Boston Conservatory Orchestra: Nature as Muse

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” 
I. Allegro ma non troppo (“Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside”) 
II. Andante molto mosso (“Scene by the brook”) 
III. Allegro (“Merry gathering of country folk”) 
IV. Allegro (“Thunder, Storm”) 
V. Allegretto (“Shepherd’s song—Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm”)

LERA AUERBACH: Post Silentium

WILLIAM GRANT STILL: Symphony No. 5, “Western Hemisphere”
1. The vigorous, life-sustaining forces of the Hemisphere. Briskly.
2. The natural beauties of the Hemisphere. Slowly and with utmost grace.
3. The nervous energy of the Hemisphere. Energetically.
4. The overshadowing spirit of kindness and justice in the Hemisphere. Moderately.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”

Throughout history, nature has consistently inspired artists. Nearly every major composer has paid tribute to her, whether through capturing the delights of her seasons (as seen in the works of Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, and Fanny Mendelssohn) or depicting the vastness and variety of her landscapes (as exemplified by R. Strauss, Sibelius, and Debussy). When symphonic titan Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) premiered his Sixth Symphony, “Pastoral,” one could joke it was “natural” that the audience received it with gleeful enthusiasm.

Written in 1808, the “Pastoral” symphony offers refreshing respite from the stormier works of Beethoven’s middle period. Having penned his Heiligenstadt Testament only six years prior, Beethoven seems to have grappled with his impending deafness in the stormy, C-minor Fifth Symphony, written the same year as the “Pastoral.” Between 1802 and 1812, he wrote a prolific string of works in the same dramatic vein—the Razumovsky string quartets, “Waldstein” and “Appassionata” piano sonatas, and his only opera, Fidelio. So how did “Pastoral” come to be? Beethoven, like most city folk, found solace in nature. “How delighted I shall be to ramble for a while through bushes, woods, under trees, through grass, and around rocks,” he wrote to close friend Therese Malfatti. “My miserable hearing does not trouble me here… Who can give complete expression to the ecstasy of the woods!” For a troubled composer who changed residences multiple times in a year, the countryside provided a constant sense of comfort.

Each of the symphony’s five movements (one more than was conventional) is given a title, some more vivid than others. Beethoven warns against taking them too literally, however, and declares them “more an expression of feeling than painting.” Despite his mild admonition, the popularity of the Sixth is, in some ways, owed to its narrative; and many performances stage the work with scenic illustrations and even acting.

The first movement, “Awakening of cheerful feelings on arriving in the country,” opens with a simple theme played by the violins. This same melody is then elaborated on by Beethoven, albeit not in his usual ways—playful yet delicate repetition of the fragmented theme makes the opening movement rather digestible. “Scene by the brook” evokes a watery vision with its lilting compound meter and murmuring string figurations. The peaceful Andante ends with the chirping of a nightingale (flute), quail (oboe), and cuckoo (clarinet), explicitly indicated in the score by Beethoven. The middle movement, “Merry gathering of country folk,” is a bucolic scherzo, with a hearty middle section that seems to parody the music of bands in the taverns across Vienna. Nature takes center stage again in the thunderstorm of the fourth movement, where instruments newly introduced to the symphony—the piccolo and trombones—break out in flashes of lightning and thunderous fortissimos. The weather soon clears, and the shepherd’s “Cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm” spread joy through the orchestra; first as a catchy motif from the clarinet, then to the horn, and finally to the strings, whose symmetrical, singable melody infuses the movement with musical warmth and radiance typical of the Beethovenian writing we know and love.

—Amanda Kye Tan, M.M. '24

LERA AUERBACH: Post Silentium

Lera Auerbach, a self-proclaimed “Renaissance artist for modern times,” substantiates this claim through her multifaceted creative endeavors. Embodying the roles of composer, conductor, pianist, painter, and poet within a singular entity, she establishes a cohesive and all-encompassing artistic worldview. 

In February 2012, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, one of the world’s oldest and most esteemed orchestras, premiered Auerbach’s Requiem: Ode to Peace. This poignant composition was commissioned to commemorate the anniversary of the destruction of the Frauenkirche, a cathedral in Dresden, which crumbled during the Allied bombing raids in February 1945. The rubble at this site served as a memorial against war and destruction for 48 years until the cathedral was rebuilt in 2005. Auerbach’s requiem similarly serves as a musical monument to the suffering of victims of nationalistic movements in the past and present. 

Post Silentium, meaning “after silence,” stands as Lera Auerbach’s intimate contemplation and response to her journey of composing Requiem: Ode to Peace. Commissioned and premiered by the Sächsische Staatskapelle in July 2012, this composition shares its title with the first movement of the requiem. 

Auerbach additionally draws inspiration from the Largo of Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 6, a poignant memorial to the victims of the Great Patriotic War, which unfolded along the Eastern Front of World War II, marking a tumultuous chapter between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Aligning with Prokofiev’s instrumentation, Auerbach crafts a striking opening, mirroring the Largo’s intensity. She enhances the already rich and dense scoring by introducing violent layers of tremolos and flutter-tonguing. This harsh, bombastic music is interspersed with quiet sections that are no less emotionally charged. The use of glissandi in solo instruments sounds like sirens against an eerie backdrop of bells whose toll serves as a tribute to the victims these works honor. Auerbach adopts a merciless rendition of the first theme of Prokofiev’s Largo, first introduced by an agitated brass section, then gradually expanding its presentation to envelop the entire orchestra in a “tragico” section. 

Auerbach’s Post Silentium invites listeners into a contemplative realm, encouraging them to grapple with the aftermath of silence and to discern the specific silence to which she alludes. Auerbach, valuing individual interpretation, affords listeners the autonomy to shape their own experiences—a sentiment she underscores through her public aversion to program notes. As a Soviet-born Austrian American who has composed extensively in response to war, Auerbach’s perspective offers a lens through which listeners can explore different identities concerning the unspoken complexities of silence. 

—Hannah Elizabeth Tobias, M.M. '25

WILLIAM GRANT STILL: Symphony No. 5, “Western Hemisphere”

William Grant Still is widely regarded as one of the most significant African American composers of Western concert music. He was the first to have a symphony (the Afro-American Symphony) performed by a major symphony orchestra (the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in 1931). Still describes his Symphony No. 5, “Western Hemisphere,” as depicting the dawn of American people of goodwill, who are committed to the realization of peace and prosperity.

Movement one, “The vigorous, life-sustaining forces of the Hemisphere,” opens with a driving introduction, followed by a soaring melody in the strings. The brass punctuates the vivid scene as the melody moves to the woodwinds. A lush passage finds the woodwinds playing a fragment of the melody over a steady beat in the strings. A propulsive tutti section gives way to the soaring melody played by the horns. It all returns to the strings, to reiterate the main melody, and finally the entire orchestra rises to a climactic ending.

Movement two, “The natural beauties of the Hemisphere,” starts with a gentle rhythm on the marimba and harp, from which a subtle melody begins to flourish in the strings. A woodwind chorus with flute solo alludes to the 12-bar blues chord progression. Mysterious exchanges between the strings and woodwinds summon a bittersweet melody and a warm interlude, ornamented by the harp and celesta, a keyboard instrument with a twinkling timbre. The theme from the first movement, now pensive, reappears and persists for a while in the strings and woodwinds. The flow wants to settle, but revisits the opening material, after which the bassoons bring a sweet ending.

Movement three, “The nervous energy of the Hemisphere,” features a frantic rhythmic motif in the strings and recurring shrills in the woodwinds and brass. A sense of emergency is announced by the brass and percussion, to which the woodwinds respond with frightened musical figures. The incessant panic swells into a pounding, anxious ending.

The fourth movement, “The overshadowing spirit of kindness and justice in the Hemisphere,” evokes the sounds of triumph throughout the orchestra. The main melody grows to majestic heights and arrives sweetly in the strings and woodwinds. The brass announces a modulation back to a minor key. A molto ritardando transforms the exuberant melody into a grandiose, peaceful statement. The themes from the first and second movements return in reverse order, as if to reminisce on the beauty and vigor of the Western Hemisphere. Tubular bells and the snare drum fortify the cinematic ending.

—Harold Rivas, M.M. '25

CONDUCTOR 
Bruce Hangen

FLUTE 
Dayna Dengler, B.M. '26 
Abigail Leary, B.M. '25 
Shion Suzuki, G.P.D. '24 
Devyn Sowry, B.M. '24 
Logan Haley, B.M. '24 
Kristalis Sotomayor Matos, M.M. '24

OBOE 
Coleton Morgan, B.M. '24 
Taylor Childress, B.M. '24 
Jesse Myers, B.M. '26

CLARINET 
Marco Chen, G.P.D. '24 
Siyuan Yin, M.M. '25 
Simon Choi, B.M. '24 
Chenglin Yang, M.M. '23 
Andrew Coleman, M.M. '25

BASSOON 
Haoyu Li, M.M. '25 
Alexander Weber, B.M. '27 
Carson Saponaro, B.M. '26

HORN 
Yi-Hwa Chen, M.M. '25 
Connor Strauss, B.M. '25 
Ricardo Verde, B.M. '26 
Zach Watson, B.M. '27 
Amber Dai, M.M. '24 
Fanxi Xu, B.M. ' 27

TRUMPET 
Cal Richards, B.M. '25 
CJ Waldrop, M.M. '25 
Charlotte Berube-Gray, B.M. '26 
Elliot Wlasiuk, B.M. '26 
Emily Dillon, B.M. '27

TROMBONE 
Jack Armstrong, M.M. '24 
Lauren Galarraga, B.M. '24 
Jack Bert, B.M. '24 
Sum Ho Tsui, B.M. '27 
Ben Pilon, B.M. '24

TUBA 
Reece Ashley, M.M. '25

PERCUSSION 
Xingyue Xue, M.M. '24 
Christian Bartholomew, B.M. '24 
Ritvik Yaparpalvi, B.M. '25 
Yueyang (William) Shi, M.M. '25 
April Ong, B.M. '24

HARP 
Jiayi Li, M.M. '24

PIANO 
Kyoka Minami, G.P.D. ‘24

CEMBALO 
(TBA)

CELESTE 
Julian Dürr, B.M. '25

VIOLIN I 
Kristen Barrett, M.M. '24 
Rose Barranco, B.M. '26 
Marta Dorovic, M.M. '24 
Gaia Sbeghen, P.S.C. '24 
Emily Scicchitano, M.M. '25 
Rowan Gemma, B.M. '24 
Anne McKee, M.M. '24 
Selena Noelia Vega Campana, G.P.D. '24 
Hsiang-Chieh Lin, M.M. '24 
Finnian Long, B.M. '26 
Skye Darling, M.M. '24 
Tian Tian, B.M. '26 
Mary Davis, B.M. '26 
Caden Burston, B.M. '25

VIOLIN II 
Neil Wary, M.M. '25 
Stella Feliberti, B.M. '27 
Hansae Kwon, M.M. '24 
Brianna Ingber, B.M. '24 
Kathryn Pappalardo, P.S.C. '24 
Alexander Estrella, B.M. '25 
Gloria Fortner, B.M. '25 
Sai Tang, G.P.D. '24 
Pippin Forrest, B.M. '27 
Yen-Yu Kuo, B.M. '26

VIOLA 
Jayna Leach, M.M. '24 
Victoria Skinner, M.M. '25 
Lydia Xiao Yan Tan, B.M. '27 
T'Yara Lesueur, B.M. '26 
Drew Keeve, M.M. '24 
Andrew Gretzinger, M.M. '24 
Maya Hartglass, B.M. '27 
Lauren Wilson, B.M. '25 
Emerson Tomaszewski, B.M. '27

CELLO 
Elaina Spiro, B.M. '24 
Tristan Hernandez, B.M. '24 
Tzu Yi (Tiffany) Yeh, M.M. '25 
Lauren Roberts, M.M. '25 
Milla Chitwood, B.M. '27 
Ethan Lee, B.M. '27 
Lilya Arustamyan, B.M. '25 
Ting-Chen Chen, M.M. '25 
Jayne Wong, M.M. '24 
Yoon Jung Jennie Lee, G.P.D. '26

BASS 
David Amouretti, B.M. '25 
Gabriel de los Reyes, B.M. '27 
Nicolette Kindred, B.M. '24 
Leo Martinez, B.M. '25 
Jacob Slater, M.M. '24 
Enrique Perez, B.M. '26