San Francisco Symphony celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Richard Strauss with Also Sprach Zarathustra
2014-09-26
Davies Symphony Hall
201 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA
6:30 PM, Friday, September 26, 2014

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Foss: Then the Rocks on the Mountain Began to Shout
Ives: Three Places in New England
J. Strauss, Jr.: By the Beautiful Blue Danube Waltz
Ligeti: Lux aeterna
R. Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra

[6:30 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [6:35 PM] Lukas Foss (1922-2009): “. . . then the rocks on the mountain began to shout“—Charles Ives (1978), featuring a capella chorus (ca. 8 min)

Program Notes by James Kellar & Jeanette Yu

Charles Ives: Three Places in New England (Orchestral Set No. 1) (1935) (ca. 18 min)

Program Notes by Michael Steinberg

1. [6:47 PM] The “St. Gaudens” in Boston Common (Col. Shaw and his Colored Regiment)
2. [6:51 PM] Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut
3. [6:57 PM] The Housatonic at Stockbridge – played in accompaniment to Ives: Number 15 of 114 Songs (1922), featuring the SFS Chorus [work ends 6:57 PM]

[set ends 7:17 PM]

1. [7:37 PM] Johann Strauss, Jr.(1825-1899): An der schönen, blauen Donau (By the Beautiful Blue Danube), Op. 314 (1867)

Program Notes by Jeanette Yu

1. [7:50 PM] György Sándor Ligeti: Lux aeterna (1966) for a capella chorus

Program Notes by Thomas May

Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) Tone Poem (freely after Friedrich Nietzsche) for Large Orchestra, Op. 30 (1896)

Program Notes by James Kellar

(The piece is divided into nine sections played with only three definite pauses. Strauss named the sections after selected chapters of the book)

1. [8:01 PM] Einleitung, oder Sonnenaufgang (Introduction, or Sunrise)
2. [8:02 PM] Von den Hinterweltlern (Of Those in Backwaters)
3. [8:04 PM] Von der großen Sehnsucht (Of the Great Longing)
4. [8:06 PM] Von den Freuden und Leidenschaften (Of Joys and Passions)
5. [8:08 PM] Das Grablied (The Song of the Grave)
6. [8:18 PM] Von der Wissenschaft (Of Science and Learning)
7. [8:22 PM] Der Genesende (The Convalescent)
8. [8:24 PM] Das Tanzlied (The Dance Song)
9. [8:37 PM] Nachtwandlerlied (Song of the Night Wanderer)
   [show ends 8:41 PM; applause through 8:43 PM]

San Francisco Symphony

• Michael Tilson Thomas: conductor, music director;
• symphony members vary by program, see the current list.

San Francisco Symphony Chorus

• Ragnar Bohlin: director;
• performers vary by program

The connection between the opening work by Foss and the following suite by Ives seemed to consist entirely in Foss being inspired by Ives: musically the pieces were quite disparate. On the other hand, starting with Foss coal work in set one's was paralleled by ligeti's coral work in set two,a nice touch on Tilson's part.

And then they served the main course: with it's dramatic opening sequence, Also Sprach Zarathustra is a particularly memorable work, though like Beethoven's 5th, what's “known” is that iconic riff, while the rest of the work remains relatively unfamiliar. I would estimate that I did a decent job of noticing the minor divisions in the work, but I'll be happy to bow to an expert armed with evidence from an official recording who is willing to point out any errors on my part.

Alsop Marin has a nice interview-ish piece about ASZ on the NPR website.

Stephen Smoliar posted a typically grumpy review of the Thursday night performance for the Examiner.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2014 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2014 event list! ☸ On to the next event!