Programs Notes | Xian Conducts Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born: January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria
Died: December 5, 1791, in Vienna, Austria
Composed: August 1787
World Premiere: Undocumented, but possibly Vienna, 1787. It was published posthumously.
Duration: 16 minutes
Instrumentation: strings

Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music or Evening Serenade) is a wonderful work with which to introduce people to classical music. Its graceful melodies and sunny disposition are readily appealing; those who claim no familiarity with Mozart are generally surprised how familiar these four movements are. Those who do know something about music find in the Nachtmusik a perfect symphony in miniature, illustrating in a concise manner the four-movement structure that governed the Viennese classical tradition for so long. One of the Nachtmusik’s ironies is that it is not a symphony at all, but a serenade, and that it wasn’t even in four movements in its original version, but rather in five.

Furthermore, Eine kleine Nachtmusik presents us with a paradox. It is probably Mozart’s best known, best loved, and most widely recognized composition, yet we have no idea what prompted him to compose it! There are few outward clues, and no mention of the work in the composer’s correspondence. The score is dated August 10, 1787. Why did he interrupt work on Don Giovanni to compose the Nachtmusik? Probably because of a commission from a nobleman, but whom?

The title translates to “A Little Night Music,” or serenata notturna, to use the 18th-century Italian term that Mozart’s contemporaries would have recognized. This one is scored for strings alone, possibly even solo strings (that is, string quartet plus double bass). Serenades were generally outdoor entertainment music. The string ensemble does not generally carry well outdoors, the way more piercing woodwind timbres do. Mozart’s choice of strings for a serenade adds to the work's mystery.

The Nachtmusik’s first movement is in sonata form. A delightful Romanze slow movement follows, then a melodious minuet with trio, and a folk-like finale reminiscent of Papageno’s music in The Magic Flute. But Eine kleine Nachtmusik cannot have taken its shape from symphonic form, because the autograph manuscript is missing a page that was torn out, which we know contained another, second minuet/trio that has not survived.

In fact, the closer we look and listen to the Nachtmusik, the more like dance music it sounds, and the less like symphonic music. That characteristic is a considerable factor in its broad appeal. The immediacy of danceable rhythms and the unassuming, unobtrusive grace of its melodies ensure that the Nachtmusik will have a large and devoted fan club for a long time.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Born: March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany
Died: July 28, 1750, in Leipzig, Germany
Composed: 1717–1723
World Premiere: Undocumented, but likely in the Cöthen court between 1717 and 1723.
Duration: 17 minutes
Instrumentation: two solo violins, strings, and continuo

Between 1717 and 1723, Bach was employed by Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, a music-loving nobleman from an area northeast of Weimar in what used to be called East Germany. The position was rather similar to the one that Haydn was to hold with the Esterházy family later on in the century. When Bach was engaged as Kapellmeister, Leopold’s court boasted one of the largest and finest orchestras in Europe. Bach composed a considerable amount of instrumental music for the Cöthen musicians, including most of his solo concertos.

Bach was very interested in the Italian style of concerto writing, particularly the works of Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741). He studied Vivaldi's music avidly, sometimes copying the scores to develop greater familiarity with the style. It is no surprise that the D Minor Concerto for two violins reflects certain Italian Baroque characteristics.

The three movements adhere to the Vivaldian model of fast-slow-fast tempi. Bach makes extensive use of sequences and contrast between full orchestra (ripieno) and his solo group (concertino, in this case the two violins). The presence of two soloists in the D Minor Concerto highlights the contrapuntal intricacy of Bach’s texture. Their entrances are frequently canonic; he also makes use of invertible counterpoint, whereby the two voices exchange material, maintaining the integrity of each contrapuntal line.

The slow movement, an elegant F major cantilena in gently rocking 12/8 meter, has particular melodic beauty. Once again, invertible counterpoint plays a significant role, but it is the suspended harmonies that enhance the operatic expressivity of this Largo.

A stormy, aggressive opening motive sets the tone for Bach’s finale, which distances itself from the dance-like finales of his solo concertos. Indeed, the relationship between concertino and ripieno is practically reversed here. The orchestra shares in the densely overlapped principal statement, a close canon that functions as a ritornello. Twice in the course of the movement, both soloists play several measures repeated double-stops in steady eighth notes. Together, they form a chordal accompaniment to the sequential gestures the orchestra is tossing about. Bach’s abundant melodic material attests to his power of imagination.

This Double Concerto was extremely popular throughout the 19th century, after the “Bach Revival” spearheaded by Felix Mendelssohn took hold. It remains one of Bach’s best-loved instrumental compositions.

Michael Abels
Born: October 8, 1962, in Phoenix, Arizona
Composed: 2007
World Premiere: February 11, 2007, in Detroit, Michigan. The performance featured the Harlem Quartet and the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra and the 2007 Sphinx Competition finalists.
Duration: 13 minutes
Instrumentation: solo string quartet and orchestral strings

Two-time Emmy-nominated composer Michael Abels is best known for the opera Omar, co-written with Rhiannon Giddens. Cinema fans know his scores for the Jordan Peele horror films Get Out and Us, for which Abels won a World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, and Image Aware nomination, as well as multiple critics’ awards. Abels’ hip-hop-influenced score for Us was short-listed for the Oscar and was named “Score of the Decade” by the online publication The Wrap.

Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, gaming, and streaming media. As a concert composer, he has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and NewMusicUSA. The Chicago Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra are just two of the major ensembles who have performed his orchestral music.

Delights and Dances was commissioned by the Sphinx Organization, which seeks to promote representation and participation of Black and Latino musicians in classical music. The commission was a celebration of Sphinx’s 10th anniversary celebrating diversity in concert music.

Abels describes the piece as a quartet of string soloists in a kind of diptych of American musical genres, one regarded as “Black” and the other “white.” His composer’s note explains its two principal sections.

The piece begins with a slow, lyrical introduction that grows from a cello solo into a duet with the viola, culminating in a gentle crescendo for the full quartet. The first major section is blues, which allows the soloists to flaunt their musical talents through a series of solos that are designed to sound improvised, although they are actually notated. The second half of the piece is a rousing bluegrass hoedown, once again featuring the quartet as they trade riffs back and forth (in a way that might recall “Dueling Banjo”), which culminates in a boisterous coda. It’s a piece that celebrates musicians playing together. I hope it fills you with joy.

As is the case with many of Abels’ compositions, Delights and Dances is an eclectic stylistic mix, with elements of bluegrass, jazz, Latin rhythms, and blues. Its progression from the more modernist opening moments to the rumbustious energy of the hoedown is exhilarating and fun.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born: January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria
Died: December 5, 1791, in Vienna, Austria
Composed: Summer 1782
World Premiere: August 1782 in Salzburg; the exact date is uncertain, but prior to August 24.
Duration: 18 minutes
Instrumentation: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two trumpets, timpani, and strings

Throughout history, patrons of the arts have earned a small measure of immortality through their association with painters, sculptors, writers, and musicians of genius. One of the better-known surnames in the Mozart canon is Haffner. It is the subtitle of two beloved orchestral works: the “Haffner” Serenade, K. 250, and the symphony that concludes this program. Both works are in D major, but their connections go far deeper than the shared tonality.

The Haffners were wealthy Salzburgers whose children Mozart had known since childhood. In 1776, the family commissioned him to write a serenade in honor of their daughter Elizabeth’s marriage. When Elizabeth’s brother Sigmund was ennobled in July 1782, he promptly sought out Leopold to request that Wolfgang compose another work for the occasion.

By then, Mozart had settled in Vienna. He was busy preparing for the premiere of his opera The Abduction from the Seraglio. He planned to marry Constanze Weber in August and was moving to a new residence in anticipation of the wedding. Despite this jam-packed schedule, he found time to accommodate Sigmund Haffner’s request.

Letters between Leopold and Mozart make clear that the new piece was initially conceived as another serenade, for Mozart composed two minutes and a march in addition to the four movements we hear. Both the serenity of the Andante and the straightforward quality of the surviving Minuet are representative of the lighter serenade style: probably intended for outdoor performance, and likely as background music to a large party.

When he composed the “Haffner” Symphony, Mozart’s star was ascendant in Vienna. Several months after he sent Leopold the score in Salzburg, he asked that it be returned to him so that he could present it at a concert of his music in the capital. He then incorporated flute and clarinet parts (instruments not available in Salzburg), suppressed the extra minuet and the march, and rearranged the symphony as we know it today.

In that form, its character is festive, ceremonial and positive: encapsulated by the bold octave leap and pronounced dotted rhythm of the famous opening motive, which dominates the entire first movement. The two inner movements are less assertive and more serenade-like, easy to imagine as ballroom or background music for a gathering of courtiers. Mozart’s finale, which he instructed his father was to be played “as fast as possible,” bears a strong relationship to Osmin’s aria in Abduction. The connection with opera was to manifest itself even more strongly in Mozart’s later instrumental music.

Six months after the “Haffner” Symphony’s first performance in Salzburg, Mozart made some minor revisions, principally in scoring, for a performance on March 23, 1783, in Vienna that was attended by the emperor. The “Haffner” symphony achieved unusual renown during Mozart’s lifetime, including publication in Vienna, and performance in Paris at the Concert spirituel.

2024–25 will mark the GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning conductor Xian Zhang’s ninth season as music director of the New Jersey Symphony. Starting in 2025–26, Zhang will also hold the role of music director at Seattle Symphony. Zhang holds the position of conductor emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, having previously held the position of music director between 2009–2016.

The 2024–25 season sees Zhang return to the Metropolitan Opera in New York to conduct David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Puccini’s Tosca.

Zhang is in high demand as a guest conductor, appearing regularly with Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, returning to both in 2024–25. Her recording with Philadelphia Orchestra and Time for Three, Letters for The Future (released 2022 on Deutsche Grammophon), won multiple GRAMMY Awards in the Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’ Contact) and Best Classical Instrumental Solo categories.

Following a successful collaboration at Tanglewood Festival 2023, Zhang returns to Boston Symphony Orchestra this season. She remains a favored guest of the Orchestra of St Luke’s and recently stepped in for their Brahms Requiem concert at Carnegie Hall. Other 2024–25 highlights include Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, NAC Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra and Milan Symphony Orchestra.

Zhang continues to enjoy good relationships with many leading orchestras worldwide, including London Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Houston Symphony, St Louis Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra DC and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Zhang previously served as principal guest conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s assistant conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their associate conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.

Violinist Eric Wyrick has been Concertmaster of the New Jersey Symphony since 1998. Recently retired from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Eric had been a member of the internationally acclaimed ensemble for 38 years.

As soloist with the New Jersey Symphony, Wyrick has delighted New Jersey audiences with performances of the great solo violin repertoire ranging from unusual and underperformed works such as the Schumann, Strauss and Busoni violin concertos to presenting the complete Bach Brandenburg Concertos and the Vivaldi Four Seasons as soloist and leader. Wyrick has featured collaborations with contemporary local New Jersey composers Darryl Kubian and Steve Mackey in their solo compositions as well as a special revival of Princeton’s legendary Edward T. Cone Violin Concerto.

Eric has engaged in a multi-year career project, specializing in collaborative concerto performances: Double concertos of Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Rosza, Bottessini, Mackey, Schnittke and JP Joffre; and Triple concertos of Beethoven and Tan Dun.

As an active chamber musician, Wyrick can be heard frequently with the New Jersey Symphony Chamber Players and performs regularly with the Richardson Chamber Players.

Wyrick is a Lecturer at Princeton University and a frequent guest for coaching and masterclasses at music schools and festivals across the country.

Francine Storck is the Principal Second Violinist of the New Jersey Symphony. A native of Princeton, she began playing professionally with the Collegium Musicum of Princeton at the age of 16. She attended the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, where she was Concertmaster of the Orchestra, played with the Toledo Symphony, and was a prizewinner at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition with her quartet’s performance of Bartok’s Quartet No 6, and Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue.

Upon moving to New York, Ms. Storck won a First Violin position with the NJ Symphony, and later the Principal Second Violin chair, which was permanently endowed during her tenure. She also performed with the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center for over 20 years. Her freelancing has included Broadway shows and Radio City, the Joffrey, Alvin Ailey, New Jersey, and Royal Danish Ballets, the Orchestra of St Lukes, the New York Virtuosi, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the Long Island Philharmonic, where she was Principal Second Violin for many years, the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera.

Ms Storck’s career has always included private teaching. Her students have ranged in age from 3 to 83, and have included children of her colleagues, as well as area professionals. While some students have been accepted into Regional and All State Orchestras, others have progressed beautifully despite learning and social issues. All have conquered performance fears, gained confidence, and carried a love of music with them into their lives. She has a passion for sharing the joy of creating beauty with one’s own two hands.

Francine’s husband Jonathan is a bassist in the New Jersey Symphony, and the two reside in Morris Plains.