APPALACHIAN SPRING

Program Notes

Vishwas III: Testament

REENA ESMAIL

The word vishwas (िवशवास) expresses the concept of fervent belief, or faith, in Hindi. Meera Bai, a celebrated saint-poet from 15th century India, is the quintessential embodiment of vishwas. Though she is forced into a traditional marriage to unite two kingdoms, she believes she is married to the Lord Krishna, a Hindu deity, and the events of her life are shaped around her fervent devotion to this intangible but omnipresent figure.

Testament is the final movement of a three part work for bharatanatyam (Indian classical) dancer and orchestra. In Meera's stubbornness, she stages a hunger strike outside the temple of her Lord Krishna, refusing to eat until the doors are opened. One night, after days of fasting, she is extremely weak and lays down to rest. A storm brews, and the high winds begin to swing the lamp outside the temple's wooden door, causing the door to catch fire. As the storm builds, the door burns, eventually causing the entrance to the temple to reopen. This piece incorporates one of Meera's own bhajans (devotional songs), in Raag Malhar, the raag that beckons rain. Krishna has used the forces of nature to show himself, and to honor Meera's faithfulness to him. Even as the flames surround her, Meera walks calmly into the temple to honor her Lord.

Vishwas makes use of traditional Hindustani raags, which are woven through the fabric of the composition. It is fitting that all the information we currently have about Meera Bai and her struggles for self-expression are from her own songs.

Program Notes

Viola Concerto

John Williams (b. 1932)

John Williams is widely recognized for his extraordinary contributions to film music, yet his concert works are equally remarkable, though not performed as often as they deserve.

In addition to his achievements as a composer, Williams is also renowned as a conductor, most notably for his long-standing tenure as the conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. In this role, he frequently praised the orchestra's exceptional artistry, both as an ensemble and through the talents of individual musicians.

Following one particular performance, Williams was especially struck by the expressive playing of the orchestra's Associate Principal Violist, Cathy Basrak. This admiration served as the inspiration for the work on tonight's program here with the Adrian Symphony, which features one of the earliest performances of his Viola Concerto since its premiere in 2009. Notably, Ms. Basrak is married to the Boston Symphony's Principal Timpanist, a connection that is reflected in the concerto's lively interplay between the viola and timpani, particularly in the middle and final movements. Another prominently featured instrument is the harp, which Williams highlighted in a dedicated section to honor the retirement of Ann Hobson Pilot, who served the Boston Symphony Orchestra with distinction for over 40 years.

Reflecting on this work, Williams once remarked: "My great joy has been working with these fantastic musicians, and if any of this pleasure is reflected in the concerto, it will be my greatest reward."

Program Notes

Appalachian Spring

Aaron Copland (1900–1990)

by Beryl McHenry

Aaron Copland's ballets show his commitment to musical precision wedded to dramatic action and choreography. He described himself as having a "split personality" when it came to composing. To this split personality we owe impressive movie scores, as well as modern delightful light symphonic music. In his writing he has used folk songs, cowboy ballads, country dances, Shaker hymns, jazz syncopation and traditional composition to produce a body of work which still enjoys great popularity. In 1924 a conductor actually apologized to an audience for the dissonance of an early Copland composition. A few years later, some patrons of the Boston Symphony left the hall to escape the "hot jazz" of Copland's Piano Concerto. Later works were described by critics as "ugly, uncouth, mocking, audacious and sulphurous." Copland was not discouraged. In fact, he appeared to enjoy his reputation as a shocking modernist. Through the 1930s his complex music was praised by critics and musicians, but he did not find popular acceptance. Then he began receiving film and ballet commissions and was brilliantly successful at this. He found that his continuing wish to compose in a uniquely American style could be satisfied by producing "more accessible" works. He said, "I had not so much the intention of writing a more popular music as writing music that would communicate with a broader audience."

Out of this trend came Appalachian Spring. Copland had known and admired Martha Graham, the choreographer, for many years. In the early 1930s Martha began exploring American's past in her work, and in 1944 Copland and Graham collaborated on the conception of Appalachian Spring. While composing, Copland used the working title Ballet for Martha, which later became the ballet's subtitle. The entire score is steeped in American myth and folklore. According to the explanatory notes in the score the ballet is "a pioneer celebration in spring around a newly-built farmhouse in the Pennsylvania hills in the early part of the last century." The bride-to-be and her young farmer act out the emotions of their new domestic partnership. They receive advice from an older neighbor and a revivalist and his followers, and at the end the couple is left "quiet and strong in their new house."

Copland devised at least five versions of Appalachian Spring for different purposes, including a complete score for chamber group in 1973 and a fully orchestrated version that was released in 1991. All convey the warmth, simplicity, gaiety and sense of order that was Copland's original intention.