MSO’s Music From Life & Literature

Upon seeing the Liffey Rivermeeting the sea, Anna Livia sings out “Far calls, coming, far!” This may notmake a lot of sense, but such is the odd language of James Joyce’s 1939 novel FinnegansWake. Four decades later, Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu (1930-96) foundinspiration in the scene for a piece for violin and orchestra he titled,naturally, Far Calls, Coming, Far! True to his milieu, Takemitsu hereembarks upon a musical depiction of naturein this case, a river alternatelyswelling, cascading, flowing and plunging, the violin exchanging leading roleswith the orchestra throughout, both finding a calm sea at journey’s end.

Literature also inspiredone of the most famous orchestral works of French composer Gabriel Fauré(1845-1924), in a roundabout sort of way. When the English actress Beatrice(Mrs. Patrick) Campbell sought some incidental music for a British version ofCount Maeterlinck’s play Pelléas et Mélisande, she first approachedClaude Debussy, composer of the famous opera of the same title. He refused,however. But Fauré readily accepted, and the result was so successful that,some years later, he revised and expanded his incidental music to aconcert-hall-ready orchestral suite. Fauré’s Pelléas et Mélisande Suite,Op. 80 consists of four parts. The first is a prelude announcing the tragicdimensions of the story; the following Andante and Sicilienne seem to exist onborrowed time, despite their grace and charm, while the finale carries us to thepathos of Mélisande’s deathbed.

Pathos is certainly alsoevident in the last symphony by Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-93).By the winter of 1891-92, Tchaikovsky had grown increasingly lonely anddepressed, afflicted by ailments both real and imagined. He had great troubleworking, but eventually inspiration appearedin the form of his own tormentedlife. He worked on his new work, Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, throughoutthe spring and summer, conducting its premiere in October 1893. The symphony’stitle, Pathétique (his brother Modest’s suggestion and one whichTchaikovsky emphatically approved) is assuredly appropriate, for pathos is thework’s overriding theme.

The Pathétiqueconsists of a large, brooding first movement, a graceful yet mournful Allegrocon grazia second, a strident and march-like third and a finale (Adagiolamentoso) that is one of the most sorrowful utterances in the symphonicliterature. Tchaikovsky never “came clean” as to what this symphony was really“about,” but given the state of his mental and physical health, few havequestioned its autobiographical nature. Indeed, it proved something of arelease for the composer. “I love it as I have never loved any of my musicaloffspring,” he satisfyingly wrote. Alas, it was a final bright spot in acloud-shrouded life. Two weeks later Tchaikovsky was dead of cholera.

MilwaukeeSymphony OrchestraMusic Director Edo de Waart conducts these three works, accompanied byviolinist Masafumi Hori for the Takemitsu and Fauré pieces, at Uihlein Hall onApril 24 & 25.