SATURDAY, JUNE 26 AT 7 P.M. (PT)
PART OF LACO SUMMERFEST
LIVE AT THE MUSIC CENTER'S WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
GINASTERA Variaciones concertantes
Juan Pablo CONTRERAS Mariachitlán
MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A major, “Italian”
During the last long year or so in our homes, many of us could only dream of travel to distant places. As we all take our first tentative steps back out into the world, let us celebrate live music with a program that brings the sounds of world to us. Tonight’s selections each pay homage to a physical location, in two pieces, the birthplace of the composer, and in the third, an inspirational destination. Music Director Jaime Martín will lead the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in works by Alberto Ginastera, Juan Pablo Contreras, and Felix Mendelssohn in this joyous return to live music-making.
Alberto Ginastera was an Argentine of Spanish and Italian descent. Studying both in Buenos Aires and in the United States, his musical influences were varied, including the native tangos of Argentina and the quintessentially American style he encountered while studying with Aaron Copland in the 1940s. His output – like that of many composers – is interpreted as encompassing three chronological and stylistic categories. The “Objective Nationalism” period (the 1930s through 1948), is characterized by an uncomplicated use of Argentine folk elements. The next period, called “Subjective Nationalism,” lasted from 1948 to 1958. In this period and the last, “Neo-expressionism” (1958-1983), Ginastera began to integrate folk elements in a more obscure fashion. Rather than quote or arrange authentic folk materials, he strove instead to create a musical atmosphere indicative of his homeland.
Ginastera composed the Variaciones concertantes in 1953, during his middle period. It was a tumultuous time for Ginastera, as difficulties with Perón’s rule led to the composer’s resignation as the head of the Music Conservatory of the National University of La Plata. Regardless of the troubles he was having with the government, Ginastera’s appreciation for the music of his homeland never waned, and these folk traditions continued to inspire his work. In Variaciones concertantes, one of the most striking musical effects is the harmony of the open-string guitar, here played by the harp. It is this opening gambit that forms the basic thematic material for the work. Eleven variations follow the initial statement, and in each variation, one instrument is singled out. For each, Ginastera based the musical material of the variation on the idiomatic qualities of that instrument. There are embellishments that appear throughout, including motor-like tapping notes and jazz-inspired flourishes. The last variation, an appropriation of the malambo, a gaucho dance, is colorful and energetic, a suitable end to our tour through Ginastera’s Argentina.
LACO’s 2019-20 Sound Investment Composer, Juan Pablo Contreras, is a Los Angeles-based composer known for combining Western classical and Mexican folk music in a single soundscape. He wrote the original version of Mariachitlán for symphony orchestra in 2016. It is a dynamic and award-winning work, which was nominated for a Latin Grammy. The new version premiering this evening is a commission from LACO, an arrangement of Mariachitlán for chamber orchestra. As the composer explains, “Mariachitlán (Mariachiland) is an orchestral homage to my birthplace, the Mexican state of Jalisco, where mariachi music originated.” In particular, the work reflects the experience of hearing multiple mariachi bands vie for listeners’ attention in the Plaza de los Mariachis in Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco. To create a sense of this sonic experience, Contreras weaves into the piece several strands: the traditional rhythm of canción ranchera (ranchera song), the vals romántico—a romantic waltz in triple time, and the son jalisciense, a traditional song from Jalisco that alternates between a swinging compound meter and a simple triple meter. To further evoke the Mariachi sound, we will hear soloists on the trumpet, harp, and violin. Contreras also translates the strumming vihuelas into the string section and the lower-sounding guitarrones to the contrabasses. A whistle near the end represents the police calling for order, only to be shouted down by the rowdy crowd. Mariachitlán ends with brilliant flourishes, celebrating the vibrancy of mariachi music in Jalisco.
Mendelssohn’s ebullient joy at seeing Italy is obvious in the opening theme of the composer’s Fourth Symphony, known as the “Italian.” The work premiered in 1833 under Mendelssohn’s baton, although he refused to publish the work at that time because he felt it needed revisions. While he did make some changes to the work, it was the original version of the symphony that was ultimately published four years after Mendelssohn’s death at thirty-eight. Stylistically influenced by Mozart and Beethoven, Mendelssohn often favored convention over innovation. Although the “Italian” follows the four-movement structure of the traditional Classical symphony, there are some uniquely Romantic touches in the work. The key scheme for the entire work, for example, begins in A major and ends in A minor—an unusual and unique touch.
The first movement is relentlessly lively and joyful. In a letter to his sister and fellow composer, Fanny, he even described this work as the “jolliest” piece he had ever composed. He wrote the slow movement in Naples, taking inspiration from a religious procession he witnessed. The walking bassline suggests the steps of those in the parade, while the minor mode evokes the solemnity of the occasion. The third movement draws upon the minuet and trio traditional in Classical symphonies but takes on a more Romantic flavor when Mendelssohn brings out the brass in the contrasting second part. (Use of the brass section, and indeed the section itself, had grown quite a bit in the Romantic period.) The second part of the movement calls to mind the composer’s work in more dramatic genres, like the incidental music he composed for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (written a few years before the “Italian”). The final movement captures the flavor of Italy with the incorporation of two traditional Italian dances, the Saltarello and the Neapolitan Tarantella. The minor mode and the highly rhythmic nature of the themes suggest agitation, but Mendelssohn might well have described the music as animated and fiery, a tribute to the spirited and impassioned culture and people he encountered on his Italian journey.
--Christine Lee Gengaro, Ph.D.
