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Program
Notes For Chamber Music On The Hill Gala Concert, 10/2000
John Rutter (b. 1945) is one of the paramount choral music composers of the late twentieth century. Notably well educated, the British composer is currently the Director of Music at Clare College, having there founded the Cambridge Singers. Rutter has also established Collegium records, a resource that produces his material. John Rutter has composed a variety of music, usually devoted to an educational purpose or performance. Of this piece, Rutter said: “When Icicles Hang will forever be associated in my mind with the much-missed figure of Russell Burgess [a noted British educator]… Russell asked me to write a seasonal but not specifically Christmas work for a December concert given by the choir in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1973, and, in writing it, I think I unconsciously reflected some of the contradictory facets of Russell’s endearing personality.” In “When Icicles Hang,” Rutter employs use of some of the most poignant words in history, enlivening them with a modern musical approach so that we may constantly reinterpret them. The climax of “When Icicles Hang” is Rutter’s musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind” (a monologue from ‘As You Like It’) in which forgotten friendship is described as more painful than the most bitter of all winter days. Rutter also included new arrangements of traditional songs such as “Hay Ay” (Anonymous., 16th c.) to close the series. This composition surely represents the vicissitudes of daily life, whether experienced as a group such as the performing choir and small orchestra, or as individuals. Famous not only for his music but the letters he wrote regarding it, Robert Schumann suffered from depression. This perhaps typifies his life as a landmark Romantic composer. In 1826, he lost his sister Emilie to suicide. His father, overcome with grief, passed away shortly thereafter. When his mother died in 1836, Schumann’s fear of death prevented him from attending the service. Schumann’s composed Piano Concerto in A minor in separate parts between 1841 and 1845. This concerto is thought to be revolutionary because its melody in the first movement challenged his contemporaries’ music, which was often written to display the skills of a virtuoso, ignoring the accompanying orchestra. Schumann composed this piano concerto for his wife Clara, a brilliant concert pianist. Years earlier, Robert Schumann (also a talented and recognized writer) said: “And so we must await the genius who will show us in a newer and more brilliant way, how orchestra and piano may be combined, and how the soloist, dominant at the keyboard, may unfold the wealth of his instrument and his art, while the orchestra, no longer a mere spectator, may interweave its manifold facets into the scene.” This, many say, is a perfect description of the significance of Schumann’s piano concerto. Antonio Vivaldi ) also suffered from illness during his life. Vivaldi was born ill and complained of chest pains in later years. It is believed that he had athsma. The eldest of nine children, he was a priest, barber, and violinist. Priesthood was a proper way for a common man to receive proper education, and Vivaldi began working toward priesthood at the encouragement of his father at age fifteen. Vivaldi was briefly known as ‘The Red Priest’ due to the shade of his hair. Recognized more as a violinist than a composer, Vivaldi traveled Europe. He taught at Ospedale della Pieta, a Venetian orphanage filled with abandoned young girls. He was a prolific composer; Vivaldi composed mainly violin music and operas, writing over 500 concertos. Vivaldi had a questionable relationship with Anna Giraud, a young debutante in the world of opera. He worked closely with both the church and the theatre in Venice. In Vienna, Emperor Charles VI knighted Vivaldi, who then dedicated two concertos to him. -Echo
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