, non factum,
Begotten, not made,
consubstantialem Patri:
being of one substance with the Father:
per quem omnia facta sunt.
by whom all things were made.
Qui propter nos homines
Who for us men
et propter nostram salutem
and for our salvation
descendit de coelis.
came down from heaven.

Soloists

Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
ex Maria Virgine:
of the Virgin Mary:
Et homo factus est.
And was made man.
Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato:
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate:
passus, et sepultus est.
suffered, and was buried.

Chorus

Et resurrexit tertia die,
And the third day He rose again
secundum scripturas.
according to the scriptures.
Et ascendit in coelum:
And ascended into heaven,
sedet ad dexteram Patris.
and sitteth at the right hand of the Father
Et iterum venturus est
And He shall come again
cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos,
with glory to judge the living and the dead:
Cujus regni non erit finis.
His kingdom shall have no end.
Et in Spiritum sanctum,
And (I believe in) the Holy Ghost,
Dominum et vivificantem:
Lord and giver of life:
Qui ex Patre, Filioque procedit.
Who proceeds from the Father and Son.
Qui cum Patre, et Filio simul adoratur, et conglorificatur:
Who with the Father and Son together is worshipped and glorified:
Qui locutus est per Prophetas.
Who spoke by the Prophets.
Et unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam.
And in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
Confiteor unum baptisma
I acknowledge one baptism
in remisionem peccatorum.
for the remission of sins.
Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum
And I look for the resurrection of the dead
Et vitam venturi saeculi.
And the life of the world to come.
Amen.
Amen.

Chorus

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Holy, holy, holy
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Lord God of Hosts.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Osanna in excelsis.
Hosanna in the highest.

Soloists and Chorus

Benedictus qui venit
Blessed is he who comes
in nomine Domini.
in the name of the Lord.
Osanna in excelsis.
Hosanna in the highest.

Chorus

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
miserere nobis.
have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
miserere nobis.
have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world:

Soloists and Chorus

Dona nobis pacem.
Grant us peace.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN C MAJOR, OP. 21 (1800)
Scored for: pairs of woodwinds, horns, trumpets, timpani and strings
Performance time: 33 minutes
First Grant Park Orchestra performance: August 19, 1937, Rico Marcelli, conductor

Composer Ludwig van Beethoven had a pivotal place in musical history. He is often viewed as the ‘bridge’ between the classical and Romantic periods. Both qualities exhibited in each period can be observed in his music. At 29, he composed the Symphony No. 1 and dedicated it to his patron Baron Gottfried van Swieten. Swieten was a well-known Austrian diplomat, librarian, and government official. Because of his general love of music and his pursuits as an amateur musician, Swieten was also patron to Beethoven’s predecessors Haydn and Mozart. According to National Public Radio’s Christopher Gibbs, Beethoven’s First Symphony dates from his “Classical” era (in the style of Haydn and Mozart). It was finished just a year or two before the composer first complained of hearing loss in the famous “Heiligenstadt Testament,” a letter that he wrote to his brothers Carl and Johann in 1802.

Scored for a rich complement of strings, woodwinds, percussion and brass, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 premiered April 2, 1800, in Vienna. It is constructed in the traditional four-movement format: Adagio, Andante cantabile, Menuetto and Finale. The last movement opens with an Adagio, echoing the symphony’s slow introduction. Ironically, the beginning 12-bar opening of the symphony is often referred to as ‘a musical joke’ because of the dominant chord sequences that give the feeling of tonal instability. As the work concludes, Beethoven returns to the traditional sonata form, giving a feeling of harmonic stability, in many ways making a gentle nod to his symphonic predecessors.