Ravinia 2025 Issue 5

programs to the resplendent names of Beetho- ven, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn—and some- times Schumann as proof of their audacity.” One year after founding the Société National de Musique, Saint-Saëns composed his Cello Con- certo No. 1, a work dedicated to Auguste Tolbec- que, who gave the premiere on January 19, 1873, at the Paris Conservatory. Italians, such as Corelli and Vivaldi, had dominated concerto composi- tion during the late Baroque, and Germanic musi- cians governed developments within this genre during the Classical and Romantic periods. Strong French interests in writing concertos emerged only during Saint-Saëns’s lifetime, and his works were among the first of this new tradition. In keeping with the Gallic spirit of the time, Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 avoids the traditional Germanic three-movement form established by Mozart and Beethoven. Instead, this single-movement work is divided into three linked sections. As with concertos by other French composers, virtuosity is not an end in itself, a tendency among Germans and Italians. This work possesses a more evenly balanced dia- logue between soloist and orchestra. Stylistically Saint-Saëns’s music bears a typically French air of elegance and discrete flair. EMMANUEL CHABRIER (1841–1894) España , Rhapsody for Orchestra Scored for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, tambourine, bass drum, cymbals, two harps, and strings Lawyers and jurists dominated the chronicles of the Chabrier family from the Auvergne region of France. Despite his advanced musical train- ing, Emmanuel Chabrier followed this family tradition, entered law school, and after three years of study took a position in the Ministry of the Interior, where he remained employed for almost two decades. Chabrier developed friend- ships among the Parisian literary and artistic Auguste Tolbecque elite, notably the poets Paul Verlaine and Catulle Mendès and the painter Édouard Manet. His earliest compositions—solo piano works, mélé- odies for voice and piano, and productions for the stage—reflect his renowned keyboard virtu- osity (once compared favorably to Franz Liszt) and literary interests. Chabrier’s election to the Société Nationale de Musique in 1876 placed an unimpeachable stamp upon his compositional talents. Four years later, he resigned from the Ministry of the Interior and devoted the remain- ing years of his life to composition. Chabrier’s six-month visit to Spain in 1882 was a life- and career-changing experience. Traveling with his wife, Alice, he traversed the entire country in a giant loop, beginning in the Basque Country (north) and continuing through the provinces of Castilla la Vieja (west/west-cen- tral), Castilla la Nueva (central), Andalusia (southwest/south), Valencia (east), and Aragon and Catalonia (northeast). What began as an ex- tended vacation quickly evolved into an exhila- rating cultural and ethnomusicological experi- ence—all of which Chabrier documented though vivid and often humorous correspon- dence with his friends. His stay in San Sebastián inevitably involved at- tending at a bullfight: “It’s unlikely, though, that I shall take an active and direct part.” Moving on to Sevilla, Chabrier encountered flamenco for the first time, taking note of sensual details in the dancing (“that admirable Sevillian behind moving in every direction while the rest of the body remains motionless”) and transcribing the music of malagueñas and tangos. By October 25, Chabrier had decided to compose “una fantasia extraordinaria, muy Española” after returning to Paris, as he conveyed to Charles Lamoureaux, a violinist and conductor at the Paris Conser- vatory, Opéra-Comique, and Opéra. The over- all mood and character of this fantasy became clear in his mind: “My rhythms, my tunes will arouse the whole audience to a feverish pitch of excitement; everyone will embrace his neighbor madly … so voluptuous will be my melodies.” Emmanuel Chabrier, attributed to Édouard Manet (1832–1883) Chabrier originally composed his “fantasia ex- traordinaria” for piano in 1883. Lamoureaux, who convinced his friend to orchestrate the score, conducted the premiere at his Concerts Lamoureaux on November 4, 1883. Originally called Jota before its present title, España , this “rhapsody for orchestra” earned Chabrier in- stant popular and critical acclaim for its brilliant orchestration and idiomatic evocations of Span- ish dance and song. While not including any authentic folk songs, Chabrier builds España on two contrasting dance themes in the style of the vibrant jota originating in Aragon and the pas- sionate malagueña from Andalusia. Thirty years after España ’s premiere—in 1913— the eccentric French composer Erik Satie sat- irized Chabrier’s music in the final movement ( Españaña ) of his three-movement suite for solo piano Croquis et agaceries d’un gros bonhom- me en bois (Sketches and Annoyances of a Big Wooden Dummy). Gustav Mahler held a much more respectful, perhaps even reverential, opin- ion of this score, which he often programmed to end his concerts. In an interview with William Malloch for the 1964 broadcast “I Remember Mahler,” former New York Philharmonic bas- soonist Benjamin Kohon recalled a moment during the rehearsal of España when Mahler declared, “This composition is the foundation of modern music!” NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908) Capriccio espagnol , op. 34 Scored for three flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings Rimsky-Korsakov envisioned an Iberian com- panion piece to his Fantasia on Two Russian Themes (1886) for solo violin and orchestra. He ultimately abandoned his original idea to write another concertante violin piece, but salvaged isolated themes for a sumptuous celebration of virtuosic orchestration—the Capriccio espagnol . Decades earlier, Rimsky-Korsakov had distin- guished himself with visionary orchestral effects. Under the guidance of Balakirev, the 18-year-old composer completely revised and reorchestrat- ed his First Symphony. The results impressed his mentor, who suggested numerous orchestration projects over the next few years. In addition to his own compositions, Rimsky-Korsakov re- orchestrated Dargomizhsky’s The Stone Guest , Borodin’s Prince Igor , and Mussorgky’s Khovan- shchina , Night on Bald Mountain , and Boris Go- dunov , among other works. Rimsky-Korsakov’s definitive Principles of Orchestration appeared in print for the first time in 1913. The Capriccio espagnol became a conscious demonstration of Rimsky-Korsakov’s incompa- rable skills with orchestral timbre. In My Musi- cal Life (1909), the composer reflected on this work’s significance: “The opinion formed by RAVINIAMAGAZINE • AUG. 4 – AUG. 17, 2025 84