llniversity (ll Wisconsi 11 - Eau Claire Departlnent 0/ J\tiusic IlIld Theatre Arts

presents the

Sunday, April 20, 2008

2:00 p.m. Gantner Concert Hall Haas Fine Arts Center

Program

Symphony No.8 in C minor ........................... Anton Bruckner

I. Allegro moderato II. Scherzo: Allegro moderato ­ Trio: Langsam

III. Adagio: Feierlich langsam; doch nicht schleppend IV. Finale: Feierlich, nicht schnell

Anton Bruckner began work on the Eigh th Symphony in July 1884. Working mainly during the summer vacation from his duties at the University ofVienna and the Vienna Conservatory, the composer had all four movemen ts completed in draft form by August 1885. Th e orchestration of the work took Bruckner until April 1887 to complete. In September 1887 Bruckner had the score copied and sent to conductor Hermann Levi. Levi was one of Bruckner's closest collaborators, having given a performance of th e Seventh Symphony in Munich that was "the greatest triumph Bruckner had yet experienced." However, the conductor wrote back to Bruckner:

"} find it impossible to perform the Eighth in its cur rent form. l just can't make it my own! As much as the themes are magnificent and direct, their working-out seems to me dubious; indeed, I consider the orchestration quite impossible ... Don't lose your courage, take another look at your work, talk it over with your friends, with Sch alk, maybe a reworking can achieve something."

Bruckner com pleted the revision in 1890, however the first performance did not take place until it was p remiered under conductor Hans Richter with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on December 18, 1892. Although some of the more conservative mem bers of the audience left at the end of each movement, many of Bruckner's supporters were also present, including Hugo Wolf and J ohann Strauss.

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This is the grandest of all Bruckner's symphonies. Only the Fifth is as long, and not even the Fifth offers so tremendous an experience in the transcription of power as a musical conception. A work tIlls big makes one ask, what is a symphony? Why this shape, this size? How does it use space, tUne, color?

In shape, the Eighth poses only one innovation in Bruckner's usual practice-the rrtiddle slow and scherzo movements are in reverse order. We have the two strongest movements on the outside, the most lively (scherzo) and most lyrical (slow movement) in between. Generally, in Bruckner, the two outer movements are the biggest ones, framing the middle movements with gigantic force. But here the slow movement is the longest of the four, and the one that for many makes the deepest impression.

How does the work use its space, what of its substance? We speak of power, liveliness, lyricism, yes-but to what end? The first movement, for example, agonizes in its several climaxes-but note how it finally dwindles away, its main theme breaking down into a fragment as the texture peters out. Immediately, the scherzo (second movement) replenishes the vital heart of the work with typical Brucknerian gusto, pounding out its rhythm-but then the trio (middle section) complicates matters with mingled tenderness and brashness. Then the first section of the scherzo repeats, as always. How fa r have we come? From tragic density to a fleet mixture ofjoy and sorrow. But now the slow (third) movement deepens the tragedy even as it consoles-and this, too, peters out at its close. It is up to the fi nale (fourth movement) to make some account of the whole, referring to both the tragedy and vitality that we have heard and building them into a new, fourth movement energy for triumph. The sense of time in the work, the interaction of movements, has led us progressively into emotional recesses.

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Dynamic tragedy I movement

Vitality-tenderness scherzo

Static tragedy adagio

Dynamic victory finale

The colors in the work, the identities of the movements, are less separated than integrated: this is the Romantic in Bruckner, seeking unity in the hugest structures. Certain moments stand out- the crushing coda of the first movement, as the all-important first subject falls away to nothing; the rhythmic insistence of the scherzo; the ethereal string chords and harp accompaniment heard at the start of the slow movement; and the cymbal crashes at the movement's climax. But how, then to "receive" all this, to project its conclusion, in the finale? Bruckner does this by transforming the crestfallen first subject of the first movement into a confident first subject in the finale, a fanfare for growth and glory. Most momentously, he finishes off the movement- and the entire work- by playing the fi rst subjects of all fo ur movements simultaneously in a radiant epilogue, the C minor of the opening now blazing in C major and the four themes like a quartet of fanfares. (Ethan Mordden)

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University Symphony Orchestra Personnel Spring 2008

Violin I Bass I!!ha Mary Heimerman** Mike Steen* Douglas Gile* Kim Drewiske J osh Kimball J esse Traner J osh Mittendolf E)J~hQni)Jm Mike M uelling Kyle Bonnell Michael Vallez* Laura Hutchens Aaron Winter Eric Whaylen J essi McIntosh Andy Detra Richard Slembarski Liz Krickhahn Andrea Miller Brandon Holt Flute J ordyn Kreitzer An~la Roehl* Timpani Sasha Payne Nic olas Handahl Ben Lester*

Lexi Zunker Violin II PercyssiQn Bethany Webster* Oboe & English horn David Power Emily Schneider Ashley Sin~er* Zach Hines Naomi Hasan BecBT CZll in Andrew Riching Emily M ue11er lliuu Craig Heckner Betliany Van GOOT Damelle Smith Clarinet Kristen Roberts Lindsay Anderson J ennifer Tinberg* Ho11yWoodward Jim Skaleski ** Concertmaster Ashley Eisenberg J acob Boyle * Principal

" Co-Prmcipal YiQla.. BassoQn Martha Seroogy* Claire Tiller* Christiane Stagg Arica Hoppe Sarah Griesman Peter Chang Horn Liz Siebers Charles Willcutt* Callie Keaton Emily Petersen Steven Ethington Paul Saganskj

Rachel Meyer CgfiQ Haylex Nelson* Trumpet Amanda Spindler Stuart Wa1lace* Katie Douglass Carl Schroeder Nathan Brunette Loren Endolf J ames Wesson Kari Bloomquist Amanda Blake Leah Sparks Trombone Brandon Ruef Kyle Siegrist* Andt Piehl Matt Came Cait in Shuda J ustin Verhasselt Miranda Riemer

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Bea part of the magic.

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