The Sounds of Youth Family Concert
Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 3:00 PM 
The Waltham Symphony Orchestra welcomes back famed young pianist George Li for a performance of Chopin's First Piano Concerto. We also welcome the gifted young violinist Yuki Beppu performing excerpts from Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole. Bizet's Symphony in C and Leopold Mozart's Toy Symphony will delight audiences young and old.
Leopold Mozart, Toy Symphony
Bizet, Symphony in C
Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 1
Lalo, Symphonie Espagnole
Meet the musicians and their instruments at our instrument petting zoo!
Kennedy Middle School Auditorium -- 655 Lexington Street, Waltham, MA
Program Notes
Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838–June 3, 1875), Symphony in C Major (1855)
What better way to celebrate the sound of youth than to choose the Symphony in C Major
by Georges Bizet? Georges Bizet composed this piece, completely unknown until the
20th century, when he was 17. It was premiered on February 26, 1935 by Felix Weintgartner
in Basel, Switzerland. Discovered in the archives of the Paris National Conservatory,
it is an extraordinary symphony. Although one can see influences from other styles, especially
Gounod’s Symphony No. 1 premiered the same year (1855), it is nonetheless an
original composition in which one can already see the genius of Bizet. His sense of phrasing
and his talents as a melodist and orchestrator really show Bizet’s prodigious gifts. 
Entering at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 9, Bizet collected every single prize and honor possible to obtain, including the famed and highly sought after Premier Grand Prix de Rome. He is most well known for his opera, Carmen--the most frequently performed opera in the world, for his music to the play l’Arlésienne, an additional opera, Les Pêcheurs de Peril and many other pieces. Imagine the surprise when in 1935 the manuscript of his Symphony in C” was discovered by pure chance in the archives of the Paris Conservatory! It was so much more of a surprise because no one knew the symphony even existed. Bizet himself never mentioned it in any of his correspondence and his biographers never hinted of it until its discovery. Yet that work, signed by Bizet, is unequivocally his.
New research done since its discovery shows that the symphony was composed while Bizet was studying with Charles Gounod, which may explain the influence of Gounod’s Symphony in D. It is believed that the composition may have been a student composition assignment, written in one month between October and November 1855. Because of its student composition nature, it appears Bizet was not interested in ever having it performed or even published. His widow gave the manuscript to French composer Reynaldo Hahn along with other papers, who in turn donated it to the Paris Conservatory Library.
The symphony is comprised of four movements in the classical style. The first movement, Allegro Vivo, is composed in the typical sonata form with two themes, very reminiscent of Mozart and Beethoven’s symphonies.
The second movement is very operatic in its narrative simplicity. It is framed by a beautiful oboe solo and strings pizzicati. This lovely lyricism is briefly interrupted by a fugato— imitation in the style of a fugue, with melodic segments answering each other in relative tonalities.
The third movement is a fast scherzo in a typical Beethoven style, with a middle trio. Both the Scherzo and Trio are essentially inspired by French peasant dances. The trio, in particular, uses melodic forms that are very innovative and raw in their form.
The fourth movement is a very fast Allegro in which the thematic material and orchestration seem to foreshadow his opera “Carmen” most clearly.
The general writing of the symphony requires skillful playing, especially in the string writing, which makes it a very difficult symphony for any orchestra to perform well, while at the same time is an absolute crowd-pleaser. Considering what Bizet was able to compose at such an early age one can only imagine what he would have been able to produce had he not regretfully died so young.
Edouard Lalo (January 27, 1823–April 22, 1892), Symphonie Espagnole, (1874)
The Symphonie Espagnole was written in 1874 for famed violinist Pablo de Sarasate who premiered it in Paris in 1875. Although called a symphony, the work is in fact a concerto in five movements:
Allegro non troppo; Scherzando: Allegro molto; Intermezzo: Allegro non troppo; Andante; Rondo: Allegro
It is based on Spanish tunes and corresponds to a French vogue for Spanish music,
which dates back centuries, reaching its height during the 19th and 20th centuries. The
piece is considered to be one of the leading concertos of the violin repertoire and as a work composed for one of the best violinists of the 19th century, it exposes all facets and
idiosyncrasies of violin technique. As such it is designed to show-off the technique and
musicality of the soloist. In particular, it explores the high and low registers of the violin in
rapid shifts--a signature of Sarasate. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful piece from the extreme
difficulty of its fast sections to the absolute lyrical beauty of its slow fourth movement.
Lalo chose the term “symphony” because as he stated, “It conveyed my thought--a violin
soaring above the rigid form of an old symphony.” 
The Symphonie Espagnole was presented to Tchaikovsky by his student Josif Kotek, who subsequently liked the piece so much that he immediately abandoned the piano piece he was working on to start composing his infamous violin concerto.
Lalo is an interesting composer in the French music literature. Although a fairly prolific composer, his works did not gain recognition until he was in his early fifties, and only from the success of both the Symphonie Espagnole and his Violin Concerto composed in 1874 (both pieces being premiered by Sarasate). He studied first at the Lille Conservatory before moving to Paris to attend the Paris Conservatory. Discouraged for a long time by the lack of success of his compositions, he switched to an almost full time career as a violist, playing in the Armingaud Jacquard Quartet, a famous quartet at the time. Finally, his marriage to a famous contralto in 1868 helped his career enormously due to the fact that his wife performed many of his works to great success. In addition to his works for violin, Lalo also composed major works for cello, voice, orchestra (symphonies) and opera, especially his major opera Le Roi D’Ys.
The two movements performed today (1 and 5) both differ in character. The first is in a traditional sonata form with strongly contrasting first and second themes, while the second is a typical saltarello dance written in a form of a rondo (repeated refrain, verse, refrain).
About the soloist, Yuki Beppu
Leopold Mozart, (14 November 1719 – 28 May 1787) Toy Symphony also known as Cassation in G Major for toys, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo (ca 1750- 1760)
The Toy Symphony is an orchestral piece in three movements composed as a suite
of divertimenti (cassations). Those long compositions were extremely popular during
the middle of the 18th century in the region of Berchtergaden, the city famous for its
manufacture of toy instruments.
Originally attributed to Joseph Haydn, scholars now believe that Leopold Mozart may have been the composer of the work. Haydn was first mentioned in early editions of this seven-minute piece but most likely it was the publishers who created a story around it. The story is that Haydn composed the symphony after purchasing some toy instruments and then entertained children with it during a Christmas party. However, if the piece had been Haydn’s it would have been included in his self-compiled complete catalog, published before its death. Indeed, there is no mention of the work anywhere in the catalog. Subsequently, a manuscript version of the work was discovered in a manuscript folio copied by Leopold Mozart in 1759, which quickly changed musicologists’ thinking about the true composer of the work. This was further reinforced by the fact that the work bore striking resemblance with other works published by Leopold Mozart. However, since it was common practice during this time to make copies and publish other composers’ works, this is not considered irrefutable evidence.
Further recent research into the mystery has led scholars to believe that more than one composer may have had a hand in its composition, and/or perhaps it is a compilation of other pieces. Given the fact that the work has been recopied and published so many times, maybe under many different titles, it can be safely assumed the name of the real composer will never be definitively known. Others still disagree with this as a very recent discovery in Tyrol unearthed the name of Benedictine monk and composer Edmund Angerer, with absolute proof of its authenticity. The name of the publisher is also known and was indeed responsible for putting the name of Haydn under the work in order to attract more publicity around it and therefore more notoriety, which in turn would bring more sales.
Not that it all really matters--the piece isn’t considered a masterpiece. It is however a fun piece, calling for toy instruments: a toy trumpet, a ratchet, a nightingale, a cuckoo and toy drums. Traditionally it is performed at Christmastime as the toy instruments lend a festive quality to the piece.
Frederic Chopin, (22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) Concerto for Piano No. 1 in E minor Op. 11 (1830)
This concerto is one of two concertos for piano written by Chopin between 1829 and
1830. Although known as the 1st piano concerto, it was actually composed after the 2nd
concerto. In fact, the 2nd concerto was performed prior to the 1st concerto in Warsaw,
with Chopin as soloist, given as farewell performances for Chopin as he was about to
leave Warsaw for Vienna. He was never again to return to his native Poland. In fact a few
weeks after his departure, Poland staged an uprising against the Russian domination of
the country. 
No one really knows why the concertos were reversed in their numbering. The most probable explanation comes from the fact that Chopin’s chosen Parisian publisher decided to publish his Op.11 first although it was composed after the previous one. It was felt that the second concerto (op. 21) was more complicated and demanding for average pianists likely to play the pieces and thus should be published later.
The concerto is in three movements: 1.Allegro maestoso 2. Romance : Larghetto 3. Rondeau : Vivace The first movement is comprised of three themes, all introduced by the orchestra. It is in a slightly modify sonata form, tripartite with Exposition, Development and recapitulation. The entire movement is Polish in spirit and in character. Referring to the second movement, Chopin himself describes it as being of a romantic, calm and partly melancholy character. The third movement is a traditional rondo, using what are most likely Polish dance motives. The character of this movement contrasts with that of the two other movements in its exuberant forthright quality. This concerto is more like a work for piano solo with a light orchestra accompaniment than a typical concerto with solo and tutti exchanges between piano and orchestra. It is nonetheless an extremely difficult concerto, not only for the pianist but also for the conductor and the orchestra as the style of the work is very similar to that of an operatic recitative and requires great skill from the conductor. Many conductors today are reluctant to program the work due to its lackluster orchestral writing and its high level of difficulty. It is also an unusually long concerto (close to 40 minutes) and therefore more complicated to insert into traditional symphonic programming.