University Symphony
Robert Gutter, music director
Patrick Doumeng, guest conductor
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
7:30 pm
Dana Auditorium, Gulford College
Program
Le Chasseur Maudit (The Accursed Huntsman) Cesar Frank
(1822-1890)
Nocturnes Claude Debussy
Nuages (1862-1918)
Fetes
Sirenes
Intermission
Symphony no. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 (Organ Symphony) Camille Saint-Saëns
Adagio - Allegro moderato (1835-1921)
Poco adagio
Allegro moderato - Presto
Maestoso - Allegro
The UNCG Symphony Orchestra dedicats this performance to the memory of Tracy Scardino.
She was a beloved member of the orchestra and will be missed.
Program Notes
Franck: Le Chasseur Maudit (The Accursed Huntsman)
Despite his reputation as an idealistic cultivator of "pure" music, Franck was as desirous of
success as any other composer. And success in Paris meant either opera or an exciting
orchestral work capable of firing the popular imagination, that is, the symphonic poem. During
Franck's last and richest creative period, an inordinate amount of time was given to the
composition of two operas, Hulda (1882-1885) and Ghiselle (1889-1890), which, though undone
by incredibly mediocre books, contain some of his finest music and which remain almost wholly
unknown. The symphonic poem began to take hold among French composers with Saint-Saëns'
Le Rouet d'Omphale in 1871, followed by Phaëton (1873) and the enduringly popular Danse
macabre (1874). Among Franck's pupils, d'Indy's imposing Wallenstein trilogy was completed the
same year, and Franck's Les Éolides followed in 1876. The next three years were given to the
completion of his oratorio, Les Béatitudes, with which he was largely preoccupied through the
decade 1869-79, and which he considered his masterpiece. That behind him, he dashed off
Rebecca, a small oratorio intended to capitalize on the continuing vogue for things Oriental first
sparked by Felicien David's Le Désert in 1844.
It was almost certainly Duparc who then turned Franck's attention to Gottfried August Bürger's
ballad, Der wilde Jäger, for the subject of his own 1875 tone poem, Lénore, had been taken from
another Bürger ballad. Laurence Davies, the eminent critic and author César Franck and His
Circle, dismisses Bürger's narrative as "a Lisztian tale of adventure about a Count who defies the
Sabbath to go hunting," thus trivializing both its import and its musical suggestiveness which
Franck rang into ringing bronze in Le Chasseur maudit. The errant nobleman pursues the hunt
with preternatural savagery while committing the same trespasses for which Satan was banished
from heaven -- pride, sacrilege, and defiance. From the distant bells to the fury of the hunt and
the count's seizure by demons who condemn him to ride the skies throughout eternity, Franck
unfolds the tale with the relish of a savvy raconteur who knows how to call to his aid spellbinding
melody, viscerally gripping detail, and richly evocative orchestral color. The work was given its
premiere at the 132nd concert of the Société National de Musique, Salle Érard on March 31,
1883, conducted by Édouard Colonne, where it shared a program with the tone poem, Viviane
(1882), by his pupil, Chausson.
~ All Music Guide
Debussy: Nocturnes
Achille-Claude Debussy was born at Saint Germain-en-Laye, Department of Seine-et-Oise,
France on August 22, 1862, and died in Paris on March 25, 1918. Just when the Nocturnes
began to occupy him cannot be determined, but he wrote them in more or less their present form
between 1897 and 1899. Later he made substantial revisions in the orchestration, and the work is
always performed now according to the revised score, published posthumously in 1930. The first
two nocturnes only were performed at the Concerts Lamoureux in Paris on December 9, 1900,
Camille Chevillard conducting. The complete set was given for the first time by the same
performers on October 27, 1901. B.J. Lang conducted the first United States performance at a
Chickering Production concert in Boston, February 10, 1904. The Nocturnes are scored for three
flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three
trombones, tuba, two harps, timpani, cymbals, snare drum, and strings, to which a chorus of
sopranos and altos is added for Sirènes.
In the days of fin-de-siècle Paris the musical and cultural world was evolving away from the heavy
erotic pleasures of Wagner and the sugary realism of Massenet. Debussy responded to this
wave, to the colorful-yet-cooling symbolist poetry (of Verlaine, Rimbaud, Mallarmé), to the vital
iconoclastic experiments of the Impressionists in their new world of light-on-canvas. These
creative geniuses were his acquaintances, some even his friends—for a time. (A prickly Debussy,
"capable of alienating affections," often provoked lengthy estrangements.)
Still, Debussy's career blossomed with other works, major works. The next years saw the creation
and performances of his String Quartet (1893) and the first great work of musical Impressionism,
the Prélude à L'Après-midi d'un faune (1894). The score for the unfortunate Scènes disappeared,
though Debussy recast it two years later in the form of a violin concerto for Eugene Ysaÿe. The
composer, who now called the work Nocturnes for Violin and Orchestra, wrote to the violinist: "It
is an experiment with the different combinations that can be obtained from one color—like a study
in gray in painting. I hope this will appeal to you."
The violin concerto never appeared. In 1897 Debussy began to revise it again, adding a chorus of
women's voices to the last movement, a wordless ensemble singing open vowels as in his early
score Printemps. Not until 1900, after years of financial crisis, did the reworked concerto—now
titled the Nocturnes—appear before a public, though in an abridged performance with the
Concerts Lamoureux. Finally, a year later the complete work was played by the orchestra, and to
a most enthusiastic audience.
The three movements of the Nocturnes each bear suggestive, mysterious titles: Nuages (Clouds),
Fêtes (Festivals), and Sirènes (Sirens). What really do they describe? Because the composer
was often lax in explaining the meaning of his music behind the evocative title, the answer is
something of a guessing game. The specific source of these images has puzzled writers and
critics, and none of the sources that have been suggested over the years can come close to the
actual brilliant sound of Debussy's Nocturnes, to the perception of "vibration of the air, the
quivering of the atmosphere, the luminous glitter." Fortunately, there are two sources of meaning
that cannot be denied, both from the composer himself. Leon Vallas, his biographer, reports a
conversation Debussy once had with a friend: "One day, in stormy weather, as Debussy was
crossing the Pont de la Concorde in Paris with Poujard he declared that on a similar day the idea
had occurred to him of his symphonic work Nuages: he had seen those very thunder-clouds
swept along by a stormy wind. . . . Fêtes had been inspired by a recollection of old-time public
rejoicings in the Bois de Boulogne attended by happy, thronging crowds; the trio with its fanfare of
muted trumpets suggests the former drum and bugle hand of the Gardes Nationale, beating the
tattoo as it approached from afar and passed out of sight."
Saint-Saëns: Symphony no. 3 (Organ Symphony)
The Symphony No. 3 in C minor Op. 78 was completed by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1886 at what
was probably the artistic zenith of his career. It is also popularly known as the "Organ
Symphony", even though it is not a true symphony for organ, but simply an orchestral symphony
where only 2 sections out of 4 use the pipe organ. This symphony was commissioned by the
Philharmonic Society in England, and the first performance was given in London, conducted by
the composer.
Of composing the work Saint-Saëns said that he had "given everything to it I was able to give."
The composer seemed to know it would be his last attempt at the symphonic form, and he wrote
the work almost as a type of "history" of his own career: Virtuoso piano passages, brilliant
orchestral writing, and the sound of a cathedral-sized pipe organ. The work was dedicated to
Saint-Saëns's friend Franz Liszt, who had died that year, two months after the symphony was first
performed. One of the most outstanding and original features of the piece is the ingenious use of
keyboard instruments: piano scored for both two and four hands at various places and an organ.
Although this symphony seems to follow the normal four-movement structure, and many
recordings break it in this way, it was actually written in two movements; Saint-Saëns intended a
novel two-movement symphony. The symphony also makes innovative use of cyclic thematic
material. Saint-Saëns adapted Liszt's theories of thematic development, so that the subjects
evolve throughout the duration of the symphony. The symphony usually lasts for about 35
minutes, no longer than 40 minutes.
The symphony is scored for a standard symphony orchestra comprising 3 flutes (1 doubling
piccolo), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3
trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, a bass drum, strings (2 violin parts,
violas, cellos, double basses), piano (four hands) and, of course, a solo organ.
The first movement, after a slow introduction, leads to a theme of Mendelssohnian character,
followed by a second subject of a gentler cast. The organ introduces the slow theme of the
Adagio of sadder complexion, in which the cyclic theme recurs. The second movement opens
with an energetic strings melody. Later the brass section and a piano also take part in this
movement. The Maestoso is started by the organ, again as the Adagio, introducing an orchestral
fugato. Piano four-hands is heard at the beginning with the strings. This well-known last
movement is of considerable variety, including a chorale, polyphonic writing and a brief pastoral
interlude, replaced by a massive climax of the whole symphony. The lowest pedal notes of the
Maestoso, played on the organ, are of almost inaudibly low frequency. When experienced live in
a concert hall equipped with a large concert organ with 32-foot pedal reed stops (e.g. the Royal
Albert Hall Organ), these notes are very dramatic, very loud and are a deeply impressive audio
experience.The main theme of the Maestoso was later adapted and used in the 1977 pop-song "If
I Had Words" by Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley. The Maestoso movement has been used in
the French exhibit at Epcot in Disney World. The song and the symphony can also be heard in
the 1995 family film Babe.
Conductor
Patrick Doumeng
Born in Toulouse in 1964, he began studiyng music at the age of 7 and graduated in viola,
chamber music and harmony in 1985. In 1983 and 84 was a member of Orchestre Franco
Allemand des Jeunes with wich he toured in Germany and France. From 1984 he collaborated
with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in numerous concerts.
He has performed in festivals in Toulouse, Nimes, Saint Céré and Carcassonne. From 1986, he
has been a member of Tenerife Symphony Orchestra. In 1996 he became Artistic Director and
Principal Conductor of Tenerife Chamber Orchestra. From 2000 to 2003, he is also Principal
Conductor of the Orquesta Clásica de la Laguna, with the participation of such soloists as
Alexander Markov, Alexis Cardenas, Jose Luis Gomez Rios, Sviatoslav Belonogov, Mhairi
Lawson… He conducted the BBC Symphony Chorus in Haendel´s Messiah and Rutter´s
Requiem. In 2002, he conducted the Orquesta Sinfonica del Salvador. In 2003, he was invited to
the Orquesta del Estado de Michoacan (Mexico) and toured the USA with the Paris Sinfonietta.
The same year he recorded a CD with Tenerife Chamber Orchestra and other chamber groups,
dedicated to the composer Enrique Guimera.
In 2005, he conducted the Pesaro Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a concert broadcast on
Italian national TV (RAI). In the International Festival of Val di Noto, he conducted the Philarmonic
Orchestra of Teatro Bellini and the violinist Aiman Mussakhajayeva, the same year, he
participated in a second tour of USA with Paris Sinfonietta. In 2006 he has been invited to
conduct Siracusa Chamber Orchestra (Italy) and Paris Sinfonietta in a tour of Spain
Performers
UNCG Symphony
Violin 1
Wayne Reich, principal
Michael Cummings
Allison Willet
Lisa Gattuso
Elisabeth Cansler
Megan Morris
Andrew Liggitt
Emily Rudder
Young Cho
Jared Matthews
Meg Harrison
Violin 2
Will Selle, principal
Jorge Rodriguez Ochoa
Seung Hee Kwon
Kimberly Jennings
Veronica Allen
Haein Song
Violas
Christen Blanton, principal
John Ward
Joseph Driggars
Laura Andersen
Anne Marie Wittman
Laurie Rominger
Caitie Leming
Chrissy Fuchs
Elizabeth Green
Alex Beard
Cello
Kevin Lowery, principal
Joy Keown
Jesse McAdoo
Kendall Ramseur
Sarah Dorsey
Bass
Michael Di Trolio, principal
Stella Heine
Di Wang
Ryan Mack
Stephen Jackson
Stuart McLemore
Harp
Clarke Carriker
Bonnie Bach
Piano
Elizabeth Loparits
Betsi Hodges
* co-principal
Flute
Allison Fletcher *
LaTika Douthit *
Laura Pritchett *
Oboe
Thomas Pappas *
Chet Moon *
Jesse Anderson
English Horn
Chet Moon
Clarinet
Robyn Brown *
Holly Kortze *
Bass Clarinet
Matt Libera
Bassoon
Rebecca Hammontree *
Angel Garren *
Chris Akins
Justin Thompson
French Horn
Phillip Kassel *
Nick Lee *
Shannon Kucirca
Austin Macdonald
Trumpets
Christian McIvor, principal
Michael Scheitzelt
Jamie Dickens
Jonathan Parnell
Trombone
Paul Palm *
Drew Creech *
Caleb Smith
Tuba
Brad Slusarczyk
Percussion
Dave Fox *
Tim Heath
James Houghton
Organ
Adam Ward
Personnel Manager
LaTannia Ellerbe
Women’s Glee Club
Kelly Turner, director
Caitlin Adams
Carmen Aiken
Veronica Allen
Samantha Ballenger
Corey Bellis
Emily Byrne
Allie Cantrell
Sarah Chapman
Rosa Creech
Sidney Dixon
Lessly Dosamantes
Liane Elias
Dima Fakhoury
Rachel Gaines
Serobia Garris
Faith Galliard
Elizabeth Grubbs
Jackie Haggerty
Bryn Hagman
Dora Hastings
Callie Hedrick
Hansi Hoskins
Gloria Howerton
Julie Johnson
Shanee Karriem
Sam Kennedy
Sarah Livengood
Leann Madtes
Erika Martin
Em McKeever
Megan Parrott
Jordan Parson
Meredith Roberts
Ashlea Ross
Mutsumi Sato
Catherine Schielmann
Ashley Scott
Laurin Shaw
Diana Stellway
Youlee Sun
Chrisi Szabo
Holly Triplett
Tiffany Tyndall
Mariel Van Norman
Natalie Whitescarver
Allison Wise
Brittany Wyatt
Megan Yohman
Jamie Zicko
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/
