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dvořák: SymphoNy No. 8 iNg mAJoR, op. 88, b. 163

Dvořák composed this symphony betweenAugust 26 and November 8, 1889, andconducted the first performance on February 2,1890, in Prague. The score calls for two flutesand piccolo, two oboes and english horn, twoclarinets, two bassoons, four horns, twotrumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani,and strings. Performance time is approximatelythirty-six minutes. Dvořák himself led theExposition Orchestra (the Chicago Orchestraaugmented to 114 players) in a performance ofhis Eighth Symphony on a special BohemianDay concert at the World’s ColumbianExposition on August 12, 1893. The ChicagoSymphony Orchestra’s first subscriptionconcert performances of Dvořák’s EighthSymphony were given at Orchestra Hall onNovember 15 and 16, 1945, with Hans Langeconducting. On August 12, 1893, Antonín

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019, 3PM

Segerstrom Center for the ArtsRenée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

WHY MUSIC MATTERS:

AN INTRODUCTIONTO THE ORCHESTRA

hoSTed byNuvi mehta, Classical music lecturer

Tommy phillipsphilharmonic Society president and Artistic director

FeATuRiNgorange County youth Symphony

Johannes müller Stosch, music director and Conductor

Although rare, all dates, times, artists, programs and prices are subject to change.Photographing or recording this performance without permission is prohibited.

Kindly disable pagers, cellular phones and other audible devices.

An exploration of the orchestra’s formation,history and traditions through the scope of

dvořák’s 8th Symphony

— pART oNe —lecture and demonstration

— pART TWo —performance

Symphony No. 8 Antonín dvořákin g major, op. 88, b. 163 (1841-1904)

SpeCiAl ThANkS To TheFAmily CoNCeRT SeRieS SpoNSoRS

The davisson Family Fund Foryouth music education

gail and Robert SebringAnonymous

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Dvořák conducted his G major symphony atthe World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.According to the printed booklet prepared forBohemian Day at the fair, the ExpositionOrchestra consisted of the Chicago Orchestra(as it was then known) “enlarged to 114 men.”The G major symphony was listed as No. 4,which is how it was known during thecomposer’s lifetime, although we now number itthe eighth of Dvořák’s nine symphonies. In fact,to the late nineteenth century, Dvořák was thecomposer of just five symphonies; only with thepublication of his first four symphonies inthe 1950s did we begin to use the currentnumbering. By now, even generations of musiclovers who grew up knowing this genial Gmajor symphony as no. 4 have come to accept itas no. 8. By the time he came to Chicago,Dvořák had already conducted this symphonyseveral times, always to an enthusiasticresponse—first in Prague and then in London,Frankfurt, and Cambridge, where he receivedan honorary doctor of music degree in 1891.(“Nothing but ceremony, and nothing butdoctors,” he remembered. “All faces were seri-ous, and it seemed to me as if no one knewany other language but Latin.”) The Chicagoreception, capped by “tremendous outbursts ofapplause,” according to the Tribune, wasequally positive. In the 1880s and 1890s,Dvořák was as popular and successful as any liv-ing composer, including Brahms, who hadhelped promote Dvořák’s music early on andhad even convinced his own publisher, Simrock,to take on this new composer and to issue hisMoravian Duets in 1877. Dvořák proved to bea prudent addition to the catalog, and theSlavonic Dances he wrote the following year atSimrock’s request became one of the firm’sall-time best sellers. Dvořák was then insultedand outraged, when, in 1890, Simrock offeredhim only a thousand marks for his G majorsymphony (particularly since the company hadpaid three thousand marks for the last one), andhe gave the rights to the London firm ofNovello instead. (At least he did not followthe greedy example set by Beethoven and sellthe same score to two different publishers.)Dvořák’s G major symphony is his most

bucolic and idyllic—it is, in effect, hisPastoral—and like Brahms’ Second orMahler’sFourth, it stands apart from his other worksin the form. Like the subsequent New WorldSymphony, composed in a tiny town setin the rolling green hills of northeast Iowa,it was written in the seclusion of thecountryside. In the summer of 1889, Dvořákretired to his country home at Vysoká, awayfrom the pressures of urban life and far fromthe demands of performers and publishers.There he realized that he was ready to tackle anew symphony—it had been four yearssince his last—and that he was eager tocompose something “different from theother symphonies, with individual thoughtsworked out in a new way.” Composition wasremarkably untroubled. “Melodies simply pourout of me,” Dvořák said at the time, and boththe unashamedly tuneful nature of this scoreand the timetable of its progress confirm thecomposer’s boast. He began his new symphonyon August 26; the first movement was finishedin two weeks, the second a week later, and theremaining two movements in just a few daysapiece. The orchestration took only another sixweeks. The first movement is, as Dvořákpredicted, put together in a new way. Theopening theme—pointedly in G minor, notthe G major promised by the key signature—functions as an introduction, although,significantly, it is in the same tempo as the restof the movement. It appears, like a signpost, ateach of the movement’s crucial junctures—here, before the exposition; later, beforethe start of the development; and finally, tointroduce the recapitulation. Dvořák isparticularly generous with melodic ideas in thismovement. As Leoš Janácek said of this music:“You’ve scarcely got to know one figure beforea second one beckons with a friendly nod, soyou’re in a state of constant but pleasurableexcitement.” The second movement, an adagio,alternates C major and C minor, somber andgently merry music, as well as passages forstrings and winds. It is a masterful example ofcomplexities and contradictions swept togetherin one great paragraph. The central climax,with trumpet fanfares over a timpani roll, is

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Sthe International Russian Music PianoCompetition. As a violinist he has appeared assoloist with the San Diego Symphony, theMarquette Symphony, the Ann ArborSymphony, the San Diego Chamber Orchestra,the American Youth Symphony, and theNewWorld Symphony.

Mehta has expanded the musical range of theVentura Music Festival, now presenting some ofthe most illustrious names in the worldsof Classical, Jazz and Crossover music, andhas expanded community outreach, educationconcerts, and added On Stage Talks andUp Close events with guest artists. As SpecialProject Director for the San Diego Symphony,Mehta’s multi-media Symphony Exposé concertseries helped build a new generation of classicalmusic lovers.

Mehta is a graduate of Indiana University andThe Juilliard School.

Tommy phillipSpReSideNT & ARTiSTiC diReCToRphilhARmoNiC SoCieTy oF oRANge CouNTy

Tommy Phillips is thePresident and ArtisticDirector of thePhilharmonic Society ofOrange County. With acareer spanning morethan 15 years, Phillipsis known for hisinnovative programmingideas, reliability and trust

within the classical music industry, and for hiscapacity for creative ingenuity.Holding artistic positions and programmingconsultancies at orchestras across thecountry, he has guided music directorsand helped build strong foundations andconnections for institutions including theSan Diego Symphony, San FranciscoSymphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San AntonioSymphony, and Mainly Mozart Festival amongothers.

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thrilling. The third movement is not aconventional scherzo, but a lilting, radiant waltzmarked Allegretto grazioso—the same markingBrahms used for the third movements of hissecond and third symphonies. The main themeof the trio was rescued from Dvořák’s comicopera The Stubborn Lovers, where Toníkworries that his love, Lenka, will be married offto his father. The finale begins with a trumpetfanfare and continues with a theme and severalvariations. The theme, introduced by the cellos,is a natural subject of such deceptive simplicitythat it cost its normally tuneful composer ninedrafts before he was satisfied. The variations,which incorporate everything from a sunny flutesolo to a determined march in the minor mode,eventually fade to a gentle farewell beforeDvořák adds one last rip-roaring page to ensurethe audience enthusiasm that, by 1889, he hadgrown to expect.

—Phillip Huscher

NAvRoJ (Nuvi) mehTAClASSiCAl muSiC leCTuReR

Violinist and conductor,Nuvi Mehta, ArtisticDirector of the VenturaMusic Festival, concertcommentator for theSan Diego Symphony,and Director of theECHO Chamber Seriesis widely consideredone of the finesteducators on classical

music. The Los Angeles Times likens him toa young Gary Cooper, saying,“... His old-fashioned Hollywood charisma extends toan eloquent and theatrical way of speakingthat is almost entirely lost today.” Conductingappearances have taken Mehta across theUnited States, to Europe and to Mexico. Hehas been a guest of the San Diego Symphony,the New World Symphony the KnoxvilleSymphony, the Fine Arts Chamber Orchestraof Mexico City, and the San Diego ChamberOrchestra as well as Music Director of theNova Vista and Marquette Symphonies, and

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JohANNeS mülleR SToSChmuSiC diReCToR & CoNduCToRoRANge CouNTy youTh SymphoNy

Currently, JohannesMüller Stosch serves asDirector of OrchestralActivities at the BobCole Conservatory ofMusic at CaliforniaState University,Long Beach, as well asMusic Director andConductor of HollandSymphony Orchestra

in Michigan. He has also held conductingpositions with the Cincinnati SymphonyOrchestra, the Brockport Symphony in NewYork, Tri State Players in Ohio, and servedrepeatedly on the conducting and coachingstaff at the Opera Theatre Festival in Lucca,Italy.

Müller Stosch keeps an active guest-conducting schedule both internationally andnationally, with recent engagements includingconcerts with Long Beach Symphony,Kunming Philharmonic in China, UniversitySymphonies in Vancouver, Canada, and atthe University of Oregon in Eugene. In 2009,he was a featured guest conductor with theBusan Sinfonietta in Korea in a concert thatwas broadcast on national TV (KBS).

An avid operatic conductor, he previouslyserved as Music Director of theMuseumsinsel-Operafestival in Berlin,Germany; has frequently guest conducted newopera productions at Cincinnati’s famousCollege-Conservatory of Music; and workedrepeatedly as visiting opera conductor atthe Opera Theater at Webster University inSt. Louis, Missouri. Aside from his passionfor conducting, Müller Stosch has a specialinterest in performance practice and earlymusic. In Germany, he worked withHannover’s L’Arco, Bremer Ratsmusik, andConcerto Brandenburg. He also frequentlyappears on organ and harpsichord with the

Pacific Symphony. Concert tours as a soloistand collaborative artist have takenhim throughout the U.S., Germany, Italy,Chile, and Japan. Müller Stosch has severalcommercial recordings to his credit all ofwhich have been played on public radio.

Maestro Müller Stosch received his Doctorateof Musical Arts in Conducting from theEastman School of Music. After winningthe coveted Strader Organ Competition inCincinnati, Ohio, he received two Master ofMusic degrees in organ performance andorchestral conducting from the CincinnatiCollege-Conservatory of Music.

oRANge CouNTy youThSymphoNy

Founded in 1970, the Orange County YouthSymphony (OCYS), now in its 50th season, isthe official youth orchestra of Orange County.As an honor ensemble, OCYS requires allaccepted musicians to participate in theiryear-round respective school string, band,or orchestral programs. Participation inOCYS reinforces school ensembles byproviding additional musical opportunities totop-performing young musicians in OrangeCounty. With its commitment to excellence,OCYS has performed at major musicconferences throughout the United States andhas toured Europe and Asia to critical acclaim.In 2012, OCYS was the winner of theAmerican Prize in Orchestral Performance—Youth Orchestra Division.

Deemed “the real thing” by The Los AngelesTimes, OCYS was led for ten seasons byMusic Director and conductor Daniel AlfredWachs. In the summer of 2013, OCYStoured the United Kingdom and attended thefamed Proms Concerts as guests of the RoyalPhilharmonic Society. Representing OrangeCounty’s best young adult musicians, OCYSperformances have been lauded by both criticsand audiences throughout the United States,Austria, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy,

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Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the UnitedKingdom, among others.

In May 2014, OCYS was presented by thePhilharmonic Society of Orange County to asold-out Renée and Henry Segerstrom ConcertHall in a performance that included Beethoven’sNinth Symphony and the West Coast premiereof Mark-Anthony Turnage’s “Frieze.” Thisconcert was selected by both The Orange CountyRegister and The Los Angeles Times as toppicks during the 2013-14 season and was laterbroadcast on PBS SoCal.

OCYS additionally serves to support andsupplement music programs across the county.Presented in longtime partnership with thePhilharmonic Society of Orange County,the annual Concerts for Fifth Graders series hasimpacted hundreds of thousands of studentssince the 1980s. OCYS recently began invitingselect high school programs to jointly perform inits season finale concert, doubling the size of

each ensemble and providing new platforms foraccess and inspiration to all students. In 2017,the Beckman High School string ensemblejoined OCYS onstage at Musco Center for theArts, and in 2018, they were joined by TesoroHigh School Orchestra.

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FiRST violiNChloe NelsonCo-concertmaster

Ty ZapCo-concermaster

Matthew Yee, AssistantConcertmaster

Rangana BartlettHwa Lang ChoLinden JaoIssac LiuTrinity PattersonNatalia TongAnsh VashisthJustin WangTim WangGreg WesleyJoyce YooAllison YueBryan Zhao

SeCoNd violiNKaitlyn IriantoPrincipalJayden LeeAssistant PrincipalMay GengKathryn HeinemeierAysa HuangJuhun KimKaylee MaengBeatrice MerillesIsabel ShengEinstina WangLianne ChaAllison LeeSantiago Hernandez-Rodriguez

Ray Wang

violAJason StangePrincipal

Nadiane TongAssistant PrincipalKaris ChoiFrancesca EstradaOlivia RossJonathan SpeiserMelody SunAmanda ZhuKayla Chao

CelloKatelyn ChuPrincipalEvan HeidebrinkAssistant PrincipalRiley AmeliHannah DoesVanesa FarooqCampbell GardinerKatelyn JoDanica KwanJared WeissbergElliot WongAnna YoonPengCheng Zhu

bASSKatie LiuPrincipalKavishka BartlettJason Esquerro

FluTeJacob CruzPrincipalAiden UrschelClaudia Kiso

oboeKennedy LeehealeyPrincipal

Kara YiMelissa McElroy

ClARiNeTNathan NguyenPrincipalLara InomotoAndrew Nguyen

bASSooNJulianne L. FungPrincipal

Will Thrall

hoRNDan LozadoPrincipalDanny CruzToya SotoAllison Petty

TRumpeTAndrew SmithPrincipalShelton HsuTy MerrittKayla Ameli

TRomboNeAuvin HajianPrincipal

Dayton WongHarrison PakTrenton Balliger

TubAKevin PerezPrincipal

TimpANi/peRCuSSioN

Gregory AlvidrezPrincipal

hARpToubby Chou

JohANNeS mülleR SToSCh, muSiC diReCToR

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