All-American New York Philharmonic New Year’s Eve 2009data.instantencore.com/.../03292010_allamericannewyearseve2009.pdf · New Year’s Eve 2009 ... tions of the Appalachian Spring

New York Philharmonic

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New York Philharmonic Alan Gilbert, Music Director

All-American New Year’s Eve 2009Thomas Hampson, baritone

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The 2009–10 season — Alan Gilbert’s first as Music Director of the Philharmonic — introduces his vision for the Orchestra, one that both builds on its rich legacy and looks to the future and reflects the diver-sity of his interests. He sees the Orchestra as a place that both celebrates the great-est of the classical repertoire and nurtures today’s composers and tomorrow’s music. The season’s programming reflects his belief in the importance of artistic collabo-ration, his commitment to raising audience awareness and understanding of music, and his interest in making the Philharmon-ic a destination for all.

“I’d like to develop a special kind of rapport and trust with our audience,” Mr. Gilbert says. “The kind of belief that would make them feel comfortable hearing anything we program simply because we programmed it. Looking ahead, I hope my performances with the Orchestra will consist of our tightly combined human chemistry, a clear persona that is both identifiable and enjoyable.”

About This SeriesIn Alan Gilbert: The Inaugural Season, the New York Philharmonic breaks new ground by being the first orchestra to offer a season’s worth of recorded music for download. Offered exclusively through iTunes, this series brings the excitement of Alan Gilbert’s first season to an interna-tional audience.

The concert you have purchased is one of 30 available through the iTunes Pass, which comprises new music (including New York Philharmonic commissions) and magnificent selections from the orches-tral repertoire, performed by many of the world’s top artists and conductors. The subscrip tion also features bonus content, such as Alan Gilbert’s onstage com-mentaries, and exclusive extras, including additional performances, encores, and lectures.

For more information about the series, visit nyphil.org/itunes.

Alan Gilbert: The Inaugural Season

Executive Producer: Vince Ford

Producers: Lawrence Rock and Mark Travis

Recording and Mastering Engineer: Lawrence Rock

Performance photos: Chris Lee

Alan Gilbert portrait: Hayley Sparks

Appalachian Spring Suite by Aaron Copland © Copyright 1945 by The Aaron Copland Fund for Music,

Inc. Copyright renewed. Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., Sole Licensee.

Old American Songs Set 1 by Aaron Copland © Copyright 1950 by The Aaron Copland Fund for

Music, Inc. Copyright renewed. Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., Sole Licensee.

Old American Songs Set 2 by Aaron Copland © Copyright 1954 by The Aaron Copland Fund for

Music, Inc. Copyright renewed. Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., Sole Licensee.

Major funding for this recording is provided to the New York Philharmonic by Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser.

Thomas Hampson is The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence.

Programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural

Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Instruments made possible, in part, by The Richard S. and Karen LeFrak Endowment Fund.

Steinway is the Official Piano of the New York Philharmonic and Avery Fisher Hall.

New York Philharmonic

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New York Philharmonic

Alan Gilbert, ConductorThomas Hampson, Baritone

Recorded live December 31, 2009,Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

COPLAND (1900–90) Appalachian Spring, Suite for Orchestra (1943–44, arr. 1945) 24:27

COPLAND Selections from Old American Songs, First and Second Sets (1950/52, orch. 1954/57) 14:03The Dodger 2:15

Simple Gifts 1:57

The Little Horses 2:45

The Golden Willow Tree 3:46

The Boatmen’s Dance 3:20

THOMAS HAMPSON

PORTER (1891–64) Selections from Cole Porter’s Musicals 20:49“Night and Day” (from Gay Divorce,

arr. Robert Russell Bennett; 1932) 4:41

“Who Said Gay Paree?” (from Can-Can; 1953) 3:22

“Where Is the Life that Late I Led?” (from Kiss Me, Kate,

arr. R. R. Bennett; 1948) 5:03

“In the Still of the Night” (from Rosalie, arr. R. R. Bennett; 1937) 3:46

“Begin the Beguine” (from Jubilee, arr. Philip Lang; 1935) 3:57

THOMAS HAMPSON

GERSHWIN (1898–1937)

An American in Paris (1928) 18:29

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Notes on the ProgramBy James M. Keller, Program Annotator

Appalachian Spring, Suite for OrchestraSelections from Old American Songs, First and Second SetsAaron Copland

Few nights in the history of the arts in America can rival October 30, 1944, when the ballet Appalachian Spring was premiered at the Library of Congress. That the music was by Aaron Copland and the choreography by Martha Graham speaks of the level of creativity that was put before the audience. Copland had already won a place in the hearts of bal-letomanes through his Wild West ballets Billy the Kid (1938) and Rodeo (1942), and Graham’s name had become synony-mous with the new direction of modern dance. But others involved in the project were as eminent in their own ways. Erick Hawkins and Merce Cunningham, who shared the stage with Graham in the per-formance, both would go on to lead their own dance companies to prominence; Isamu Noguchi, who designed the sets, was a distinguished artist who is remem-bered for his sculpture and public works. The nuts-and-bolts side of the production was starry, too, involving, principally, Mrs. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the doyenne of Washington’s cultural patrons, who commissioned the ballet, and Dr. Harold Spivacke, head of the Music Division of the Library of Congress, who patiently coached the masterpiece through its extended labor.

Copland and Graham had flirted with col-laborating as early as 1941, when Graham was envisioning a ballet that might be de-scribed as Medea set in New England. When Copland didn’t evince much enthusiasm, Graham’s thoughts turned instead to some-thing imbued with the gentle spirit that had made such an impact in Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play, Our Town. This sentiment would become the emotional heart of Appalachian Spring. Copland reported that the first script he received from Graham began: “This is a legend of American living. It is like the bone structure, the inner frame that holds together a people.” Such a vague approach was not atypical of Graham’s method, and, although it vexed many of the composers with whom she worked, it appears not to have rattled Copland, who diplomatically called his score-in-progress simply Ballet for Martha, and wisely allowed the project to develop considerably in Graham’s imagination before investing much time in actually committing music to the page.

As the project developed, Graham’s sce-nario conflated many strands of American social history, all intersecting around the time of the Civil War in some generalized place in the American heartland. Eventually the set-ting coalesced in rural western Pennsylvania — a region well known to Graham, who had spent her childhood in the town of Allegheny, not far from Pittsburgh.

In the end, the ballet’s plot was straight-forward: A bride and bridegroom become acquainted, shyly and nervously, and mem-bers of their community, including a revivalist preacher, express their sentiments. The

In ShortBorn: November 14, 1900, in Brooklyn, New York

Died: December 2, 1990, in Peekskill, New York

Works composed: Appalachian Spring: the ballet composed spring 1943 through early August 1944; this recording offers the condensed revision that Copland prepared for use as a concert suite in 1945; dedicated to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge

Old American Songs: “The Dodger,” “Simple Gifts,” and “The Boatmen’s Dance” in 1950, orchestrated in 1954; “The Little Horses” and “The Golden Willow Tree” in 1952, orchestrated in 1957

World premieres: the complete Appalachian Spring ballet on October 30, 1944, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Louis Horst conducting; the suite on October 4, 1945, by the New York Philharmonic, Artur Rodzinski conducting

Old American Songs: “The Dodger,” “Simple Gifts,” and “The Boatmen’s Dance,” in their original versions for voice and piano, on June 17, 1950, in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England, by tenor Peter Pears with Benjamin Britten as pianist; in their orchestral settings on January 7, 1955, by baritone William Warfield and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Alfred Wallenstein conducting. “The Little Horses” and “The Golden Willow Tree” were premiered in their original versions for voice and piano on July 24, 1953, at the Castle Hill Concerts in Ipswich, Massachusetts, by Mr. Warfield with the composer at the piano; in their orchestral settings on May 25, 1958, by mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry at the Ojai Festival in California, the composer conducting.

New York Philharmonic premiere: selections from Old American Songs were first performed November 12, 1960, the composer conducting, William Warfield, soloist

The Work at a Glance

In May 1945 Copland extracted eight sec-tions of the Appalachian Spring ballet score (which are played without any interruption) and expanded the instrumentation to full orchestra (from the original setting for 13 instruments). This orchestral suite was premiered that October by the New York Philharmonic, and Copland provided the following outline to help the audience imagine the action that the music was meant to portray:

1. Very slowly. Introduction of the charac-ters, one by one, in a suffused light.

2. Fast. Sudden burst of unison strings in A-major arpeggios starts the action.

A sentiment both elated and religious gives the keynote to this scene. ...

3. Moderate. Duo for the Bride and her In-tended — scene of tenderness and passion.

4. Quite fast. The Revivalist and his flock. Folksy feelings — suggestions of square dances and country fiddlers.

5. Still faster. Solo dance of the Bride — presentiment of motherhood. Extremes of joy and fear and wonder. 6. Very slow (as at first). Transition scenes reminiscent of the introduction.

7. Calm and flowing. Scenes of daily activ-ity for the Bride and her Farmer-husband. There are five variations on a Shaker theme. The theme, sung by a solo clarinet, was taken from a collection of Shaker melodies compiled by Edward D. Andrews, and published under the title The Gift to Be Simple. The melody I borrowed and used almost literally is called “Simple Gifts.”

8. Moderato. Coda. The Bride takes her place among her neighbors. At the end the couple are left “quiet and strong in their new house.” Muted strings intone a hushed, prayer-like passage. We hear a last echo of the principal theme sung by a flute and solo violin. The close is reminiscent of the opening music.

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Notes on the Program (continued)

couple grows more comfortable with the ritual of daily life that lies ahead, their humility underscored by Copland’s use of the Shaker tune “Simple Gifts,” and they greet the future with a sense of serenity. The “Simple Gifts” section of Appala-chian Spring is the part that has lodged most insistently in the popular memory, and Copland’s variations on that melody are indeed remarkable. Nonetheless, it is a curious inclusion in the context of the final scenario. Copland later observed: “My research evidently was not very thor-ough, since I did not realize that there have never been Shaker settlements in rural Pennsylvania!”

Although the general sound of Appa-lachian Spring can be found elsewhere in Copland’s works of this period, this is the music that established its vocabu-lary as representing the quintessential “American sound.” Rich in wide-open, disjunct intervals, it’s a style that became much imitated by American composers — including, very often, by Copland him-self. That it seemed to evoke something inherently American made it irresistible to composers of strictly commercial music, and in a sentimentalized form it thrives to this day as the inspiration for countless sound tracks of movies that have a period setting. Copland was aware of the pitfalls of empty nostalgia that might torpedo his score, and some years later, after he had conducted the work on numerous occasions, he wrote: “I have often admonished orchestras, professional and otherwise, not to get

too sweet or too sentimental with it.”

For a year, beginning in March 1949, Aaron Copland labored on his Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, which would prove to be his longest work in the field of art song, and one that gave him considerable difficulty. He later told the music historian Vivian Perlis:

By the end of the year, I was finally up to

number 11, and I felt myself bogged down. As

a break I arranged five American Folk Songs.

I wrote to Irving [Fine, his friend and fellow

composer], “No one else may like them, but

Hawkes [Copland’s publisher] is delighted!”

To Copland, these melodies were a sort of subspecies of American popular music, and they provided the kind of pleasant diversion he needed from his more strenuous creative work. As soon as he finished his Old American Songs, First Set, he returned refreshed to the work he’d put aside, which in short order would include not only the Dickinson poems but also the Piano Fantasy and the opera The Tender Land.

The song collection proved immensely successful, not to mention a veritable cash cow in Copland’s catalogue. He had enjoyed the exercise of writing the arrange-ments, and now he had a practical reason to continue with more. As he explained to Perlis, “Everyone seemed to enjoy singing and hearing Old American Songs I so much that I decided to arrange a second set in 1952.” This second set would also comprise five songs from disparate traditions, and it was similarly well received. Yet, neither group

drew much attention from critics, who ap-parently wrote them off as trivial. During the 1930s and ’40s, American “classical” com-posers had shown considerable enthusiasm for employing folk inspiration in their concert works, but by the time Copland produced these two sets the practice was perhaps overfamiliar. Certainly they are among his less innovative achievements, but they are nonetheless adept. In her groundbreak-ing 1953 study of Copland, the composer and author Julia Smith accurately observed of the voice-and-piano settings that “the accompaniments, practical but exceedingly attractive, offer moods by turns nostalgic, energetic, sentimental, devotional, and humorous.” Their character is intensified in Copland’s orchestrated versions, which add variety of sonic color to underscore the de-tail and character of the texts. These remain among Copland’s most frequently performed works, whether in their original versions for voice and piano, in Copland’s subsequent arrangements for voice and orchestra, in the choral arrangements by Irving Fine, or in other transcriptions that have entered circulation.

On this recording there are three songs from the First Set (“The Dodger,” “Simple Gifts,” and “The Boatmen’s Dance”) and two from the Second Set (“The Little Horses” and “The Golden Willow Tree”). Copland told Perlis:

“The Dodger” was found in the John and Alan

Lomax book Our Singing Country. It dates

from the presidential campaign of 1884, when

Grover Cleveland defeated James G. Blaine.

The Premiere of Old American Songs

In Copland: Since 1943, Vivian Perlis’s oral history of the composer, the baritone Wil-liam Warfield reminisced about Copland’s Old American Songs:

Shortly after my debut at Town Hall in 1950, I met Aaron and he showed me the Old American Songs I. I sang them on my second Town Hall recital (28 January 1951). It was the Ameri-can premiere of the First Set, and they were a tremendous success. Aaron was an excellent pianist and, of course, knowing the flavor of them so well, it was a tremendous experience working with him. ... I sang a few of the songs with orchestra at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington when Copland received his award (1979). I don’t have a strong preference, but if I had to make a choice, it would probably be toward the orchestrated version.

The composer was a great fan of Warfield’s interpretations. “I have always enjoyed playing or conducting these songs with Warfield,” Copland told Perlis. He continued:

I have heard other singers treat these songs in a more formal Lieder style. Recently, a baritone performed ‘Simple Gifts’ on a television show and there was nothing at all ‘simple’ about it! But Warfield always brought genuine warmth to the songs.

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Notes on the Program (continued)

... “Simple Gifts” is the Shaker song used

in Appalachian Spring, arranged in a style

closer to the original, with a direct and

straightforward melodic line and simple

hymnlike harmonies.

“The Boatmen’s Dance” is one of the few songs in these sets whose original composer is known. Copland reported that this “minstrel show tune by Daniel Decatur Emmett, composer of ‘Dixie,’ is from the Harris Collection at Brown Uni-versity. I composed the accompaniment in imitation of minstrel banjo playing.”

Of the five pieces in the Second Set, only the lullaby, “The Little Horses,” and the ballad, “The Golden Willow Tree,” are real folk songs, passed through the generations but not traceable to any composer or distinct moment of origin. Copland made a few convenient altera-tions to their contours while maintaining the modal harmonic flavor. “The Little Horses,” Copland said, is “a children’s lullaby from the South based on a version from Lomax’s Folk Song U.S.A.,” and “The Golden Willow Tree” is “a variant of a well-known Anglo-American ballad often called ‘The Golden Vanity,’ which I heard on a Library of Congress recording for banjo and voice.”

Instrumentation: Appalachian Spring Suite uses two flutes (one doubling pic-colo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bas-soons, two horns, two trumpets, two trom-bones, timpani, xylophone, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, tabor (long drum),

wood block, claves, triangle, orchestra bells, harp, piano, and strings. Old American Songs employs two flutes, oboe, two clarinets, bas-soon, two horns, trumpet, trombone, harp, and strings, in addition to the solo baritone.

Selections from Cole Porter’s MusicalsCole Porter

Cole Porter was the most urbane, the most intellectual, the most highbrow of the Golden-Age American lyricist-songwriters, and he was practically born into the part. His Hoosier family enjoyed considerable wealth, and his mother, an accomplished pianist as well as a coal and timber heir-ess, determined that he should receive adept musical instruction, which included violin lessons beginning at age six and piano lessons two years later. Young Cole headed east to continue his education at the Worcester Academy in Massachusetts and then at Yale, where he was a member of the Whiffenpoofs and leader of the Glee Club.

In 1915 two of Porter’s songs made their way into Broadway shows, and the next year he earned a credit as composer of an entire Broadway musical. When these first steps on the Great White Way met with little success, he moved to France. He joined the French Foreign Legion during World War I. After three years of service he picked up the social whirl in Paris, Venice, and the Riviera, proving popular among the smart set by accompanying himself in his own clever, sometimes risqué songs at parties. He was serious about his craft, however, and at the end of his stint in the Foreign Legion he also enrolled for instruction in harmony, counterpoint, composition, and orchestra-

In ShortBorn: June 9, 1891, in Peru, Indiana

Died: October 15, 1964, in Santa Monica, California

Work composed: “Who Said Gay Paree?” in 1953, “In the Still of the Night” in 1937, “Where Is the Life that Late I Led” in 1948, “Night and Day” in 1932, “Begin the Beguine” in 1935

World premiere: (in most cases following try-out runs) “Who Said Gay Paree?” unknown, as it was cut from Can-Can for the play’s premiere; “In the Still of the Night” at the opening of the MGM film Rosalie on December 24, 1937, sung by Nelson Eddy; “Where Is the Life that Late I Led?” at the premiere of Kiss Me, Kate on December 30, 1948, at the New Century Theatre in New York, sung by Alfred Drake; “Night and Day” at the premiere of Gay Divorce on November 29, 1932, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York, sung by Fred Astaire; “Begin the Beguine” at the premiere of Jubilee on October 12, 1935, at the Imperial Theatre in New York, sung by June Knight

tion with Vincent d’Indy, the most eminent of the conservative French musical peda-gogues at the time, and steeped himself in the art-song tradition of Schubert and Schumann.

Porter’s career was centered entirely on musical theater. While many of his contemporaries cast their songs to sink or swim on the fashions of Tin Pan Alley, Porter’s works were typically introduced by big-name stars in big-budget Broad-way productions — hardly a guarantee of success, but at least assurance that his songs would be unveiled under the most flattering circumstances possible.

Porter hit his stride in the 1930s with a string of Broadway successes, including The New Yorkers in 1930; Gay Divorce,

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An American in ParisGeorge Gershwin

In the spring of 1928 George Gershwin took his fifth trip to Europe, bringing with him his sister, Frances; his brother, Ira; and Ira’s wife, Leonore. While he was there he worked on his tone poem An American in Paris. Gersh-win was, in fact, an actual American in Paris for part of the time that he worked on the piece, and Ira reported that the entire “blues” section of An American in Paris was com-posed in the Hotel Majestic in that city. Other parts, however, were written in New York City (where he had sketched a good deal of the piece before he set sail), in Vienna, and, after his return from abroad, at a farm in Connecti-cut. All of the orchestration was carried out in the United States.

Gershwin’s career was going swimmingly, and if he had cared to he could have sat back and basked in the knowledge that he had two shows running concurrently on Broad-way just then — Funny Face and Rosalie — and another, Oh Kay!, packing in crowds in London. But he was often driven by a desire to be more than “just” a composer of musical comedies, and much of his time in Europe he gave over to seeking out advice and coaching from composers who were esteemed for their concert music. One of the composers Gersh-win most admired was Maurice Ravel, whom he had met during a trip the latter made to New York in January 1928. During his visit Ravel had marveled at hearing Gershwin im-provise at the piano and had enjoyed a grand time attending a performance of Funny Face.

In ShortBorn: September 26, 1898, in Brooklyn, New York

Died: July 11, 1937, in Hollywood, California

Work composed: 1928

World premiere: December 13, 1928, at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Symphony (which merged that same year with the New York Philharmonic to form today’s New York Philharmonic)

Gershwin had asked Ravel if he might study with him, but the French composer politely declined, insisting that Gershwin’s talent was already perfectly formed and that he would have nothing to contribute. But since Ger-shwin was so obviously sincere in his desire to pursue more “classical” instruction, Ravel wrote a letter of introduction that Gershwin could present to the esteemed teacher Nadia Boulanger should he find himself in France. This Gershwin did, but Boulanger reiterated Ravel’s opinion and firmly refused to risk suffocating Gershwin’s originality through the imposition of academic rigor. Despite his efforts, Gershwin was left to his own devices, forced to clear his own path toward a distinc-tive fusion of popular and classical styles on the concert stage.

An American in Paris was written in re-sponse to a commission from the conductor Walter Damrosch. He had previously com-missioned Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, in 1925, and soon after that he broached the idea of a second commission. The work was on Gershwin’s mind before he left home, but the experience of being in Paris proved highly

Notes on the Program (continued)

with its showstopping number “Night and Day,” in 1932 (turned into the film The Gay Divorcée in 1934); Anything Goes in 1934; Jubilee, with its imaginative “Begin the Beguine,” in 1935; and Red, Hot and Blue in 1936. The following year he sustained a serious accident while horseback riding in Locust Valley, on Long Is-land. Both his legs were crushed and rendered useless — the right one was eventually ampu-tated — and he spent the remainder of his life in chronic pain. His morale and his productivity took a plunge, but he was not out of the game. Quite a few superb songs emerged from even these dark years, and in 1948 he achieved the show that many consider his masterpiece: Kiss Me, Kate (after Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew), a major hit that ran for 1,007 per-formances on Broadway and was transformed into a 1953 film.

The five Porter songs on this recording sam-ple famous and not-so-famous moments from the composer’s extraordinary career, beginning with “Night and Day,” a testament to Porter’s radical expansion of the songwriter’s art. Its verse is audaciously based almost entirely on repeated notes, which Porter claimed — seri-ously? — were inspired by a chant he heard coming from a minaret in Morocco. Can-Can doesn’t enjoy much of a reputation among musical-theater aficionados due to what many consider its weak book, but it did run for a very respectable 892 performances on Broadway following its opening on May 7, 1953, making it Porter’s second longest-running show. “Who Said Gay Paree?” was composed for this belle-époque fantasy but was dropped before the opening. It lives on, however, as a useful, wistfully nostalgic cabaret number.

From Kiss Me, Kate we hear “Where Is the Life that Late I Led?”; Petruchio in his newly married state hungers after the romantic flames of his bachelorhood, with grin-inducing rhymes. “In the Still of the Night,” from the MGM film Rosalie, conveys Porter’s touchstone emotional subtlety as the singer wonders about the fate of the love he feels. “Begin the Beguine” spins out to an unprecedented length for a popular song, its essential struc-ture of 108 measures bursting the standard 32-bar song form many times over. Porter himself admitted of this brilliant tour de force: “I can never remember it — if I want to play, I need to see the music in front of me!”

Instrumentation: two flutes (one doubling alto flute and piccolo), two oboes (one dou-bling English horn), two clarinets plus one bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, orchestra bells, suspended cymbal, drum set, bongos, maracas, harp, piano (doubling celesta) in addition to the solo baritone.

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Texts

1. The Dodger

Yes, the candidate’s a dodger, yes, a well- known dodger.Yes, the candidate’s a dodger, yes, and I’m a dodger too.He’ll meet you and treat you and ask you for your voteBut look out, boys, he’s a-dodgin’ for a note. Yes, we’re all dodgin’, a-dodgin’, dodgin’, dodgin.‘ Yes, we’re all dodgin’ out a way through the world.

Yes, the preacher he’s a dodger, yes, a well-known dodger,Yes, the preacher he’s a dodger, yes, and I’m a dodger too.He’ll preach you a gospel and tell you of your crimesBut look out, boys, he’s a-dodgin’ for your dimes.Yes, we’re all dodgin’, a-dodgin’, dodgin’, dodgin’.Yes, we’re all dodgin’ out a way through the world.

Yes, the lover he’s a dodger, yes, a well- known dodger.Yes, the lover he’s a dodger, yes, and I’m a dodger too.He’ll hug you and kiss you and call you his brideBut look out, girls, he’s a-tellin’ you a lie.

Yes, we’re all dodgin’, a-dodgin’, dodgin’, dodgin’. Yes, we’re all dodgin’ out a way through the world.

Old American Songs, First and Second Sets

Notes on the Program (continued)

stimulating. The composer and pianist Mario Braggiotti, who was studying at the Paris Con-servatoire, went to visit Gershwin at the Hotel Majestic, where he arrived unannounced. “At-tired in a dressing gown,” Braggiotti reported:

Gershwin gaily ushered me inside with that

vague and stunned manner of one who was

holding tightly to the thread of a creative mood.

Beside his Steinway was a group of bridge

tables covered with all sizes and makes of

French taxi horns ... “I’m looking for the right horn

pitch for the street scene of a ballet I’m writing.

Calling it An American in Paris. Lots of fun.”

Audiences agreed that it was lots of fun, and the Brooklyn Eagle reported of the premiere that the listeners responded “with a demon-stration of enthusiasm impressively genuine in contrast to the conventional applause which new music, good and bad, ordinarily arouses.”

Instrumentation: three flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons, three saxophones (alto, tenor, and baritone), four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, orchestra bells, snare drum, bass drum, triangle, xylophone, tom-toms, four French taxi horns, wood block, celesta, and strings. The work is played here in the slightly revised orchestration made after Gershwin’s death by Frank Campbell-Watson (1898–1980); it somewhat subdues Gersh-win’s saxophone parts, entirely eliminating a passage in which the composer had indicated that all three players should double on soprano saxophones.

The Work at a Glance

In an interview for the magazine Musical Ameri-ca, Gershwin discussed his tone poemAn American in Paris:

This new piece, really a rhapsodic ballet, is written very freely and is the most modern music I’ve yet attempted. The opening part will be developed in typical French style, in the manner of Debussy and the Six, though the themes are all original. My purpose here is to portray the impression of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city and listens to various street noises and absorbs the French atmosphere.

As in my other orchestral compositions I’ve not endeavored to represent any definite scenes in this music. The rhapsody is pro-grammatic only in a general impressionistic way, so that the individual listener can read into the music such as his imagination pic-tures for him.

The opening gay section is followed by a rich blues with a strong rhythmic undercur-rent. Our American friend, perhaps after strolling into a café and having a couple of drinks, has succumbed to a spasm of home-sickness. The harmony here is both more intense and simple than in the preceding pages. This blues rises to a climax followed by a coda in which the spirit of the music returns to the vivacity and bubbling exuber-ance of the opening part with its impressions of Paris. Apparently, the homesick American, having left the café and reached the open air, has disowned his spell of the blues and once again is an alert spectator of Parisian life. At the conclusion, the street noises and French atmosphere are triumphant.

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4. The Golden Willow Tree

There was a little ship in South Amerikee, Crying O the land that lies so low, There was a little ship in South Amerikee, She went by the name of the Golden Willow Tree, As she sailed in the lowland lonesome low, As she sailed in the lowland so low.

We hadn’t been a-sailin’ more than two weeks or three,Till we came in sight of the British Roverie, As she sailed in the lowland lonesome low, As she sailed in the lowland so low.

Up stepped a little carpenter boy, Says “What will you give me for the ship that I’ll destroy?” “I’ll give you gold or I’ll give thee, I’ll give you gold or I’ll give thee, The fairest of my daughters as she sails upon the sea, If you’ll sink ’em in the lowland lonesome low, If you’ll sink ’em in the land that lies so low.”

He turned upon his back and away swum he, He swum till he came to the British Roverie, He had a little instrument fitted for his use, He bored nine holes and he bored them all at once. He turned upon his breast and back swum he, He swum till he came to the Golden Willow Tree.“Captain, O Captain, come take me on board, O Captain, O Captain, come take me on board, And do unto me as good as your word For I sank ’em in the lowland lonesome low,

I sank ’em in the lowland so low.”

“Oh no, I won’t take you on board, Oh no, I won’t take you on board, Nor do unto you as good as my word, Though you sank ’em in the lowland lonesome low, Though you sank ’em in the land that lies so low.”

“If it wasn’t for the love that I have for your men,I’d do unto you as I done unto them, I’d sink you in the lowland lonesome low, I’d sink you in the lowland so low.”

He turned upon his head and down swum he, He turned upon his head and down swum he, He swum till he came to the bottom of the sea. Sank himself in the lowland lonesome low, Sank himself in the land that lies so low.

Texts (continued)

2. Simple Gifts

’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ’Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be And when we find ourselves in the place just right ’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed To turn, turn will be our delight’Till by turning, turning we come round right.

’Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free ’Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be And when we find ourselves in the place just right ’Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

3. The Little Horses

Hush you bye, Don’t you cry, Go to sleepy little baby.

When you wake, You shall have All the pretty little horses.

Blacks and bays, Dapples and grays, Coach and six-a little horses.

Blacks and bays, Dapples and grays, Coach and six-a little horses.

Hush you bye, Don’t you cry, Go to sleepy little baby.

When you wake, You’ll have sweet cake and All the pretty little horses.

A brown and a gray and a black and a bay and aCoach and six-a little horses.

A black and a bay and a brown and a gray and aCoach and six-a little horses.

Hush you bye, Don’t you cry, Oh, you pretty little baby. Go to sleepy little baby. Oh, you pretty little baby.

Texts (continued)

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1. Night and Day

Like the beat, beat, beat of the tom-tom, When the jungle shadows fall. Like the tick, tick, tock of the stately clock, As it stands against the wall.Like the drip, drip, drip of the raindrop When the summer show’r is through, So a voice within me keeps repeating “You, you, you!”

Night and day you are the one, Only you beneath the moon and under the sun. Whether near to me or far It’s no matter, darling, where you are, I think of you, night and day. Day and night, why is it so That this longing for you follows wherever I go? In the roaring traffic’s boom, In the silence of my lonely room, I think of you, night and day. Night and day under the hide of me There’s an oh such a hungry yearning, burning inside of me, And its torment won’t be through Till you let me spend my life making love to you, Day and night, night and day!

2. Who Said Gay Paree?

Who spread the rumor Paris was fun? Who had such fantasy? Who never knew Paris minus you?Who said Gay Paree? Who said, of all towns under the sun,All lovers here should be? Who failed to add Paris could be sad? Who said Gay Paree? I thought our love, so brightly begun, Would burn through eternity. Who told the lie, Love can never die? Who said Gay Paree? Who said Gay Paree?

Selections from Cole Porter’s Musicals5. The Boatmen’s Dance

High row the boatmen row, floatin’ down the river, the Ohio.High row the boatmen row, floatin’ down the river, the Ohio.The boatmen dance, the boatmen sing, the boatmen up to ev’ry thing.And when the boatman gets on shore he spends his cash and works for more.Then dance the boatmen dance, O dance the boatmen dance, O dance all night ‘til broad daylight And go home with the gals in the mornin’.

High row the boatmen row, floatin’ down the river, the Ohio.

I went on board the other day to see what the boatmen had to say.There I let my passion loose, an’ they cram me in the calaboose.O dance the boatmen dance, O dance the boatmen dance, O dance all night ’til broad daylight And go home with the gals in the mornin’.

High row the boatmen row, floatin’ down the river, the Ohio.The boatman is a thrifty man. There’s none can do as the boatman can. I never see a pretty gal in my life But that she was a boatman’s wife. O dance the boatmen dance, O dance the boatmen dance, O dance all night ’til broad daylight

And go home with the gals in the mornin’.

High row the boatmen row, floatin’ down the river, the Ohio.High row the boatmen row, floatin’ down the river, the Ohio.

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3. Where Is the Life that Late I Led?

When at first aware of masculinity, I began to finger feminine curls I became the toast of my vicinity For I always had a multitude of girls. But now that a married man, at last, am I, How aware of my dear, departed past am I.

Where is the life that late I led? Where is it now? Totally dead. Where is the fun I used to find? Where has it gone? Gone with the wind. A married life may all be well,But raising an heir Could never compare With raising a bit of hell! So I repeat what first I said, Where is the life that late I …

In dear Milano, where are you, Momo? Still selling those pictures of the scriptures in the Duomo? And Carolina, where are you, Lina? Still peddling your pizza in the streets o’ Taormina? And in Firenze, where are you, Alice? Still there in your pretty itty-bitty Pitti Palace? And sweet Lucretia, so young and gay, What scandalous doin’s in the ruins of Pompeii!

Where is the life that late I led? Where is it now? Totally dead. Where is the fun I used to find?

Where has it gone? Gone with the wind. The marriage game is quite all right, Yes, during the dayIt’s easy to play, But, oh, what a bore at night! So I repeat what first I said, Where is the life that late I …

Where is Rebecca? My Becki-weckio, Could still she be cruising that amusing Ponte Vecchio? Where is Fedora, the wild virago? It’s lucky I missed her gangster sister from Chicago. Where is Venetia, who loved to chat so, Could still she be drinkin’ in her stinkin’ pink palazzo? And lovely Lisa, where are you, Lisa? You gave a new meaning to the leaning tow’r of Pisa.

Where is the life that late I led? Where is it now? Totally dead. Where is the fun I used to find? Where has it gone? Gone with the wind. I’ve oft been told of nuptial bliss,But what do you do, A quarter to two, With only a shrew to kiss? So I repeat what first I said, Where is the life that late I led?

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Texts (continued)

4. In the Still of the Night

In the still of the night As I gaze from my window At the moon in its flight My thoughts all turn to you. In the still of the night, While the world is in slumber, Oh, the times without number, Darling, when I say to you, “Do you love me, as I love you? Are you my life-to-be, my dream come true?” Or will this dream of mine Fade out of sight Like the moon Growing dim On the rim Of the hill In the chill, Still Of the night?

5. Begin the Beguine

When they begin the beguine It brings back the sound of music so tender,It brings back a night of tropical splendor, It brings back a memory ever green. I’m with you once more under the stars And down by the shore an orchestra’s playing, And even the palms seem to be swaying When they begin the beguine. To live it again is past all endeavor Except when that tune clutches my heart. And there we are, swearing to love forever, And promising never, never to part. What moments divine, what rapture serene, ’Til clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted, And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted, I know but too well what they mean, So don’t let them begin the beguine! Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember. Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember When they begin the beguine. Oh, yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play! ’Til the stars that were there before return above you, ’Til you whisper to me once more, “Darling, I love you!” And we suddenly know what heaven we’re in When they begin the beguine.

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New York Philharmonic

ViolinsGlenn Dicterow

Concertmaster The Charles E. Culpeper Chair

Sheryl Staples Principal Associate

Concertmaster The Elizabeth G. Beinecke Chair

Michelle Kim Assistant Concertmaster The William Petschek Family Chair

Enrico Di CeccoCarol WebbYoko Takebe

Minyoung ChangHae-Young Ham

The Mr. and Mrs. Timothy M. George Chair

Lisa GiHae KimKuan-Cheng LuNewton MansfieldKerry McDermottAnna RabinovaCharles Rex

The Shirley Bacot Shamel Chair

Fiona SimonSharon YamadaElizabeth ZeltserYulia Ziskel

Marc Ginsberg Principal

Lisa Kim* In Memory of Laura Mitchell

Soohyun Kwon The Joan and Joel I. Picket Chair

Duoming Ba

Marilyn Dubow The Sue and Eugene Mercy, Jr. Chair

Martin EshelmanQuan GeJudith GinsbergMyung-Hi Kim+Hanna LachertHyunju LeeDaniel ReedMark SchmoocklerNa SunVladimir Tsypin

ViolasCynthia Phelps

Principal The Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose Chair

Rebecca Young*+Irene Breslaw**

The Norma and Lloyd Chazen Chair

Dorian Rence

Katherine GreeneThe Mr. and Mrs. William J. McDonough Chair

Dawn HannayVivek KamathPeter KenoteBarry LehrKenneth MirkinJudith NelsonRobert Rinehart

The Mr. and Mrs. G. Chris Andersen Chair

CellosCarter Brey

Principal The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Chair

Eileen Moon*The Paul and Diane Guenther Chair

Qiang TuThe Shirley and Jon Brodsky Foundation Chair

Evangeline Benedetti

Eric BartlettThe Mr. and Mrs. James E. Buckman Chair

Elizabeth DysonMaria KitsopoulosSumire KudoRu-Pei YehWei Yu

BassesEugene Levinson

Principal The Redfield D. Beckwith Chair

Orin O’BrienActing Associate Principal The Herbert M. Citrin Chair

William BlossomThe Ludmila S. and Carl B. Hess Chair

Randall ButlerDavid J. GrossmanSatoshi Okamoto

FlutesRobert Langevin

Principal The Lila Acheson Wallace Chair

Sandra Church*Renée SiebertMindy Kaufman

PiccoloMindy Kaufman

OboesLiang Wang

Principal The Alice Tully Chair

Sherry Sylar*Robert Botti

English HornThomas Stacy

The Joan and Joel Smilow Chair

ClarinetsMark NuccioActing Principal

The Edna and W. Van Alan Clark Chair

Pascual MartinezForteza

Acting Associate Principal The Honey M. Kurtz Family Chair

Alucia Scalzo++Amy Zoloto++

E-Flat ClarinetPascual Martinez

Forteza

Bass ClarinetAmy Zoloto++

2009–2010 SeasonALAN GILBERT Music DirectorDaniel Boico, Assistant ConductorLeonard Bernstein, Laureate Conductor, 1943–1990Kurt Masur, Music Director Emeritus

BassoonsJudith LeClair

Principal The Pels Family Chair

Kim Laskowski*Roger NyeArlen Fast

ContrabassoonArlen Fast

HornsPhilip Myers

Principal The Ruth F. and Alan J. Broder Chair

Erik Ralske Acting Associate Principal

R. Allen SpanjerHoward Wall

TrumpetsPhilip Smith

Principal The Paula Levin Chair

Matthew Muckey*Ethan BensdorfThomas V. Smith

TrombonesJoseph Alessi Principal The Gurnee F. and

Marjorie L. Hart Chair

Amanda Stewart*David Finlayson The Donna and

Benjamin M. Rosen Chair

Bass TromboneJames Markey

TubaAlan Baer Principal

TimpaniMarkus Rhoten

Principal The Carlos Moseley Chair

PercussionChristopher S. Lamb

Principal The Constance R. Hoguet Friends of the Philharmonic Chair

Daniel Druckman* The Mr. and Mrs. Ronald J. Ulrich Chair

HarpNancy Allen Principal

The Mr. and Mrs. William T. Knight III Chair

Keyboard In Memory of Paul Jacobs

HarpsichordLionel Party

PianoThe Karen and Richard S. LeFrak Chair

Harriet WingreenJonathan Feldman

OrganKent Tritle

LibrariansLawrence Tarlow Principal

Sandra Pearson**Sara Griffin**

Orchestra PersonnelManagerCarl R. Schiebler

Stage RepresentativeLouis J. Patalano

Audio DirectorLawrence Rock

* Associate Principal** Assistant Principal+ On Leave++ Replacement/Extra

The New York Philharmonic uses the revolving seating method for section string players who are listed alphabetically in the roster.

Honorary Membersof the SocietyPierre BoulezStanley DruckerLorin MaazelZubin MehtaCarlos Moseley

New York PhilharmonicGary W. Parr Chairman

Zarin Mehta President and Executive

Director

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The Music Director

In September 2009 Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the first native New Yorker to hold the post. For his inaugural season he has introduced a number of new initiatives: the positions of The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, held by Magnus Lindberg, and Artist-in- Residence, held by Thomas Hampson; an annual three-week festival; and CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic’s new-music series. He leads the Orchestra on a major tour of Asia in October 2009, with debuts in Hanoi and Abu Dhabi; on a European tour in January–February 2010; and in performances of world, U.S., and New York premieres. Also in the 2009–10 season, Mr. Gilbert becomes the first person to hold the William Schuman Chair

in Musical Studies at The Juilliard School, a position that will include coaching, con-ducting, and hosting performance master classes.

Highlights of Mr. Gilbert’s 2008–09 season with the New York Philharmonic included the Bernstein anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and a performance with the Juilliard Orchestra, presented by the Philharmonic, featuring Bernstein’s Kad-dish Symphony. In May 2009 he conducted the World Premiere of Peter Lieberson’s The World in Flower, a New York Philhar-monic Commission, and in July 2009 he led the New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks and Free Indoor Concerts, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and four performances at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In June 2008 Mr. Gilbert was named conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, following his final concert as its chief conductor and artistic advisor. He has been principal guest conductor of Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra since 2004. Mr. Gilbert regularly conducts other leading orchestras in the U.S. and abroad, including the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco sym-phony orchestras; The Cleveland Orches-tra; Munich’s Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Amsterdam’s Royal Concert-gebouw Orchestra; and Orchestre National de Lyon. In 2003 he was named the first music director of the Santa Fe Opera, where he served for three seasons.

Alan Gilbert studied at Harvard Univer-sity, The Curtis Institute of Music, and

The Juilliard School. He was a substitute violinist with The Philadelphia Orchestra for two seasons and assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra from 1995 to 1997. In November 2008 he made his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut conducting John Adams’s Dr. Atomic. His recording of Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.

The Artists

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American baritone Thomas Hampson

has performed in the world’s preeminent concert

halls and opera houses, and with many of today’s most renowned

musicians and orchestras; he also main-tains an active interest in teaching, music

research, and technology. An important interpreter of German romantic song, he is known as a leading proponent of the study of American song through his Hampsong Foundation, which he established in 2003 to promote intercultural dialogue and under-standing.

Much of Mr. Hampson’s 2009–10 season is devoted to his “Song of America” project. In collaboration with the Library of Con-gress, Mr. Hampson is performing recitals and presenting master classes, educational activities, exhibitions, and broadcasts across the country and through a new interactive online resource, www.songofamerica.net. As part of the project, he has released a new album, Wondrous Free — Song of America II, on his own label, Thomas Hampson Media. Other engagements include Mendelssohn’s Elijah, led by Kurt Masur, in Leipzig; Verdi’s Ernani and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Zurich Opera; Verdi’s La traviata at

The Metropolitan Opera; solo recitals throughout the United States and in many European capitals; and the galas of the Vienna Staatsoper and the new Winspear Opera House in Dallas.

This season Mr. Hampson became the first Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence at the New York Philhar-monic; he is also the Orchestra’s Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence. In these roles he performs three programs with the Orchestra, appears on its European tour, gives a recital at Alice Tully Hall, and presents three lectures entitled “Listening to Thought” as part of the Philharmonic’s Insights Series.

Thomas Hampson has released more than 150 albums, which have received honors including a Grammy Award, two Edison Prizes, and the Grand Prix du Disque. He has been named Kammersän-ger of the Vienna Staatsoper; Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France; and Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America by Dr. James H. Billington, Librar-ian of Congress. Other honors include the Austrian Medal of Honor in Arts and Sciences (in 2004) and the Edison Life Achievement Award (2005).

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New York Philharmonic

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New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians led by American-born Ureli Corelli Hill, is by far the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world. It currently plays some 180 concerts a year, and on December 18, 2004, gave its 14,000th concert — a milestone unmatched by any other symphony orchestra in the world.

Alan Gilbert began his tenure as Music Director in September 2009, the latest in a distinguished line of 20th-century musical giants that has included Lorin Maazel (2002–09); Kurt Masur (Music Director from 1991 to the summer of 2002; named Music Director Emeritus in 2002); Zubin Mehta (1978–91); Pierre Boulez (1971–77); and Leonard Bernstein, who was appointed Music Director in 1958 and given the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor in 1969.

Since its inception the Orchestra has championed the new music of its time, commissioning or premiering many important works, such as Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World; Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3; Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F; and Copland’s Connotations. The Philharmonic has also given the U.S. premieres of works such as Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4. This pioneering tradition has continued to the present day, with works of major contemporary composers regularly scheduled each season, including John Adams’s Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy

Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; Augusta Read Thomas’s Gathering Paradise, Emily Dickinson Settings for Soprano and Orchestra; and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano Concerto.

The roster of composers and conductors who have led the Philharmonic includes such historic figures as Theodore Thomas, Antonín Dvorák, Gustav Mahler (Music Director, 1909–11), Otto Klemperer, Richard Strauss, Willem Mengelberg (Music Director, 1922–30), Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini (Music Director, 1928–36), Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Bruno Walter (Music Advisor, 1947–49), Dimitri Mitropoulos (Music Director, 1949–58), Klaus Tennstedt, George Szell (Music Advisor, 1969–70), and Erich Leinsdorf.

Long a leader in American musical life, the Philharmonic has over the last century become renowned around the globe, appearing in 429 cities in 61 countries on 5 continents. In February 2008 the Orchestra, led by then-Music Director Lorin Maazel, gave a historic performance in Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — the first visit there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world and for which the Philharmonic received the 2008 Common Ground Award for Cultural Diplomacy. Other historic tours have included the 1930 Tour to Europe, with Toscanini; the first Tour to the USSR, in 1959; the 1998 Asia Tour with Kurt Masur, featuring the first performances in

mainland China; and the 75th Anniversary European Tour, in 2005, with Lorin Maazel.

A longtime media pioneer, the Phil-harmonic began radio broadcasts in 1922 and is currently represented by The New York Philharmonic This Week — syndicated nationally 52 weeks per year, and available on nyphil.org and Sirius XM Radio. On television, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Philharmonic inspired a generation through Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts on CBS. Its television presence has continued with annual appearances on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS, and in 2003 it made history as the first Orchestra ever to perform live on the Grammy Awards, one of the most-watched television events worldwide. In 2004, the New York Philharmonic was the first major American Orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live. Following on this innovation, in 2009 the Orchestra announced the first-ever subscription download series, Alan Gilbert: The Inaugural Season, available exclusively on iTunes, produced and distributed by the New York Philharmonic, and comprising more than 50 works performed during the 2009–10 season. Since 1917 the Philharmonic has made nearly 2,000 recordings, with more than 500 currently available.

On June 4, 2007, the New York Philharmonic proudly announced a new partnership with Credit Suisse, its first-ever and exclusive Global Sponsor.

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