The Philadelphia Orchestra

Yannick Nézet-Séguin ConductorChristine Brewer SopranoMihoko Fujimura Mezzo-sopranoChristian Elsner TenorShenyang Bass-baritoneWestminster Choir and Westminster Symphonic ChoirJoe Miller Director

Beethoven Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, Op. 112, for chorus and orchestra

Muhly Bright Mass with Canons I. Kyrie II. Gloria III. Sanctus and Benedictus— IV. Agnus Dei World premiere of orchestrated version—Commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra

Intermission

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (“Choral”) I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso II. Molto vivace—Presto III. Adagio molto e cantabile—Andante moderato—Tempo I IV. Presto—Allegro assai—Presto (Recitativo)— Allegro assai—Allegro assai vivace: alla marcia—Andante maestoso—Allegro energico—Allegro ma non tanto—Poco adagio—Poco adagio, strigendo il tempo— Prestissimo

This program runs approximately 1 hour, 55 minutes.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 2 PM.Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.

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Season 2013-2014Thursday, September 26, at 8:00Friday, September 27, at 2:00Saturday, September 28, at 8:00

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The Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world, renowned for its distinctive sound, desired for its keen ability to capture the hearts and imaginations of audiences, and admired for a legacy of innovation in music-making. The Orchestra is inspiring the future and transforming its rich tradition of achievement, sustaining the highest level of artistic quality, but also challenging and exceeding that level, by creating powerful musical experiences for audiences at home and around the world.

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth artistic leader of the Orchestra in fall 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. Yannick has been embraced by the musicians of the Orchestra, audiences, and the

community itself. His concerts of diverse repertoire attract sold-out houses, and he has established a regular forum for connecting with concert-goers through Post-Concert Conversations.

Under Yannick’s leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on the Deutsche Grammophon label of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. In Yannick’s inaugural season the Orchestra has also returned to the radio airwaves, with weekly Sunday afternoon broadcasts on WRTI-FM.

Philadelphia is home and the Orchestra nurtures an important relationship not only with patrons who support the main season at the Kimmel Center but also those who enjoy the Orchestra’s other area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other venues. The Orchestra is also a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the U.S. Having been the first American orchestra

to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, today The Philadelphia Orchestra boasts a new partnership with the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The Orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall while also enjoying annual residencies in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and at the Bravo! Vail festival.

Musician-led initiatives, including highly-successful Cello and Violin Play-Ins, shine a spotlight on the Orchestra’s musicians, as they spread out from the stage into the community. The Orchestra’s commitment to its education and community partnership initiatives manifests itself in numerous other ways, including concerts for families and students, and eZseatU, a program that allows full-time college students to attend an unlimited number of Orchestra concerts for a $25 annual membership fee. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

Jessica Griffin

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Music DirectorYannick Nézet-Séguin triumphantly opened his inaugural season as the eighth music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra in the fall of 2012. His highly collaborative style, deeply-rooted musical curiosity, and boundless enthusiasm, paired with a fresh approach to orchestral programming, have been heralded by critics and audiences alike. The New York Times has called Yannick “phenomenal,” adding that under his baton “the ensemble … has never sounded better.” In his first season he took the Orchestra to new musical heights. His second builds on that momentum with highlights that include a Philadelphia Commissions Micro-Festival, for which three leading composers have been commissioned to write solo works for three of the Orchestra’s principal players; the next installment in his multi-season focus on requiems with Fauré’s Requiem; and a unique, theatrically-staged presentation of Strauss’s revolutionary opera Salome, a first-ever co-production with Opera Philadelphia.

Yannick has established himself as a musical leader of the highest caliber and one of the most exciting talents of his generation. Since 2008 he has been music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and since 2000 artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain. In addition he becomes the first ever mentor conductor of the Curtis Institute of Music’s conducting fellows program in the fall of 2013. He has made wildly successful appearances with the world’s most revered ensembles, and has conducted critically acclaimed performances at many of the leading opera houses.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Deutsche Grammophon (DG) enjoy a long-term collaboration. Under his leadership the Orchestra returns to recording with a newly-released CD on that label of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Leopold Stokowski transcriptions. Yannick continues a fruitful recording relationship with the Rotterdam Philharmonic for DG, BIS, and EMI/Virgin; the London Philharmonic for the LPO label; and the Orchestre Métropolitain for ATMA Classique.

A native of Montreal, Yannick Nézet-Séguin studied at that city’s Conservatory of Music and continued lessons with renowned conductor Carlo Maria Giulini and with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College. Among Yannick’s honors are an appointment as Companion of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors; a Royal Philharmonic Society Award; Canada’s National Arts Centre Award; the Prix Denise-Pelletier, the highest distinction for the arts in Quebec, awarded by the Quebec government; and an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal.

To read Yannick’s full bio, please visit www.philorch.org/conductor.

Nigel P

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SoloistSoprano Christine Brewer made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1991. Born in Illinois she began her professional career with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, with which she has performed Ellen Orford in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and the title roles in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Rossini’s Armida. She has sung the roles of the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for New York City Opera and at Covent Garden; Donna Anna at the Edinburgh Festival and in London, New York, and Florida; and Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio in Lisbon and San Francisco. Most recently she sang in the world premiere of Douglas J. Cuomo’s Doubt for Minnesota Opera.

Ms. Brewer has appeared in concert in the United States with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles and New York philharmonics, and the Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Atlanta, and New World symphonies, with such conductors as Pierre Boulez, James Levine, James Conlon, Michael Tilson Thomas, David Robertson, Alan Gilbert, Christoph Eschenbach, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Gustavo Dudamel. She is a regular guest with the Saint Louis Symphony. In Europe she has sung with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony with Mariss Jansons, the BBC Symphony with Jirí Belohlávek, the London Philharmonic with Vladimir Jurowski, the London Symphony with Colin Davis, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Antonio Pappano. She has also been a regular guest at the Edinburgh Festival and the BBC Proms.

Highlights of Ms. Brewer’s 2013-14 season include Britten’s Albert Herring with the BBC Symphony and War Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony; Strauss’s Four Last Songs in Tokyo with Jonathan Nott; Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; and a return to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Madame Lidoine in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites. Her many recordings include Don Giovanni with Charles Mackerras; Barber’s Vanessa with Leonard Slatkin; Fidelio and Verdi’s Requiem with Mr. Davis; Ariadne auf Naxos with Richard Armstrong; the War Requiem with Kurt Masur; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Simon Rattle; the Four Last Songs with Donald Runnicles; and Schubert and Strauss recitals.

Christian S

teiner

SoloistMezzo-soprano Mihoko Fujimura was born in Japan and studied at both Tokyo University and the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. She won numerous international singing competitions before joining the ensemble of Graz Opera from 1995 to 2000, where she sang many of her signature roles for the first time. She came to international attention in performances at the 2002 Munich Opera Festival and the Bayreuth Festival and has since become a regular guest at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; the Bavarian State Opera in Munich; the Vienna State Opera; the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris; the Teatro Real in Madrid; Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; and the Bayreuth and Aix-en-Provence festivals. She is a regular guest artist in Japan and has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras. She has sung with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Rotterdam and London philharmonics, and with The Philadelphia Orchestra both in Philadelphia with Charles Dutoit and on tour in Europe with Christoph Eschenbach.

Ms. Fujimura has appeared at the Bayreuth Festival for nine consecutive seasons in the roles of Kundry (Parsifal), Brangäne (Tristan and Isolde), Fricka (Die Walküre), Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), and Erda (Siegfried). Her operatic repertoire also includes Venus in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo; Octavian in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier; Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos; Amneris in Verdi’s Aida; Azucena in Verdi’s Il trovatore; and the title role in Bizet’s Carmen. Ms. Fujimura’s concert repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem; Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder; and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Rückert Lieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, and Second, Third, and Eighth symphonies.

Ms. Fujimura has recorded the role of Brangäne with Antonio Pappano for EMI Classics; Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder with the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Mariss Jansons; Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Bamberg Symphony and Jonathan Nott; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic. For Fontec she has released two solo recital discs with pianist Wofram Rieger of works by Wagner, Mahler, Schubert, Strauss, and Brahms.

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SoloistBorn in Freiburg in southern Germany, tenor Christian Elsner studied singing with Martin Gründler, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Neil Semer and had prize-winning successes at various international competitions. As a concert singer he is a regular guest performer at international festivals and in all the major concert halls around the world, from Berlin, Vienna, Milan, and London to New York and Tokyo. He has worked with such conductors as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Herbert Blomstedt, Adam Fischer, Carlo Maria Giulini, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Thomas Hengelbrock, Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Fabio Luisi, Neville Marriner, Simon Rattle, and David Zinman. He makes his Philadelphia Orchestra debut with these current performances.

Mr. Elsner has sung the role of Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre in three concert versions with Mr. Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Other performance highlights include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick and with the Tonhalle Orchestra and Mr. Zinman (also for CD); Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony under Jun Märkl; the Missa solemnis with the Munich Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel; the title role in Wagner’s Parsifal at the Staatstheater Kassel under Patrick Ringborg, and in his debut at the Leipzig Opera conducted by Ulf Schirmer; his debut as Loge in a concert version of Wagner’s Das Rheingold with the Berlin Radio Symphony under Mr. Janowski (also for CD); song recitals in Baden-Baden and Würzburg; Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Dresden Philharmonic under Sebastian Weigle; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Bamberg Symphony under Jonathan Nott.

Mr. Elsner has been involved in numerous radio productions and CD recordings. Accompanied by pianists including Hartmut Höll, Graham Johnson, Gerold Huber, and Burkhard Kehring, Mr. Elsner has performed lieder recitals in Brussels, Frankfurt, Cologne, Dresden, Lucerne, and London, and at the Ravinia Festival and the Schubertiade Feldkirch. Mr. Elsner is a professor of classical singing at the University of Music in Würzburg. He is also an enthusiastic writer of children’s books.

Anne H

offmann

SoloistTwenty-nine-year-old bass-baritone Shenyang was the winner of the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, a 2008 winner of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, and a 2010 winner of the Montblanc New Voices at Stars of the White Nights Festival. He also has won First Prize at the International Opera Competition in Verona, the 2007 Verona Orfeo Singing Competition, and the 2005 Verona Don Giovanni Singing Competition. Born in Tianjin, China, Shenyang studied with Ping Gu at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He is an alumnus of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and of the Juilliard School Opera Center. He made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 2011.

During the 2013-14 season Shenyang returns to the Metropolitan Opera for Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, conducted by Jane Glover, and for Rossini’s La Cenerentola under the baton of the Met’s principal conductor, Fabio Luisi. On the concert stage he joins Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, and Gianluigi Gelmetti and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Other upcoming highlights include a return engagement with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony for Beethoven’s Mass in C; Verdi’s Requiem with the Huangzhou Philharmonic; and, in his conducting debut, an orchestral program of Dvorák and Smetana with the Shanghai Philharmonic.

Last season featured Shenyang’s debut as Figaro in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in a new production at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing and a return to the Beijing Music Festival for Jing Xiang’s opera Yuan Ye, conducted by Long Yu. Shenyang gave the world premiere of the orchestral song cycle Song of Farewell, written for him by Xiaogang Ye and performed in Beijing and at the Philharmonie in Berlin with the China National Symphony. As artist in residence of the Shanghai Symphony in 2011-12, he performed in numerous programs conducted by Long Yu with repertoire ranging from Bach and Mozart to Rachmaninoff and Mahler. Reflecting his emerging stature as a musical and cultural figure in Asia and elsewhere, Shenyang is a brand ambassador for Montblanc luxury products.

Montblanc-Johannes Ifkovits

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ChorusesThe Westminster Choir and Westminster Symphonic Choir are composed of students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton. Led by conductor Joe Miller, director of choral activities at the college, the Westminster Choir has been the chorus-in-residence for the Spoleto Festival USA since 1977, performing both in concert and as the opera chorus. It also forms the core of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has recorded and performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally acclaimed conductor of the past 78 years. The Westminster Symphonic Choir made its Philadelphia Orchestra debut in 1934 with Leopold Stokowski in Bach’s Mass in B minor; last season the Choir was featured in performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Verdi’s Requiem under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who studied choral conducting at Westminster Choir College.

In addition to these current performances, highlights of the Westminster Symphonic Choir’s 2013-14 season include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra conducted by Mark Laycock; Handel’s Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and Andrew Manze; Rouse’s Requiem with the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert; and a return to Verizon Hall in February for Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski.

The Westminster Symphonic Choir has sung more than 350 performances with the New York Philharmonic alone. Recent seasons have also included concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle, the Dresden Staatskapelle and Daniel Harding, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and David Robertson, the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, the Staatskapelle Berlin and Pierre Boulez, the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Mariss Jansons, the London Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Simón Bolívar Symphony and Gustavo Dudamel, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim, and the Westminster Festival Orchestra conducted by Dr. Miller. The Westminster Choir has made two recordings with Dr. Miller: Noël, a collection of French Christmas music and sacred works; and Flower of Beauty, which received four stars from Choir and Organ magazine and earned critical praise from American Record Guide as “the gold standard for academic choirs in America.”

Peter B

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Framing the ProgramLast things first: Today’s performance of Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony under the direction of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin inaugurates a two-year cycle of the composer’s complete symphonies with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Beethoven’s final Symphony sets Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” a poem with a powerful Enlightenment message that has continued to resonate and inspire for nearly two centuries.

An earlier Beethoven choral work opens the concert: his atmospheric but rarely performed Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage. This brief cantata for chorus and orchestra sets two poems by Goethe that depict a ship becalmed at sea in deadly stillness that turns to celebration as the winds pick up and land becomes visible.

Beethoven’s works frame the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s newly-orchestrated Bright Mass with Canons for chorus and orchestra, and featuring the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ. This is the first time a piece by the prominent young American composer has been performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra, which commissioned the orchestration of the work, originally written for choir and organ.

Parallel Events1814BeethovenCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage

1824BeethovenSymphony No. 9

MusicSchubertSymphony No. 2LiteratureAustinMansfield ParkArtGoyaThe Second of May 1808HistoryBritish forces burn Washington, D.C.

MusicMendelssohnConcerto for Two PianosLiteratureScottRedgauntletArtIngresVow of Louis XIIIHistoryErie Canal finished

The MusicCalm Sea and Prosperous Voyage

Ludwig van BeethovenBorn in Bonn, probably December 16, 1770Died in Vienna, March 26, 1827

It is hardly surprising that Beethoven, like Schubert and other contemporaries, set the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe more often than those of any other poet. Goethe was the preeminent literary figure of the time, an imposing presence whose influence on European cultural and intellectual life would be hard to exaggerate.

Beethoven’s enduring admiration for Goethe, his senior by 21 years, was deeply felt. The poet’s understanding of music, while keen, was limited and yet he clearly recognized Beethoven’s genius. The two met a few times during the summer of 1812 in Teplitz, the site of a fashionable Bohemian spa. Writing to his friend, composer Johann Friedrich Zelter, Goethe declared that Beethoven’s “talent amazed” him, but described the man as “an utterly untamed personality, not at all in the wrong if he finds the world detestable, but he thereby does not make it more enjoyable either for himself or others.” For his part, Beethoven thought Goethe enamored by power and privilege, remarking to a publisher, “Goethe delights far too much in the court atmosphere, far more than is becoming in a poet.”

From Poems to Cantata Beethoven’s compositional engagement with Goethe’s writings ranged from modest songs to grander projects, including incidental music for the tragic play Egmont. His choral work Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage sets two Goethe poems that would later inspire a mesmerizing song from Schubert and an impressive overture from Mendelssohn.

Beethoven premiered the brief cantata on a Christmas Day concert in 1815 and published it seven years later bearing a dedication to Goethe. While the poet’s diary registers receiving the score, he chose not respond to Beethoven, who contacted him again nine months later in a letter that also went unanswered:

Still living as I have lived from my youthful years in your immortal, never-aging works, and never forgetting the happy hours spent in your company, it nevertheless happens that I must recall myself to your recollection. I hope that you received the dedication to Your Excellency of Calm Sea and

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Prosperous Voyage, composed by me. Because of their contrast they seemed to me adaptable for music in which the same quality appears; how gladly would I know whether I have fittingly united my harmonies with yours. … A few words from you would fill me with happiness.

A Closer Look The eight-minute Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage charts a course from darkness to light, a psychological trajectory that Beethoven also explored in his Fifth Symphony, Fidelio, the Egmont Overture, and other works. The atmospheric mood at the beginning brilliantly captures the scary stillness of the sea, where the lack of any wind stalls ships and can lead to death. (Goethe apparently based the poem on a personal experience he had off the coast of Capri in 1787.) “Meeres Stille” is usually translated as “Calm Sea,” but in context perhaps better understood at “Becalmed at Sea”:

Tiefe Stille herrscht im Wasser,

ohne Regung ruht das Meer,und bekümmert sieht der

Schifferglatte Fläche

ringsumher.Keine Luft von keiner Seite!Todesstille fürchterlich!In der ungeheuern Weitereget keine Welle sich.

Deep stillness rules the water,

the sea rests motionless,and the sailor looks

anxiouslyat the smooth surface

all around him.No wind from any direction!A terrible deathly stillness!In the entire vast expansenot a single wave rises.

Beethoven conveys a static quality, a lack of motion, and beyond that, a haunting, deathly stillness. The music for this first part, more than half the piece, is played almost entirely softly. There is some effective text-painting on the word Weite (expanse), when everything explodes in volume on a sustained dissonant chord with the sopranos reaching their highest note and the basses their lowest.

As he mentioned in the letter to Goethe, Beethoven exploits the rich possibilities for contrast with the second poem, “Glückliche Fahrt” (Prosperous Voyage). He changes the meter to a flowing 6/8 and accelerates the tempo to Allegro vivace. As the wind picks up, there is a transition from motionless calm to joyful journey and ultimate homecoming. Beethoven’s music here conveys an exciting energy he had already deployed in the finale to Fidelio and that he later refined in the fourth movement of the Ninth Symphony. The second poem reads:

Beethoven composed Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage from 1814 to 1815.

Eugene Ormandy and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia gave the first, and only other, Philadelphia Orchestra performance of the work, on the Opening Night Concert in September 1970.

The score calls for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons; four horns; two trumpets; timpani; strings; and mixed chorus.

Performance time is approximately 10 minutes.

Die Nebel zerreissen, der Himmel ist helle, und Aeolus löset das ängstliche Band. Es säuseln die Winde, es rührt sich der Schiffer. Geschwinde! Geschwinde! Es teilt sich die Welle, es naht sich die Ferne.Schon seh’ ich das Land!

The mist is clearing, the sky grows bright, and Aeolus loosensthe constraining bond.The winds are sighing,the sailor is roused.Quickly! Quickly!The waves divide,the distance draws nearalready I see land!

—Christopher H. Gibbs

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The MusicBright Mass with Canons

Nico MuhlyBorn in Randolph, Vermont, August 26, 1981Now living in New York City

One of the most eminent young composers of our day, Nico Muhly runs the gamut from pop-music arrangements to avant-garde collaborations, film soundtracks, and major choral and orchestral compositions. He has worked with eclectic artists including Björk and Rufus Wainwright, and yet has also written pieces for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, violinist Hilary Hahn, and the Royal Ballet. He counts among his compositions a full-length opera—Two Boys, produced at the English National Opera and this fall at the Metropolitan Opera—and a chamber opera (Dark Sisters, a joint commission with Opera Philadelphia), but can also be heard in performances at New York’s experimental-music hub, the Kitchen. He has written numerous orchestrations and arrangements of works by other musicians ranging from William Byrd to the popular rap artist Usher. Among his film scores, Muhly wrote the original music for the 2008 Oscar-winning film The Reader, winning him the “Discovery of the Year” award from the World Soundtrack Academy.

A Love of Choral Music As a young boy Muhly sang in a church choir in Providence, Rhode Island, and he freely acknowledges a lasting, deep affinity with the choral tradition. “Working with choral music is one of my greatest pleasures in life,” he has noted, and pieces for choir constitute a significant share of his prolific output. His composition teachers included John Corigliano and Christopher Rouse, but he also recognizes the impact of the minimalist and post-minimalist procedures of John Adams and Philip Glass (for whom he worked as an editor, MIDI programmer, and keyboardist for several years). Muhly combines these influences with the centuries-long tradition of English scared choral music, from the 20th-century liturgical pieces of Herbert Howells back to Byrd and Tallis in the 16th century.

Bright Mass with Canons is a relatively early work, composed in 2004 just after Muhly graduated with a master’s degree from Juilliard. It was written for the choir of St. Thomas Church in New York City and its director of music, John Scott, who led the premiere in 2005, and has since become one of Muhly’s most frequently-performed compositions. The Philadelphia Orchestra commissioned

the orchestration of this work, which was originally written for choir and organ, and these current performances represent the premiere of this new orchestral version.

The “canons” in the composition’s title refer to imitative repetitions that permeate almost every measure of the Mass, sometimes overt but frequently hidden among the rich textures and contrapuntal vocal lines. What might not be so obvious is why Muhly titled this a “bright” Mass. Much of the vocal writing, which dominates the sparse accompaniment, is long-breathed, and the work’s temperament is often subdued. In keeping with the tradition of many Anglican Mass settings, he has omitted the Credo (which because of its length is frequently spoken rather than sung in Anglican services), creating a four-movement Mass that consists exclusively of prayers petitioning God for mercy and peace. And yet behind the imploring texts and within the sparse accompaniment, Muhly frequently includes flashes of dynamism and vitality. Chirping motifs, brief fanfare images, and demarcating punctuations from the orchestra contrast with the sustained vocal lines, like flickering shimmers of gold leaf on an illuminated page of scripture.

In Bright Mass with Canons, Muhly attempts to “rediscover the tropes and moments that brightened [his] childhood music-making.” In that spirit, he notes, the piece is constructed around “little fetishes” such as a particular turn of phrase from a favorite liturgical work, an affecting vocal leap, or an antiphonal effect, all drawn from earlier choral repertories.

A Closer Look The Kyrie opens with trumpet fanfares that quickly soften into sustained, plaintive lines. But the orchestral motifs in the background outline the secondary layer of energy and animation that lurks beneath the choir’s repeated appeals for mercy. That energy is expressed more overtly by the choir in the Gloria where the canonic imitations (heard at the outset between the women’s voices) are also more apparent. In a mid-20th-century style not far removed from Maurice Duruflé, or Gerald Finzi, Muhly creates an arch form that builds toward “exactly the kind of outrageous, suspended climax” that he loved to sing as a choirboy.

Near the beginning of the Sanctus, the choir women are asked to sing in their own rhythm and tempos, creating aleatoric clusters over a steady accompaniment. At the same time, Muhly alludes to the style of Herbert Howells in the “long, unctuous lines” of the men’s voices. Minimalist

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ostinatos occasionally emerge in this movement, most noticeably in the Benedictus. Then, the brief Agnus Dei—a prayer that, like the Kyrie, is primarily a plea for mercy—ends the mass solemnly “with only the slightest tilt of the head upwards,” the composer notes, “as a semi-chorus outlines, with appoggiaturas, an ascending scale.”

—Luke Howard

Bright Mass with Canons was composed for mixed chorus and organ in 2004, and was orchestrated in 2013.

These are the world premiere performances of the orchestrated version, which was commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra.

Muhly scored the piece for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, bassoon, contrabassoon, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, bass trombone, timpani, percussion (bass drum, crotales, glockenspiel, sleigh bells, tam-tam, triangle, tubular bells, vibraphone), harp, organ, strings, and mixed chorus.

The work runs approximately 13 minutes in performance.

Kyrie eleison.Christe eleison.Kyrie eleison.

Gloria in excelsis Deoet in terra pax hominibus

bonae voluntatis

Laudamus te.Benedicimus te.Adoramus te.Glorificamus te.Gratias agimus tibi propter

magnam gloriam tuam.

Domine Deus, Rex coelestis,Deus Pater omnipotens.Domine Fili unigenite

Jesu Christe.

Domine Deus, Agnus Dei,Filius Patris.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.

Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,

miserere nobis.

Quoniam tu solus sanctus,tu solus Dominus,tu solus Altissimus,Jesu Christe.

Lord have mercy.Christ have mercy.Lord have mercy.

Glory to God in the highestAnd on earth peace to men

of goodwill.

We praise Thee.We bless Thee.We adore Thee.We glorify Thee.We give thanks to Thee for

Thy great glory.

O Lord God, heavenly King,O God, Father almighty,O Lord, son of the Father,

Jesus Christ.

Lord God, Lamb of God,Son of the Father.

O Thou, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

O Thou, who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.

O Thou, who sittest at the right hand of the Father,

have mercy upon us.

For Thou only art holy,Thou only art the Lord,Thou only art most high,Jesus Christ.

Please turn the page quietly.

Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris.

Amen.

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctusDominus Deus Sabaoth.Pleni sunt caeli et terra

gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis.

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

Hosanna in excelsis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

With the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

Holy, holy, holy,Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full of

Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

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The MusicSymphony No. 9 (“Choral”)

Ludwig van Beethoven

Throughout his career, Beethoven was a fervent believer in Enlightenment values and sought ways to express his beliefs in many of his compositions. One of the reasons for the broad and sustained appeal of his Ninth Symphony is that people enjoying or seeking freedom see this work as exquisitely expressing a message they wish loudly to proclaim. The message is simple, one we learn as children: People should live together in joyous brotherhood.

An Enlightenment Testament As a child of the Enlightenment, Beethoven grew up during the American and French revolutions. He followed political events throughout his life and experienced war close at hand when Napoleon’s troops invaded Vienna in 1805 and again in 1809. His first large-scale composition, written at the age of 19, was an impressive cantata commemorating the death of Emperor Joseph II, who had done so much to liberalize the Austrian empire during the early 1780s. Years later Beethoven wrote his lone opera, Fidelio, which tells the story of a loving wife’s brave efforts to save her husband, an unjustly jailed political prisoner. Through her heroic deeds he is rescued and tyranny exposed.

For his final symphony Beethoven turned to a lengthy poem by Friedrich Schiller that he had long wanted to set to music: the “Ode to Joy” (1785). Schiller’s famous words state that in a new age the old ways will no longer divide people; “all men shall become brothers.” Since the premiere of the Ninth Symphony in Vienna in May 1824, performances of the work have become almost sacramental occasions, as musicians and audiences alike are exhorted to universal fraternity.

The Ultimate Symphony On a purely musical level, few pieces of music have exerted such an impact on later composers. How, many wondered, should one write a symphony after the Ninth? Schubert, Berlioz, Brahms, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler—the list goes on and on—all dealt with this question in fascinating ways that fundamentally shaped 19th-century music. Schubert, who most likely attended the 1824 premiere, briefly quoted the “joy” theme in his own final symphony, written the following year. Most Bruckner symphonies begin

in the manner of the Ninth. Mendelssohn, Mahler, and Shostakovich followed the model of a choral finale. Wagner was perhaps the composer most influenced by the work, arguing that in it Beethoven pointed the way to the “Music of the Future,” a universal drama uniting music and words that, in short, was realized in Wagner’s own operas.

Composers are not the only people who have become deeply engaged with the Ninth, and struggled with its import and meaning. For nearly two centuries the work has surfaced at crucial times and places, appropriated for widely diverse purposes. As the ultimate “feel-good” piece, the Ninth has been used to open the Olympic Games and bring nations together in song. Yet during the Nazi era it was often performed to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. Its melody is the official anthem of the European Union—but it was also the anthem of Ian Smith’s racist regime in Rhodesia during the 1970s. Within more recent memory, we have heard protestors playing recordings of the Ninth in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and jubilant students also chose it as their theme as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. There were commemorative performances in the wake of 9/11, when the Ninth was once again enlisted for its hopeful message.

A Resisted Masterpiece In a penetrating essay, “Resisting the Ninth,” music historian Richard Taruskin has pointed to ways in which some musicians and listeners have from the beginning resisted the Ninth Symphony, embarrassed by what they consider its naive optimism. This Symphony, Taruskin states, “is among connoisseurs preeminently the Piece You Love to Hate, no less now than a century and a half ago. Why? Because it is at once incomprehensible and irresistible, and because it is at once awesome and naive.”

Those who revere the Ninth Symphony may be surprised to hear that some have resisted it now or at any time. Undoubtedly its message has been “neutered” as it has been trivialized in movies and TV commercials, and often treated by musicians in purely musical terms rather than in humanistic ones. For some modern listeners, Taruskin argues, its message may be difficult to take seriously anymore: “We have our problems with demagogues who preach to us about the brotherhood of man. We have been too badly burned by those who have promised Elysium and given us gulags and gas chambers.” Yet Beethoven understood that great works of art matter, in part because they constitute a threat to tyrants. Beethoven strove for ways to express a deeply-felt political vision.

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A Closer Look The opening of the first movement (Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso) grows out of a void. Against the murmurings of the low strings emerge falling fifths in the violins that build to a loud and imposing first theme. It has been likened to the creation of the world; certainly no symphony before had sounded anything like it. Beethoven switched the expected order of movements (another feature later composers would imitate) by following the allegro with the scherzo (Molto vivace). A favorite with audiences from the beginning (especially the prominent role given to the timpani), it projects both humor and power. The lyrical slow movement (Adagio molto e cantabile) seems to explore more personal, even spiritual realms.

The Presto finale opens with what Wagner called the “terror fanfare,” a dissonant and frantic passage that leads to a “recitative” (so marked in the score) for the cellos and basses. Fragments from the previous three movements pass in review—a few measures of the opening theme of each—but are in turn rejected by the strings. After this strange, extended instrumental recitative comes an aria-like melody: the famous “Ode to Joy” tune to which later will be added words. After some seven minutes the movement starts over again: The “terror fanfare” returns, this time followed by a true vocal recitative, with the bass soloist singing “O friends, not these tones! But rather, let us strike up more pleasant and more joyful ones.” The chorus and four vocal soloists take up the “joy” theme, which undergoes a series of variations, including a brief section in the Turkish manner, with cymbals, triangle, drum, piccolo, and trumpets. The music reaches a climax with a new theme: “Be embraced, ye millions, … above the starry canopy there must dwell a loving Father,” which is later combined in counterpoint with the joy theme and eventually builds to a frenzied coda.

—Christopher H. Gibbs

Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony from 1822 to 1824.

The Philadelphia Orchestra performed the first three movements of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in March 1902. The Orchestra’s first complete performance of the work, with Fritz Scheel conducting, took place in March 1903. The most recent subscription performances were in May 2006, with Christoph Eschenbach, Marina Mescheriakova, Jill Grove, Vinson Cole, Alan Held, and the Philadelphia Singers Chorale.

The Orchestra has recorded the Symphony five times: in 1934 with Leopold Stokowski for RCA; in 1945, 1962, and 1964 with Eugene Ormandy for CBS; and in 1988 with Riccardo Muti for EMI.

The work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, triangle), strings, four vocal soloists, and a four-part chorus.

The Ninth Symphony runs approximately 70 minutes in performance.

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Text/translations begin on next page.

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BassO Freunde, nicht diese Töne!Sondern lasst uns

angenehmereanstimmen, und

freudenvollere.

Bass and ChorusFreude, schöner

Götterfunken,Tochter aus Elysium,wir betreten feuertrunken,Himmlische,

dein Heiligtum!Deine Zauber binden wieder,was die Mode streng

geteilt;alle Menschen werden Brüderwo dein sanfter Flügel

weilt.

Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen,

eines Freundes Freund zu sein,wer ein holdes Weib

errungen,mische seinen Jubel ein!Ja, wer auch nur eine Seelesein nennt auf dem

Erdenrund!Und wer’s nie gekonnt,

der stehle,weinend sich aus diesem

Bund!

Freude trinken alle Wesenan den Brüsten der Natur;alle Guten, alle Bösenfolgen ihrer Rosenspur.Küsse gab sie uns

und Reben,einen Freund, geprüft im

Tod;Wollust war dem

Wurm gegeben,und der Cherub steht

vor Gott.

BassO friends, not these tones!But rather, let us

strike upmore pleasant and more

joyful ones.

Bass and ChorusJoy, thou lovely spark of

the gods,daughter of Elysium;drunk with fire, we treadthy holy realm,

O heavenly one!Thy magic joins againthat which custom has torn

apart;all men become brotherswherever thy gentle wings

are spread.

He who has had the great fortune

of being a friend’s friend,he who has won a gracious

wife,let him join the celebration!Yes, even he who can callonly one soul on earth his

own!And let the one who could

never do thissteal from our midst in

tears!

All living beings drink joyat Nature’s breast;all good things, all evil thingswalk her rose-strewn path.She gave us kisses, she

gave us vines,she gave us a friend true to

the grave;wantonness was given to

the worm,and the cherub stands

before God.

Tenor and ChorusFroh, wie seine Sonnen

fliegendurch des Himmels

prächt’gen Plan,laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,freudig, wie ein Held zum

Siegen.

ChorusSeid umschlungen, Millionen!Diesen Kuss der ganzen

Welt!Brüder über’m

Sternenzeltmuss ein lieber Vater

wohnen.

Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?

Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?

Such’ ihm über’m Sternenzelt,

über Sternen muss er wohnen.

Tenor and ChorusHappily, as his suns

flyacross heaven’s

magnificent expanse,brothers, run your coursejoyfully, like a hero to

victory.

ChorusBe embraced, ye millions!This kiss goes to all the

world!Brothers, above the starry

canopythere must dwell a loving

Father.

Do you fall prostrate, O millions?

Do you worship the Creator, O world?

Look for Him above the starry canopy;

He must live above the stars.

Program notes © 2013. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and/or Luke Howard.

English translation by Paul J. Horsley

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Musical TermsGENERAL TERMSAleatory: A term applied to music whose composition and/or performance is, to a greater or lesser extent, undetermined by the composerAntiphonal: Works in which an ensemble is divided into distinct groups, performing in alternation and togetherAppoggiatura: A “leaning-note.” As a melodic ornament, it usually implies a note one step above or below the “main” note.Aria: An accompanied solo song (often in ternary form), usually in an opera or oratorioCanon: A device whereby an extended melody, stated in one part, is imitated strictly and in its entirety in one or more other partsCantata: A multi-movement vocal piece consisting of arias, recitatives, ensembles, and choruses and based on a continuous narrative textChord: The simultaneous sounding of three or more tonesCoda: A concluding section or passage added in order to confirm the impression of finalityContrapuntal: See counterpointCounterpoint: A term that

describes the combination of simultaneously sounding musical linesDissonance: A combination of two or more tones requiring resolutionMeter: The symmetrical grouping of musical rhythmsOp.: Abbreviation for opus, a term used to indicate the chronological position of a composition within a composer’s output. Opus numbers are not always reliable because they are often applied in the order of publication rather than composition.Ostinato: A steady bass accompaniment, repeated over and overRecitative: Declamatory singing, free in tempo and rhythmScherzo: Literally “a joke.” Usually the third movement of symphonies and quartets that was introduced by Beethoven to replace the minuet. The scherzo is followed by a gentler section called a trio, after which the scherzo is repeated. Its characteristics are a rapid tempo in triple time, vigorous rhythm, and humorous contrasts.Sonata form: The form in which the first movements (and sometimes others) of symphonies are usually cast. The sections are exposition, development,

and recapitulation, the last sometimes followed by a coda. The exposition is the introduction of the musical ideas, which are then “developed.” In the recapitulation, the exposition is repeated with modifications.

THE SPEED OF MUSIC (Tempo)Adagio: Leisurely, slowAlla marcia: March timeAllegro: Bright, fastAndante: Walking speedCantabile: In a singing style, lyrical, melodious, flowingEnergico: With vigor, powerfullyMaestoso: MajesticModerato: A moderate tempo, neither fast nor slowPrestissimo: As fast as possiblePresto: Very fastRecitativo: In declamatory style, free in rhythm and tempoStrigendo: Hurrying, speeding upVivace: Lively

TEMPO MODIFIERSAssai: MuchMa non tanto: But not too much soMa non troppo: But not too muchMolto: VeryUn poco: A little

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