Program Notes: October 18, 1998
Silvestre Revueltas, regarded by many as Mexico’s leading composer in the twentieth century, composed Redes (Nets) originally as a film score, which was arranged as a Suite by Erich Kleiber with the composer’s approval. The original 1935 film, alternatively titled Pescados (Fish) and The Wave, was co-directed by Fred Zinnemann (who went on to make High Noon and From Here to Eternity) and Gomez Muriel. A quasi-documentary made with the kind of socially conscious zeal typical of many 1930s artists, Redes tells the story of the upheavals that beset a poor Mexican fishing village, by all accounts superbly photographed on location by writer-producer Paul Strand (who also shot The Plow that Broke the Plains). The music, too, tells its story powerfully and vividly, depicting, in sequence, the burial of a child, the celebration of a successful catch, the conflict between the fishermen and their corrupt bosses, the death of their leader, and his burial at sea.
Carl Maria von Weber’s sensitivity to the special color of woodwind instruments, many of which underwent substantial development in his lifetime, is nowhere more evident than in his concertos. While the clarinet concertos are better known, the Bassoon Concerto in F is no less successful in bringing out the special qualities of the soloist. Particularly striking are the passages played against solemn horn chords in the slow movement, and the brilliant and witty writing in the finale, which takes full advantage of the bassoon’s comic potential in its lower range. The longer first movement is also the most varied, exploring the full expressive and virtuosic range of the bassoon with the elegant diction typical of Weber. Weber wrote the concerto in 1811 (rev. 1822) for F. G. Brandt, the court bassoonist in Munich, in the wake of Weber’s hugely successful collaboration with the clarinettist Heinrich Baermann.It is curious that the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony became so popular, since, taken by itself, it is perhaps his bleakest musical utterance. Four times in the movement we escape the opening "fate" music for a more positive world, and four times we are dragged, kicking and screaming, back into darkness. Only once, really, do we break stride, pausing briefly for the agonizing oboe lament that follows the third defeat. The popularity of this movement probably stems, in part, from the sheer power of its fast pace and tight construction, and perhaps also from the fact that its famous opening, originally meant to represent "Fate knocking at the Door," came to spell "Victory" for the Allies in World War II (since three shorts and a long indicate "V" in Morse Code). In any case, after the devastating first movement, the later movements chart a very different course. The second movement offers brief glimpses of future glory by introducing brass instruments into its mainly pastoral setting. In the third, the "fate" motive returns with march-like resolve, leading us eventually to the ecstatic finale, for which Beethoven added piccolo and trombones; here, the "fate" motive is repeatedly recalled in a celebratory, sometimes religious mode. Beethoven began his Fifth Symphony in 1806, but did not complete it until 1808, when it was performed in a mammoth concert of mostly new music, including his Fourth Piano Concerto, Sixth Symphony, movements from his Mass in C, solo improvisation, and (because somehow this wasn’t enough) his large-scale Choral Fantasy, which he put together at the last minute to round out the evening.
--- Raymond Knapp
back to Santa Monica Symphony page