Aneff, Benjamin

Ithaca College Chamber Orchestra

Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra

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Ithaca College

Ithaca CollegeDigital Commons @ ICAll Concert & Recital Programs Concert & Recital Programs2-10-2006Graduate Conducting Recital: Benjamin Aneff,graduate conductorBenjamin AneffIthaca College Chamber OrchestraIthaca College Symphony OrchestraFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programsPart of the Music CommonsThis Program is brought to you for free and open access by the Concert & Recital Programs at Digital Commons @ IC. It has been accepted forinclusion in All Concert & Recital Programs by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ IC.Recommended CitationAneff, Benjamin; Ithaca College Chamber Orchestra; and Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, "Graduate Conducting Recital:Benjamin Aneff, graduate conductor" (2006). All Concert & Recital Programs. 1424.http://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/music_programs/1424( DSlC GRADUATE CONDUCTING RECITAL ITHACA.COLLEGE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA ITHACA COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA . . Benjamin Aneff, graduate conductor Jeffrey Grogan, · director Ford Hall . Friday, February lO, 2006 . 8:15 p.m. ITHACA PROGRAM ITHACA, COLLEGE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA~ Benjamin 'Aneff; graduate conductor . Jeffrey Grogan, director Overture to Co~iolanus, Op. 62 . ' ;' Symp]:lony No. J in C Major, Op. 21 °62 . ' Adagio molto..., Alle"t,o con brio Andante cantabile con moto Menuetto - Allegro molto e vivace Adagio- Allegro molto e .vivace INTERMISSION Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Ludwig VilllB~etf?.oven . I • ITHACACOLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Benjamin Aneff, graduat~ conductor ,Jeffrey Grogan, director . . . . Symphony No. 5 in D,. Op: 47 Dmitri Shostakovich q906-1975) Mod,erato Allegretto .Largo · Allegro non troppo · " ' - . Graduate Retital presented iri partial}ulfillment for the degree · Master of Music in Conducting Perf9rrnance. ' .• ' • • ' I •, ' ' Benjamin Aneff is from the studio of Jeffrey Grogan. r ( PROGRAM NOTES Ludwig van Beethoven's Coriolanus was originally written as incidental music to accompany the Heinrich Joseph von Collin tragedy of the same name. It is notable that Shakespear also wrote a tragedy based on Coriolanus, but it was that of Collin which Beethoven set his music to, having its premeir at the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1807. In the drama, Coriolanus is a Roman patrician who has been banished from his native city as a result of his lack of concern for the starving people there. After taking up with the Volscians and plotting revenge, the proud and disgraced Coriolanus leads their armies against Rome. Upon reaching the border of his former city, he is approached by emissaries who plead with him to abandon his intentions to invade. Coriolanus, who has long waited for the day on which he will finally avenge his eviction and humiliation, sends them away and prepares for attack. A last effort to save Rome comes when his mother and his wife plead with him to desist. He itat last dissuaded from carrying out his plans, realizing they are now abhorrent to him. In Collin's play, he determines that he·must regain his honor, which can only be effected by death at· his own hand. The Overture to the play is one of the most frequently performed ,and recorded of Beethoven's orchestral works. It was premj�red in March of 1807 and first published in Vienna in the following year. In it Beethoven foreshadows the whole of the work, telling the story of Coriolanus in a mere nine minutes. The Symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven would cast a shadow over the whole of nineteenth-century symphonic composers. These works are considered examples of rrian's finest achievements, works of genius in every way. Unlike his famous symphonic predecessors Mozart and Haydn, Beethoven did not'begin writing symphonies until he was almost thirty years old. His Symphony No. 1 in C Ma;or, Op. 21 was began in April of 1799, when Beethoven was already an established musician living in Vienna. Though classic in nature (Beethoven was a student of Haydn, and this style is evident throughout this symphony), the evidence of what was to come is shown from the opening chord. The Symphony opens with a C dominant seventh chord, a chord typically reserved for F major, and not the expected tonic chord of C Major. The celebrated discord mentioned above ushers in the slow introduction, question'ing and insistent. It leads to the start of the exposition, again interrogatory in character. Fanfarefadd a martial flavor to the music, which is offset by the more lyrically inclined second subject group. The exposition is repeated, according to Classic<1l convention, and the development that follows is terse and far' more acerbic in manner, and does not allow the same contrast between songful and martial elements. Already extremely mature , and "studied," this austere development is relieved only when the recapitulation .arrives, now with great forcefulness. The imitative dialogues between wind and strings are predictably Classical in style, as is the jubilant coda. The Andante seems more subdued and relaxed, but the manner in which it preserves the latent drama associated with symphonic form is particularly subtle and entertaining. It begins with a fugal motif, derived from the rising tonic triad heard at the start of the first movement's exposition, and used so emphatically in its coda. Triplet figures in the violins and flute and off-beat accompanying chords are supported by regular drum taps, an effect Beethoven would use in greater degree in works such as his "Emporer"Piano Concerto. The third movement Menuetto is a Scherzo in every way but by name, pointing to one of the most subsequent changes Beethoven �ould make to the standard symphony form. It's tempo marking is quick, and only in its tr.io does it remember the clean classical style of the time. The finale also begins on the "wrong" chord, this time a tutti G instead of the expected C of a C Major symphony. A short, scale-based introduction brings about a quick, Haydn-inspired exposition. Beethoven's use of scalar figures becomes increasingly obsessive, as the theme is heard in a· variety of keys, anc! is often heard in inversion when various instruments are in dialogue. The development features a daring harmonic treatment of the scale theme, and Beethoven employs much dense counterpoint before the work ends in a positive and triumphant reassertion of C major. .. .... . .. ..... , . .. \• ~ - .. •, . .. . '. ~ ' "' . , .,·,. '. •'. .. , . '• . ; .. . . . ... . .. ,, I, . ~ < , .r -~ 0 In 1936, the Soviet government launched an official attack-against Dmitri Shostakovich's music, calling it "vulgar, formalistic, and neurotic." He became an example to other Soviet composers, who rightfully interpreted these events as a broad campaign against musical modernism. This constituted a crisis, both in Shostakovich's �areer and in Soviet music as a whole; composers had no choice but to write simple, optimistic music that spoke directly (especially through folk idioms and patriotic programs) to the people and glorified the state. In light of these circumstances, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony (first performed in (1937) is a bold composition that seems to fly in the face of his critics. Although the musical language is pared down from that of his earlier symphonies, the Fifth eschews, any hint of patriotic program anp, instead, dwells on undeniably somber and tragic affects -- wholly unacceptable public emotions at the time. According to the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the government would certainly have had Shostakovich executed for writing such a work had the public ovation at the first performance not lasted forty minutes. The official story, however, is quite diff�rent. An unknown commentator dubbed the symphony "the creative reply of a soviet artist to justified. criticism," and to the work was attached an autobiographical program focusing on the composer's metamorphosis from incomprehensible formalist to standard-bearer of the communist party. Publicly, Shostakovich accepted the offici�l interpretation of his work; however, in the controversial collection of his memoirs (Testimony, by Solomon Volkov) he is quoted as saying: "I think it is clear to everycme what happens in the Fifth .. The rejoicing is forced, created under threat...you have to be a complete oaf not to hear that." Regardless of its philosophical underpinnings, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 is a masterpiece of the orchestral repertory, poignant and economical in its conception. Given some of his earlier works, the Fifth is conservative in language. Throughout the work he allows the strings to be the dominant orchestral force, making soloistic use of the woodwinds and horn especially effective. The Moderato begins with a jagged, foreboding canon in the strings that forms the motivic basis for the entire movement. The impassioned mood is occasionally interrupted by a lyrical melody with string ostinato, later the subject of a duet for flute and horn. The second movement (Allegretto) is a grotesque 3/4 dance which, at times, can't help but mock itself; the brass section is featured prominently. The following Largo, a sincere and personal outpouring of musical emotion, is said to have left the audience at the work's premiere in tears. Significantly, it was composed during an intensely , creative period following the arrest and execution of one of Shostakovich's teachers. The concluding Allegro non troppo has been the center of much debate: some critics consider it a poorly constructed concession to political pressure, while others have made note of its possible irony. While the prevailing mood .is triumphant, there is some diversion to the somber and foreboding, and it is not until the end that it takes on the overtly triumphant character the Soviet regime was looking for in its works. Regardless of meaning, the Fifth Symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich is one of the great masterpieces of 20'h Century Music. ( ., ,, ,. °'" •' ~' .  ' ... ... .. . .. .. i) . }, .. .1 '·• I .. ) . " ; ( . ~ .ITHACA COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Jeffrey D. Grogan, conductor Violin I Josh Modney** Megan Atchley Christian Simmelink Maeve- O'Hai:a Jeff Abbot  Laura Sciavalino Elizabeth Stein Tim Ball Brenna Gillette Shawn Riley Jeannine McGreevy Kate Goldstein Violin U Natasha Colkett* Chris Jones , Mary Raschella· Ian Salmon· Paul Diegert : Brian Hwang C91liri Oettle Lindsey Leoµe Danice Desir · -Diane Bartholomew Sharon Mohar Ben Nugent Marc Bettis Sarina Woo Viola .Annabelle Terbetski, \ Hannah Petei:sen Sayer Palmer · .Bethany .NeidbalaJessica OwensNicole WrightLauren-BuonoShanan GlandzJasori DiazSara ShepardCello ·Alana Chown*Jennifer ChieffaloDiana GeigerTim Nowak.. Emily McBride Matt Rotjan Emily McNeill Molly S6rlien Sam Boase-Miller Laura Messina Kelly Quinn Double Bass Patrick O'Connell* Justin Wixson Xander Lott Audrey Miller Williain Olmstead David Rossi Naomi Williams Nate ·Galla Ben Reynolds Piccolo Melissa Werthheimer Flute Michelle Casareale Emily Watson Oboe Emily Di Angelo Luke Conklin Clarinet Matthew Libera Wolcott Humphrey Eflat Clarinet Lauren Del Re Bassoon Ryan Potvin Andrew Chapman Contra Bassoon Jennifer Meyers Horn Michael Bellofatto Danny Carter Andrea Silverstrini Brian Hoeflschweiger Lori Roy Trumpet Joe Brown Nikola Tamie Nick Kunkle Trombone Phillip Machnik Mark Lalumia Bass Tr.oqibonf Matt Barry Tuba Will Pleilk Timpani Andrew Sick_meier Percussion Alan Dust* Matthew Donella Greg Su,tlif  Piano/Celeste - Russell .Posegate. HarpMyra Kovary+ ** Denotes Concertmaster Denotes Principal + Denotes Guest ArtistITHACA COLLEGE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Jeffrey D. Grogan, co.nductor VioHn I Chris Jones** ·' Christian Simmelink Megan Atcbley Brenna Gillette Shawn Riley -Maeve O'Hara Tim Ball Violin II Josh Modney* Natasha Colkett Elizabeth Stein Colin Oettle Jeannine McGreevy Laura Sciavalind Mary RascheUa Kate Goldstein Viola Sayer Palmer* Lauren Buono · Sara Shepard Cello Alana Chown * Jennifer Chieffalo Diana Geiger Sam Boase-Miller Doubl_eBass Patrick O'Connell* Xander Lott Flute Michelle Casareale . Emily Watson Oboe Emily Di Angelo Chrisopher Neske Clarinet Matthew Libera Wolcott Humphrey Bassoon . Jennifer Meyers f\atie Barker Horn Michael Bellofato Rose Valby Trumpet Nichola Tomek Linds_ey Jessick Timpani Andrew Sickmeier * denotes principal l 

Graduate Conducting Recital: Benjamin Aneff, graduate conductor

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Graduate Conducting Recital: Benjamin Aneff, graduate conductor

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