Symphony June book.indd - Music - University of California, Irvine

PROGRAM NOTES
Overture to Oberon
Carl Maria von Weber’s output as a musical dramatist, more specifically, as the pre-eminent
developer of the “Romantic Opera” form, culminated in his final opera, Oberon, or the Elf
King’s Oath, completed in 1826. Oberon is notable as the only opera set by Weber with a
libretto in English. The utter failure of this opera is likely owing to both the uninspired and
convoluted story line, as much as the composer’s unfamiliarity with the English language.
Despite the disastrous fate of the opera itself, the overture is particularly inspired
and holds delightful tunes and orchestration. The overture uses themes from the opera as
well as ones from Weber’s 1886 incidental music to the tragedy Heinrich IV. The listener is
treated to a delicate, even sentimental introduction dominated by musical dialogue between
horns, woodwinds, and strings. The two exciting themes associated with this overture helps
to portray Weber’s mastery of moods and scenery. The overture is scored for 2 flutes, 2
oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, and strings.
Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op. 61
Soon after the completion of the Third Symphony, Eroica, Beethoven began composing a
concerto for three solo instruments: piano, violin, and cello. This combination of instruments,
the traditional Piano Trio, had been fully utilized by Beethoven, like the other chamber
music masters of the period: Haydn and Mozart. Although other works had been written for
multiple solo instruments with orchestral assistance, the Triple Concerto, composed in 1804,
attempted to fuse the chamber trio into the fabric of the orchestra, in a concerto format.
The work, like most concertos, is in the three-movement layout – Allegro, Largo,
and Finale: Rondo alla Polacca - but offers one significant difference between itself
and most concertos. Beethoven chooses to forgo the traditional single-instrument solo
improvisation (cadenza) in the first and last movements; instead, offering the trio without
orchestra as a substitute.
The first movement opens with cellos and basses, before the rest of the orchestra
assists in introducing the main themes of the movement. The violin and cello are used
separately and in tandem to re-introduce most of the themes, with the piano offering very
transparent accompaniment.
The second movement, beautiful and slow, features thematic material presented
chiefly by the cello. This movement leads without a break into the Finale, in the traditional
Rondo form.
The 35-minute concerto is scored for: 1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2
horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, solo violin, solo cello, solo piano, and strings.