Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Serenade to Music
Composed 1938
In 1938, British conductor Sir Henry Wood was planning a special jubilee concert to celebrate his 50 years of conducting. He turned to composer Ralph Vaughan Williams to write an original piece, with one condition. The piece must be able to be played anywhere at anytime.
Williams loved the pageantry of England. Everything he wrote is distinctively English, from his operas, ballets, chamber music, concertos, music for military bands and film scores. Of course, he turned to one of England’s greatest playwrights for inspiration.
Serenade to Music is based on William Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice.” Williams uses Lorenzo’s speech on music from Portia’s garden in Act 5, Scene 1. There are several arrangements of this piece, the most popular being the one for chorus and orchestra that usually features 16 singers.
From a solo violin setting the mood of a quiet garden, voices slowly enter and build to a rapturous mention of “sweet harmony.” From the “floor of heaven” to the lament that “the man that hath no music in himself,” the piece moves listeners on an emotional journey ending in peacefulness.
According to reports, the premiere at the Jubilee concert at Royal Albert Hall in London on Oct. 5, 1938, was so emotionally moving that composer Sergei Rachmaninoff was reduced to tears. (The premiere followed a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2).
Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Concierto de Aranjuez
Composed 1939
Joaquin Rodrigo’s music is filled with references to Spanish traditions. Blind since age three, he was one of the most prominent Spanish composers of the 20th century. Rodrigo is best known for his guitar concerto, Concierto de Aranjuez, which met with immediate and lasting success.
The gardens at Palacio Real de Aranjuez were the inspiration for the Concierto de Aranjuez. The palace was built in the 16th century and rebuilt in the 18th century. Rodrigo’s compositional goal was to transport his audience to an earlier time by evoking the sounds of nature found in the gardens of Aranjuez. He said that he desired to draw forth “the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds, and the gushing of fountains” in the gardens.
Rodrigo, explaining his composition, said that the first movement is “animated by a rhythmic spirit and vigor without either of the two themes …interrupting its relentless pace.” The middle movement “represents a dialogue between guitar and solo instruments,” and the third movement “recalls a courtly dance in which the combination of double and triple time maintains a taut tempo right to the closing bar.”
Concierto de Aranjuez is arguably the most popular concerto ever composed for guitar and orchestra.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Symphony No. 4 “Italian”
Composed 1833
In 1832, the Philharmonic Society of London commissioned Felix Mendelssohn to write a piece. The composer, who was only 23 at the time, responded with the “Italian” Symphony, which, for many, is his best-loved symphonic work.
At the time of the composition, Mendelssohn was on an extended tour of Italy. Confident that the sights and sounds of Naples would inspire him, Mendelssohn waited until he had visited the city to write the music.Critics note the lightness and clarity of the music as characteristic of the music of Italy; indeed, by 19th-century symphonic standards, the piece is lightly scored and quite transparent in places.
The energetic opening movement of the symphony can be compared in style and form to Classical era composers Haydn and Mozart. Charming and carefree, this movement is reminiscent of Mendelssohn’s earlier work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The orchestra presents the second movement’s first theme in unison; complementary melodic lines elaborate subsequent statements beautifully. This movement is said to have been inspired by the “sight of a pilgrims’ procession” Mendelssohn witnessed while in Naples.
The delicate melodic lines of the third movement are perfectly balanced in their construction. Mendelssohn used a saltarello, an energetic Roman dance similar to the tarantella, for the finale. According to legend, the tarantella was the dance performed by one who had been bitten by a tarantula. The dance steps of the saltarello were authentically demonstrated to Mendelssohn while on his trip. Mendelssohn utilizes the rhythms of both dances in the thrilling concluding movement.
