EMERGING COLORS

Tlapalli, Tlahuilli (Color and Light) is based on an Aztec myth. It tells the story of how the world received its color. This tone poem concerto is inspired by the beautiful illustrations in Gerald McDermott’s book that retells this Aztec myth, Musicians of the Sun. In this tone poem concerto, the listener will be introduced to the Lord of the Night, King of the Gods. This King of the Gods explains how the world is gray and colorless. He sends Wind on an epic quest to rescue the musicians of the sun (depicted by the flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon) from the menacing sun (depicted by the tam tam). Once rescued, these musicians bring color and light to the once gray world. In the end, everyone sings in praise and unity: Sun, the Lord of the Night, and the Musicians of the Sun.

One of my teachers told me this story about young Haydn when I was growing up, but it took me until I was an adult to back it up with a scholarly source. The story is as follows:

At the time the court was building the Summer Palace at Schonbrunn, Haydn had to sing there with the church musicians in the Whitsuntide holidays. When not engaged in the church he joined the other boys, climbing the scaffolding and made considerable noise on the boards.

One day the boys suddenly perceived a lady; it was Maria Theresa herself, who at once ordered some one to drive away the noisy youngsters, and threaten them with a whipping if they were caught there again. On the very next day, urged on by his temerity, Haydn climbed the scaffolding alone, was caught and received the promised punishment which he deserved. Many years afterward, when Haydn was engaged in Prince Esterhazy’s service, the Empress came to Esterhaz. Haydn presented himself and offered his humble thanks for the punishment received on that occasion. He had to relate the whole story, which occasioned much merriment.

This anecdote comes from one of Haydn’s friends, the painter Albert Christoph Dies. I still can’t say for sure whether the story is true–Dies’s biography of Haydn has a decidedly artistic flair and is not necessarily the most accurate–but it fits with the picture I have of Haydn in my head. Just like the boy Haydn who climbed palace scaffolding to feel wind on his face and the adrenaline rush of almost being caught by his elders, his music is similarly on the hunt for joy and mischief.

The D Major Cello Concerto was written for the cellist Anton Kraft in 1783, a virtuosic solo cellist alive during a time when the cello was considered primarily an accompanimental instrument. Up until 1951, many actually attributed this work to Kraft himself because Haydn’s manuscript had gone missing and the writing is so cellistic. Though the work is certainly by Haydn, it is clearly a collaboration between cellist and composer. Many of the jokes that show up are specific to the cello; Haydn was clearly using the instrument as a means to experiment with color and timbre.

The first movement is full of markings quite rare for the time period. In one place, Haydn instructs the cellist to play high up on the G string, creating a sound that is dark and muted, thuddy. In another passage, he instructs the cellist to play in the stratosphere of the A string, marked flautino or “floating.” In another, the solo cello finishes a phrase as softly as possible before the orchestra comes in with a subito forte for two notes; then the orchestra and soloist return to piano for the beginning of the next phrase. I almost always think of Haydn as speaking music rather than singing music, but the second movement of this concerto seems to find a perfect balance between the two. It really is one of my favorite movements of all time–I hope you enjoy it! The concerto closes with a rondo built on the theme of a hunting song.

Finnish composer Jean Sibelius dedicated his life’s musical work to his native country. His music is saturated by the influence of Finland’s language, traditions, and extensive folklore. Perhaps more significantly, however, his works reveal a much more organic connection to his homeland. Sibelius drew creative energy from the very soil of Finland; its mountains, rivers, valleys, and forests all contributed to his inimitable musical language. Although Sibelius’ music ranges from hyperconservative to, at times, startlingly modern, his works always seem to germinate from the sights, sounds, and smells of the natural world.

Sibelius entered university in Helsinki as a law student, but it quickly became apparent that music was his calling. He initially endeavored to be a violinist, but his natural abilities on the instrument were far surpassed by his talents in composition and he began serious study as a composer first in Helsinki and later in Berlin and Vienna. When Sibelius embarked on his career as a composer in earnest, he found immediate success in 1892 with his tone poem Kullervo, the first of many such works inspired by the legendary Finnish epic, the Kalevala. The following year, he composed a set of piano Impromptus, Opus 5, and these were the first to be published among many short piano works Sibelius composed throughout his career. Sibelius biographer Guy Rickards called these “one of [Sibelius’] most charming sets of piano pieces,” and the collection has remained exceedingly popular with both professional and amateur pianists alike. The Fifth Impromptu is especially regarded as a miniature masterpiece and is firmly established in the repertoire of most Finnish pianists.

Sibelius did not compose any new music during the last twenty-five years of his life, yet he arranged several of his piano works for orchestra and often revisited other music he had composed many years prior. His Impromptu for String Orchestra is one such piece and cleverly combines the fifth and sixth piano pieces from the Opus 5 set, in E minor and E major respectively. The outer sections feature the noble and lyrical lines of the Fifth Impromptu, while the gentle waltz feel of the Sixth Impromptu serves beautifully as the central “trio” section of this creative synthesis. The music of the Sixth Impromptu was also used in Sibelius’ Melodrama from ‘Svartsjukans nätter’ (‘Nights of Jealousy’), where it accompanies the text “if you once stood, shrouded in the misty haze, on the hilltop, in the spring morning’s embrace….”

Parisian-born Frenchman Camille Saint-Saëns, despite an early childhood marred by the death of his father and frequent bouts of tuberculosis, began his musical studies at the age of 3 and quickly became renowned as one of history’s greatest piano prodigies. His mother, not wanting him to become too famous at too young an age, delayed his concerto debut until he was 10 years old. Always performing from memory, an unusual feat at the time, he precociously announced to his audience that for the encore they could elect to hear any one of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. He entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of 13, studying organ and composition, and earned his premier prix in 1851. By 1857, aged only 22, he was appointed organist at La Madeleine. After hearing him improvise there, Franz Liszt declared that Saint-Saëns was the greatest organist in the world..

The Suite for Orchestra in D, Op. 49 was composed in 1863 as a work for harmonium - a small, organ-like instrument with foot-operated bellows that push air through metal reeds. Having been invented in 1840, the harmonium was still relatively new and was very popular in France. Like the piano, the harmonium was perceived as something of a “home orchestra,” making Saint-Saëns’ suite a natural candidate for orchestration, which the composer completed in 1869. The movements of the Suite are loosely modeled on the dances of French Baroque suites à la Rameau and Bach, and long drones, a vestige of the work’s harmonium roots, give it a rustic, pastoral feel.

The early 1860s were a contented, uncomplicated time in Saint-Saëns’ often tragic life. Despite his young age, he was enjoying a well-established reputation and prestigious positions, and in his personal life he was happily beginning what would be his lifelong mentorship of Gabriel Fauré. Saint-Saëns tranquility and joy are on full display in this music - it is uncomplicated, a celebration of beautiful lines and colors with nothing to prove. May we all carry this feeling with us as we emerge from our time together back into the world.