Barber, Copland, Dvořák

A very warm welcome to this summer’s Orchestral Concert as part of Live at No. 40, showcasing the Orchestra of Scottish Opera in a programme drawing from the American classical music tradition.

We are delighted that Andrew Gourlay, fresh from conducting the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at the BBC Proms 2022, makes his Company debut conducting The Orchestra of Scottish Opera tonight.

It is a pleasure to be able to perform for you today in the midst of the Company’s performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide – another classic of the American repertoire – which we hope you can catch at one of its remaining performances if you have not seen already.

Our evening starts with Samuel Barber’s haunting and well-loved Adagio for Strings. Mezzo-soprano and Scottish Opera Emerging Artist Lea Shaw joins us for the faith and fun of Aaron Copland’s orchestral Old American Songs before the Orchestra turns to the romance and innovation of his wonderful Appalachian Spring.

We conclude our concert with Dvořák’s rousing Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’, which the Czech composer wrote while working as the Director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City.

We would like to extend a special thank you to all of our supporters, in particular those in the Music Director’s Circle.
Enjoy the concert!

Jay Allen
Orchestra and Concerts Director, Scottish Opera
Stuart Stratford
Music Director, Scottish Opera

Adagio for Strings
Famous for use in films such as Platoon, video games such as Homeworld, and adverts such as Warburtons, Samuel Barber (1910-1981) initially wrote Adagio for Strings as the second movement of a string quartet before he adapted it into its final standalone form in 1936. He also made a version for unaccompanied choir, using the words of the Agnus Dei. This soul-searching piece has become an unofficial song of mourning, famously broadcast in memory of US Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy (who named Adagio for Strings as his favourite piece of music) and played live at the funeral of Albert Einstein. Leonard Bernstein, composer of Candide and friend of the Kennedys, was a noted interpreter; he led the New York Philharmonic in four performances of the piece after Barber’s death in 1981.

Old American Songs
‘Old’ and ‘American' can seem a mismatch, but in two sets of arrangements for voice and piano, Aaron Copland (1900-1990) selects ten songs from many rich cultures, traditions, and histories that made up 19th century American culture as people from all over the world came to the United States by choice, force, or chance. His inspiration comes from Christian revivalists, spiritual movements such as the Shakers, secular Anglo-American folk songs, political ditties, and the African-American diaspora. His topics span the universal: politics, religion, children, love, loss, and death are familiar across genres and continents.

English composer Benjamin Britten commissioned the first ‘book’ of songs from Copland; he and his partner, the tenor Peter Pears, premiered these five songs at Aldeburgh in 1950. At the premiere of the second book in 1958, Copland played the piano alongside the bass-baritone William Warfield. Copland himself later orchestrated the accompaniments of all ten songs, and it’s these orchestral version we hear tonight.

Three songs performed today – ‘Simple Gifts’, ‘Zion’s Walls’, and ‘At the River’ – explore different aspects of faith. The fourth, ‘I bought me a cat’, is a playful children’s tune. All are captivating mini-stories – smaller versions of opera’s familiar narratives and dramas.

See the next section for lyrics.

Appalachian Spring
After Copland created a ballet for Martha Graham in 1944, he adapted his original 13-instrument score for full orchestra; it became one of his most popular works in this form. The ballet tells the story of a preacher, a young couple, and an older woman surviving on the American frontier. Listeners will find a familiar melody in the seventh section of Appalachian Spring: the Shaker hymn ‘Simple Gifts’, also found in Old American Songs, underscores the newlyweds’ life on a farm. Keep an ear out for the large and varied percussion section. Even without words, Copland creates drama and movement that captures the excitement, uncertainty, and beauty of forging a new life.

Interval

Symphony No. 9, ‘From the New World’
Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) wrote his famous symphony in 1893 while working as Director of the National Conservatory of Music of America. It represents a bridge between European and American music traditions at the turn of the 20th century, drawing American melodies – notably African-American spirituals – into the European symphonic framework. One of the piece’s most recognisable segments is the second movement, Largo, centred around a plaintive cor anglais solo. Dvořák’s student Williams Arms Fisher later gave this melody lyrics, creating a new song ‘Goin’ Home’ in the American spiritual tradition. The inspiration clearly went both ways.

Dvořák’s lush writing shows off the virtuosic solo skills of section principals in The Orchestra of Scottish Opera.