UNCG Symphony Orchestra
Robert Gutter, Music Director
assisted by:
Matthew Troy, conductor
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
7:30 pm
Aycock Auditorium
Program
Siegfried’s Rhine Journey Richard Wagner
Funeral Music (1813-1883)
from Götterdämerung (1875)
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) (rev. 1896) Gustav Mahler
Wenn Mein Schatz Hochzeit macht (1860-1911)
Ging heut’ morgens übers Feld
Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer
Die zwei blauen Augen
Levone Tobin Scott, mezzo-soprano
Intermission
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73 (1877) Johannes Brahms
Allegro non troppo (1833-1897)
Adagio non troppo
Allegretto grazioso
Allegro con spirito
Matthew Troy, conductor
In partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the
Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting
The hall is equipped with a listening assistance system.
Patrons needing such assistance should contact an usher in the lobby.
Gustav Mahler:
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
I. Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht
Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht,
Hab ich meinen traurigen Tag!
Geh ich in mein Kämmerlein, dunkles Kammerlein!
Weine! Wein! Un meinen Schatz, um meinen lieben
Schatz !
Blümlein blau! Verdorre nicht!
Vöglein süß! Su singst auf grüner Heide!
Ach! Wie ist die Welt so schön! Ziküth!
Singet nicht, erblühet nicht! Lenz ist ja vorbei!
Alles Singen ist nun aus!
Des Abends, wenn ich schlafen geh,
Denk ich an mein Leid, an mein Leide!
II. Ging heut’ morgens übers Feld
Ging heut morgens übers Feld,
Tau noch auf den Gräsern hing;
Sprach zu mir der lustge Fink:
>>Ei, du! Gelt? Guten Morgen ! Ei gelt ? Du !
Wird’s nicht eine schön und flink !
Zink! Zink! Schön und flink!
Wie mir doch die Welt gefällt!<<
Auch die Glockenblum am Feld
Hat mir lustig, guter Ding
Mit dem Glöckchen kling, kling,
Ihren Morgengruss geschellt:
>>Wird’s nicht eine schöne Welt? Schöne Welt!?
Kling ! Kling ! Schönes Ding !
Wie mir doch die Welt gefällt. Hei – a!<<
Und da fing im Sonnenschein
Gleich die Welt zu funkeln an;
Alles, alles, Ton und Farbe gewann in Sonnenschein!
Blum und Vogel, gross und klein!
Guten Tag, guten Tag! Ist’s nicht eine schöne Welt?
Ei du! Gelt? Schöne Welt !?
Nun fängt auch mein Glück wohl an ?!
Nein! Nein! Das ich mein, mir nimmer blühen kann !
III. Ich hab ein glühend Messer
Ich hab ein glühend Messer, ein Messer in meiner Brust.
O weh! O weh!
Da schneidt so tief in jede Freud und jede Lust, so tief!
Ach, was ist das für ein böser Gast!
Nimmer hält er Ruh, nimmer hält er Rast,
Nicht bei Tag, noch bei Nacht, wenn ich schlief!
O weh! O weh!
Wenn ich in den Himmel seh,
Seh ich zwei blaue Augen stehn!
O weh! O weh!
Wenn ich im gelben Felde geh,
Seh ich von fern das blonde Haar im Winde wehn!
O weh! O weh!
Wenn ich aus dem Traum auffahr and höre
Klingen ihr silbern Lachen,
Songs of a Wayfarer
When my lover becomes a happy bride
When my love becomes a bride, becomes a happy bride,
that will be a bitter day for me!
I’ll go into my little room, my gloomy little room,
and weep, weep for my love, for my dear love!
Little blue flower, do not wither!
Sweet little bird, you sing in the green field,
“Ah, how beautiful the world is! Tirra lirra!”
Do not sing, do not bloom! Spring is done,
all singing is over.
At evening, when I go to sleep,
I’ll think of my sorrow, only of my sorrow!
As I walked this morning through the field
As I walked this morning through the field,
the dew still hung upon the grass;
the merry finch called out to me,
“Hey, you there! Good day to you!
Isn’t this a splendid world, splendid world?
Tweet, tweet! Find and bright!
O how I love the world!”
And the bluebell in the field
told of good cheer
with its bell, ting-a-ling,
as it rang its morning greeting:
“Isn’t this a splendid world, splendid world?
Ding, ding! Beauteous thing!
O how I love the world! Hurrah!”
And all the world began to glow
in the sunshine; in the sunshine
all things took on color and sound,
flower and bird, things great and small.
“Good day, good day! Isn’t this a splendid world?
Hey, you there -- lovely
Will my happiness now flower too?
No, no! Well I know that it can never bloom!
III. I have a gleaming knife
I have a gleaming knife, a knife in my breast.
Woe is me, woe is me!
It cuts so deep into every joy and pleasure, so deep
Ah, what a cruel guest to harbor!
It never grants me peace, never grants me rest,
neither by day nor by night when I would sleep.
Woe is me, woe is me!
When I look into the heavens
I see her two eyes of blue there.
Woe is me, woe is me!
When I go into the golden fields,
from afar I see her fair hair blowing in the breeze.
Woe is me, woe is me!
When I start up from my dreams
and hear the peal of her silvery laughter,
O weh! O weh!
Ich wollt, ich läg auf der schwarzen Bahr,
Könnt nimmer die Augen aufmachen!
IV. Die zwei blauen Augen
Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz,
Die haben mich in die weite Welt gesschickt.
Da musst ich Abschied nehmen vom allerliebsten Platz!
O Augen, blau! Warum habt ihr mich angeblickt?
Nun hab ich ewig Leid und Grämen!
Ich bin ausgegangen in stiller Nacht,
In stilller Nacht wohl über die dunkle Heide.
Hat mir niemand ade gesagt, ade!
Mein Gesell war Lieb und Leide!
Auf der Strasse stand ein Lindenbaum,
Da hab ich zum erstenmal in Schlaf geruht!
Unter dem Lindenbaum, der hat seine Blüten
Über mich geschneit, da wusst ich night,
Wie das Leben tut, war alles, ach alles wieder gut!
Alles! Alles! Lieb und Leid!
Und Welt und Traum!
woe is me, woe is me!
I would that lay upon my sable bier,
never again to open my eyes.
IV. My love’s two eyes of blue
My love’s two eyes of blue
have sent me out into the wide world.
I had to bid farewell to the spot I cherish.
O eyes of blue, why did you look at me?
Now grief and sorrow are forever my lot.
I went out in the still of night,
at dead of night across the gloomy heath.
No one said goodbye to me, goodbye;
my companions were love and grief.
By the road stood a linden-tree:
there at last I found at rest in sleep.
Under the linden-tree, which snowed
its blossoms down on me, I knew naught
of life’s pain; all, all was well again –
all, all! Love and grief,
my world, my dreams!
Program Notes
Siegfried’s Rhine Journey
Vivid musical landscapes abound in the opulent music of Richard Wagner (1813-1883).
The interlude between the prologue and the first act of Wagner's Die Gotterdammerung
("Twilight of the Gods") has come to be known as Siegfried's Rhine Journey. In this musical
voyage the hero, Siegfried, journeys down the river Rhine in search of adventure, while
musical themes (leitmotifs) recall highlights of his mythic story from the first three operas of
the Ring Cycle.
After a descending passage in the full orchestra, the strings and clarinet play the decision
to love motive. As the music continues, successive themes depicting magic fire, the Rhine
River, the all-important magical ring, and the power of the ring are heard. This rich musical
interlude ends with anticipation of the fiery dramatic action to come as Valhalla bums in the
opera's climax. --excerpted from notes by Bruce Brown
Funeral Music
Siegfried’s Funeral Music, from Richard Wagner’s Götterdämerung, the fourth and
final opera of his massive Ring Cycle (premiered Bayreuth, 1876), seems to carry the
weight of mythological cataclysm. Thus, the music mourns more than the hero Siegfried,
who falls victim to the curse of the ring. Shortly after Siegfried’s funeral pyre is lit, Valhalla
itself is put to the flame.
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Mahler began the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) in December
1884; he finished the songs early the following year and then revised them when he
orchestrated the set between 1891 and 1896. The orchestra consists of three flutes and
piccolo, two oboes and english horn, three clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons, four
horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, triangle, glockenspiel, harp, and strings.
Mahler spent New Year's Eve 1884 with Johanna Richter, a soprano with whom he had
fallen in love. He was just twenty-three at the time, and she was "everything lovable in the
world." But by then their relationship had become tense and unsatisfying, and they "awaited
the coming of the new year almost in silence." At midnight Johanna went into the next room
and stared out the window. "Nameless grief stood between us like an eternal wall," Mahler
wrote to a friend the next morning, in the harsh daylight of the new year. "And there was
nothing I could do but press her hand and go."
Mahler had already written six poems dedicated to Johanna, and he began to set four of
them to music. The Songs of a Wayfarer , as the group was eventually called, is Mahler's
first masterpiece. In it Mahler found the knack, which would seldom desert him, for taking
the commonplace--the pain of unreturned love, the bitterness of breaking up--and
transforming it, through music, into something unique and lasting. Mahler didn't show his
songs to Johanna. "What can they tell her beyond what she knows?" he asked, although
these youthful pieces go a long way toward exploring "the plane of obscure feelings," as
Mahler later put it, that words can't easily express--"the gate which opens into the 'other
world.'"
Mahler's poems themselves, though sharply and colorfully worded, are hardly great
literature. In fact, Mahler was clearly attempting to recreate the naïve, folklike style of the
Knaben Wunderhorn verses he loved--so obviously, in fact, that his first poem copies,
almost word for word, one in the Wunderhorn collection. The melodies, too, capture the
natural tunefulness of folk song, even though they veer off in unexpected directions and are
supported by a sophisticated tonal plan.
Although Mahler originally wrote these songs for voice and piano, he conceived them with
orchestral accompaniment from the beginning. (The orchestration was delayed for at least
six years, partly by Mahler's work on his first symphony.) As a result, both piano and
orchestral accompaniments are satisfying and complete; the piano part is full of latent
symphonic effects; the later orchestration retains the delicacy and clarity of the piano
version. (Confusingly, Mahler called the piano accompaniments "orchestral reductions,"
even though they came first, because they were composed with the sound of a full
orchestra in Mahler's ears.) In this sense, Mahler had moved beyond the song cycles by
Berlioz (Nuits d'été) and Wagner (the Wesendonk songs), who weren't thinking in
orchestral colors when they composed their songs.
"The songs are a sequence in which a wayfaring craftsman, who has had a great sorrow,
goes out into the world and wanders aimlessly," Mahler wrote. This, then, is Mahler's
Winterreise, set in springtime, with bird song and linden blossoms in place of Schubert's
long, harsh winter. As in Schubert's cycle, the composer's identification with the wandering
hero is complete; we even have Johanna's piercing blue eyes recorded forever. Mahler's
music travels restlessly along with the narrator; each song, as well as the entire cycle, ends
in a different key from its point of departure. This journey toward a far-flung tonal
destination would become a hallmark of Mahler's scores.
--excerpted from notes by Phillip Huscher
Symphony No. 2
The summer of 1877 was a pleasant time for Johannes Brahms. After fifteen years of work
and worry, constantly fearing comparison with Beethoven ("you have no idea how it feels to
hear behind you the tramp of a giant"), he had premiered his first symphony in November of
the previous year to favorable reviews. This hurdle past, Brahms took the occasion that
summer to vacation in the village of Pörtschach, Austria, where "so many melodies fly
about," he wrote, "one must be careful not to tread on them."
Relaxed and inspired, Brahms knocked off his second symphony in record time -- finishing
most of it that summer and performing a four-hand piano version with Ignaz Brüll for a few
friends when he returned to Vienna at summer's end. He continued polishing it through
November, teasing the friends who had not heard his piano version by describing it as a
very somber, sad piece. To friend and fellow pianist Clara Schumann (wife of his earliest
champion, Robert Schumann), he described the first movement as "quite elegiac in
character." To long-time correspondent Elisabeth von Herzogenberg he wrote that the
orchestra would have to play with mourning bands on their arms. Even his publisher, Fritz
Simrock, got the treatment: "The new Symphony is so melancholy that you will not be able
to bear it," Brahms told him.
The second symphony is probably the sunniest of Brahms’ symphonies, with a pastoral
quality that surprised -- and delighted -- his friends. Critics who had expected something in
the vein of his more sober first symphony in C minor were equally surprised by this D-major
symphony. One Viennese critic even complained that it was too lovely: "We require from
[Brahms] music that is something more than simply pretty."
Yet the second symphony is much more than merely pretty. The composer's deft touch at
orchestrating many textures from a relatively limited orchestral force is in full evidence here:
from soft and tender melodies, to sprightly dancing tunes, to his trademark sonorous
strings. Equally on display is his skill at creating endless variations from just a few themes.
The first movement, Allegro non troppo, opens with a three-note motif in the low strings that
develops into themes both grand and tender. The Adagio non troppo that follows is more
introspective, yet never brooding. Listen for the syncopated second theme played by the
woodwinds over pizzicato cellos. A solo oboe introduces a folk-like tune to open the third
movement, Allegretto grazioso. This melody, with its relatively stately yet dancing rhythm, is
transformed into energetic variations punctuated by a few breathless pauses. The finale,
Allegro con spirito, contrasts manic energy with a broad, hymn-like melody first "sung" by
the full strings. Even during the movement's slower segments, there is an inevitable sense
of motion. By the final trombone chord at movement's end, as one critic writes, "one has the
sense of having been on a wild ride."
--notes by Barbara Heninger
Emergency Exit Information & Concert Etiquette
Patrons are encouraged to take note of exits located on all levels of the auditorium. In an
emergency, please use the nearest exit, which may be behind you or different from the one
which you entered. Please turn off all cellular phones, pagers, and alarm watches. As a
courtesy to other audience members and to the performers, please wait for a break in the
performance to enter or exit the hall
Soloist
Levone Tobin Scott, mezzo-soprano, has been a member of the faculty since 1992. She
holds degrees from Benedict College and the University of South Carolina and has done
further study for the DM degree at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Tobin Scott has
been recognized for her excellence in performance of American Art Songs by Pi Kappa
Lambda, the South Carolina Musical Arts Guild, the Nassau, Bahamas, Cultural Arts Series
and the Nederland Amerika Institut Limburg. Her extensive performances in recital and
oratorio have included appearances with the Greensboro Symphony, the Winston-Salem
Piedmont Triad Symphony, the Pensacola Symphony, the Columbia Philharmonic and the
Florence Symphony. Her performances have taken her to Paris, Bruges, Brussels,
Maastricht, Luxembourg, and Frankfurt.
Conductors
Robert Gutter is currently Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro and also serves as Music Director of the Philharmonia of
Greensboro. In 1996 he received an appointment as Principal Guest Conductor of the
National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine in Kiev. He is founder and artistic director for
the International Institute for Conductors which has had workshops in Kiev,Catania, and
most recently in Bacau, Romania. In his 35 years
as a professional conductor he has devoted himself to both professional and non-professional
orchestras in over thirty countries and in the major cities of New York,
Washington D.C., Paris, London, Vienna, Milano, Firenze, Stuttgart, and St. Petersburg. In
addition to his symphonic engagements, he has appeared with opera companies both in
the United States and in Europe. Prior to accepting his orchestral posts in North Carolina in
1988, he served as Music Director and Conductor of the Springfield, Massachusetts
Symphony. In 1986 he was named "Conductor Emeritus" of that orchestra. As an
instrumentalist, Gutter served as principal trombonist with the Washington National
Symphony. He holds the bachelor and Master degrees from Yale University.
Matthew Thomas Troy, assistant conductor of the UNCG Symphony Orchestra, received
his Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, studying viola
under Dr. Scott Rawls. Upon graduating, Troy began playing principal viola in The
Philharmonia of Greensboro. Since then Troy has been featured as a Guest Conductor on
many occasions and has conducted concerts as part of the Opus Concert Series and Music
for a Sunday Evening in the Park. Other guest conducting engagements have been with
the Greensboro Symphony Youth Chamber Orchestra among others. Currently completing
the Master of Music at UNCG, studying with Robert Gutter, Troy has already been selected
to serve as an Adjunct Professor of Music at Wake Forest University as Conductor of the
Orchestra in the fall of 2004. Other professional experience includes currently serving as
Assistant Conductor of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, as well as Conductor of the
Salisbury Youth Orchestra and Assistant Conductor of the Winston-Salem Youth
Symphony. Also, remaining active as a teacher, Troy is in his third year on the string
faculty of the Music Academy of North Carolina with a thriving studio where his student
have won local and state awards. Not limiting himself to instrumental music, Troy is also an
experienced vocalist. He has sung with the Greensboro Opera Company, and has been
featured as a clinician for high school choral students at Salisbury State University in
Salisbury, MD. From 2001-2003 Troy was the Music Director/Conductor for Triad Harmony
Express, a men’s a cappella chorus, and has written arrangements for their repertoire. In
the summer of 2005 he attended the Medomak Conductors Retreat, in Maine, where he
studied with renowned conductor Kenneth Kiesler.
UNCG Symphony Orchestra
Robert Gutter, conductor
Violin I
LaTannia Ellerbe, concertmaster
Gretchen Heller, assistant principal
Michael Cummings
Jared Matthews
Laura Doyle
Elizabeth Malcolm
Andrew Liggitt
Elizabeth Larson
Brittany Ellis
Amy E. Morse
Annalisa Chang
John Duncan
Violin II
William Selle, principal
Matthew Troy, assistant principal
Holley Ross
Shelley Blalock
Holly Sitton
Elisabeth Cansler
Kimberly Jennings
Amy K. Johnson
Kristin Bailes
Kristen Walton
Rachel Godwin
Vanessa Hall
Viola
Lindsey Parsons, principal
Susannah Plaster, assistant principal
Patrick Scully
John Ward
Morgan Caffey
Caitie Leming
Joseph Driggars
Amber Autry
Anne Marie Wittmann
Laura Andersen
Christina Fuchs
Alex Beard
Violoncello
Brian Hodges, principal
Meaghan Brown Skogen,
assistant principal
Brian Carter
Sarah Bearden
Michael Way
Kendall Ramseur
Jesse N. McAdoo, Jr.
Kevin Lowery
Joseph Kwon
Rebecca Wade
Krista Britt
Sarah Dorsey
Double Bass
Paul L. Quast, principal
Patrick Byrd, assistant principal
Stella Heine
Ryan Mack
Di Wang
Michael Di Trolio III
Kit Polen
Stephen Jackson
Stuart McLemore
Brent Rawls
Harp
Clarke Carriker
Flute
Allison Flores, principal
Laura Pritchett
Yana Romanova
Oboe
Cheshire Moon
Emily Muldoon, co-principal
Katie Woolsey, co-principal
English Horn
Shelly Hypes
Clarinet
Robyn Brown, co-principal
Sarah Lloyd, co-principal
Kelly Smith
Holly Kortze
Bass Clarinet
Sarah Lloyd
Kelly Smith
Bassoon
Rebecca Hammontree, principal
Justin Thompson
Cheyne Burwell
Horn
Kendal Alley
Mary Boudreault, principal
Tara Cates
Kate Hopper
Philip Kassel
Tarvick Linder
Jack Masarie
Shannon Rose Witt
Tiffany Woods
Trumpet
James Dickens
Mark Hibshman, principal
Jeff Kindschuh
Bass Trumpet
Glenn Wilkinson
Trombone
Frank Beaty
Nicholas Goehring
Paul Pietrowski, principal
Richard Tyndall
Tuba
Brent Harvey
Percussion
Braxton Sherouse
Thad Lowder
David Fox
Tim Heath
Matthew Watlington
Music Librarian: Lindsey Parsons
Personnel Manager: Carol Lowe
The UNCG School of Music has been recognized for years as one of the elite
music institutions in the United States. Fully accredited by the National
Association of Schools of Music since 1938, the School offers the only
comprehensive music program from undergraduate through doctoral study in
both performance and music education in North Carolina. From a total
population of approximately 16,000 university students, the UNCG School of
Music serves over 600 music majors with a full-time faculty and staff of more than
sixty. As such, the UNCG School of Music ranks among the largest Schools of
Music in the South.
The UNCG School of Music now occupies a new 26-million-dollar music building,
which is among the finest music facilities in the nation. In fact, the new music
building is the second-largest academic building on the UNCG Campus. A large
music library with state-of-the-art playback, study and research facilities houses
all music reference materials. Greatly expanded classroom, studio, practice
room, and rehearsal hall spaces are key components of the new structure. Two
new recital halls, a large computer lab, a psychoacoustics lab, electronic music
labs, and recording studio space are additional features of the new facility. In
addition, an enclosed multi-level parking deck is adjacent to the new music
building to serve students, faculty and concert patrons.
Living in the artistically thriving Greensboro—Winston-Salem—High Point “Triad”
area, students enjoy regular opportunities to attend and perform in concerts
sponsored by such organizations as the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the
Greensboro Opera Company, and the Eastern Music Festival. In addition,
UNCG students interact first-hand with some of the world’s major artists who
frequently schedule informal discussions, open rehearsals, and master classes at
UNCG.
Costs of attending public universities in North Carolina, both for in-state and out-of-
state students, represent a truly exceptional value in higher education.
For information regarding music as a major or minor field of study, please write:
Dr. John J. Deal, Dean
UNCG School of Music
P.O. Box 26170
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6170
(336) 334-5789
On the Web: www.uncg.edu/mus/
