You get to the symphony hall early because it’s your first time attending a concert and you have no idea what to expect. You and your date make your way through the grand lobby with its vaulted ceilings, get your ticket scanned by a friendly usher, and walk through a field of velvety, mostly empty chairs to your assigned seats. You sit down and take in the empty stage. Time passes without a word. The intensity of the awkward, expectant silence leads you to become intensely fascinated with the crown molding around the chandeliers. You frantically scan the deepest recesses of your mind in search of something to say, something to do, that will make it look like you’re not…well, sitting there doing nothing.
What on earth are you supposed to do for the next 25 minutes before the concert starts? How about read the program notes and then say something smart to say about the music!
What on earth are you supposed to do for the next 25 minutes before the concert starts?
The usher will have handed you a program stuffed with interesting, educational and enlightening information. In between the adverts for jewelry stores and 55+ housing communities, you’ll find an outline for the concert that night, bios for the conductor and soloists and, my favorite: descriptions about each piece. These mini essays give some back story on the composer as well as explain why the music is significant, what it means and what you can listen for. Being a first-timer at the symphony can be a little disorienting, so I’ll let you in on a secret: a key to enjoying classical music is understanding it. That’s what program notes are designed to do. Even if you attend every concert and think you already know everything, have a read and you’ll likely be surprised!
…a key to enjoying classical music is understanding it.
I write the program notes for the Charleston Symphony and thought I would share a sample with you. Because the physical programs have to be printed months in advance, I’ve spent the last few weeks busily writing about concerts in January. The sample below is from our first Masterworks concert in the fall. I’ve also included a YouTube link below so you can listen to the piece when you’re done.
“Overture” from L’Amant Anonyme (The Anonymous Lover)
Joseph Bologne, The Chevalier de Saint-Georges:
Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges was the model renaissance man with a regal name to match it. A master fencer, dancer, and rider; a military legion commander over 1000 men; an accomplished violinist, harpsichordist and conductor. Apparently one musical fan was the cake lady herself, Marie Antoinette, who occasionally performed (singing) with Joseph on violin.
Why do we not hear more of this intriguing, charismatic and refined Chevalier? Joseph was the illegitimate son of a wealthy French plantation owner and an enslaved woman. Despite his many accomplishments he was barred from achieving nobility and its titles under the law. Three of the Paris Opera’s leading singers also sent official complaints to the queen about working under a man of color, all but halting Joseph’s career aspirations. L’amant Anonyme is speculated to be somewhat autobiographical--a man afraid to reveal his true identity to a woman he loves is an apt metaphor for Joseph’s caged potential.
For a brief period in 1778 the 22-year-old Mozart lived in the same building in Paris as Saint-Goerges; certainly they knew of each other and perhaps heard each other’s music. It was the year before this that Mozart had written his Oboe concerto in C Major which we will also be playing on this concert.