THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2019-2020 43
Program Notes
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
CONSECRATION OF THE HOUSE OVERTURE,
OP. 124
Duration: ca. 12 minutes
For Beethoven, the overture was more than a
preamble to the action of an opera or ballet; it was
a musical world unto itself, linked to the action
ahead but independent of it. The overture in
Beethoven’s hands stood by itself, and gave birth to
the symphonic poems of Liszt, Wagner, and Strauss.
Beethoven’s creative output is divided into
three periods – early, middle and late – and his
Consecration of the House Overture came in his
final years, a time of Herculean effort considering
the works surrounding it: the Missa Solemnis, Ninth
Symphony, Piano Sonata No. 29 “Hammerklavier”,
Diabelli Variations, and the last three piano sonatas.
All of this, mind you, when Beethoven was almost
completely deaf and in failing health.
He completed the overture in 1822 on a breakneck
deadline to celebrate the opening of the Josefstadt
Theater in Vienna. It was the last of a long string
of overtures and holds a special place in music
history, having been performed on May 9, 1824,
at the premiere of the Ninth Symphony and three
movements of the Missa Solemnis. The audience
went bonkers, and Beethoven had to be turned
around on stage to acknowledge the applause.
Beethoven had always admired the two kings of
the late Baroque era – Bach and Handel – and their
mastery of the fugue, a form that can be heard
prominently in many of Beethoven’s late works.
This includes the Consecration of the House, which
makes use of an energetic double fugue in C major
that Beethoven said he “conceived after Handel.’’
The overture opens with five stentorian calls from
the full orchestra before settling into a solemn
processional. A series of distant-sounding fanfares
follow in a majestic and stately rhythm, as if a king or
queen was slowly entering a hall. A second section,
which Beethoven wanted played in high spirits,
teems with dramatic counterpoint as instruments
scamper through a grand fugue – another tribute
to the Baroque – that brings the music to a rousing
close.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791)
CLARINET CONCERTO IN A MAJOR, K. 622
Duration: ca. 24 minutes
They say when the angels play music for God,
they play Bach. When they play for themselves,
they choose Mozart. Sadly, those heavenly sounds
ended far too soon, and by his 35th year, the revered
Austrian composer knew time was running short.
“Everything is cold for me – ice cold,’’ he wrote
to his wife, Constanze, in March of 1791, citing
financial struggles, lack of support for his concerts,
and failing health. By December, his body lay in an
unmarked grave in Vienna. On a desk at home sat
his unfinished Requiem, K. 626.
But the Requiem would not be his valedictory
statement. That belongs to the Clarinet Concerto,
the last major piece Mozart completed, and one of
the splendors in all of music: So simple, a tapestry
of transcendental beauty, tinged with struggle, and,
as you will hear tonight, a sigh of resignation. Ask
anyone who plays the clarinet to describe it and
they seldom refer to it as a concerto.
“It feels like a compact opera,’’ said Natalie Hoe,
TFO’s principal clarinetist and this weekend’s
soloist. “Unlike a lot of other clarinet concertos
that are filled with acrobatics, this is full of human
emotions and characters. It depicts how humanlike
the clarinet is, and imitates all of the inflections
in our voice.’’
Whether for clarinet, piano or violin, Mozart’s
concertos reflect his genius in portraying characters
in music, with a solo becoming an arioso, sung by
instruments with personalities of their own.
Mozart actually began writing the score in 1789 as
a concerto in G Major for the basset horn, which he
left incomplete. Never one to leave good material
on the cutting room floor, Mozart used 191 bars
of it for the allegro of the Clarinet Concerto, which
he completed three months before his death. The
opening movement begins with a lilting theme in
the strings to lay the groundwork for the soloist,
who soon takes the handoff and treats listeners to
a full range of highs and lows. The music is relaxed,
sunny and effortless, but also reveals an intimate
relationship between soloist and orchestra. To keep
the clarinet’s sound at the forefront, the orchestra is