JULY 22, 2014 @ 7:30 PM

The Knights

 György Ligeti (1923-2006), Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances

I. Andante
II. Allegro
III. Trio
IV. Pochissimo meno mosso
V. Andantino maestoso
VI. Trio
VII. Allegro moderato

Bela Bartók (1881-1945), Divertimento for String Orchestra Sz.113 BB.118

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Molto adagio
III. Allegro assai

INTERMISSION

Sufjan Stevens (1975), (arr. Atkinson): Suite from “Run Rabbit Run” (US Premiere)

I. Year of the Ox
II. Enjoy Your Rabbit
III. Year of Our Lord
IV. Year of the Boar

Ljova (1978- ), Ori’s Fearful Symmetry

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Concerto in E-flat, “Dumbarton Oaks”

I. Tempo Giusto
II. Allegretto
III. Con moto

WQXR HOST: Annie Bergen

Musical Notes

Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances Ligeti, one of the leading composers of the twentieth century, wrote music in a highly censored time, succumbing to the ban of all modern music from Hungary in 1948. While he composed freely from 1945 to 1947, the composer, in his own words,” hid behind folk music and cultural heritage.” While a student at the Budapest Academy of Music in 1949, Ligeti was commissioned by the state radio to write a suite on Hungarian dance music from the early 1800s. “The Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances,” said Ligeti, “is a selection of dance tunes by János Lavotta, János Bihari, Antal Csermák and Márk Rózsavölgyi that I orchestrated for flute, clarinet and strings. This work was played frequently and helped to establish my reputation. I became famous for writing a piece that was not my own composition.”

Divertimento A “divertimento” is a piece of music whose purpose is to distract and to entertain, popular in the Classical period and made famous through works by Mozart, Haydn, and Boccherini. Bartók’s Divertimento is neo-classical in nature in its treatment of modal tonalities and texture. The Allegro non troppo features a waltz and a gypsy melody, and often references the Baroque. The molto adagio is dark and haunting, almost atonal. The piece closes with a dance-like finale, its violin solo intoning the gypsy themes of the first movement. The work is the last Bartók composed before fleeing Hungary for the United States at the brink of World War II.

Run Rabbit Run A series of arrangements of Sufjan Stevens’ electronic album Enjoy Your Rabbit by The Knights’ own Michael P. Atkinson, the Suite from Run Rabbit Run evokes the musical personalities of animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The piece was premiered by The Knights in Germany in May 2014, and other incarnations of the piece have received critical acclaim, notably the 2012 production by the New York City Ballet, choreographed by Justin Peck.

Ori’s Fearful Symmetry Says composer Ljova, “Ori’s Fearful Symmetry was originally intended to be a sort of an unofficial anthem for Israeli youth. I sketched it while hiking in the canyons of Ithaca, New York, where director Zohar Lavi was shooting the short film Chronicle of a Jump, starring our friend Ori. I was hoping this music would become the theme, an inspiring courageous dance in an unusual grouping of 9/8 (3+2+2+2). Alas, it was decided that the film worked better in silence, and the music found an audience of its own.”

Dumbarton Oaks Premiered in 1938 under the baton of Nadia Boulanger, the “Dumbarton Oaks” Concerto was commissioned by US Ambassador Robert Woods Bliss for his 30th wedding anniversary. The piece celebrates the Bliss’ early 19th-century mansion outside of Washington, D.C., Dumbarton Oaks, which is full of pre-Columbian sculpture. Played without pause, the concerto opens with a fast, carefree nature, transitions to a slower, tranquil progression of chords, and closes with a fiery march. The last work Stravinsky completed in Europe before settling in the United States, the piece is a favorite of the composer’s neoclassical period.