For the convenience of concertgoers 

the Garden Cafe remains open until 6:oo pm.

The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Please note that late entry or reentry of

the West Building after 6:30 pm is not permitted.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

Mailing address

2000B South Club Drive

Landover, md 20785

ivvew.nga.gov

cover: Edouard Manet, The Tragic Actor (Rouviere as Hamlet), 1866,

National Gallery ofArt, Washington, Gift of Edith Stuyvesant Gerry

The Sixty-fifth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

Concerts in honor ofthe

Shakespeare in Washington Festival

January 14, 21, and 28, 2007

Sunday Evenings, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

Admissionfixe
Introduction

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a contemporary ofthe great English

Renaissance composers John Bull (c. 1563-1628), William Byrd (c. 1542-

1623), John Dowland (1563-1626), Robert Johnson (c. 1583-c. 1635),

Thomas Morley (c. 1557-1602), and Thomas Weelkes (c. 1576-1623).

Shakespeare referred to one ofthem by name in verse eight of The Passionate Pilgrim:

Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch

Upon the lute doth ravish human sense.

The first and second concerts ofthe three-concert set that the National Gallery of Art has organized as part ofthe citywide Shakespeare in Washington

festival feature music by some ofthese composers. One of Morley’s songs

is included in the program selected by Ellen Hargis and Paul O’Dette, and

five by the same composer are found among the Baltimore Consort’s selections. The latter ensemble has chosen pieces that focus on Shakespeare’s

fondness for dance, including Robert Dowland’s Earl ofEssex, His Galliard

and Morley’s La Volta —La Coranto. In act 1 of Twelfth Night we read:

Why dost thou go to church in a galliard and come home in a coranto?

My very walk should be a jig.

Shakespeare’s plays and poems inspired many composers in later generations to write operas and songs, among them Henry Purcell (1659-1695),

Antonio Salieri (1750-1825), Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868), Hector Berlioz

(1803-1869), Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Charles Gounod (1818-1893),

Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), and Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953). In

more recent times, Cole Porter (1891-1964) brought Shakespeare to Broadway

in the guise of Kiss Me, Kate, an adaptation of The Taming ofthe Shrew; William

Walton (1902-1983) wrote works inspired by Henry v, Richard ill, and Hamlet;

and Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) collaborated with Stephen Sondheim

(b. 1930) to create West Side Stoiy, a musical loosely based on Romeo and Juliet.

3
The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra introduces the audience to three

Shakespeare-inspired works. The first is A Midsummer Night's Dream, by

Britain’s own Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), who one might assume would be 

partial to Shakespeare. The second is Erich Wolfgang Komgold’s (1897-1957)

musical score for the same play, performed in a 1935 motion picture. The 

third is a work by the punk-rock and new-wave pioneer Elvis Costello (b. 1954),

who, as it turns out, is also British and no stranger to the great bard.

As the Shakespeare in Washington festival begins, it is appropriate to

remember a quote from another composer inspired by Shakespeare—Washington, DC, native Dulce Ellington. In oral commentary on Such Sweet Thunder,

a suite he composed in 1957, he said: “Somehow, I suspect that if Shakespeare

were alive, he might be a jazz fan himself.” The title ofthe suite is a reference

to a line in act 4, scene 1, ofA Midsummer Night's Dream: “I never heard so

musical a discord, such sweet thunder.” The movements are musical sketches 

of Shakespearean characters Othello, Henry v, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet,

Julius Caesar, and Lady Macbeth. Ofthe last character, Ellington said: “Though

she was a lady ofnoble birth, we suspect there was a little ragtime in her soul.”

Introduction by Sorab Modi

4

2,599th Concert

January 14, 2007

Ellen Hargis, soprano

Paul O’Dette, lute and cittern

Program performed without intermission

“Shakespeare’s Songbook”

Anonymous

Kemp's Jig

From Romeo and Juliet

John Dowland (1563-1626)

Walsingham

Richard Edwards (1525-1566)

When Griping Grief

Anonymous

Complain, My Lute

Anonymous

Greensleeves

From Twelfth Night

Robert Jones (fl. 1597-1615) 

Farewell, Dear Love

Thomas Morley (c. 1557-1602)

O Mistress Mine
Solos for the cittern

Anonymous

Callino Custure Me

Stingo, or the Oyle ofBarly

Greensleeves

Grimstock

From The Tempest

Anonymous

Come unto These Yellow Sands

Robert Johnson (c. 1583-c. 1635)

Full Fathom Five

John Wilson (1595-1674) and Robert Johnson

Where the Bee Sucks

Anonymous

King Lear and His Daughters

From A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Anonymous

O Death, Rock Me Asleep

Daniel Bachelar (c. 1574-c. 1610)

Monsieur’s Almaine

Anonymous

Daphne

Sellenger’s Round

Anonymous

My Lord Willoughby’s Welcome Home

6

The Musicians

More than twenty-five years’ worth offriendship and collaboration enables

Ellen Hargis and Paul O’Dette to bring an incomparable spirit of drama, a

vivid musical imagination, and an element ofsheer fun to their voice and

lute performances. Their communication with audiences is enhanced by

their mutual commitment to heretofore undiscovered early-music repertoire

and authentic performance practices. The duo has toured around the globe,

performing to rave reviews in Austria, Canada, England, France, Japan, Russia, and Spain, as well as throughout the United States. Hargis and O’Dette

have recorded dozens of collaborations with leading American and European

early-music ensembles and recorded twice together on the Noyse Productions

label. The duo’s performances ofJohn Dowland’s (1563-1626) Flow My Tears

and works by Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) are featured in the new edition ofthe

Norton Anthology ofWestern Music. They appear at the National Gallery by

arrangement with California Artists Management of Mill Valley, California.

Soprano Ellen Hargis is recognized as one ofthe world’s foremost interpreters ofseventeenth- and eighteenth-century music. Called “the baroque

music diva” by New Yorker magazine, she has collaborated with many leading 

ensembles, including The King's Noyse, the Mozartean Players, the Newberry

Consort, Piffaro, Theatre ofVoices, and Tragicomedia. A frequent performer

at the Boston Early Music Festival, she has sung leading roles in every baroque

opera production at the festival since 1987. Hargis’s discography includes

medieval to contemporary music and comprises more than forty recordings.

She teaches voice at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

7
Paul O’Dette was called “the clearest case of genius ever to touch his

instrument” by Toronto’s Globe and Mail. Best known for his virtuoso recitals and recordings ofsolo lute music, O’Dette maintains an active international career as an ensemble musician and is a member ofthe acclaimed

continuo ensemble Tragicomedia. He has directed baroque orchestras on

both sides ofthe Atlantic and conducted baroque operas at the Boston and

Utrecht Early Music Festivals, the Drottningholm Court Theatre, Festival

Vancouver, and Tanglewood. He can be heard on more than one hundred

CDs, and his solo recordings have won prizes and glowing reviews. O’Dette 

has served as director of early music at the Eastman School of Music since

1976 and is artistic director ofthe Boston Early Music Festival.

2,600th Concert

January 21, 2007

The Baltimore Consort

Mary Anne Ballard, treble and bass viols

Mark Cudek, cittern and bass viol

Jose Lemos, countertenor

Larry Lipkis, bass viol and recorder

Ronn McFarlane, lute

Mindy Rosenfeld, flutes and fifes

The audience is asked to applaud only at the end

ofeach numbered section.

“Musick’s Silver Sound: Heavenly Harmony and

Earthly Delight in Shakespeare’s England”

Part 1

Thomas Morley (c. 1557-1602)

Joyne Hands

From First Booke ofConsort Lessons (1599)

Anonymous

Nuttmigs and Ginger or Kemp’s Jig (Henry v)

From the Matthew Holmes Manuscripts (c. 1595-c. 1616)

Thomas Morley

O Mistress Mine

From First Booke ofConsort Lessons

John Johnson (c. 1540-1595)

Green Garters
Part ii

John Dowland (1563-1626)

Come Again, Sweet Love Doth Now Invite

From The First Booke ofSonges or Ayres (1597)

Richard Nicolson (1570-1639)

The Rich Jew (Merchant ofVenice)

John Wilson (1595-1674)

Take, O Take Those Lips Away (Measurefor Measure)

Robert Dowland (c. 1591-1641)

The Earl ofEssex, His Galliard

From A Varietie ofLute Lessons (1610)

Thomas Morley

Can She Excuse

From First Booke ofConsort Lessons

Part ill

Anonymous

Bonny Sweet Robin (Hamlet)

From the Matthew Holmes Manuscripts

Anonymous

The Courteous Carman and the Amorous Maid or The Carman’s Whistle

Jean d’Estree

The Buffens (Les Buffons)

From Tiers livre de danseries (The Third Book of Dance Music) (1559)

INTERMISSION

Part iv

Antony Fiolborne (c. 1545-1602)

Heart’s Ease (Romeo and Juliet)

From Pavans, Galliards, Almains (1599)

10

John Wilson and Robert Johnson (c. 1583-c. 1635)

Where the Bee Sucks (The Tempest)

Thomas Campion (1567-1620)

I Care Notfor These Ladies

From A Book ofAyres (1601)

Part v

John Johnson

Greensleeves (Merry Wives of Windsor)

John Dowland

Now, O Now, I Needs Must Part

From The First Booke ofSonges or Ayres

John Playford (1623-1686)

Light 0’ Love (Two Gentlemen ofVerona)

From A Booke ofNew Lessonsfor the Cithern e[ Gittem (1652)

Anonymous

Grimstock

From the Matthew Holmes Manuscripts

Part vi

Richard Edwards (1525-1566)

When Griping Grief(Romeo and Juliet)

Thomas Morley

La Volta—La Coranto (Henry v)

From First Booke ofConsort Lessons

Thomas Morley

It Was a Lover and His Lass (As You Like It)

From First Booke ofAyres (1600)
The Musicians

Founded in 1980 to perform the instrumental music of Shakespeare’s time,

the Baltimore Consort has explored early popular music, focusing on the relationship between folk and art song and dance. The ensemble’s interest in early

English and Scottish music has also led to research into the rich trove oftraditional music preserved in North America. Recordings on the Dorian label have 

earned the consort recognition as Billboard magazine’s top classical-crossover

artists ofthe year as well as rave reviews in other publications. The group often

performs on such syndicated radio broadcasts as Harmonia, Performance Today,

Saint Paul Sunday, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company series OnStage.

It has also enjoyed many teaching residencies at schools and universities, and

residencies at the Madison (Wisconsin) Early Music Festival. The Baltimore 

Consort appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with Joanne Rile

Artists Management, Inc., ofJenkintown, Pennsylvania.

Mary Anne Ballard researches many ofthe Baltimore Consort’s programs.

She directed early-music ensembles at the University of Pennsylvania and 

Princeton University, is on the faculty ofthe Oberlin Baroque Performance

Institute, and plays with the Oberlin Consort ofViols, Galileo’s Daughters, and

Brio. Currently a resident of Mishawaka, Indiana, Ballard recently appeared

with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.

Mark Cudek is the director of early music at the Peabody Conservatory

in Baltimore, Maryland. He plays many early instruments and appears with

Apollo’s Fire, the Catacoustic Consort, and Hesperus. In recognition of his

work at Johns Hopkins University and the Interlochen Arts Camp, Cudek

received the 2001 Thomas Binkley Award and the 2005 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Early Music Education from Early Music America.

12

Jose Lemos won the 2003 International Baroque Vocal Competition in

Chimay, Belgium. A native of Brazil and Uruguay, Lemos has appeared in

opera roles at Tanglewood and with Boston Baroque and the Zurich Opera.

During the next two seasons, he will sing roles at the Boston Early Music

Festival and the Gottingen (Germany) Handel Festival. He is also slated

to appear in an opera produced by Les Arts Florissants, under the direction

ofWilliam Christie.

Larry Lipkis is composer-in-residence and director of early music at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and a music director ofthe Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. He has written a trilogy ofconcertos: Scaramouche

for cello soloists and orchestra, which was recorded on the Koch label; Harlequin for bass trombone and orchestra, which the Los Angeles Philharmonic

premiered to rave reviews; and Pierrot for bassoon and orchestra, which was

performed by the Houston Symphony.

Lutenist Ronn McFarlane has released more than twenty-five CDs on the

Dorian label. Inspired by the lutenist-composers ofthe Renaissance, he has

also composed more than forty original lute solos. A recipient of an honorary

doctor ofmusic degree from Shenandoah University (1996), McFarlane

has taught lute at Indiana University, the Peabody Conservatory, and many

summer workshops.

Flutist Mindy Rosenfeld, a founding member ofthe Baltimore Consort,

is also a member of San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. She 

is a frequent guest with numerous early-music groups and principal flutist

in several symphony orchestras.
Program Notes

The Fairy Queen and her maides daunced about the garden, singing 

a Song ofsix parts, with the musick of an exquisite consort; wherein

was the lute, bandore, base-violl, citterne, treble viol and flute.

(Anonymous, The Honourable Entertainment at Elvetham, 1591).

The Baltimore Consort is, with respect to the specific instruments employed,

the exact equivalent ofthe “exquisite consort” that is described in this account

of Elizabeth Ts visit to the Earl of Hertford in September 1591. The extant

remains of a repertoire for such an ensemble are found in four sets ofpart

books (all incomplete) for lute, bandore, bass viol, cittern, treble viol (or violin),

and flute (or recorder), and one print that combines these instruments with

four-voice settings ofselected psalms. Known in modern times as a “mixed

consort” or “broken consort,” this grouping ofvarious soft-sounding instruments is capable ofmany moods. The instruments are described in various

documents ofthe time as the “sultry viols,” the “ethereal flute,” the “sprightly

and cheerful cittern,” the “deep bandora,” and the “noble lute.”

In the introduction to his edition ofThomas Morley’s First Booke of

Consort Lessons (C.F. Peters Corporation, New York, 1959), Sydney Beck

says that an Elizabethan broken consort, like the Shakespearean plays for

which it often provided accompaniment, “reflected the remarkable synthesis

of popular taste and humanist eloquence which gave vitality to the Shakespearean theatre [in appealing] to every level ofspectator, from the simplest

groundling who could hum along with his favorite ballad tune to the most

sophisticated gallant who could take delight in the rich harmony and

embroidery surrounding the melody.”

On another level, the instruments themselves could become the subject

of philosophical contemplation, since the silver strings ofApollo’s welltuned lyre represented a harmonious universe to the Elizabethans, who considered the lute and other stringed instruments contemporary equivalents.

Renaissance humanists even called their wire-strung instrument a “cittern,”

a derivation from the Greek kithara, to endow it with noble ancestry. An

14

Elizabethan consort, consisting mostly of a variety ofstringed instruments,

thus resonated not only in the air but in the imagination ofthe classically 

minded listener.

The title ofthis program, “Musick’s Silver Sound,” is derived from a

song by Richard Edwards (1525-1566) that is partially quoted in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, act 4, scene 5:

Where gripinge grefes the hart would wounde,

And dolefulle dumps the mynde oppresse,

There Musick with her silver sound

Is wont with spede to give redresse.

Oftroubled minde for every sore,

Swete Musick hath a salve therefore.

The verse reflects a worldview inherited from the Middle Ages that, all

causes and effects in the universe being interrelated, a dose ofwell-tuned

music could instill order and calm in the troubled human soul.

In the same scene, Peter (the servant ofJuliet’s nurse) requests a “merry

dump” ofthe musicians—who think it inappropriate given Juliet’s apparent

death—and then flings witticisms, insults (including a Hemingwayesque parsing ofthe phrase “musick’s silver sound”), and nicknames at them according

to the attributes oftheir instruments. The original elevated sentiments of

Edwards’ song are not maintained in the context of Shakespeare’s repartee,

which is worth quoting in full because it demonstrates the extent to which

musical allusion could permeate his language:

Peter: Musitions, oh Musitions, “Heart’s ease, heart’s ease.”

O, and you will have me live, play “Heart’s ease.”

Musition: Why “Heart’s ease?”

Peter: O Musitions, because my heart its selfe plaies, “my heart is

full ofwoe.” O! Play me some merry dump to comfort me.

Musition: Not a dump we, ‘tis no time to play now.

Peter: You will not then?

Musition: No.

Peter: I will then give it to you soundly.

Musition: What will you give us?
Peter: No money on my faith, but the gleeke.

I will give you the Minstrell.

Musition: Then will I give you the Serving Creature.

Peter: Then will I lay the Serving Creature’s dagger on your pate.

I will carie no Crochets, I’ll Re you, I’ll Fa you, do you note me?

Musition: And you Re us, and Fa us, you Note us.

2nd Mus: Pray put up your dagger, and put out your wit.

Peter: Then have at you with my wit. I will drie-beate you with an

yron wit, and put up my yron Dagger. Answer me like men:

“When griping griefes the heart doth wound, then Musicke with

her silver sound.” Why silver sound? Why Musick with her silver

sound? What say you Simon Catling?

Musition: Mary sir, because silver hath a sweet sound.

Peter: Pratest, what say you Hugh Rebicke?

2nd Mus: I say “silver sound” because musitions sound for silver.

Peter: Pratest to, what say you James Sound-Post?

3rd Mus: Faith I know not what to say.

Peter: I cry you mercy, you are the Singer. I will say for you;

it is “Musicke with her silver sound, with speedy helpe

doth lend redresse.”

Musition: What a pestilent knave is thie same!

The unrelenting humor ofthe passage becomes clearer when one notes

the references to contemporary songs and musical terms: Heart's Ease was a

popular song; a “dump,” an instrumental piece, usually played on a ground

bass; a “gleeke,” a gibe; “crochets” (crotchets), eighth-notes; “re,” the second

degree ofthe scale; and “fa,” the fourth degree ofthe scale. The wordplay on

“note” takes advantage oftwo ofthe word’s many meanings: “heed” and “set 

to music.” A “catling” is a lute string (made from catgut), a “rebicke” (rebec)

is a bowed string instrument, and a “sound post” is a vibration-transmitting

post inside a violin. The theme ofmusic in Shakespeare, whether sounding,

serving as an expressive analogy, or enabling a pun, enriches his art.

16

Finally, in the spirit ofthe Shakespeare in Washington festival, a quote

from Henry v, act 1, scene 2:

For government, though high, and low, and lower,

Put into parts, doth keep in one consent,

Congressing in a full and natural close,

Like music.

Program notes by Mary Anne Ballard
2,601st Concert 

January 28, 2007

Alexandria Symphony Orchestra

Kim Allen Kluge, music director 

Robert Aubry Davis, narrator

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

From A Midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 64

An opera in three acts

From act 1

The Wood, Deepening Twilight

Orchestra] Introduction

From act 3

The Wood, Early the Next Morning

Orchestral Introduction

Theseus’ Palace

Finale

Erich Wolfgang Komgold (1897-1957)

From A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)

The musical score to the eponymous Max Reinhardt motion picture

Theseus-Hymn

Fog Dance

Come Now, a Roundel

Lullaby and Magic Spell

Donkey; Titania Awakes; Titania-Donkey; The Donkey and Elves;

Exit Titania; Dance ofthe Clowns, The Wedding Waltz; Oberon-Child

Fighting Rivals 

Titania’s Slumber Song

Finale

INTERMISSION

18

Elvis Costello (b. 1954)

ll Sogno Concert Suite

The Musicians

Founded in 1954, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra has established a

reputation for thematic and interarts programming that features a mix of classical and contemporary music. The symphony’s move in 2002 to the Rachel

M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center on the Alexandria campus of

Northern Virginia Community College established the orchestra’s status as

one ofthe region’s leading arts institutions. Under the baton ofmusic director Kim Allen Kluge, the symphony has distinguished itselfthrough powerful performances marked by poetry and vision. This evening’s concert is a

preview ofthe Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming concert “Where 

Dreams Dwell,” which will take place on Saturday, February 3, at 8:00 pm, at

the Schlesinger Center.

Kim Allen Kluge enjoys much success not only with Alexandria audiences but also as a guest conductor ofthe Baltimore Opera Company, the

Boston Pops Orchestra, the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonietta 

de Paris, and Les Solistes Parisiens. Throughout his versatile career, he

has worked as concertmaster, orchestral keyboardist, wind player, organist,

singer, chamber musician, recitalist, concerto soloist, chorus director, vocal

coach, composer, and arranger. A valedictorian ofthe Oberlin Conservatory 

of Music, Kluge served as concertmaster ofthe Oberlin Chamber Orchestra

and received the coveted Arthur Dann Award for Outstanding Pianist and 

the Pi Kappa Lambda Scholarship for Musical Excellence. He participated

in the prestigious Tanglewood conducting program, where he studied

with Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, and Simon Rattle. Widely recognized

throughout the region as an orchestra builder, “Kluge has fashioned an 

ensemble with tremendous musical responsiveness,... [that] bears the mark

of his intelligence and drive” (Washington Post).

19
Robert Aubry Davis, who narrates the work by Elvis Costello on this

program, is the program director for the all-vocal classical channel (vox) and

the folk channel (The Village) on xm Satellite Radio. He is the creator and

host ofseveral specials and ongoing series produced for local and national

public radio and television, including Millennium ofMusic, a national program dedicated to one thousand years ofmusic before the birth ofJohann

Sebastian Bach (1685-1750); The European Centuries, a program oflive

performances from European music festivals, including the Bergen International Festival, the Flanders Festival, the Holland Festival of Early Music, and

the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival; and Songsfor Aging Children, a series

designed to keep the spirit ofthe 1960s alive. Davis is the Washington chapter president and a national trustee ofthe National Academy of Radio Arts 

and Sciences. For his work in the media he was named a Chevalier ofthe

Order ofArts and Letters by the Republic of France and a Knight ofthe Order

of Leopold by Albert 11, King ofthe Belgians. Davis has the unique distinction of being the only male ever to receive the Millennium Award for career

media excellence from the American Association of University Women.

20

Program Notes

Most English-speaking people think that Shakespeare belongs to them. It is a

lovely idea, but it is not true. Second only to the Bible, Shakespeare’s plays and

poetry are the most widely read pieces ofliterature. And with each new translation, countries enshrine his characters as figures in a unique cultural pantheon. How else could we account for Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s

Lear-like Ran (1985) or composer Dmitry Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth ofthe

Mtsensk District (1930-1932)?

Among the plays that have not only survived but also thrived in translation is A Midsummer Night's Dream. It displays the full range of Shakespeare’s characters—the villain and the hero, the plucky heroine and the

harridan—who are so widely represented. Set in the forest, “a wood a

league without the town,” it brings together two pairs ofstar-crossed lovers 

and their noble pursuers, to say nothing ofthe fairy king Oberon and his

fairy queen Titania, that wily Puck, Robin Goodfellow, and some local townspeople. Shakespeare plucked these characters and situations from a variety

ofsources and wove them together as only he could. A Midsummer Night’s

Dream is a delightful mix of comedy and enchantment, with enough barb

to puncture every ego. The right people are united in the end, but getting

there is more than halfthe fun.

Benjamin Britten was an important musical figure who came into his

own in the years following World War 11. Not only a composer, Britten was 

also a moving force in English music, creating (among other things) the

Aldeburgh Festival, a showcase of British music and theater, which continues to this day. It was for the 1959 Aldeburgh Festival that Britten decided

to create an operatic version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He had always

enjoyed the play and the various levels of action between the different

groups of characters. The music he created for the opera and later arranged

in a suite is, as the Britten-Pears Foundation staff put it, full of “the bright,

percussive sounds ofharps, keyboards, and percussion for the fairy world,

warm strings and wind for the pairs oflovers, and lower woodwind and

brass for the mechanicals. The opera is completely faithful to the spirit of

21
the original and must be counted as one ofthe most successful operatic

adaptations of a Shakespeare play. It is possibly the most beguiling and

enchanting of all Britten’s operas, a work with a spellbinding atmosphere

that inhabits a truly unique dreamlike world.”

In 1935 (ironically, the same year in which the Nazi government prohibited public performance ofthe music of Felix Mendelssohn), the expatriate German film director Max Reinhardt asked Erich Wolfgang Korngold 

to come to California to arrange Mendelssohn’s incidental music for the

Warner Brothers production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Not confining

himselfmerely to the music Mendelssohn had composed for an 1843 production ofthe play, Korngold also incorporated other works by Mendelssohn

and reorchestrated them. It is a testament to Korngold’s skill and sympathetic treatment that the integration ofthe extra music is seamless. In places

where new adaptation occurs, Korngold expanded the orchestra to include

saxophone, guitar, harp, vibraphone, piano, and extra percussion. He also

thickened Mendelssohn’s textures, especially in the lower strings, to compensate for the limitations ofthe monaural sound recording, in which the

more delicate early nineteenth-century orchestration would have been lost.

Korngold added a wordless chorus for the fairies as well.

Ever the perfectionist, Korngold went to extreme pains to coordinate the

music and the action on the screen. As soon as he arrived at the Warner Brothers Studio, he asked a technician how long one foot was. Legend has it that the

first reply was a sarcastic “twelve inches.” But Korngold earnestly insisted, “No,

I mean how long does it last on screen?” When he received the answer—twothirds of a second—Korngold exclaimed, “Ach... exactly the same length of

time as the first two measures of Mendelssohn’s Scherzo!” When it came to

the actual filming, Korngold lay in some bushes out of camera range and

conducted the actors as though they were singing their lines. Such a practice

had never been encountered before and was met with some resistance, but

Korngold persisted and established procedures that were adopted by subsequent film composers. He also increased the size and instrumentation ofthe

Warner Brothers orchestra, making it a proper symphony orchestra.

22

Contemporary pop musician Elvis Costello, who, along with his band,

The Attractions, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003,

is a regular on the rock and roll stage. In recent years, however, this versatile

musician has demonstrated a greater breadth and depth than is customary

among his pop contemporaries. He has collaborated with Burt Bacharach,

Emmylou Harris, and Anne Sophie von Otter, among others. In 2000 he

was commissioned by the Italian dance company Alterballetto to create a

work based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The resulting score, Costello’s

first full-length orchestral work, received its premiere in Bologna at the

Teatro Communale and has since been recorded.

The score mixes strains ofthe many different musical avenues Costello

has explored, ranging from country dance to electronic music. The work

makes generous use ofthe hammered dulcimer and the vibraphone, two 

of Costello’s favorite instruments, and calls upon the saxophonist and the

percussionist to improvise. The musical portraits ofthe characters and situations in the play are each written thoughtfully and mood appropriately, creating an effective contemporary reflection of Shakespeare’s multifaceted tale.

Program notes by Peter Fay

23