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The Philadelphia Orchestra

Lahav Shani ConductorDavid Bilger Trumpet

C. Lindberg Akbank Bunka, for trumpet and chamber orchestra I. Akolebank II. Japabunka III. Turkjazz First Philadelphia Orchestra performances

Stravinsky Suite from The Firebird (1919 version) I. Introduction—The Firebird and its Dance II. The Princesses’ Round Dance III. Infernal Dance of King Kastcheï— IV. Berceuse— V. Finale

Intermission

Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, Op. 100 I. Andante II. Allegro marcato III. Adagio IV. Allegro giocoso

This program runs approximately 1 hour, 55 minutes.

The March 22 concert is sponsored byAmerican Airlines.The March 22 concert is also sponsored byJoseph Neubauer and Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer.The March 23 concert is sponsored byGail Ehrlich in memory of Dr. George E. Ehrlich.

Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM, and are repeated on Monday evenings at 7 PM on WRTI HD 2. Visit www.wrti.org to listen live or for more details.

Season 2017-2018Thursday, March 22, at 7:30Friday, March 23, at 2:00Saturday, March 24, at 8:00

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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 imagination and innovation on and off the concert stage. 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’s connection to the Orchestra’s musicians has been praised by both concertgoers and critics since his inaugural season in 2012. Under his leadership the Orchestra returned to recording, with three celebrated CDs on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label, continuing its history of recording success. The Orchestra also reaches thousands of listeners on the radio with weekly broadcasts on WRTI-FM and SiriusXM.

Philadelphia is home and the Orchestra continues to discover new and inventive ways to nurture its relationship with its loyal patrons at its home in the Kimmel Center, and also with those who enjoy the Orchestra’s area performances at the Mann Center, Penn’s Landing, and other cultural, civic, and learning venues. The Orchestra maintains a strong commitment to collaborations with cultural and community organizations on a regional and national level, all of which create greater access and engagement with classical music as an art form.The Philadelphia Orchestra serves as a catalyst for cultural activity across Philadelphia’s many communities, building an offstage presence as strong as its onstage one. With Nézet-Séguin, a dedicated body of musicians, and one of the nation’s richest arts ecosystems, the Orchestra has launched its HEAR initiative, a portfolio of integrated initiatives that promotes Health, champions music Education, eliminates barriers to Accessing the orchestra, and maximizes

impact through Research. The Orchestra’s award-winning Collaborative Learning programs engage over 50,000 students, families, and community members through programs such as PlayINs, side-by-sides, PopUP concerts, free Neighborhood Concerts, School Concerts, and residency work in Philadelphia and abroad. Through concerts, tours, residencies, presentations, and recordings, The Philadelphia Orchestra is a global ambassador for Philadelphia and for the US. Having been the first American orchestra to perform in China, in 1973 at the request of President Nixon, the ensemble today boasts new five-year partnerships with Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Shanghai Media Group. In 2018 the Orchestra travels to Europe and Israel. The Orchestra annually performs at Carnegie Hall while also enjoying summer residencies in Saratoga Springs, NY, and Vail, CO. For more information on The Philadelphia Orchestra, please visit www.philorch.org.

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Jessica Griffin

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ConductorIsraeli conductor Lahav Shani makes his Philadelphia Orchestra debut with these performances. His conducting career was launched when he won first prize at the 2013 Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition in Bamberg. Since then he has established himself as one of the most talked-about young conducting talents, making a huge impression with his astonishing maturity and natural, instinctive musicality. He will become chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic in September 2018, taking over from Yannick Nézet-Séguin and becoming the youngest chief conductor in the orchestra’s history, and in the 2020-21 season he will succeed Zubin Mehta as music director of the Israel Philharmonic. This season he became principal guest conductor of the Vienna Symphony, following a number of appearances with the ensemble since his debut in May 2015, including a major European tour in January 2016.

Mr. Shani’s recent and upcoming highlights as a guest conductor include the Bavarian Radio, Berlin Radio, Bamberg, London, and Boston symphonies; the Royal Concertgebouw, Tonhalle, Philharmonia, and Budapest Festival orchestras; the Dresden Staatskapelle; the Orchestre de Paris; and the Royal Stockholm and Radio France philharmonics. He made his debut with the Berlin Staatskapelle in 2014 and has since returned regularly to conduct at the Berlin Staatsoper and for symphonic concerts. In December 2015 he stepped in, on short notice, to make his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikverein, where he led Bach’s Concerto in D minor from the keyboard and conducted Mahler’s Symphony No. 1. In October 2013 he was invited to open the Israel Philharmonic’s season. An immediate re-invitation followed for the next two seasons and in December 2016 he conducted the final concert of the orchestra’s 80th birthday celebrations. His close relationship with the Israel Philharmonic started in 2007 when he performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto under the baton of Mr. Mehta.

Mr. Shani was born in Tel Aviv in 1989 and started his piano studies at the age of six. He completed his studies in conducting and piano at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin. As a student he was mentored by Daniel Barenboim.

Marco B

orggreve

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SoloistDavid Bilger (Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest Chair) has held the position of principal trumpet of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1995. Prior to joining the Orchestra, he held the same position with the Dallas Symphony. As a soloist he has appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Oakland Symphony, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York. His solo appearances with The Philadelphia Orchestra include Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto, the United States premiere of Herbert Willi’s Eirene, the Tomasi Trumpet Concerto at Carnegie Hall and on tour in North and South America, Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, Copland’s Quiet City, and Bloch’s Proclamation. He has performed recitals in New York, Washington DC, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and other major American cities.

Mr. Bilger has appeared with the National Brass Ensemble and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, with which he recorded Bach’s Second Brandenburg Concerto. Other chamber music appearances include Chamber Music Northwest, the New York Trumpet Ensemble, Saint Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, as well as guest appearances with the Canadian Brass and the Empire Brass. He also released a recording of new electro-acoustic music for trumpet and synthesizers with composer Meg Bowles.

Mr. Bilger is currently on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University, and he has formerly been affiliated with the University of Georgia, Swarthmore College, Catholic University, Rice University, and the University of North Texas. In the fall of 2018, he will join the adjunct faculty of Northwestern University. He has performed master classes at dozens of institutions, including the Juilliard School of Music, Indiana University, the University of Michigan, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Peabody Conservatory. He has also taught at the Hamamatsu International Festival and Academy, the Pacific Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute, and at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Mr. Bilger holds a Master of Music degree from Juilliard and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois. He performs on instruments made for him by Yamaha.

Jessica Griffin

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Framing the ProgramA range of traditions that inspired Christian Lindberg’s eclectic, virtuosic Akbank Bunka is partly reflected in the title, which is a combination of Turkish and Japanese: Akbank is the name of a Turkish bank and bunka means culture in Japanese. The jazz-inflected trumpet concerto with chamber orchestra features Principal Trumpet David Bilger.

Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird proved to be the young Russian composer’s breakout success in 1910. The impresario Sergei Diaghilev commissioned the work for his Ballets Russes in Paris and its immediate popularity led to two more revolutionary ballets: Petrushka in 1911 and The Rite of Spring in 1913. All three have found an even more welcome place in the concert hall as dazzling orchestral showpieces.

Stravinsky left Russia before the Revolution, but Sergei Prokofiev emigrated to the West in 1917. He decided to return, surprisingly, in 1936. He composed his epic Fifth Symphony during the summer of 1944, as the fortunes of the Soviet Union were finally beginning to turn in what had been devastating years during the Second World War. The composer led the premiere in January of the following year, the last time he conducted before health issues curtailed his activities. The stirring Symphony registers a wide range of emotions reflective of its time and earned the composer international accolades.

Parallel Events1910StravinskyThe Firebird

1944ProkofievSymphony No. 5

2004LindbergAkbank Bunka

MusicElgarViolin ConcertoLiteratureForsterHoward’s EndArtModiglianiThe CellistHistoryJapan annexes Korea

MusicBarberSymphony No. 2LiteratureCamusCaligulaArtRiveraThe Rug WeaverHistoryD-Day landings in Normandy

MusicShengThe PhoenixLiteratureMunroRunawayArtKapoorCloud GateHistoryZuckerberg launches Facebook

The Philadelphia Orchestra is the only American orchestra with weekly broadcasts on Sirius XM’s Symphony Hall, Channel 76, made possible through support from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation on behalf of David and Sandy Marshall. Broadcasts are heard on Mondays at 7 PM, Thursdays at 12 AM, and Saturdays at 4 PM.

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The MusicAkbank Bunka

Christian LindbergBorn in Danderyd, Sweden, February 15, 1958Now living in Stockholm

Christian Lindberg’s own philosophy regarding his work as a composer is simple: “I do not write in any style whatsoever! I just listen to what my brain and my soul tell me, and what I hear I simply put down on paper. To say anything more about my work would be pretentious nonsense.”

A Composer, Conductor, and Performer Lindberg became well known as a virtuoso trombonist (in his youth, he learned to play the trumpet, and subsequently began trombone lessons at age 17). He attended the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and by age 19 had obtained a position in the Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra. At 20 he decided to switch from an orchestral career to that of a full-time soloist. Alongside these activities, Lindberg is also in demand worldwide as a conductor (with a list of orchestras too numerous to mention) and continues to compose, accepting numerous commissions, and to record extensively. His talents as instrumentalist, conductor, and composer are as varied as his personality.

Lindberg has said, “The trumpet is an instrument that can sing. It has an advantage that it is versatile. It can sound like a voice, a violin, an oboe, a bass flute. … The most important thing for me in making music is to dream.”

Originally commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Akbank Bunka was dedicated to renowned Norwegian trumpeter Ole Edvard Antonsen. In a review of the piece, the Scotsman wrote: “There are echoes of Carl Nielsen in the brittleness of the harmonies, though never in a derivative sense. No matter what references Lindberg slips in—quirky shades of orientalism or riotous explosions of jazz—the music maintains its strong sense of purpose. Akbank Bunka—unadulterated jazz with the flirtatious unpredictability of a butterfly.”

A Closer Look Lindberg’s style is unassuming. He comfortably combines modal lyricism with powerful dissonances and engaging jazz elements. The solo and orchestral writing complement and support each other, though sometimes seemingly in conflict. Akbank Bunka effectively challenges the trumpet’s capabilities. Whatever influences may be reflected, this concerto upholds

Mats B

äcker

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its individuality. The work, structured in three succinct movements, places specific demands—technical agility and long cantabile lines—not usually associated with the trumpet. The soloist’s brilliance is at the center of attention.

The powerful solo writing is reinforced by elusive orchestral writing that seems almost disconnected at times. Lindberg has said, “The music reflects eclecticism: The trumpet writing seems to evoke in turn the sound of Miles Davis in Sketches of Spain, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and even the score for a Sergio Leone movie as re-composed by Sibelius. But the result is taut, muscular, and deftly constructed.” No matter what references Lindberg might, or might not, reveal, his music maintains its strong, personal character. The work’s energy, dramatic elements, spontaneity, enticing originality, and virtuosity are captivating.

—Lynne S. Mazza

Lindberg has written the following on the piece:

It was in September 2003, after taking part in the Austrian premiere of my double concerto Behac Munroh, that Ole Edvard Antonsen asked me if I would write a 15-minute piece for him and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. I listened to some of his recordings—some wonderfully childish songs written for his son—and I was amazed by the beauty of his sound in these pieces. The opening of my piece could not have been written had I not first heard this. Afterwards, my work on the piece was influenced by one thing after another. In the middle of writing the fast section of the first movement, I was contacted by a Turkish orchestra about a concert; while working on the second movement I was planning a Japanese tour for my new orchestra, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra; and as I was starting the third I got a call from Ole saying he was in New York playing oriental jazz. These small incidents had a strange impact on the piece itself, even if I was almost not aware of it at the time. The title is a combination of Turkish and Japanese, Akbank being the name of a Turkish bank and bunka meaning culture in Japanese. I could tell you a lot more about the different composition techniques I used and the work’s orchestration, form, and analysis … and bore you to death. But I will not. Instead I’ll end this little program note with the hope that you will have as much fun listening to it as I had writing it!

Akbank Bunka was composed in 2004.

These are the first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the work, and the first time the Orchestra is performing any piece by the composer.

The score calls for solo trumpet, piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, two horns, two trumpets, tuba, percussion (bass drum, hi-hat, snare drum, suspended cymbals, tom-toms), and strings.

Performance time is approximately 15 minutes.

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The MusicSuite from The Firebird (1919 version)

Igor StravinskyBorn in Lomonosov, Russia, June 17, 1882Died in New York City, April 6, 1971

On May 19, 1909, the impresario Sergei Diaghilev presented the Parisian debut of his troupe, the astonishing Ballets Russes. This revelatory first night featured both the brilliant dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and a stunning new ballet entitled La Pavilion d’Armide with music by Nikolai Tcherepnin and lavish decor by Alexandre Benois. The discriminating aesthete and diarist Count Harry Kessler wrote effusively to the poet Hugo von Hoffmannstahl, “All in all, this Russian ballet is one of the most remarkable and significant artistic manifestations of our time.” The music was not the only aspect of the Ballets Russes to which Kessler reacted, however: The colorful sets and costumes designed by Léon Bakst and the revolutionary choreography by Mikhail Fokine also enthralled him.

A Third-Choice Composer The success of that first season in Paris presented Diaghilev with a pressing problem: How was he to exceed this triumph for the 1910 season? One way was to commission a new ballet based on Russian folktales, Zhar-ptitsa (The Firebird). Diaghilev had his subject; his choreographer, Fokine; his set designer, Alexander Golovin; and his costume designer, Bakst. What he needed, urgently, was a composer.

Diaghilev’s first choice was Tcherepnin, but he withdrew from the project early on. His second choice was Anatoli Liadov, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov who wrote enchanting tone poems on Russian subjects. Although later accounts claimed that Liadov was feckless about composing The Firebird, there is no documentary evidence that he agreed to write it in the first place. Running out of time, Diaghilev convinced one of Rimsky-Korsakov’s last pupils, the young Igor Stravinsky, to accept the commission. Stravinsky had a very short time to compose an extended and complex score. He began work in November 1909 and finished the following May. He worked closely with Fokine as he composed, although he did overrule the choreographer’s tasteless demand to have a suite of Russian dances conclude the ballet.

After stormy rehearsals, The Firebird proved an immense success when it was premiered in Paris on June 25, 1910; it is not an exaggeration to say that it made

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Stravinsky famous overnight. While the sets, costumes, and choreography received praise, the music elicited an ecstatic response from critics, colleagues, and audiences alike. Capitalizing on this newfound fame, Stravinsky derived three suites from The Firebird: a short one in 1911, a more extended one in 1919 that incorporated revisions to the orchestration, and a final version from 1945. Of these three, the 1919 one is the most often performed.

A Closer Look For the 1919 Firebird Suite, Stravinsky excerpted six sections of his ballet score: the Introduction that leads directly into The Firebird and its Dance, The Princesses’ Round Dance, and the Infernal Dance of King Kastcheï that leads directly into the Berceuse—a lullaby—and then without pause to the Finale. By so doing, he maintains the outline of the plot, which was drawn from a collection of folktales collected by Alexander Afanasyev. These tales feature both the Firebird and the sinister figure of Kashcheï the Deathless. As Stravinsky’s father, the famous bass singer Fyodor Stravinsky, was a bibliophile who had amassed a remarkable collection of Russian folktales, so the composer was surely well aware of Afanasyev’s anthology. In addition, Rimsky-Korsakov had written a one-act opera in 1902 entitled Kashcheï the Deathless, for which Stravinsky had prepared the vocal score. The influence of this opera upon the plot and music of The Firebird is striking.

The action of The Firebird is fantastical but straightforward. While out hunting, Tsarevich Ivan strays into the enchanted realm of Kashcheï. He captures the Firebird, who begs for her freedom. Ivan lets her go and in return gives him one of her feathers through which he can summon her aid in times of danger. Ivan happens upon a group of princesses, who have been taken prisoner by Kashcheï, and falls in love with the fairest of them. Confronted by Kashcheï himself, Ivan remembers the feather and waves it to summon the Firebird. She makes Kashcheï’s minions dance an Infernal Dance and during the following Berceuse, he and his servants fall into a deep sleep. Ivan smashes the egg that holds Kashcheï’s immortality, thus destroying him. The Finale, which begins with a noble horn solo, reveals Ivan and his bride sitting in majesty on glittering thrones as the orchestra evokes the tintinnabulation of Russian church bells.

—Byron Adams

Stravinsky composed The Firebird from 1909 to 1910.

Music from The Firebird was first played by The Philadelphia Orchestra in November 1917, when the 1911 Suite was led by Leopold Stokowski. Since that time, barely a year has gone by when some Firebird music hasn’t been heard on one of the Orchestra’s concerts, whether subscription, education, summer, or tour. The most recent subscription performances were in February 2010, when Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the entire ballet music.

The Philadelphia Orchestra has recorded the Firebird Suite seven times: in 1924, 1927, and 1935 with Stokowski for RCA; in 1953 and 1967 with Eugene Ormandy for CBS; in 1973 with Ormandy for RCA; and in 1978 with Riccardo Muti for EMI.

The score for the 1919 Suite calls for piccolo (doubling alto flute II), two flutes (II doubling alto flute), three oboes (III doubling English horn), two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, triangle, xylophone), harp, piano (doubling celesta), and strings.

The work runs approximately 20 minutes in performance.

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The MusicSymphony No. 5

Sergei ProkofievBorn in Sontsovka, Ukraine, April 23, 1891Died in Moscow, March 5, 1953

One is hard pressed to identify positive things associated with the horrors of war. Yet musicians, like other artists through the ages, have often used their creative gifts to deal with tragedy and their music has helped others to cope as well. The Second World War inspired an unusually large quantity of significant music and nowhere more so than in the genre of the symphony. Some of them were written in the heat of war, others as the conflict was ending or after victory had been achieved. The emotions exhibited in these works range from despair to hope, from the bitterness of defeat to the exultation of victory.

War Symphonies It is perhaps telling that while no German or Italian symphonies composed during the war are remembered today, many from other countries remain impressive monuments. Aaron Copland’s Third, widely considered the “Great American Symphony,” was premiered in October 1946, after the Allied victory. (The work incorporates his Fanfare for the Common Man, composed for the war effort four years earlier.) Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements, Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fifth and Sixth symphonies, and a number of Bohuslav Martinů’s symphonies are among other enduring works that either openly or in more subtle ways engaged with the perilous times.

Which brings us to the Soviet Union, where the relationship between the arts and politics was always complex and where the war extracted the largest number of causalities. The two leading Russian composers of the day both made important symphonic contributions: Dmitri Shostakovich with his Seventh Symphony, the “Leningrad” (1941), and Sergei Prokofiev with his Fifth Symphony (1944). These works were composed in dire times, received triumphant premieres, made the rounds internationally led by eminent conductors, and were enthusiastically greeted by appreciative audiences. Americans embraced both symphonies by their Soviet allies. Shostakovich was hailed on the cover of Time magazine in August 1942 and Prokofiev appeared on the cover three years later, after the premiere of the Fifth Symphony in January 1945.

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Prokofiev’s Path to the Fifth For all its success, Prokofiev’s path to his Fifth was an arduous one—personally, professionally, and most specifically with regard to how to write a substantive work in a genre that kept causing him some difficulty. After enjoying a privileged childhood, molded by parents eager to cultivate his obvious musical gifts, Prokofiev went on to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with leading Russian composers of the day, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Reinhold Glière. He won early fame with challenging Modernist scores that were unlike what most composers were writing in Russia during the 1910s.

Then came the October Revolution of 1917. Like other prominent figures from similarly comfortable family backgrounds, including Stravinsky and Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev left Russia. He made a long journey through Siberia, stopped off in Tokyo, and finally arrived in New York City in early September 1918. He would live in America, Paris, and other Western cities for nearly 20 years. In 1927 he returned for a visit to the Soviet Union and began to spend an increasing amount of time in his transformed native country. In the summer of 1936, with timing that boggles the mind today, he moved back permanently with his wife and their two young sons. He spent the rest of his life there, riding a roller coaster of official favor and stinging condemnation. He died on March 5, 1953, the same day as Joseph Stalin.

Prokofiev had composed his First Symphony, the “Classical,” in the summer of 1917, before leaving Russia. This brief work, which charmingly looks back to Haydn, remains a popular repertory item but hardly represented a bold new symphonic statement. His next symphony was disappointingly received at its Paris premiere in 1925 under Serge Koussevitzky. For his symphonies No. 3 (1928) and No. 4 (1930) Prokofiev recycled music he had previously written for opera and ballet scores and still seemed to be struggling with the genre, which may explain a comment he made about the Fifth: “I consider my work on this symphony very significant both because of the musical material put into it and because I returned to the symphonic form after a 16-year interval. The Fifth Symphony completes, as it were, a long period of my works.”

A Triumphant Premiere Prokofiev wrote some of his most compelling music during the Second World War, including the opera War and Peace, the ballet Cinderella, the Second String Quartet, and three impressive piano sonatas. Given the grim circumstances in the Soviet

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Union, the Fifth Symphony was born under relatively comfortable conditions during the summer of 1944, which Prokofiev spent in an artists’ colony set up by the Union of Composers at Ivanovo, some 160 miles from Moscow. (Shostakovich, Glière, Kabalevsky, and other prominent figures were also there.) After absolutely devastating years for the Soviet Union in their struggle against the Germans, things were beginning to look more hopeful with the news from Normandy and Poland. By the time Prokofiev conducted the premiere at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on January 13 there was real good news: The day before the Soviet Army had surged forward. The work was unveiled after intermission and as Time reported:

It was exactly 9:30 p.m. A woman announcer in a black dress stepped to the platform. Said she: “In the name of the fatherland there will be a salute to the gallant warriors of the First Ukrainian front who have broken the defenses of the Germans—20 volleys of artillery from 224 guns.” The dark days of Stalingrad were over; the Polish offensive of January 1945 had begun. As she spoke, the first distant volley shook the hall.

That evening was a complete triumph for Prokofiev, but also an ending of sorts. The concert proved to be the last time he conducted as just a few days later he had a serious fall, most likely the result of untreated high blood pressure, and was ill, although productive, for the remaining eight years of his life.

A Closer Look Prokofiev excelled in many genres, producing chamber, choral, and keyboard music, impressive concertos, as well a distinguished quantity of dramatic music: operas, ballets, and film scores. As mentioned earlier, symphonies proved a challenge for him and may be one reason he recycled music he had written earlier for stage projects. The Fifth Symphony does not do so to nearly the extent of his previous two essays in the genre, but it does have moments that may remind listeners of War and Peace and uses some musical ideas originally conceived for his ballet Romeo and Juliet.

The seriousness of the four-movement Symphony is immediately apparent from the spare opening theme of the Andante, played by flutes and bassoon. This builds to a grand statement of epic scope, one that returns in the finale. There is throughout the work a profusion of thematic material and Prokofiev’s prodigious lyrical gifts

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are fully evident—what sounds like a passionate love theme is followed by a nervous repeated note motif, all of which are seamlessly integrated. The first movement ends with a bold coda that pounds out the opening theme, now fully orchestrated and at full volume, suggestive of Prokofiev’s comment that he “conceived it as a symphony of the greatness of the human spirit.”

The following scherzo (Allegro marcato) has both light and more ominous elements, showing off the composer’s deft balletic writing as well as his affinity for the grotesque. The following Adagio returns us to a lyrical, even elegiac, tone with soaring themes and a funereal middle section. Themes from the preceding movements are reviewed in the final Allegro giocoso, which begins with a slow introduction. The music has an inexorable quality of moving forward and reaches a marvelous coda. After all the epic grandeur heard to this point, the texture suddenly shifts to chamber music, with string soloists, percussion, piano, and harp taking frantic center stage before the thrilling final chord for the full orchestra.

—Christopher H. Gibbs

Prokofiev composed his Symphony No. 5 in 1944.

The first Philadelphia Orchestra performances of the Symphony took place in January 1947, with George Szell on the podium. The Philadelphians have performed the work many times, including on American and European tours. Its most recent appearance on a subscription series was in February 2015, with Valery Gergiev conducting.

The Orchestra recorded the Symphony three times: in 1957 for CBS with Eugene Ormandy, in 1975 for RCA with Ormandy, and in 1990 for Philips with Riccardo Muti. A live recording from 2008 with Christoph Eschenbach is also available by digital download.

Prokofiev’s score calls for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, tambourine, triangle, woodblock), piano, harp, and strings.

Performance time is approximately 50 minutes.

Program notes © 2018. All rights reserved. Program notes may not be reprinted without written permission from The Philadelphia Orchestra Association and/or Lynne Mazza.

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Musical TermsGENERAL TERMSBerceuse: Lullaby Cadence: The conclusion to a phrase, movement, or piece based on a recognizable melodic formula, harmonic progression, or dissonance resolutionChord: The simultaneous sounding of three or more tonesChromatic: Relating to tones foreign to a given key (scale) or chordCoda: A concluding section or passage added in order to confirm the impression of finalityDissonance: A combination of two or more tones requiring resolutionHarmonic: Pertaining to chords and to the theory and practice of harmonyHarmony: The combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressionsLegato: Smooth, even, without any break between notesMeter: The symmetrical grouping of musical rhythmsModernism: A consequence of the fundamental conviction among successive generations of composers since 1900 that the means of musical expression in

the 20th century must be adequate to the unique and radical character of the ageOp.: 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.Rondo: A form frequently used in symphonies and concertos for the final movement. It consists of a main section that alternates with a variety of contrasting sections (A-B-A-C-A etc.).Scale: The series of tones which form (a) any major or minor key or (b) the chromatic scale of successive semi-tonic stepsScherzo: 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.Tone poem: A type of 19th-century symphonic piece in one movement, which is based upon an extramusical idea, either poetic or descriptiveTonic: The keynote of a scale

THE SPEED OF MUSIC (Tempo)Adagio: Leisurely, slowAllegro: Bright, fastAndante: Walking speedGiocoso: HumorousMarcato: Accented, stressed

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Tickets & Patron ServicesWe want you to enjoy each and every concert experience you share with us. We would love to hear about your experience at the Orchestra and it would be our pleasure to answer any questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to contact us via phone at 215.893.1999, in person in the lobby, or at patronserverices@philorch.org.Subscriber Services: 215.893.1955, M-F, 9 AM-5 PMPatron Services: 215.893.1999, Daily, 9 AM-8 PMWeb Site: For information about The Philadelphia Orchestra and its upcoming concerts or events, please visit philorch.org.Individual Tickets: Don’t assume that your favorite concert is sold out. Subscriber turn-ins and other special promotions can make last-minute tickets available. Call us at 215.893.1999 and ask for assistance.Subscriptions: The Philadelphia Orchestra offers a variety of subscription options each season. These multi-concert packages feature the best available seats, ticket exchange privileges, discounts on individual tickets, and many other benefits. Learn more at philorch.org.Ticket Turn-In: Subscribers who cannot use their tickets are invited to donate them and receive a tax-deductible acknowledgement by calling 215.893.1999. Twenty-four-hour notice is appreciated, allowing other patrons the opportunity to purchase these tickets and guarantee tax-deductible credit. PreConcert Conversations: PreConcert Conversations are held prior to most Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert, beginning one hour before the performance. Conversations are free to ticket-holders, feature discussions of the season’s music and music-makers,

and are supported in part by the Hirschberg-Goodfriend Fund established by Juliet J. Goodfriend.Lost and Found: Please call 215.670.2321.Late Seating: Late seating breaks usually occur after the first piece on the program or at intermission in order to minimize disturbances to other audience members who have already begun listening to the music. If you arrive after the concert begins, you will be seated only when appropriate breaks in the program allow.Accessible Seating: Accessible seating is available for every performance. Please call Patron Services at 215.893.1999 or visit philorch.org for more information.Assistive Listening: With the deposit of a current ID, hearing enhancement devices are available at no cost from the House Management Office in Commonwealth Plaza. Hearing devices are available on a first-come, first-served basis.Large-Print Programs: Large-print programs for every subscription concert are available in the House Management Office in Commonwealth Plaza. Please ask an usher for assistance.Fire Notice: The exit indicated by a red light nearest your seat is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency, please do not run. Walk to that exit.No Smoking: All public space in the Kimmel Center is smoke-free.Cameras and Recorders: The taking of photographs or the recording of Philadelphia Orchestra concerts is strictly prohibited. By attending this Philadelphia Orchestra concert you consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your entry constitutes

your consent to such and to any use, in any and all media throughout the universe in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice, and name for any purpose whatsoever in connection with The Philadelphia Orchestra.Phones and Paging Devices: All electronic devices—including cellular telephones, pagers, and wristwatch alarms—should be turned off while in the concert hall. The exception would be our LiveNote™ performances. Please visit philorch.org/livenote for more information.Ticket Philadelphia StaffLinda Forlini, Vice PresidentRebecca Farnham,

Director, Patron ServicesBrandon Yaconis,

Director, Client RelationsDan Ahearn, Jr.,

Box Office ManagerJayson Bucy,

Program and Web ManagerMeg Hackney,

Patron Services ManagerGregory McCormick,

Training ManagerBridget Morgan, Accounting

ManagerCatherine Pappas,

Project ManagerMichelle Carter Messa,

Assistant Box Office ManagerRobin Lee, Staff AccountantAlex Heicher,

Program and Web CoordinatorLindsay Kreig,

Business Operations CoordinatorDani Rose, Patron Services

Supervisor and Access Services Specialist

Elizabeth Jackson, Philadelphia Orchestra Priority Services Representative

Treasurers, Box Office: Tad Dynakowski Thomas Sharkey James Shelley Mike Walsh