Urbański Conducts Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony

At A Glance

BACEWICZ
Overture  1943 | 6 mins
One of the leading lights of twentieth-century Polish music, Grażyna Bacewicz composed her Overture during the dark days of World War II while living at a displaced-persons’ camp in Lublin, Poland. She composed through it all, turning out some of her most important works, including this vigorously optimistic overture, which stands in defiance to its time. Although Bacewicz disliked the term neoclassical, it nevertheless remains a helpful descriptor of her works of this period, which lend themselves to the elegant approach of Honegger, Martinů, or Milhaud. LISTEN FOR: Astute listeners may notice how Bacewicz works the da-da-da-daaa rhythm of Beethoven’s Fifth into the fast sections of the score. The famous rhythm was pressed into wartime service because, by happenstance, it corresponded to the rhythm for the letter “V” in Morse code—as in “V for Victory.” Read More

ELGAR
Violin Concerto  1910 | 45 mins
The most famous Elgarian conundrum involves the musical portraits that make up his Enigma Variations—although, in truth, those identities were worked out to a near certainty long ago. (Then again, Elgar suggested that the enigma might refer to something deeper, so who knows?) But we still have the matter of the secretive Spanish title-page inscription of his Violin Concerto: “Aquí está encerrada el alma de. . . . ” (Here is enclosed the soul of. . . . ). Various of Elgar’s friends have been proposed as the possessor of that soul, but Elgar’s intent remains a mystery. Altogether, the Violin Concerto is full of private allu­sions and musical gestures but we must, in the end, also remember that what Elgar chose to give us was not an autobiography but a violin concerto. And what he has given us is a work by turns grand, brooding, and heroic. Read More

MENDELSSOHN
Symphony No. 4  1833  |  26 mins
The inspiration for this symphony was the composer’s Italian trip in 1830-31. The work embodies his impressions of the country’s art, landscape, and the vitality of its people. Indeed, the symphony is extroverted from the outset, with an opening movement that offers an abundance of energy. The second movement is a slightly mournful slow march, noble and restrained, while the third is an old-fashioned minuet-and-trio, with horns adding gentle punctuation from afar. Mendelssohn calls the last movement a Saltarello, a traditional dance that involved a good deal of hopping about. This breathless movement is the most unmistakably Italianate of the symphony, with music that dances itself into exhaustion until it suddenly rebounds with a punchy ending. Read More

Jeanette Yu is Editorial Director and Steven Ziegler is Managing Editor at the San Francisco Symphony.