Ravinia 2023 Issue 6

JOHN BATTEN (GLOVER) JOHN BATTEN (GLOVER) Oh, may thy days, from human suff’rings free! Be blest with glory and felicity! With full fruition, to a distant hour, Of all thy magic and creative pow’r! Blest in thyself, with rectitude of mind; And blessing, with thy talents, all mankind! Salomon commissioned another set of six symphonies during Haydn’s second visit to England in 1794 and 1795. These 12 sym- phonic compositions—the last by the man revered as the “Father of the Symphony”— have come to be known as the “London” or “Salomon” Symphonies. After more than a decade, Salomon had es- tablished himself as a leading impresario in the crowded English concert world. Every winter, this violinist-entrepreneur produced a series of subscription concerts in the 800-seat great hall at the Hanover Square Rooms. Haydn raised the visibility of the concert se- ries enormously. London’s Morning Herald announced his forthcoming arrival: “[Haydn’s] name is a tower of strength, and to whom the amateurs of instrumental music look up as a god of science.” Salomon, though, was not the only major concert-producing personality. He faced stiff competition from another more established series—the Professional Concerts—mount- ed in the same space at Hanover Square. Founded in 1782 by a group of “professors,” this organization attempted repeatedly over a six-year period to lure Haydn to London, each time without success. Salomon played violin with the Professional Concerts before establishing his own series. Much animosity developed between these two organizations as a result, a sentiment worsened by Haydn’s participation in the Salomon concerts. The 1792 concert series proceeded like a tactical war, each side plotting its next strat- agem with military precision. The Profes- sional Concerts scored early victories, first by selecting the popular Ignaz Josef Pleyel (a former student of Haydn’s) as its featured Joseph Haydn by Thomas Hardy (1791) composer and director. Then, as now, the popular press knew how to sensationalize a good story. On February 3, 1792, the Morn- ing Herald characterized Haydn and Pleyel as the “two great heroes of the ensuing mu- sical campaign.” The Professional Concerts again outmaneuvered its rival by scheduling the first concert four days before Salomon’s and by opening that program with a Haydn overture. At his inaugural concert, Salomon unveiled a delightful new symphony by Haydn (No. 93 in D major, the first of the “London” Symphonies)—the next volley in the “harmonious war.” The Professional Concerts won many battles during the 1792 conflict, but Salomon emerged victorious in the war. After one more season, the Professional Concerts orga- nization folded. Haydn, who had become the darling of the often-fickle London audience, returned for Salomon’s 1794 and 1795 seasons. The enterprising violinist continued to orga- nize his own concerts for two more decades. In 1813, Salomon became a founding member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, which to this day actively sponsors public performanc- es, commissions new works, and awards a prestigious composition prize. Haydn returned for his second London en- gagement with an enlarged, fully mature vi- sion of the symphony. A slow introduction to the first movement became a ubiquitous feature within his four-movement sym- phonic format. He standardized the instru- mentation for wind instruments in pairs, timpani, and strings. (Symphony No. 100 in F major, known as the “Military,” adds tri- angle, cymbals, and bass drum for special coloristic effect.) Tonal structures more reg- ularly favored relationships in thirds instead of fifths. Rondo finales achieved new lev- els of brilliance, continuing to earn Haydn praise decades after their composition. Jerôme-Joseph de Momigny described these movements as “models of an unattainable perfection” in the Encyclopédie méthodique: Musique (1818). Johann Peter Salomon by Thomas Hardy (1790) Haydn composed Symphony No. 102 in B-flat major, chronologically the first of his final six “London” Symphonies, before the start of the new concert season. It is the only work in this set to deviate from the “standard” instrumen- tation through the absence of clarinets. Its first performance took place on February 2, 1795, at the King’s Theatre in London—the opening work on the second half of the con- cert—with Haydn leading an orchestra of more than 60 instrumentalists from the pi- anoforte. The curious audience surged for- ward to watch the celebrity musician. The Largo introduction commands attention through a sustained, swelling chord. Strings offer a lyrical phrase followed by another blossoming orchestral sonority. Woodwinds join the ensemble for an extended lyrical ep- isode. An ascending arpeggio in the flutes prepares the entrance of the brass and the be- ginning of the Vivace sonata-allegro portion of the movement. Haydn continues to employ the orchestral chords as partitioning devices, often between changes in musical character. Melodic motives recombine and harmonies lead to unexpected key areas in the develop- ment section. A timpani roll announces the return of the main themes. The F-major Adagio employs reduced in- strumentation—one flute, muted trumpets and timpani, and solo cello (or cello section playing a solo, depending on the interpre- tation)—to achieve subtle musical effects. (Haydn thought highly of this movement and incorporated a transposed version in the Pi- ano Trio No. 40 in F-sharp minor, completed later in his London visit.) The following or- chestral Menuetto displays both raucous and tender personalities in alternation. Sometime before or during the performance of the Finale , a near-tragedy occurred, as re- ported by Haydn’s early biographer, Albert Christoph Dies: “The seats in the middle of the parterre were therefore empty, and no sooner were they empty but a great chande- lier plunged down, smashed, and threw the numerous company into great confusion. As soon as the first moment of shock was over, and those who had pressed forward realized the danger which they had so luckily escaped, and could find words to express the same, many persons showed their state of mind by shouting loudly: ‘miracle! miracle!’ ” In years past, this anecdote was incorrectly linked to Symphony No. 96 in D major, earning it the misplaced nickname “The Miracle.” Once the dust and glass shards had settled, the performance resumed with the grand so- nata-rondo finale, which the audience called to be repeated. Three years after this infamous premiere, Salomon arranged the symphony for flute, piano, and string quartet. –Program notes © 2023 Todd E. Sullivan DAME JANE GLOVER British conductor Jane Glover, named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Em- pire in 2021, has been Music of the Baroque’s music director since 2002, having previous- ly held that position with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera during 1981–85. She first joined Glyndebourne in 1979 following her profes- sional debut at the Wexford Festival in 1975, conducting her own edition of Cavalli’s l’Er- itrea . Glover was also artistic director of the London Mozart Players during 1984–91 and has been principal conductor of the Hudder- sfield and the London Choral Societies. A frequent guest conductor at the BBC Proms, she has appeared with all the major symphony and chamber orchestras in Britain, as well as ensembles across Europe, Asia, Australia, and the United States, recently including the New York Philharmonic; Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Minnesota Orchestras; San Francisco, Houston, St. Louis, Sydney, Cincinnati, and Toronto Symphony Orchestras; and the Or- chestra of St. Luke’s, plus the period-instru- ment orchestras Philharmonia Baroque and the Handel and Haydn Society. She recently made debuts with the Bremen and Malaysia Philharmonics, Montreal’s Orchestre Mètro- politain, and the Chicago Symphony Orches- tra. Also an in-demand conductor of opera, Glover has recently led Mozart’s The Magic Flute with the Metropolitan Opera and Hous- ton Grand Opera, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with HGO, Handel’s Alcina with Washington National Opera, and Britten’s Albert Herring with Minnesota Opera, as well as Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mozart’s Così fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro at the AspenMusic Festival, in addition to productions with the Royal Op- era House at Covent Garden, English Nation- al Opera, Glyndebourne, Berlin State Opera, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Glimmerglass, Chicago Opera Theater, Royal Danish Opera, Opera Australia, and Teatro La Fenice, among other companies and houses. Beyond her core rep- ertoire of Monteverdi, Handel, Britten, and all of Mozart’s operas, she led the world premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies’s Kommilitonen! . A Royal College of Music fellow and honorary Royal Academy of Music member, in 2020 she was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gamechanger Award. Dame Jane Glover has conducted Music of the Baroque for the Ra- vinia Festival in 2007, 2013, and 2022. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 35