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Lincoln Center heard as a voluptuous horn solo, is as lyrical as the opening idea is grave, and its melodic outline recalls the famous English horn melody in Dvoräk's "New World" Sym- phony. The entrance of the solo Instrument is marked quasi improvisando, but any hint of bravura individualism is quickly subordi- nated to a more coherent and satisfying musical discourse. Indeed, the fine Integra tion of solo and orchestral music is one of the outstanding features of this work, whose general deportment seems almost Symphonie in character. The ensuing slow movement opens with a tender theme traded between the clarinet and solo cello, but the peaceful atmosphere is disturbed as the Orchestra Interrupts loudly in the minor mode. Here Dvofäk quotes one of his own songs whose title translates to English as "Leave Me Alone." It had been a favorite of the composer's sister- in-law, Josepha Kaunitz, who died while he was working on the Concerto, and its inclu- sion was intended as a tribute to her. The Finale, which is built around a march- like melody, adheres closely to classical rondo form in its use of a recurring principal theme that alternates with contrasting episodes. Finally, Dvo'räk adds a coda sec- tion in which he recalls material from the previous movements. We hear the opening measures of the Concerto in the clarinets, as well as a variant of the song from the second movement. The work then swells to its conclusion. Johannes Brahms, Dvofäk’s longtime admirer, was among the first to recognize the excellence of this composition. "Why on earth didn't I know one could write a cello concerto like this?," he reportedly exclaimed when he read through the score. "If I had, I would have composed one long ago." Perhaps. But the example of Dvoräk's masterpiece has enabled few, if any, more recent Composers to equal it. and it remains, by most accounts, the finest cello concerto in the repertory. Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1807-08) LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Born December 16, 1770, in Bonn, Germany Died March 26, 1827, in Vienna Approximate length: 31 minutes No orchestral composition has gripped the populär imagination quite like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Through countless perfor- mances, recordings, and even parodies, the famous four-note motif that opens this work has become familiär to millions of people, including many who have little other knowledge of Symphonie music. Moreover, the piece has acquired a heavy gloss of extra-musical interpretation. It has been proposed as a mirror of one of Beethoven’s romantic relationships, as an allegory of Olympian strife, and more. Such descriptions generally say more about the imaginations of commentators than about the work itself. Still, this Symphony, as much as any in the literature, demands to be heard as more than "pure music," and not only because of the composer's tantalizing description of its initial figure as "täte knocking at the door." Beethoven has come to represent for us the Romantic ideal of the artist-hero, that solitary and suffering individual who transcends trying circum- stances by dint of genius and struggle. And it is the Fifth Symphony, with its strife-torn first movement and triumphant finale, that gives this view its most vivid musical expression. As such, it is important not only as a key to understanding the composer but as an embodiment of one of our culture's ideals of what art can be and mean. Of course, the concept of individual hero- ism was not just an abstraction for Beethoven. The composer came of age
