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Dresden Philharmonie Program Notes Overture to Der Freischütz (1821) CARL MARIA VON WEBER Born November 18, 1786 in Eutin (Northern Germany). Died June 5, 1826 in London. Carl Maria von Weber was one of the pivotal composers in the development of German Opera. Born into a theater family, he worked throughout his life to elevate German-language opera to the lofty Status reserved for the Italian tradition. His three most noted operas—Der Freischütz, Eu- ryanthe and Oberon—date from the final decade of his life, which he spent as a Kappeimeister in Dresden. Though the full works have faded from the repertory, Weber’s overtures remain perennial favorites. It is clear where, for example, young Mendelssohn found Inspiration for the overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream written the same year as Weber’s death. Weber’s Freischütz Overture sets the stage for a tale based on a German legend involving a marksman and magic bullets. The music begins with a slow introduction of halting two-measure phrases, followed by an exquisite C Major melody in the homs, the signature sound to evoke hunt- ing and the forest. A cello melody and ominous offbeats in the timpani lead the transition into the Molto vivace body of the overture in a stormy C minor. Near the end, Weber milks the drama of a drawn-out half cadence (i.e. culminating on the dominant chord, in this case G, instead of the tonic C) before unleashing a final surprise. -2008 Aaron Crad Concerto in B minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 104 ANTON1N DVORÄK Born September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, near Kralupy. Died May 1, 1904 in Prague. At the invitation in June 1891 of Jeanette Furber, the founder of the National Conservatory in New York, Antonin Dvorak took leave of his Position at the Prague Conservatory and came to New York City the following year in order to serve as the Director of the National Conservatory. Dvorak was enticed to leave his homeland with the offer of a salary nearly 25 times that which he was being paid at the Prague Conservatory as well as a yearly four-month vacation and the opportu- nity to conduct the conservatory orchestra for 10 concerts each year. The composer was to hold this position for the next three years. Düring this time, Dvorak composed some of his most suc- cessful works, notably the “New World” Sym- phony, Op. 95 and the String Quartet in F major, Op. 96 (both written in 1893) and the Concerto in B minor for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 104. While the debate still rages on today in some cir- cles as to the degree to and prominence of which American influences are stamped upon these works, the Cello Concerto was the last work which he composed in America and Dvorak, growing ever more restive and increasingly more homesick, imbued this work with an unmistak- able Czech Davor. Thirty years prior to the completion of the B minor Cello Concerto, the 24-year-old Dvorak at- tempted to write a Cello Concerto in A major. At this time, while he was supporting himself pri- marily through teaching, Dvorak became enam- ored with one of his students, Josefina Cermäk, the 16-year-old daughter of a wealthy jeweler; however, the young woman did not feel the same way toward the budding composer. In order to win her heart, Dvorak tumed his attention away from orchestrating the A major Concerto and in stead composed a song cycle entitled “Cypresses” for her; nonetheless, Josefina remained unim- pressed by his attempt to woo her through his music and Dvorak ultimately dedicated the cycle to someone eise. The composer subsequently feil in love with Josefina’s younger sister Anna, and the two were eventually married. Ultimately, the A major Concerto remained incomplete and aban- doned. One factor in the creation of the B minor Con certo was a request for a piece from Dvofäk’s friend, Hans Wihan, a member of the Bohemian String Quartet, and considered the finest Czech Cellist of the time. Another factor was the corn- poser’s appreciation for the Cello Concerto No. 2 by Victor Herbert which Dvorak had heard per- formed by the New York Philharmonie in Brook lyn in 1894, with Herbert himself as the soloist. Dvorak began work on the B minor Concerto on November 8, 1894, orchestrating it as it went along, completing the first movement in just over a month. The Adagio movement was finished in three days, while the Finale, begun after a two- week respite, was finished on February 9, 1895.